Drunken Pen Writing Podcast

We open today's episode with some life stuff and book talk. After that, we have a detailed discussion about narrative voice. What is it? How do you use it? Why does it matter? We answer all these questions and more in this first part of a two-part conversation.  You can follow us @dpwpodcast on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We kick off today's episode with tales of woe from being a writer.  After that, we discuss a list of the worst Marvel comic books ever. Incredibly, people got paid to make some of these! You can follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's stuff at www.calebjamesk.com. 

For May's Book of the Month, we're discussing John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning absurdist classic, A Confederacy of Dunces.  You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We open today's episode with some great publishing news about Spencer. After that, we discuss a list detailing the best ways to write crime fiction. Here's a hint: the list isn't great! You can follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We open today's episode with news about our good friend Nicolás Obregón and his newest novel, The Sugar Man.  After that, we sit back and discuss the greatest writers in history and where they fall on our tier list as storytellers. Believe it or not, some of the best writers are actually terrible at telling stories. You might be surprised by who tops the list and who gets a bad rating. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

Today, we are diving back in and discussing a second Q&A email we received from the editor of Story Magazine. We learn more about the story publishing process used by major literary magazines and your chances of acceptance.  You can follow us @dpwpodcast on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We start today's episode with some excellent publication news, and then quickly digress into a best storyteller tier list.  After that, we attempt to finish discussing a list of the top 51 amazing lines of prose. Here's a bit of a spoiler, most of the lines are neither amazing nor worthy of being on such a list. Our disgruntled rebuttals are peppered throughout. You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We kick off today's episode with some excellent publishing news! After that, we discuss some of the "greatest" lines of prose. Despite the title of this episode, we do not take things seriously at all.  You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We begin today's episode with some publication updates. After that, we read a list of what are supposedly considered the best lines in fiction. Unsatisfied with said lines, we go ahead and read some of our favorite lines from our own stories.    You can follow us @dpwpodcast on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.  You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We open today's episode with some decent writing updates. After that, we discuss an absolutely awful list of the "most awful authors" of all time. Do not expect a serious conversation from this one! Follow us @dpwpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We begin today's episode with some "what if" talk regarding famous writers. For instance, what if Robert E. Howard lived for another 30 or 40 years? How much would his writing style have evolved? What if Stephen King stopped writing in the 1980s? You get the idea. After that, we cover some defunct (dead) book genres. We discuss whether the mentioned genres are actually dead, why some deserve to be dead, and which ones we want to make a comeback. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast Check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

Caleb starts today's episode with some trouble he's having reading Ulysses by James Joyce. After that, we sit back, relax, and discuss the numerous obstacles we've encountered from editors when reviewing the edits for our works set for publication.  You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We begin today's episode with a quick review of "The Monkey, " adapted from the Stephen King short story of the same name. After that, we go into a deep and nuanced discussion about reading the works of authors who have done terrible things in their personal lives. The main culprit we discuss is Neil Gaiman who has recently come under fire for allegedly assaulting women in the worst ways. You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We kick things off with a rant about people who boycott art they were never going to purchase in the first place—especially the jerks who try to cancel books even though they don't read. After that, we settle into a fun discussion about writing good dialogue. This begins with David Foster Wallace's opinion on Stephen King's method for writing dialogue and why Wallace thought King wrote below his capabilities for the sake of quantity over quality.  This leads us to the meat of the matter in how we write dialogue in our work. We give a bunch of great tips and examples from great writers and how they go about crafting realistic dialogue.  You can follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

Caleb opens today's episode with a mini (sarcastic) review of "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner. After that, we discuss our Book of the Month, "Native Son" by Richard Wright. We cover the topics of racism, social injustice, class status, and poverty.  You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We have an extra-long cold open as we discuss some good, bad, and worse news. But that's not what takes so long. Caleb dives into his recent read of Crime and Punishment and shares what he took away from the book. After that, we discuss the supposed downfall of contemporary fiction and the belief that nearly all modern writing is terrible (not our words). This takes us down an interesting road full of literary potholes made by snobs. You can follow us @dpwpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

In today's cold open, we discuss the AI tool for plot development on Microsoft Word. Things get a bit heated! After that, we discuss Lester Dent's formula for writing easy-to-sell pulp stories. Things don't go quite as planned, but we do our best to relay the information provided.  You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We start with an extra "cold" cold open as Caleb talks about his recent illness and working in frigid temperatures. After that, we read an AMA from the Editor-In-Chief of Story Magazine and learn about their submission reading practices. We discuss how different publications handle submissions, what we think is fair, and what is absolute garbage. Overall, this is a really informative episode.  You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

In today's special Storycast episode, we read The Crimson Tower from L. Stephenson's upcoming short story collection, When Strange Things Bite. A mythical monster stalks a farming community -- A titan from the stars brings destruction to a small costal town -- A centuries old curse takes hold of a family -- A sea creature hunts a young group of trespassers -- A university professor receives a late-night visit from the dead -- A message board murder mystery is investigated -- An everyday morning takes a turn for the worse -- A sister becomes paranoid of her brother's disease -- A young witch must gather a few risky ingredients -- A cannibal pays someone an unexpected visit -- A carpenter's daughter demands bloody satisfaction -- A psychopath fights to survive an alien invasion -- A boy is hunted by the devil -- A young boy faces his fear at the dentist. You can preorder the collection now on Amazon. 

We kick things off with some writing and submission news. After that, we discuss a controversial topic in the reading community. We also figure out a fun way to make Goodreads reviews more legitimate. Here's a hint, it deals with users getting assigned a difficulty score based on the books they read. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com  

We spent New Year's Eve getting drunk and talking about the greatest 50 WWE wrestlers of all time. There's also some brief literary talk.    You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

Caleb starts the episode by announcing his new favorite book. After that, we talk about how 2024 treated us regarding our writing and what publications we got. We end by discussing our writing goals for 2025.  You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

Caleb opens the show with some writing woes. After that, we discuss all the books we've read in 2024, including our biggest disappointments and best reads of the year.  You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We open things off with some good publishing news! After that, we settle in for a discussion about some unexpected problems authors might encounter after getting their work accepted for publication. We also talk about getting paid as a writer and when you should stop submitting to publishers that don't pay for your work.  You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

Caleb opens things up with a follow-up to an issue from last week's episode. After that, we discuss a list of Christmas horror books. But we do a terrible job! You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's publication history at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We begin the episode by discussing Cormac McCarthy and a specific scene in his novel Suttree that depicts a young man fornicating with watermelons.  After that, we have a much longer discussion about offending publishers and your audience. We start with what big comic book creators and movie studios have been doing wrong by alienating their core audience, how that correlates with authors on a much smaller scale, and the simple fixes that can avoid many headaches.  Around 40 or so minutes in we finally get to the heart of the episode by discussing a specific scene (or in this case, word choice) that might derail one of Caleb's future submissions. We talk about when you should be brave and stick to your guns, and when it's important to know when to concede and make the proper changes to a work to get it published.  You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com 

We kick off the episode with some publishing news, a quick discussion about putting your previously published stories into your own collection, and what changes we think are acceptable from a publisher's editors.  The actual episode begins around the 17:36 mark for those who want to jump straight to our review of Violent Advents: A Christmas Horror Anthology which features Caleb's story, Maggot Party. We digress several times in this one with one of the more interesting topics being that of contemporary authors writing in first person present tense. If you're a fan of horror anthologies, you will love this collection! You can follow us on X, Facebook, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We open the episode with some publishing talk. After that, a very ill Caleb does his best to talk about conspiracy novels. Things do not go well. Follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast Check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We start the episode with some BAD publishing news with a good outcome. At least for us.  After that, we attempt to discuss 20 of the best detective crime stories according to the good people at Forbes. Our train seems to have a bad track though, and we go off the rails every 30 seconds. Despite this, we have a great time. Also, make sure to get checked for HAUNTED BONES! It's a serious ailment.  You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.   

We kick things off with some controversial Edgar Allan Poe news. Did he steal The Raven from another writer!? After that, we discuss some potentially bad publishing news, a newly found Bram Stoker book, and Caleb ends the episode by reading a scene from his story "Dead Men Don't Scream" which will be featured in Beautiful Darkness 3: A Dragon Soul Press Anthology released on October 30th.  You can check us out on Facebook, X, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can find Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We discuss "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson. We review the book by breaking down the characters and their motivations, the feminist themes throughout, and what we took away from the story.  You can follow us on X, Facebook, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

After an exhausting recording gauntlet, we do a terrible job of reviewing Basketful of Heads by Joe Hill. We constantly interrupt ourselves with giggly nonsense, but we had a great time, which is all that really matters! You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We open the episode with more great publishing news—a trend we hope never ends! After that, we get into the episode proper with a review of L. Stephenson's new horror novella, The Boy at No. 9 Whitlock.  At first it was bad parents, bullies, and budding romances. But the tragic life of young Matthew Rose is about to get much worse...because the boy who lives at No. 9 Whitlock is about to meet a demon. "One of the darkest coming-of-age horrors I've read. Grizzly and unrelenting. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't." - KEV HARRISON, Author of Shadow of the Hidden & Below "Stephenson shows that horror isn't all about sending chills down one's spine; sometimes, it can be about moving the heart." - REBECCA ROWLAND, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated Author of White Trash & Recycled Nightmares You can purchase the novella now on Amazon.  You can follow L. Stephenson on Instagram @l._stephenson  

We were so eager to record this episode that we forgot to do a cold open and the introduction! What we did record is an entertaining discussion of Edgar Allan Poe's masterpiece, The Raven.  While we break down the poem in style and structure, we also discuss how it came to be, its influences, the life of Poe after writing The Raven, and some writers he influenced. We also talk about some of his other notable works.  You can follow us on X, Facebook, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We discuss a list featuring the best horror authors of all time. Some we know very well, some we've never heard of.  Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and X @dpwpodcast Check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

After getting our hands on an early copy of Born of Bloodshed by A.D. Jones, we give our honest review of this fun, gory novella just in time for the spooky season. Born of Bloodshed: Nothing exciting ever happens in the border towns of Scotland, and the village of Newcastleton, with a population in the hundreds, is no exception to the rule. That is until kids start going missing and turning up dead, and violently mutilated, in the surrounding forests. A group of teens will be forced to put down their NES controllers, walk away from their VHS collections, and try to figure out what has descended upon their quaint, little village. Born of Bloodshed from A.D Jones, author of Sacrificial Waters, will transport you to 1990 Scotland for this terror-filled, coming of age story which promises nostalgia, stomach-churning violence, and a group of teens that you will fall in love with. Perhaps don't get too attached! You can pick up a copy of Born of Bloodshed on Amazon now.  

For a slight change of pace, Spencer is the one who opens the episode with some good publishing news! After that, we settle down and read some of the greatest Halloween-time poems. Of course, this leads to instant nonsense things continuously go off the rails.  You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com 

We kick things off with even more great publishing news! After that, we attempt to cover a list of great Halloween books. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your view, we succumb to an intense giggle fest and aren't able to take things seriously.  You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We open the episode with more good publishing news! After that, we discuss the greatest "satirical" novels of all time. However, there is some contention on what constitutes satire. Make sure you stick around to the end because we play something especially odd and stupid for your listening pleasure.  You can follow us on Instagram, X, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com 

In our final installment discussing Manga Stories Vol 1, we cover Haruki Murakami's short story and manga adaptation, The Seventh Man."

Caleb opens the episode with his biggest publishing news to date! After that, we discuss our big plans for October, including reading a novel, short story, poem, and graphic novel throughout the month. We also decide to do a special Halloween episode that'll include an excerpt from one of Caleb's newest stories.  You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We discuss the short story and manga adaptation of Birthday Girl by Haruki Murakami. 

Caleb opens the episode with some more exciting publishing news! After that, we discuss some of the costs associated with writing. We first dive into the publishing world and what you can expect to get paid for your work. Then we talk about what struggles indie authors face when putting out their own work. A lot of which revolves around hiring other people such as editors and cover artists.  You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast Check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We discuss Where I'm Likely to Find It by Haruki Murakami, featured in Manga Stories Volume 1 and the prose version in The New Yorker.

Caleb opens the episode with some super exciting publishing news! After that, we discuss speculative poetry, a topic we're both woefully ignorant about. We talk about the various forms of speculative poetry, how they differ from traditional poetry, and how absolutely awesome genres like sword and sorcery poetry are. For a bonus, we read many examples of these kinds of poetry. You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We discuss two versions of Haruki Murakami's short story, Super Frog Saves Tokyo. We compare Murakami's original story to the manga adaptation in Manga Stories Volume 1. 

We open the episode with a bit of housekeeping. After that, we have a fun discussion about cliches and better writing methods. Things go askew fairly quickly but we cover a lot of useful information. To add an element of pure chaos to things, we end the episode by changing some common cliches to much dumber versions.  You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com 

We are back with A Murakami Minute! This time, we are covering Haruki Murakami's Manga Stories Volume 1. In this first volume, Jc Deveney has adapted four of Murakami's stories into a manga collection with art by PMGL Pierre-Marie Grille-Liou.  The four stories in this collection are:  Super-Frog Saves Tokyo: A few days after an earthquake, Katagiri discovers a giant frog in this home. The frog promises to save Tokyo from another earthquake, but Katagiri must help him. Is this real, or is Katagiri dreaming? Where I'm Likely to Find It: A woman's husband goes missing so she hires a detective. As the detective traces the man's whereabouts, he reflects on the meaning of his own life.  Birthday Girl: A woman tells her friend the story of a surreal encounter she has on her twentieth birthday with the owner of the restaurant where she works, who grants her a wish. The Seventh Man: The story of a man scarred by the death of his childhood friend in a tsunami.

Spencer starts the episode with a grievance against a certain group of people urinating into his breakfast cereal of choice. After that, we have an interesting conversation about lyrical prose. Specifically, what constitutes lyrical prose, how to write it well, and how to realize that you've gone beyond lyrical prose into the dirty category of purple prose.  You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com. 

We open the episode with a few reviews and some possibly upsetting Neil Gaiman news. After that, we have a fun discussion about the novel NSFW by previous DPW guest David Scott Hay. We talk about the themes of the book and how they reflect our current world, why experimental fiction might not work for all readers, and the dark road our society might be going down.  You can snag a copy of NSFW on Amazon or go to David's website.  You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast

We open the episode with a recap of our moonshine-filled weekend. Also, submission grievances! After that, we take a fan suggestion and discuss our writing processes: what software we use, how we get our ideas, the types of outlines we use, and what writing techniques we want to implement in the future.  You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast Check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.