Podcasts about Piers Anthony

How can you be more relaxed about your writing process? What are some specific ways to take the pressure off your art and help you enjoy the creative journey? With Joanna Penn and Mark Leslie Lefebvre. In the intro, Spotify 2025 audiobook trends; Audible + BookTok; NonFiction Authors Guide to SubStack; OpenAI and Disney agreement on Sora; India AI licensing; Business for Authors January webinars; Mark and Jo over the years Mark Leslie LeFebvre is the author of horror and paranormal fiction, as well as nonfiction books for authors. He's also an editor, professional speaker, and the Director of Business Development at Draft2Digital. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thrillers, dark fantasy, and memoir as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. Mark and Jo co-wrote The Relaxed Author in 2021. You can listen to us talk about the process here. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights, and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Why the ‘relaxed' author Write what you love Write at your own pace Write in a series (if you want to) Schedule time to fill the creative well and for rest and relaxation Improve your writing process — but only if it fits with your lifestyle You can find The Relaxed Author: Take the Pressure Off Your Art and Enjoy the Creative Journey on CreativePennBooks.com as well as on your favorite online store or audiobook platform, or order in your library or bookstore. You can find Mark Leslie Lefebvre and his books and podcast at Stark Reflections.ca Why the ‘relaxed' author? Joanna: The definition of relaxed is “free from tension and anxiety,” from the Latin laxus, meaning loose, and to be honest, I am not a relaxed or laid-back person in the broader sense. Back in my teens, my nickname at school was Highly Stressed. I'm a Type A personality, driven by deadlines and achieving goals. I love to work and I burned out multiple times in my previous career as an IT consultant. If we go away on a trip, I pack the schedule with back-to-back cultural things like museums and art galleries to help my book research. Or we go on adventure holidays with a clear goal, like cycling down the South-West coast of India. I can't even go for a long walk without training for another ultra-marathon! So I am not a relaxed person — but I am a relaxed author. If I wanted to spend most of my time doing something that made me miserable, I would go back to my old day job in consulting. I was paid well and worked fewer hours overall. But I measure my life by what I create, and if I am not working on a creative project, I am not able to truly relax in my downtime. There are always more things I want to learn and write about, always more stories to be told and knowledge to share. I don't want to kill my writing life by over-stressing or burning out as an author. I write what I love and follow my Muse into projects that feel right. I know how to publish and market books well enough to reach readers and make some money. I have many different income streams through my books, podcast and website. Of course, I still have my creative and business challenges as well as mindset issues, just like any writer. That never goes away. But after a decade as a full-time author entrepreneur, I have a mature creative business and I've relaxed into the way I do things. I love to write, but I also want a full and happy, healthy life. I'm still learning and improving as the industry shifts — and I change, too. I still have ambitious creative and financial goals, but I am going about them in a more relaxed way and in this book, I'll share some of my experiences and tips in the hope that you can discover your relaxed path, too. Mark: One of the most fundamental things you can do in your writing life is look at how you want to spend your time. I think back to the concept of: ‘You're often a reflection of the people you spend the most time with.' Therefore, typically, your best friend, or perhaps your partner, is often a person you love spending time with. Because there's something inherently special about spending time with this person who resonates in a meaningful way, and you feel more yourself because you're with them. In many ways, writing, or the path that you are on as a writer, is almost like being on a journey with an invisible partner. You are you. But you are also the writer you. And there's the two of you traveling down the road of life together. And so that same question arises. What kind of writer-self do you want to spend all your time with? Do you want to spend all your time with a partner that is constantly stressed out or constantly trying to reach deadlines based on somebody else's prescription of what success is? Or would you rather spend time with a partner who pauses to take a contemplative look at your own life, your own comfort, your own passion and the things that you are willing to commit to? Someone who allows that all to happen in a way that feels natural and comfortable to you. I'm a fan of the latter, of course, because then you can focus on the things you're passionate about and the things you're hopeful about rather than the things you're fearful about and those that bring anxiety and stress into your life. To me, that's part of being a relaxed author. That underlying acceptance before you start to plan things out. If the writing life is a marathon, not a sprint, then pacing, not rushing, may be the key. We have both seen burnout in the author community. People who have pushed themselves too hard and just couldn't keep up with the impossible pace they set for themselves. At times, indie authors would wear that stress, that anxiety, that rush to produce more and more, as a badge of honor. It's fine to be proud of the hard work that you do. It's fine to be proud of pushing yourself to always do better, and be better. But when you push too far — beyond your limits — you can ultimately do yourself more harm than good. Everyone has their own unique pace—something that they are comfortable with—and one key is to experiment until you find that pace, and you can settle in for the long run. There's no looking over your shoulder at the other writers. There's no panicking about the ones outpacing you. You're in this with yourself. And, of course, with those readers who are anticipating those clearly communicated milestones of your releases. I think that what we both want for authors is to see them reaching those milestones at their own paces, in their own comfort, delighting in the fact their readers are there cheering them on. Because we'll be silently cheering them along as well, knowing that they've set a pace, making relaxed author lifestyle choices, that will benefit them in the long run. “I'm glad you're writing this book. I know I'm not the only author who wants peace, moments of joy, and to enjoy the journey. Indie publishing is a luxury that I remember not having, I don't want to lose my sense of gratitude.” —Anonymous author from our survey Write what you love Joanna: The pandemic has taught us that life really is short. Memento mori — remember, you will die. What is the point of spending precious time writing books you don't want to write? If we only have a limited amount of time and only have a limited number of books that we can write in a lifetime, then we need to choose to write the books that we love. If I wanted a job doing something I don't enjoy, then I would have remained in my stressful old career as an IT consultant — when I certainly wasn't relaxed! Taking that further, if you try to write things you don't love, then you're going to have to read what you don't love as well, which will take more time. I love writing thrillers because that's what I love to read. Back when I was miserable in my day job, I would go to the bookstore at lunchtime and buy thrillers. I would read them on the train to and from work and during the lunch break. Anything for a few minutes of escape. That's the same feeling I try to give my readers now. I know the genre inside and out. If I had to write something else, I would have to read and learn that other genre and spend time doing things I don't love. In fact, I don't even know how you can read things you don't enjoy. I only give books a few pages and if they don't resonate, I stop reading. Life really is too short. You also need to run your own race and travel your own journey. If you try to write in a genre you are not immersed in, you will always be looking sideways at what other authors are doing, and that can cause comparisonitis — when you compare yourself to others, most often in an unfavorable way. Definitely not relaxing! Writing something you love has many intrinsic rewards other than sales. Writing is a career for many of us, but it's a passion first, and you don't want to feel like you've wasted your time on words you don't care about. “Write what you know” is terrible advice for a long-term career as at some point, you will run out of what you know. It should be “write what you want to learn about.” When I want to learn about a topic, I write a book on it because that feeds my curiosity and I love book research, it's how I enjoy spending my time, especially when I travel, which is also part of how I relax. If you write what you love and make it part of your lifestyle, you will be a far more relaxed author. Mark: It's common that writers are drawn into storytelling from some combination of passion, curiosity, and unrelenting interest. We probably read or saw something that inspired us, and we wanted to express those ideas or the resulting perspectives that percolated in our hearts and minds. Or we read something and thought, “Wow, I could do this; but I would have come at it differently or I would approach the situation or subject matter with my own flair.” So, we get into writing with passion and desire for storytelling. And then sometimes along the way, we recognize the critical value of having to become an entrepreneur, to understand the business of writing and publishing. And part of understanding that aspect of being an author is writing to market, and understanding shifts and trends in the industry, and adjusting to those ebbs and flows of the tide. But sometimes, we lose sight of the passion that drew us to writing in the first place. And so, writing the things that you love can be a beacon to keep you on course. I love the concept of “Do something that you love, and you'll never work a day in your life.” And that's true in some regard because I've always felt that way for almost my entire adult life. I've been very lucky. But at the same time, I work extremely hard at what I love. Some days are harder than others, and some things are really difficult, frustrating and challenging; but at the end of the day, I have the feeling of satisfaction that I spent my time doing something I believe in. I've been a bookseller my entire life even though I don't sell books in brick-and-mortar bookstores anymore—that act of physically putting books in people's hands. But to this day, what I do is virtually putting books in people's hands, both as an author and as an industry representative who is passionate about the book business. I was drawn to that world via my passion for writing. And that's what continues to compel me forward. I tried to leave the corporate world to write full time in 2018 but realized there was an intrinsic satisfaction to working in that realm, to embracing and sharing my insights and knowledge from that arena to help other writers. And I couldn't give that up. For me, the whole core, the whole essence of why I get up in the morning has to do with storytelling, creative inspiration, and wanting to inspire and inform other people to be the best that they can be in the business of writing and publishing. And that's what keeps me going when the days are hard. Passion as the inspiration to keep going There are always going to be days that aren't easy. There will be unexpected barriers that hit you as a writer. You'll face that mid-novel slump or realize that you have to scrap an entire scene or even plotline, and feel like going back and re-starting is just too much. You might find the research required to be overwhelming or too difficult. There'll be days when the words don't flow, or the inspiration that initially struck you seems to have abandoned you for greener pastures. Whatever it is, some unexpected frustration can create what can appear to be an insurmountable block. And, when that happens, if it's a project you don't love, you're more likely to let those barriers get in your way and stop you. But if it's a project that you're passionate about, and you're writing what you love, that alone can be what greases the wheels and helps reduce that friction to keep you going. At the end of the day, writing what you love can be a honing, grounding, and centering beacon that allows you to want to wake up in the morning and enjoy the process as much as possible even when the hard work comes along. “For me, relaxation comes from writing what I know and love and trusting the emergent process. As a discovery writer, I experience great joy when the story, characters and dialogue simply emerge in their own time and their own way. It feels wonderful.” — Valerie Andrews “Writing makes me a relaxed author. Just getting lost in a story of my own creation, discovering new places and learning what makes my characters tick is the best way I know of relaxing. Even the tricky parts, when I have no idea where I am going next, have a special kind of charm.” – Imogen Clark Write at your own pace Mark: Writing at your own pace will help you be a more relaxed author because you're not stressing out by trying to keep up with someone else. Of course, we all struggle with comparing ourselves to others. Take a quick look around and you can always find someone who has written more books than you. Nora Roberts, traditionally published author, writes a book a month. Lindsey Buroker, fantasy indie author, writes a book a month of over 100,000 words. If you compare yourself to someone else and you try to write at their pace, that is not going to be your relaxed schedule. On the other hand, if you compare yourself to Donna Tartt, who writes one book every decade, you might feel like some speed-demon crushing that word count and mastering rapid release. Looking at what others are doing could result in you thinking you're really slow or you could think that you're super-fast. What does that kind of comparison actually get you? I remember going to see a talk by Canadian literary author Farley Mowat when I was a young budding writer. I'll never forget one thing he said from that stage: “Any book that takes you less than four years to write is not a real book.” Young teenage Mark was devastated, hurt and disappointed to hear him say that because my favorite author at the time, Piers Anthony, was writing and publishing two to three novels a year. I loved his stuff, and his fantasy and science fiction had been an important inspiration in my writing at that time. (The personal notes I add to the end of my stories and novels came from enjoying his so much). That focus on there being only a single way, a single pace to write, ended up preventing me from enjoying the books I had already been loving because I was doing that comparisonitis Joanna talks about, but as a reader. I took someone else's perspective too much to heart and I let that ruin a good thing that had brought me personal joy and pleasure. It works the same way as a writer. Because we have likely developed a pattern, or a way that works for us that is our own. We all have a pace that we comfortably walk; a way we prefer to drive. A pattern or style of how and when and what we prefer to eat. We all have our own unique comfort food. There are these patterns that we're comfortable with, and potentially because they are natural to us. If you try to force yourself to write at a pace that's not natural to you, things can go south in your writing and your mental health. And I'm not suggesting any particular pace, except for the one that's most natural and comfortable to you. If writing fast is something that you're passionate about, and you're good at it, and it's something you naturally do, why would you stop yourself from doing that? Just like if you're a slow writer and you're trying to write fast: why are you doing that to yourself? There's a common pop song line used by numerous bands over the years that exhorts you to “shake what you got.” I like to think the same thing applies here. And do it with pride and conviction. Because what you got is unique and awesome. Own it, and shake it with pride. You have a way you write and a word count per writing session that works for you. And along with that, you likely know what time you can assign to writing because of other commitments like family time, leisure time, and work (assuming you're not a full-time writer). Simple math can provide you with a way to determine how long it will take to get your first draft written. So, your path and plans are clear. And you simply take the approach that aligns with your writer DNA. Understanding what that pace is for you helps alleviate an incredible amount of stress that you do not need to thrust upon yourself. Because if you're not going to be able to enjoy it while you're doing it, what's the point? Your pace might change project to project While your pace can change over time, your pace can also change project to project. And sometimes the time actually spent writing can be a smaller portion of the larger work involved. I was on a panel at a conference once and someone asked me how long it took to write my non-fiction book of ghost stories, Haunted Hamilton. “About four days,” I responded. And while that's true — I crafted the first draft over four long and exhausting days writing as much as sixteen hours each day — the reality was I had been doing research for months. But the pen didn't actually hit the paper until just a few days before my deadline to turn the book over to my editor. That was for a non-fiction book; but I've found I do similar things with fiction. I noodle over concepts and ideas for months before I actually commit words to the page. The reason this comes to mind is that I think it's important to recognize the way that I write is I first spend a lot of time in my head to understand and chew on things. And then by the time it comes to actually getting the words onto the paper, I've already done much of the pre-writing mentally. It's sometimes not fair when you're comparing yourself to someone else to look at how long they physically spend in front of a keyboard hammering on that word count, because they might have spent a significantly longer amount of a longer time either outlining or conceptualizing the story in their mind or in their heart before they sat down to write. So that's part of the pace, too. Because sometimes, if we only look at the time spent at the ‘writer's desk,' we fool ourselves when we think that we're a slow writer or a fast writer. Joanna: Your pace will change over your career My first novel took 14 months and now I can write a first draft in about six weeks because I have more experience. It's also more relaxing for me to write a book now than it was in the beginning, because I didn't know what I was doing back then. Your pace will change per project I have a non-fiction work in progress, my Shadow Book (working title), which I have started several times. I have about 30,000 words but as I write this, I have backed away from it because I'm (still) not ready. There's a lot more research and thinking I need to do. Similarly, some people take years writing a memoir or a book with such emotional or personal depth that it needs more to bring it to life. Your pace will also shift depending on where you are in the arc of life Perhaps you have young kids right now, or you have a health issue, or you're caring for someone who is ill. Perhaps you have a demanding day job so you have less time to write. Perhaps you really need extended time away from writing, or just a holiday. Or maybe there's a global pandemic and frankly, you're too stressed to write! The key to pacing in a book is variability — and that's true of life, too. Write at the pace that works for you and don't be afraid to change it as you need to over time. “I think the biggest thing for me is reminding myself that I'm in this to write. Sometimes I can get caught up in all the moving pieces of editing and publishing and marketing, but the longer I go without writing, or only writing because I have to get the next thing done instead of for enjoyment, the more stressed and anxious I become. But if I make time to fit in what I truly love, which is the process of writing without putting pressure on myself to meet a deadline, or to be perfect, or to meet somebody else's expectations — that's when I become truly relaxed.” – Ariele Sieling Write in a series (if you want to) Joanna: I have some stand-alone books but most of them are in series, both for non-fiction and for my fiction as J.F. Penn. It's how I like to read and write. As we draft this book, I'm also writing book 12 in my ARKANE series, Tomb of Relics. It's relaxing because I know my characters, I know my world; I know the structure of how an ARKANE story goes. I know what to put in it to please my readers. I have already done the work to set up the series world and the main characters and now all I need is a plot and an antagonist. It's also quicker to write and edit because I've done it before. Of course, you need to put in the work initially so the series comes together, but once you've set that all up, each subsequent book is easier. You can also be more relaxed because you already have an audience who will (hopefully) buy the book because they bought the others. You will know approximately how many sales you'll get on launch and there will be people ready to review. Writing in a non-fiction series is also a really good idea because you know your audience and you can offer them more books, products and services that will help them within a niche. While they might not be sequential, they should be around the same topic, for example, this is part of my Books for Authors series. Financially, it makes sense to have a series as you will earn more revenue per customer as they will (hopefully) buy more than one book. It's also easier and more relaxing to market as you can set one book to free or a limited time discount and drive sales through to other books in the series. Essentially, writing a book in a series makes it easier to fulfill both creative and financial goals. However, if you love to read and write stand-alone books, and some genres suit stand-alones better than series anyway, then, of course, go with what works for you! Mark: I like to equate this to no matter where you travel in the world, if you find a McDonald's you pretty much know what's on the menu and you know what to expect. When you write in a series, it's like returning to hang out with old friends. You know their backstory; you know their history so you can easily fall into a new conversation about something and not have to get caught up on understanding what you have in common. So that's an enormous benefit of relaxing into something like, “Oh, I'm sitting down over coffee, chatting with some old friends. They're telling me a new story about something that happened to them. I know who they are, I know what they're made out of.” And this new plot, this new situation, they may have new goals, they may have new ways they're going to grow as characters, but they're still the same people that we know and love. And that's a huge benefit that I only discovered recently because I'm only right now working on book four in my Canadian Werewolf series. Prior to that, I had three different novels that were all the first book in a series with no book two. And it was stressful for me. Writing anything seemed to take forever. I was causing myself anxiety by jumping around and writing new works as opposed to realizing I could go visit a locale I'm familiar and comfortable with. And I can see new things in the same locale just like sometimes you can see new things and people you know and love already, especially when you introduce something new into the world and you see how they react to it. For me, there's nothing more wonderful than that sort of homecoming. It's like a nostalgic feeling when you do that. I've seen a repeated pattern where writers spend years writing their first book. I started A Canadian Werewolf in New York in 2006 and I did not publish it until ten years later, after finishing it in 2015. (FYI, that wasn't my first novel. I had written three and published one of them prior to that). That first novel can take so long because you're learning. You're learning about your characters, about the craft, about the practice of writing, about the processes that you're testing along the way. And if you are working on your first book and it's taking longer than planned, please don't beat yourself up for that. It's a process. Sometimes that process takes more time. I sometimes wonder if this is related to our perception of time as we age. When you're 10 years old, a day compared to your lifetime is a significant amount of time, and thinking about a year later is considering a time that is one-tenth of your life. When you have a few more decades or more under your belt, that year is a smaller part of the whole. If you're 30, a year is only one-thirtieth of your life. A much smaller piece. Just having written more books, particularly in a series, removes the pressure of that one book to represent all of you as a writer. I had initial anxiety at writing the second book in my Canadian Werewolf series. Book two was more terrifying in some ways than book one because finally, after all this time, I had something good that I didn't want to ruin. Should I leave well enough alone? But I was asked to write a short story to a theme in an anthology, and using my main character from that first novel allowed me to discover I could have fun spending more time with these characters and this world. And I also realized that people wanted to read more about these characters. I didn't just want to write about them, but other people wanted to read about them too. And that makes the process so much easier to keep going with them. So one of the other benefits that helps to relax me as a writer working on a series is I have a better understanding of who my audience is, and who my readers are, and who will want this, and who will appreciate it. So I know what worked, I know what resonated with them, and I know I can give them that next thing. I have discovered that writing in a series is a far more relaxed way of understanding your target audience better. Because it's not just a single shot in the dark, it's a consistent on-going stream. Let me reflect on a bit of a caveat, because I'm not suggesting sticking to only a single series or universe. As writers, we have plenty of ideas and inspirations, and it's okay to embrace some of the other ones that come to us. When I think about the Canadian rock trio, Rush, a band that produced 19 studio albums and toured for 40 years, I acknowledge a very consistent band over the decades. And yet, they weren't the same band that they were when they started playing together, even though it was the same three guys since Neil Peart joined Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. They changed what they wrote about, what they sang about, themes, styles, approaches to making music, all of this. They adapted and changed their style at least a dozen times over the course of their career. No album was exactly like the previous album, and they experimented, and they tried things. But there was a consistency of the audience that went along with them. And as writers, we can potentially have that same thing where we know there are going to be people who will follow us. Think about Stephen King, a writer who has been writing in many different subjects and genres. And yet there's a core group of people who will enjoy everything he writes, and he has that Constant Reader he always keeps in mind. And so, when we write in a series, we're thinking about that constant reader in a more relaxed way because that constant reader, like our characters, like our worlds, like our universes, is like we're just returning to a comfortable, cozy spot where we're just going to hang out with some good friends for a bit. Or, as the contemplative Rush song Time Stand Still expresses, the simple comfort and desire of spending some quality time having a drink with a friend. Schedule time to fill the creative well and for rest and relaxation Mark: What we do as writers is quite cerebral, so we need to give ourselves mental breaks in the same way we need to sleep regularly. Our bodies require sleep. And it's not just physical rest for our bodies to regenerate, it's for our minds to regenerate. We need that to stay sane, to stay alive, to stay healthy. The reality for us as creatives is that we're writing all the time, whether or not we're in front of a keyboard or have a pen in our hand. We're always writing, continually sucking the marrow from the things that are happening around us, even when we're not consciously aware of it. And sometimes when we are more consciously aware of it, that awareness can feel forced. It can feel stressful. When you give yourself the time to just let go, to just relax, wonderful things can happen. And they can come naturally, never feeling that urgent sense of pressure. Downtime, for me, is making space for those magic moments to happen. I was recently listening to Episode 556 of The Creative Penn podcast where Joanna talked about the serendipity of those moments when you're traveling and you're going to a museum and you see something. And you're not consciously there to research for a book, but you see something that just makes a connection for you. And you would not have had that for your writing had you not given yourself the time to just be doing and enjoying something else. And so, whenever I need to resolve an issue or a problem in a project I'm writing, which can cause stress, I will do other things. I will go for a run or walk the dogs, wash the dishes or clean the house. Or I'll put on some music and sing and dance like nobody is watching or listening—and thank goodness for that, because that might cause them needless anxiety. The key is, I will do something different that allows my mind to just let go. And somewhere in the subconscious, usually the answer comes to me. Those non-cerebral activities can be very restorative. Yesterday, my partner Liz and I met her daughter at the park. And while we quietly waited, the two of us wordlessly enjoyed the sights and sounds of people walking by, the river in the background, the wind blowing through the leaves in the trees above us. That moment wasn't a purposeful, “Hey, we're going to chill and relax.” But we found about five minutes of restorative calm in the day. A brief, but powerful ‘Ah' moment. And when I got back to writing this morning, I drew upon some of the imagery from those few minutes. I didn't realize at the time I was experiencing the moment yesterday that I was going to incorporate some of that imagery in today's writing session. And that's the serendipity that just flows very naturally in those scheduled and even unscheduled moments of relaxation. Joanna: I separate this into two aspects because I'm good at one and terrible at the other! I schedule time to fill the creative well as often as possible. This is something that Julia Cameron advises in The Artist's Way, and I find it an essential part of my creative practice. Essentially, you can't create from an empty mind. You have to actively seek out ways to spark ideas. International travel is a huge part of my fiction inspiration, in particular. This has been impossible during the pandemic and has definitely impacted my writing. I also go to exhibitions and art galleries, as well as read books, watch films and documentaries. If I don't fill my creative well, then I feel empty, like I will never have another idea, that perhaps my writing life is over. Some people call that writer's block but I know that feeling now. It just means I haven't filled my creative well and I need to schedule time to do that so I can create again. Consume and produce. That's the balance you need in order to keep the creative well filled and the words flowing. In terms of scheduling time to relax instead of doing book research, I find this difficult because I love to work. My husband says that I'm like a little sports car that goes really, really fast and doesn't stop until it hits a wall. I operate at a high productivity level and then I crash! But the restrictions of the pandemic have helped me learn more about relaxation, after much initial frustration. I have walked in nature and lain in the garden in the hammock and recently, we went to the seaside for the first time in 18 months. I lay on the stones and watched the waves. I was the most relaxed I've been in a long time. I didn't look at my phone. I wasn't listening to a podcast or an audiobook. We weren't talking. We were just being there in nature and relaxing. Authors are always thinking and feeling because everything feeds our work somehow. But we have to have both aspects — active time to fill the creative well and passive time to rest and relax. “I go for lots of walks and hikes in the woods. These help me work out the kinks in my plots, and also to feel more relaxed! (Exercise is an added benefit!)” –T.W. Piperbrook Improve your writing process — but only if it fits with your lifestyle Joanna: A lot of stress can occur in writing if we try to change or improve our process too far beyond our natural way of doing things. For example, trying to be a detailed plotter with a spreadsheet when you're really a discovery writer, or trying to dictate 5,000 words per hour when you find it easier to hand write slowly into a journal. Productivity tips from other writers can really help you tweak your personal process, but only if they work for you — and I say this as someone who has a book on Productivity for Authors! Of course, it's a good idea to improve things, but once you try something, analyze whether it works for you — either with data or just how you feel. If it works, great. Adopt it into your process. If it doesn't work, then discard it. For example, I wrote my first novel in Microsoft Word. When I discovered Scrivener, I changed my process and never looked back because it made my life so much easier. I don't write in order and Scrivener made it easier to move things around. I also discovered that it was easier for me to get into my first draft writing and creating when I was away from the desk I use for business, podcasting, and marketing tasks. I started to write in a local cafe and later on in a co-working space. During the pandemic lockdown, I used specific playlists to create a form of separation as I couldn't physically go somewhere else. Editing is an important part of the writing process but you have to find what works for you, which will also change over time. Some are authors are more relaxed with a messy first draft, then rounds of rewrites while working with multiple editors. Others do one careful draft and then use a proofreader to check the finished book. There are as many ways to write as there are writers. A relaxed author chooses the process that works in the most effective way for them and makes the book the best it can be. Mark: When it comes to process, there are times when you're doing something that feels natural, versus times when you're learning a new skill. Consciously and purposefully learning new skills can be stressful; particularly because it's something we often put so much emphasis or importance upon. But when you adapt on-going learning as a normal part of your life, a natural part of who and what you are, that stress can flow away. I'm always about learning new skills; but over time I've learned how to absorb learning into my everyday processes. I'm a pantser, or discovery writer, or whatever term we can apply that makes us feel better about it. And every time I've tried to stringently outline a book, it has been a stressful experience and I've not been satisfied with the process or the result. Perhaps I satisfied the part of me that thought I wanted to be more like other writers, but I didn't satisfy the creative person in me. I was denying that flow that has worked for me. I did, of course, naturally introduce a few new learnings into my attempts to outline; so I stuck with those elements that worked, and abandoned the elements that weren't working, or were causing me stress. The thought of self-improvement often comes with images of blood, sweat, and tears. It doesn't have to. You don't have to bleed to do this; it can be something that you do at your own pace. You can do it in a way that you're comfortable with so it's causing you no stress, but allowing you to learn and grow and improve. And if it doesn't work but you force yourself to keep doing it because a famous writer or a six-figure author said, “this is the way to do it,” you create pressure. And when you don't do it that way, you can think of yourself as a failure as opposed to thinking of it as, “No, this is just the way that I do things.” When you accept how you do things, if they result in effectively getting things done and feeling good about it at the same time, you have less resistance, you have less friction, you have less tension. Constantly learning, adapting, and evolving is good. But forcing ourselves to try to be or do something that we are not or that doesn't work for us, that causes needless anxiety. “I think a large part of it comes down to reminding myself WHY I write. This can mean looking back at positive reviews, so I can see how much joy others get from my writing, or even just writing something brand new for the sake of exploring an idea. Writing something just for me, rather than for an audience, reminds me how much I enjoy writing, which helps me to unwind a bit and approach my projects with more playfulness.” – Icy Sedgwick You can find The Relaxed Author: Take the Pressure Off Your Art and Enjoy the Creative Journey on CreativePennBooks.com as well as on your favorite online store or audiobook platform, or order in your library or bookstore. The post The Relaxed Author Writing Tips With Joanna Penn and Mark Leslie Lefebvre first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Come siamo arrivati a concepire la morte nel nostro mondo occidentale come una figura incappucciata, uno scheletro che gira con una falce? Come è cambiata la percezione che abbiamo della morte la cui discussione e rappresentazione pubblica sono percepite con lo stesso imbarazzo e rimozione associati alla pornografia? Grazie all'intervento di Angela Marangon, laureanda in Filologia Moderna presso l'Università degli Studi di Padova con la tesi "Da Philippe Ariès a Neil Gaiman. Antiche e nuove rappresentazioni dellamorte dal Medioevo a oggi" abbiamo parlato di questi argomenti trattando gli studi di Philippe Ariès, storico francese del 900 attivo nell'ambito dello studio della morte con il suo saggio "Storia della morte in Occidente: dal medioevo ai giorni nostri". Abbiamo discusso delle rappresentazioni moderne della morte nella cultura pop e nella letteratura moderna, la strategia dell'ironia come le campagne marketing di Taffo e l'immortalità digitale o persistenza digitale dei profili di utenti ormai deceduti ma ancora attivi creando una forma inedita di "presenza" post-mortem.Per concludere abbiamo parlato di 4 libri fantasy o comunque inerenti al fantastico che hanno come protagonisti la morte personificata o antropomorfizzata: "Santa Maria - Anche la morte va in burnout" di Francesco Muzzopappa, "Le Intermittenze della Morte" di José Saramago, "Il Ciclo di Morte" di Terry Pratchett e "Sul Destriero Immortale" di Piers Anthony.Tesi Di Angela Marangon: https://thesis.unipd.it/handle/20.500.12608/44254Discord: https://discord.gg/zPH6EeEgfXCanale Telegram: https://t.me/blablafantasPagina Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bla.blafantasy/

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on empathy games, returning to discuss a little more about Papers, Please before digging into Cart Life a bit. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: A bit more of Papers, Please and a little bit of Cart Life Issues covered: thanks for the interview, a bit about Twin Suns Corp, showing earlier versions of the game, a vertical slice with all the game play, getting fired, building up through the systems, was this my run, tactility in games, citations and the space they take, space economy, inventory management by comparison, encumbrance, restriction on space, card games and space, making citations bigger, where's the money coming from, thinking about decisions, the save system, leveraging the save system to have space for warnings, a generous save system, you have to make the whole game, the spread of subversion, not playing through multiple times, an unfortunate bug, GDC and the IGF, festival games on the show floor, a history of game issues, the two storylines we're playing, a dark story of divorce, differences between the cart stories, more adventure game than expected, having a hard time getting a cart and also being too late to pick up your daughter, difficulty and opacity, a film equivalent, Brett's fantasy recs, Papers Please and authenticity, controlling your population in authoritarian regimes, stereotypes in games. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: CalamityNolan, BioStats, Kaeon, KyleAndError, Project Octavia, Harley Baldwin, Republic Commando, Choose Your Own Adventure, Mark Garcia, The Room, SpaceTeam, Gorogoa, The Elder Scrolls, Marvel: Snap, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, Netrunner, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, The Last Express, Nier: Automata, Spelunky, The Walking Dead, Richard Hofmeier, howling dogs, Porpentine, itch.io, Ad Hoc, Telltale, The Wolf Among Us, Adventure Game Studio, The Sims, Tow, Rose Byrne, Max, Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Raymond Feist, Riftwar saga, Piers Anthony, The Belgariad, David Eddings, Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan, Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin, Dave Duncan, Ursula K. LeGuin, Tales of Earthsea, Robert Jackson Bennett, Divine Cities trilogy, Founders trilogy, Terry Pratchett, Discworld, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Shadows of the Apt, Robin Hobb, Farseer trilogy, Martha Wells, Murderbot Diaries, Books of the Raksura, Lois McMaster Bujold, Vorkosigan saga, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, John LeCarré, Lee Child, Jack Reacher, Claudiu, Chernobyl, Outer Wilds, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers. Next time: More Cart Life Oops: What I was going to say at the end there is that This War of Mine caught some flak for not accurately representing how people would come together in times of strife (though generally the critical reception was very positive) Links: First look stream of Project Octavia  Twitch: timlongojr and Twin Suns Corp  Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com 

Scott creates stories people love, but which stories did he love when he was a kid? A & Scott talk about the books, movies, and experiences that continue to influence his writing in this episode.  Deep Cuts is created by Scott Sigler and A B Kovacs Produced by Steve Riekeberg Production Assistance by Allie Press Copyright 2025 by Empty Set Entertainment  I loved Misfits of Science and Piers Anthony books as a kid. If I was more creative, I'd use GoDaddy Promo Code CJCFOSSIG for a new 3-year dot-com domain registration for ninety-nine percent off year one by using GoDaddy Promo Code CJCFOSSIG. Y'all should create a fan site for your favorites! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the 80th Episode of the ABC Pod the Adult Book Club where we drink and we read things. This episode features Virtual Mode by Piers Anthony. Discussion of the book starts at the 8th minute. Spoilers are between the 38 and 1:16 minute marks. We discuss how this book lost us from the start and never got us back. In spoilers we get into the rest of our characters and how the ideas of them may have worked but the execution failed; as well as how the ending left us not wanting to continue the story. We finish with our usual segments after. Enjoy!

Can you believe we've been doing this podcast for 5 years? We sure can't! Join us for a trip down memory lane where we ostensibly talk about our most popular episodes, but as usual, we get sidetracked to talk about random stuff like Piers Anthony and also babies. Mike has a new niece so he's talking about babies a lot lately!

Can you believe we've been doing this podcast for 5 years? We sure can't! Join us for a trip down memory lane where we ostensibly talk about our most popular episodes, but as usual, we get sidetracked to talk about random stuff like Piers Anthony and also babies. Mike has a new niece so he's talking about babies a lot lately!

JOEL GOTLER is CEO of Intellectual Property Group, a literary management company based in Los Angeles, whose film clients include Michael Connelly, John Scalzi, Piers Anthony, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Russo, Viet Nguyen, JD Barker, Debbie Macomber, David Wiesner and Andre Dubus III, as well as the estates of Sue Grafton, James M. Cain, Stephen Ambrose, Roger Ebert, Frank McCourt and John O'Hara. He is also executive producer of MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET and FERDINAND.     Host Jason E. Squire is Editor of The Movie Business Book and Professor Emeritus, USC School of Cinematic Arts. Music: “The Day it All Began and it All Ended” by Pawel Feszczuk (License: CC by 4.0).  

In this week's episode, we take a look at seven popular movies about writing & writers and take a look at what they got wrong. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of DRAGONSKULL: CURSE OF THE ORCS (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills) at my Payhip store: SPRINGORCS The coupon code is valid through May 20th, 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 198 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is April 26th, 2024 and today we were talking about seven of the most inaccurate movies about writers. Before we do that, we will have writing updates, Coupon of the Week, and a Question of the Week. So let's start with Coupon of the Week. First up, let's do Coupon of the Week. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Curse of the Orc (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills) at my Payhip store. That coupon code is SPRINGORCS and that's SPRINGORCS. As always, that coupon code will be in the show notes. This coupon code is valid through May 20th, 2024. So if you need a new audiobook for spring, we have got you covered. Now an update on my current writing projects and audiobook projects. I'm currently on Chapter 16 of Cloak of Titans. I'm not sure how many chapters it's going to end up being. My number keeps changing, but I think right now it's 25. I am over halfway through the book and I'm hoping to be past the 70,000 word point by the end of the day, if all goes well. I'm hoping to still have that out before the end of May. I am also 5,000 words into Half-Orc Paladin, which should come out this summer. After Cloak of Titans is out, my next main project will be Shield of Darkness, which I know many people have been asking about, so hopefully it will not be too much longer until I start on Shield of Darkness. In audiobook news, Hollis McCarthy is almost done recording Ghost in the Veils, and we should hopefully have that available to listen to sometime in May. Brad Wills is currently recording the anthology Tales of the Shield Knight, which will contain over 15 of the Shield Knight short stories that I wrote for the Sevenfold Sword and Dragontiarna series, and that should also hopefully be out sometimes toward the end of May or possibly June. So that is where I'm at with my current writing and audiobook projects. 00:01:58 Question of the Week/Update on Starfield from Previous Question of the Week Next up is Question of the Week, which is designed to inspire interesting discussions of enjoyable topics. This week's question: what is the first fantasy novel you remember reading? After all, if you're hanging around the website of Jonathan Moeller, Pulp Writer, there's a non-zero chance that you enjoy fantasy books. So it seems like a reasonable question, and it was indeed a reasonable question because we got a lot of responses. Our first response is from Justin, who says: believe it or not, the first fantasy novel I read was The Hobbit. My older sisters had pooled their money to buy the paper version of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I saw them reading it, and since my sisters were for once not being nasty to each other and reading together, it had to be good. After they finished The Hobbit, I asked to borrow it. It was allowed to read it as long as I didn't leave the room and wash my hands first. I was eight. Our next response is from Mary, who says: I remember my first reading of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. It was by no stretch of the imagination my first fantasy novel. Our next comment is from Stuart, who says: Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings. When I was younger/preteens, I loved adventure books like Hardy Boys and The Three Investigators. I didn't really read much in the coming years, until one day it was raining outside and being bored, I made a nuisance of myself when my older brother was trying to watch TV. He finally snapped, told me to shut up, threw Pawn of Prophecy at me, and told me to read that. The rest, as they say, is history. I went from adding Eddings to Feist and Gemmel and then on to Jordan, etcetera. I will always have a soft spot for David Eddings books, though. So it seems the common themes here will be a sibling rivalry inspiring love of fantasy literature. Our next response is from Grace, who says: does the Magic Treehouse series count? If not, Chronicles of Narnia. Leanne says Dragonriders of Pern. Boy, did I want a dragon! Melinda says Piers Anthony's Night Mare. I was in 6th grade and my friend gave it to me for my birthday. Cheryl says: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. From then on, it was full steam ahead, Feist, Eddings, Tolkien, Irvine, and now most of the fantasy/sci-fi authors that are currently publishing on Kindle. David says: probably The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Kevin says: many, many moons ago it was the Earthsea trilogy by Ursula Le Guin. Then I wandered into TV and films in the sci-fi genre for a number of years, forsaking the written word. My imagination was recaptured more recently, about a decade ago, a decade ago, when a friend lent me a copy of Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. Alan says: I've been through most of these mentioned so far though the years but my first introduction to once he was Edgar Rice Burroughs, like Tarzan, John Carter of Mars, Pellucidar, etcetera. Then on to Tolkien. Randy says: for me it was The Hobbit.  Went on a family vacation with my uncle and his family. I was introduced to The Hobbit. My uncle will read just about every night to my cousins, and as we're all sharing the same room, my sister and I began hearing the story. We got home. I asked my dad if I could read his copy. 50 some odd years later, I'm still devouring as many books as I can. Mike says: I am not sure which one it was, but I believe it was either The Hobbit or The Sword of Shannara. Diana says: The Gunslinger. I said what I said. Venus says: A Wrinkle in Time or Dragonsong. I know that the Pern books are actually science fiction, but I don't recall any of the science stuff that first time I read it. It was the first Pern book I read. The first epic fantasy I recall reading was Dragons of Autumn Twilight. Gary says: I couldn't give you a title or author, but I definitely remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books in the fantasy genre as a young reader. Tom said: Not 100% sure, but this is my best guess. It would be The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Ah, the Chronicles of Narnia. What a series. Juana says: I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Catriona says: The Hobbit after listening to the BBC Radio play adaptation in the ‘70s. Pippa says: Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. I've reread them lots too and I've never tired of them. Perry says: Do the Iliad, Odyssey, and Beowulf count? For modern fantasy, would be a toss-up between The Hobbit and The Belgariad. Joy says: the Thomas Covenant series. My boyfriend at the time was into sci-fi and fantasy novels, so I borrowed it and was hooked. A different Glenn says: either Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey or the Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip. I love them both in the same summer while visiting my dad and cannot remember which one came first, but I got hooked on fantasy fiction that summer. Mandy says: The first time I remember reading the left an impression was the Dragonlance Legends series. My favorite fantasy series is Discworld. Gary (a different Gary) says: First one I remember is the Elfstones of Shannara. Also, the Dragonriders of Pern and Crystal Singer series. John says: Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. I was nine years old. It created a lifelong love of fantasy for me. Darla says: A Wrinkle in Time, The Faraway Lurs, and The Runaway Robot were some of the books I read as a kid. Later it was Lord of the Rings and The Dragonriders of Pern and I continue reading to this day. Andy says first ever was the Deverry series by Katherine Kerr. It was a very intense read for 14 year old on an 8 hour drive on a family trip. Sue says David Eddings- all his series, and Anne McCaffrey, Dragonrider series. Brock says Lord of the Rings. Susan says: probably Lord of the Rings, but it's over 50 years ago. I can't really remember. Edward says The Legend of Huma by Richard A. Knaak. Michael says. Now there's a question! Probably The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or one of the other Narnia books, all of which are obviously epic. And finally, Judy says the White Mountains by John Christopher or anything by Dr. Seuss. So I think we can see it's safe to say that if you have a small children between the ages of eight and 10 and you want to get them into fantasy literature, the best places to start would be either The Hobbit, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or perhaps the Dragonriders of Pern. For myself, the very first fantasy novel I ever read was Magician Master by Raymond E. Feist. What got me into that book was The Betrayal at Krondor computer game, which of course was a classic. After I finished the game, I did some reading. Remember this was way before the Internet, so you couldn't find out anything you wanted whenever you wanted and I was astonished to realize that Krondor was in fact based off an actual novel series. So I got Magician Master and started reading it. Fun fact, years later I realized that Magician Master was in fact the sequel to Magician Apprentice and went back to read the first book. So that was this week's Question of the Week. You may remember that last week's Question of the Week was what new Xbox game I should try. Many people had excellent suggestions. I think I'm going to go with Starfield from all the suggestions last week. The reason for this is that Starfield reminds me a great deal of Wing Commander Privateer from the ‘90s. If you remember, the Wing Commander series of PC games, they're basically Top Gun but in space. Privateer took the basic flight gameplay mechanic but changed it so you're an independent privateer captain and you had to make your way through the Gemini sector as a mercenary, a merchant, a pirate, a bounty hunter, or some combination of them. You had to buy your own equipment and weapons and find a way to turn a profit in your jobs, since you had to pay for everything. If you played the main plots, you got involved in conspiracy involving a lost alien relic, but you don't have to do any main plot at all. You just fly around the galaxy making credits, fighting pirates, and trading. Starfield basically feels like someone took Wing Commander Privateer, and then added on a Skyrim-esque role-playing experience for when your character is on the ground. I know it got middling reviews, but I'm enjoying the game so far. Perhaps because, at least to my eye, it feels like a massively updated version of Wing Commander Privateer. 00:09:43 Main Topic: Seven of the Most Inaccurate Movies About Writers Now we're 10 minutes into the show and still haven't gotten to our main topic, so I think it's time we should finally do that, which is Seven of the Most Inaccurate Movies About Writers. I decided to do this because I noticed that whenever a novelist or a writer of fiction turns up in a movie, the depiction of it tends to be grossly inaccurate. That's hardly unique to writers. The joke among the military officers, former military officers, and law enforcement officers is that whenever the military or law enforcement turns up on TV, you can have a good drinking game by counting all the inaccuracies and things that they get wrong. So why should writing be any different? I think the difference might be that writing is kind of a more aspirational career, where it's the sort of career that people tend to daydream about, like going off and becoming a writer and so they tend to get a lot of things wrong about that. So with the help of my transcriptionist, we pulled together a list of seven of the most inaccurate movies about writing. There's actually a couple of Hallmark movies on here, and this isn't to bash on Hallmark movies. I think Hallmark movies tend to be about the fantasy of romance in the way that a show like Law and Order is about the fantasy of law enforcement and criminal justice, or a movie like John Wick is about the fantasy of violence or a game like SimCity is about the fantasy of managing a large city. The reality is of none of these things are nothing like the way they're portrayed in fiction, but instead, Law and Order is about the fantasy of what we would like the criminal justice system to be like and John Wick is kind of like, you know, a revenge fantasy of what we imagine we would do if someone actually shot our dog. So with that in mind, let's look at seven of the most inaccurate movies we found about writing. The first one is called Winter Love Story from Hallmark in 2019. It kind of deserves the 22% it got in the Rotten Tomatometer. The plot is a debut writer who wrote a memoir is appearing on a book tour of a famous fantasy author in order to boost her sales. They travel around visiting charming bed and breakfasts with plenty of time to talk about their feelings. The fantasy writer has a dog that he really loves a lot. The movie really revolves more around the dog more than the books. Now, why is this a bad movie about writing? For one thing, it has an unrealistic view of book tours, namely that a debut writer who is writing a memoir (which is a notoriously hard to sell genre) would be given such a lavish book tour paired with an author outside her genre. Cross-genre of sales promotions here in the real world tend not to work terribly well, because someone who wants to buy an 800 page fantasy novel about dragons is probably not going to be super interested in picking up a new writer's memoir are about her failed dating life. The movie also has an unrealistic view of book marketing and the involvement level and commitment of traditional publishing staff. If traditional publishing marketing staff is marketing 50 plus other writers, they're not going to follow your whimsical book tour and give tons of advice and coaching along the way. Book tours really don't sell very many books in general, to the point where Brandon Sanderson, who is probably the top selling fantasy author in the world right now, stopped doing book tours in 2020 when COVID came along (because you know, everyone had to stop doing book tours). But after all the various restrictions lifted, he found that he really wasn't interested in resuming it because of the physical drain of traveling and it turned out it had no impact on sales whatsoever. Finally, the movie touts the very false belief that the skill of giving heartfelt, heavily autobiographical speeches is the essential skill in marketing your work. Honestly, if you want to sell books, you would have better luck learning how to use Amazon ads or Facebook ads effectively, but I expect that would not make for a very good Hallmark movie. The second movie we're going to talk about is Lost City from 2022, which I actually saw shortly after it came out because it turned up on streaming (I think it was on Prime). I thought it was actually pretty funny, but it was not terribly accurate about the business of writing. The plot is that a romance author is struggling to finish her book. While she's on tour with her famous cover model, she gets kidnapped and the cover model must turn into an action hero and rescue her. The plot very heavily borrows from the 1980s movie Romancing the Stone, which is also about a writer. The scenery in the movie is fantastic and Daniel Radcliffe plays the villain, this insane billionaire who kidnapped Sandra Bullock's character to help find lost treasure and their reactions were pretty funny. It's not a great movie about writing. Even the romance and romantasy (which is a combination of romance and fantasy) authors topping the best seller list right now (as of April 2024) do not have press tours that are more like a fan convention with a budget for sparkly jumpsuits and lighting effects, etcetera. Cover models do not get a lot (or even any) of promotion, attention, or respect from publishers. The cover model is given top billing on the tour along with the author, which just doesn't happen. One side note, what is probably realistic is the publisher trying to discourage tangents in full academic jargon by the author on her history related research interests. You will often find if you're reading a book that involved a lot of research on the part of the author, that the author is going to put that research into the book (whether the reader likes it or not). Our third movie is called Alex and Emma, which came out in 2003. The plot of this movie is that an author with writer's block has debts to a loan shark he must pay in 30 days or else the loan shark is going to get nasty. He hires a stenographer to help him church out a book and since it's a romantic comedy, you can probably guess what happens next. This movie was apparently very loosely inspired by the story of Dostoyevsky writing The Gambler/meeting his wife but is also apparently heavily inspired by the movie Paris When it Sizzles. Even with multiple sources of inspiration, it still received terrible reviews for an incoherent, unsatisfying plot. And why is this a bad movie about writing? For one thing, it treats writing a book draft in 30 days as a near impossible feat. Not to toot my own horn, so to speak, but I'm going to write the rough draft of Cloak of Titans in under 30 days. If all goes well, it will be well over 100,000 words. There's also once again the cliche that writing already must be autobiographical and reflect what's currently happening in your life in order to be good. If that were true, all my books would be about the adventures of a middle-aged IT guy, which would be kind of boring compared to epic fantasy novels. And another thing that's unrealistic is that the struggling writer gets a $125,000 advance from the publisher, but the publisher won't help him replace a computer when it gets destroyed by a loan shark's posse. Computers were, of course, quite a bit more expensive in 2003 than they are now, but still they cost a lot less than $125,000. So that part definitely didn't make sense. Our 4th movie is Not Another Happy Ending, which came out in 2013. A writer becomes successful but has writer's block when she's happy. Her publisher has to figure out how to make her unhappy so she can write again but falls in love with her in the process. And why is this a bad movie about writing? If following around most the successful writers in order to inspire them was the actual job of publishers, a few certain well known fantasy series might have at least one more book by now than they actually do. So we'll just move on from there. The fifth one is a movie that gets made fun of a lot and rather deservedly so: Eat, Pray, Love, which came out in 2010. The plot of this, obviously, is that a reader gets divorced and goes on a journey to Italy, India, and Bali in order to “find herself” and gain writing inspiration. Why is this a bad movie about writing? So many reasons! First, there's a sort of a cliche in poor taste that writers can't be great unless they leave their spouses, that their marriage is preventing someone from devoting themselves to great writing. Although the one thing you say for Eat, Pray, Love is that it's a gender flip as opposed to the way these things usually are in movies where it's the male writer who is being held back by his wife. The reality is that people with stable home lives are more likely to be productive than people without them, and this is true across all fields of endeavor, and not just writing. Another bad cliche is the idea that you need to bankroll a year of travel to luxury destinations in order to find inspiration to write isn't realistic or accurate, and in truth very, very, very, very, very few writers can actually afford this luxury. This type of thinking leads people to believe they need to go on expensive retreats in order to be a “real writer”, when in reality many famous writers rarely traveled. Examples: Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, I think J.R.R. Tolkien spent most of his post-war life entirely in England, etcetera. For myself, I do most of my writing either on my couch or while sitting in a $40 office chair I bought off Amazon Basics. That is definitely a cliche that you do not need to travel in order to write. In fact, travel can get in the way of getting writing done, which was one of the Brandon Sanderson's stated reasons for why he doesn't go on book tours too often anymore. Our 6th movie is As Good as It Gets, which came out in 1997. The premise of this movie is that a crabby, ill-behaved writer with some mental health challenges has a series of unexpected interactions that inspire him to become a better person. And why is this an inaccurate move about writing? First, there's a cliche that writers need to use a typewriter because a computer isn't as artistic or special. I know there are writers who insist on writing things longhand and or insist on using the typewriter and they have their reasons, but it's my belief that that is in fact very inefficient, and you should probably write on whatever method is most efficient or easy for you. And if you are writing for publication and profit, that means writing on a computer. If you don't like to type, you can dictate. There's also the idea I don't like that the idea that the reading public/critics will forgive terrible behavior or prejudice because of how brilliant you are. This is a fallacy you see across many professions where a brilliant doctor, a brilliant scientist, a brilliant politician, a brilliant writer, or whatever feels they have a license to act like a total jerk because they're so good at what they do. In reality, that often causes a lot of problems and ends up destroying the person's career. So that is a bad cliche, and one that if you're listening to this, I urge you not to put into practice in your daily life. Our seventh and final movie is another Hallmark one called A Novel Romance, which came out in 2015. In this story, a male romance writer who uses a pen name meets a female book reviewer who is unaware of his true identity even as they grow closer. Will pressure from his publisher to reveal his true identity hurt their budding romance? What did this movie get wrong about writing? First, there's the idea that pen names are somehow deceptive or shocking, especially in the romance genre where it's very common for a single writer to have multiple pen names. A professional book critic would consider it a very strong possibility that someone is writing under a pen name, which makes you wonder how competent the book critic is as a book critic. Publishers do not send limos to the airport for writers traveling to their personal vacation homes. If a writer is rich enough to have a limo and a personal vacation home, the writer is probably paying for it him or herself. The publisher is not. Most writing is not done on a legal pad while staring out onto the water next to your very expensive boat. Your agent, even a very nice agent (if such a thing exists) will not fly across the country multiple times in order to give you romantic advice. And finally, an author's pen name reveal would not be front page tabloid news. So those are just some of the things that movie got wrong about writing. So there those are 7 movies that are very inaccurate about what being a writer is like, and the point of that was not to pick on those movies (with the possible exception of Eat, Pray, Love, which deserves to be picked on) but to point out that the way they referenced what being a writer was like was often quite inaccurate, even if the movies themselves may or may not have been enjoyable for their intended audience. So that's it for this week. Thanks for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found it useful and a word of thanks to my transcriptionist help me to pull this list together because she's definitely seen more Hallmark movies than I have. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoy 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 episode, I chat with Greg Dragon about studying martial arts, being inspired by Piers Anthony, and a spacefaring future for humanity. We also discuss transitional periods in history, the beauty and wonder of the original Star Wars Galaxies MMORG, brain implants, and the increasing need for personal responsibility in an ever more complex world. As usual, there's also The Big Questions. Books of his we discuss are: Lady Hellgate series, Wired for Love series, The Synth Crisis series, Neon Eclipse series, The Factory, Crooked Anthology. Further info on this and other episodes, as well as author info and content, can be found at ⁠AlternateFutures.co.uk⁠ If you're on Wordpress.com, you can follow the podcast at ⁠alternatefuturespodcast.wordpress.com⁠ Finally, you can follow my articles on science fiction, socio-technological issues, and futurism at ⁠alternatefutures.substack.com

JODY LYNN NYE Writers of the Future Judge – Biography Jody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as “spoiling cats.” When not engaged upon this worthy occupation, she writes fantasy and science fiction books and short stories. Since 1987 she has published over 40 books and more than 120 short stories. Among the novels Nye has written are her epic fantasy series The Dreamland, beginning with Waking In Dreamland, five contemporary humorous fantasies, Mythology 101, Mythology Abroad, Higher Mythology (the three collected by Meisha Merlin Publishing as Applied Mythology), Advanced Mythology, The Magic Touch, and three medical science fiction novels, Taylor's Ark, Medicine Show and The Lady and the Tiger. Strong Arm Tactics is a humorous military science fiction novel, the first of The Wolfe Pack series. Nye wrote The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, a non-fiction-style guide to the world of internationally bestselling author Anne McCaffrey's popular world. She also collaborated with Anne McCaffrey on four science fiction novels, The Death of Sleep, Crisis On Doona, Treaty At Doona and The Ship Who Won, and wrote a solo sequel to The Ship Who Won entitled The Ship Errant. Nye coauthored the Visual Guide to Xanth with bestselling fantasy author Piers Anthony, and edited an anthology of humorous stories about mothers in science fiction, fantasy, myth and legend, entitled Don't Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear! She wrote eight books with the late Robert Lynn Asprin, License Invoked, a contemporary fantasy set in New Orleans, and seven set in Asprin's Myth Adventures universe: Myth-Told Tales (anthology), Myth Alliances, Myth-Taken Identity, Class Dis-Mythed, Myth-Gotten Gains, Myth Chief, and Myth-Fortunes. After Asprin's passing, she published Myth-Quoted and Dragons Deal (Ace Books), third in Asprin's Dragons series. Her latest books are View From the Imperium (Baen Books), a humorous military SF novel, an e-collection of cat stories, Cats Triumphant (Event Horizon), Dragons Run (fourth in the Dragons series) and Launch Pad, an anthology of science fiction stories co-edited with Mike Brotherton. Over the last twenty or so years, Jody Lynn Nye has taught numerous writing workshops and participated on hundreds of panels covering the subjects of writing and being published at science-fiction conventions. She has spoken in schools and libraries around the north and northwest suburbs. In 2007 she taught fantasy writing at Columbia College Chicago. She also runs the two-day writers workshop at Dragon Con. She lives in the northwest suburbs of Atlanta, with her husband Bill Fawcett, a writer, game designer, military historian and book packager, and a black cat, Jeremy. Jody Lynn Nye became a Writers of the Future judge in 2016. “I chose to join the judging staff of the WotF Contest to help bring out the best of new writers. This is a forum that gives them the opportunity to be noticed in a greater market than they would normally enjoy. I feel that the ongoing competition makes writers work harder and reach farther than they might writing on their own. I'm fascinated to see where they take the field of science fiction.” —Jody Lynn Nye Find out more at: www.jodynye.com and www.mythadventures.net

JODY LYNN NYE Writers of the Future Judge – Biography Jody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as “spoiling cats.” When not engaged upon this worthy occupation, she writes fantasy and science fiction books and short stories. Since 1987 she has published over 40 books and more than 120 short stories. Among the novels Nye has written are her epic fantasy series The Dreamland, beginning with Waking In Dreamland, five contemporary humorous fantasies, Mythology 101, Mythology Abroad, Higher Mythology (the three collected by Meisha Merlin Publishing as Applied Mythology), Advanced Mythology, The Magic Touch, and three medical science fiction novels, Taylor's Ark, Medicine Show and The Lady and the Tiger. Strong Arm Tactics is a humorous military science fiction novel, the first of The Wolfe Pack series. Nye wrote The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, a non-fiction-style guide to the world of internationally bestselling author Anne McCaffrey's popular world. She also collaborated with Anne McCaffrey on four science fiction novels, The Death of Sleep, Crisis On Doona, Treaty At Doona and The Ship Who Won, and wrote a solo sequel to The Ship Who Won entitled The Ship Errant. Nye coauthored the Visual Guide to Xanth with bestselling fantasy author Piers Anthony, and edited an anthology of humorous stories about mothers in science fiction, fantasy, myth and legend, entitled Don't Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear! She wrote eight books with the late Robert Lynn Asprin, License Invoked, a contemporary fantasy set in New Orleans, and seven set in Asprin's Myth Adventures universe: Myth-Told Tales (anthology), Myth Alliances, Myth-Taken Identity, Class Dis-Mythed, Myth-Gotten Gains, Myth Chief, and Myth-Fortunes. After Asprin's passing, she published Myth-Quoted and Dragons Deal (Ace Books), third in Asprin's Dragons series. Her latest books are View From the Imperium (Baen Books), a humorous military SF novel, an e-collection of cat stories, Cats Triumphant (Event Horizon), Dragons Run (fourth in the Dragons series) and Launch Pad, an anthology of science fiction stories co-edited with Mike Brotherton. Over the last twenty or so years, Jody Lynn Nye has taught numerous writing workshops and participated on hundreds of panels covering the subjects of writing and being published at science-fiction conventions. She has spoken in schools and libraries around the north and northwest suburbs. In 2007 she taught fantasy writing at Columbia College Chicago. She also runs the two-day writers workshop at Dragon Con. She lives in the northwest suburbs of Atlanta, with her husband Bill Fawcett, a writer, game designer, military historian and book packager, and a black cat, Jeremy. Jody Lynn Nye became a Writers of the Future judge in 2016. “I chose to join the judging staff of the WotF Contest to help bring out the best of new writers. This is a forum that gives them the opportunity to be noticed in a greater market than they would normally enjoy. I feel that the ongoing competition makes writers work harder and reach farther than they might writing on their own. I'm fascinated to see where they take the field of science fiction.” —Jody Lynn Nye Find out more at: www.jodynye.com and www.mythadventures.net

Afternoon teatime September 28th, 3 pm EST, with Miss Liz joining me is Dan Henk Deadguyllc coming to share his personal story and life in the tattooing world of ink and art subscription. Join us, and let's make a difference together. LIVE STREAMING TO MULTIPLE PLATFORMS AND PODCAST STATIONS AND APPS. The live show on Miss Liz's YouTube channel is ow. Please give it a quick subscribe and be notified when teatime is over. https://youtube.com/@misslizsteatimes?si=zxnJsbp0jQF8QXENDan's early career included a year and a half stint drawing political cartoons for Madcap Magazine and illustrating underground projects such as Maximum Rock and R ll. In 1997, he attended art school fter struggling through a violent car crash and a knife fight with a crackhead that severed the tendon on his left thumb; he attended art school. kick-start: Receiving some commercial and local gallery acclaim for his artwork, he moved to New York City to kick-start an art career. Heavily immersing himself in the local hardcore scene, he produced artwork for the bands Shai Hulud, Indecision, Koshari, Unsound, Coalesce, Most Precious Blood, Locked in a Vacancy, Beyond Reason, and Zombie Apocalypse, not to mention various local record labels and venues.In 2000, he started tattooing, initially working on many musician friends. A year later, in September 2001, he developed brain cancer and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Three months after the surgery, he married fellow tattoo artist Monica Castillo. His work started appearing in both a growing number of tattoo magazines and more fine art-influenced tomes. issue Tattoo-related books such as No Regrets, Tattoo Prodigies, and Inside the Tattoo Circus took notice and included features. Tragedy struck again in 2007, as his wife of 6 years, Monica Henk, was killed on a motorcycle by a hit-and-run driver. Despite extensive coverage in the local media and vigorous campaigns by the tattoo and motorcycle community, the culprit was never found. He moved to Austin, Texas, for three years and started doing a regular comic strip entitled “Rollo & Me” for Tattoo Artist Magazine Illustrations for Black Static, Litro Magazine, The Horror Zine, and This is Horror followed suit. His first novel, The Black Seas of Infinity, was published by Anarchy Books in 2011, and he started an illustrated calendar featuring various artists. Deadite Press released the first book with a cover by Dan, a novel entitled “The Sopaths” by Piers Anthony.A limited edition chapbook, “Christmas Is Cancelled,” came out courtesy of Splatterpunk in 2013, and in 2014, he started columns for TAM, Tattoo Revue and Skin Art magazines.A reissue of his debut novel was released by Permuted Press in April 2015, as well as a collection of his short stories entitled “Down Highways In The Dark…By Demons Driven” in August of the same year.He continued his work for independent magazines, doing art for Red Door Magazine, a slew of books by the imprint Out Of Step, and the British horror zine Splatterpunk. The books “Not Dead,” “Fighting Back,” “Past Indiscretions,” “Insatiable,” “The Red Death” and “The Flood” all featured his work and his third book, “The End of the World” debuted in March of this year. He's currently writing short stories, the latest of which, “Fort Bragg,” is available on Amazon.His heavily illustrated anthology featuring 14 authors and 16 stories just debuted across all platforms.https://danhenk.com/

David and Perry take the Hugo Time Machine back to 1970, the year that The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin won the Best Novel Hugo. David has a bone to pick, and Perry discusses the latest Indiana Jones movie. Introduction (03:46) General News (10:01) Hugo Voting ballot (04:53) Locus Awards 2023 (03:49) Death of Cormac McCarthy (01:13) Hugo Time Machine 1970 (01:13:46) Heicon '70 Convention (04:11) Short Stories (12:28) Deeper Than the Darkness by Gregory Benford (00:46) Winter's King by Ursula K. Le Guin (00:40) Not Long Before the End by Larry Niven (01:46) Passengers by Robert Silverberg (01:17) Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones by Samuel R. Delany (05:19) Other possible nominees (02:12) Novellas (10:18) We All Die Naked by James Blish (00:10) A Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison (01:26) Dramatic Mission by Anne McCaffrey (01:01) To Jorslem by Robert Silverberg (01:22) Ship of Shadows by Fritz Leiber (03:41) Other possible nominees (02:11) Novels (46:38) Macroscope by Piers Anthony (05:07) Up the Line by Robert Silverberg (03:23) Bug Jack Barron by Norman Spinrad (06:11) Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (10:44) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (18:30) Other possible nominees (02:34) What we've been watching (06:15) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (06:09) Windup (00:21) Image generated by Wombo Art.

David and Perry take the Hugo Time Machine back to 1970, the year that The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin won the Best Novel Hugo. David has a bone to pick, and Perry discusses the latest Indiana Jones movie. Introduction (03:46) General News (10:01) Hugo Voting ballot (04:53) Locus Awards 2023 (03:49) Death of Cormac McCarthy (01:13) Hugo Time Machine 1970 (01:13:46) Heicon '70 Convention (04:11) Short Stories (12:28) Deeper Than the Darkness by Gregory Benford (00:46) Winter's King by Ursula K. Le Guin (00:40) Not Long Before the End by Larry Niven (01:46) Passengers by Robert Silverberg (01:17) Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones by Samuel R. Delany (05:19) Other possible nominees (02:12) Novellas (10:18) We All Die Naked by James Blish (00:10) A Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison (01:26) Dramatic Mission by Anne McCaffrey (01:01) To Jorslem by Robert Silverberg (01:22) Ship of Shadows by Fritz Leiber (03:41) Other possible nominees (02:11) Novels (46:38) Macroscope by Piers Anthony (05:07) Up the Line by Robert Silverberg (03:23) Bug Jack Barron by Norman Spinrad (06:11) Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (10:44) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (18:30) Other possible nominees (02:34) What we've been watching (06:15) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (06:09) Windup (00:21) Click here for more info and indexes. Image generated by Wombo Art.

This week DW and FicRecJen chat with author Namaeni about her multi-POV AU! Read the Fic! The One That Got Away by Namaenai This week's reverse sponsor is: Start the Wave Episode transcript by Edin-Earper Namaeni's Desert Island Novel selection is: Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony  

Patrick revisits Piers Anthony's On a Pale Horse with a lot of mockery and laughter.

Patrick lampoons Pier Anthony's For Love of Evil.

Please join Marsha when she welcomes Tim Ahrens  and Fran Lewis on July 21 at 4 EST 3CST 2MT 1PST for a great discussion, Tim had been writing for over 40 years. He is an indie author who is passionate about character creation. He has worked on a number of short stories and novels, and has also spent some time working on developing comic book characters; He frequently collaborates with other writers. Dark Creatures is a simple game and his second book is Dark creatures. The Grand Game is his third. His first, The Salvation of Tanlegalle has a foreword by Piers Anthony, and Dark Creatures a simple game was published by Lucid Style, and Dark Creatures the grand game was published by Atmosphere press.   Fran Lewis  is an author, reviewer and a podcast host and producer of MJ Network in memory of her sister, Marcia Joyce. Marsha Casper Cook is an author, screenwriter, host and producer of all the Michigan Avenue Media podcasts on Blog Talk Radio. For more info on the shows http://Michiganavenuemedia.com  

Jody Lynn Nye describes her main career activity as “spoiling cats.” When not engaged in this worthy occupation, she writes fantasy and science fiction books and short stories. She is also Coordinating Judge of the prestigious Writers of the Future contest. Jody is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fantasy and science fiction books and short stories, many of them with a humorous bent. Before breaking away from gainful employment to write full time, Jody worked as a file clerk, book-keeper at a small publishing house, freelance journalist and photographer, accounting assistant and costume maker. For four years, she was on the technical operations staff of a local Chicago television station, WFBN (WGBO), serving the last year as Technical Operations Manager. During her time at WFBN, she was part of the engineering team that built the station, acted as Technical Director during live sports broadcasts, and worked to produce in-house spots and public service announcements. Since 1987 she has published over 50 books and more than 170 short stories. Among the novels Jody has written are her epic fantasy series, The Dreamland, beginning with Waking In Dreamland, five contemporary humorous fantasies, Mythology 101, Mythology Abroad, Higher Mythology (the three collected by Meisha Merlin Publishing as Applied Mythology), Advanced Mythology, The Magic Touch, and three medical science fiction novels, Taylor's Ark, Medicine Show and The Lady and the Tiger. Strong Arm Tactics, a humorous military science fiction novel, the first of The Wolfe Pack series. Jody also wrote The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, a non-fiction-style guide to the world of internationally best-selling author Anne McCaffrey's popular world. She also collaborated with Anne McCaffrey on four science fiction novels, The Death of Sleep, Crisis On Doona (a New York Times and USA Today bestseller), Treaty At Doona and The Ship Who Won, and wrote a solo sequel to The Ship Who Won entitled The Ship Errant. Jody co-authored the Visual Guide to Xanth with best-selling fantasy author Piers Anthony. She has edited two anthologies, humorous stories about mothers in science fiction, fantasy, myth and legend, entitled Don't Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear!, Launch Pad, and an anthology of science fiction stories co-edited with Mike Brotherton. She has two short story collections, A Circle of Celebrations, holiday SF/fantasy stories, and Cats Triumphant!, SF and fantasy feline tales. She wrote eight books with the late Robert Lynn Asprin, License Invoked, a contemporary fantasy set in New Orleans, and seven set in Asprin's Myth Adventures universe: Myth-Told Tales (anthology), Myth Alliances, Myth-Taken Identity, Class Dis-Mythed, Myth-Gotten Gains, Myth Chief, and Myth-Fortunes. Since Asprin's passing, she has published Myth-Quoted, Dragons Deal and Dragons Run (Ace Books), third and fourth in Asprin's Dragons series. Her newest series is the Lord Thomas Kinago books, beginning with View From the Imperium (Baen Books), a humorous military space opera novel. Her newest books are Moon Tracks (Baen), a young adult hard science fiction novel, the second in collaboration with Dr. Travis S. Taylor. Rhythm of the Imperium, third in the Lord Thomas Kinago series; Pros and Cons (WordFire Press), a nonfiction book about conventions in collaboration with Bill Fawcett; and the 20th novel in the Myth-Adventures series, Myth-Fits. Over the last thirty or so years, Jody has taught in numerous writing workshops and participated on hundreds of panels covering the subjects of writing and being published at science-fiction conventions. She has also spoken in schools and libraries around website at www.jodynye.com. She is on Facebook as Jody Lynn Nye and Twitter @JodyLynnNye.

Reminisce with The Desert Rat today as we review the fictional lands created by master author Piers Anthony! His novels span the time from the late 1950s until today with a large and well deserved following. High up on The Rats recommended reading list, His subject matter is largely family friendly but also fearless in discussing the issues that plague mankind.

Mercy Mission Synopsis:Radio Announcer: Tragedy has struck Aleen.On the way down to the planet the clones see an Aleena riding a giant insect thing and says ‘Great, it's going to be another one of those planets' in case you'd forgotten that teenage boys are the absolute worst.  The design of the Aleena suggests that Brian Froud has snuck into Lucasfilm; let's see if we get a darkly whimsical fairytale allegory that will give kids nightmares.  Or even David Bowie's crotch (fingers crossed!).  3PO promptly falls down the hole and R2, who is always down for a weird LSD trip, is right behind him.  They start walking and are immediately swarmed by faeries.  They enter a subterranean world that immediately references Dagobah.  Revelation here we come.  3PO and R2 meet the Kindaloo, who look like an Ent and a Landstrider got lost in a Piers Anthony novel.   The Kindaloo see a potential solution in 3PO and send him to see Orphne.  The faeries coalesce into Orphne who promptly tastes 3PO in case you didn't know which kind of faerie queen we were dealing with.  Orphne says that 3PO will do what he is meant to do and gives a riddle.  Fortunately 3PO's speciality is riddles and Never Ending Story references, so he gets to work.  R2, who is basically Puck, gets there first and pees on the right floor symbol and unlocks a water elevator into a flower and 3PO and R2 are spit back onto the surface.  Underground vapors remember that they exist and commence to poison the Aleena.  R2 and 3PO, because they don't breathe, are able to seal the breach and bring peace back to Aleen.  A small Aleena does what we all wanted to do as kids and hugs R2 in thanks.  The clones are still being giant wangs.  The end.Nomad Droids Synopsis:We open on 3PO Spacetiming (™) with Padme to tell her of their adventures.  The cruiser gets attacked by Grievous.  R2 and 3PO “commandeer” a Y-wing and the two end up crashing on a nearby planet.  The locals attack, but they're only about 6” tall.  The Lilliputians proceed to pull a Gulliver's Travels on the two droids.  While bumping proverbial chests with the king, R2 is knocked over by 3PO and crushes him to death…   3PO decides to instill democracy upon them, but that quickly descends into voter fraud (no joke).The droids leave the planet on their newly repaired Y-wing, but don't have enough power, so they land on another nearby planet.  They're brought to this planet's leader, some repair droids doing a great and powerful OZ impression.  The locals revolt and destroy the hologram and lightning producing machine, causing R2 and 3PO to wander away as their power reserves fall to zero.   The clones and Jedi run across the pair.  We end the episode with 3PO telling their story to a captive and unwilling audience in Commander Wolffe.The Clone Wars: Season 4 Episodes 5 and 6: https://www.disneyplus.com/video/1d717a67-fdce-4404-aed6-3cca361e0946https://twitter.com/ClosingCrawlhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/closing-crawl/id1530133296https://www.closingcrawl.com/On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz9X-57K6-VV_GkUBaqvyeAMerch: https://bit.ly/spacetimetm

Ep 135: Orgy in Bed FFMM, Post Party Night Sex by Ruan Willow. A sexy multiple partner tale FFMM right off the top of my head! It's ad hoc improv-style erotica! When the party is fun, the drinks are flowing, it's late at night, and the friends love benefits, an orgy happens! Orgies are a fantasy for so many people, it's actually one of the top fantasies per sex researchers. And I agree! It's very hot! In this sexy erotica story Paul, Marissa, Ruan, and Max end up in bed together and FWB means all join in the casual sex. There's cum sharing, partner swapping, FF action, FM action, and MM action. Lots of oral sex happens and satisfaction blooms for all! Listen to this sexy story and enjoy!This podcast episode was sponsored by Wet Leaf Press for the book Radley's Home for Horny Monsters: (affiliate) https://amzn.to/3CWsmTZWhen Mike Radley inherited a mysterious old house from a long-lost relative, he wasn't sure what to expect.He didn't expect a sexual encounter with the nymph in his bathtub.He really didn't expect to discover a house full of very lonely monsters.And he definitely didn't expect a pair of witches bent on stealing the home's magic from him.Called "well-written and surprisingly heartfelt " by Guy White and lauded by acclaimed fantasy author Piers Anthony for its "action, sex, and thought," isn't it time that you check out the series that has captivated hundreds of thousands of readers online?Welcome to Radley's Home for Horny Monsters, by Annabelle Hawthorne. Expect the unexpected. Find the book here (affiliate): https://amzn.to/3CWsmTZDo you enjoy sexy, smart erotica? Do you like monster girls?Come check out author Annabelle Hawthorne: https://annabellehawthorne.com/books www.patreon.com/sexyannabelleCheck Annabell Hawthorne out on Twitter! https://twitter.com/authorannabelleA huge thank you to the sponsor!About Ruan:All my links are accessible at https://linktr.ee/RuanWillowWant to read my work? Support me? Review my work? Here's the details:My new novella The Kitchen Sex Challenge is out as an audiobook. Want it for FREE? You can get it for free here: https://storyoriginapp.com/audiobookreviewcopies/dd67594e-cc03-4130-a821-6fcd66d9193d This book is the first in a novella series of a heterosexual couple who loves to edge each other and do sex games/challenges with each other. It's an erotic romantic comedy series, heavier on the romance than the erotica. The Grocery Store Challenge is the next one coming out soon!My DEBUT LESBIAN NOVEL Magic In Her Kisses A woman loving woman age gap erotic romance, professor and student... contains their taboo relationship and many explicit BDSM lesbian sex scenes: universal affiliate link to book  https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/1fd60b54-7493-11ec-b5c6-4712c13ec515Listen to improve your sexuality, learn something new, entertain your brain, and enjoy!On my podcast, you will find romance, topics on relationships, romance and love, self-care,  intimacy for adults only,  and it is intended for the purposes of entertainment, your fantasy life, and the arts. Sexual health and fitness are important parts for a healthy sex life.love ya,RuanSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/ruanwillow)

Ep 131: FFM Threesome with the Hidden Roommate. What do you get when you mix three horny people together as college roommates: a female theater major, a stressed-out basketball player, and a smart mathematician? FWB! You get friends with benefits. Maggie and Kelsie are two women friends who like to pleasure each other sexually. They have a male roommate as well named Alex.  Hormones rage when these three happen to be home at the same time. Listen to this sexy hot story, a threesome hook-up where all three most certainly have a good time!! Good things are definitely worth repeating!This New Adult genre story was spun off the top of my head at the time of recording. It's ad-lib, ad-hoc spontaneous erotica! This podcast episode was sponsored by Wet Leaf Press.When Mike Radley inherited a mysterious old house from a long-lost relative, he wasn't sure what to expect.He didn't expect a sexual encounter with the nymph in his bathtub.He really didn't expect to discover a house full of very lonely monsters.And he definitely didn't expect a pair of witches bent on stealing the home's magic from him.Called "well-written and surprisingly heartfelt " by Guy White and lauded by acclaimed fantasy author Piers Anthony for its "action, sex, and thought," isn't it time that you check out the series that has captivated hundreds of thousands of readers online?Welcome to Radley's Home for Horny Monsters, by Annabelle Hawthorne. Expect the unexpected. Find the book here (affiliate): https://amzn.to/3CWsmTZAbout Ruan:All my links are accessible at https://linktr.ee/RuanWillowWant to read my work? Support me? Review my work? Here's the details:My new novella The Kitchen Sex Challenge is out as an audiobook. Want it for FREE? You can get it for free here: https://storyoriginapp.com/audiobookreviewcopies/dd67594e-cc03-4130-a821-6fcd66d9193d This book is the first in a novella series of a heterosexual couple who loves to edge each other and do sex games/challenges with each other. It's an erotic romantic comedy series, heavier on the romance than the erotica. The Grocery Store Challenge is the next one coming out soon!My DEBUT LESBIAN NOVEL Magic In Her Kisses A woman loving woman age gap erotic romance, professor and student... contains their taboo relationship and many explicit BDSM lesbian sex scenes: universal affiliate link to book  https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/1fd60b54-7493-11ec-b5c6-4712c13ec515Listen to improve your sexuality, learn something new, entertain your brain, and enjoy!On my podcast, you will find romance, topics on relationships, romance and love, self-care,  intimacy for adults only,  and it is intended for the purposes of entertainment, your fantasy life, and the arts. Sexual health and fitness are important parts for a healthy sex life.love ya,Ruan Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/ruanwillow)

Dan's early career included a year and a half stint drawing political cartoons for Madcap Magazine and illustrating underground projects such as Maximum Rock and Roll. In 1997, after struggling through a violent car crash and a knife fight with a crackhead that severed the tendon on his left thumb, he attended art school. Receiving some commercial and local gallery acclaim for his artwork, he moved to New York City in an attempt to kick start an art career. Heavily immersing himself in the local hardcore scene, he produced artwork for the bands Shai Hulud, Indecision, Coalesce, Locked in a Vacancy, Beyond Reason, Zombie Apocalypse , not to mention various local record labels and venues.In 2000, he started tattooing, initially working on many musician friends. A year later, in September 2001, he was stricken with brain cancer and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Three months after the surgery, he married fellow tattoo artist Monica Castillo.After a brief trip down south, that included owning a short lived tattoo shop with the infamous Joe Truck , in a venture that ended in disaster, he returned to Manhattan. His work started appearing in both a growing number of tattoo magazines and more fine art influenced outlets such as Aphrodesia, Pint Sized Paintings, and The Tarot Project. Tattoo related books such as No Regrets: The Best, Worst, & Most #$%*ing Ridiculous Tattoos Ever , Tattoo Prodegies 1 , Tattoo Prodegies 2, and Inside the Tattoo Circus: A Journey Through the Modern World of Tattoos also took notice and included features. Tragedy struck again in 2007, as his wife of 6 years, Monica Henk, was killed in a motorcycle accident by a hit and run driver. Despite extensive coverage in the local media and vigorous campaigns by both the tattoo and motorcycle community, the culprit was never found.Sick of New York, he moved to Austin, Texas for three years, and started doing a regular comic strip entitled “Rollo & Me” for Tattoo Artist Magazine. Illustrations for Black Static Magazine, and This is Horror followed suit.His first novel, The Black Seas of Infinity, was published by Anarchy Books in 2011, and he started an illustrated calendar featuring a variety of artists. Deadite Press released the first book with a cover by Dan, a novel entitled “The Sopaths” by Piers Anthony.A limited edition chapbook “

Never meet your heroes—especially if they're dead. Intrigued# yet? Me too!! The Game of War is book two for fantasy author and epic games designer, Glen Dahlgren. He knows exactly how to take you on a fantasy roller coaster of a ride! Glen Dahlgren's new fantastic fantasy novel is available from August 29th, and we are going to help him celebrate and hear more about his greatly anticipated sequel to, The Child of Chaos. Here's the blurb for The Game of War. Years before The Child of Chaos makes their fateful choice, young Dantess faces his own reckoning. Dantess wants to follow in the footsteps of his dead grandfather—a legendary priest of War—but his father forbids it. In fact, his father's hatred of War lands him in a cell within the god's temple. The only way to free him is from the inside, so Dantess must choose: let his father die or defy his upbringing, become a priest, and win his father's freedom in the temple's deadly Game of War. Torn between the legacies of his father and grandfather, Dantess finds that both paths hide secrets that threaten to destroy everything he cares about, including his sanity. Dantess must decide who he wants to be—but if he's wrong, everyone will pay the price. “Game of War, like its predecessor, Child of Chaos, is riveting and compelling. Introducing new, fascinating characters, adventures, and relationships, Glen Dahlgren weaves another magical book that is a must-read for any fan of fantasy literature.” — Barbara Blackburn, Knights of the Dinner Table. The Game of War is the prequel to the acclaimed debut novel, the Child of Chaos. Available 8/29. Preorder now! https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B098RXYHGF Get signed copies of Glen's books via his website with 15% off, coupon code WITTY WRITERS. Plus, Glen is doing an ebook giveaway on Goodreads soon, so make sure you follow him to get notified. Glen's Bio: Glen Dahlgren is an award-winning game designer and the author of the book series The Chronicles of Chaos, which fantasy legend Piers Anthony called “what fantasy fiction should be.” Glen Dahlgren has written, designed, directed, and produced critically-acclaimed, narrative-driven computer games for the last three decades. What's more, he had the honor of creating original fantasy and science-fiction storylines that took established, world-class literary properties into interactive experiences. He collaborated with celebrated authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (The Death Gate Cycle), Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time – soon to be a TV series from Amazon), Frederik Pohl (Heechee saga), Terry Brooks (Shannara), and Piers Anthony (Xanth) to bring their creations to the small screens. In addition, he crafted licensor-approved fiction for the Star Trek franchise as well as Stan Sakai's epic graphic novel series, Usagi Yojimbo. Links: Pre-order signed copies here www.mysteriummerchandise.bigcartel.com Blog: www.mysterium.blog https://www.amazon.com/Glen-Dahlgren/e/B08BPGZZN2 https://twitter.com/GlenDahlgren https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20441786.Glen_Dahlgren https://www.instagram.com/glendahlgren https://www.audible.com/author/Glen-Dahlgren/B08BPGZZN2 #bethworsdell #thewittywritersshow #TWWS #glendahlgren #thegameofwar #thechildofchaos #books #fantasy #fantasybooks #bookchat #booktalk #booktube #fantasyauthor #authorinterview #liveshow #livestream #streamyard #fantasyadventure #fantasybookseries --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/beth-worsdell-author/message

I Have been writing for more than forty years, and am especially passionate about character creation. I have worked on a number of short stories and novels, and have also spent some time working on developing comic book characters; I have frequently collaborated with other writers. Dark Creatures is my second book; my first, The Salvation of Tanlegalle with foreword by Piers Anthony, was also published by Lucid Style. To see more of my craft at www.thedarkcreatures.com

What if Death was a job, that a guy did? On a Pale Horse has an interesting theology and viewpoint on morality, even if the book's women characters are paper-thin and Piers Anthony is kind of a jabroni.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

What if Death was a job, that a guy did? On a Pale Horse has an interesting theology and viewpoint on morality, even if the book's women characters are paper-thin and Piers Anthony is kind of a jabroni.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.

Today’s episode is a discussion of literary works by famed Fantasy and Sci-fi authors including such greats as Piers Anthony, Brent weeks, and of course, Fran Herbert. No I’m not kidding, that’s really what we talked about.

This fortnight we’re discussing “A Spell for Chameleon” by Piers Anthony. We were joined by Matthew of the podcast Unintelligible Design. There was a lot to discuss in this very sexist book, we recommend you check out our spoiler-free wrap-up before deciding whether to read this one. Book TW for bullying, sexism, misogyny, toxic masculinity, transphobia, dysmorphia, racism against fictional races, colonialism, mention of suicide, discussion of rape, body horror, assault, death. Topic 1: Rape Trial. Begins at (1:30), CW for rape, rape accusations, victim blaming. Topic 2: Bink: Toxic Masculinity. Begins at (18:40), CW for mutilation, toxic masculinity, fantasy incel culture, lack of consent, objectifying women, rape mention, murder mention. Promo for Happily Ever Haunted; Spoiler-free wrap-up and ratings: Begins at (56:30). --- If you'd like to make a monthly donation, please check us out on Patreon. Patrons at any level will receive the bonus Epilogue episode for this book. You can check out Robin's written review of the book at Reviews That Burn. Find all our links on our Carrd. Music provided by HeartBeatArt and is used with permission. 

"that strange wireless by which such people collect the news" [LION]  Moving from the definitive Sherlock Holmes on radio in our to the definitive Sherlock Holmes of television, we're joined by Gus and Luke Holwerda, the fraternal team responsible for . This duo is as enthusiastic about the Granada series as we are (perhaps more!) and they bring their professional backgrounds of audio and film production to the microphone as they demonstrate that enthusiasm. We talk about a range of topics, from locations to wardrobe, favorite episodes and more. Plus, we talk about their newly-available offering of Sherlockian Relics and how you can get their version of Granada props. It's the perfect collision of Sherlock Holmes podcasts in one episode. You'll want to see if you can test your knowledge with the Canonical Couplet: we give you two lines of poetry that describe one of stories, and you name it. The winner something from our vaults—it's a mystery! Entries are due by 11:59 pm EDT on November 14, 2020.   Information on sponsors, links, and notes available below.   Please do consider becoming a . Your support helps us to ensure we can keep doing what we do, covering file hosting costs, production, and this year, transcription services. All Patreon supporters will receive a special outtakes episode at the end of the season.   Sponsors  is the premiere publisher of books about Sherlock Holmes, including the Sherlock Holmes Reference Library, scholarly work, and titles dedicated to the stage and screen, including .    has the largest collection of new Sherlock Holmes novels, biographies, graphic novels and short story collections in the world. And the latest  features Volumes XXII, XXIII, and XXIV. Dan Andriacco's delightful pair of Sebastian McCabe and Jeff Cody are back and have a full lineup of stories. Check them out at .   Would you care to advertise with us? You can find . Let's chat!   Links This episode:  to the Granada series on PBS Books mentioned in this episode: by Piers Anthony by Leslie S. Klinger by David Stuart Davies  by Bert Coules by Michael Cox by Michael Pointer Previous episodes referenced on this show: Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard magazine at  as well as through our accounts on , , , and .   Please subscribe on the podcast provider of your choosing: And would you consider leaving us a rating and review? It would help other Sherlockians to find us.   Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (comment AT ihearofsherlock DOT com), call us at (774) 221-READ (7323).   Transcript Transcript costs have risen and you can help us to reach the  level on Patreon to cover these costs. Please consider signing up by clicking the link, for as little as $1 an episode. Transcript will be available at soon.     Disclosure: when you make a purchase on Amazon from our links, we earn a small commission. Thank you for supporting us.  

Hello And Welcome Back To The Waffle-Free Storytelling Podcast!And what a guest week it's been! HUGE thanks to Jason Green of Fable Forest Films for joining me. This week he added two beautiful stories to the Waffle-Free Storytelling collection. HERE'S THE LINK TO https://player.captivate.fm/episode/f9315871-9b62-4be8-9e5c-cf77320b12d7 (THE FIRST STORY) and https://player.captivate.fm/episode/50554d9c-863f-4fed-b3c5-411387800095 (THE SECOND STORY) FROM JASON ENJOY THE INTERVIEW! All about Jason from Fable Forest Films: "Jason has managed teams of people at BlackBerry for many years and has become a natural producing creative content, with Fable Forest Films. After producing ‘Bickerman's Grove' and ‘I Was A Greenhouse', Jason took the lead as Producer for ‘Postmen' a concept brought through the Cinecoup accelerator program. Successfully building this property to the investment stage in preparation for future development, Jason has set his sights on growing the Fable Forest brand. Now that the team has completed their latest short film ‘My Huntsville Muse' which will be heading to the festival circuit, Jason is focused on getting the ducks in a row for ‘Shifted'. Jason is the engine, that remains calm in any situation and always gets the job done." More information from the interview! https://www.thefableforest.com/ (Fable Forest Films) https://www.youtube.com/fableforestfilms (Fable Forest Films: YouTube Channel) https://www.thefableforest.com/firstframesfirst/ (The First Frames First Podcast): "First Frames First" is Fable Forest's journey as filmmakers (with guests). Incredible, mad, crazy, funny, insightful, weird, random and wonderful chat :-D Favourite authors Jason mentioned: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piers_Anthony (Piers Anthony) (On A Pale Horse) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King (Stephen King) (but sooooooo so, so, many more) Link to the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRZdH3TuGFY&fbclid=IwAR2B8Si_Hh8dyaC1bqPrLsGqvwzQU8u3jVpv4zs8BJ4phZaqwGECDCdE3Js (Joe Rogan interview on stem cells) Jason talked about as inspiration behind "The Oldest Man's Final Act" Link to IMDB info for "https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3235888/ (It Follows)" Favourite quotes from his favourite authors: Piers Anthony: "Happy children do not seem to grow up to be writers"Stephen King: "Amateurs sit around and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work."So... pour yourself a mug of something warm, cozy and mellow, and join me with Jason Green. When you're done, you're welcome to amble around https://tinakonstant.com/ (https://tinakonstant.com/) and enjoy more waffle-free storytelling. Tina    P.S.... STAY IN TOUCH! If you want Waffle-Free Stories dropped at your digital doorstep, AND the (tweaked and updated) transcripts to episodes 7, 8, 9 and 10, then https://tinakonstant.com/ (click here), fill in the "Join the conversation" form, and I'll send them right to you.   Listen here, or pick it up and subscribe on your favourite Podcast Player, including: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/waffle-free-storytelling/id1494749381 (iTunes) https://open.spotify.com/show/2zwoH2W0KLM7K4KocaFpnY (Spotify) https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/waffle-free-storytelling (Stitcher) https://radiopublic.com/waffle-free-storytelling-GKqLOx (RadioPublic) https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5jYXB0aXZhdGUuZm0vd2FmZmxlLWZyZWUtc3Rvcnl0ZWxsaW5nLw%3D%3D (Google Podcasts) #WaffleFreeStorytelling #story #storytelling #podcast #podcasting #podcaster Support this podcast

Mark interviews editor Joshua Essoe who has edited for bestsellers, Piers Anthony and David Farland, for Dean Lorey, lead writer of Arrested Development, as well as numerous Writers of the Future winners, and USA Today bestsellers. Prior to the interview, Mark reads some comments from recent episodes, reveals the winner of Sacha Black's Anatomy of Prose and says a word about this episode's sponsors, the patrons of the podcast. Mark also shares a person update that includes: Work being done on his Canadian Werewolf series of books A new non-fiction writing project he will be releasing in the Fall of 2020:  Wide for the Win In their conversation, Mark and Joshua talk about: How, 11 years ago, Joshua accidentally fell into the role of editor Joshua's previous role as an old book restorer Being a book nerd since Joshua was 7 years old Asking Brandon Sanderson to read one of his stories and the generous and constructive feedback he was offered Advice from Superstars Writing Seminars that led Joshua to deciding to take on a new challenge, editing a fellow author's fantasy novel Setting a goal of editing one of David Farland's novels The difference between restoring old books and working as an editor The genres that Joshua specializes in as an editor (science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative fiction) The importance of aligning your writing and your goals with the right editor The new book project Joshua is releasing and how he is launching it using Kickstarter The first book: Action Sequences and Sex Scenes and why Joshua is releasing that one first And more . . .   After the interview, Mark reflects on the huge success Joshua saw on his Kickstarter project within the first 6 hours and first four days and a quote from the artist James A. Owen, who designed his new non-fiction books.   Links of Interest: Joshua Essoe's Website Joshua's Kickstarter Project: Essoe's Guide to Writing: Action Sequences and Sex Scenes! Episode 133 - Anatomy of a Rebel with Sacha Black Episode 135 - Creative Collaborations in FerroCity with Joe Scacciaferro Career Author Summit Patreon for Stark Reflections   Joshua Essoe has edited for bestsellers, Piers Anthony and David Farland, including the multi-award-winning novel, Nightingale. He's also edited for Dean Lorey, lead writer of Arrested Development, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, former director at Kobo, numerous Writers of the Future winners, USA Today bestsellers, and many other top-notch independents. He was lead editor at Urban Fantasy Magazine from 2014-2015. From 2012-2015 he recorded the weekly writing podcast Hide and Create with co-hosts Michael J. Sullivan, Diana Rowland, Jay Wells, and Debbie Viguie. You can find Joshua teaching about pitches, back cover copy, and editing every year at the Superstars Writing Seminars in CO. His approach to editing is to help you make your story the best version of itself it can be. Joshua is also a writer. He was a 2014 finalist in the Writers of the Future contest, and is in the process of releasing his first in a series of non-fiction books on editing for writers.   The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Today we're having a chat about fantasy fiction! Mainly books and the fantasy writing that inspired us and that we love! Faves like Tolkien, Fritz Leiber and Piers Anthony! Just to define, we're talking swords, elves, armour, dragons etc, in a “medieval” context, generally European. As a subset there's native, Arabian, Asian, Mayan etc, also high fantasy, low fantasy, sword and sorcery, historical fantasy and even mythology…. And then techno fantasy, contemporary fantasy, steampunk, fantasy cyberpunk and so on… but we mainly stick to the mainstream stuff and only just touch on the weird little variations for now. Fantasy is an old genre and a lot went into creating it: Fairy tales, folklore, mythology, legends, and history. In the modern day the main influences for modern fantasy were writers like Tolkien with his high fantasy, Robert E Howard with his sword and sorcery, Fritz Leiber, Ursula K Leguin, Andre Norton. It was the massive popularity of Tolkien though in the 1960s and 70s that really created the market for fantasy and that is what really made the genre. As a result most fantasy from then was a copy of that style: small parties made of odd members including elves , dwarfs, wizards, knights, barbarians, and halflings or original equivalents of all of those things, guided by prophecies, fighting orcs or orc-like things, and ultimately facing a “dark lord” character. Things have since broadened out and diversified again. We have many different kinds of fantasy styles now, but it's good to have a look at where it came from! Some authors we mention: Tolkien, Terry Books, Robert Jordan, Tantz Aerine, Robert E Howard, Lovecraft, August Derlith, ER Eddison, David Eddings, Raymon E Fiest, Anne McCaffery, Ursula K Leguin, Robert Aspirin, Mary Stewart and more :D This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to GALAXY ONE - Side scroller action adventure space platform game! This is pure 16 bit videogame nostalgia. Grab your extra life and beat the hard level and the mid-boss before gaining his powers and facing up against the final boss! You can practically hear the pixels forming, coalescing and mutating. Topics and shownotes VIDEO exclusive! Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks! - https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts! Links DD on Discord! - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS Moderated by Boundbun - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/BoundBun/ Featured comic: My Magic Grandpa - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2020/mar/15/featured-comic-my-magic-grandpa/ Featured music: GALAXY ONE - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/GALAXY_ONE/, by KPM1578, rated E. Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/

Is your name Hannah? Does your last name start with G? Did you write us an email like six months ago that we never acknowledged or responded to? Do you still, for some reason, pay enough attention to this long-abandoned podcast to see this episode go up? Well, lucky day! This entire episode is JUST FOR YOU. We're finally answering your email, apologizing for yet another long hiatus, and talking a bit about season three. Hello Hannah G.! You're great. Thanks or listening. Sorry we're so bad at this!

On our Young Readers Week episode, Molly admits to writing lots of vampire fan fiction (while we wear garlic necklaces and hold mirrors up to her), Ky pontificates on the Xanth novels, and Dean confesses to killing a man with a paper airplane, then hiding out in Mississippi. Cast Hosted by Dean Karpowicz, with Molly Krasel and Ky Richmond. Content Discussed Cirque Du Freak Series, Darren Shan Dean: "Did you identify with Darren Shan as an outcast?"  Molly: "Did you really have to ask that question? I already admitted to writing fan fiction!" Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling "You can't talk about anything related to childhood without talking about Harry Potter." --Molly The Giver, Louis Lowry "It's freedom of speech for a reason." --Ky Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan "It encompasses the UNIVERSE." --Ky Xanth Series, Piers Anthony "It was weird, zany, and I loved it!" --Ky Thieves' World, Robert Asprin "You can't go back, Dean!" --Molly The Destroyer, Warren Murphy "Back in Milwaukee, I killed a man with a paper airplane." --Dean Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger "You yoinked it?" --Ky

Join us as we speak with Orlando Sanchez, Author of the Montague & Strong Detective Agency books, and so many others, about the M&S – and Peaches of course – world he has created and put into addictive print for all to enjoy! Find out the history of his books and characters, current projects, and where we head from here. About Orlando:Orlando Sanchez has been writing ever since his teens when he was immersed in creating scenarios for playing Dungeon and Dragons with his friends every weekend. An avid reader, his influences are too numerous to list here. Some of the most prominent are: J.R.R. Tolkien, Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Terry Brooks, Piers Anthony, Lee Child, George Lucas, Andrew Vachss, and Barry Eisler to name a few in no particular order.The worlds of his books are urban settings with a twist of the paranormal lurking just behind the scenes and generous doses of magic, martial arts, and mayhem.Aside from writing, he holds a 2nd and 3rd Dan in two distinct styles of Karate. If not training, he is studying some aspect of the martial arts or martial arts philosophy.He currently resides in Queens, New York with his family.He can often be found in the local Starbucks where most of his writing is done.Please visit his site at: OrlandoASanchez.com for more information about his books and upcoming releases.Links: On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Orlando-A-Sanchez/e/B008T8MMQ0 Website: http://www.orlandoasanchez.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/220806628326653/ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2csSZkMaawIpPbGSgDOxEA

In episode three we are happy to introduce a new member to the show, Michael from Germany. Michael provides another perspective on Piers Anthony's 1968 novel, Sos the Rope. He offers thoughtful, considerate, and insightful commentary on the book. Enjoy this wonderful episode and hopefully many more from him in the future. You can find Bibliophile Labyrinth Adventures on Twitter to comment and participate, or you can email us at 143podcasts.com. Thanks for listening and if you enjoy what we are doing feel free to join in and tell your friends! You can support this show by visiting our merch store, or by leaving us an Apple Podcasts review.

Welcome to Love YA Like Crazy! You're listening to a special episode recorded by one of the two hosts, Jacob Haller, while he was at PodX in Nashville. For this episode, Jake talked to Hal Lublin of 'We Got This with Mark and Hal' talking about Piers Anthony's 'Xanth' books, among other things. Also in this episode, Jake confesses some things that he isn't proud of. In addition to cohosting 'We Got This' and 'Tights and Fights', Hal is a voice actor on Welcome to Night Vale, The Thrilling Adventure Hour, among other things. To get the full lowdown, check out HalLublin.com! Note that the discussion includes spoilers for Piers Anthony's 'A Spell for Chameleon', plus the 'Bart's Friend Falls in Love' episode of the Simpsons, plus, I guess, the comic strip Garfield. Plus, a correction: I said at one point in this discussion that Carrie had forbidden us from ever covering a Piers Anthony book, but I think I was actually thinking of a different author -- I don't think Xanth has ever come up before, in the context of the podcast. This discussion was recorded in a space provided by Netflix, for which we thank them! We Got This's theme song, 'Podcasts Should (Not) Have A Theme Song', is by Mike Phirman. Thanks to Shaenon K. Garrity for designing the Love YA Like Crazy icon, to the Sentimental Favorites for the use of their song 'Hey There', and to Charlie McCarron for the 'Love YA Like Crazy' tag. You can help support production of this podcast, and get rewards in return, via our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/loveYAlikecrazy .

With the discussion about pillars of Dungeons & Dragons wrapped up, the panel of DM's decides to look into WHY people play D&D as opposed to other games.  The first broad topic is determining what defines the fantasy genre, what it makes it so attractive, and what draws the hosts to this roleplaying game, specifically the Forgotten Realms setting.  As the conversation moves to the details of Forgotten Realms, the Dungeon Masters discuss what the most interesting pieces of the Forgotten Realms lore actually are, and what they find the most inspiring about them.  From nostalgia and inspiration to comparing the differences between gritty campaigns, high fantasy campaigns, and low fantasy campaigns, this episode covers a wide variety of topics and often goes completely off the rails! SUMMARY: There is a lot to unpack in the fantasy genre, D&D, and Forgotten Realms, and as Terry and Adam drill Dan on the specifics, they learn a few shocking details about Dan's improv poetry skills and his preference for vampire sex games. The Dungeon Masters touch on fantasy inspirations, including Star Wars, Conan the Barbarian, A Song of Ice and Fire, Dracula, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Magic the Gathering, Anne Rice novels, Lord of the Rings, Critical Role, World of Warcraft, Star Trek, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, The Dark Tower, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion Warhammer, Harry Potter, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Norse, Celtic, and Greek mythologies, Pathfinder, Scott Lynch novels, The Belgariad, Discworld, Piers Anthony books, The Dresden Files, D&D video games, R. A. Salvatore novels, and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.  The conversation then moves on to D&D specifically, covering some books and campaign settings (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Storm King's Thunder, Tyranny of Dragons, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Tomb of Annihilation, Tales of the Yawning Portal, Death House and Curse of Strahd, Dark Sun, Greyhawk, Eberron, and Expedition to the Barrier Peaks), and then taking a look at the Forgotten Realms, specifically The Spellplague, the two Sunderings, Elminster, Drizzt Do'Urden, Mordenkainen and The Circle of Eight, Toril, Faerun, Evermeet, Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, Undermountain, The Underdark, Netheril, Lolth, Mystra, Cyric, The Many Arrows Clan, The Lord's Alliance, the Elf/Drow conflict, Thay/Rashemen conflict, Szass Tam, Acererak, Vecna, The Regalia of Evil, The Star Stone, The Deck of Many Things, The Sunsword, Dragons, Mindflayers, and Halflings. Shout Outs: @dungeons_and_maps Available On:iTunes | Spotify | Podbean | YouTube Don’t forget to Like/Follow/Subscribe/Whatever when you listen! Links: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter Email: info@itsamimic.com Intro/Outro Music by: Cory WiebeShout Out Music by: Isaac CallenderLogo by: Kate Skidmore    

The Finale of our re-read of Virtual Mode by Piers Anthony. Allison's verdict is that it hold up.... but with some very big caveats. Famed fantasy author Piers Anthony tells us a tale of romance, danger, adventure, and intrigue as two lovers travel through a myriad of alternate realities where anything is possible.

Famed fantasy author Piers Anthony tells us a tale of romance, danger, adventure, and intrigue as two lovers travel through a myriad of alternate realities where anything is possible. This episode is a long one because we delve into some serious topics that we have not yet covered before on this podcast. Allison remembers loving this book as a teen, but how does this strange and controversial fantasy novel hold up to our adult eyes?

The Story Continues In…. How do you feel when a story continues after the end? Famous examples include the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling and the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. We discuss what these stories feel like. Does the original story get changed? Does the original meaning become something distant? Spoilers Harry Potter … Continue reading Ep007: Authors Expanding Canon →

"Mama told me.....when in the land of Xanth..... Come sit beside me....my only Son.... And listen closely....to what I say.... And even if you have no magic.... You'll be okay..." Join Bob, Luke, Klab, and Paul as they dive into the pun-filled fun that is A Spell for Chameleon. The opening has a clip from an interview done with Piers Anthony by E.A.A. Wilson. Follow the link below to see more of the interview. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcKM3syRPSg&t=7s&disable_polymer=true

Avsnitt 12: Karin, Lina och Anna babblar om Terry Pratchetts Discworld-böcker och är ledsna över att det inte kommer att komma fler. Alla är roliga, och några är bland det bästa vi läst. Vi konstaterar att böckerna har påverkat oss i allt från synen på samhället och mänskligheten till hur många utropstecken vi vågar sätta efter varandra. Mot slutet hittar Karin på hyss och Lina och Anna får gissa citat och leka google-förslag. Vem tror du vinner? Vill du veta mer eller kommentera det vi har pratat om? Besök gärna vår hemsida, där finns det länkar för varje avsnitt och mycket mer. Vi finns också på facebook, twitter och instagram. Eller så kan du mejla till nyasvarta@gmail.com Gillar du det vi gör? Skriv gärna en recension på facebook eller i din poddspelare. Du kan också stötta oss via Paypal. Länkar: Terry Pratchett, författarehttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1654.Terry_PratchettAlla Discworld-böckerhttps://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/discworld-reading-order/Bokmässanhttps://bokmassan.se/”Johnny Maxwell”-serien av Terry Pratchetthttps://www.goodreads.com/series/40652-johnny-maxwell”The Long Earth”-serien av Terry Pratchett och Stephen Baxterhttps://www.goodreads.com/series/92457-the-long-earth"The Carpet People" av Terry Pratchetthttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17836100-the-carpet-people?ac=1&from_search=true"Strata" av Terry Pratchetthttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34493.Strata?ac=1&from_search=truePiers Anthony, författare (som Anna försökte komma ihåg som samtida och i samma genre som Pratchett)https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8516.Piers_Anthony?from_search=trueRobert Rankin, författarehttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/27944.Robert_RankinDouglas Adams, författarehttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4.Douglas_Adams"Liftarens guide till galaxen/The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (med flera) av Douglas Adams"https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/386162.The_Hitchhiker_s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy"Harry Potter"-serien av JK Rowlinghttps://www.goodreads.com/series/45175-harry-potterNarniaserien av CS Lewishttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11127.The_Chronicles_of_Narnia?from_search=true"Seinfeld", tv-seriehttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098904/?ref_=nv_sr_1"Grey's Anatomy", tv-seriehttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413573/?ref_=nv_sr_1 Pratchett-citat ur podden “A good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read.”― Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards! “Open your eyes and then open your eyes again.”― Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men “Multiple exclamation marks,' he went on, shaking his head, 'are a sure sign of a diseased mind.”― Terry Pratchett, Eric “Racism was not a problem on the Discworld, because—what with trolls and dwarfs and so on—speciesism was more interesting. Black and white lived in perfect harmony and ganged up on green.”― Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad “Esk, of course, had not been trained, and it is well known that a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you're attempting can't be done.”― Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites “What a place! What a situation! What kind of man would put a known criminal in charge of a major branch of government? Apart from, say, the average voter.”― Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

I bring on my little brother, who spends 98.8% of his time researching everything, to talk about a Universal Basic Income, Automation in menial jobs, and more. I bring up an extremely long word for weird word for the day, and recommend Crewel Lye, by Piers Anthony. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/nerdry/support

https://bryanaiello.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/mirage-35-piers-anthony-w-chris-herron.mp3 On this episode mirage Chris Herron and I discuss the fiction of Piers Anthony. Piers Anthony is an English American author in the science fiction and fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is most famous for his long-running novel series set in the fictional realm of Xanth. -- Wikipedia Chris Herron is a is a Parsec award nominated voice actor. A graphic artist. A willing critic partner An editor. A friend to writers. A friend to the blind. A champion of the written word. And as an author who has had the fortune of having a few of my stories read by this actor I am better off for it. And for that I offer him a huge hearty thanks! Chris' work can be viewed on his: Website - http://www.TallTaleTV.com YouTube - http://www.YouTube.com/c/TallTaleTV Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TallTaleTV/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/TallTaleTV and don't forget to sign up for his Newsletter updates at: - http://www.TallTaleTV.com/Newsletter/ Check out the other great talent nominated this year for a Parsec: http://www.parsecawards.com/2017-parsec-awards/nominees/     *** Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for updates on my other show Origin: Stories on Creativity. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbSnMk6QPiULXmKDYmwCmIg Subscribe on Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/bryan-aiello/mirage-speculating-on-speculative-fiction-author-and-other-topics?refid=stpr Subscribe on Itunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mirage-bryan-aiello/id1261093328?mt=2 On Google Play https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iywh2sype4wvtcuq4ose2fuxhqq   *** Music on the episode courtesy of: Anjulie That fat rat: fly away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMg8KaMdDYo *** Follow me on twitter @bryaiello for updates on this channel and my podcast and my writing projects. My website is: http://www.bryanaiello.com Email questions and comments to: me@byranaiello.com Support the show on my poorly managed patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/BryanAiello

Our genre this episode is Comedic Science Fiction & Fantasy. We talk about anachronisms, comedy in sci fi/fantasy and sci fi/fantasy in comedy, "laugh out loud" funny vs. "clever" funny, and more!  You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | RJ Edwards Books We Read This Month Romeo and/or Juliet by Ryan North Choose Your Own Adventure (Wikipedia article) Nintendo Adventure Books Rutabaga the Adventure Chef by Eric Colossal Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede The cover with the ice cream Mechanical Failure by Joe Zieja Scary Go Round by John Allison The webcomic The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex His tweet that was mentioned Debbie Reese's commentary posts Hark, Episode 165: Beats and Bimuelos - RJ’s podcast about holiday music where they discuss a song from Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh Terminal Alliance: Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse by Jim C. Hines Monster by A. Lee Martinez The Rook by Daniel O'Malley Other Media and Authors We Mention Terry Pratchett Discworld Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Jasper Fforde The Eyre Affair Christopher Moore Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse-Five Piers Anthony “Themes of Pedophilia in the Works of Piers Anthony” on LitReactor Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente Lois McMaster Bujold Bad Machinery by John Allison Giant Days by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Lissa Treiman The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North and Erica Henderson The Cold Cereal Saga by Adam Rex Soulless by Gail Carriger Links, Articles, and Things Cyberpunk derivatives “Clockpunk portrays Renaissance-era science and technology based on pre-modern designs” Zip-A-Tone/Screen Tone Episode 6,  Books in Translation - For more on reading War and Peace The Magical Bureaucracies with the Most Paperwork Questions How much comedy do you like in your science fiction or fantasy? Announcements Anna and Matthew will be at ALA in New Orleans. Come say “Hi!” Check out our Pinterest board and Tumblr posts, follow us on Twitter, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email! Join us again on Tuesday, June 5th when we’ll be talking about how (and why) we started working in libraries! Then come back on Tuesday, June 19th when we’ll be talking about Military Non-Fiction!

Wondered about the Xanth books by Piers Anthony? Wonder no more! Heather provides a look at one of her favorite novel series!

Our fantasy and sci-fi correspondent Will Friedle returns! And he’s picked a doozy for us to read. Piers Anthony has written dozens of hugely popular fantasy novels, and many of them are set in the magical, pun-filled land of Xanth. Will asked us to read A Spell for Chameleon, the novel that began it all. And boy, has it not aged well… We thought Sweet Valley High was rapey. There’s literally a rape trial in the first 30 pages of this book, which seems aimed squarely at 12 year old boys. Join us for this hilarious and disturbing episode, as we marvel at what was acceptable for kids to read 30 years ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apologies for mic noise, we'll work on that...meantime, we talked about a few things this week: • Travails of retail • Stepdad talk • Finally, the intro • Welcome new listeners! Maybe! • More to talk about soon, re video games • Down the rabbit hole of game videos • Games we left off the list last week: Tutankham, Spy Hunter • Nostalgia as a phenomenon • A Wizard of Earthsea: Marcus is wrong about it being a trilogy, there are also Tehanu and The Other Wind, and collected short stories as Tales From Earthsea • Le Guin's prose compared to other writers • Piers Anthony series: Incarnations of Immortality, Xanth • Roger Zelazny - Amber • Terry Pratchett - Discworld • Hard times experiencing the final work • Talk Talk & Mark Hollis's solo album • Spotify and music overload • Parry Gripp: Last Train to Awesometown, Robot Hamster • Remembering more of the songs before the internet • We've convinced each other! • Smartest Baby in the World update Thanks for hearing it all out! You can contact us at ijc2bs@gmail.com, or on Twitter at @ijc2b, and on Facebook at https://facebook.com/ijc2b/ . Marcus's daily blog about creating (mostly) is at https://marcusharwell.com/ Archived episodes are lazily at https://ijc2b.podbean.com/

Thema der Woche: Erotische Phantasy! Yay! Buch eins ist „The Magic Fart“ von Piers Anthony. Was steht da drinn? Was steht da nicht drinn! Knick Knack Genau! Zur Sache gehts auch in „Lückenfüller“… errotische Geschiten im Cthuhulu Universum! Ist was was? Das ist was!

In this episode, we're joined by author Kelly Robson. We talk about her first love in the genre, Star Wars — how it was big, exciting and sexy, but also an escape from family drama at home; and what it's like to look back on the movie now as an adult and a professional speculative fiction writer. We talk about other early sf pleasures, like the original Battlestar Galactica; books by Piers Anthony, Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, and others; and the genre magazines of the 70s and 80s. Along the way, we also discuss the early superhero Zorro (and specifically the George Hamilton movie Zorro — The Gay Blade), and why you may have to read Heinlein before a certain age in order to enjoy his stories. Turning to her own career, Kelly tells us how the Connie Willis story "Blued Moon" reprogrammed her brain and made her want to become a writer. She talks about the positive aspects of starting her career in middle age, and how, despite writing being a selfish line of work, she's still able to be happy as an author married to another author. We also talk about how growing up on a farm in a small town in rural Alberta has influenced her work. As well, we discuss Kelly's unique suggestion to resolve the Sad/Rabid Puppies controversy that wracked the Hugo Awards in 2015 and 2016. And Kelly tells us about some of her recent stories, including "A Human Stain" on Tor.com, and her contribution to the Kickstarter project NASTY — Fetish Erotica for a Good Cause. Our interview took place in December 2016 via a Skype connection between Kelly's home in Toronto, and my studio in the Lair of bloginhood, located in the rafters of an abandoned whisky distillery in the Highlands of Scotland. Find out more about Kelly Robson on her website: kellyrobson.com Visit iTunes to subscribe to Invaders From Planet 3 and download episodes, and be sure to rate the show while you're there!  

Keith Tralins has been a friend and supporter of Geekscape for many years now! As one of the head honchos of Stan Lee's Los Angeles Comic Con, he's helped Geekscape get guests, be featured every year and partnered with us on many fun and exciting things. And it's not over! In this episode, we not only talk about some of things in store for you at this year's Stan Lee's LA Comic Con, we also talk Keith's time as one of the top Magic: The Gathering players in the world, his famous uncle and our love of Piers Anthony novels and lots of Dungeons and Dragons (Keith is my DM, after all). Yup! It gets awesomely nerdy this week! Enjoy!

Is there any rest for the wicked? This week Cainim and Karen discuss Lucifer! The Pilot Watch! Music: www.bensound.com Karen gives Cainim credit but is it deserved? A Riverdale and Archie mini-discussion! Veronica Chase?  Why is the Devil so appealing? Or is this Lucifer as Vile as he seems? Things! Top 3 Pop Culture Devils! Would the devil like hip hop? And somehow all of this gets mentioned: Dance Clubs! The Haunt! 80's Music! 3 Doors Down! Spin Doctors! Was Cainim ever cool? The Sim Redmond Band! Spin Doctors! Kryptonite! X-Files! CSI Crime Fighting Duos! Moonlighting! Castle! The Best Procedural! DC Vertigo Comics! Neil Gaiman! Fables! Preacher! Sandman! Swamp Thing! Bill Willingham! Proposition Player! South Park! The Simpsons! Piers Anthony! The Incarnations of Immortality! The Pick of Destiny! Jack Black at his best! Foo Fighters! Jason Alexander! Lost! The heir to the water fortune! George Burns! Soap! Blossom! John or Bob Denver! The Charms of Tom Ellis! Hot Yoga! Cainim temps the Stones to sue him! Horrible puns! How to cut out interrogation scenes! The Palmer Brothers from 24! Angel names! The Wrong D.B.! Crossroads Demons! Chicago Fire! Pacey-Back-to-back! Parks & Recreation! Northern Exposure! Sopranos! Verity! Bowie! Cage the Elephant! Vanilla Ice! Robert Johnson! The clothes you wear on a first date! Angel! Next Episode: The Flash! The Pilot Watch Episode after next? Revealed at the end of this episode! Ding, ding ding da-da-ding ding! Write to us at 4colorflashback@gmail.com Let us know if we should do a Supernatural Rewatch!            

We recorded this emergency backup episode back on April 22nd with special guest Jay Maus, and between Will moving, Nelson’s illness, Massholes, and the erased episode we’re busting it out now! We start it out with Air Travel Corner which leads into Masculinity Corner which naturally(?) rolls into 9/11 Changed What it Means to Be a Man Corner. Somewhere in there is also Fuck Your Feelings Garden Corner, my notes were kind of a mess. Then we’ve got Baby Nostalgia Corner, Piers Anthony’s Ideas About Gender are Troubling Corner and we wrap it all up with I’m Ready for You, Fuck Demon Corner where Nelson makes the greatest observation about classic Russian literature we’ve seen so far this millennium. This one’s for you, English majors! Contact Us! Follow Us! Love Us! Email: doubledeucepod@gmail.com Twitter: @doubledeucepod Facebook: www.facebook.com/DoubleDeucePod/ Also, please subscribe/rate/review/share us! We’re on iTunes, Libsyn, Stitcher & Google Play! Are you in Lawrence, Kansas? Are you thirsty? Looking for a place to hang out? Maybe catch a game or a live show? Or are you looking for somewhere to put on a show? Or record a podcast? Or rent a room? Then check out Frank’s North Star Tavern and the Eagles Lodge Aerie 309! Official bars of the Double Deuce Podcast! Podcast logo art by Jason Keezer! Intro featuring Rob Schulte!

Samantha aka Scarlett Sparrow joins us from California for Episode 63.  A friend of previous guest, Andie Jay, we talk about a number of different fandoms. We talk Disney movies, Marvel's X-Men, DC movies (before Wonder Woman came out), Legend of the Seeker, Piers Anthony's Xanth novel series, book recommendations and cosplay. https://www.instagram.com/scarlettsparrow/ https://www.facebook.com/ScarlettSparrowCosplay/ https://twitter.com/SevenOfClubs      

For the first time, Jess and Trish review a book which it turns out they both despise, "Mute" by Piers Anthony. Not even telekinetic chickens can save this misogynistic piece of old sci-fi. Trish suspects even the person who wrote the description for the back cover wasn't able to finish it, as Mit the hermit crab is misidentified as telepathic when he is actually clairvoyant. Next month they put this debacle behind them with "The Girl with All the Gifts" by M. R. Carey. (Music credit: “Books” by Minden http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)

Howdy, partner! I det här avsnittet pratar Johan och Magnus om noirklassikern "The killer inside me" av Jim Thompson. Ett härligt snack om psykopater, dammiga småstäder och den svenska serieboomen (som aldrigt riktigt kommer). Till nästa avsnitt (som kommer i början av juni) läser dunderduon Jan Guillous bortglömda scifi-äventyr "Gudarnas berg". Det vill du inte missa!  Andra saker som nämns  Andre Norton ● Marion Zimmer Bradley, "Avalons dimmor" ● Sara Bergmark Elfgren & Karl Johnsson, "Vei" ● Jens Lapidus & Peter Bergting, "Gängkrig 145" ● Björn Ranelid ● Galago ● Joakim Pirinen ● Joakim Lindengren ● Ray Garton, "Live girls" + "Darklings" ● "A serbian film" ● "Arrow" ● "The Flash" ● "Dexter" ● James M. Cain, "Postmannen ringer alltid två gånger" ● Gill Brewer, "Djävulen är en kvinna" ● "No country for old men" ● Piers Anthony, "A Spell for Chameleon"

Jess and Trish talk about fake mermaids and true love while discussing "The Museum of Extraordinary Things" by Alice Hoffman. They also break down some important though unconnected topics, like if the new Beauty and the Beast movie is gonna be good. They end with one of their favorite Top 5s ever, characters who think they're a monster. Next month the delve deep into serious sci-fi, "Mute" by Piers Anthony.  (Music credit: “Books” by Minden http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/)

On site at Superstars Writing Seminars, Kobo Writing Life Director Mark Lefebvre interviews Joshua Essoe, freelance editor. In their discussion Mark and Joshua discuss: What led him to writing (the author's notes at the end of a Piers Anthony novel he had picked up at an early age) and then, more specifically, what led him into editing The role that Brandon Sanderson played, at the very first Superstars Writing Seminars in Pasadena, in launching Joshua onto the patch towards editing The editing pitch that Joshua did to David Farland, which led to Joshua editing his Award-Winning Novel Nightingale The struggle that Joshua deals with in making the time to write while having such a heavy editing workload The benefit of consultation calls between a writer and an editor when the writer is at the early stages of working on their novel The types of works that Joshua mostly works on, including the types of manuscripts he would like to see more of (horror) The process of finding an editor who is a good fit for a particular writer A look at the different types of edits that an editor can do, or that different editors specialize in The benefit to a freelance editor of working with repeat clients The most common errors that Joshua has seen that writers make (and where a good editor can help them) Reflections on the difference between American English and British English Some of Joshua's forthcoming projects including an anthology Joshua is co-creating with James A. Owen entitled Magic Makers (including stories by Terry Brooks, Piers Anthony, Peter Beagle) After the interview, Mark shares some thoughts on how an element such as a post-text authors note can serve an important part in helping a reader feel more connected with a writer.

Today we talk about works of pop-culture that have an obvious political agenda, so obvious that t not only gets in the way of the entertainment but also dictates to the audience without letting them have a chance to come to their own conclusions: forcing you to see things only one way. Even when we agree with the agenda being presented it can still strike a sour chord, often more-so since they're preaching to the choir and usually just throwing a badly simplified version of the philosophy at you, which can feel insulting. So that's what we chat about. Those views can come from ANY political persuasion, the right the left, communism, fascism, socialism, libertarianism whatever. No one has a monopoly on ideologues. We became overtly political towards the end… Sorry for that. HAHAHA. Do we practise what we preach? HELLS NO! I have to apologise again for the terrible sound quality of my voice recording. I thought I'd fixed the settings from last week, but I was wrong. I HAVE now though. Gunwallace's musical theme was for Grunk - cocktail bar samba played on a church organ. The music of heaven! Cheesy heaven. You can imagine fat angels in hawaiian shirts swanning about drunkenly and spilling their margaritas. Topics and shownotes Featured comic: E X T I N C T - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2016/dec/13/featured-comic-e-x-t-i-n-c-t/ References: Elysium - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/ Logan's run - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074812/ In time - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637688/ Snow piercer - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706620/ Synoikia to Oneiro - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196995/ Terry Pratchett - https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/ Piers Anthony - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8516.Piers_Anthony The wooden Swords - http://rights.patakis.gr/pandelis-kaliotsos-wooden-swords Ghostbusters 2016 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1289401/ Special thanks to: Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com Tantz Aerine - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/ Banes - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/ Featured music: GRUNK - http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/GRUNK/ by mg78, rated E.

Bufo Calvin is the creator of the I Love My Kindle blog and The Measured Circle's Geek Time Trip Interview starts at 9:49 and ends at 36:45  "If you want to watch 'Devil Girl from Mars' you can go and watch it on this site. What's happening so far is that I'm having a great time with it. I'm adding stuff to it. Virtually no one else ever goes there. I kind of feel like I'm up in my attic, and I put all these things on the wall and that's great and I'm sort of obsessed with the idea of that. But nobody is ever coming up the ladder into the attic at this point." News “Amazon Japan introduces ‘Manga Model' Kindle Paperwhite with eight times more storage” at The Verge - October 18, 2016 Amazon press release in Japanese announcing “Manga Model” Kindle Paperwhite - October 18, 2016 Kindle Paperwhite "Amazon Music Unlimited” at The Lefsetz Newsletter - October 10, 2016 “Music Streaming Showdown: Amazon Music Unlimited vs. Spotify” by Alex Fitzpatrick at Time - October 18, 2016 “Apple lawsuit says 90 percent of ‘official' chargers sold on Amazon are fake” by James Vincent at The Verge - October 20, 2016 “Amazon could be a lot bigger than we think” by Elizabeth Weise at USA Today - October 20, 2016   Interview with Bufo Calvin I Love My Kindle blog The Measured Circle's Geek Time Trip at The History Project     TMCGTT links mentioned: H. P. Lovecraft, Devil Girl from Mars, Night of the Living Dead directed by George Romero, Piers Anthony, Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence, Strange Worlds comic debut on November 1, 1950, Batman radio show on September 5, 1950, Amazon Prime Reading Kindle Unlimited One Murder More by Kris Calvin   Content Ken Gunther's list of free eBook sources: www.freebooksy.com has an amazing collection of free books. I am on their mailing list and every day get an email with links to free books available from Amazon. You can filter your list and only get notified about books available in your favorite genres (science fiction, legal thriller, etc)  www.bookbub.com - every day I get an email from the folks at Bookbub with a list of books available for free, 99 cents and $1.99. The above sites apparently carefully monitor amazon.com and when Amazon is having a free book promotion I get notified by email. I also use ebook.bike - This site used to be called TUEBL.ca which is an acronym for The Ultimate E-Book Library. You need to go to the web site and can search for the title or author you are interested in. You can download the books as Epub or text files and then use a tool like Calibre to convert them to azw files for the Kindle. You need to click on the download link and then "Download Epub" or "Download Text" to select the format you want. There are lots of other links on ebook.bike, I stay away from them. Calibre Amazon's new “100 books for a lifetime of eating and drinking"   Next Week's Guest: Robert Masello, author of The Jekyll Revelation Music for my podcast is from an original Thelonius Monk composition named "Well, You Needn't." This version is "Ra-Monk" by Eval Manigat on the "Variations in Time: A Jazz Perspective" CD by Public Transit Recording" CD. Please Join the Kindle Chronicles group at Goodreads! 

In this episode Dave talks about a book series that has been mentioned a few times on the show but has never been really talked about. The Xanth Series from Piers Anthony is probably one of the best fantasy series that goes beyond 15 books. If you are a fan of high fantasy that mixes with mundane reality as well, then Xanth is a series for you!!

In this episode Dave talks about a book series that has been mentioned a few times on the show but has never been really talked about. The Xanth Series from Piers Anthony is probably one of the best fantasy series that goes beyond 15 books. If you are a fan of high fantasy that mixes with mundane reality as well, then Xanth is a series for you!!

In this episode Dave talks about a book series that has been mentioned a few times on the show but has never been really talked about. The Xanth Series from Piers Anthony is probably one of the best fantasy series that goes beyond 15 books. If you are a fan of high fantasy that mixes with mundane reality as well, then Xanth is a series for you!! ]]>

Lance Oliver Keeble is an American Author based in Los Angeles, California. At a very young age, he fell in love with Art, Music, Acting, Writing and American Football. He participated in all of those activities throughout his young life. After a brief stint at CSULB, he became a firefighter to support his burgeoning family. He has performed in many bands, acted in various plays, low budget commercials and continuously practiced his prose by writing lyrics, poetry, and short stories. He is a fan of Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Action, Thriller, Comic books, Graphic Novels and other various forms of fiction. His diversity shows in his work. He has easily been able to be prolific at poetry, short-story writings, children themes, comic book scripting as well as novels. He has published poetry in anthologies and a superhero comic strip in several magazines. He has a graphic novel in development. His interests have led to his current novel Globes Disease. Lance Oliver Keeble was born raised and continues to live in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. Lance is a Father of 7 children and a Grandfather of 4. Lance Oliver Keeble aspires to never grow up and to write for the rest of his life. Some of his favorite authors include; Joe Nazel, Orson Scott Card, Stephen King, Stephen R. Donaldson, Piers Anthony, Anne Rice, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes, Chuck Palahniuk, John Byrne, Frank Miller, Howard Chaykin, Dwayne McDuffie, Edgar Allen Poe, Homer & Dr. Seuss.

  Hey there Word Nerd! Today I have the great pleasure of hosting Julie Duffy on the show. Julie is the founder of the StoryADay May creative writing challenge, which is basically like the short story version of NaNoWriMo. This challenge happens in May, which is only a few short weeks away, and it’s an incredible experience. More personally, though, Julie and I both started our respective projects (her StoryADay, my DIY MFA) the same year and only a few months apart. You could say we’re part of the same creative cohort and we’ve “come up through the ranks” together. Julie is one of my most trusted colleagues, probably the person I most frequently turn to for advice and insights outside the DIY MFA team, and I’m also lucky to count her as one of my good friends. Today it is an honor and pleasure to introduce my word nerds to someone who I’ve known is AWESOME for quite some time. Embed Episode Here In this episode Julie and I discuss: Whether writing one story a day for a month is easier or harder than writing a novel in a month. How to keep the creative well from running dry. Setting limits and how they can help you be more creative. Barriers to overcome in order to be more creative. Plus, Julie’s #1 tip for writers. Resources: About Julie Duffy Julie Duffy is the founder of StoryADay.org and a experienced public speaker on topics such as creativity, productivity for writers, self-publishing – with an emphasis on ebooks and print on-demand, and short stories. Her first ebook, 21st Century Publishing, was published in 2001 and grew out of her popular newsletter and website of the same name. She has been sharing tools and insights with authors ever since, in publications such as Writer’s Digest and Writers’ Journal. Julie has hosted StoryADay May since 2010 and StoryADay September since 2012. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Julie was Director of Author Services at Xlibris, the first company to offer print on-demand services directly to authors. In this role she frequently spoke at writers’ conferences about the new age of publishing that was dawning and is now shaking apart the publishing world. She personally worked with a couple of thousand authors from first-time writers to best-selling authors such as Piers Anthony and Daniel Pinkwater. She knows writers. She knows about the new world of publishing. She is happy to introduce them to each other. If you want to learn more about Julie and StoryADay, visit her website or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest. Links from the Episode Interested in signing up for StoryADay? Go here to sign up! You can also sign up for email updates to get reminders about upcoming challenges and other StoryADay info. And don’t forget to order your copy of A Month of Writing Prompts 2016 (affiliate link). Need inspiration to jumpstart your story writing? Check out Writer Igniter. We mentioned That Guy in Your MFA during the show. Don’t forget! Sign up for the Storytelling Superpower Summit. For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/091  

Join RevKess and Kalisara as we talk with Orlando Sanchez, author of the book series, The Warriors of the Way. We will be discussing the books, inspiration, magic in fiction and much more! "Orlando Sanchez has been writing ever since his teens when he was immersed in creating scenarios for playing Dungeon and Dragons with his friends every weekend. An avid reader, his influences are too numerous to list here. Some of the most prominent are: J.R.R. Tolkien, Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Terry Brooks, Piers Anthony, Lee Child, George Lucas, Andrew Vachss, and Barry Eisler to name a few in no particular order. The worlds of his books are urban settings with a twist of the paranormal lurking just behind the scenes and generous doses of magic, martial arts, and mayhem." The Spiritual Warriors, book 1 of the Warriors of the Way "After participating in the special promotion, Dante finds himself thrust into the hidden world of the Spiritual Warriors, a group of men and women, fighters with special abilities who are trained and dedicated to keeping this plane of existence safe from evil."

For this Wekk Imagines episode we decided to tackle the subject of Worldbuilding: our favorite literature (Philip Pullman, Tad Williams, L. Frank Baum, Piers Anthony), games (Dead of Winter, Dungeons and Dragons, Dragon Age), and television/movies (Star Wars, Star Trek, Killjoys, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica). We talk about what we feel are the essentials of world… Continue reading Wekk Imagines – Ep 43 – Worldbuilding

This week on An Hour With Your Ex we head north of uptown Chicago to lair of Arnie Niekamp and Sarah Maher to talk about Game of Thrones. We recorded hours before "Hardhome" and I promise you'll still have a good time. Since so much happened just a few hours later we had to bring someone on to follow up on "Hardhome." Sammy Tamimi from The Pop Fury Podcast stopped by to fill us in on White Walkers, Others, and Ice Dragons? A ton of Game of Thrones talk for you.Arnie is the host of "Hello from the Magic Tavern!" and a member of The Chicago Podcast Cooperative. If you like Piers Anthony or Terry Brooks you'll love his show. Our sponsor this week is Maxistentialism a new zine from Max Temkin one of the creators of Cards Against Humanity. Game of Thrones is on HBO which isn't TV. The Warriors are in overtime right now. Harrison Barnes drops a three! Hey guys thanks for listening. Please support our sponsor and our fellow podcasts. Rate us on iTunes. Sorry about all the selling.  

This week on Fangirl Happy Hour, Renay and Ana raid their Fangirl Vaults/Dungeons and bring forth Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Through the Ice by Piers Anthony and Robert Kornwise to discuss (and cry/laugh about). Then we finally read Young Avengers Volume 1: Sidekicks and do a lot of delightful squealing over Kate Bishop. […] The post Fangirl Happy Hour, Episode #12 – “Deceptive Mushrooms” appeared first on Fangirl Happy Hour.

Hello! Voted number one by the podcasters association of Canada! (would be a joke that I think Todd Glass would appreciate...)  Episode #319 Segmented Thusly: Movie Monologue = Misery Loves Comedy, Gremlins 2: The New Batch and To Be Takei. Television Talk = Skins (Episodes 1 and 2) Book Banter = Isle of Woman by Piers Anthony and Orion by Ben Bova. Game Gabbin' = Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Internet Intercourse = V-Sauce 3: Could You Live Forever?, The Gist: Episodic Gaming and The Chive.

For a special April Fools’ Day episode, the Pavement Pounders change things up and discuss the book adapted from Total Recall, namely the novelization of the film, written by Piers Anthony, who was gracious enough to respond to a query about the process for writing it. Warning: Colin geeks out to within an inch of … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #20: A Lot of Novel Stuff in There (Total Recall Novelization) →

For a special April Fools’ Day episode, the Pavement Pounders change things up and discuss the book adapted from Total Recall, namely the novelization of the film, written by Piers Anthony, who was gracious enough to respond to a query about the process for writing it. Warning: Colin geeks out to within an inch of … Continue reading TMTYR Episode #20: A Lot of Novel Stuff in There (Total Recall Novelization) →

Content Warning: This book is filled with some of the most atrocious sexual ethics you will ever encounter and it needed to be discussed. So there are some sensitive issues addressed on this week's show. Please be aware. Piers Anthony wrote "A Spell For Chameleon" as a book for adults, and was told by his publisher that it would be released as a YA novel unless he 'dressed it up' and made it more mature. The result is a book filled with busty centaurs, awkwardly employed vocabulary words, and really bad puns. It's also morally bankrupt and is probably responsible for ruining the minds of many teenagers nationwide. Listen, if you dare, as I'm joined by Official Rap Legend Jesse Dangerously to dissect this shining example of bad bad BAD fantasy. Bumper Music: "The Trees" by Rush, "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club

In der 32. Folge spreche ich mit Daniel über den ersten Band der Reihe "The Incarnations of Immortality" von Piers Anthony. Es heißt "On A Pale Horse" und handelt von einem Menschen, der sich nach einem Selbstmordversuch plötzlich in einem unverhofften, neuen Beruf wiederfindet: Er ist der Tod. Viel Spaß beim Hören!

This week, Dave and Gunnar talk about: Google’s expectations of privacy, VMware’s expectations of profit, Dave’s expectations of SELinux, and Gunnar’s inflated expectations of productivity software. Subscribe via RSS or iTunes. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony Google: Cloud users have ‘no legitimate expectation of privacy’ Yes, Gmail Users Have Some Privacy. Here’s What You Can Expect Why Some Startups Say the Cloud Is a Waste of Money VMware CEO: OpenStack is not for the enterprise What’s a ball-peen hammer? “‘We want to own corporate workload… We all lose if they end up in these commodity public clouds. We want to extend our franchise from the private cloud into the public cloud and uniquely enable our customers with the benefits of both. Own the corporate workload now and forever.'” – Pat Gelsinger, VMware CEO, making friends NC DataPalooza NIST Cloud Computing and Mobility workshop Red Hat Government Symposium registration now open! Dave’s Multilevel Security with Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SELinux video series Autonomic Resources’ OpenShift: reserve your account Gunnar’s shaving the yak, and back with Remember the Milk TaskPaper too simple OmniFocus like developers run wild with options Things too simple, missing location awareness, etc. RTM the least bad option, but still pretty bad. So much opportunity. A Bit Better RTM add-on for Firefox and Chrome Cutting Room Floor Getty’s Digital Resources free to all Indy Web: Meet the Hackers Who Want to Jailbreak the Internet Something for Gunnar’s coffee table — Infographic: An Amazing Atlas of the World Wide Web Teaching kids STEM with zombies and graphing calculators Unreadable Binary Epoch clock We Give Thanks Gunnar thanks Dave for not saying “cyber” this episode

Jay Bell in Merriam, Kansas. He supposes his childhood could be summed up in two words: rebellious nerd. Come to think of it, that pretty much covers his teen and adult years as well, says Jay. "I’ve always loved books, delving into fantastic worlds and letting myself get lost there. I grew up marvelling at the creative genius of C.S. Lewis, Piers Anthony, Robert Asprin, Terry Brooks, even that guy that wrote the Mr. Men books. The list could go on and on. It’s a daunting task to try and add my own stories to the countless volumes already out there, but I’m giving it my best. Anything else you’d like to know, feel free to ask. Reading my blog will reveal most of my hobbies and interests as well. Or you can check out the interviews below. And hey, just so this isn’t all about me, feel free to tell me about yourself below. We can start our own biography party!" http://www.jaybellbooks.com/

Jay Bell in Merriam, Kansas. He supposes his childhood could be summed up in two words: rebellious nerd. Come to think of it, that pretty much covers his teen and adult years as well, says Jay. "I’ve always loved books, delving into fantastic worlds and letting myself get lost there. I grew up marvelling at the creative genius of C.S. Lewis, Piers Anthony, Robert Asprin, Terry Brooks, even that guy that wrote the Mr. Men books. The list could go on and on. It’s a daunting task to try and add my own stories to the countless volumes already out there, but I’m giving it my best. Anything else you’d like to know, feel free to ask. Reading my blog will reveal most of my hobbies and interests as well. Or you can check out the interviews below. And hey, just so this isn’t all about me, feel free to tell me about yourself below. We can start our own biography party!" http://www.jaybellbooks.com/

Host Gil Roth talks about Bach, Piers Anthony and the escapism of being a geek.

On this episode, Luke and Anne have a leisurely chat about DC's upcoming reboot, the disparity in quality between some of Piers Anthony's work, and the 4th trade in Neil Gaimen's seminal work Sandman: Season of Mists!

On this episode, Luke and Anne have a leisurely chat about DC's upcoming reboot, the disparity in quality between some of Piers Anthony's work, and the 4th trade in Neil Gaimen's seminal work Sandman: Season of Mists!

This week it is a mix of the real and surreal.  First up I give a rant on the recent segment about the virtual world of Second Life on the CBC news program that aired on the Fifth Estate called Strangers in Paradise that can be found at http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2008-2009/strangers_in_paradise/video.html as well as the recent premature cancellation of the tv show Crusoe.  Then I give my audio book review of 7th Heaven by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro as the Women's Murder Club tackles another series of murders.  Finally it is off to the land of Xanth for my review of Two to the Fifth by Piers Anthony where the play is the thing.  Music for this week features the song Wingless Bird by COMEG and can be found at www.podsafemusic.com along with the intro music of Lets Get Ramblin' by Dynamo Snackbar.  Other instrumental music is by the band Mr. Burns and they can be found at http://mrburns.homestead.com/index.html.  As always your comments and suggestions are welcome

This week science fiction and fantasy take centre stage.  First up is my book review of Air Appraent by Piers Anthony as we return to the land of Xanth in a murder mysery, of sorts.  My guest this week is Kate Dyck, Head of Media Relations of Polaris 22 (http://www.tcon.ca/polaris/modules/tconguests/) which takes place in Toronto from July 11 - 13.  We talk about the upcoming convention and what to expect there as well as handy do's and don'ts, an interesting costume choice from previous years to get everyone ready for the event that I will be attending.  Songs  for this week include Space Melody by Victor Stellar and Space Junk by Fraser Mills and both can be found at www.podsafemusic.com along with the intro music of Lets Get Ramblin' by Dynamo Snackbar.  Other instrumental music is by the band Mr. Burns and they can be found at http://mrburns.homestead.com/index.html.  As always your comments and suggestions are welcome.

This week I have a jammed packed show full of reviews and music.  First up is my DVD review of  Dragonlance : Dragons of Autumn Twilight as a classic fantasy novel gets animated in a big way.  Then we delve into murder and mystery with Complusion by Jonathan Kellerman as Alex and Milo track down a shape-shifting killer.  My final review is one of the newer Xanth novels, Stork Naked by Piers Anthony as Suprise Golem goes on a quest to rescue her baby.  Music for this weeks features the songs Dragons by The Switch, A Stranger by Jackal + Wolf, and Done and Dusted by Dave Stannard.  All songs can be  found at www.podsafeaudio.com.  Extro music is by the band Mr Burns.  As always comments and suggestions are welcome.

This week I have not one but two book reviews to warm up your winter days.  First up we journey to the land of Xanth as I give my review of Pet Peeve by Piers Anthony as a poor goblen deals with a rude bird and invading robots while looking for love again.   Then we jump back to the island of St. Marks as Stone Barrington is right in the thick of things as I give my audio book review of Shoot Him If He Runs by Stuart Woods.  In keeping with Stone's New York base of operations the song is Long Island Sound by Brian Sharpe and can be found at www.podsafeaudio.com.   As an added bonous to this week's show you also get 2 very special promos from Big Finish and my good friend Karmyn Tyler.   As always your comments and suggestions are welcome.

In this episode Dave talks about a book series that has been mentioned a few times on the show but has never been really talked about. The Xanth Series from Piers Anthony is probably one of the best fantasy series that goes beyond 15 books. If you are a fan of high fantasy that mixes with mundane reality as well, then Xanth is a series for you!!