Podcasts about reader questions

Episode #286: A New DH Bike, The Future of Enduro, & Reader Questions

In this episode, Matt answers a host of reader questions about everything from the importance of lead tape to his all time WITB to his solutions for improving recreational golf.

Send us a textYou know those “tell-all” episodes from every trashy-but-addicting reality show? This is like that—but with way less drama (I mean WAY less) and about double the health tips and advice.Join me as a fly on the wall for this pre-recorded book club where I chat about my bestselling book Healthy as Fck* (aka Ditch the Diet in the U.S.) and answer reader questions.[You can catch all the visuals on my YouTube channel—but please don't judge. It's still rocking that circa-2015 vibe.]This book came out in 2019, and let's just say…2025 me has some updates. I'd ditch gender exclusivity (men wanna get healthy too, shocker!), call out the media's influence way more, and—hot topic alert—I'd definitely mention Ozempic.Readers brought the heat with their questions—like how to deal with the Girl Scout Cookie Dilemma, late-night binge eating, and the all-too-relatable Menstrual Fck-Its.Struggling with inertia? Clinical fatigue? Negative self-talk? No motivation to meal prep? (Etcetera, etcetera.) You'll hear me say this a lot:Make it smaller. Make it something. Push yourself in the right direction.At the heart of all this magic (cough, science) is the Effort-to-Results Ratio.Got a long way to go to your dream bod?Got 10 pounds left?Just wanna give the bare minimum and still feel good?All of that counts. The key is making peace with the body you have and the effort you're willing to give.It all boils down to simple positivity, small rewards, and making your goals more enjoyable. Music? Podcasts? Girly movies? Trash TV? A good book? Candle-lit bath?Whatever feels right is right—for you.That's the inner work that leads to the outer work.What's Inside:The real deal on cravings, cookies, and late-night eating.Why “effort-to-results” is the ratio to remember.Making peace with your body and your motivation level.What I'd change in the book today (hello, Ozempic + media influence).When I wrote this book, I meant every word—and I still do. But with time comes even more clarity, new conversations, and a few hot topics I had to touch on. Got a question I didn't cover? Let me know on Insta!Mentioned In This Episode:Episode 51: Building Muscle On A Plant Based Diet with Nimai DelgadoJoin the Masters of Fitness Awesomeness Oonagh Duncan (@oonaghduncan) on Instagram Fit Feels Good Goals, Grit and some Woo Woo Shit with Oonagh Duncan 

Mike, Dario, and Stephane go over the highs and lows of Sea Otter, then dive into some fresh reader questions.

I discuss the importance of discernment in recognizing false teachers, or "wolves," within the church, a discussion sparked from a reader's question. I explain that these deceptive individuals can exist in various roles, causing division and spreading false doctrines for personal gain. Discernment is essential for believers to maintain a pure walk with Jesus amidst such dangers.

In this episode, Scott Becker answers four reader questions, covering the impact of private equity on GI practices, the effects of health system consolidation on costs, how healthcare leaders can navigate a potential recession, and the role of physical therapy as a strategic service.

In this episode, Scott Becker answers four reader questions, covering the impact of private equity on GI practices, the effects of health system consolidation on costs, how healthcare leaders can navigate a potential recession, and the role of physical therapy as a strategic service.

In this episode, Scott Becker answers four reader questions, covering the impact of private equity on GI practices, the effects of health system consolidation on costs, how healthcare leaders can navigate a potential recession, and the role of physical therapy as a strategic service.

In this episode, Scott Becker answers reader questions on investment strategy amid tariffs, private equity exits and multiples, and the biggest players in private credit.

In this episode, Scott Becker answers reader questions on investment strategy amid tariffs, private equity exits and multiples, and the biggest players in private credit.

It's been an eventful year in Canadian politics — from Chrystia Freeland's bombshell resignation, to allegations of foreign interference involving Parliamentarians, to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's upcoming return to the White House. As 2024 draws to a close, the Star's Ottawa bureau takes your questions and looks back on the year that was and what we can expect in 2025.  In this episode: Ottawa bureau reporters Raisa Patel, Ryan Tumilty, and Mark Ramzy. Hosted by Althia Raj. Some of the clips this week were sourced from the House of Commons, CPAC, CP24, the Canadian Press, and CBC. This episode of “It's Political” was produced by Althia Raj and Kevin Sexton. Matt Hearn is our sound engineer. Our theme music is by Isaac Joel.

On this week's podcast, Matt answers reader questions about the best new products for 2025, how to gain swing speed, and much more. For This Week In Gear, Matt talks about the Titleist GT woods and the must-have Tour Aim Plus. Save 15% on Tour Aim with the code PLUGGEDIN15 HERE

On today's episode, Isaac and Ari discuss our recent team retreat in central Oregon, including some fun (very late) nights, beautiful views, and discussions on the growth and future of Tangle. They also talked about Kamala Harris' first interview, an insightful post by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and answer a bunch of reader questions. And as always, the Airing of Grievances.You can watch the entire Tangle Live event at City Winery NYC on our YouTube Channel!Check out Episode 6 of our podcast series, The Undecideds. Please give us a 5-star rating and leave a comment!You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Help share Tangle.I'm a firm believer that our politics would be a little bit better if everyone were reading balanced news that allows room for debate, disagreement, and multiple perspectives. If you can take 15 seconds to share Tangle with a few friends I'd really appreciate it. Email Tangle to a friend here, share Tangle on X/Twitter here, or share Tangle on Facebook here.Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Jon Lall. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Will Kaback, Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, and produced in conjunction with Tangle's social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode, I answer a reader's question about whether or not I will use KDP's new Virtual Voice program to create AI-narrated audiobooks. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of DRAGONSKULL: SHIELD OF THE KNIGHT (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills) at my Payhip store: SPRINGSHIELD The coupon code is valid through April 30th, 2024. So if you need a new audiobook for spring, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Update Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 196 of the Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is April the 12th, 2024 and today we are talking about whether or not I will use Amazon Virtual Voice to produce audiobooks. Before we get to our main topics, we will have Coupon of the Week, some writing updates, and then a few random questions from readers. First up, let's do Coupon of the Week. This episode will go live on Tax Day in the US, so let's have a discount on an audiobook. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Dragonskull: Shield of the Knight, as excellently narrated by Brad Wills, at my Payhip store. That code is SPRINGSHIELD and that is SPRINGSHIELD again and that of course will be available in the show notes. This coupon code is valid through April 30th, 2024, so you need a new audiobook for spring, we have got you covered. Now let's have some updates on my current writing projects. I am very nearly almost done with Wizard-Thief. I'm hoping to finish up edits shortly and actually publish it on either April the 15th or April the 16th. So when this episode goes out, I may be publishing it literally as you are listening to this. This book, like Half-Elven Thief, will be available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Next up, my next main project after Wizard-Thief is published, is going to be Cloak of Titans, the 11th book in the Cloak Mage series. It's not the end of the series; I'm planning that there's probably going to be about 15 books with four more after this one. But we are going to be blowing up a lot of the subplots in this book. So while this is not the end of the series, it will definitely have the feel like the end of a lot of plot arcs. I'm 22,000 words into it, and if all goes well, I'm hoping it will be out sometime toward the end of May and will be available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Apple Books, Smashwords, and Payhip. In audiobook news, recording is underway for Ghosts in the Veils and if all goes well, that should be out sometime toward the end of May. So those are the updates on my current writing projects. 00:02:09 Reader Questions and Comments/Question of the Week Before we get to the Question of the Week, let's have a couple of unrelated questions from readers. Cameron wrote in to ask: I'm just interested in knowing how the name Calliande came about and does it have any meaning? I originally thought up the name Calliande because I wanted a unique and distinctive sounding name for the character, and so I was looking at various French and Welsh names that started with C and were about that length. I was rearranging the letters and swapping the vowels out and I came across that name and I thought, you know, that works, we're going with that. Amusingly, when I first wrote Frostborn, in my head it was pronounced Callian-DAY. But then when I did the first couple of Frostborn audiobooks from Podium way back at the end of the 2010s, Steven Crossley, the narrator pronounced it Calli-AND and ever since then, because that's where the direction he went, the official pronunciation has been Calliande and that's been the way it's been pronounced in all subsequent audio appearances of that character. Our next question is from Scott, who asks about a screenshot of the PC game Pillars of Eternity I posted on Facebook the other day. Scott says: that's on my Steam Wish List, but I haven't gotten to it yet. What do you think of it? I like it. I am enjoying it. I've had it since 2014, but I've decided the time has finally come to buckle down and finish it. If you played the original Baldur's Gate back in the ‘90s or Knights of the Old Republic or Icewind Dale or Planescape: Torment back in the ‘90s, then you will enjoy Pillars of Eternity. It's definitely worth playing. It's also an old enough game now that should work on most systems, and if you have Xbox Game Pass, the game's owned by Microsoft now, so you have Xbox Game Pass so you can play it as part of your subscription on your Xbox. Now it's time for Question of the Week, which we ask to have interesting discussions and maybe find out some good suggestions for things we might not have thought of otherwise. And so this week's question: if you listen to podcasts, what podcasts do you listen to most frequently? No wrong answers, obviously. MacKenzie says I have four podcasts on consistent subscription: The Art of Manliness, The Black Pants Legion, A Delta Green actual play podcast (content warning for very dark humor), and of course The Pulp Writer Show. Thanks, MacKenzie. Maaike says: currently just one, Kick in the Creatives posted by Sarah Busby and Tara Roskell. Through them I discovered a few more, but I haven't really found the time to really listen to them just yet. I don't know whether I can write or not, but I do know I can draw and paint, so that's what I'm focusing on. Thinking of doing NaNoWriMo though to see how my writing is. It's definitely worth trying NaNoWriMo just for once for the experience so you can see how you enjoy it or not. Michael says only two regularly, The Pulp Writer Show (thanks, Michael!) and the Legend of the Bones, which is an epic, gritty D&D solo play narrative where the dice rule. Perry says The Pulp Writer Show (not sure if you've heard of it) and The Self-Publishing Show (currently on episode 33 of 400 plus). Anne Marie says Cabinet of Curiosities by Aaron Mahnke. Jesse says: mostly Critical Role. Justin says: I didn't start listening to podcasts until I went full time with my current job in 2021. I listen to a bunch now, but most of my regular listens are The Glass Cannon Network, What Culture Wrestling, What Culture Gaming, and Adeptus Ridiculous. It's interesting how I actually haven't heard of most of these podcasts, which I guess goes to show how diverse and widespread the podcast ecosystem is, where if you have a podcast that can be very famous in a specific niche, it might be like THE podcast in that niche, but anyone who's not familiar with that particular subject of interest may have never heard of the podcast. For myself, I did not really start listening to podcasts until 2019, which is when I started listening to some of the self-publishing ones. In the past few years. I have also discovered retro video game podcasts. In that time, I've mostly listened to The Sell More Books Show and the Remember The Game podcast about retro video games, which is quite funny (but it does have some foul language, so if you check that out, be aware of it). 00:06:40 Main Topic: Amazon Virtual Voice Audiobooks Now on to our main topic of the week: Amazon Virtual Voice audiobooks. This was prompted by a question from Reader PML, who wrote in to ask: several of my favorite authors have opted to use AI Virtual Voice to release some of their older titles in audio format. I emailed you a while back hoping for more audio releases for Caina and Nadia. You indicated that audio publishing is expensive and you preferred to release the titles that were not short in length. I totally understand, but I wondered if you have considered releasing your back titles using Virtual Voice. The performance is not bad and I would really enjoy listening to all the books featuring Caina and Nadia. I don't know what the pricing scale is, but it's probably quite a bit less than a live reader. So thank you, PML for that question and for listening to all those audiobooks. If you are not familiar with the term, Virtual Voice is Amazon's new program for creating AI narrated audiobooks. Will I be using Virtual Voice to turn some of my older titles to audiobooks? No. Why? So there's three levels to my answer here. One, is it ethical to use AI for audiobook narration? Two, is AI narration good enough for audiobook narration? Three, does this help visually impaired listeners? I should mention that I have in fact experimented quite a bit with AI narrated audiobooks. Part of the reason I did this was because I wanted to understand the technology so I had an informed opinion about it. Google Play beat Amazon to the punch about two years ago, and I experimented with turning the Silent Order series into audiobooks with their technology, since I don't think the Silent Order series sells well enough to support audiobooks. After that experiment, I didn't think the AI generated audiobooks were good enough to sell in good conscience and just because you're selling something doesn't mean anyone will buy it. More on that to come. So instead, I put those AI narrated audiobooks on YouTube for free. That said, I did turn on AdSense for the audiobooks, so I made a satisfactory, if small bit of money from YouTube ads in 2023. Overall, the response from people who listen to those audiobooks seemed to be that they loved the story (thanks, everyone!), but they hated the artificial voice. Like if they had actually paid for it instead of listening to it for free on YouTube, I could just imagine the complaints. I think a lot of the authors who create Virtual Voice audiobooks and audiobooks using similar products from Google Play or other companies will be disappointed by the response they get for those audiobooks. Like I've said before, audiobooks are basically self-publishing on hard mode. But if you're coming to the market with an AI generated audiobook, it will be even harder to sell than one voiced by a human who knows what he or she is doing. So with that sort of background in mind, let's go on to the details for the answer to my question. One: is it ethical to use AI for audiobook narration? Ethics in AI is a bottomless quagmire of an Internet discussion. Overall, in my personal opinion, I think AI technology creates vastly more problems than it solves and is really nothing more than a very fancy autocomplete. I also suspect there's a bit of a speculative bubble to AI technology like there was with cryptocurrency and NFTs. For a while, all the Galaxy Brain influencer people thought crypto and NFTs were the future, and then the bubble burst and a significant portion of everything connected to crypto and NFTs turned out to be a big old scam and all the Galaxy Brains migrated over to touting AI. I suspect a lot of the AI technology rushed out now has the same speculative bubble effect and when the bubble bursts, some companies are going to be out billions since they spent all that money building infinite crap generators. A lot of people are rushing to shove AI into stuff because it's trendy and not because it's useful, like how (this is a 100% true story), the Washington State Lottery decided for whatever reason to put an AI image generator on its site, which it had to pull down hastily when that image generator started creating deepfake nude images of its users. It is also amusing how some of the really pro-AI Galaxy Brains like to say that the US needs to develop AI or else the Chinese will get it first, as if having an infinite crap generator to make deepfake nudes will somehow determine geopolitical dominance in the 21st century. But all that said, I don't think AI is going to go away. The US courts seem (so far at least) consistent in their opinion that AI is in plagiarism but isn't copyrightable, and there's a wide range of useful activity in the not copyrightable but not plagiarism space. This might change if something gets all the way up to the Supreme Court or if Congress passes some legislation on that or the EU  puts out new regulations that the companies have to follow because the EU is such a big part of their market. But for now, that seems to be the position. AI can do useful things that crypto and NFTs can't. Like for example, suppose you're applying to 40 different jobs and you can use ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to crank out 40 different customized cover letters for your job applications. Given how messed up the job market is at the moment, I could hardly blame someone for doing that. And you see examples of people using generative AI not to create artwork, but to handle data processing type chores (like the cover letters) in clever ways that don't seem to cross any moral or ethical boundaries. So I suspect everyone will have to examine their own consciences and decide where their own line is for generative AI. For me, I decided I'm not going to sell anything that I didn't make myself, or in the case of an audiobook, was made by a human I hired. If I'm selling something, it was 100% written by Jonathan Moeller or 100% narrated by a human I hired, and the cover image doesn't include any AI generated art elements. This is also true of books and stories I give away for free, like my permafree series starters. That's where I've decided my line is going to be with AI usage. I have used AI images for Facebook ads, since ads are low resolution anyway and you often have to change out the image every week or so. Ad images are essentially disposable, and I've heard people say AI art is also disposable, so why not use the disposable products of AI art for ad images? Number two, is AI narration good enough for audiobook narration? All of my criticisms of AI aside, AI voice or Virtual Voice isn't a new technology. It's just improved text to speech synthesis technology and text to speech has been around since the late 1960s. The AI part just makes the synthetic voice sound closer to an actual human voice than the more obviously artificial tones of older technology. It's also pretty good at imitating the real human voice by now, which is why you can go on YouTube and see comedy videos of President Biden trying to make his way through Skyrim or something. Is this AI narration good enough to support creating a paid audiobook? Well, kind of, sorta. It's good enough now that it creates a near perfect imitation of a human voice. The trouble is that the voice is so perfect that it triggers the uncanny valley effect, which is when you encounter something that almost seems human but isn't. It's also really bad at emotion. The best narrators make it sound like they're telling a story, and that means varying the emotion of the voice at appropriate times, even if you're not trying to create a distinctive voice for each character. Text to speech simply isn't very good at that. That's part of the reason I won't use Virtual Voice. I don't feel the end product is of high enough quality to sell. Give it away for free on YouTube? Sure. But sell? Definitely not. It would be good enough for very dry nonfiction things like legal casebooks, geological and oil surveys, that kind of thing. A nonfiction book that required varied emotion like a war memoir, for instance or comedic travelogue would not work at all well with AI narration. And finally, number three: does this help visually impaired listeners? While I don't want to use AI nourish and create paid audiobooks, I would like to see the technology become more ubiquitous and more integrated with ereader apps and operating systems. I think the mission of technology is to help us overcome or ameliorate the inherent frailties of the human condition. That is the best and most ethical use of technology. So I would like to see AI narration eventually become just a button in the ereader app for visually impaired listeners. Like you hit the read aloud button and then the computer reads to you in a voice of your choosing. You'll still have the option to buy a human narrated audiobook if available, but the option to have the device read to you would be there if you want or need to use it. We're already kind of there, technology-wise. All the major operating systems for computer and mobile have read aloud functions. It's just not implemented consistently across the platform and the voices aren't always very good. I won't use Virtual Voice or AI narration to create any audiobooks for sale. Unless something drastically changes in the field, I don't think I'm going to change my mind on that, though of course anything is possible. In the spirit of full disclosure, as of right now (as of this recording on April 12th 2024), I have agreements with four different narrators to produce four different audiobooks, so I think I am literally putting my money where my mouth is. So that is it for this week. Thank you for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all back episodes on https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

This episode is the seventh in a fourth series that were spirit-inspired from writing sessions completed in Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Trevor visits this island with his partner several times every year and believes the energy is much deeper for this work.Trevor has been working as an evidential medium for over 20 years. His passion is with experimenting with listening to the voices of the people living in the spirit world. Several times every week, Trevor sits in the power of the spirit in a cabinet based in his home sanctuary. At the end of each session, he opens his digital notebook and writes whatever he receives from the spirit team through his mind. These short podcast episodes are examples of the original transcripts read by an artificial voice. Although the voice does not belong to the originator of the words, the experience of hearing the words coming to life is something unique.The written version of this podcast includes opening notes, a summary, and is only available with a current subscription payment plan. Each week, two new written episodes are released 24 hours before the podcast version and can be visited at https://theinspiredspirit.substack.comCREDITSPresentation produced by Trevor B. for Spirited TalkMusic:  Lights of Elysium by Aerohead - copyright free from Audio LibraryOriginal transcripts available online at https://theinspiredspirit.substack.comDonations To: https://paypal.me/spiritedtalkAI Voices from Speechelo & Natural ReadersSupport the show

Chris Tsakonas and Bobby Deren take questions from Scarlet Nation VIP members.

On the Mad in America podcast this week, we continue our reader Q&A with Mad in America founder Robert Whitaker. In Part 1, we discussed Mad in America, the biopsychosocial model and the history of psychiatry. For Part 2, we will be covering reader questions on pharmaceutical marketing and issues with psychiatric treatments including psychiatric drugs and electroconvulsive therapy. Thank you to all of you who took the time and trouble to send in your questions. *** Thank you for being with us to listen to the podcast and read our articles this year. MIA is funded entirely by reader donations. If you value MIA, please help us continue to survive and grow. To find the Mad in America podcast on your preferred podcast player, click here

On the Mad in America podcast this week we have Robert Whitaker with us to answer questions sent in by readers and listeners. Thank you to all of you who took the time and trouble to get in touch. You sent some great questions and on this and our next podcast, we will be talking with Bob about Mad in America, the biopsychosocial model, the history of psychiatry, pharmaceutical marketing, and issues with psychiatric treatments including psychiatric drugs and electroconvulsive therapy. *** Thank you for being with us to listen to the podcast and read our articles this year. MIA is funded entirely by reader donations. If you value MIA, please help us continue to survive and grow. To find the Mad in America podcast on your preferred podcast player, click here

On this week's episode of The Hockey News On The 'E' Podcast with Jacob Stoller and Justin Cohn: - The Kalamazoo Wings had to wear the Toledo Walleye's practice jerseys for a period. Yes, you read that right. Justin explains why and shares stories of similar instances happening. - Team of the Week: Kansas City Mavericks. The Mavericks are 12-3-0 to start the year. Cale Morris is leading the charge between the pipes, with a .918 save percentage through seven games. - Prospect of the Week: Cam Johnson, Florida Everblades. Coming off back-to-back Kelly Cup Championships, Johnson is splitting the crease with Evan Cormier this year. Johnson is signed to an AHL contract with the Charlotte Checkers. - Neck Guards: Justin discusses how the conversation surrounding neck protection has changed within the ECHL in the wake of Adam Johnson's death. - Reader Questions and Coast To Coast: Justin answers some more questions about ECHL scheduling and video review before sharing his usual news, notes and quotes, including all-star weekend plans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This weeks episode we answer Michalina's questions about the Strength Training for Cycling Performance programs: Should you repeat a Strength Training Program that you did last year? If so, is it better to focus on technique, or should you look to go heavier? Should you bike and then strength train, or strength train and then ride? How about Post Activation Potentiation (PAP) and Riding your bike after strength training- is there anything to that? Grab your favorite coffee and a notepad, we get into some of the big, juicy questions that many riders have about strength training for performance! Join the FREE Facebook Community HVTraining's Strength Training for Cyclists & Triathletes Coach Brodie's Book “Strength Training for Cycling Performance” Learn all bout Strength Training for Cycling Strength Training for Cyclists Certification Insiders List Get Started with the Stronger After 50 Programs --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/menachem-brodie/support

Chris Tsakonas and Bobby Deren answer Scarlet Nation reader questions.

Chris Tsakonas and Bobby Deren answer questions from Scarlet Nation VIP members. 

Chris Tsakonas and Bobby Deren answer reader questions.

Bobby Deren and Chris Tsakonas field questions from Scarlet Nation members.

In this week's episode, I recall reading THE SILMARILLION for the first time as a teenager, and discuss how it later influenced MAGIC THE GATHERING. TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Welcome and Writing Updates Hello everyone. Welcome to Episode 164 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is August the 13th, 2023 and today we're going to discuss The Silmarillion and how it connects to Magic the Gathering and we'll also answer some reader questions and have an update on my current writing projects. First up, let's have an update on my current writing projects. I'm pleased to report that Dragonskull: Crown of the Gods, the final book in the Dragonskull series is now out. You can get it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Apple Books, Smashwords, Scribd, and Payhip on my own store. It came out officially yesterday actually, and it's been selling very well very briskly. So, thank you all for that. It is also the 9th and final book in the Dragonskull series, so those of you who refuse to read the series until it's complete, you can now buy all nine Dragonskull books immediately and enjoy them. I also released a bonus short story called The Final Shield that is a preview of the next Epic Fantasy series I will write in Andomhaim in the year 2024. So if you want a preview of that series, you can check out The Final Shield. My newsletter subscribers will have gotten that story for free and I'll be doing a follow up e-mail in a week or so. So, if you sign up for the newsletter right now, you will get a free ebook copy of The Final Shield next week. Now that Dragonskull is finished as part of my Summer of Finishing Things, the next thing I will write will be Silent Order: Pulse Hand, the 14th and final book in the Silent Order science fiction series. I'm going to start that tomorrow as a matter of fact and hopefully have it out towards the end of September. 00:01:49 Reader Questions and Comments So, let's have some questions and comments from readers. Our first question is from James, who asks: I do have a question. I understand it's very expensive to create an Audible book. Are there any plans to make an Audible version for the last set of the Ghost Night Book series? At the moment, no. The Ghosts is completely in audiobook. Ghost Exile is completely in audiobook, and when I start writing a new Caina series after Silent Order: Pulse Hand, I'm going to start doing that one in audiobook right away. But at the moment, I don't have any plans to do a Ghost Night audiobook series. Things may change later, but for now I don't. Our next question is from Andy, who asks: For Dragonskull: Doom of the Sorceress, you seem to do a soft open, e.g. publish the table of contents on Wednesday and then late Friday I was able to download the book on iBooks. I'm hoping the same for The Crown of the Gods. Well, this is what I do when I publish a book: The first day I will publish it everywhere on all the platforms: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Apple Books, Smashwords, Payhip, and then through Smashwords, should get on Scribd eventually, and then I leave alone the rest of that day. So the day after then I will start an Amazon auto target ad to start getting word out. The day after that I will post links. So the second day after I publish I will post links for the book on Facebook and other social media and then the day after that, ideally the third day after publishing, is when I will send out the newsletter letting everyone know that it's been read, so that way, usually by then, by the third day, it's finished processing on all the platforms and I can then send out a newsletter out letting every reader I have on every platform know that it's available on their platform of choice. So that's usually what I do. For the table of contents, I post that when I get to a certain phase of editing, and at that point I'm almost done with the book. So once I have posted the table of contents, it's not too much longer until the book will be done and I will be ready to publish. Our next question is from William, who asks similar questions: I've been listening to some of your works through Audible. I started listening to Frostborn: The Gray Knight. It seems like I'm missing some of the story. Your website says Frostborn: The First Quest is the first book, but I can't seem to find it on Audible. Is it in a bundle that I'm not aware of, similar to The Ghosts: Omnibus One? What books or series should I read before that one, Frostborn or is Frostborn its own universe? Thanks for listening, William. I'm glad you enjoyed the books. To answer your questions, Frostborn is its own universe, completely distinct from The Ghosts. Frostborn: The First Quest is a prequel novel I wrote before the main series of Frostborn, and we've never done that one in audio because it is not part of the main story and you don't actually need to read Frostborn: The First Quest to understand what's going on in the main story. So that's sort of a bonus material that's out there. Potentially someday, we might do Frostborn: The First Quest in audio, but I don't have any plans to do that right now. And I should mention that the complete Frostborn series is in audio as is the two sequel series, Sevenfold Sword and Dragontiarna. They're all available in audio and you can get them all on Audible. Our next question is from Paloma, who asks about the Dragonskull and Frostborn series. A question: the Magistri get married and have families, but I don't remember any Magistri in the books having any spouses with them. I hope that is not the men…and the men and women in the situation are like monks. So I hope Joaquin has someone amazing in his future. That is an interesting question, but in the setting of Andomhaim, the Magistri can in fact get married. If you've read the Frostborn series, you might remember at the end the Magistrius Camorak does get married to a widow at the end of Frostborn: The Shadow Prison. So it is perfectly normal for the Magistri in Andomhaim to get married. That said, they tend to get married at a much lower level than the rest of the population in Andomhaim. This is partly because a lot of the commoners and many of the nobles in Andomhaim have a deep suspicion of magic and only tolerate the Magistri because they're useful or sometimes not at all. Sometimes the Magistri themselves also get very either wrapped up in their studies to the point where they don't have time for spouse and children, or they become so in love with their own power and prestige and authority that they, you know, don't have any interest in pursuing relationships. Because the nobles are more common…or more comfortable with the Magistri than the commoners, it's not entirely uncommon for a Lord to have an affair if he happens to have a female Magistria assigned to his court. And this doesn't happen like terribly often, but often enough that it's the subject of several popular songs that the nobles and the Magistri aren't too fond of Andomhaim. So that is the bit of world building there, that the Magistri can get married and do, but not as often as the rest of the population in Andomhaim for the reasons we just mentioned. And finally, we have a comment from Bill about last week's episode about dealing with bad reviews. And Bill had this to say: Love this episode and you are 100% correct. Don't respond. Do not engage. Some people are just spoiling for an argument. Sometimes I've wrote a review and thought, you know, for your point, and sometimes I felt, well that guy totally missed the point. But most of all, don't let negative reviews get under your skin. What you write is not going to appeal to everyone. We live in this amazing paradox. There are more books than ever, and readers have access to all the books ever via online services. So why waste your time reading something you don't like and then taking the time and effort to complain about it? Sounds like some people need a hobby. Not every author's works are going to appeal to every single reader. That's OK. There is tons of other great stuff out there. The important thing is that your work will appeal to some readers, and those are folks you should cherish. That's what matters and pays the bills. So wise words from Bill there and a good reminder that it's never a good idea to engage with negative reviews online. 00:07:54 The Silmarillion and Magic The Gathering: Arena So now it's time to transition to our main topic, The Silmarillion and Magic the Gathering, and we're going to talk about how The Silmarillion and Magic The Gathering: Arena, the free app are related. If I remember correctly, I first read The Silmarillion when I was either 17 or 18. I got it at the small town bookshop in the small town where I grew up. The book shop alas, no longer exists and the storefront is now occupied by a place selling kitchen fixtures. I still have the specific copy of The Silmarillion that I bought. It was the gold mass market paperback that showed the fall of Númenor on the cover, and the cover blurb said it was the history of the Elves of Middle Earth. Since I had read the Lord of the Rings when I was 16, I was definitely interested in trying The Silmarillion. Reading the Lord of The Rings gives us a sense of the vast history behind the story, a history that had been going on long, long before Bilbo ever met Thorin Oakenshield and found the ring in the goblin tunnels beneath the Misty Mountain. At the end of Rings, there are bits and pieces of that history in the various appendixes, but it had never been fully explained. So, I thought The Silmarillion might be an intriguing read, and at 17 or possibly 18, I was already very interested in fantasy worldbuilding, which as we know, would serve me well in later…later in life. Now it must be said, The Silmarillion is kind of a difficult read. Like, it starts off with the creation myth and then has a long section where the Valar ordered the world and then explains who each of the Valar are in great detail and the elves don't even show up for a while. In terms of the text, it feels like a combination of reading an ancient chronicle like Xenophon or Tacitus combined with the Epic of Gilgamesh and the historical books of the Bible, specifically the ones where every chapter starts with King Whoever did evil in the eyes of the Lord, more than all his predecessors combined. So in terms of reading, The Silmarillion is a heavy lift. But what did I think the first time I read it? In all honesty, The Silmarillion blew my underdeveloped adolescent mind. It was one of the first fictional things I read that was truly epic in scope, like some parts of it, I just didn't get, but I had just enough historical knowledge at the time to grasp from the inspirations. Like, the Valar were kind of like the Greek and Roman gods without the jerkish behavior, Melkor/Morgoth was an analog for the devil, Numenor was inspired by Atlantis, and so forth. As you get older, some, in fact, many of the memories of adolescence tend to get hazier, but I can still clearly remember reading portions of The Silmarillion in that gold mass market paperback for the first time, the music of the Ainur, Fëanorand the Silmarils, Melkor and Ungoliant, the Battle of Tears Unnumbered, Fingolfin's duel with Morgoth before the gates of Angband, Beren and Lúthien Tinúviel, Turin and the Dragon Glaurung, The fall of Gondolin, The voyage of Eärendil, and finally the War of Wrath when Eärendil casts the Great Dragon Ancalagon The Black from the sky into the towers of Thangorodrim and Morgoth is finally overthrown. And then at the end, Maglor, in his despair and grief after so much suffering, casts the final Simaril into the sea, and forever wanders Middle-earth, singing of his regret. All these amazing, epic, and tragic scenes are cached in the imagination. I mean, I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but I do remember reading The Silmarillion for the first time. About that time I started digging around in my school's library and I found some of the various history of Middle Earth books that Christopher Tolkien had published from his father's copious notes. Among them was The Lays of Beleriand, which included an epic poem Tolkien wrote about the quest of Beren and Luthien, but never got around to finishing. The poor guy enjoyed puttering so much that is probably astonishing that he finished the Lord of the Rings at all. I don't generally enjoy poetry, but since I already knew the story of Beren and Lúthien, and I was able to follow along with the poem and the sheer craft and skill that blew my mind. Like, I never have had any interest at all in writing poetry, but this was amazing. The Silmarillion, like the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, is one of those books that will endure the test of time and become part of sort of the cultural canon like Sherlock Holmes, Romeo and Juliet, Ebenezer Scrooge, and so forth. Let's jump forward many years to 2023, when I started playing Magic The Gathering: Arena. The game received a Lord of the Rings themed expansion pack, which I started playing in June, once it made its way onto the app. It's a point of pride with me that I've never spent any actual U.S. dollars on the game, but I've won enough matches that the in game gold starts to accumulate and the only thing to spend the in game gold on is in game card packs. So I've gotten more and more and more of the Rings themed Magic cards. One of those cards is the Tale of Tinuviel, which is an enchantment card that distributes its effects over three turns. On the first turn, you pick a creature to be invulnerable for the next three turns. On the second, you can pick two creatures to have life link to the end of the turn. And on the third, you can bring back one of your previously killed creatures. It's a powerful card, which is fitting, since in The Silmarillion, Lúthien forces Sauron to flee and puts Morgoth and his entire court to sleep long enough for her and Beren to escape from Angband within the Silmarils. Anyway, the very first time I played the Tale of Tinuviel card, I was losing the match pretty badly, but I played the card and turned things around just long enough for me to win three turns later. It was an interesting experience, since it brought back the memories of reading The Silmarillion and the Lays of Beleriand from the first time, all those years ago in a previous century. And amusingly, I played a match right before I recorded this podcast and I won because I used the Tale of Tinuviel yet again. So that's it for this week. Thanks for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe, stay healthy, and see you all next week.

In this week's episode, we offer some tips and tricks for writers dealing with bad reviews. We also look at how Facebook and Amazon ads performed in July 2023. TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Progress Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 163 of the Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is August 4th, 2023, and today we're going to discuss how to handle bad reviews. Before we get into that, let's have some updates on my current writing projects. I am making good progress on editing Dragonskull: Crown of the Gods, and if absolutely everything goes well, hopefully the book should be out by the time episode 164 of this podcast comes out, so I'm hoping we'll be finished sometime in the coming week after August 4th. I have also written a bonus short story that I will give away for free in ebook form to newsletter subscribers when the book comes out. It is called The Final Shield and that will set up some of the stuff that I have in my next epic fantasy series because while this is the last Dragonskull, it will not be the last book…epic fantasy series I write in the realm of Andomhaim. I think there are many more stories to be told there, so The Final Shield will set up some of the conflicts that will take place in the new series, so look forward to reading that when that comes out. We are about halfway through listening to…proof-listening to Dragon Skull: Curse of the Orcs, so hopefully that will be coming out in audiobook in a few weeks, if all goes well. And then once Dragon Skull: Crown of the Gods is done, it'll be time to write the final Silent Order book, Silent Order: Pulse Hand and I'm hoping to have that out sometime in September if everything goes well. 00:01:35 Ad Results for July 2023 Before we get into our main topics and some reader questions, let's see how my ads did for July 2023. First up, let's look at the Facebook ads. As usual, this is what I got back for every dollar I spent on the ads. For Frostborn, including the audiobooks, with every dollar I spent on ads, they got back $7.82. For Ghosts, including the audiobooks, with everything I spent…with every dollar I spent, I got back…$4.17. For Cloak Games and Cloak Mage, for every dollar I spent I got back $4.57, which doesn't include the audiobooks. And for Silent Order, for every dollar I spent, I got back $4.88. And since there are no audiobooks for Silent Order, that obviously does not include audiobooks. Unfortunately, Cloak Games and Cloak Mage never really sells enough audiobooks to really move the needle. But other than that, everything was going well in Facebook ads this month. This is also the only reliable way I have found to promote audiobooks: advertise the ebooks, and if you sell enough ebook copies, eventually the needle will move on some audiobooks. For Amazon ads, the only thing I'm advertising right now is Dragon Skull: Sword of the Squire. Remember, that for an Amazon ad to work, it needs to generate a sale for every 6-8 clicks on the ad. For Dragonskull, for every dollar I spent, I got $4.00 back and I had a sale for every 0.74 clicks. So that was performing well. Now, if you've been listening to the show, you might remember that in past months, the Dragonskull Amazon ads made more, but the reason it generated less per dollar spent was because the book was on sale for $0.99 for Bookbub, so Sword of the Squire made less, but overall the Dragonskull series as a series made more money, so it was a pretty good month for advertising. 00:03:20 Reader Questions and Comments Before we get to our main topic, we have a couple of questions from readers this week. Our first question is from Ken, who says: I'm listening to Dragonskull Book #3 on Chirp. Will the rest of the series be available soon on this platform to listen to? As I mentioned earlier in the show, #4 is about halfway done and should be out in next few weeks and after that, we do we do plan to continue putting out more Dragonskull books as long as the budget and everyone's health holds up. So hopefully sometime next year we should have all nine up on the Chirp store for you to listen to. Our next question comes from Doug who says: Is there character art available (other than book covers), like concept art? Also for the races, monsters, landmarks, castras, and so on? Unfortunately not. I do quite a bit of Photoshops for both book covers and for Facebook ads, but I've never really commissioned any official art. The book covers and Facebook ads are meant to evoke the feel of epic fantasy, so that when the reader looks at the book cover or the ad, they know immediately, that it's for epic fantasy. So I've never really commissioned independent art to use for the book. But thanks for reading. 00:04:31 Introduction to Today's Topic: Handling Bad Reviews Now on to our other main topic of the week, which I'm afraid is a topic that comes up pretty often in the writing online community space. It's how to deal with bad reviews. It's time for that doleful yearly tradition, or though, honestly, that tends to happen every few months: New author freaks out about a bad review and then the Internet falls on his/her head. The latest freak out, the one that inspired this episode, involves BookTok, a subset of the TikTok video social media app which, in my opinion, just combined the least desirable features of YouTube and Twitter and somehow make them worse. Anyway, to sum up, a BookTok person gave a new author a mostly favorable review, but complained that the ending was predictable. The author took this personally and shot back, which resulted in the traditional Internet rage pile up and the author's book contract cancelled. Granted, at least this time the author didn't drive to the critic's house and attack the critic with a wine bottle. That actually happened once. Or otherwise show up in critic's house or workplace. If you are a writer, there is one rule and one rule only you must follow with bad reviews: Never ever, ever respond to reviews. In other words, you just got to suck it up and move on. I know what I'm talking about, I'm afraid. I have been doing this for about 12 1/2 years now and I've gotten every kind of bad review under the sun. Here are just a few of the negative opinions that people have either 1: written in bad reviews or 2: taken upon themselves to e-mail to me personally or send via Facebook Messenger: The book is badly written. The book is an insult to the English language. I hate the main character. The main character had no flaws. The main character had too many flaws to be believable. The main character was too self-loathing. The main character really should have been more self-loathing. My wife is an English teacher and she was laughing at how bad this book was. This book was Christian propaganda. This book was anti-Christian propaganda. There was too much profanity, there was not enough profanity. The book was too long. The book was too short. Things that happened in previous books were referenced in this one. Somehow the author insidiously wrote this book to deliberately insult me on a personal level. I am annoyed that the main character was not near to his children. I am recently divorced and I hate this book because the main character reminds me of my ex who was the literal embodiment of the devil and the ultimate source of all evil in the cosmos. The main character's romantic choices were wrong. I emailed the author detailed criticisms with this book and he never responded. Clearly, he hates his readers. Too much violence, not enough violence and of course, others related to that vein. There is also for a while a guy writing like 3,000 word reviews on his blog about how much he hated my books. He stopped eventually and I hope he found a girlfriend. So for all the stuff listed above, I only very rarely responded, and only when it was something simple and factually inaccurate that I could easily and quickly point out, like someone complaining that the book wasn't available on Google Play when it really was, that kind of thing. Overall though, I avoid responding on the Internet to anything even remotely negative. And to be fair, after 12 years of publishing, I don't feel the need to respond. I don't feel much of anything at bad reviews other than a moment of vague annoyance, like when you see someone driving inattentively. Like when you're a new writer, bad reviews really do sting. But I haven't been a new writer for a long, long time now. Silent Order: Thunder Hand was book #142 and after 142 books, I can't even remember what I actually wrote half the time, let alone the opinions people might have had about it. By the time I get to book four or five in a series, I have to spend a lot of time searching the previous books with Control+F to remember important details. I am always grateful when someone enjoys the book and indifferent when someone does not. But for the new writers who haven't yet written so much they can't remember everything they've written, here are some tips and tricks to help you deal with bad reviews.   00:08:21 Tip 0: Pen Name If you're just starting out, maybe you should write under a pen name. Like if you haven't published anything yet, then you're just starting out, that might be something to consider. I didn't obviously, but I'm told for people who do, it's useful element of psychological compartmentalization (that's hard to say!), but anyway, all the bad reviews are for pen name, not you and that way you can shrug them off more easily. Now to the rest of the tips.   00:08:50 Tip #1: You aren't Obliged to Have an Opinion Number one: you aren't obliged to have an opinion about a bad review. Social media creates the illusion that you have to have an opinion about everything. This is especially true on Twitter, where everyone has a hot take about the latest events of the day, like there's a news event of some kind whether serious like the war in Ukraine, or trivial, like a celebrity says something dumb, and many social media users feel the need to express an opinion about it. For what is most of that, if not indulging in the vice of gossip? It's talking about people you've never met and with whom you have no relationship. That learned reflex from social media, I think, transfers to some writers who have meltdowns over reviews. Someone posted a bad review of my book. I need to share my opinion about that bad review on social media. But you don't. In fact, I think training yourself not to share every opinion you have on social media is a skill many people would find beneficial. Just because someone didn't like your book doesn't mean you're obligated to respond to a bad review. Indeed, you aren't even required to have an opinion about their opinion. To quote the Book of Proverbs, even a fool, when he holdeth his peace is counted wise and he that shattered his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.   00:10:03 Tip #2: Don't Respond to Negative Emails Tip #2: Don't respond to negative emails. Generally, I try to respond to all reader emails unless it's negative and I don't want to engage. Sometimes you get emails or Facebook messages from someone and you can tell they're just spoiling for a fight, especially if you get an angry e-mail complaining about the book on Monday, don't respond, and they get an even angrier e-mail on Wednesday complaining that you still haven't responded. Arguing with people over the Internet is almost nearly always an enormous waste of time. If it's a concrete problem that's within my power to fix, like corrupted file, reader can't find the book and so forth, then I'll respond. Otherwise, it's just not worth the energy and getting into an argument over the Internet is always more of a time and energy sink than you might anticipate.   00:10:51 Tip #3: Don't Engage in Reader-Oriented Spaces Tip #3: Don't engage in reader-oriented spaces. Generally, I think it's best for writers to stay out of reader- oriented spaces, especially if the writer's work is being reviewed or otherwise discussed in that space. Now, what do I mean by reader-oriented spaces? I mean a place like Goodreads, a site that's devoted to book reviews, or a YouTube book reviewer's comments section, or the feed of a BookTok video creator. Those areas of the Internet are devoted to readers discussing books, and it's never a good idea for an author to inject themselves into the conversation there. It's especially a bad idea if the writer's book is the one actually being discussed, because that sort of discussion can spiral out of control very quickly. So if you're a writer, it's best to avoid Goodreads and Booktube and BookTok. If you really must engage there, it's probably wisest to create an account under a different name and never ever mention your books. 00:11:43 Tip #4: Read the Other Reviews Tip #4: read the other reviews. If a bad review really gets under your skin, it might be worthwhile to read the other reviews the person in question has posted. This is easy on Amazon or Goodreads. You just click on the viewer's name and you'll see their profile page along with all of the other stuff they've reviewed. Often you'll discover that the reviewer just hates everything. Or you'll see that the reviewer dislikes something you strongly like or likes something you don't, which gives you an easy way to discard their opinion. On a more serious note, you'll sometimes see that the reviewer is in chronic pain, and bad reviews are a way of lashing out. A while back, a study found that many of the high volume Internet reviewers are homebound and frequently dealing with high levels of chronic pain. Like if you click on their reviewers profile on Amazon and see that they're also reviewing adult diapers, compression socks, orthopedic shoes, and back braces (sometimes with excruciating detail), they've probably got a lot of other problems to deal with,  which shows once again that it's best not to engage with bad reviews because you never can tell what someone else might be going through. 00:12:43 Tip # 5: Delete and Block as Necessary Tip #5 delete or block as necessary. Bad reviews are one thing. But if someone makes a nuisance of themselves on your social media pages or keeps emailing you, go ahead and block them. I haven't done that done…this all that often, but I have done it. It's not something I'll do right away. Sometimes online writing lacks nuance and you can completely misinterpret what someone was saying, or there are technical difficulties. Once I have a Facebook comment along the lines of, I hope your head gets chopped off. 5 minutes later, the second-half of the comment came through: because it makes up for what you did to that character lol lol, great book. Looking forward to the sequel. So that can sometimes happen. But if someone is consistently unpleasant, I'll just block them. Accepting that bad reviews exist is a necessary state of mind for a writer. Tolerating bad comments on your own social media and website is not. The block button is there for a reason.   00:13:32 #6: Plod Onward Number six: plod onward. The best writing advice is to keep writing. If you do that long enough, eventually you will build a much thicker skin to criticism. You will learn not to take any bad reviews personally and move onward. There are few substitutes in life for sheer plodding persistence. Hopefully, if you are a new writer, these tips will help you learn to handle bad reviews without a public Internet meltdown. So that's it for this week. Thanks for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave your review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

I had a positive talk with an agent regarding my approach to the Frankfurter Buchmesse. We also discussed what I should write next. It's a lot to consider but I love having options. Last week I registered for the ADCC Open, a jiu jitsu tournament in Scottsdale. This week I'm dropping out along with the rest of the team. I'm feeling good but 2 or 3 of my teammates are injured and can no longer compete. I'm sure another opportunity will come soon enough. Ain't No Messiah is free on Kindle Unlimited July 27-31. Here's a link. I read a few 2-star and 5-star reviews to give you a fair look at the reader response. I answer reader questions from Emily, Don, and Alvin. (15:00) I narrate a death scene from Try Not to Die: At Ghostland. (19:00) Liv Tullius narrates Chapter 4 of Try Not to Die: At Ghostland.

Adam Spinella joins the show and we break down a few NBA-related topics. First, we chat about Damian Lillard again. We do an exercise here: essentially, the idea is this: if not Miami, then who? If we suspend disbelief for a second and say that Miami can't get Lillard, who should go all-in and try to get him given the treasure trove of assets it would require? Then, we answer your listener questions! Come join and ask us questions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trevor has been working as an evidential medium for over 20 years. His passion is with experimenting with listening to the voices of the people living in the spirit world. Several times every week, Trevor sits in the power of the spirit in a cabinet based in his home sanctuary. At the end of each session, he opens his digital notebook and writes whatever he receives from the spirit team through his mind. These short podcast episodes are examples of the original transcripts read by an artificial voice. Although the voice does not belong to the originator of the words, the experience of hearing the words coming to life is something unique.The podcast is only available with a current subscription payment plan. Each week, two new episodes are released in alignment with the written presentation that can be found at https://theinspiredspirit.substack.comCREDITSPresentation produced by Trevor B. for Spirited TalkMusic:  Lights of Elysium by Aerohead - copyright free from Audio LibraryOriginal transcripts available online at https://theinspiredspirit.substack.comDonations To: https://paypal.me/spiritedtalkAI Voices from Speechelo & Natural ReadersSupport the show

In this week's episode, The Pulp Writer Show returns and answers a lot of reader questions about Frostborn, The Ghosts, and writing in general! A preview of the audiobook of DRAGONSKULL: BLADE OF THE ELVES (as narrated by Brad Wills) is included at the end of the episode.

This week on the podcast, Blake, Kat, and Zach Kazan are on the mic to talk about some recent releases that have caught our attention, including a new world timer from Omega in green (and titanium), a Seiko 5 Sports limited edition for Snoopy fans, and a Hublot for coffee lovers. We're also taking some questions from readers submitted through Worn & Wound+, our new (and completely free) Slack community. This week, the hard hitting topics we're tackling include whether to tuck or untuck a NATO strap, our thoughts on watch modding, and some of the unique industry experiences we've been lucky to have.To stay on top of all new episodes, you can subscribe to The Worn & Wound Podcast — now available on all major platforms including iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Spotify, and more. You can also find our RSS feed here.And if you like what you hear, then don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes.If there's a question you want us to answer you can hit us up at info@wornandwound.com, and we'll put your question in the queue.Show Notes[VIDEO] On Wrist Reaction: The Seiko 5 Sports SSK005 GMT Is A Wild TimeZach's wrist check: IWC Pilot Chronograph 41 CerataniumKat's wrist check: Lorier GeminiBlake's wrist check: Christopher Ward The TwelveOmega Introduces New References in their Seamaster Aqua Terra Worldtimer Collection, Including One in TitaniumOut Of Office: Cruising the California Coast With The Grand Seiko SBGE285Seiko 5 Sports Adds a Pair of Limited Editions Peanuts Themed Watches to the Collection to Celebrate their AnniversaryA Different Kind of Coffee Watch: Hublot and Nespresso Team Up for a Big Bang Unico that is All About Recycled MaterialsWorn & Wound+Opinion: When WatchRecon Alerts Tell the Story of Your Life

In a first for the Best Podcast in Baseball, digital baseball producer Carter Chapley joins the show to introduce a new format. Chapley takes reader questions from the STLToday.com Monday live chats and asks lead baseball writer Derrick Goold. This week, the questions highlight the Cardinals' need to sign a pitcher, the Cardinals way and the future of business in baseball. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of StlToday.com, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Derrick Goold.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode with Alessandro Chesser we talk: - his journey in tech - the need for trusts - why living trusts can be so valuable - his company and how they are helping with this problem Then some reader submitted questions: - Should I buy a house now or wait? - Should I invest my emergency fund?

In this BDSM podcast episode, Chief and Moineau help two readers who submitted questions about transitioning from a Master/slave dynamic to more of a Daddy Dom/Little dynamic, and what to do if you're kinky but your partner isn't.--------------For Doms: Sensational Scenes: How to Heighten Arousal, Induce Subspace, and Have Mind-Blowing Sexual Experiences in Dom sub Relationships. Pick up a copy of my ebook today (https://kinkyevents.co.uk/book). For subs: Learn The Art of Submission. Become a confident submissive and make your kinky fantasies a reality with our online video course for subs (https://kinkyevents.co.uk/aos). For all: Rope bondage. Learn rope bondage for D/s couples with our online video course Sinful Shibari (https://kinkyevents.co.uk/sinful-shibari). The Kinky Events online community. Connect with like-minded Doms and subs in a safe, anonymous, consensual space to discuss D/s (not a dating site) (https://kinkyevents.co.uk/dom-sub-community/). Freebies: Free ebook, sex menu template, and email content ...

This week we continue to answer reader questions! We answer questions around NFL vs. College Football, March Madness for Football, and who of the mighty (Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama) may fall and who would replace them. Enjoy! See the YouTube version here - https://youtu.be/EsBb9HoLlUs Join us on Social Media - @InTheFlatPod, @TonyKihl, @jschultz81, @jess_sabin Check out our website - https://www.intheflatpodcast.com Get 10% off your first month of BetterHelp by using our link - BetterHelp.com/InTheFlat

On this episode, Alex Bozich is joined by Tony Adragna to answer questions from the Inside the Hall community and preview Indiana's Saturday matchup against Illinois at Assembly Hall.

In this episode we talk with Erin O'Malley, Director of Marketing – SYLVANIA. The we pedal off in a different direction with an electric bicycle from Fiido and answer some reader question and give away a AAA Membership to a lucky and smart listener. 

In this episode we talk with Erin O'Malley, Director of Marketing – SYLVANIA. The we pedal off in a different direction with an electric bicycle from Fiido and answer some reader question and give away a AAA Membership to a lucky and smart listener.

In this podcast, Damon Day (DamonDay.com) and I talk about the problems people face with American Express cards closed without notice or because of a problematic customer service interaction. We also discuss the problems faced by people suffering from financial problems and answer reader questions. This is a new format, as a video podcast. Enjoy. Steve - You Get Out of Debt Guy https://getoutofdebt.org --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/get-out-of-debt-guy/message

MassLive's Chris Cotillo answers a variety of questions from fans on Twitter, asked by producer Joey Aliberti. Questions include potential trade/free agent acquisitions, Devers and Bogaerts' future, best ballparks and media dining throughout the league and much more. Music: Airside by Hiro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People wonder, what are the causes of narcissism? Is their behavior intentional? Can I trust my gut reaction or am I overreacting? Today I answer the first of many reader questions I received about narcissism and psychopathy, based on the research.

Recap on the Rammstein concert. Plenty of cool fire and awesome music but I need to be closer to the stage in order to appreciate it. The lineup of authors for the anthology Dethfest Confessions has nearly been filled and I couldn't be happier. I'm continuing with 3-4 meetings a week with coauthors for the TNTD series and I'm excited to have just received the Wild West back from Palisano. This book is nearly done and will be book 5. I'm challenging myself to post 3-4 times on TikTok every day for the next 30 days. I'm actually enjoying it and can't wait to see what kind of difference in makes on my readership. Part of this will be answering reader questions on here. Here are todays' questions: Don Young asked: 1. If you are trying to escape a homicidal madman which member of your family would you sacrifice to save the rest? 2. What do you have with in 5 feet of yourself at this moment you could use to fight off a home intruder? 3. Most traumatic way to die? a) chipper shredder while alive b) drowning c) burning alive. Emily Haynes asked:  4. Did you write a book with your daughter? (16:20) The short story "Safety First" narrated by Tee Quillin and taken from the Somber Stroll audiobook.

This episode features thoughts on Kanye West, and detailed answers to two terrific reader/listener questions.    A few links:  Original Kanye article: https://bestinterest.blog/kanye-broker-than-me/ ChroniFi podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/acting-in-your-own-best-interest-interview-with-jesse/id1597816029?i=1000579101148 BiggerPockets podcast:  https://podcasts.apple.com/tr/podcast/the-almost-guaranteed-way-to-31x-your-investments/id1330225136?i=1000579159475    

Sean and Joey answer all your reader questions... Now why is that? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On today's EXTRA episode, Christina Darnell and Warren Smith will be doing a question-and-answer episode.  Regular listeners to the program might remember that back in February we did our first Q&A session, and at that time I said we'd be doing them every month or so.  But what's that old saying about the best laid plans of mice and men? We haven't done a Q&A session since March, so we've got some catching up to do, including updates on new MinistryWatch features. If you have a story you'd like us to cover, or a ministry that you think needs a closer look, please email us.  Our email is info@155.138.219.249.  That will come directly to my desk, and we'll take it from there. Also, a reminder that you can help the program by leaving us a rating on your podcast app.  The  more ratings we get, the easier it is for others to find us.  It's a quick, easy, and free way you can support MinistryWatch.  The producers for today's program are Rich Roszel and Jeff McIntosh.  We get database and other technical support from Cathy Goddard, Stephen DuBarry, Emily Kern, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Until next time, may God bless you.

On today's EXTRA episode, Christina Darnell and Warren Smith will be doing a question-and-answer episode.  Regular listeners to the program might remember that back in February we did our first Q&A session, and at that time I said we'd be doing them every month or so.  But what's that old saying about the best laid plans of mice and men? We haven't done a Q&A session since March, so we've got some catching up to do, including updates on new MinistryWatch features. If you have a story you'd like us to cover, or a ministry that you think needs a closer look, please email us.  Our email is info@ministrywatch.com.  That will come directly to my desk, and we'll take it from there. Also, a reminder that you can help the program by leaving us a rating on your podcast app.  The  more ratings we get, the easier it is for others to find us.  It's a quick, easy, and free way you can support MinistryWatch.  The producers for today's program are Rich Roszel and Jeff McIntosh.  We get database and other technical support from Cathy Goddard, Stephen DuBarry, Emily Kern, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Until next time, may God bless you.

Inspired by a listener question, this week on LBR we're exploring how to be a safe place to have spiritual conversations, or, conversations where we bring our souls and whole selves into them to connect with people on a deeper level.

Dashboards are at the forefront of today's episode, and so I will be responding to some reader questions who wrote in to one of my weekly mailing list missives about this topic. I've not talked much about dashboards despite their frequent appearance in data product UIs, and in this episode, I'll explain why. Here are some of the key points and the original questions asked in this episode: My introduction to dashboards (00:00) Some overall thoughts on dashboards (02:50) What the risk is to the user if the insights are wrong or misinterpreted (4:56) Your data outputs create an experience, whether intentional or not (07:13) John asks: How do we figure out exactly what the jobs are that the dashboard user is trying to do? Are they building next year's budget or looking for broken widgets?  What does this user value today? Is a low resource utilization percentage something to be celebrated or avoided for this dashboard user today?  (13:05) Value is not intrinsically in the dashboard (18:47) Mareike asks: How do we provide Information in a way that people are able to act upon the presented Information?  How do we translate the presented Information into action? What can we learn about user expectation management when designing dashboard/analytics solutions? (22:00) The change towards predictive and prescriptive analytics (24:30) The upfront work that needs to get done before the technology is in front of the user (30:20) James asks: How can we get people to focus less on the assumption-laden and often restrictive term "dashboard", and instead worry about designing solutions focused on outcomes for particular personas and workflows that happen to have some or all of the typical ingredients associated with the catch-all term "dashboards?” (33:30) Stop measuring the creation of outputs and focus on the user workflows and the jobs to be done (37:00) The data product manager shouldn't just be focused on deliverables (42:28)   Quotes from Today's Episode “The term dashboards is almost meaningless today, it seems to mean almost any home default screen in a data product. It also can just mean a report. For others, it means an entire monitoring tool, for some, it means the summary of a bunch of data that lives in some other reports. The terms are all over the place.”- Brian (@rhythmspice) (01:36) “The big idea here that I really want leaders to be thinking about here is you need to get your teams focused on workflows—sometimes called jobs to be done—and the downstream decisions that users want to make with machine-learning or analytical insights. ” - Brian (@rhythmspice) (06:12) “This idea of human-centered design and user experience is really about trying to fit the technology into their world, from their perspective as opposed to building something in isolation where we then try to get them to adopt our thing.  This may be out of phase with the way people like to do their work and may lead to a much higher barrier to adoption.” - Brian (@rhythmspice) (14:30) “Leaders who want their data science and analytics efforts to show value really need to understand that value is not intrinsically in the dashboard or the model or the engineering or the analysis.” - Brian (@rhythmspice) (18:45) “There's a whole bunch of plumbing that needs to be done, and it's really difficult. The tool that we end up generating in those situations tends to be a tool that's modeled around the data and not modeled around [the customers] mental model of this space, the customer purchase space, the marketing spend space, the sales conversion, or propensity-to-buy space.” - Brian (@rhythmspice) (27:48) “Data product managers should be these problem owners, if there has to be a single entity for this. When we're talking about different initiatives in the enterprise or for a commercial software company, it's really sits at this product management function.”  - Brian (@rhythmspice) (34:42) “It's really important that [data product managers] are not just focused on deliverables; they need to really be the ones that summarize the problem space for the entire team, and help define a strategy with the entire team that clarifies the direction the team is going in. They are not a project manager; they are someone responsible for delivering value.” - Brian (@rhythmspice) (42:23) Links Referenced: Mailing List: https://designingforanalytics.com/list CED UX Framework for Advanced Analytics:Original Article: https://designingforanalytics.com/ced Podcast/Audio Episode: https://designingforanalytics.com/resources/episodes/086-ced-my-ux-framework-for-designing-analytics-tools-that-drive-decision-making/  My LinkedIn Live about Measuring the Usability of Data Products: https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6911800738209800192/ Work With Me / My Services: https://designingforanalytics.com/services

It's been another positive and productive week. TBI or CTE audiobook was just released through Findaway and will be $5.99 for the reminder of the month. A reminder that 25 Perfect Days is free through March 12. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ERVHWI0 I answer reader questions: the first three are from EMily Haynes. She asked: (2:45) 1) Will there be another short story collection?  - Not for a while. I need to concentrate on Dethfest. (4:50) 2) Is there a genre of books you do not like to read?   - Romance/erotica unless there are pictures. (6:10) 3) Do you think you and Duncan Ralston could write a Try Not to Die?   - Yes. We just signed a contract and can't wait to get started. (8:30) Paul Young asked about joint authors working together. How does putting it all together work .Do you have heated exchanges if things don't go to plan.  - No heated exchanges yet and no forseeable ones in the future. (10:40) Alvin Pateres asked "I've heard from your podcast that when you wrote horror before, where you draw the "darkness" from was all of your negative experiences. As an artist, would you say that you need to go back into that source to feel the same emotions you felt when you wrote those horror stories? Do you have to go to a dark place when you write horror?"  - I do go to a place of pain for horror pieces and I'm a little concerned hypnosis might ruin that for me. (14:40) I narrate the next section from Try Not to Die: At Grandma's House.

Sean Ross Sapp (@SeanRossSapp) speaks with Deonna Purrazzo (@DeonnaPurrazzo) ahead of IMPACT Bound For Glory, October 230:00 Intro0:45 Her year3:22 Reader Questions from Chelsea Green, FTR, Shazza, Maclin5:47 Britt and Deonna9:00 Mickie James farm segment13:00 Steve Maclin16:00 Scouting talent18:00 Masha Slamovich matchSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/fightful-pro-wrestling-and-mma-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy