Podcasts about dragonfire

Jim and John tackle the Season 24 finale and the show's 150th story, featuring Bonnie Langford's abrupt departure, Sophie Aldred's introduction as Ace, the return of Sabalom Glitz, and one of the most infamous cliffhangers in Doctor Who history. Jim struggles to find redeeming qualities in a season he considers possibly the worst in Classic Who, while production issues and budget constraints become increasingly evident. The 150th Story Milestone: Written by Ian Briggs (who will later write fan-favorite "The Curse of Fenric"), directed by Chris Clough (completing his second "last two stories of a season" after Trial of a Time Lord). Originally pitched as story about an intergalactic shopping center owner wanting the TARDIS for the ultimate shopping experience. The BBC counted Trial of a Time Lord as one story arc, so technically this should be story 153. Andrew Cartmell brought writers into his office for collaborative discussion—closest thing to a "writer's room" Doctor Who ever had. Cartmell considered this the best story of Season 24, which Jim finds bewildering given his own assessment of the season. The Infamous Umbrella Cliffhanger: Everybody fixates on McCoy lowering himself over a parapet by his umbrella, stopping mid-descent and hanging there looking confused. The scene has become legendary for all the wrong reasons—why did he do it in the first place when he wasn't trapped? According to Briggs, the script called for the Doctor to lower himself because he was trapped with nowhere to go, and the actual cliffhanger was supposed to be the dragon appearing. The awkward execution wasn't the writer's fault. Director and production team share blame for one of the series' most criticized moments. Sophie Aldred as Ace: Cast at age 26 to play 16-year-old Ace (10 years younger than her actual age—more than Burt Ward's 6-year gap playing Robin). Actually two years older than Bonnie Langford despite playing significantly younger. Sophie auditioned for Ray in "Delta and the Bannermen" but didn't get it—worked in her favor as Ace became iconic. Character is human from late 20th century Earth who arrived on Iceworld when chemistry experiment triggered time storm in her bedroom. Uses homemade explosive "Nitro-9" and shouts "Ace!" frequently (which doesn't work for Jim). Calls the Doctor "Professor" which he tries to discourage. John admits he initially hated Ace in this story—found her annoying and grumpy, a "miserable brat." But promises a "Richter scale" shift in appreciation with the next story, suggesting maturation between seasons and genuine chemistry developing with McCoy that was absent with Mel. Bonnie Langford's Awkward Exit: Mel's departure makes no narrative sense—no setup, no telegraphing, completely out of nowhere. She suddenly decides to stay with Glitz to "keep him out of trouble" with zero romantic hints or friendship development to justify it. The farewell scene wasn't written by Briggs—it was McCoy's audition piece that he loved so much he convinced Cartmell to insert it into the script. Both later regretted this decision. Briggs washes his hands of it: "I didn't write that." Bonnie had to act opposite her replacement throughout, standing back while production sells Sophie/Ace hard, often getting relegated to the background. Classic Who pattern of treating departing companions poorly. Jim notes tiny bit of charm finally emerging between McCoy and Bonnie right at the very end—too little, too late. Bonnie's Post-Who Career: Didn't get the serious acting career she hoped Doctor Who would provide. Continued successful musical theater and light entertainment work but remained the butt of jokes for years—including a 1990s condom commercial depicting her parents with slogan "if only they'd used a condom." Public perception shifted when she appeared on "Strictly Come Dancing" (British dance competition) alongside John Barrowman. Fans hoped for Doctor Who face-off but she was injured during rehearsal and had to withdraw; Barrowman voted out shortly after. Her bravery with the injury softened public opinion—now considered a "national treasure" in Britain. This is why she was brought back for New Who, not just fan service. The Glitz Problem: Tony Selby returns as Sabalom Glitz—JNT read the script, liked having Tony Selby (who was "hot" at the time appearing on other British TV), and suggested using Glitz instead of similar character. Glitz owns the Nosferatu (referenced in Trial of a Time Lord). Jim couldn't stand Glitz's hair. Compares him to Star Trek's Cyrano Jones/Harry Mudd. Softened for this story, lost whatever bite he had before. No chemistry with anyone—not Ace, not the Doctor. Tony Selby passed away in 2021 at age 83. In New Who, Mel references traveling with "Sabalom Glitz" until he was 107, slipped on a bottle, cracked his head and died. She returned to Earth by "hopping on a Zingo" (running joke—no one knows what a Zingo is). Kane and the Ice World Setting: Edward Peel plays Kane, the villain who controls Iceworld trading colony on dark side of planet Svartos. His touch is so cold it can kill. Marks employees with his symbol iced into their flesh. Basically "Mr. Freeze redux" per Jim. Kane is half of Kane-Xana criminal gang from planet Proamon. Xana killed herself to avoid arrest; Kane was exiled to cold dark side of Svartos. Iceworld is actually a spacecraft—the "treasure" is a crystal that activates the ship to end his exile. Kane's head-melting death scene well-executed (reminds Jim of Star Trek TNG's "Conspiracy" but actually inspired by Toht/Belloq melting in Raiders of the Lost Ark). Jim wishes they'd lingered on the effect a second or two longer—it was actually done well. Patricia Quinn as Belazs: The only character Jim cared about in Part One. Reminded him strongly of Glynis Johns. Plays officer who realizes Kane won't release her, tries to escape, attempts to overthrow Kane by raising temperature in his chambers. Patricia Quinn interviewed on Blu-ray—now a British Duchess with purple hair, incredibly eccentric despite aristocratic status. Behind the Sofa caught her looking off-camera for cue cards "like a Saturday Night Live skit." Belazs killed by Kane, goes out "like a chump" when Jim thought she deserved to be the one to dispatch Kane. New lackeys introduced in Part 3 waste screen time that could have developed her character better. The Derivative Dragon: Jim catalogs extensive borrowing from other sci-fi properties: Dragon is blatant Alien/Aliens ripoff—H.R. Giger's xenomorph design copied almost exactly (long thin arms, fingers, back protrusions, head shape like Alien Queen) Described as "biomechanoid" (Giger's biomechanical design philosophy) Superman Fortress of Solitude hologram crystal stolen wholesale—hologram woman appears to conveniently explain backstory exactly like Lex Luthor scene in Superman II Alien tracker guns copied from Aliens (complete with "it should be right on us" suspense) Zombies added to cliché pile Jim notes the show stopped ripping off Star Wars and moved on to Alien franchise and Superman movies. This is "perhaps never more" derivative than in this story. Production and Budget Collapse: "Batman Season 3 worthy sets"—budget clearly ran out by season's end. Station sets not impressive, doesn't sell the Ice World concept. Model of planet surface done well, but interior sets very lacking. Shot brightest possible lights, no atmosphere or mystery. Dragon walks around "like a costume character at Disney World." Almost entirely studio-bound with minimal location work. Cliffhanger at end of Part 2 "one of the most horribly dull ever"—Kane just declares "the dragonfire shall be mine" with no tension whatsoever. The McCoy Problem Continues: Jim still doesn't know who McCoy's Doctor is. An engaging Doctor can carry even poor stories (citing Colin Baker), but McCoy isn't doing that. Not a force within the show, just reacting. Both McCoy and Mel "treading water" all season. This is McCoy's "freshman year" but with a producer trying to rebuild without reaching out to anything—soft reboot that plays it safe with half the budget. Jim sees all the tropes and clichés but not innovation. Brief moment of crankiness when McCoy yells "SILENCE!" at the girls—is this the temperamental side promised? Tiny bit of charm emerges at very end with Mel but too late. No chemistry with Bonnie throughout until final seconds. John's thesis: "These three seasons walked so New Who could run." Season 24 feels like desperate attempt to make it a kids' show again but dumbing it down ("Uncle Miltie's Carnival of Fun"). Philosophy discussion scene interesting but "puts everyone in the audience asleep." Cast Notes: Tony Osoba (Kracauer) played Lan in "Destiny of the Daleks," returns in New Who episode "Kill the Moon" Sharon Duce (customer with milkshake dumped on her) was the camper killed by Ogri in "Stones of Blood" (the scene that scandalized Jim and John for depicting unmarried relations) Little girl Stellar played by Miranda Borman—wearing a dress Bonnie Langford wore at that age for a role. Hosts wonder if this was a stage mother situation Large cast overall—perhaps one of the largest in Doctor Who history The Cartmell Philosophy: Andrew Cartmell doesn't like interior TARDIS scenes, so "we're not gonna see the console room much moving forward." Jim outraged: "That's inane... good writing doesn't drag a scene down." Lost opportunities for insightful TARDIS interactions between Doctor and companions. Fandom Division: By end of Season 24, fandom most divided over show's direction. Fanzine DWB went on crusade to get JNT sacked—he considered suing but BBC told him to leave it. BBC willing to let him go after 25th season (which he wanted to see through) but he stayed on longer than that. Jim's Season Assessment: Can't think of another time the show has felt this low overall. Rough, a slog. Still not sure who McCoy is as a Doctor. Compares unfavorably to Colin Baker era—at least Colin was consistent and worth watching even in poor stories. Sees Season 24 as show desperately wanting spunky girl companion (keeps trying over and over) but not knowing what to do with them when they get one (Mel being prime example). Both agree it's not a good way to end the season. Coming Up Next: Patreon Exclusive 170: Music selection, Season 24 retrospective, at least one Season 25 spoiler for Jim, comic strip reviews of "Redemption" and "The Crossroads of Time" (both one-parters), and Memory TARDIS wheel spin. Hiatus Special (Patreon early): "Wartime" shorts featuring the return of Sergeant Benton with the interesting behind-the-scenes story of how this fan production came to be (approximately 30-35 minutes). (Main feed) BBC audio drama "Slipback" with Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. Hashtags: #DoctorWho #Dragonfire #150thStory #SylvesterMcCoy #SeventhDoctor #BonnieLangford #Mel #SophieAldred #Ace #SabalomGlitz #TonySelby #Season24Finale #KaneTheVillain #UmbrellaCliffhanger #PatriciaQuinn #IanBriggs #ChrisClough #ClassicWho #CompanionDeparture #NewCompanion #ProductionProblems #BudgetIssues #DoctorWhoPodcast

We come back from a long break to dissect the first full-length House of the Dragon Season 3 trailer, from blink and you miss it shots to the lines that hint at where the Dance of the Dragons is headed. We also catch up on the latest George R. R. Martin universe news and debate whether the franchise can keep its character depth as the scale gets bigger and bloodier.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow Dancing with Dragons on Instagram Follow Tony on IG: Sirtone_Reviews  Follow Minwa on IG: TheArabKhaleesihttps://dancingwithdragons.buzzsprout.comEmail us @DancewithDragons62@gmail.com

Jim and John find common ground after their Paradise Towers divide, both celebrating the three-part structure as potentially perfect for Doctor Who storytelling. The story features 1950s nostalgia, holiday camp hijinks, and Stubby Kaye from Guys and Dolls. The Relief Factor: After Paradise Towers' evisceration, John feared the worst. Jim's verdict: "It's no Paradise Towers" (thankfully). Discussion of whether you can go lower than a 1 rating and what "having a nice time" means for Doctor Who evaluation. Three Parts: The Perfect Length?: Extended discussion of whether three episodes might be the ideal Doctor Who story format. They've said it before but only really had one three-parter to judge by (Planet of Giants). Jim credits the economy of three parts for helping this story—nothing wasted, though some backstory needed filling in. Question raised: why not make the entire 14-episode season consistent lengths instead of mixing two four-parters with two three-parters? Production Context: Written by Malcolm Kohll (first Doctor Who story). Directed by Chris Clough (Terror of the Vervoids, Ultimate Foe, upcoming Dragonfire, Happiness Patrol, Silver Nemesis). Original title: "The Flight of the Chimeron." Shot almost entirely on location at Butlin's Barry Island holiday camp in Wales (rats forced crew to abandon staying there after two nights). Interior shots done first for once because next story (Dragonfire) is entirely in studio. Ken Dodd (intergalactic tollmaster) took role to dig at tax revenue service investigating him—they discovered over £300,000 unclaimed in his home but he was acquitted. The Stubby Kaye Question: Jim's jaw-dropping moment: recognizing Stubby Kaye from Guys and Dolls (Nicely Nicely Johnson, "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat"). He was 69 in 1987, 32 when the Broadway show opened in 1950, 37 in the 1955 film. Extended discussion of how an American actor wound up in Doctor Who—was he living in England? Did he do multiple British productions? Also appeared in Who Framed Roger Rabbit the following year as voice of editor. Paired with Morgan Deare (American actor) whose "terrible" accent made Jim think he was British doing bad American Southern/Western accent. Both actors somewhat superfluous to story. Weissmuller and Hawk characters had larger role in uncut version involving the satellite subplot. The Ray Factor: Sarah Griffiths as Ray was being tested as potential new companion because Bonnie Langford was thinking of leaving. Sophie Aldred auditioned for this role but didn't get it—instead cast as Ace for next story, which worked in her favor. Jim didn't identify Ray as potential companion (first time in long time he missed that cue). Malcolm Kohll created character but signed waiver making her BBC property since JNT/Cartmel came up with basic idea of girl who could fix anything with right tool. Lynn Gardner was original actress but injured herself practicing motorcycle riding, so Sarah Griffiths got role. McCoy Development Moments: John identifies key character growth: McCoy showing appreciation for simple things like Burton the camp director's life. Monologue to Gavrok about life defeating those who deal in death—Jim thought this might be quotable Doctor speech. Jim still waiting for something to quantify McCoy as distinct from previous six Doctors: The Interspecies Romance: Billy drinks Chimeron nutrient solution to become one of Delta's people so he can leave with her and the princess to restart the race. The Villain Problem: Gavrok (Don Henderson, who was General Tagge in original Star Wars) and Bannermen lack clear motivation. Backstory existed but cut for time: Bannermen invaded Chimeron homeworld because they'd made ecological mess of their own worlds. Mel Forgotten: By final action sequence, Mel almost completely absent. Stands holding Bannerman weapon in macho pose at end "as if she had a big part in rounding up those guys" but didn't. Bonnie's decision to leave not story-based but timing: "never intended to be long-term player, felt it was right time to go." Only 20 episodes across six stories makes her one of briefest companions. Didn't do convention circuit until last 15-20 years; now enthusiastic about return in New Who. Production Details: Chimeron baby played by 3-4 different children (teenage princess not interviewed for Blu-ray despite being old enough) Green makeup question: females outgrow green skin? Delta has "very slight greenish cast" only visible at end Baby in green onesie looks ridiculous Effects with bus and TARDIS "pretty bad" but Bannermen ship landing "nicely done" Loved the vintage bus itself (appropriate for 1959) Beekeeper character adds to already massive cast Final shot: beekeeper's impish grin as TARDIS disappears (Chris Clough will repeat this in Dragonfire) Cast and Crew Favorite: Despite acknowledging it's not a great story, cast and crew enjoyed nostalgia of 50s holiday camps and had fun making it. Ratings consistent: 5.3, 5.1, 5.4. The Cartmel Philosophy: Andrew Cartmel doesn't like interior TARDIS scenes so "we're not gonna see the console room much moving forward." Jim outraged: "inane... good writing doesn't drag a scene down." Discussion of lost opportunities for insightful TARDIS interactions. The New Who Question: Public call-out asking if listeners want them to continue past TV Movie into New Who (Eccleston era). Multiple positive responses received. Shag's thoughtful response: only continue if you find joy in it, not worth 20 years of episodes without happiness. John notes RTD1 was "glorious time for Doctor Who" with fandom mostly united (unlike RTD2 era). Discussion of callbacks, slow beginning like Star Trek TNG's moratorium on mentioning Vulcans. Both agree putting themselves in companion's shoes helps—did they feel sad leaving this world? Yes for Delta, unlike Paradise Towers. Coming Up Next: Monday on Patreon Feed - Music, Memory TARDIS and a look at the first Sylvester McCoy appearance in the comics with "A Cold Day in Hell". Friday on Patreon Feed (Monday for the main feed) - Season 24 finale, "Dragonfire" - the introduction of Ace, which John will narrate. Hashtags: #DoctorWho #DeltaAndTheBannermen #SylvesterMcCoy #SeventhDoctor #Mel #BonnieLangford #StubblyKaye #GuysAndDolls #1950sNostalgia #HolidayCamp #ThreePartStory #KenDodd #ChrisClaw #Season24 #Chimeron #Bannermen #RayNotAce #SophieAldred #InterspeciesRomance #WagnerianOpera #ChuckJones #ClassicWho #NewWhoQuestion #DoctorWhoPodcast

The frozen world of Svartos is home to the unique spaceport of Iceworld, which is home to more than just intergalactic commerce. In its shadowy caverns, an ancient evil searches for a way to be free. This week, Paddy and Tricia follow The Doctor and Mel as they arrive on the planet in search of a legend an end up encountering an old accquaintance, a fiery new friend and a terrifying foe as roam the corridors. Can they discover the secret treasure and uncover all its secrets or will they fallen victim to the legendary Dragonfire.

On this episode of The CJ Moneyway Show — powered by CJ Moneyway Entertainment and Bleav Network — CJ sits down with Humphrey Hawksley, one of the most experienced foreign correspondents of our time. Humphrey's career with the BBC took him into crises around the world — from being expelled in Sri Lanka, to opening the BBC's television bureau in China, to being arrested in Serbia. His documentaries have tackled human rights abuses in global trade, the failures of international development, nuclear industry risks, and the dangers of imposing Western‑style democracy too quickly. He is the author of acclaimed fiction and non‑fiction, including the Future History series (Dragon Strike, Dragon Fire, The Third World War), and Democracy Kills: What's so good about the vote?, a tie‑in to his documentary critique of modern democracy. In this episode, CJ and Humphrey dive into: • What it's like to report from active conflict zones and what the world misses when journalists can't get in • How geopolitical tensions shape economic markets, power balances, and future wars • Lessons from his thrillers — and how fiction can reveal deeper truths about real geopolitical dynamics • The risks and realities of applying Western democracy models in other societies • How global events can affect personal wealth, national security, and future stability This conversation is for anyone who wants to understand not just what is happening in the world — but why it matters to leadership, economy, and strategy. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major platforms. ⸻ GUEST RESOURCES (Publicly Verifyable) Humphrey Hawksley — Official Author & Speaker Info • Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Humphrey-Hawksley/author/B004ZBJL2S Sample Titles Mentioned (The Third World War, Dragon Strike, Ice Islands, Man on Ice) • The Third World War: The Terrifying Story of Global Ruin: https://www.amazon.com/Third-World-War-Terrifying-Global/dp/0748110035 • Dragon Strike (Future History #1): https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Strike-Future-History-1/dp/0312534619 • Man on Ice: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Ice-Humphrey-Hawksley/dp/178576575X • Ice Islands: https://www.amazon.com/Ice-Islands-Rake-Ozenna-Thrillers/dp/1250849544 Humphrey Hawksley — Profiles & Articles • Humphrey Hawksley Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Hawksley • Financial Times & Guardian Archives (search): https://www.theguardian.com/search?q=Humphrey+Hawksley (If you find additional official links — site, LinkedIn, official speaker page — I can update show notes accordingly.) ⸻ EPISODE OUTLINE 00:00 – Intro & Framing • CJ sets context: why geopolitics matter to leaders, investors, and strategic thinkers. 02:30 – Dispatches from a Foreign Correspondent • How Humphrey first got into global reporting • Stories from Sri Lanka, China, Serbia, and more 10:00 – Documentary Work & What It Uncovered • The Curse of Gold, Bitter Sweet and human rights/commodity connections • Aid Under Scrutiny and development failures 16:45 – Fiction as Forecast • Why Humphrey writes thrillers about future conflict • Dragon Strike series and global power dynamics 23:30 – Reality, Markets & Global Risk • How geopolitical tensions shape markets • How wars and conflict influence capital and strategy 30:15 – Democracy Kills & Political Strategy • Lessons from Democracy Kills • Why Western democracy isn't a universal model 37:00 – Personal Wealth, Real Estate & Erosion of Value • CJ mentions Humphrey's personal note about coastal erosion affecting capital • Conversation about risk, environment, and wealth protection 42:30 – Final Words • What leaders need to know about the next decade • Where listeners can go next Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, here it is! The fifth and final game in the Quest for Glory series. and it's an amazing game! Anna says so. Anna tells Paul. Anna tells everyone! Mangia!   Play our adventure game! The Phantom Fellows is out now! GOG  Steam  itch.io Fireflower   Mac App Store The Phantom Fellows Pin/Magnet by CanvasQuest! The Phantom Fellows Players Companion (Guide to Must-See Moments!) Grab a Phantom Fellows shirt or mug at AdventureGameMerch.com ! Become a Patreon to support the show! www.patreon.com/ClassicGamersGuild Shek out our friends in the Adventure Game Hotspot Network: Space Quest Historian's No more Early Access! SpaceVenture is officially released Adventure Game Geek's Spud! The So-Bad-It's-Really-Bad Christmas Adventure OneShortEye's  Why (almost) No One Solves This Game Adventure Game Hotspot's Sierra Days Panel Conversations with Curtis' Paul Korman & Daniel play The Phantom Fellows!  & Daniel plays Return to Monkey Island with Anna & Paul from the Classic Gamers Guild Podcast Tech Talk with Daniel Albu's Mark Seibert: The Sound of Sierra On-Line

Mind racing a little tonight? Join Geoffrey for a soothing bedtime story as we return to The Hilldwellers, where a fading glow beneath the hills calls Fern and Carrie back into adventure. If you'd like an extra touch of calm, you can also watch this episode on Spotify, complete with soothing visuals

Criminosos vazam 190 GB de dados da Petrobras após extorsão. Amazon dá 3 meses grátis de Clube iFood para assinantes Prime; saiba ativar. Receita Federal faz leilão com PS5, iPhone 15 Pro, Echo Pop e mais; confira os lotes. Keeta: app chinês de delivery chega em São Paulo com cupons de até R$ 200. DragonFire: laser de baixo custo britânico derruba drones voando a 650 km/h. Quando é o horário nobre da Black Friday? Um estudo explica. Meta compra chips do Google. Pai do Pix vai para o FMI. CEO da Nvidia manda usar IA.

Britain's defence tech gets a major boost as the Ministry of Defence signs a £316 million contract to equip Royal Navy ships with DragonFire laser weapon systems — capable of hitting a £1 coin from over a kilometre away. We break down what this leap in naval protection means for jobs, defence, and the UK's future warfare capabilities.Plus, one of the UK's largest prostate cancer studies gets underway, aiming to transform diagnosis and reduce harm for thousands of men.We also speak to Professor Mark Rowlands about why Plymouth has been crowned the happiest place in the UK to be a dog.Also in this episode:UCL scientists identify what triggered a huge ‘earthquake swarm' near Santorini, detecting magma flows deep beneath the seafloor.James Webb Space Telescope spots a supermassive black hole that shouldn't exist, challenging theories of early-universe formation.Cricket 26 launches ahead of the Ashes, with updated squads, stadiums and “Bazball”-inspired modes.Google tests Quick Share compatibility with Apple's AirDrop, hinting at smoother cross-platform file transfers.For all the latest news, head to standard.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you into trivia? Calling all connoisseurs of the cryptic to the only quiz played live, all around Australia. Join the host of Nightlife Philip Clark for The Mighty Challenge!   

2:24 - The News 7:46 - Jerks of the Week 11:18 - Wayne's World 15:30 - Chaplin 22:45 - My Cousin Vinny 23:06 - Aladdin 23:18 - The Lion King 24:16 - A Few Good Men 25:31 - Homeward Bound 27:04 - Falling Down 27:56 - My Old Ass 30:03 - Weapons 35:16 - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm 35:54 - Sleepless in Seattle 37:45 - Addams Family Values 38:07 - Schindler's List 40:04 - In the Name of the Father 42:16 - The Hudsucker Proxy 44:38 - Legend of the Red Dragon 45:21 - Pulp Fiction & Forrest Gump 49:46 - Clear and Present Danger 52:24 - The Naked Gun 1:00:21 - Caught Stealing 1:04:37 - M3gan 1:05:29 - All the President's Men 1:08:03 - Watcher 1:10:08 - Americana 1:12:31 - America's Team 1:27:50 - Casino 1:31:26 - Thank You for Smoking 1:34:11 - On Deadly Ground 1:40:10 - Bloodfist: Dragonfire 1:48:47 - Stealth Fighter

Live from the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas we're playing new games and doling out wisdom about trampoline time, garbanzo beans, and knife-sharpening machines!Suggested talking points: Zero Degrees to Natalie Portman, Tramposition, The President of Basketball, Loose Knives, Legal Rock MistakesEquality Florida: https://www.eqfl.org/VR Link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xs2ky4ouy3vnvgs42dc9l/Dragonfire_trailer.mp4?rlkey=jiexk22u11p8dzb8o11sgv1jw&st=bqil367t&dl=0

Giles Bryant is joined by Dr Heiki Bielek & Colin Power where they explain their revolutionary work in Consciousness, Geometry & Computer Systems To Benefit All

The first season of the McCoy era comes to a close, with a new companion and…a vampire story?! Really?! Were we the only ones who didn't see this? Come join Tony Whitt, Alyson Fitch-Safreed, and Dalton Hughes as they discuss Ian Briggs' novelization of DRAGONFIRE. We are a proud part of the Direction Point Podcast Network, including such fine shows as THE DOCTOR WHO COLLECTORS PODCAST, THE POLICE BOX IN A JUNKYARD PODCAST, and TIMESTREAMS. You can check out these and other podcasts in the network at http://www.directionpoint.org! If you like what you hear, please come visit our Patreon page! It's at https://www.patreon.com/DWTargetBC. If you decide to support us in our ongoing effort to discuss all of the DOCTOR WHO novelizations, you'll be able to choose a gift! Contributing at any level gets you our extras! Visit the site for more details! We also have a book discussion group of our very own on Goodreads! It can be found at the link below. If you want to have your question, discussion, or review of a given book read aloud by us, simply join the group, post your response to the group by the given deadline, and we will see it! Also, feel free to follow us on the social media accounts listed below, or subscribe to us via the podcast provider of your choice. You can also email us at the email address given at the end of the episode with the phrase “Target Book Club” in the subject line! Thanks as always to Ron Schiding for our podcast logo and artwork, and to Dalton Hughes for the editing! Our new theme: DalekWho1963 - https://youtu.be/DoJIQ5dGLkQ?si=UYXahrgSVmJqUAqJ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoctorWhoTargetBookClubPodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctorwhotargetbc/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dwtargetbc.bsky.social iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doctor-who-target-book-club-podcast/id1195364046?see-all=reviews SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/doctorwhotargetbc TuneIn: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Fantasy--Science-Fiction-Podc/Doctor-Who-Target-Book-Club-Podcast-p957128/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/710804-doctor-who-target-book-club-podcast The DIRECTION POINT Doctor Who Podcast Network: https://directionpoint.org/

Episode Summary:In this episode, James Cox, your host, interviews the talented Dr. B, also known as the "mad scientist." Dr. B shares his journey from being a DJ to becoming a best-selling author and musician. He discusses his experiences in the music industry, the challenges he faced, and how he found his passion for creating unique audio films. Dr. B also talks about his latest projects, including his albums "The Asylum" and "Echoes Through Time," and his upcoming album "Dragonfire." The conversation delves into the healing power of music, mental health, and the creative process behind his work.Key Topics:Dr. B's journey in the music industry and transition to independent artistryThe concept of audio films and how they differ from traditional musicThe inspiration behind Dr. B's albums and the stories they tellThe importance of mental health and how music can be a therapeutic toolDr. B's upcoming projects, including his art book "Coffee and Art" and the "Elysium" seriesThe creative process and collaboration with voice actors and musiciansSpecial Mentions:BetterHelp sponsorship offering 10% off the first month of therapy for listenersDr. B's book "The Elysium: The Holy War" available on AmazonUpcoming art book "Coffee and Art" featuring coffee recipes and storyboardsConnect with Dr. B:Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb79XEsOT1A8mHKS2cKFJ9QSocial Media: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb79XEsOT1A8mHKS2cKFJ9QConnect with The When Words Fail Music Speaks Podcast:Website: www.whenwordsfailmusicspeaks.comSponsor:BetterHelp: Visit betterhelp.com/musicspeaks for 10% off your first month of therapy.

Gäster: Natalie Lind, Ahmed Berhan, Anthon Johansson, Rasmus Wimby, Anthon Johansson, Gustav Elveros, David Lexholm Musik: DJURPARKEN https://open.spotify.com/artist/23952i9U3XvWgWFdFbRp9k?si=BD1w3XJrSdaeEuF4tGs5FQ Natalie Lindh https://open.spotify.com/artist/0iOGu38mOQZ1rlhDRyl7il?si=WDkXxBA-S5Wo482ajEzcQQ STORY HOTEL Alla lyssnare får 30% rabatt på standard rate: Gå in på hyatt.com och välj destination, Stockholm eller Malmö. Ange ”Corporate or Group Code”: 165414 (Giltig fram till 31 augusti 2025) Patrons får 50% rabatt med en kod som du hittar här: https://www.patreon.com/posts/story-hotel-50-94462700?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link För 90SEK/mån får du 5 avsnitt i veckan: 4 Vanliga AMK MORGON + AMK FREDAG med Isak Wahlberg Se till att bli Patron via webben och inte direkt i iPhones Patreon-app för att undvika Apples extraavgifter: Öppna istället din browser och gå till www.patreon.com/amkmorgon Gå på DJURPARKEN:s 10årsjubileum den 3:e maj i Stockholm: https://www.facebook.com/events/s/djurparken-live-i-sthlm-10arsj/1586989532014012/ Gå på Natalie Lindh 29:e maj i Göteborg https://secure.tickster.com/sv/jvkk5xc69cpdk0f/products Relevanta länkar: …påven https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/3M34g9/paven-ar-dod https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/cfd8132b-f6ee-4ee9-8bd9-535de2d58166/jd-vance2-gty-bh-250420_1745153399045_hpMain.jpg https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-04/in-open-dialogue-with-pope-ten-young-people-ask-tough-questions.html …de nya påvarna https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/21/who-next-pope-francis-potential-candidates-succeed https://www.katolskakyrkan.se/kyrkan-i-varlden/vatikanen/paven/hur-valet-av-en-pave-gar-till …The Two Popes https://www.netflix.com/title/80174451 …Benedictus https://lacatholics.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20221231T0445-OBIT-BENEDICT-1753610-scaled.jpg …Vatican audience hall https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/styles/article_news_full_detail/public/2023-05/20230427T0745-VATICAN-LETTER-RESURRECTION-SCULPTURE-1758913.JPG.jpeg?itok=7KyVodU2 …Mussolinis fejs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Braschi#/media/File:Palazzo_Braschi_Fascist_Poster,_1934.png …Salt LAke Temple https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_Temple …San Diego California Temple https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_California_Temple …Hallgrímskirkja https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Reykjavik%27s_church.jpg …Kiruna Kyrka https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/jukkasjarvi/kiruna-kyrka …de mexikanska gravarna https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-38286965 …The Line https://neom.scene7.com/is/image/neom/line-bottom-desktop?wid=1920&hei=1065 https://parametric-architecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/the-line-project-1499x999.jpg …robothästen https://www.cnet.com/tech/rideable-horse-robot-viral-video-the-real-story-behind-it/ …Star Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative …DragonFireLaser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonFire_(weapon) …det mongolska hästravet https://www.tiktok.com/@lovinmaltaofficial/video/7414151163924335905 …cannabisryttarna i Kyrgystan https://gizmodo.com/marijuana-harvesting-in-kyrgyzstan-sometimes-involves-n-5838975 …FYRE https://www.svt.se/kultur/skandalfestivalen-fyre-stalls-in https://www.vice.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/1493671228453-fyre-sandwich-copy.jpeg https://www.netflix.com/title/81035279 Låtarna som spelades var: Riders on the Storm - The Doors grå himmel blå (snälla) - DJURPARKEN & Natalie Lindh Alla låtar finns i AMK Morgons spellista här: https://open.spotify.com/user/amk.morgon/playlist/6V9bgWnHJMh9c4iVHncF9j?si=so0WKn7sSpyufjg3olHYmg Stötta oss gärna på Swish, varje litet bidrag uppskattas enormt! 123 646 2006

We conclude our series on trials, by talking about the fires Satan throws into our lives. This weeks discussion questions are below: March 30, 2025 Discussion Questions What does Peter mean when he tells believers to "cast all your anxiety on Jesus"? How does this relate to spiritual battles? Have you ever experienced a time when you felt like you were under spiritual attack? How did you respond? In what ways do you personally struggle with either ignoring spiritual warfare or seeing it in everything? The sermon mentions that suffering can refine us. Can you think of a time when a difficult season in your life ultimately made you stronger or deepened your faith? What are some ways we can "stand firm" in faith when faced with trials or spiritual attacks? How can Christian community help protect us from "the roaring lion" that seeks to isolate and devour believers? The sermon discusses breath prayers as a way to "cast our anxieties" on Jesus. Have you ever practiced breath prayers or similar spiritual disciplines? How do you think they can help in times of stress or fear? How does the hope of Christ's return shape how we endure suffering today? How can we encourage others who are going through difficult times to remember who they are becoming through their struggles?

In this week's episode, we continue our discuss about how seeking prestige can be dangerous for writers, specifically in the form of traditional publishing and the New York Times Bestseller list. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Shield of the Knight, Book #2 in the Dragonskull series (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills), at my Payhip store: DRAGONSHIELD50 The coupon code is valid through March 21, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for spring, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00   Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 241 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is February 28th, 2025. Today we are continuing our discussion of how to escape the trap of prestige for writers, specifically traditional publishing and The New York Times Bestseller List. Before we get to our main topic, we will do Coupon of the Week, an update on my current writing and audiobook projects, and then Question of the Week.   This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Shield of the Knight, Book Two in the Dragonskull series (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills), at my Payhip store. That coupon code is DRAGONSHIELD50. As always, I'll include the coupon code and the link to the store in the show notes. This coupon code is valid through March 21st, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook as we start to head into the spring months, we have got you covered. Now an update on my current writing projects. I'm pleased to report I am done with the rough draft of Ghost in the Assembly. I came in at 106,000 words, so it'll definitely be over a hundred thousand words when it's done. I'm about 20% of the way through the first round of edits, so I am confident in saying that if all goes well and nothing unexpected happens, I am on track to have it out in March. I am also 10,000 words into Shield of Battle, which will be the fifth of six books in the Shield War series and I'm hoping to have that out in April, if all goes well.   In audiobook news, recording for both Cloak of Dragonfire and Orc-Hoard is done. I'm just waiting for them to get through the processing on the various stores so they're available. There is also an audiobook edition of Half Elven Thief Omnibus One and Cloak Mage Omnibus Three that hopefully should be coming in March. More news with that to come.   00:01:55 Question of the Week   Now let's move on to Question of the Week. Question of the Week is intended to inspire interesting discussions of enjoyable topics. This week's question: what is your favorite subgenre of fantasy, high fantasy, epic fantasy, sword and sorcery, historical fantasy, urban fantasy, LitRPG, cultivation, or something else? No wrong answers, obviously.   Cindy says: Epic fantasy or those with a good history for that world. The Ghost Series are fantastic at this.   Thanks, Cindy.   Justin says: I enjoy all those sub-genres, if they are done well. In times past I would've said comic fantasy, but that is because Terry Pratchett at his best was just that good.   Mary says: High fantasy.   Surabhi says: I'd honestly read anything fantasy that's written well and has characters I'm attached to, given that it's not too gritty. Bonus points if there's humor! Also, I love your books so much and they're the perfect blend of fantasy, adventure, and characters. Your books were what really got me into Sword and Sorcery.   Thanks, Surabhi.     Matthew says: See, that's difficult. I love my sabers, both light and metal. I would say urban fantasy crosses the boundary the most. If it's a captivating story, it will be read.   John F says: I can't choose one- Lord of the Rings or LWW, The Inheritance Cycle, The Dresden Files, Caina, Ridmark, or Nadia. I think what draws me is great characters who grow. The setting/genre is just the device. That's why I keep coming back to your books. You create great characters.   Thanks, John F.   John K says: I think I'm partial to historical fantasy. I enjoy all genres, but when I think of my favorites, they tend to be derivations of historical settings. Think Guy Gavriel Kay or Miles Cameron. That said, I was weaned on Robert E. Howard, Fritz Lieber, Michael Moorcock, Karl Edward Wagner, Jack Vance, so a strong sword and sorcery second place.   Juana says: High fantasy. Belgariad, Tolkien, dragons, et cetera.   Jonathan says: Sword and sorcery in space! Prehistoric sword and sorcery, sword and sorcery always.   Quint: says Sword and sorcery!   Michael says: Sword and sorcery.   For myself, I think I would agree with our last couple of commenters and it would be sword and sorcery. My ideal fantasy novel has a barbarian hero wandering from corrupt city state to corrupt city state messing up the business of some evil wizards. I'm also very fond of what's called generic fantasy (if a fighter, a dwarf, an elf, and a wizard are going into a dungeon and fighting some orcs, I'm happy).   00:04:18 Main Topic of the Week: Escaping the Prestige Trap, Part 2   Now onto our main topic for the week, Escaping the Prestige Trap, Part 2, and we'll focus on traditional publishing and the New York Times Bestseller List this week. As we talked about last week, much of the idea of success, especially in the United States, is based on hitting certain milestones in a specific order. In the writing world, these measures of success have until fairly recently been getting an MFA, finding an agent, getting traditionally published, and hitting The New York Times Bestseller List. Last week we talked about the risks of an MFA and an agent. This week, we are going to talk about two more of those writing markers of prestige, getting traditionally published and having a book land on The New York Times Bestseller List. Why are they no longer as important? What should you devote your energy and focus to instead?   So let's start with looking at getting traditionally published. Most writers have dreamed of seeing their book for sale and traditional publishing for a long time has been the only route to this path. Until about 15 years ago, traditional publishing was the way that a majority of authors made their living. Now that big name authors like Hugh Howie, Andy Weir, and Colleen Hoover have had success starting as self-published authors (or in the case of authors Sarah J. Maas and Ali Hazelwood, fan fiction authors) and then are getting traditional publishing deals made for them for their self-published works. It's proof that self-publishing is no longer a sign that the author isn't good enough to be published traditionally. Previous to the rise of the Kindle, that was a common belief that if you were self-published, it was because you were not good enough to get traditionally published. That was sort of this pernicious belief that traditional publishing was a meritocracy, when in fact it tended to be based on who you knew. But that was all 15 years ago and now we are well into the age of self-publishing. Why do authors still want to be traditionally published when in my frank opinion, self-publishing is the better path? Well, I think there are three main reasons for that.   One of the main reasons is that the authors say they want to be traditionally published is to have someone else handle the marketing and the advertising. They don't realize how meager marketing budgets and staffing support are, especially for unknown authors. Many traditionally published authors are handling large portions of their own marketing and hiring publicists out of their own pocket because publishers are spending much less on marketing. The new reality is that traditional publishers aren't going to do much for you as a debut author unless you are already a public figure.   Even traditionally published authors are not exempt from having to do their own marketing now. James Patterson set up an entire company himself to handle his marketing. Though, to be fair to James Patterson, his background was in advertising before he came into publishing, so he wasn't exactly a neophyte in the field, but you see more and more traditionally published authors who you think would be successful just discontented with the system and starting to dabble in self-publishing or looking at alternative publishers like Aethon Books and different arrangements of publishing because the traditional system is just so bad for writers. The second main reason authors want to be traditionally published is that they want to avoid the financial burden of publishing. This is an outdated way of thinking. The barrier to publishing these days is not so much financial as it is knowledge. In fact, I published a book entirely using free open source software in 2017 just to prove that it could be done. It was Silent Order: Eclipse Hand, the fourth book in my science fiction series. I wrote it on Ubuntu using Libre Office and I edited it in Libre Office and I did the formatting on Ubuntu and I did the cover in the GIMP, which is a free and open source image editing program. This was all using free software and I didn't have to pay for the program. Obviously I had to pay for the computer I was using and the Internet connection, but in the modern era, having an internet connection is in many ways almost a requirement, so that's the cost you would be paying anyway.   The idea that you must spend tens of thousands of dollars in formatting, editing, cover, and marketing comes from scammy self-publishing services. Self-publishing, much like traditional publishing, has more than its fair share of scams or from people who aren't willing to take the time to learn these skills and just want to cut someone a check to solve the problem. There are many low cost and effective ways to learn these skills and resources designed specifically for authors. People like Joanna Penn have free videos online explaining how to do this, and as I've said, a lot of the software you can use to self-publish is either free or low cost, and you can get some very good programs like Atticus or Vellum or Jutoh for formatting eBooks for very low cost.   The third reason that writers want to be traditionally published is that many believe they will get paid more this way, which is, unless you are in the top 1% of traditionally published authors, very wrong. Every so often, there's a study bemoaning the fact that most publishers will only sell about $600 worth of any individual book, and that is true of a large percentage of traditionally published books. Traditional publishers typically pay a lump sum called advance, and then royalties based on sales. An average advance is about the same as two or three months of salary from an office job and so not a reflection of the amount of time it typically takes most authors to finish a book. Most books do not earn out their advance, which means the advance is likely to be the only money the author receives for the book. Even well-known traditionally published authors are not earning enough to support themselves as full-time authors. So as you can see, all three of these reasons are putting a lot of faith in traditional publishers, faith that seems increasingly unnecessary or downright misplaced. I think it is very healthy to get rid of the idea that good writing comes from traditional publishers and that the prestige of being traditionally published is the only way you'll be accepted as a writer or be able to earn a living as a full-time writer. I strongly recommend that people stop thinking that marketing is beneath you as an author or too difficult to learn. Whether you are indie or tradpub, you are producing a product that you want to sell, thus you are a businessperson. The idea that only indie authors have to sell their work is outdated. The sooner you accept this reality, the more options you will have. Self-publishing and indie publishing are admittedly more work. However, the benefits are significant. Here are five benefits of self-publishing versus traditional publishing.   The first advantage of self-publishing is you have complete creative control. You decide what the content of your book will be; you decide what the cover will be. If you don't want to make the covers yourself or you don't want to learn how to do that, you can very affordably hire someone to do it for you and they will make the cover exactly to your specifications. You also have more freedom to experiment with cross-genre books. As I've mentioned before, publishers really aren't a fan of cross genre books until they make a ton of money, like the new romantasy trend.   Traditional publishing is very trend driven and cautious. Back in the 2000s before I gave up on traditional publishing and discovered self-publishing, I would submit to agents a lot. Agents all had these guidelines for fantasy saying that they didn't want to see stories with elves and orcs and dwarves and other traditional fantasy creatures because they thought that was passe. Well, when I started self-publishing, I thought I'm going to write a traditional fantasy series with elves and orcs and dwarves and other traditional fantasy creatures just because I can and Frostborn has been my bestselling series of all time in the time I've been self-publishing, so you can see the advantages of having creative control.   The second advantage is you can control the marketing. Tradpub authors often sign a contract that they'll get their social media and website content approved by the publisher before posting. They may even be given boilerplate or pre-written things to post. In self-publishing, you have real time data to help you make decisions and adjust ads and overall strategy on the fly to maximize revenue. For example, if one of your books is selling strangely well on Google Play, it's time to adjust BookBub ads to focus on that platform instead of Amazon.   You can also easily change your cover, your blurb, and so forth after release. I've changed covers of some of my books many times trying to optimize them for increased sales and that is nearly impossible to do with traditional publishing. And in fact, Brandon Sanderson gave a recent interview where he talked about how the original cover of his Mistborn book was so unrelated to the content of the book that it almost sunk the book and hence his career.   You also have the ability to run ad campaigns as you see fit, not just an initial launch like tradpub does. For example, in February 2025, I've been heavily advertising my Demonsouled series even though I finished writing that series back in 2013, but I've been able to increase sales and derive a significant profit from those ads.   A third big advantage is that you get a far greater share of the profits. Most of the stores, if you price an ebook between $2.99 (prices are USD) and $9.99, you will get 70% of the sale price, which means if you sell an ebook for $4.99, you're probably going to get about $3.50 per sale (depending on currency fluctuations and so forth). That is vastly more than you would get from any publishing contract.   You also don't have to worry about the publisher trying to cheat you out of royalties. We talked about an agency stealing money last episode. Every platform you publish your book on, whether Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Smashwords and Apple will give you a monthly spreadsheet of your sales and then you can look at it for yourself, see exactly how many books you sold and exactly how much money you're going to get. I have only very rarely seen traditional publishing royalty statements that are as clear and have as much data in them as a spreadsheet from Google Play or Amazon. A fourth advantage is you don't have to worry about publishers abandoning you mid-series. In traditional publishing, there is what's called the Publishing Death Spiral where let's say an author is contracted to write a series of five books. The author writes the first book and it sells well. Then the author publishes the second book and it doesn't sell quite as well, but the publisher is annoyed enough by the decrease in sales that they drop the writer entirely and don't finish the series. This happens quite a bit in the traditional publishing world, and you don't have to worry about that in indie publishing because you can just publish as often as you want. If you're not happy with the sales of the first few books in the series, you can change the covers, try ad campaigns, and other strategies.   Finally, you can publish as often as you want and when you want. In traditional publishing, there is often a rule of thumb that an author should only publish one book a year under their name. Considering that last year I published 10 books under my name, that seems somewhat ridiculous, but that's a function of the fact that traditional publishing has only so much capacity and the pieces of the machine involved there are slow and not very responsive. Whereas with self-publishing, you have much more freedom and everything involved with it is much more responsive. There's no artificial deadlines, so you can take as long as you want to prepare it and if the book is ready, you don't have to wait a year to put it out because it would mess up the publisher's schedule.   So what to do instead of chasing traditional publishing? Learn about self-publishing, especially about scams and bad deals related to it. Publish your own works by a platform such as KDP, Barnes and Noble Press, Kobo Writing Life, Apple Books, Google Play, Smashwords, and possibly your own Payhip and/or Shopify store.   Conquer your fear of marketing and advertising. Even traditionally published authors are shouldering more of this work and paying out of their own pocket to hire someone to do it, and if you are paying your own marketing costs, you might as well self-publish and keep a greater share of the profits. The second half of our main topic, another potential risk of prestige, is getting on The New York Times Bestseller List. I should note that I suppose someone could accuse me of sour grapes here saying, oh, Jonathan Moeller, you've never been on The New York Times Bestseller List. You must just be bitter about it. That is not true. I do not want to be on The New York Times Bestseller List. What I would like to be is a number one Amazon bestseller. Admittedly though, that's unlikely, but a number one Amazon bestseller would make a lot more money than a number one New York Times Bestseller List, though because of the way it works, if you are a number one Amazon bestseller, you might be a New York Times Bestseller, but you might not. Let's get into that now.   Many writers have the dream of seeing their name on the New York Times Bestseller List. One self-help guru wrote about “manifesting” this milestone for herself by writing out the words “My book is number one on The New York Times Bestseller List” every day until it happened. Such is the mystique of this milestone that many authors crave it as a necessity. However, this list has seen challenges to its prestige in recent years. The one thing that shocks most people when they dig into the topic is that the list is not an objective list based on the raw number of books sold. The list is “editorial content” and The New York Times can exclude, include, or rank the books on the list however they choose.   What it does not capture is perennial sellers or classics. For example, the Bible and the Quran are obviously some of the bestselling books of all time, but you won't see editions of the Bible or the Quran on the New York Times Bestseller List. Textbooks and classroom materials, I guarantee there are some textbooks that are standards in their field that would be on the bestseller list every year, but they're not because The New York Times doesn't track them. Ebooks available only from a single vendor such as Kindle Unlimited books, ebook sales from not reporting vendors such as Shopify or Payhip. Reference Works including test prep guides (because I guarantee when test season comes around the ACT and SAT prep guides or the GRE prep guides sell a lot of copies) and coloring books or puzzle books.  It would be quite a blow to the authors on the list to realize that if these excluded works were included on the list, they would in all likelihood be consistently below To Kill a Mockingbird, SAT prep books, citation manuals, Bibles/other religious works, and coloring books about The Eras Tour.   Publishers, political figures, religious groups, and anyone with enough money can buy their way into the rank by purchasing their books in enormous quantities. In fact, it's widely acknowledged in the United States that this is essentially a legal form of bribery and a bit of money laundering too, where a publisher will give a truly enormous advance to a public figure or politician that they like, and that advance will essentially be a payment to that public figure in the totally legal form of an enormous book advance that isn't going to pay out. Because this is happening with such frequency, The New York Times gave into the pressure to acknowledge titles suspected of this strategy with a special mark next to it on the list. However, these books remain on the list and can still be called a New York Times Bestseller.   Since the list is not an objective marker of sales and certainly not some guarantee of quality, why focus on making it there? I think trying to get your book on The New York Times Bestseller List would be an enormous waste of time, since the list is fundamentally an artificial construction that doesn't reflect sales reality very well.   So what can you do instead? Focus on raw sales numbers and revenue, not lists. Even Amazon's bestseller category lists have a certain amount of non-quantitative factors. In the indie author community, there's a saying called Bank not Rank, which means you should focus on how much revenue your books are actually generating instead of whatever sales rank they are on whatever platform. I think that's a wiser approach to focus your efforts.   You can use lists like those from Publishers Weekly instead if you're interested in what's selling or trends in the industry, although that too can be manipulated and these use only a fairly small subset of data that favors retail booksellers, but it's still more objective in measuring than The New York Times.   I suppose in the end, you should try and focus on ebook and writing activities that'll bring you actual revenue or satisfaction rather than chasing the hollow prestige of things like traditional publishing, agents, MFAs, and The New York Times Bestseller List.   So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all back episodes at https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

In this week's behavior, we discuss how seeking prestige can be dangerous for writers, specifically in the form of MFA degrees and literary agents. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Sword of the Squire, Book #1 in the Dragonskull series (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills), at my Payhip store: SQUIRE50 The coupon code is valid through March 14, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for spring, we've got you covered! 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates   Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 240 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is February the 20th, 2025, and today we are discussing how to escape the trap of prestige that can sometimes catch writers, specifically in the form of MFA degrees and literary agents. Before we get into greater detail with that, we will start with Coupon of the Week and then an update on my current writing projects and then also a Question of the Week before we get to the main topic.   But first, let's start with Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Sword of the Squire, Book One of the Dragonskull series (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills), at my Payhip store. And that coupon code is SQUIRE50. The coupon code is valid through March 14th, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook as we head into spring, we have got you covered.   Now let's have an update on current writing projects. I am 94,000 words into Ghost in the Assembly. I had two 10,000 word days this week, which really moved the needle forward. We'll talk about those a little bit more later. I'm on Chapter 18 of 21, I believe, and if all goes well, I should hopefully finish the rough draft before the end of the month because I would like to get editing on that as soon as possible. For my next book, that will be Shield of Battle and I am 8,000 words into that and I'm hoping that'll come out in April. Ghost in the Assembly will be in March, if all goes well.   In audiobook news, recording for Cloak of Dragonfire (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) is finished and also recording on Orc-Hoard, the fourth book of the Half-Elven Thief series (as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward). Both of those should be coming out sometime in March, if all goes well. So that's where I'm at with my current writing projects.   00:01:45 Question of the Week   And now let's move on to Question of the Week. Question of the Week is intended to inspire interesting discussions of enjoyable topics. This week's question, if you have off work or school because of a snow day or extreme cold or other intense weather, what do you do with the day? No wrong answers. We had a number of responses to this.   Surabhi says: Ha, jokes on you! It never snows where I live. We do sometimes bunk school on rainy days, though. What I mostly do then is catching up on homework or listening to the rain.   Justin says: We're having a snow day here; schools and many businesses are closed. So Lord of the Rings Extended Edition movie marathon! Popcorn popped, hot cocoa and cold soda prepped. I have to admit, that seems like a very good idea.   Mary says: Read, write, watch the snow fall, try to exercise inside.   Michael says: That hasn't happened to me since about 1985, but I seem to recall it was on my birthday and boy was I happy to miss school on my birthday! I think I read fantasy books, drank tea, and played video games.   Juana says: curl up with a book and hot chocolate or tea.   John says: Haven't had a snow day since I was a child, but I did either play in the snow or read a book (at that age, Andre Norton, Lester del Rey, or Ben Bova). I'm relocating later this year back to colder climes, but since I now only work remotely and have for the past six years, sadly my days change very little.   Jenny says: Usually shovel snow, make a pot of warm food, more snow removal, watch movies or shows. Bob says: I'm retired now, so probably not much different than any other day, but when I was working, I'd probably be out shoveling snow so I can get to work whenever the roads were clear. Of course, that necessitated more shoveling when the snowplow dumped its load across the end of my driveway and that's why I moved south, where I rarely see snow.   Yes, if you live in a colder climes and you have a driveway, you know that you'll shovel the driveway and then immediately when you're done, these snowplow will come and block up the end of the driveway.   Finally, Dan says: For myself, I enjoy a free day. However, soon the home duties encroach on this free time.   For myself, the answer is clearly that I write 10,000 words on the first snow day and then again on the second day because I just had two days in a row where it was too cold to leave the house. So what I did was stay home and wrote 20,000 words of Ghost in the Assembly.   00:03:54 Main Topic: Escaping the Trap of Prestige, Part I   Now onto our main topic of the week, Escaping the Trap of Prestige, Part I-as it pertains to MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degrees and agents. I'd like to preface this by saying that I'm not looking to knock anyone who has a MFA or who has a literary agent, especially if it's working out for you and you're happy with it. What I'm trying to do here is warn younger writers who are just starting out about the potential consequences of these things, which can be very severe if you choose wrongly. So that is my goal with this episode, to help writers escape the potentially bad consequences of the prestige trap because newer writers in particular want validation. I mean, we all want validation, but writers especially want validation and new writers are very vulnerable to wanting validation to the point where it's been well known for years that there's a large scam industry of various things that take advantage of newer writers looking for validation such as vanity publishers, scammy agents, and a wide variety of other online publishing scams. This isn't to say that MFAs and literary agents are scams, though some literary agents have committed serious crimes (as we'll discuss later), but again, to warn against the danger of wanting prestige too badly and the bad decisions that can lead you to make. And some of this comes from the idea of success in life, especially in the United States and large parts of the Western world, is hitting certain milestones in a specific order. Like you graduate from college, you get a good job, you get married, you buy a house, you have your first kid, and if you don't do these things in the right order, there's something wrong with you and you have made mistakes in life, which isn't necessarily true, but is something that people can fall fall prey to and use to make destructive decisions. In the writing world, some of those measures of success have until fairly recently been getting a Master of Fine Arts degree, finding an agent, getting traditionally published, and hitting the New York Times list. As of this recording, I have sold well over 2 million books without following that normal route to writing success. In fact, I think it's closer to 2.25 million now, and I mention that not to toot my own horn, but to say that there are routes outside of the potentially dangerous prestige paths I'm talking about. And despite that, many aspiring writers feel they must follow that specific route to writer success, otherwise they aren't real writers. They've got to get the MFA, the agent, traditionally published, and then the New York Times list. The quest for prestige can keep writers from succeeding in two ways that are more significant, getting their work in front of readers who want to read it and deriving income from writing. So today in the first part of this two part episode series, we're going to talk about two of those writing markers of prestige, MFAs and literary agents. Why are they no longer as important? What should you devote your energy and focus to instead?   So number one, the Master of Fine Arts trap. The Master of Fine Arts in writing has often been seen as a marker of writing ability, especially in the world of literary fiction. And I think the big problem, one of the big problems with MFA, first of all is cost. Getting a Master of Fine Arts degree is expensive, especially if you are not fortunate enough to receive scholarships or assistantships and so have to rely on student loans. The average cost of an MFA program is in the mid five figures when all is said and done, not even counting living expenses and textbooks and so forth. If you have to take out student loans to pay for that, that is a considerable loan burden, especially if you already have loans from your undergraduate degree.   Even the people who get their MFA paid for (usually in exchange for teaching introductory writing classes to first year university students), the opportunity cost of taking two to three years to get this degree means you're sacrificing other things in your personal and professional life in order to get this MFA. It's a huge outlay of time and energy, especially if you're moving across the country for a residential program. And what are you getting in exchange for this massive outlay of time, money, and effort?   You probably aren't going to learn the practical non-writing skills that you need in the modern writing world like marketing, data collection and analysis, and publication strategies (all of which I do on a fairly regular basis in addition to writing). All of these skills are important for writers now, even if they are traditionally published. The problem with many MFA programs is that they rarely, if ever teach these skills. It seems that what MFAs train their students to do is to become adjunct faculty professors with semester to semester contracts, which can pay around $2,000 to $4,000 USD per writing or literature course at most small to mid-size colleges and universities in the United States. Being an adjunct professor does not confer any benefits like health insurance or retirement funds.   I was talking about this episode with my podcast transcriptionist and she mentioned once she was at a faculty meeting where an adjunct professor in English with an MFA did the math and realized based on her hourly wage (based on all the actual hours she put into a semester), if she worked at the local gas station chain, she would be making $7 per hour more at the local gas chain and she would be only working 40 hours a week. That can be a very dismaying realization, especially after all the work you have put into getting an MFA and teaching. Many defenders of the MFA degree will say that the real value of the degree is learning how to take criticism and learning to edit. But if you're writing in a genre outside of literary fiction, poetry, and memoirs, you are not likely to find a lot of useful advice. To return to my transcriptionist's tales from her time inside academia, she once told me of meeting a faculty member who confessed that he never read a fantasy book and had no idea how to critique or help these students, and he was a writing professor. He meant well, but he's not even remotely an outlier in terms of MFA instructors and their familiarity with mysteries, romance, and science fiction works and fantasy, which is what most genre fiction is nowadays. Also, the quality of advice and help you receive varies wildly based on the quality of your cohort and instructors and their willingness to help others. It's a steep investment with very, very uncertain returns.   So in short, an MFA takes a huge outlay of time and money with very few tangible benefits, especially with genre writers. In all frankness I would say an MFA is the kind of degree you should not go into debt to get and you should only get if you can have it paid for through scholarships or assistantships or so forth. So what should you do, in my opinion, other than an MFA degree? I think you should write as much as possible. You get better by practicing. You should read extensively. You will learn about writing by reading extensively, ideally in more than one genre. If you read enough and write enough, eventually you get to the moment where you read something and think, hey, I could do a better job than this. This is a major boost in confidence for any writer.   It might be a good idea to join a local or online writing group if you'd like critique from other writers. A warning that writing groups can vary wildly in quality and some of them have a bad case of crab bucket syndrome, so you may have to try more than one group to find one that works for you.   Another thing to do would be to listen to advice from successful writers. I saw a brief video from an author who recently pointed out that many people online giving writing advice aren't current or successful writers. One of the downsides of the Internet is that anyone can brand themselves an expert, whip together a course, and sell it online for a ridiculous fee. And people like this, their successes in creating methods or courses that turn writing into something more complicated to make aspiring writers reliant upon that process. Aspiring writers may end up spinning their wheels following all of these steps instead of getting to the actual work of churning out drafts. They may be spending money they can't afford in order to learn ineffective or even damaging strategies.   Many successful writers offer sensible advice for free, such as Brandon Sanderson posting his writing lectures for free on his YouTube channel. If you're looking for writing advice, you could do a lot worse than watching those lectures. And if you're going to take advice from anyone you read on the internet, it's probably better to take advice from successful writers who have demonstrated that they know what they are doing.   And finally, this may be more general advice, but it's a good idea to be open to learning and observing new experiences. It's probably a good idea to go to museums and cultural events, read about the latest developments in science and history, go on a hike in a new place, and observe the world around you. New writers often ask where writers get their ideas come from, and they very often come from just serendipitous things you can observe in the world around you. And that is also a good way to get out of your own head. If you're worried too much about writing, it's probably time to go for a long walk.   So why are agents potentially dangerous to writers? For a long time (for a couple decades, in fact), from I'd say from maybe the ‘80s and the ‘90s to the rise of the Kindle in the 2010s, the only realistic way to get published for most writers in terms of fiction was to get a literary agent. Publishers did not take unsolicited submissions (most of them did not), and you had to go through an agent to send your manuscript to a publisher. The agents were very selective for a variety of reasons. Because of that, a lot of newer writers still idealize the process of getting agents. You'll see this on Twitter and other social media platforms where new writers will talk constantly about getting agents and what they have to do. And the ones who do get a request from an agent to send in the full manuscript after sending a few query chapters are just besides themselves with joy. And those who do get agents can sometimes sound like they're showing off their new boyfriend or girlfriend, like my agent says they like my book, or my agent says this or that. And as you can probably imagine from my description, this is an arrangement that has a lot of potential danger for the writer.   The traditional first step in this time period I was mentioning after finishing a book has been to get as prestigious of an agent as possible to contact publishers and negotiate deals on their behalf. The agent takes 10 to 20% of what a publisher pays a writer, but in theory can get a writer a better deal and are acting in their best business interests. And as I mentioned before, most significantly, most publishers are not willing to read submissions that are not submitted by an agent. If getting traditionally published is the goal, an agent is the crucial first step. I mean, that's the ideal that we've been talking about. In reality, traditional publishing is as cautious and risk averse as it has ever been. Agents have followed suit. It takes industry connections and/or a significant social media presence to even get an agent to look at your book.   Writing query letters and trying to get an agent also takes away from writing and is a completely separate skillset, as is the networking and social media work that is part of this process. Some people have spent months or even years working on query letters and getting an agent when they could have finished another book or more in the same time. Alright, so that is the practical and logistical reasons it's a bad idea for a writer to seek out an agent, and I frankly think you'd be better off. And now we get to the potentially criminal ones.   The thing about literary agents is there's no licensing or requirement or anything of that nature. You can set up a website and call yourself a literary agent. If you consider something like a lawyer, by contrast, I'm sure those of you who are lawyers in the United States will have many complaints and stories about your state bar, which is in charge of licensing lawyers. But the point is that the state bar exists, and if a lawyer is behaving in an unethical or unscrupulous matter, that can be brought as complaint to the state bar. Nothing like that exists for literary agents at all. And because of that, scammy agents are everywhere. Some try to get writers to pay a fee upfront or other made up fees, or they get cuts from scammy book publishers or book packaging services. Or in general, they just try to squeeze every penny possible from aspiring writers. And this is often sadly very easy to do because as we've mentioned, many newer writers still think getting an agent is a major mark of prestige and humans crave prestige. And even if you get a prestigious and seemingly legitimate agent, that can potentially lead to life ruining problems because many of the legitimate agents are very sticky fingered.   Several years ago, the firm of Donadio and Olson, which represented Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk, Godfather author Mario Puzo, and Catch 22 author Joseph Heller found out that one of their accountants had been stealing millions from their authors for many years. Although the accountant was sentenced to two years of prison, it's unlikely those authors will receive the money back fully. As Palahniuk put it in a blog post, “the legal process will be long and offers an iffy reward.” Mr. Palahniuk also lost out on money from touring to promote his books because of this crisis and said he was unable to support himself financially as a result of these stolen royalties.   By not filtering your royalties and earning statements through a literary agency that can falsify reports about these documents (as the accountant in question did), you have a full sense of what you are earning and what amounts you should be receiving. Amazon is open to many criticisms because of its decisions, but they pay monthly and they send a very detailed spreadsheet monthly to any Kindle authors of what books sold and what they expect to earn. It's sometimes almost too much data to process. The traditional publishing world would never even consider showing that to writers and agents often keep that from their writers. Palahniuk trusted his agency and accepted the explanations that rampant piracy and financial difficulties in the publishing world were keeping over a million dollars in royalties from him. He even later found out that this accountant was keeping non-financial correspondence from him. Returning to the topic of Brandon Sanderson, I recently saw an interview between him and a podcaster Tim Ferris. He made the interesting point that the power centers in publishing have shifted from traditional publishing agents to the platform holders and the writers, the platform holders being people like Amazon, Apple, and Google who have the platforms that sell the books and the writers who bring the books to those platforms. The power is shifted away from agents and publishers to the platforms and writers. And because of that, in my frank opinion, literary agents are obsolete for those wishing to publish independently.   And my frank opinion is also that you should be independently publishing and not trying to get an agent or go with a traditional publisher. There's no reason to give someone 15% when you can upload the files to a service like KDP yourself. An agent will not be able to get you a better royalty from KDP. Amazon does not negotiate royalty rates at the agent level, and you have to be a writer on the scale of J.K. Rowling or maybe Dean Koontz to get any kind of special deal from Amazon.   So what should you do instead of seeking out an agent? Publish independently or self-publish. Be wary of excuses and explanations that prey upon emotional responses or a sense of loyalty to individuals, such as the case of Chuck Palahniuk, where they preyed on his fears of piracy and the instability of the publishing industry, as well as sympathy for someone who claimed to be taking care of a family member with a terminal disease. That was one of the excuses they used for why the records weren't right. Ask for facts and verify everything regularly. Publishers and agents are not your friends and not your family, and do not accept that approach in your business relationship with them. Learn how to read and interpret any financial statements you receive. Don't trust a third party to do this for you, or if you must do that, make sure they're being audited regularly by a third party, not from just someone else at their firm.   So the conclusion is that in my opinion, the prestige of getting an MFA and an agent are currently not worth the trade-off and there are considerable risks that you take if your main goals are to build a following and sell books. Prestige is not going to put food on the table. And in fact, if you have five figures of student loan debt from an MFA, it may be keeping you from putting food on the table. So if you want to be a writer, I think both seeking out an MFA and seeking out an agent would be a waste of your time and possibly counterproductive.   Next week in Part Two, we'll discuss two more prestige traps in writing: getting traditionally published and hitting the New York Times Bestseller List.   That is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all the backup episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

In this week's episode, I discuss eating frozen pizza after a decade-long hiatus, and rate my favorite brands and styles of frozen pizza. 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates   Hello, everyone. Welcome to episode 239 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is February the 14th, 2025 and today we are rating the different brands of frozen pizza I tried over the last several months. I know that is an odd topic for a writing podcast, but it's my podcast and I like frozen pizza, so we're going to talk about frozen pizza this week. Before we do that, we will have Coupon of the Week and an update on my current writing projects.   So let's start off with Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 25% off the eBooks in the Dragonskull series at my Payhip store. That is all nine ebooks and this coupon code will get you 25% off any of them. That is DRAGONBOOK25. We'll have the links and the coupon code in the show notes. Someone pointed out that I've only been giving away coupon codes for audiobooks instead of ebooks, which is a fair argument, so that's why we're doing this. The coupon code will be valid through March 7th, 2025. So if you need a new series to read for spring, we have got you covered.   Now an update on my current writing projects. As of this recording, I am 67,000 words into Ghost in the Assembly, which puts me on Chapter 13 of 21. I think this book will be in the Hundred Thousand Words Club, maybe a little less, maybe a little more, we'll see. I'm still hoping to have it out in March, if all goes well. My secondary project right now is Shield of Battle, the fifth of six books in The Shield War series, and I'm 5,000 words into that. Once Ghost in the Assembly is complete, it will be full speed ahead on Shield of Battle. In audiobook news, recording for Orc-Hoard (as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward) and recording for Cloak of Dragonfire (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) are both done and those should be showing up on audiobook stores soon. They haven't quite gotten through processing yet, but it is close.   In regards to Cloak Mage and Half-Elven Thief, I am planning to work on those in the second half of 2025 once Ghost Armor and The Shield War are done, since there are only two books left in Shield War and I'm just about through the fourth book of six for the Ghost Armor series, that won't be too much longer. So that's where I'm at with my current writing projects and let's move on now to Question of the Week.   00:02:22 Question of the Week   Question of the Week is intended to inspire enjoyable discussions of interesting topics. This week's question, what is your favorite kind of frozen pizza? No wrong answers, obviously. The inspiration for this question is that it's the topic of the episode, so here are the answers we got from people.   Justin says: We do the Walmart Great Value rising crust frozen pizzas at my house. I add eight ounces of shredded cheese and sprinkle Italian herb mix on top.   I've found that's a good idea myself. If you buy some of the cheaper frozen pizzas, you can add extra pepperoni, oregano, or whatever you want to it and that will enhance the flavor.   John says: Trader Joe's. They have an Italian-made margherita that's quite good.   Scott says: Red Baron Classic Crust, either Supreme or Four Meats.   MW says: The one they sell in my country, brand name Dr. Oetker Ristorante with salami, mozzarella cheese, and green pesto. I often top it up with some goat's cheese. Doug says: Digiorno's Supreme.   Juana says: Half pepperoni, half Canadian Bacon.   Brooks says: Depends on the mood. We typically don't eat frozen pizza. If we do, it's usually Digiorno's, although when I'm craving something junk food-ish and pizza at the same time, I will totally go for Totino's. Plus the story behind that brand and how it revolutionized the frozen pizza business in general is amazing.   Brandy says: I don't have a full size oven at the moment, so Totino's is my favorite because I like cheese pizza and it fits in my toaster oven. Otherwise, I make my own.   Gary says: Generally a smaller local brand-they seem to be a little fresher with higher quality ingredients than larger brands.   Parker says: Totino's, hands down-my favorite junk food.   JT says: I either eat 7-Eleven pizzas or eat Totino's. Otherwise, my pizzas are almost as fresh as the day Adam and Eve were introduced to the concept in Eden. For myself, my answer will be the main topic of this episode, which we're going to get to right now.   00:04:15 Main Topic: Winter 2024/2025 Frozen Pizza Roundup   I used to joke that if I lived long enough and could afford to retire, I wanted to start a YouTube channel that consisted entirely of different reviews of frozen pizza. The idea came from the sitcom Community. I always enjoyed the show since it's about a community college. I used to work in higher ed, so I could definitely relate to most of the jokes. One of the recurring gags is an elderly student named Leonard (who was played by the late actor Richard Erdman) has a YouTube channel where he reviews potato chips, frozen pizza, and other snack foods. Anyway, one member of my family gets quite ill if any gluten is consumed. So for about the last decade, I've been buying and eating gluten-free frozen pizzas, which are very nearly almost as good as the real thing these days. However, I eventually realized I could just buy myself a frozen pizza made with delicious, delicious gluten and get several lunches out of it over the course of the week. So that is what I did. Since I haven't had normal frozen pizza on a regular basis for nearly a decade, I decided to try a new brand every week. So here is the Winter 2024/2025 Frozen Pizza Roundup. Unlike my movie reviews, the pizza reviews will be in chronological order based on when I ate them. Grades are totally subjective and based on my own opinions and nothing else. I'll also be rating the pizza by eating it hot and eating it cold, since cold pizza is a different experience than hot pizza. Cold pizza for lunch the next day is something to look forward to, especially during a busy day.   I should also mention that I bought each pizza myself. No one sent me any free stuff, so while my opinion is subjective, it is nonetheless unbiased. Additionally, I exactly follow the preparation directions for each pizza since I wanted to avoid the phenomenon you sometimes see on recipe blogs where a commenter will complain that a recipe didn't work and then will later admit that they took out the butter, cut the sugar in half, replaced the flour with cornstarch, and substituted canola oil for frosting.   In terms of the health of eating this much pizza, I should point out I lost about five pounds during the time period here. Pizza, like most things, is perfectly fine when consumed in moderation. Eating an entire frozen pizza in one sitting is bad. I could do that when I was 20 years old and working as a truck unloader. Doing that when I'm a middle-aged man who spends most of his time sitting down and typing is a much worse idea. Besides, getting three meals out of a pizza is better and definitely more economical and I'm at the age where if I can lose a pound a month and keep it off, I'm doing well. With that rather lengthy introduction out of the way, on to the pizzas.   First up is the Pothole Pizza Meat Sweats, which I ate on November 15th, 2024. Kwik Trip is a large brand of gas stations and convenience stores in the Upper American Midwest. They're known for having a wide variety of foods. Pothole Pizza is the store brand of frozen pizza, so for my first week of trying a non-GF pizza, I got one of those specifically the Meat Sweats variant with a lot of meat, specifically a whole bunch of pepperoni, sausage, ham, and bacon. It was really quite good.   The crust was on the thicker side without being dough or bready. The sauce had a pleasant garlic flavor to it. The cheese was good and the pepperoni and sausage were ample. The sausage also had a pleasant spiciness to it as well. The abundance of cheese means that it is a little greasy but not unduly so. When cold, it is also good. You can't really taste the sauce, but the cheese sets well and the sausage tastes just as good cold as it does hot.   Overall grade: A+   Next up is the Cheese Mountain Four Meat pizza, which I had on November 22nd, 2024. Cheese Mountain is Kwik Trip's take and bake pizza, which isn't frozen (technically). The advantage of take and bake is that it's easier to cook since it hasn't been frozen, though you really should cook it on the same day that you buy it.   Overall, I like this about the same as Pothole Pizza. The sauce on Pothole Pizza is better, while the crust on Cheese Mountain is superior. I do think the cheese on the Pothole is slightly better as well, which is ironic given that this pizza is named Cheese Mountain, but the cheese is still good. When cold, I don't think it's quite as good as the Pothole Pizza. Both the sausage and pepperoni aren't as spicy as the toppings on the Pothole version. This was still good, but I still prefer the Pothole.   Overall grade: A-   Next up is Heggie's pepperoni pizza, which I ate on December 6th, 2024. Heggie's is a pizza company based out of Minnesota that distributes to the Upper Midwest and the Dakotas. I admit I don't go to bars all that often, but I've been told that Heggie's is the official bar pizza of much of that region, so I decided to try that next.   Having never tried it before, I came in with no expectations and was therefore quite pleasantly surprised by how good it was. It's a thin crust pizza, though a bit on the thicker side, which gives the crust some satisfying heft. The sauce had an excellent tang. The pepperoni was good and the cheese flavorful. When cold, it is likewise excellent. The spiciness of the pepperoni overcomes the more subdued taste a pizza often has while cold. Honestly, this is a superb example of a pepperoni pizza.   Overall Grade: A   Next up is Lottza Motzza Four Meat pizza, which I tried on December 13th, 2024. This was made by Brew Pub Pizza, which is itself owned by Bernatello's, a Wisconsin based frozen pizza manufacturer and distributor. I quite like this one as well. The crust is thin and just a bit flaky, which is nice. The cheese was excellent and as the name indicates, there was indeed a lot of mozzarella cheese. When eaten cold, it is also a good meal.  The large quantity of cheese helps, the crust remains flaky, and the spiciness of the sausage is highlighted when it is cold.   Overall Grade: A   Next up is Legit Three Meat Pizza, which I ate on December 20th, 2024. Legit Three Meat Pizza is made by Pep's Pizza Company, which is based out of Green Bay in Wisconsin. I admit I didn't like this quite as much as the other ones on the list. The meat was good, but the cheese and sausage weren't quite as strong as the other examples on the list so far. I don't think it had quite enough sauce, which is actually amusing because I accidentally dripped a bunch of sauce in my shirt while I was eating it (which might be why I thought it didn't have enough sauce, because some of the sauce ended up on my shirt). Eaten cold, I actually think it tastes better cold than it does hot. However, this is one of the few pizzas on this list where I would recommend you add some oregano, frozen pizza spice, or garlic salt (depending on your preferences) because it's not quite as flavorful as others on this list.   Overall Grade: B   Next up is the Screamin' Sicilian pepperoni pizza, which I tried on January 3rd, 2025. Screamin' Sicilian pepperoni is produced by the Palermo's Pizza Company, which is based in Wisconsin.   I realized when I was writing this that a lot of pizza companies are based in Wisconsin, so I did some research. The reason is quite logical. Wisconsin is one of the leading producers of cheese in the United States, and so the pizza companies want to be closer to the supply, so to speak. Wisconsin is also generally considered to be more small business friendly than the neighboring states of Minnesota and Illinois. Having visited both Minneapolis and Chicago, I can hazard a guess that the only thing harder than running a small business in Minneapolis would be running one in Chicago.   Anyway, back to the pizza. I quite like this one. It has abundant cheese and a very generous layer of pepperoni. There's enough pepperoni that the top layer of it becomes quite crispy. Crispy pepperoni is delicious. Additionally, the cheese is very good. I'd say the biggest weakness in the pizza is the crust, which is somewhat bland and a bit on the bready side. Eaten cold, it remains a good experience. The cheese sets well and the pepperoni retains the taste. As I said before, the crust remains the only weakness.   Overall Grade: A-   Next up is Pothole Pizza Pep Rally, which I ate on January 10th, 2025. This is another pizza from Kwik Trip's Pothole brand, specifically an all pepperoni pizza, and frankly it was just superb. It has the same high quality crust, tasty sauce, and excellent cheese as the Meat Sweats version above. The pizza also has a generous layer of pepperoni, enough that crisps a bit in the oven. The combined flavor is just excellent.   Eaten cold, it tastes just as good. The cheese, the pepperoni, and the sauce (especially the sauce) retain their flavor. I think a strong sauce is key to having pizza taste good while cold. The only thing I can say that's negative about this pizza is that I think it would taste better with sausage, which is why they have the Meat Sweats pizza.   Overall Grade: A   Next up is Pep's Drafthouse Double Pepperoni Doppelboch Pizza, which I ate on January 17th, 2025. This is another pizza from Pep's Pizza Company, also did the Legit Three Meat pizza from several weeks ago. I like this one quite a lot better than the Legit Three Meat pizza.   The crust was a bit thicker but much more flavorful. The pepperoni and the sauce both tasted good. The pizza had a mixture of mozzarella and provolone cheese, which I wasn't sure would work, but it really did. It gave the cheese a somewhat sharper flavor than the straight mozzarella that combined well with the pepperoni. Eaten cold, it isn't quite as good as hot, but granted that's true of many things. The sauce is definitely better when hot, though the cheese and pepperoni still carry the day.   Overall Grade: A-   Next up is Seventh Avenue Pepperoni and Meatball Pizza, which I ate on January 24th, 2025. Seventh Avenue is a regional frozen pizza in the Upper Midwest, specifically based out of Minneapolis. I have to admit, that makes me root for them a bit since as I mentioned above, running a small business in Minneapolis is a bit like playing the small business game on hard mode. Anyway, the pizza is quite good when it's hot. The cheese is on the higher end and the sausage is excellent. The crust isn't quite as good as the other ones on the list, but overall, the pizza is quite tasty. Eaten cold, I actually liked it a bit better. The sauce sets well and the cheese and toppings have strong flavor. I can tell that the cheese was very high quality because I needed to take three lactase pills before I ate it.   Overall Grade: A-   Next up is Tombstone pepperoni and sausage, which I ate on January 31st, 2025. I wanted to close out this review tour by trying some of the larger corporate pizzas, since all the pizzas I tried for this on the list came from relatively smaller, US-based companies. Tombstone was originally one of the oldest frozen pizza companies in the US, founded by Pep and Ron Simek in the ‘60s. Pep Pizza's company (mentioned above) is an effort to carry on that legacy. Tombstone is now owned by a very large multinational corporation that has something of a questionable reputation in certain areas (they're litigious, so you can Google them if you're curious). They're the kind of company whose “Controversies” Wikipedia article is as long as the actual article on the company itself. So honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect. The multinational company in question bought Tombstone way back in 2010, and I haven't had a Tombstone pizza since a couple of years before that. In all honesty, it wasn't bad. Eaten hot, the crust is crisp and a little bit on the thicker side and the sausage is good. I like the sauce as well. The cheese isn't as good as the others on this list, but it's by no means bad. Eaten cold, it's adequate, but as I said, not as good as most of the others on this list.   But in all fairness, the biggest advantage of Tombstone is price. If I remember right, it's at least $2 cheaper than the next cheapest pizza I tried on the list. The downside of buying pizzas from smaller companies is that they tend to be proportionally more expensive. Given how bad the economy remains, this is an important fact, which in all fairness is one of the advantages of a larger company like the multinational food company we've been talking about- it is possible to drive down the cost and deliver a product that might not be as good as some of the others on this list but it is still good enough at a lower price.   Overall Grade: B+   The next large corporate pizza I tried, and the last one we'll mention in this episode, is the Digiorno's Classic Crust pepperoni pizza, which I tried on February 10th, 2025. Digiorno's, like Tombstone, is part of the same food conglomerate I mentioned for the Tombstone pepperoni and sausage pizza, which makes sense because honestly, this tasted almost exactly the same as the Tombstone pizza. I thought that pepperoni was slightly better, but overall, it tasted very nearly the same.   Eaten cold, I don't think it was quite as good. The crust definitely got a bit soggier than the others on the list. I think Digiorno's is mostly known for their thick crust pizza, so I might try one of those instead and see what the difference is. But again, this had the significant advantage of being cheaper than many of the other options I tried. Granted, I still like the Tombstone pizza better, but this wasn't a bad pizza, either.   Overall Grade: B   So now we come to the conclusion. Overall, the Pothole Pizza Meat Sweats, Heggie's pepperoni pizza, and the Lotzza Motzza Four Meat Pizza were my favorites. For the more budget conscious diner, I think the Tombstone Pizza offers the best value for price out of everything on this list. Given that I didn't give anything on this list a lower grade than a B, you might conclude that I like frozen pizza, and you would be right. I very much enjoy frozen pizza, and I very much enjoy having come back to gluten based pizza after a decade, after finally deciding that, you know what? When I have pizza, I'm going to buy a glutenous pizza and a non-gluten pizza for the family member who has trouble with gluten. Still, frozen pizza in general is really a miracle of technological achievement, isn't it? Making pizza from scratch is a lot of work, but you can go to the store, buy an entire pizza for under $10, and cook and eat it with minimal prep time. That would've been an unfathomable wonder for the vast majority of human history, and I think that is to be admired. So to celebrate this achievement, I think I'm going to eat some cold pizza now.   So that's it for this week. Thanks for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I promise that next week I will go back to talking about writing topics instead of movies or frozen pizza. I hope you found the show enjoyable. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

In this week's episode, I take a look at the movies and streaming shows I watched in winter 2024/2025, and share my opinions on them. I also take a look at my ebook advertising results from January 2025. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Half-Orc Paladin, Book #3 in the Half-Elven Thief series, (as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward) at my Payhip store: PALADIN50 The coupon code is valid through February 28, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for the bad February weather, we've got you covered! 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates   Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 238 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is February 7, 2025 and today we are discussing the movies and streaming shows I watched in Winter 2024 and 2025. Before that, we will do Coupon of the Week, an update on my current writing projects, Question of the Week, and my ad results from January 2025.   First, let's start with Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Half-Orc Paladin, Book Three in the Half-Elven Thief Series (as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward) at my Payhip store. That coupon code is PALADIN50. This coupon code will be valid through February the 28th, 2025, so if you need a new audiobook to get you through the bad February weather, we have got you covered.   Now for an update on my current writing and audiobook projects. As I mentioned last week, Shield of Deception is now out and you can get it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Apple Books, Smashwords and my Payhip store. It is doing quite well. Thank you all for that. I hope you enjoy the book and I've been hearing good things about it from people who read it.   Now that Shield of Deception is done, my main project is now Ghost in the Assembly and I am 36,000 words into it as of this recording, which puts me almost on Chapter 8 of 21. So I'm about one third of the way through the rough draft, give or take. If all goes well. I'm hoping that book will be out in March. My secondary project is Shield of Battle, which is the sequel to Shield of Deception and I am about 2,000 words into that. I'm also 50,000 words into what will be the third and final Stealth and Spells book, Stealth and Spells Online: Final Quest. It was originally named Reactant, but I decided to change the name to Final Quest because that sounds better and if all goes well, that will probably be out in the middle of the year, give or take.   In audiobook news, Cloak of Masks (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) is now out at all audio stores, including Audible, so you can listen to that there. Work is almost done on Cloak of Dragonfire. It's being proof-listened to as I record this and hopefully that should be out before too much longer. So that is where I'm at with my current writing and audiobook projects.   00:02:19 Question of the Week   Next up is Question of the Week, which is intended to inspire interesting discussions of enjoyable topics. This week's topic, which ties into our main topic: what was the favorite movie you saw in 2024? No wrong answers, obviously (including “I hate everything I saw in 2024”). We have a few responses for this.   JD says: It was either Transformers One or Deadpool and Wolverine.   Mary says: I didn't see any movies in 2024.   Doug says: Dune was one of the books I read in the ‘70s. Like your books, I never got enough back then. I was buying Hardcovers. I still have six of them. I have seen the two versions of the books. Can't wait to see this version of the books. I have seen the first movies. Hope to see more.   David says: Godzilla versus Kong was pretty much the only one from last year I saw. I just bought Gladiator 2 but haven't watched it yet.   Davette says: I enjoyed both Dune 2 and The Fall Guy and Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine. My favorite was Wicked, mainly because I've been waiting on that movie for years.   Bonnie says: I haven't seen any movies or watched TV in years.   For myself, I think it would be a tie for my favorite movie of 2024 for between Dune 2 and The Fall Guy. The two Dune movies, for all the stuff they changed from the book, are probably the most faithful adaptation it was possible to make with that very dense and very weird book. I thought The Fall Guy was just hilarious and I had no idea it was based on TV series from the ‘80s until I read up about it on the Internet after I saw the movie. It was interesting that we didn't have very many responses to this question the week and of those responses, one third of them was “I didn't see any movies in 2024.” So if the movie industry is wondering why it's in so much trouble, I think we might have just found the answer here in that nobody wants to go to see movies in the theater anymore.   00:04:09 Ad Results for January 2025 Now onto our next topic, how my ads performed in January 2025. Now as usual for my books in January, I used Facebook ads, Amazon ads, and BookBub ads, so let's break them down by category- first, by Facebook ads. As usual, I advertised The Ghosts and Cloak Games/Cloak Mage.   GHOSTS: $4.08 for every dollar, with 22% of the profit coming from the audiobooks.   CLOAK GAMES/MAGE: $3.38 for every dollar, with 6% of the profit coming from the audiobooks. So that went pretty well. I'm hoping that percentage will go up once Cloak of Dragonfire is done and we can put together Cloak Mage Omnibus Three.   I also did some Amazon ads – specifically for HALF-ELVEN THIEF, STEALTH & SPELLS ONLINE: CREATION, and THE LINUX COMMAND LINE BEGINNERS GUIDE.   Remember, for an Amazon ad to be effective, it usually needs to be generating at least one sale for every eight clicks on the ads.   HALF-ELVEN THIEF: $4.65 for every dollar spent, 1.85 sales for every click. It's just an amazing ratio-thank you for that.   STEALTH & SPELLS ONLINE: CREATION: Lost $0.15 for every dollar spent, 1 sale for every 4.76 clicks.   THE LINUX COMMAND LINE BEGINNER'S GUIDE: $3.16 for every dollar spent, 33% of the profit from audio, 1.34 sales for every click.   The standout was HALF-ELVEN THIEF, which actually had more sales than clicks on the ads. That hardly ever happens!   You can see there's a reason I'm going to conclude STEALTH & SPELLS with the third book, because it just doesn't sell well. All of the advertising experiments I have tried to make it sell well have not responded to date. That said, we did improve from December, where I only got a sale for every 14 clicks.   Additionally, Amazon ads work really well with nonfiction books, since they respond a lot better to keyword ads.   Finally, I used Bookbub ads for THE GHOSTS on Apple. That went pretty well.   THE GHOSTS: $4 for every $1 spent.   So, all in all, a pretty good month for ads, though STEALTH & SPELLS remains the weak point. As always everyone, thank you for buying the books and listening to the audiobooks.   00:06:50 Main Topic: Movie/TV Show Reviews of Winter 2024/Early Winter 2025 Now onto our main topic, the movies and streaming shows I watched in Winter 2024 and early winter 2025. As always, my ratings are totally subjective and based on nothing more concrete than my own opinions.   Our first one is Red One, which came out in 2024. This was a strange mashup of genres, a holiday movie, urban fantasy, a thriller, and just a little bit of existential horror. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays Callum Drift, who is the head of Santa Claus's security. Meanwhile, Chris Evans plays an unscrupulous hacker and thief named Jack O'Malley. Jack unwittingly helps unknown malefactors kidnap Santa Claus and so Callum and Jack have to team up to rescue Santa from his kidnappers. This sounds like a lighthearted holiday movie, but it really isn't. The movie is rather dour and takes itself very seriously. Callum acts like he's in a Jason Bourne movie and deals with various supernatural creatures like a special forces operator assessing targets. Additionally, there are some urban fantasy elements with the vast government agency dedicated to hiding the supernatural world from normal people. I don't think the dissonance really worked at all. It had pieces of a light holiday movie and pieces of a thriller and they really didn't mesh. It's not hard to see why this one didn't do well in the theaters, on top of its enormous budget. Overall Grade: D (In the spirit of Christmas generosity)   Next up is Argylle, which came out in 2024. This was a dumb movie, but I enjoyed it, kind of like Murder Mystery with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston on Netflix. I mean that wasn't exactly Shakespeare or Milton, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy myself while watching it. Same thing applies to Argylle. The plot is that the protagonist Ellie Conway is a bestselling spy novelist. Ellie is a bit of an eccentric personality and travels everywhere with her cat in a backpack that has a window in it so the cat can see what's going on. However, it turns out that Ellie's novels are accurately predicting events in real life espionage, so several sinister spy agencies are hunting her down to learn her secret. A spy named Aidan saves Ellie, claiming that he's the only one she can trust. Of course, this is the kind of movie that has a shocking betrayal and plot twist every eight minutes or so, and the revelation of the central twist made me face palm a bit. There is a fight scene at the end involving colored smoke that's absolutely bonkers. It was on Apple Plus or Apple TV or whatever it's called, but that means all the characters did all their computing on shiny new Apple devices, which is always amusing. Overall Grade: D+ (but barely)   Next up is Venom: The Last Dance, which came out in 2024. It wasn't as good as the first two since so many of the characters did not return, but it brought the Venom Trilogy to a mostly satisfying conclusion. Eddie Brock and Venom are on the run after the events of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Unbeknownst to either of them, the US government has a secret facility holding captured symbiant aliens and the agency that runs the facility is hunting for them. Unbeknownst to the US government, the creator of the symbiotes, an evil entity named Knull is preparing to escape his prison and to do that, he needs Eddie/Venom delivered to him alive, so he dispatches his creatures to Earth hunt down Eddie and Venom, with disastrous results. The best part of the movie was the comedic duo of Eddie and Venom since the movie takes the absurdity of their situation and leans into it. Overall Grade: B- Next up is the Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which came out in 2024. I read an interview with Brandon Sanderson where he said that a big part of the problem with movie adaptations of books is that the filmmakers often want to tell their own story, not the books'. So they basically used the book as a framework for telling their own story, which inevitably annoys the readers of the book. I suspect that was what happened with The War of the Rohirrim. This movie was a mixture of strong points and weaknesses. Apparently it only exists because New Line needed to put out something or they'd lose film rights to Tolkien's stuff, and so The War of the Rohirrim was fast-tracked.   The strong points: the animation looked pretty, the battle scenes were fun to watch, the voice performances were good, and the music was also good.   The weak points: it felt too long and slow-paced. I think a good half-hour could have been cut of the characters looking pensive and thoughtful (and saved the animators a lot of work in the process). Additionally, I don't think the changes to the plot quite worked. It's based out of the Appendices of The Lord of the Rings, specifically the history of Rohan. In the book, the plot is touched off when the corrupt Lord Freca demands that King Helm's daughter Hera marry Freca's son Wulf. Helm takes exception to this and ends up killing Freca. His son Wulf swears vengeance, gathers an army from Rohan's enemies, and sets out to seize the crown for himself. In the book, Helm's sons are killed, and Helm himself dies in the defense of the Hornburg (which later becomes known as Helm's Deep), but his nephew Frealof gathers an army, kills Wulf, and becomes the new king of Rohan.   That would have been perfectly good for the plot, but as we mentioned above, I think the screenwriters decided they wanted to write about a Strong Female Character, so they massively expanded Hera's part and made her the protagonist. The problem with this as an adaptation is that Hera is only mentioned once in the book, so the script has to make up a lot of extra stuff to justify Hera's presence, which always weakens an adaptation of a book. This version of Hera would have been in danger of becoming a stereotypical #girlboss character, but she acts more like a Japanese anime protagonist, which does work better in this sort of movie than an Americanized Strong Female Character.   So, in the end, not a bad movie, but I think it would have worked better if they had stuck closer to the original plot in the book. Overall Grade: B-   Next up is Golden Era, which came out in 2022. This is a documentary about the making of the classic Nintendo 64 game Goldeneye and the company behind it. Until I watched this, I never knew that Rare, the company that made Goldeneye, was based in the UK.   I admit I really didn't play Goldeneye back in the ‘90s and early ‘00s. I did a few times at various social events, but I never really got into it since I didn't own a game console from 1998 to 2019. Nonetheless, Goldeneye was a very influential game that left its mark on all first-person shooter games since. The documentary interviews most of the people who were involved in the making of Goldeneye, and it was fascinating to see how they more or less accidentally created a genre-defining game.   If you enjoyed Goldeneye or are interested in video game history at all, the documentary is worth watching. After many years of official unavailability, Goldeneye is now available on Nintendo Switch and Xbox, so I may have to give it a try. Overall grade: B     Next up is Wonka, which came out in 2023. I didn't really intend to watch this, but it was on in the background while I was playing Starfield…and Starfield has a lot of loading screens. This movie wasn't made for me, not even remotely, but I thought it was a competently executed example of a movie musical.   Anyway, the plot revolves around a young Willy Wonka coming to a city that seems like a weird hybrid between Paris and New York. Wonka sets out to start selling his innovative chocolates, but soon runs into stiff opposition from the corrupt local candy industry, the corrupt local police chief, and his equally corrupt landlady, who has somehow transitioned from hospitality to luring people into debt slavery. Wonka makes allies from his fellow indentured workers, and soon he is conducting local chocolate manufacturing like a heist.   Like I said, this really wasn't made for me, and I'm sure people who actually like musicals would have many more detailed opinions. But this had some genuinely funny bits. Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa was hilarious, and so was Rowan Atkinson as a corrupt bishop. The best line: “Judgment has come…in a most unexpected form!” Overall grade: B     Next up is Man on the Inside, which came out in 2024, and this is a Netflix comedy series from Mike Schur, who created Parks and Recreation, The Good Place and Brooklyn 99. To describe this show, think of a meditation about accepting the inevitability of aging and death through Schur's comedic style, and you'll be there.   Anyway, Ted Danson stars as a recently widowed retired professor of engineering named Charles. His daughter is worried that he's not handling things well and becoming too isolated, so suggests that he find a hobby. Charles answers a classified ad for an “older man who can use technology” and finds himself recruited by a private investigator named Julie. Julie's company has been hired to find a thief within a retirement home, and Julie is about 35 years too young to convincingly infiltrate a retirement home. Hence, Charles pretends to be a new resident, and finds himself befriending the residents he is supposed to investigate. All the while, he tries to deal with the remaining grief from his wife's death, which he never got around to processing in the moment.   In my opinion, The Good Place and Brooklyn 99 both kind of fell apart in their final seasons, but Man on the Inside avoids that in its final episodes, providing good resolution to both the conflict and the emotional stakes. I thought it was both bittersweet and quite funny, and I approve that there's going to be a 2nd season. Overall grade: B   Next up is Minted, which came out in 2023, and this was an interesting documentary about the rise in the fall of the NFT, which in the early 2020s we were assured was going to be the next big thing, but it just turned out to be yet another scam.   The documentary follows an interesting course, first explaining what an NFT is, and then interviewing artists who made life-changing money from minting their early NFTS. But then the speculators arrived, and followed swiftly by the scammers. As of 2025, of course, NFTs are quite worthless, like so many much-vaunted Web 3.0 style technologies.   I think the documentary's biggest weakness was assuming that NFT technology was around to stay and would find a use that would help artists. I agree that it's around to stay, but I don't think it adds value to anything at all. Nevertheless, an interesting look into the NFT fad and the impact it had on artists. Overall grade: B     Next up is Gladiator 2, which came out in 2024. This is basically the same movie as the original Gladiator, just reshuffled a bit and with twenty years of improved technology. The main character Hanno is a soldier in an African city that rebels against Rome. After the rebellion is inevitably crushed, he is taken as a slave and ends up as a gladiator in Rome, determined to take his vengeance on the Roman general who ordered the death of his wife. However, the general was only carrying out the orders of the insane twin emperors Geta and Caracalla. For that matter, Hanno's owner, the charming and affable Macrinus, has his own agenda. As Hanno seeks revenge, he finds himself drawn into the deadly game of imperial politics and must confront the secrets of his own past.   The movie is only very vaguely accurate in terms of history, but it does a good job of capturing the corruption and decadence of the Roman Empire at that time. The empire was in very bad shape, and in fact was only a few years from what historians call the Crisis of the Third Century, a fifty year period of continual civil war, assassination, usurpation, and economic meltdown that resulted in the empire breaking into three separate states for about fifteen years. Everyone knows that the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD, but it very nearly didn't make it even to 300 AD. So the ending of Gladiator 2 is a total fantasy, like one of those alt-history books where the Roman Empire ends up conquering the Americas or expanding into outer space.   That said, I enjoyed the movie. Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, and Connie Nielsen in particular gave very good performances, with Denzel Washington's Macrinus as the standout. Overall grade: B Next up is High Sierra, which came out in 1941, and this is 1940s true crime grimdark. A common misconception is that black and white films are generally more sanitized and saccharine than modern fare. This definitely isn't true – there wasn't any gratuitous violence and nudity in ‘40s movies, but some of them were very cynical and dark. High Sierra definitely falls into that category. Humphrey Bogart plays Roy Earle, a bank robber currently in Indiana state prison. His former boss Big Mac arranges a pardon for him, and brings him out to California for one last big job.   Unfortunately, the other people on Earle's crew are idiots, and he has a growing sense of impending disaster. Additionally, Earle gets emotionally entangled with two women – Velma, a sick woman from his hometown, and Marie, a woman inured to the lifestyle of criminals. As Earle prepares for the job and attempts to deal with the two women, things get more and more complicated. Definitely on the darker side as I mentioned, but well worth watching, both as a historical artifact and a crime story in its own right. Overall grade: B+   Next is Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, which came out in 2024. Lower Decks is an example of a parody of a thing that is so good that it sort of loops around the horseshoe and becomes a good example of the thing it is parodying. Season 5 is the undeserved end to the very funny Lower Decks series. Paramount really, really wants to get purchased by Skydance, and that's probably going to happen in 2025, so there's a lot of clearing the decks at Paramount, and I expect Lower Decks was one of the casualties.   Then again, our protagonists are no longer lower deckers but junior officers, so perhaps it was a natural place to end the show. So Lower Decks went out pretty strong with a collection of funny and good episodes. All the characters experienced plot arcs and development. The lower deckers matured from the callow ensigns they were in Season 1, and the senior officers likewise experienced character growth and development. (I liked Commander Ransom's triumphant battle cry of “high intensity interval training!”)   I'd say the only weakness is that the show ended with multiverse stuff, and I don't like multiverse stuff in general. Still, the show made a compelling argument for the multiverse as a concept, and the multiverse plot did give an excuse to bring back various Trek actors for speaking parts. And, to be fair, Star Trek has been doing multiverse stuff long, long before the Marvel movies ran the concept into the ground – Captain Kirk was dealing with alternate universe stuff back in the 1960s.   The last episode was a satisfactory conclusion to the series. Lower Decks might be over, but once the Skydance acquisition settles down, maybe the character will return in a new show called Junior Officers? One can hope! Overall grade: B+   Next up is the Frasier reboot Season 2, which also came out in 2024. I liked this about as much as I liked Season 1, which is to say I enjoyed it and found it funny. Frasier's and his son Frederick's relationship seems to have reached equilibrium, so the season spent more time on more 1940s style screwball comedy, which is not a bad thing. Some of the best comedy remains the conflicts between Frasier and Frederick, which is of course an echo of Frasier's own conflicts with his father back in the original show in the 1990s.   I think the best episode was the return of Frasier's scheming, Machiavellian agent Bebe and her daughter Phoebe, who did not exactly fall far from the maternal apple tree. The 10-episode format for the season does seem rather cramped compared to the 20-ish episodes per season of the original show, but that was a different era.   Frasier remains, as one of the characters said in the previous season, the same well-meaning buffoon who goes “that extra, ill-advised mile.” I hope we get a Season 3, but with the shakeups we mentioned at Paramount, that seems unlikely. Overall grade: A-     Finally, let's close with the three best things I saw in Winter 2024/2025.   The first of my favorite three is Saturday Night, which came out in 2024. This is a biopic about the chaotic first night of Saturday Night Live back in the 1970s. Quite hilarious in a vicious sort of way, and (from what I understand) it accurately captures the sheer chaos of live TV. Of course, the chaos surrounding SNL is probably a bit higher than usual for standard live television.   After I watched it, I looked it up, and it seems the movie compresses about three months' worth of events into the hour and a half before the launch of the very first episode. What's amusing is that the more outlandish an event in the movie was, the more likely it was to have actually happened in the leadup to the show's launch. It was the mundane stuff that was made up, not the crazy stuff.   JK Simmons was hilarious as Milton Berle. Nowadays, SNL is an Institution, so it was amusing to see it back when everyone thought it was a bad idea that would fail catastrophically. The movie convincingly captured the “look” of the 1970s – all the characters looked like they were made of nicotine, cholesterol, and cocaine, and in some instances, a lot of cocaine. That stuff is bad for you, as several SNL stars later found out to their sorrow.   It really shows the randomness of history – watching the creation of SNL, you wouldn't expect it to have lasting cultural impact, but it did. Overall grade: A The second of my three favorite things I saw was The Thin Man, which came out in 1934. This is based on a novel by Dashiel Hammett (most famous for writing The Maltese Falcon), and was made pre-Hays Code, so the female lead tended to wear outfits that show off a bit more skin than you would otherwise expect in a 1930s movie. Interestingly, The Thin Man is a fusion of a noir detective movie and a screwball comedy, not two genres that are usually connected, and somehow it all works.   Anyway, the movie centers around detective Nick and his wife Nora, who have returned to New York after a four-year sojourn to California. Nick used to be a private detective, but then he married the wealthy Nora, and wanted to retire to a life of ease and parties with a lot of alcohol. Except everyone in New York assumes that Nick isn't retired and is back on the case, and so he gets dragged into the disappearance of an eccentric factory owner and a string of murders that pop up around it. Of course, Nick isn't as reluctant to come out of retirement as he pretends.   As is often the case in many movies made in the 1930s, many of the rich characters are shown as malicious buffoons, especially the factory owner's ex-wife. Nick and Nora, as the protagonists, are of course exempt from this.   This is considered a classic, and deservedly so – the characters are sharply drawn, the dialogue is good, the performances are excellent, the movie manages to portray a fairly complex plot in 90 minutes. You'll want to watch it with the captions on, of course, because while human nature may not have changed in the ninety years since this movie came out, audio technology has sure improved.   Fun fact: Nick and Nora's dog is named Asta, which is apparently a frequent answer in crossword puzzles due to the double vowels. Overall grade: A   Now, for the third of my three favorite things I saw in Winter 2024/2025, that would be Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which came out in 2024. This is Star Wars meets The Goonies meets Pirates of the Caribbean, and despite that very odd combination of influences, the show was really quite good. The show opens on the idyllic planet of At Attin, which looks like an idealized version of 1980s suburbia filtered through Star Wars. Everyone on the planet has the same job – contributing to the Great Work (whatever that is). Since our four protagonists are kids, they don't pay much attention to that or the concerns of the adults. When one of the children discovers a derelict spaceship in the woods, they accidentally activate it and fly off-planet.   This is a problem because At Attin is protected by a Barrier that doesn't allow travel, and the galaxy is a dangerous place with a lot of pirate gangs roaming around looking for prey. However, the children fall in with Jod, who claims to be a Jedi who will help the kids get back to their home. Everyone they meet warns them that Jod is a con artist and not to be trusted, but he demonstrates Force powers again and again (which would seem to support his claim that he's a Jedi). And the kids' home of At Attin has a mysterious secret, one that Jod desperately wants to claim for himself.   This is very entertaining all the way through. Star Wars really works best as a kids' adventure show (in my opinion), though I'm still looking forward to the second season of Andor, which is Star Wars crossed with a John le Carre spy thriller. Overall grade: A     So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave your review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

In this week's episode, we take a look at five ways to use short stories to market your books. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Half-Elven Thief, Book #1 in the Half-Elven Thief series, (as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward) at my Payhip store: HALF50 The coupon code is valid through February 14, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for the January/February doldrums, we've got you covered! 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates   Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 236 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is January the 24th, 2025. Today we are discussing how to use short stories for marketing. Before we get into that, we'll start with Coupon of the Week. I have an update on my current writing projects and then do Question of the Week.   So let's start off with Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Half-Elven Thief, Book One in the Half-Elven Thief series, (as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward) at my Payhip store. That code is HALF50. You can find the link and the coupon code in the show notes for this episode. This coupon code will be valid through February the 14th, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook for the January/February doldrums, we have got you covered. Now on to an update on my current writing projects. As of this recording, I am 56% of the way through the first round of edits on Shield of Deception. I am still hoping to have the book out early in February, if all goes well. Once that is out, my main project will be Ghost in the Assembly. I am 16,000 words into that. So that is good news there.   In audiobook news, as I mentioned in the previous show, the audiobook of Ghost Armor Omnibus One (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) has come out and you can get that at Audible, Apple, and Amazon. Cloak of Masks should be coming soon and a recording for Cloak of Dragonfire is almost done, so we should have some more audiobook news coming pretty soon.   00:01:45 Question of the Week   Now onto Question of the Week, which is designed for an enjoyable discussion of interesting topics. This week's question: what is your favorite kind of Italian food? No wrong answers, obviously, including not liking Italian food. We had quite a few responses on that.   Justin says: Ah yes, pizza, the food of company team building exercises and RPG tabletop sessions. You can't go wrong with pizza. Another dish I adore would be Italian sausage and peppers with penne pasta. It goes together quickly, tastes great, and is easy to clean up afterwards. Alas, I can no longer partake- the green and red pepper has given me gas worse than any bean dish.   Mary says: Ravioli! The right brands, because the cheese mixes vary. I like a number, but not all.   Surabhi says: Pizza wins, without a doubt!   Juana says: Pizza hits all the notes.   Denny says: I love North American pizza. Italian pizza is its own thing and not something I enjoy. I've eaten very little actual Italian food, but generally I do enjoy pasta. John says: Definitely lasagna. There is a little place in Southern California where the chef makes a deconstructed lasagna that is out of this world.   I have to admit, I didn't know there was such a thing as deconstructed lasagna.   Jenny says: Fettuccine Alfredo and Chicken Parmesan are so good, but I love getting some of both so I get the red and white sauces blended and with tasty cheesy chicken.   Brooks says: While I love a lot of Italian dishes, I really like a type of lasagna that is cream based versus marinara based. Usually it's considered a veggie type lasagna. It just adds a different twist. Basically alfredo meets lasagna.   Olaf says: Any kind of pasta (linguini, tortiglioni, rigatoni, farfalle) or gnocchi with a slow cooked bolognaise. My self-made pizza, then of course lasagna and all kinds of pasta with salsicce and let not forget tiramisu and a latte macchiato. James says: It's funny what we call “foreign food.”” Your Taco Bell style taco originated in Texas. What Americans consider Chinese food originated in San Francisco and pizza as we know it originated in New York City.   Bonnie says: Chicken parm and my husband's lasagna.   A different John says: I love a really good risotto, specifically with porcini mushrooms and pancetta. Also the truffle pasta I had in Rome about 10 years ago, but the best pasta I had was rabbit ragout with handmade pappardelle (which I'm pretty sure I didn't say correctly) at a restaurant here in California. My family loves my homemade spaghetti with meatballs. My granddaughter's favorite is actually spaghetti with clams.   Gary says: Almost anything with pesto.   Andrew says: Cannoli.   James says: Only reason I know this is because of the Food Network, but a true pizza (Italians in Italy don't have pizza) order in Italy doesn't sound appetizing to me. I want a supreme with everything but anchovies on it. While pizza, as we know it is an American invention, what an Italian in Italy would order has only tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and basil.   Finally, Michael says: Spaghetti.   For myself, I think my answer would be pizza, which I think as we just heard is true of many people, but pizza is kind of a category all its own, especially American pizza, which as we heard is American invention and not an Italian one. For non-pizza, I would say lasagna and spaghetti carbonara.   00:04:56 Main Topic of the Week: Using Short Stories for Marketing Now onto our main topic this week, how to use short stories for marketing. Many authors, myself included (which if you haven't subscribed to my new release newsletter, which you should really do), create short stories for marketing. It can be an effective way to connect with your readers, but why do it?   Two caveats I should get into before we get into why you should use short stories for marketing and the big one is if you don't actually enjoy writing short stories, you shouldn't do it. Marketing tactics work only if you actually enjoy doing it or you can find it at least tolerable. If you actively dislike writing short stories and prefer to write novels, then you should not try to write short stories unless you actively enjoy the process at least as much as you enjoy writing novels. The second caveat is to remember that short stories really don't sell well outside of certain very specific categories like erotica or anthologies (and even anthologies don't sell as well as full length novels). Recently I saw an interview with a longtime fantasy author who lamented because of TikTok and YouTube (and whatever) that young people nowadays prefer shorter books/quicker books and books will have to get shorter. I have to admit that has not been my experience at all. I think of the 158 books I've published, I've never had anyone write to me afterwards and say, hey, you know what? This book was too long and should have been shorter. No, they say the book should have been longer. So I think that might just be an illusion caused by that author in question being mostly traditionally published and having to deal with printing costs and the publishers being stingy on paper. But my own experience has been that readers really prefer longer works, which means that they don't want to pay for short stories and that therefore you're not going to make a lot of money from your short stories. That doesn't mean you can't use your short stories to make money, but the short stories themselves (if you sell them) are probably not going to make a lot of money and therefore giving them out for free is probably a good idea. Obviously, this is not a new idea. Nonfiction writers, especially in the self-help and business genres, have long given out charts, worksheets, and other bonus content to their newsletter subscribers. Short stories can work well as what's called a reader magnet in the indie author space. The reader magnet is where you give away something for free and hope that the people who pick it up like it enough to go on and try your paid content. I do this all the time myself with my free series starters like Cloak Games: Thief Trap or Child of the Ghosts or Sevenfold Sword: Champion, where if you read that book since it's free and enjoy it, hopefully you go on to purchase the rest of the books in the series. Short stories also generally don't sell for very much. I almost always sell mine for $0.99 USD when they're not free, so it's not a major loss of revenue or “devaluing the work” if you give it away for free, especially if it's only temporary. Another advantage is that people very obviously love free stuff, especially digital content that doesn't take up physical space. Whether you live in a one room efficiency apartment or a four bedroom house, there is only so much space to go around and you can only have so much stuff and in fact, people are always looking to declutter. This is not a problem with digital goods and if you're giving away the short stories for free in digital format, your readers can receive it whenever it's most convenient for them and it's not a burden for them to keep or maintain it like a pile of freebie clutter from a conference (like pens and tote bags, for example). Also, the idea that giving away something for free means that it is low quality is just not a value that most modern readers have. It is more a legacy of a tradpub/print books that is probably going to fade over time. Being the one to provide the free content directly to readers is a way to keep their interest and hopefully build enough of a relationship with the reader that they're willing to try out the non-free content. This is the concept of the loss leader, where you give away something for free and hopefully people will go on to buy the paid products that are connected to it. In marketing speak, this is called the Marketing Funnel, where the free thing you give away is the top of your funnel and hopefully people take the free thing and like it and they'll get drawn further into the funnel and will become paying customers. Giving away things for free also has the benefit of building up a positive association with you in the reader's mind. So hopefully when you send out a newsletter or they see that you have a new book available on Amazon or Kobo or Google Play or wherever, that they will have a positive reaction and then purchase the book.   With all that in mind, and now that we've had our caveats and laid the groundwork, let us have five reasons to give away short stories.   #1: It can keep people connected with the characters/world between books and keep up interest for the next book in the series. If there are gaps between the books in your series, new short stories keep people engaged with characters and help them to remember what happened in the previous books. A short story can also excite them for what comes next in the series, especially if it alludes to what's about to happen in the next book. I have found generally it's a good idea to avoid massive spoilers for things in the books in the short stories, though some of that may be unavoidable depending on where it's written and how it's set.   #2: It gives readers insight into characters and events that don't fit into the larger narrative but are still fan favorites or interesting to fans. My main approach when I write short stories is I don't really want them to be standalone, but I don't really want them to be spoiler-y, so I tend to treat them as DVD extras or like bonus scenes on the DVD, like everyone knows that the Lord the Rings movies came out in the theaters 20 years ago in a specific form, but when the Lord the Rings Extended Editions came out in DVD, they had many extra scenes that had been cut from the movie for time or budgetary reasons or whatever.   That is how I view the short stories I give away for free when I publish a new book. It is bonus content that gets included like bonus content from the DVD. A prominent example of that would be Trick or Treat and Blood Walk and Iron Drive short stories from the Cloak Mage series, all of which are written from the perspective of the character Casimir Volansko. These have proven to be very popular short stories for me because Casimir offers the chance to see Nadia's world from a more normal perspective because Nadia, by this point in the series, is a superpowered wizard with many responsibilities, whereas Casimir is a truck driver who just wants to retire. So that makes for an interesting contrast and looking at the world through Casimir's eyes is not something I would probably do in a main book in the series but does make for a fun bonus in the short stories.   You can also do the backstory of a character that isn't central to the narrative. A couple of times I've done that where in a short story I have fleshed out more of a character's backstory, especially with the Frostborn series where I had The Orc's Tale, The Thief's Tale, The Assassin's Tale, The Soldier's Tale, and so forth where we delved into the backstory of some of the point of view characters in the series that we didn't have time to go through in the books.   #3: It will give people a clear, easy to understand reason to sign up for your email newsletter. “Subscribe and receive two free short stories” is a more compelling argument than “subscribe to my newsletter.” If anyone subscribes to my newsletter, they get three free novels to start with: Frostborn: The Skull Quest, Blade of the Ghosts, and Malison: Dragon Curse, I believe are the three right now. But I also emphasize that if you do sign up for my new release newsletter, you do get free short stories on a fairly regular basis. If fact, I'm planning a newsletter for the 27th that will also give away more short stories. So I do send out a couple of newsletters a month whenever I have a new book come out, and there are short stories given away with all of those. So that is a good way to help build loyalty and reader engagement for your newsletter, which leads directly into reason number four.   #4: It is a carrot, not a stick to motivate people to open and read your messages, which helps with your messages getting flagged as spam. As I've mentioned before, I do enjoy writing short stories. I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it, but the main marketing reason, the big one I write short stories for, is to drive engagement for my newsletter, which has a very practical benefit. Many of the anti-spam systems nowadays are very sophisticated and track a lot of what you do in the email and the more you interact with an email, the less likely it is to get classified by spam, so that way if people are clicking on links in the newsletter to get the free short story, that means they're interacting more with the newsletter and that the email is less likely to be classified as spam.   For a while in 2018 and 2019, I thought writing short stories was too much work, so I decided to phase it out, but my newsletter engagement just dropped. I realized it was because so many fewer people were clicking on the links in the emails and therefore they're getting listed as spam. So I thought, you know what? I better get back to writing short stories. If your newsletter messages are just long diary style entries, people will at best skim them or start to tune out. Having reader magnets for the newsletter gets people used to thinking there is some incentive for them to personally keep checking your updates, which of course turns back to the original point, that this will also help drive engagement and meaning your newsletter is more likely to be opened and less likely to be classified as spam.   #5: And finally, the fifth and final reason is making short stories free for a limited period of time instead of permafree gives subscribers and followers an incentive to read your posts and newsletters frequently and closely. Fear of missing out (or FOMO, as it's commonly known), is a powerful force. Having the item be free for limited time and exclusive for newsletter subscribers creates a sense of urgency to keep up with your updates. Exclusive content such as never selling the short story but only making it available to newsletter subscribers is also a big incentive for people to subscribe. Many readers (in fact, I would say most readers) are completionists and don't want to miss out on anything in a series, even for just a single short story in that series.   So those are five reasons to use short stories in your marketing to give them away for free. But there are a couple of caveats I want to add.   First, free content is part of the marketing plan and not the entire marketing plan. After being an indie author for almost 13 years now (wow, that's a long time), I've come to realize there is no single magic silver bullet for marketing, but if you do a lot of different things that have a little effect on their own, that does add up over time.   Second, free content should be in line with reader expectations/interests. For example, I'm writing epic fantasy with the Shield War series, so the short story that comes out with Shield of Deception should really be epic fantasy as well. A mystery writer who gives away romance short stories would probably baffle the reader. Likewise, if I published a Caina book and then gave away a short story that was totally unrelated to the Caina series, or indeed not even in the fantasy genre at all, that would probably confuse and annoy readers.   The third caveat is that content besides short stories can also work, such as deleted scenes and alternative point of view chapters or preview chapters. I know writers who have done that, but it needs to be substantial. For example, subscribing to a newsletter and finding out that the special preview is only a paragraph is not going to create goodwill with new subscribers and you're probably going to get a lot of immediate unsubscribes.   And fourth, and finally, the story you're giving away needs to feel professional. It needs to be formatted and edited and put together properly and the cover needs to look good. That is something I struggled with for a long time because at the start, I would hire out my novel covers and do the short story covers myself, but I didn't really know what I was doing, and eventually I learned to use Photoshop and got better at that so I could have better looking short story covers, which paid off in the long run, but it was a lot of work to get there. So that is something to consider if you're giving away short stories, is how much you want to spend on the cover image for it. It might be a good idea to just do something simple for a short story you're giving away for free, like finding an appropriate stock image and then putting some appropriate typography on it. It doesn't have to look amazing. It just has to look good and professional enough. Those are four caveats to our five previous thoughts.   That is it for this week. Thank you for listening to the Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.  

Adam Wallace reads from ‘Dragonfire', the first book in the ‘18,000 Holes In The Universe' junior fiction series, co-written by Lisa Foley and illustrated by James Hart.Read the show notes for all book references at yourkidsnextread.com Connect with Allison, Megan and the Your Kid's Next Read Community on Facebook Visit allisontait.com | childrensbooksdaily.com | yourkidsnextread.com.au

Goodbye Mel, Hello Ace!The return of Glitz, a pretty good villain, decent model effects, and some quite dark moments. But is this just a little too silly?SI and Dan talk the last tale of McCoy's' first season!FOLLOW US!@TheDrWhoPod@DanGriffin21@SJPWORLDMEDIA

Goodbye Mel, Hello Ace!The return of Glitz, a pretty good villain, decent model effects, and some quite dark moments. But is this just a little too silly?SI and Dan talk the last tale of McCoy's' first season!FOLLOW US!@TheDrWhoPod@DanGriffin21@SJPWORLDMEDIA

Hey, Who fans and welcome to Episode 411.This week, after a quick chat on the recent Dragonfire screening at Riverside Studios, we're diving into the still-lost story, now animated, The Power of the Daleks for our review. This is an important story as it's the very first televised regeneration and Patrick Troughton's first performance as The Doctor. Often regarded as a pure classic, what do we think of this Dalek story?Lastly, listener, Adam is back in the U.S. from next week so we'll let you know what's happening with the next episode and story. There won't be an episode next week but we'll be back the week after in some shape or form plus the monthly Round Table episode drops that week, too.This is The Big Blue Box PodcastJoin us each week for a new episode every Friday from your hosts Garry and Adam. We talk news, reviews, commentaries and general chat on everything Doctor Who PLUS listen to our monthly Round Table episodes with the whole team. Check out our website where you can also listen to all of our episodes for free along with the amazing reviews and articles from our writing team.Follow us on the socialsCome and get involved and chat Who between episodes on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We also have a free Discord server for you to hop in and chat with other like-minded Who fans.Thank you for listening to this episode and remember to follow the podcast on your fav podcast app so you don't miss an episode when they drop every Friday (or pop over here for links to all the popular podcast platforms). Have a fantastic week and until next time remember... Aaaaaaaaaaallons-y!

Join Melissa and Ellie in this episode of the Lame Book Club Podcast as they dive into the intriguing world of Sarah J. Maas's books, revealing the ugly truth about SJM's forgotten storylines. Expect laughter, drama, and lively commentary as the Melissa and Ellie explore key plot points, character dynamics, and themes across the Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City series. Melissa and Ellie welcome questions and theories from listeners, making this an interactive and engaging experience. Engage with the hosts and join the adventure by connecting on social media. With their humor and camaraderie, the hosts offer insights that resonate with Witty Readers and Book Lovers alike. #BookBlogger #BooktubeDrama #BookReviewRant #HouseOfFlameAndShadowBook #BookReview #CrescentCity #BookRecommendations #BookReviewRant #BookReview #SarahJMaasBooks CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 04:08 - Spoilers 05:10 - SJM's Biggest Plot Holes Revealed 11:56 - Dragon Fire and the Asteri 13:02 - Fury's Role with the Asteri 14:04 - Inconsistencies in Wetness 15:57 - Travel Time Discrepancies 16:31 - The Mask Explained 21:26 - Plot Hole: Hunt's Crown 22:40 - Plot Hole: Azriel 26:40 - Sarah's Catalog Overview 31:00 - Rhys and High Lord Gifts 32:10 - Winnowing Multiple People 34:10 - Feyre, Nesta, and Gwyn's Blood Rite Victory 36:35 - Feyre's C-Section Question 38:25 - Az's Involvement in the Blood Rite 39:45 - Asking Sophie for Help 41:56 - Throne of Glass Discussion 45:15 - Purpose of King's Champion Competition 49:55 - Last One of the Day 50:05 - The King's Orders Explained 52:30 - Next Week Preview ---------------------------------- Get Connected with us! IG: https://www.instagram.com/lamebookclubpod/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2exV4FVCLeN7mYfxcNs9cB?si=36805589642e442c Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l-a-m-e-book-club-podcast/id1703598706 PODCAST BUSINESS INQUIRIES hello@xyzmedia.info

Where do people in space get their shopping? Iceland of course. It's chilly and slightly silly in the final story of season 24. 

Jiunn, Seth, John and Aaron discuss their review experience with the Punch Dragon Fire https://developingpalates.com/reviews/cigar-reviews/team-cigar-review-punch-dragon-fire/

La guerre en Ukraine illustre bien la place prise par de nouvelles armes. C'est notamment le cas des drones. Ces petits engins, qui servaient plutôt d'instruments de reconnaissance, sont devenus, au fil du temps, des armes offensives.Aujourd'hui, en effet, certains drones militaires sont équipés de bombes et de missiles. La légèreté et la manœuvrabilité de ces engins les rendent redoutables. Et n'étant pas dirigés par des pilotes, leur destruction n'implique pas de pertes humaines.Le danger représenté par ces nouvelles armes, qui attaquent souvent en groupes, est encore renforcé par l'emploi de l'intelligence artificielle. Devenus beaucoup plus autonomes, les drones de nouvelle génération pourraient alors prendre eux-mêmes certaines décisions, adaptées à la nature du terrain.Face à cette nouvelle menace, les moyens classiques de défense anti-aérienne ne sont pas toujours adaptés. C'est pourquoi l'armée américaine a mis au point un nouveau programme de défense, le projet "Meteor", dont le but est la destruction des drones.Il prévoit le développement d'une nouvelle arme, qui émettrait des faisceaux d'énergie électromagnétique. L'intérêt majeur d'une telle arme est qu'elle pourrait détruire de très petits drones et anéantir simultanément une grande quantité de ces engins volants. Or, on le sait, les drones sont souvent lancés en essaims serrés sur les cibles ennemies. Ce qui permet de viser, en une seule offensive, des objectifs multiples.De manière plus précise, les micro-ondes lancées par ces nouvelle armes sont censées dérégler les systèmes électroniques des drones. Ce qui les rendrait inoffensifs.Par ailleurs, cette arme à micro-ondes aurait un autre avantage : son coût relativement modéré. Surtout si on le compare à celui des missiles, une arme bien plus onéreuse. Pour l'instant, l'arme mise au point par le projet "Meteor" n'en est qu'au stade expérimental. Mais la nouvelle arme pourrait être testée dès 2026.Les États-Unis ne sont pas les seuls à chercher une parade contre les drones. En effet, les Anglais ont mis au point une nouvelle arme de défense, le "Dragonfire". Elle projette un laser capable d'atteindre une cible de très peite taille. Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Ізраїльський військовий оглядач Ігаль Левін в ефірі Radio NV про відповідь Ізраїлю на атаку Ірану, нову вісь зла Росія – Іран – Китай, гегемонію США, жорстку військову цензуру, лазерну зброю DragonFire, удари по НПЗ та російські атаки на мотоциклахВедучий – Олексій ТарасовВсі інтерв'ю експерта можна переглянути на його авторському YouTube каналі ► https://bit.ly/Yigal-Levin-YouTube, військову аналітику на його каналі у Телеграмі  ► https://bit.ly/Yigal-Levin-Telegram 

Військовий експерт Антон Міхненко на Radio NV про вибухи у Луганську, ракету Х-69, якою росіяни вдарили по Трипільській ТЕС на Київщині, військову допомогу для України, зокрема постачання систем протиповітряної оборони, а також про лазерну зброю DragonFire від Британії.Ведучий – Олег Білецький

Day 776.Today, we bring you the latest news from Ukraine, discuss Britain's new DragonFire laser and we speak to a Ukrainian lieutenant colonel on a military base outside Kyiv on military strategy, the state of training and how the war may develop if aid from the West dries up.Contributors:David Knowles (Head of Audio Development). @DJKnowles on X.Dominic Nicholls(Associate Editor, Defence). @DomNicholls on X.Joe Pinkstone (Science Correspondent). @JoePinkstone on X.With thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Pavlo Kurylenko (Commander in Ukraine's Presidential Brigade).Articles Referenced:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/12/ex-royal-navy-minehunter-ships-arrive-in-portsmouth/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/12/british-troops-test-oceans-eleven-electromagnetic-weapon/Subscribe to The Telegraph: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Олег Катков, головний редактор Defense Express, на Radio NV про британську лазерну зброю DragonFire, нові російські ракети Х-69, якими було знищено Трипільську ТЕС, та можливості Patriot прикривати Київську областьВедучий – Олексій Тарасов

In this week's episode, we take a look at the pros and cons of some of the most popular writing software, and a share a preview of the new HALF-ELVEN THIEF audiobook narrated by Leanne Woodward. I'm hoping to start on SHIELD OF DARKNESS soon, so let's look back at some of the DRAGONSKULL audiobooks! This coupon code will get you 25% off the audiobook of DRAGONSKULL: SWORD OF THE SQUIRE (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills) at my Payhip store: SPRINGSQUIRE The coupon code is valid through April 23rd, 2024. So if you need a new audiobook for spring, we've got you covered! Transcript   00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 195 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is April 5th, 2024 and today we are talking about the pros and cons of different types of writing software. We also have an update on my current writing projects and as usual, Question of the Week. Before we get into that, let's do Coupon of the Week. For this week's coupon, I'm hoping to start on Shield of Darkness soon. So let's look back at some of the Dragonskull audiobooks. The following coupon code will get you 25% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Sword of the Squire at my Payhip store and that is SPRINGSQUIRE. Again that is SPRINGSQUIRE and that will be in the show notes. This coupon code will get you 25% off Dragonskull: Sword of the Squire audiobook, as excellently narrated by Brad Wills. This coupon code will be valid through April the 23rd, 2024. If you need a new audiobook for spring, we have got you covered. Now for an update on my current writing projects. The rough draft of Wizard Thief is done. It came to about 74,000 words, which means it is about 15,000 words longer than the first book. I suspect no one will complain. I am now writing Thief's Favor, an ebook short story set in the world of Wizard-Thief. Newsletter subscribers will get a free ebook copy of Thief's Favor when Wizard-Thief comes out, hopefully before April is over. I am also 19,000 words into Cloak of Titans and after Wizard-Thief is published that will be my main project and then once Cloak of Titans is done, it'll be back to Ridmark and Andomhaim with Shield of Darkness. In audiobook news, the audiobook of Half-Elven Thief is done, as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward. You can get it at all the usual audio bookstores, Audible, and all the others except for Google Play. For some reason, they seem to be having slow uptake on audiobooks for the last couple of weeks, and hopefully that should be cleared up soon. Otherwise, you can get Half-Elven Thief, as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward at all the usual audiobook stores, and we will include a sample of the audiobook at the end of this podcast episode. So hang around for that. 00:02:13 Question of the Week Now, for this week's question of the week, which we do have interesting discussions on my blog and Facebook page. This week's question of the week was: what was the first musical album you ever purchased with your own money? No wrong answers, obviously. The idea for this week's question arrived because over Easter weekend I helped someone set up a device for ripping LP records to MP3. This was an interesting experience because it was in fact the first time I had ever attempted to use an LP record in any form, since by the time I became interested in purchasing music (more on that at the end of the segment), the LP era was well and truly over. Or was it? I thought it was amusing that vinyl outsold CDs in 2023 because as I learned firsthand, when I was setting up this LP ripper, vinyl is so much more cumbersome and fragile than either CD or streaming. Anyway, we asked people what their first album they purchased with their own money was and here are some of the answers. Malcolm says War of the Worlds LP vinyl. Justin says Rush, A Farewell to Kings on cassette tape. In the mid ‘90s, my daughters found my box of cassettes, a legacy of my military days, and it immediately became theirs. ABM says my first album (well in this case, CD) was Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt. Chris says Grand Funk Railroad, Survival. I'm that old, lol. Bonnie says Chicago Transit Authority and K-TEL Hits of the Month. Had “Cover of The Rolling Stone” on it. Brad says Jaws 1975 and that set me on the path of being a lifelong fan and rabid collector of film music. Venus says: my last day of 8th grade, I bought Annihilator-Alice in Hell and Metal Church-Blessing in Disguise. Same day, same store, same transaction. Cheryl says my very first purchase at the age of 14 back in the ‘60s was an album by the Walker Brothers from a secondhand shop. The first new album was Sticky Fingers, Rolling Stones, 1971. Tom says the Trainspotting soundtrack. Pamela says the Letterman 1968 Going Out of my Head. Michael says the soundtrack for Mad Max-Beyond Thunderdome, a musical feast of Jean Michel Jarre crossed with Tina Turner. On cassette tape, naturally. Scott says Guns and Roses, Appetite for Destruction. Brandy says Sisters of Mercy, Vision Thing. Rhion says I grew up in a college town and by age 4 I had a full, green milk of LPs from the discount bin. By five, I had four. I had my own personal collection and my own stereo because my uncle would go to dorm dumpsters at the end of the semester to grab stereos, et cetera, to refurbish. My first purchase was Oingo Boingo's Only a Lad and my second was Men at Work. They were $0.75 each. I remember because it was $0.25 over my budget. I had to ask for a quarter from my uncle. And finally, John says Leonard Nimoy Sings at a garage sale for twenty-five cents. It had The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins on it. Oh dear. If you have never seen The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins, which is a song about Bilbo Baggins sung by Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame, once you've finished listening to this podcast episode, go to YouTube, search for The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins and watch the music video of Leonard Nimoy singing The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins. It is hilarious. Thanks to everyone for their comments for Question of the Week. For myself, my answer for what the first musical album I ever purchased was a bit odd because it was, I suspect it was later than most of the people who mentioned this and the reason for that is I have a very odd relationship with popular music because for some reason I almost always have a hard time understanding song lyrics. Song lyrics usually sound like either monotonous droning or warbling to my ear. I don't know why. My brain just works that way. One of the few exceptions is Johnny Cash, who I can usually understand on the first try without any difficulty. Because of that, I've never really connected with most popular music, whether way back when I was a teenager or in the modern age. To this day, I still gravitate towards the soundtracks of computer games and movies that I like. So the first soundtrack I deliberately purchased with my own money was part of a computer game collection, specifically, the Quest for Glory collection, which came out in 1997 and that came with a CD of Quest for the Glory 5: Dragon Fire soundtrack, which I wanted. I already had all the Quest for Glory games on CD or in some cases floppy disk, but I bought that collection just so I could have the soundtrack CD. 27 years later, I still have it and I listened to that soundtrack while working on the final scenes of Wizard-Thief. 00:07:12 Main Topic: Pros and Cons of Writing Software Now let's venture into our main topic of the week, the pros and cons of the best writing software. I got thinking about this because a few years ago I was at the gym. Usually when I'm at the gym, I go on the treadmill and I bring a tablet with me with an ebook and whether I'm running or walking or whatever, I will read on the treadmill. While I was doing this, an elderly gentleman came up next to me on the next treadmill and asked if I knew of any word processing programs that would work on an Android tablet. Boy, did I have answers for him. I started to describe the various pros and cons of different writing software, and he very quickly got bored, made a polite excuse, and wandered away. However, this is a writing podcast with people who are interested in the business of writing, and so I thought it would be a good topic for this week's show because if you ever want your book to be read by other people, if you're not just, you know, handwriting it in a journal for your own emotional satisfaction, then at some point you will probably have to convert your book to a digital file and you will need a software program to do that, and if you're really serious about writing, you will probably need a word processor of some kind or a similar program. So the first one we're going to look at is one that many indie and traditional writers swear by. It's called Scrivener, and it is a program specifically designed for writing books or novels. The pros: it is designed specifically for writing. It has features for outlining, breaking documents into chapters, and tracking writing goals, etc. It has a one-time cost of $60.00 US instead of a subscription, which is increasingly rare nowadays since everything seems to require a subscription instead of a one-time price. And as an added bonus, they offer a free trial so you can try it out and see if it is to your liking. They offer a student discount, where if you buy it with a valid.edu address, you should be able to get a discount. So now here are the cons. The learning curve on Scrivener is pretty high. For basic writing, for something like Microsoft Word, you just open up Word to a blank document, start typing, and if you just want to do that, then the program will definitely meet your need. Scrivener is a bit harder to learn and you would probably benefit from watching a few tutorial videos on how to use it beforehand. I personally do not use Scrivener, though I don't object to it obviously because I know many indies and tradpub writers who know what they're doing swear by it, but for me it is kind of overkill and I don't use it. If you are thinking about Scrivener, it's probably good to ask yourself, will you actually use the extra features? Because my own writing process is pretty simple. I just type out an outline in one Word document, and then I type out the rough draft in a different Word document, and I don't need fancy outlining software or something like that for my process. That's not to say you can't use fancy outlining software, or that the software isn't good. You might remember last year on podcast I had an interview with Troy Lambert of Plottr, which is a very excellent program designed to help you outline your novel but if that's not something you're interested in doing, then Scrivener will probably be overkill for you. Scribner is probably best for people who take extensive notes on their work, especially if they're trying to organize research based on the chapters where it's needed. It may be best for the kind of people who enjoy curating Notion and Trello accounts and they're able to think about their book in a visual way. It is also good for people who extensively revise blocks of text within a chapter or move chapters around a lot. If that sounds like your writing process, and it sounds like something would be good for you, then it is definitely worth giving the free trial of Scrivener a try. Now let's move on to a more general word processing program and one that probably many people out there are familiar with: Google Docs. That is part of the Google suite of office software. You can do PowerPoint-esque presentations, spreadsheets, and documents in Google Docs. The biggest pro of Google Docs is that it's free. All you need to do is sign up for a free Google account and then you have free access to Google Docs and can start typing. It is very easy to use between multiple devices since it runs primarily in a web browser. If you are using one computer, you can close out and open a web browser on a different computer and use it that way. There are dedicated apps for both Android and iOS devices. It's very easy to share between multiple people and accounts and collaborate in real time, and this is honestly its biggest advantage over Microsoft Office besides the cost. Autosave also works extremely well. However, like everything else in life, there are cons. One of the cons of Google Docs is that it gets really slow with large files. I did try to write a book in Google Docs once and I tried a couple of short stories. The short stories are fine. If you try to write a novel in Google Docs, I found that starts to get really slow after about the 25,000 word mark or so. For obvious reasons, since Google Docs is an online service, it is very hard to use without an Internet connection. Perhaps the most important con of all is to be sure to back up to an additional location. If you lose access to your Google account for whatever reason, that means you lose access to all your files, including the book you were working on in Google Docs. So if you're using Google Docs, it's a good idea, it's in fact an excellent and imperative idea, to download your document every so often and save it in another location. Now let's move on to probably the most common word processing software on the planet as of this recording, Microsoft Word. Full disclosure, that is what I use most of the time. In fact, my podcast notes are in a Microsoft Word document. The pros are that you've probably already heard of it and many people are familiar with this product through work or school. If you've had an office job, you've probably used Microsoft Word at some point. And if you have gone through the modern educational system, there's a very good chance that you used Microsoft Word or Google Docs in school. Another advantage is that it's very easy to find online tutorials from Microsoft Office products. Another advantage is that Word is essentially the industry standard for publishing, which makes it a lot easier to share with the editors, translators, beta readers, etcetera. There are a couple of cons, though. Microsoft, like many other software companies, has been switching heavily to the subscription model, so I believe they still sell individual licenses for Office where it's a one-time fee, but then it's tied to a specific computer forever. If you want to really use Office, you have to get a Microsoft 365 subscription, which is often kind of a bummer if you are on a limited budget, which is why it's good there are free options like Google Docs available. Another con of Microsoft Word is that the program is, at this point, 41 years old. The first version of Word was released in 1983. Obviously, it has changed a great deal since then but feature after feature has been built up and piled onto Word to the point where in all honesty (this is as someone who uses Microsoft Word pretty much every single day for the last 15 years), it has a monstrous maze of overlapping and interlocking features. There's a common meme about how if you try to move a bullet point half an inch in Word, you'll start hearing sirens and explosions outside and your entire document will be messed up. This is not far from the truth. For just straight typing, Word is fine, but for more elaborate stuff it quickly becomes a big headache. Another con is that the real time collaboration features like Google Docs has are definitely lacking, and you really can't do that well with Word. If that's not something you do, it's not something you need to worry about but if you do a lot of collaboration, that is something to keep in mind. Again, in full disclosure, I could sit here for the next two hours and talk about the various bad experiences I've had with Microsoft Word, but the fact of the matter is, I've written 150 novels and I've written most of them in Microsoft Word. So it is right now the program I use to write. So on to the next writing suite of software. I wrote most of my books in Microsoft Word, but the ones I haven't written in Word I've written in LibreOffice, which is a free office suite that you can download for free. It doesn't require an Internet connection once it's downloaded. So let's go to the pros. It's free and open source. The interface kind of sort of looks like Microsoft Word, so if you are familiar with Word, the learning curve is not terribly steep. Some think that LibreOffice is faster than Word. Depending on how your system is configured, LibreOffice can be quite a bit faster than Word, having used both. LibreOffice is probably the best for privacy advocates, especially for those who are concerned about Microsoft and Google storing their work in their cloud services and possibly training various AIs on it. For myself, that's not something I worry about a great deal, because all my stuff has been pirated extensively for years, and as we all know, most of the big AIs out now were trained on pirated data, which they're getting sued about now. From my point of view, the horse is already out in the out of the barn for this, so there's no point in worrying about it. LibreOffice also has the advantage of being interoperable with most file formats. By default, it saves in what's called the open document format, but it is mostly cross compatible with the Microsoft Office formats. The cons aren't quite as many as Google Drive in my opinion, because it doesn't have to be online. Even though the user interface is very similar to Word, it's not identical and some people don't care for it. LibreOffice also has no built-in cloud storage functionality like Microsoft Word or Google Docs, so if you need to store your documents in the cloud somewhere for backup, you have to piece it together with another storage option. Though this is the other side of one of the pros, because LibreOffice does not require an Internet connection in order to work once you have it downloaded. So those are the pros and cons of some different writing software. Which one you pick is up to you and your particular writing needs. So that's it for this week. Thanks for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A quick word of thanks to my transcriptionist for helping me pull together the research for this episode. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on the official website at https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcast platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week. And now let's close out this week's episode with a preview of Half-Elven Thief, as narrated by Leanne Woodward.

We are back in the garage with Wes Clodfelter, Echo Spirits, and Amy Schirtzinger, McClellan's Pub, to talk about the Echo Spirits Single Barrel Program. Amy owns McClellan's Pub and bought a single barrel for her bar from Echo Spirits. Let's try some of it with a new Punch limited release, Dragon Fire, which will be available at the Smoking Tent Event at Tinder Box at Easton on March 16th in Columbus, OH. Pour one more...light up another...we'll figure it out together. Please Drink Responsibly byjack.com/bourbonandbs to buy some shirts! Thanks to our sponsors: All of you that have been supporting us! Join our patrons at patreon.com/bourbonandbspodcast to help support the continuing growth of the show and the community. Tinder Box at Easton for the weekly featured cigar and check them out for their current featured cigar at eastontinderbox@gmail.com Altadis USA for the weekly second cigar and the continued support BS Cigar Company for the continued support! Check them out at bscigarcompany@gmail.com for ordering the BS Gold and BS Silver

- the bloodbath hoax- takeaways from the State of the Union- did Biden prove conspiracy theorists right about Lahaina?- Dragonfire- the collapse of Haiti- illegal immigration optics- solar eclipse- Red Heifer prophecy- More celebs, especially Diddy- Quiet on Set

It's been a few weeks but it feels like a decade - so we had to make this our longest podcast to date. Lets dive right in Patriots:- the bloodbath hoax- takeaways from the State of the Union- did Biden prove conspiracy theorists right about Lahaina?- Dragonfire- the collapse of Haiti- illegal immigration optics- solar eclipse- Red Heifer prophecy- More celebs, especially Diddy- Quiet on SetLet's go!Links Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-1242773Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/70hvTRjJVeWutRhEfI7zt5?si=bf541bf89d934a37E on Twitter: @channelindigo_E on GETTR: @ChannelIndigoE on Parler: @ChannelZer0EE on TRUTHsocial: @_E_Justin on Twitter: @JustinDurand33Justin on TRUTHsocial: @golfguyJD

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We discuss the events of the day and take a focus on the present and future on the nature of warfare. What do we see being pushed now as a response to our lack of defense over the last three decades? Do we need to lower the standards in order to hit recruitment goals? Also, we talk the aspects of being valued and contributing in a society. What is the problem with taking your skillset into a country where it can be used? Is that practice being employed now? And, what is Dragon Fire? Is it a new concept? We ask the questions.  Contact and Support - https://www.subscribestar.com/dynamic-independence 

Aegon and Visenya faced no true threats to their reign from the outside, but the biggest problems can start from within, and even the first House of the Dragon was troubled by such. An abundance of Targaryen births late in the Conqueror's reign set off issues of succession, marriage, dragon-bonding and other matters of power and status. Meanwhile King's Landing was growing even faster just outside their front door… and even though more dragons were hatching as well, that front door started to look a bit flimsy. Go to https://magicmind.com/westeros and get up to 56% off your subscription for the next 10 days with code WESTEROS20. Bonus Eps & More - www.patreon.com/historyofwesteros Shirts & Stickers - historyofwesteros.threadless.com Nina: goodqueenaly.tumblr.com Sean's YouTube: bit.ly/3818H9X www.historyofwesteros.com

Drönare har kommit att definiera modern krigföring. De är billiga, enkla att använda och dyra att skjuta ned för fienden. Men nu kan det nya supervapnet Dragonfire sätta stopp för den här utvecklingen. På en kvart får du veta hur laservapnet har utvecklats på ett av Storbritanniens hemligaste labb, Porton Down, och varför experter spår att Dragonfire kan förändra hur vi krigar i framtiden. Med Charlotta Buxton, SvD:s korrespondent i Storbritannien. Artikel:

We discuss the events of the day and take a focus on the present and future on the nature of warfare. What do we see being pushed now as a response to our lack of defense over the last three decades? Do we need to lower the standards in order to hit recruitment goals? Also, we talk the aspects of being valued and contributing in a society. What is the problem with taking your skillset into a country where it can be used? Is that practice being employed now? And, what is Dragon Fire? Is it a new concept? We ask the questions.  Contact and Support - https://www.subscribestar.com/dynamic-independence 

-Detienen a ex magistrado de Sonora por presunto enriquecimiento ilícito-Peso mexicano recupera terreno frente al dólar-Reino Unido prueba “Dragon Fire”, arma láser con alta potencia -Más información en nuestro podcast

The first LIVE episode of Next Window Please featuring comedian Will Dougherty, destined regional manager Todd Seaton and DRAGONFIRE. Recorded at Nebraska Brewing Company.

Dragon notices the forest animals shivering and uses dragon fire to create a cozy campfire outside of the cave for everyone to share.

We have an exciting one to bring you today as we compare Season 1 of House of the Dragon to its novel counterpart, Fire & Blood in its corresponding pages. We are covering the second to last paragraph on Page 350 through the second paragraph on Page 422. While this is not necessarily a spoiler alert since the vast majority of what we talk about from the book is seen on screen, if you haven't read the book and don't want to know how these passages play out on paper, this is your warning.   Stay with us as we discuss some of the notable changes that are found between Season 1 and the pages that align in Fire & Blood such as; Ser Criston Cole's relationship with Princess Rhaenyra, Queen Alicent and King Viserys' third son, King Viserys' health condition, Ser Vaemond Velaryon's fate, and Queen Rhaenyra's response to King Aegon II's terms.   With Chase & Josh highlighting key differences, providing a numeric grade for Season 1 overall as well as a grade for the affiliated 72 pages in Fire & Blood, and discussing how the portrayal of characters can give a conflicting sense of allegiance, don't miss out!   "And with his death, the war of ravens and envoys and marriage pacts came to an end, and the war of fire and blood began in earnest."

Tune in to learn about how fire-breathing creatures are possible, what makes a bad breaker-upper, and new blazing fast, cheap, and accurate COVID tests.Dragons could be real.“House Of The Dragon: Yes, fire-breathing animals could really exist” by Stephen Kellyhttps://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/house-of-dragon-fire-breathing/“What Does Science Say About Flying and Fire Breathing Dragons?” by Anne Marie Helmenstinehttps://www.thoughtco.com/the-science-behind-flying-and-fire-breathing-dragons-4163130#:~:text=After%20all%2C%20a%20flying%2C%20fire,found%20in%20the%20wild%20todayBreak up with someone the right way.“Study finds “ghosting” short-term partners is associated with psychopathy and Machiavellianism” by Emily Manishttps://www.psypost.org/2022/04/study-finds-ghosting-short-term-partners-is-associated-with-psychopathy-and-machiavellianism-62982“Dark Triad” by Psychology Todayhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/dark-triadSpeed meets accuracy with covid tests.UT Dallas Researchers Develop Accurate Rapid Test for Viruses by University of Texas at Dallashttps://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/950413COVID-19 and PCR Testing by Cleveland Clinichttps://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/21462-covid-19-and-pcr-testingDigital Plasmonic Nanobubble Detection for Rapid and Ultrasensitive Virus Diagnostics by Yaning Lui, et al.https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29025-wFollow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/making-dragon-fire-dating-ghosts-blazing-fast-covid-tests