Treat your writing like a blue collar job. Doctors don't get doctor block and ditch diggers don't get ditch digger block, and working writers can't get writer's block. Business and humor.
Ursula joins me and we talk about body organs and just how important they are to a writing career. We reference this debacle. HEY check out my Speakeasy class on NaNoWriMo coming up on October 12, 8pm EDT! Twitch schedule for week of Oct 10 Mon: 1pm Gaming (Dream Daddy) Tues: 3pm- I Should Be Writing Wed: 5pm Gaming (TBD) Thurs: 3pm- I Should Be Writing
Yup, we're talking, a little late, about the YA Ratings debacle, but through the lens of dead white guy John Milton. Yeah, he was a cranky old man, writer of super long Bible fanfic, and helped with regicide a little bit, but he also was a strong anti-censorship advocate. Which, considering you could lose your head for writing something offensive, was pretty damn brave. My Milton professor made anything sound good. He was so excited about Milton that he made us excited. And Aeropagitica has stuck with me, even if the attention span to re-read it has not.
Mur and Matt welcome back the Godmother of Ditch Diggers herself, Gail Carriger! Gail wanted to talk about what happens when you're a pro and your books don't sell. What avenues do we have? Gail's books Mur's GODMAKER race No streaming the week of September 20
I had some last minute changes come up, but the awesome authors Ursula Vernon and Diana Rowland ended up calling in and hanging out to talk about the tools we use in our careers, from Scrivener to assistants.
Matt and Mur return to Discord instead of Twitch, since we were taking a day off Twitch in solidarity with the streamers getting harassed on the platform. New Twitch schedule for our live episodes! Tune in on Wednesdays at 11am Eastern Time! September 1, 2021 | Ditch Diggers Season 7 | murverse.comCopyright 2021, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace | BY-NC-ND 3.5 License
The day was kind of a perfect storm for crap, so it ended up with me and the dogs and my phone, streaming from the basement. To quote Stuart Smalley, "This was not my best show." But I did it! Matt is back this week! Not sure if it's live or not since creators aren't using Twitch on Wednesday this week, but we might go live on Discord just for y'all. I need to talk to him about it.
Another scam publisher has reared its ugly head, so we talk about that, and exactly how you can tell if someone is scamming you. (Hint- it has to do with the flow of cash.) Welcome back, Matt! New Twitch schedule for our live episodes! Tune in on Wednesdays at 11am Eastern Time!
Alasdair comes by to help out, wearing his Matt Wallace t-shirt and changing the name of the show to Dirt Butlers! I'm taking a break from Twitch- my week has gotten incredibly stressful, and then I'm going on vacation on Thursday, so it's best if I don't force it and stress myself out more. I'll return on Wednesday, August 4!
Mike Underwood, writer and marketer extraordinaire, returns to talk about post-pandemic publishing and where we find ourselves now. Twitch Schedule for week of July 12-24 M. 1pm Chatting, gaming, anything goes T. 1pm Ditch Diggers with Alasdair Stuart T. 3pm ISBW with Tobias Buckell W. 4pm Gaming Th. 1pm ISBW
Ursula Vernon, aka T. Kingfisher (the winner of the Andre Norton Nebula for YA and the Locus Award for YA) joins us to talk Ditch Digging, Wizards and Baking*, and, uh, a lot of other things. Awards. Cover Art. Juggling many projects for hybrid publishing. Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking audiobook And Then There Were (N-One) by Sarah Pinsker Vellum Productivity Alchemy Draft2Digital Atticus * affiliate link
At last, we have Kameron Hurley back to talk about the much-needed social media discussion! While nowhere near perfect, various social media services do have settings that you can tweak to protect yourself from trolls. We go over some, compare block and mute, and then we talk about World of Warcraft.
My old Bookburners co-author and friend Margaret Dunlap comes aboard to talk about the state of Hollywood, how she got into scriptwriting, and how in the world they have so much damn money to throw around.
Hugo-finalist fan writer, nonfic writer, and fiction writer Alasdair Stuart joins us again to talk about some recent news in SF including the Nebula Awards! Are you watching Ditch Diggers on Twitch? Why not? Next live episode is Thursday (6.24) with Kameron Hurley coming back to try her hand at being Matt! Join us at 5pm EDT.
Ursula joins us from her lovely back yard, and we hope to not be rained out.
Kameron is back with more talk of ditch digging!
I'm joined this week by editor and author SB Divya to talk about Covid, being a debut during a pandemic, and other fun things! Are you watching Ditch Diggers on Twitch? Why not? Next live episode is Wednesday (6.2) with Ursula Vernon (T. Kingfisher) joining us at 1pm EDT.
Matt is very angry with me for having a real president on the show, but he's not here, so screw him. I invite the former SFWA president, amazing writer, and excellent teacher Cat Rambo to come hang out with me and talk ditches.
Matt is still gone, but has sent us a bloody fang as proof of live. Don't ask me, I don't control the boy. Alasdair Stuart, co-owner of Escape Artists, four time Hugo Finalist (this year alone!), writer of fiction and nonfiction, and good friend joins us this week to talk about a nonfiction writing life and transitioning to a writing life. Are you watching Ditch Diggers on Twitch? Why not? This Wednesday we have Cat Rambo at 1pm EDT.
Kameron Hurley joins Mur to talk about all the things people just expect you to know when you get to a certain level of authordom. We talk Guest of Honor stuff, readings, talks, agents, and more! Check out Kameron online!
We're back! Kind of! Matt is taking some time off to deal with some wolverines or something in Alaska, so I have some other authors coming in to help me out in the meantime until he returns to us. This week we have prolific shed writer and beard grower, Chuck Wendig! Out now: You Can Do Anything, Magic Skeleton! with Natalie Metzger's art!
Matt and Mur talk about newer authors approaching agents, what to ask, what to expect.
Matt and Mur are back! We talk what happens when a mid-career author has to unexpectedly go on an agent hunt. January 11, 2021 - Season 7 Ep 1 - Copyright 2021, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace - BY-NC-SA 3.5 License - murverse.com
Matt and Mur are back! We talk what happens when a mid-career author has to unexpectedly go on an agent hunt. Coming next, livestream via Twitch!
Will you turn off your audience if you don't "stay in your lane" and keep your opinions to yourself? Do you care?
We welcome Andrea Phillips back to the show, talking transmedia, marketing, and her new book, America, Inc.
Mike Underwood comes on to talk to us about his new book, ANNIHILATION ARIA (The Space Operas, Vol. 1), but the talk also goes into Mike's experience with book marketing, and, boy, the stuff he tells us, no lie, is enlightening.
We welcome the godmother of our podcast, Gail Carriger, back to talk about her new book, The Heroine's Journey, venturing into nonfiction, and the path from traditional publishing to self-pub.
Comics creator Shawn Pryor returns to Ditch Diggers! We talk to him about Kickstarter, career transitions, and Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. THE FIRE WITHIN on Kickstarter
Yeah, we had to talk about it. You know. That thing that happened.
Matt and Mur had a virtual book launch for Savage Legion last week.
We bring back favorite guest, Kameron Hurley, to celebrate episode 100 (aka Season 6, Episode 12.)
Agents Jennifer Udden (Mur) and Dongwon Song (Matt) join the podcast after two long years to talk business, harassment, and life with the ditch diggers.
Coming to you from the Ditch Diggers Animal Crossing Pear Island! We talk rebranding and cooking and South Korean baseball.
Matt and Mur bring you a reproduction of a lost episode and answer more pandemic questions.
Matt and Mur come to you live from the social distancing movie theater within Ditch Diggers HQ where all the seats are six feet apart and cannons shoot popcorn directly into your mouth for a hands-free experience.
It's a new world, and conventions are trying to keep up with it. How are we going to handle virtual conventions?
Matt and I talk COVID-19, and how to keep working through this. Stay safe! (recorded last week. The news moves fast these days. All the sports things have since been canceled.)
Mur and Matt talk American Dirt, and then we have an interview with Kameron Hurley from ConFusion!
Mur and Matt talk end of year thinking and Matt's cover reveal for Savage Legion!
- Matt and Mur come to you live from a Christmas tree farm just off the winding lonely road of loneliness for the penultimate Ditch Diggers episode of 2019!
Matt and Mur discuss the Christmas of Writers, except it's all work and we fail a lot. Never mind, my Christmas metaphor fell apart. It's about NaNoWriMo.
Mur and Matt play catchup and grumble about George Lucas still holding onto Star Wars after receiving $4 billion for it.
So what do you do with that new money that lands in your lap when no one teaches writers anything about money management?
Matt-replicant Alasdair Stuart and I bring you live Ditch Diggers with Gail Carriger, Ursula Vernon, and the game Superfight!
Matt and I both spent our Julys finishing projects, and we talk about that.
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