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New Podcast Up: 2013 Christmas Episode
Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. With Illustrations by John Leech. London: Chapman & Hall, 1843. First edition. Title page. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)...
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New Podcast Up: A Writer’s New Year’s Resolution
Batman as he was depicted in Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) On this final podcast of the year, Ryan McKinley and I discuss what might be the top three things that any...
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New Podcast Up: The Three Types of Stories
In this first episode of 2014, Ryan and I discuss an article written in Writer’s Digest which posits that there are basically three types of stories and that all novel plots fall into these three...
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New Podcast Up: The Third Act
One of the most important elements to plotting a novel is the third act. In this podcast we tackle this issue and give suggestions and tips for making the third act of your novel the most important...
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New Podcast Up: The Props Under the Platform
In this episode, Ryan and I discuss ways that a writer can increase their platform in order to become more recognized as a writer and to hopefully garner the attention of agents and publishers. We...
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New Podcast Up: Realism & Ramis
In this episode Ryan and I discuss the problem of realism and the suspension of disbelief in fiction and in film. How much realism is required when writing a fiction story in order to keep the reader...
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New Podcast Up: Television Writing & Sci-Fi Awards
In this episode, Ryan and I discuss the current writing on television and how it is a reflection of competition with writing in cinema, and is much better in many ways. What makes television writing so...
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New Podcast Up: DIY Books and Episode 7
In this podcast, Ryan and I discuss the question: “How much of your novel (besides writing it of course) should you hire out and how much should you do yourself?” We both have much experience on either...
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New Podcast Up: Character Development and Reboots
In this episode, Ryan and I discuss some listener mail from Dan who asks “How do you develop characters so that they are realistic and have depth?” This is a difficult question in that there are...
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New Podcast Up: Take a Vacation Not a Trip
In this episode we discuss the idea I put forth in a blog post last week about taking a vacation instead of going on a trip. Ryan had some other ideas about the subject, and it turns out to be a...
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New Podcast Up: Beginning Lines and Ending Hobbits
In this end of year podcast we discuss the most important beginning of any novel: the first line. The first line is something that writers like Stephen King spend a month preparing. It is the line that...
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New Podcast Up: There And Back Again Once More
In the first podcast of 2015, we discuss a little bit of literary failure before launching into why we continue writing even in the face of adversity. What keeps you going? We also discuss the final...
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New Podcast Up: Reasons for Writing and Filmgoing
In this episode we discuss the hard life of an indie writer, what that entails, and mostly why we keep writing. Many independent writers quit writing all together when the going gets rough, but what is...
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New Podcast Up: Time Enough for Batman
On this episode we discuss one of the most important techniques in fiction writing: passage of time. We discuss the many ways that writers can relate the passage of time in their novels so that they...
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New Podcast Up: Our 50th Episode!
On our fiftieth podcast (and we can’t believe we have made it this far) we talk about fan fiction. What are the legalities of writing stories about our favorite pop culture heroes? Can you really get...
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New Podcast Up: Hard Science and Tough Trek Talk
In this special episode our special guest is scientist Michael Dean who has been a consultant for many of my novels. The topic of this podcast is the lack of science fact in fiction and how writers...
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New Podcast Up: We Appraise Some Rare Books
In this special holiday episode, we spend some quality time (8 minutes or so) appraising rare books that our listeners wrote us about. It should get messy. Find it here.Filed under: Podcasts Tagged:...
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New Podcast Up: Beta-Readers and Movie Blahs
In this episode, Ryan and I discuss the importance of using beta-readers when writing a novel. We first define what beta-readers are, how a writer goes about finding them and how a writer compensates...
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New Podcast Up: Hidden Characters In Alexandria
In this episode we discuss an interesting point of characterization we like to call “hidden characterization”. This is a kind of dramatic irony where the character’s actions do not match up with their...
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New Podcast Up: Crucial Chapters and Black Widow
In this episode we discuss the topic of the crucial chapter or the chapter of your novel that is the key to the entire story. For indie writers who often do their own editing (and they shouldn’t) this...
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