Podcasts about tiny house hunters

What is your idea of the perfect adventure day, near or far? Today's guest, Lindsey Nubern, packed everything up for what started as a two-year plan to travel full time with her husband! Lindsey is here to share how that 2-year plan turned into 4 years of traveling the world full-time and some of the amazing adventures they had along the way! Including finding their Tiny Home on HGTV Tiny House Hunters! From building businesses and writing books while traveling, and finding what worked best for them, Lindsey also shares what the transition has been like traveling part-time as she and her husband started a family, and began investing in an Airbnb and home base for their family! 03:20 How did you plan and prepare to become full-time travelers? 08:15 What led you to find your tiny house on HGTV's Tiny House Hunters? 10:00 How did your desire to travel and live tiny play into plans to start a family? 11:50 Thoughts, fears, and excitement preparing to become a mom. 14:40 What is it like now to adventure now that you have a 1 and a half year old boy? 18:00 How do you plan ahead to make traveling smoother as a family? 21:40 What does life currently look like with work and being a traveling family? 23:50 What systems do you have that help you keep things running smoothly at home? 26:30 Becoming an author, and creating resources while traveling! 30:00 Let's play 501 Questions: A Travel Game 32:00 If you could create a memory with your kids in the future, what would it be? 34:15 What is one thing you ALWAYS pack when traveling? 35:30 What is the word S'mores short for? 37:15 Ways to infuse adventure into your life every day! Connect with Lindsey Instagram | NuventureTravels Facebook | NuventureTravels Website | NuventureTravels.com   Check out Lindsey's AirBnB near Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, CO   Shop Lindsey's books and Travel Game! How to Buy a Campervan in New Zealand by Lindsey Nubern Putih the Traveling Pelican Children's Book by Lindsey Nubern 501 Questions: A Travel Game Check out these resources mentioned in the episode: Wild Mama by Carrie Visintainer Burley trailer for biking, skiing, and strolling FLYLady System …………………………..   Shop our products and masterclasses:  https://www.primandclove.com/   Connect with Lisa on Instagram:   Lisa Boettcher | @lisa.boettcher   Prim & Clove | @primandclove

We used to call them trailers.

Turning your craft into a business isn't always smooth sailing, but as Mitch Holmes, owner of MitchCraft Tiny Homes experienced, build it and they shall come!In this LoCo Shorts episode, Mitch shares with us how he turned his love for minimalism and quality production into a somewhat unplanned, step-by-step successful business journey. Of course, this isn't without learning some key lessons, so listen in to hear about scaling, growing a team, troubleshooting customers, and even being on Tiny House Hunters on HGTV!Don't forget to scope out some of their work on Instagram.

This week your intrepid co-hosts struggle to explain mid-1980s Austrian heartthrob Falco to Boredwalk's 20-something team. They also have some choice words for the fools featured on HGTV's Tiny House Hunters and the incoming administration's plans to cuddle up to corporate CEOs. Turns out they're not fans! However, most of this episode is devoted to our listeners! We read through a ton of fan comments on recent Question of the Day posts — namely "describe the worst person you've ever worked with", "what is difficult for you that seems easy for everyone else?", and "what's your most irrational preference or opinion?" — and weigh in with our own thoughts! We also give a richly deserved shout out to our neighbors for their creative use of skeletons in their holiday yard decor. 'Tis the season to be a creep!

By now, most people have heard of Tiny Houses. Personally the first time we heard about Tiny Houses was from watching Tiny House Hunters on HGTV. In this episode Tia talks explains: What is a Tiny House? What is the process of buying a Tiny House? What are things to consider before buying a Tiny House? The infamous Tiny House Sale on AmazonWho to Contact to Help you Purchase a Tiny HouseIf you have questions for NextView Home Professionals, feel free to visit our website at www.nextviewre.com or by contacting us at 480-281-3078. In the meantime, be sure to let us know what you think of this episode.

Jeff & Will talk about their upcoming trip to the 2019 LA Times Festival of Books. They also discuss two series they’ve been watching: Comedy Central’s The Other Two and Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists. Books reviewed this week include Kim Fielding’s The Spy’s Love Song, Ari McKay’s Take Two and Erin McLellan’s Clean Break. Jeff interviews Erin McLellan about Clean Break, the second book in her Farm College series, and about why it’s important for her to tell stories based in her home state of Oklahoma. They also talk about her Love Life series, what got her started writing, her author influences and the TV she likes to binge watch. Complete shownotes for episode 182 are at BigGayFictionPodcast.com. -------- Here’s the text of Jeff’s book reviews: The Spy’s Love Song by Kim FieldingRock star and secret agent on a mission to a foreign country to topple a dictator all wrapped up in a Dreamspun Desires package. That combination pushed all of my romantic suspense buttons and I had no choice but to pick up this book. And I loved it every bit as much as I thought I would. I was in tropey goodness heaven with the rock star thing, a bodyguard vibe plus lovers on the run and some occasional forced proximity. Jaxon Powers is a jaded rock star who’s at the end of a long tour. After waking up in a hotel room barely remembering what happened the night before, he might also be ready for a change in lifestyle. He gets a lot more than he bargained for when his manager brings him to a meeting with the State Department. It seems the dictator that runs the small country of Vasnytsia is a fan and wants Jaxon to perform a private concert as well as a large outdoor one for a worker’s festival. The U.S. wants Jaxon to do this because it’s a chance to improve US relations with the Russia-supported dictator. The only person going with Jaxon on the trip is secret agent Reid Stanfill. Besides keeping Jaxon safe, Reid’s got an agenda that has global ramifications. I fell in love with this book right from the beginning. Kim plays with expectations from the beginning. While Jaxon appears to be the spoiled rock star we quickly find that’s not what he wants to be. He’s a small town boy, doing what he loves to do but he wants more substance to the way he’s living. The trip to Vasnytsia does exactly that as his world view gets a complete makeover. Not only does Jaxon end up traveling without the entourage he’s used to, as Reid’s mission goes sideways the two end up on the run. Reid’s mission is to try to destabilize the country and force elections and that makes him an enemy of the state. Despite his fear, Jaxon won’t leave Reid to fend for himself. Jaxon knows his celebrity can protect both of them and he sticks by Reid even as Reid tries to force the star to safety. Through all of the crazy events that could result in either of them dying, Jaxon and Reid manage to start a romance. Reid tries to keep it from beginning since they’re in a country where homosexuality is illegal but they give in to their passions. That’s just the beginning as they share stories about their pasts, which only endears them more to each other. The mix between the romance and suspense is perfect, giving our guys time to fall in love even while things around them go crazy. I liked that Kim avoided the usual Dreamspun scenario of having alternating points of view. Everything in the story is Jaxon, which works perfectly so we don’t know Reid’s mission or anything else too early. It makes for a very snappy read going on the roller coaster that Jaxon experiences. Kim brings Vasnytsia to life through its people. It starts with the guides taking Jaxon around the country, giving him peek behind the propaganda. As he meets fans who must covertly speak to him as it wouldn’t be proper for anyone to talk with the American he begins to understand why Reid’s mission is so important. Ultimately it’s these people who shelter Reid and Jaxon and help complete his mission–with a particularly awesome assist from Jaxon. Drew Bacca does a great job on the audiobook, including having to sing a couple of Jaxon’s songs. This is the first book in the “Stars From Peril” series that Kim has in the Dreamspun line. The second book, Redesigning Landry Bishop, comes out in May and I’m already looking forward to it.  -------- Clean Break by Erin McLellanI almost didn’t pick this book up because I couldn’t imagine reading a book that included the characters taking care of Madagascar hissing cockroaches. I’m not a fan of bugs and the trigger warning page discusses more about the bugs than anything else. However, I’m glad I listened to the re-assurances I wouldn’t be creeped out because this is a terrific book–and the bugs really are a non-thing. This book, the second in Erin’s “Farm College” series, throws together Connor Blume and Travis Bedford–two guys who very much don’t like each other in the aftermath of an awkward, failed hookup. As their final college term begins, Connor and Travis are taking Entomology 101 and because the professor likes students to sit alphabetically, they’re next to each other and end up becoming class partners. Their dislike for each other radiates from them during that first class. Connor’s OCD and anxiety flare up just being near the guy, who he’s still wildly attracted to and wants to have a real discussion with. Travis has the attraction too but carries the anger from their previous hookup. It only gets worse as they get the assignment that they’ll be caring for Madagascar hissing cockroaches for the semester or that they’ll have to answer discussion questions together. It doesn’t take long for the sparks of dislike to turn into sparks of desire and they end up spending time after class in a storage closet making out. Neither of them is particularly happy that they’re giving in to their desires, which makes the scenes cuter and hotter. Travis wants the fussy farmer and Connor very much wants the stand-offish English major. Even as their make out sessions start to cool their hatred, they realize they’re constrained by time. At graduation, Connor is set to take over management of his parent’s farm, even though he doesn’t necessarily want that. Meanwhile, Travis can’t wait to get out of the small town for his legal aid internship and then on to law school. The guys have their futures mapped out and there’s no space for the other. That doesn’t stop them from getting emotionally entangled. Erin does a terrific job of bringing these two together. As they move their hookups to the bedroom, Travis discovers he likes Connor’s controlling side and gives himself over to it. Connor though never takes advantage, making sure that he’s always got Travis’s consent and that Travis enjoys himself. That continues as Travis reveals he’d like to be spanked. Both guys discover this is exactly what they need. Beyond the sex though, their efforts to not get too attached aren’t helped by their post-sex talks. Travis usually wants Connor to tell him a story and it’s here that he opens up bit by bit about his anxiety, his OCD and his pre-determined future. There’s so much going on for him, as a reader I wanted to wrap him in a hug and do whatever I could to ease the load he carried. Travis talks a lot too and over time we learn what makes him so driven–it turns out he lost one of his dreams due to an accident and he doesn’t want to let anything or anyone cost him this one. Just a she was great at bringing them together, Erin tears the guys apart just as expertly. It’s a tough go as Connor and Travis force themselves apart as graduation nears. Erin does a number on the characters as they emotionally hurt themselves and each other as they keep to their plans. Both guys want to talk to the other so badly and yet they’ve promised not too. For Connor, this is particularly bad for his OCD. Of course, this is a romance, so all must end happy. Thankfully how Erin gets the guys back together his as satisfying as everything she did earlier in the book. There is a way for them to be together–it just takes time for them to get there. -------- Interview Transcript - Erin McLellan Jeff: Welcome, Erin, to the podcast. Erin: Hi. Thanks for having me. Jeff: Very excited to have you here. You’re a new-to-me author and I just finished reading “Clean Break,” which I have to tell you, I adored so much. I’m reviewing it right before we get into the interview segment I’ll have reviewed it to kinda tell everybody about it. Erin: Yay, thank you. Jeff: It is the second book in your “Farm College” Series. So before we dive into “Clean Break,” tell us more about what the “Farm College” Series is about. Erin: Okay. So it’s just two books so far like you said and they are set in a fictional college in Western Oklahoma. And I would say kind of the overarching themes are… Since they’re college stories, they’re new adult that’s kind of coming of age and self-discovery, finding your authentic self, finding a home is kind of a big one. I think that’s kind of important at that age. You’ve moved out of your parent’s house or wherever you grew up for a lot of people and kinda figuring out what is home, what is family, that kind of thing. So those types of themes are kind of follow both books. They’re both kind of angsty to be honest though “Controlled Burn,” more so than “Clean Break” actually. Jeff: Oh, my goodness. Erin: So be prepared. But, yeah, and I think in terms of… The setting is really important to me at least as the author and those books is important to me. I’m from Oklahoma. I live in Alaska now, but I’m from Oklahoma. And it’s important to me to write stories that are set in Oklahoma that have, you know, LGBTQIA+ characters in Oklahoma. And I know as somebody that reads a lot of romance, I don’t see that very often. I don’t see romance set there or it might be… I have seen it where it’s, you know, characters that are like, escaping Oklahoma which certainly is the case for a lot of people, but it’s also the case that people live and love, and make their lives there. And I kinda wanna show that. Jeff: Does a farm college like this exist in Oklahoma? Is it based on a real place? Erin: No. Kind of I guess. A lot of the kind of small details mirror Oklahoma State which was my alma mater for undergrad, but Oklahoma State is so much bigger than the college that I created. So Farm College is kind of a smaller college in Western Oklahoma that I’ve created, but in terms of being, you know, having a strong agriculture program, but also kind of having this liberal arts situation that’s going on and a pretty vibrant LGBTQIA community, I’ve kind of made most of that up. So… Jeff: And I agree that we don’t see, I mean, besides books set in Oklahoma, really the more rural settings kinda, it’s always escaping from those places. And I like that you kind of built a place as if this is what you’d like to see even if it doesn’t quite exist there now. Erin: Right. And I think it’s kind of funny when I started writing “Controlled Burn.” It was pre-2016, right? And I kind of had this, you know, I kind of had this idea that it’s getting better, right? It’s looking up for lots of communities and I’m not sure if that’s necessarily the case anymore. I hope it will be and I hope it is eventually. But, you know, there’s good and bad, I think, about places like Oklahoma and Kansas, and Texas. And, you know, Oklahoma is really special to me. It’s really important to me. Kansas is the same, but there’s also problems and, you know, I wanna kinda write those stories. And I also, thinking about Oklahoma or Texas probably more so, a lot of the romances that I’ve read that are set there are like, ranch, you know, the cowboys, the farmers which there is kind of a farmer in “Clean Break.” But there’s a lot of people that live in Oklahoma and in Texas, in Kansas that aren’t cowboys. So I wanted to tell that story too. Jeff: Right. And you really hinted that a little bit with some of the dialogue between Travis and Connor in “Clean Break” too as they kind of talk about the difference between cowboy and more the farmer type that Connor and his family are. Erin: Right. Jeff: And so, as we kinda move this direction, tell us what “Clean break” is about and kind of who Travis and Connor are. Erin: Right. So “Clean Break” is about Travis and Connor. Travis is…he’s the best friend in “Controlled Burn.” So if you read “Controlled Burn,” you see quite a bit of him. He’s an English major. He’s from Houston, Texas, very ambitious. He’s got these kind of life plans and nothing’s gonna slow him down, right? He wants to go to law school. He’s got an internship after for the summer. He’s planning to move to Saint Louis eventually to work at this legal aid charity. He has this very, you know, set goals and he’s also kind of a unique, quirky, funny character to me. And then you have Connor who comes in and I don’t know if I would say at the beginning of the book, it’s more like pre-book before the book happens, they have a little bit of a failed hookup in a lot of ways. Some misunderstandings and so, they don’t like each other very much. And then in the first chapter, they get paired together as class partners in a class. And Connor is a farm boy. He’s kind of a townie, right? He’s from Elkville which is the city that’s it’s set in. He’s expected to take over the family farm and so, he’s got this, you know, he kind of his future plans are set, right? He doesn’t have a say over them and he’s… I have a big soft spot in my heart for him. He’s got anxiety, he has OCD. I really wanted to kind of write against the archetype of the like, lackadaisical cowboy or even like, the kind of the hard cowboy or, you know, that kind of archetype that I had in my head. I wanted to write a sensitive farm boy who’s in therapy and, you know, it doesn’t really match some of the people or the characters that I have seen written that way. And kind of the main issue between them, first is that they don’t like each other, but they’re attracted to each other, right? But the kind of the main two things that I wanted to do with the book is I wanted to write a complex authentic characters that are really well-rounded and hopefully, I accomplish that. And then the other thing that I really wanted to do was kind of write to people that are heading towards their future which is graduation and then, you know, the future beyond. And then their futures don’t mesh. There’s not really a way to come together at the end of graduation. They’re moving in different directions and I think that’s a really universal thing for people in college that are dating and dating seriously… do you compromise your future for somebody else? Do you change it? How do you make it work? So those are kind of the two things that I really wanted to hit on and of course, there’s, you know, there’s some kink that happens in the book and kind of self-discovery with that especially on Connors’ part. So there’s a lot going on, but those two things. The characterization and the conflict there with their futures not meshing are the two things I really wanted to hit. Jeff: And I think you did them both, I mean, really well. This book has so much going on in it and yet it never…the story also never gets way down either with the weight of everything that’s kind of moving around here. Erin: Thank you. Jeff: And really, you started them off as enemies who sort of move to friends to sort of get to lovers. Erin: Right. Jeff: Just that progression was so fun to watch unfold as they both pick at each other and then also help each other grow at the same time. It’s like, they lift each other up and kinda tear each other down at the same time. Erin: Right. And I hope that that is realistic. I think people… Because in a lot of ways they are kind of mean to each other at certain points and people can be mean to each other in real life. Especially, they’re not very old, you know, they’re 21, 22. So they kinda make stupid mistakes sometimes and say things that can be hurtful and then have to figure out how to make it better. Jeff: And I think with Connor too, you talked about writing against the archetypes and just having kinda the anxiety plus the OCD. And being, you know, a young gay man in that setting really just sets up so much for him in that situation. Erin: Right. Yeah. He has a lot going on. He’s bi actually and… Jeff: Right. I’m sorry. You’re right. Yes. Erin: And so, kind of a lot. I mean, it’s just a lot and I think it’s a lot for him to kind of deal with all at the same time. Jeff: What was your research on the mental health side of it to kind of figure out what traits to weave into his personality? Erin: So I did a lot of research and I had some readers too that read it for me. One of the main things that I really looked at was kind of the myths especially with OCD, kind of the myths surrounding OCD. I think a lot of people think it’s just, you know, a cleanliness thing or even an organizational thing where they, you know, people with OCD have an impulse to organize or clean. And that’s not really how it presents for a lot of people. A lot people have intrusive thoughts which he has or, you know, they have checking where he checks the expiration dates on food and he can’t kind of stop doing that even though he knows he shouldn’t be doing it, and it’s not healthy for him to do. And so, I did a lot of research about the myths and the different ways that it presents for people and kind of the hardships that it causes them. And I also really wanted to make sure that I kind of made it clear. It’s something that he’ll always deal with, right? It’s not going away and so, it’s really… I did a lot of research on how to manage it, how, you know, how to kind of continue life dealing with a mental health problem like that. Jeff: Yeah. I just… So often I wanted to just give him a hug when he was starting to lapse into it. It’s like, “Oh, I’m so sorry this is happening.” What you did through the black moments and I don’t wanna give spoilers for folks who, you know, need to read the book. But what you did to the black moments for both Connor and Travis as they dealt with their emotions and for Connor how those emotions kinda manifest themselves in his OCD was really just, I really liked seeing two young adults kinda come to grapple with all of that. Erin: Yeah. And I think it’s pretty normal when you’re more stressed, right? Or when there’s more and more stress for, you know, the OCD to kind of build on itself. The same with anxiety like, whenever I am really stressed about my anxiety, it’s gonna be worse about small things, you know, you can kind of blow them out of proportion. I know I do that and so, I was kind of trying to show that how it’s like as things got more stressful for him with graduation moving and with kind of this relationship with Travis, that’s not going away he wants it to go. It does kind of snowball for him and it kinda snowballs for Travis too just in different ways because he doesn’t, you know, he doesn’t have anxiety or OCD of course, but, you know, he struggles just kind of the same way. Jeff: Yeah. When you were talking about with this books about you left out one of its major points. Erin: The bugs? Jeff: That is the inclusion of the the hissing cockroaches. Where did that idea even come from? Erin: So I knew I wanted to put them in a class together and I wanted them to be class partners. But Travis is an English major and Connor is agriculture sciences, agribusiness major. And so, I knew it had to be like a gen ed class for at least one of them. And so, I really started thinking about the gen ed class that I had taken as an English major whenever I was an undergrad trying to figure out what class would make sense. And then I realized that I actually had taken an ag class that was Entomology 101. And I loved it, I, you know, I held like, tarantulas and I held millipedes. And I could see myself being that like, weird bug girl a little bit. I just loved it. And so, that’s kinda how I decided to put them in an entomology class. And it’s funny because, I mean, I do think that college is one of those times to take the weird class and do the weird thing. And so, I think it kind of made sense there and I also felt like, I gave a degree of what kind of humor and lightness I thought it would to the story. But I realize now that a lot of readers maybe don’t like bugs. So it’s something that’s like a little distracting to some people. When I had took the entomology class, we had an assignment where we had that exact assignment with the Madagascar hissing cockroaches where we had to take them home and observe them. And so, you know, for an entire semester, I had a Madagascar hissing cockroach in my dorm room with me. I never took it out of its box. I like, you know, I fed it, like, carrots through the little hole that it couldn’t get out and so, that would be fun to put that in the story. And I can tell you for the readers, the cockroaches do not escape ever. They never… There’s no, like, unexpected cockroach scenes. I promise. Jeff: Yeah. And I can vouch for that. There are no unexpected scenes and in fact, I had to check… I had to ask about that before I took the book to read and I’m like, “Bugs, I don’t know about that.” Erin: I know. I have put it in the trigger warnings for the book and on my website, it really does lay out kinda scene by scene where they’re at and kind of the degree that they’re on the page. And they’re not on the page that much. Jeff: No, they’re not and I never got squirmy reading it either because I really don’t like bugs. But I was totally fine with how this turned out. So… Erin: Yeah. I know. I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me that it would gross people out. At that point it was too late when it, like, finally hit me. I was like, “Well, I can’t do anything about it.” But I kind of thought that they were funny. Jeff: Well, I think it really fits with the whole ag culture of the college that of course, they’re gonna end up with bugs or whatever and have to learn about them. So it all meshed in together and like you said, there’s no point where they’re escaping or, you know, being gross. They’re just kind of there. Erin: Right. And students… Jeff: I like to, you know, those classes sometimes you take in high school where you’re having to take care of the doll for a week or whatever. And in this case you’re hanging out with a cockroach. So… Erin: Right. It’s kinda like a little pet for them for this semester. Jeff: So is there more plan for the Farm College Series? Erin: I have not kind of set plans. I do want to write a story for Alex. He’s in both books. He’s not in “Controlled Burn” for very much though his part is kind of important in “Controlled Burn.” He’s a friend of Connor’s really in “Clean Break” and I do wanna give him a story and I will. I’ll probably start writing that soon. Kind of be on that. I don’t know how much more I’ll write in the Farm College Series though I do wanna do a spin off that’s kind of several years in the future. So they’re not really in college anymore and I want to do an F/F romance for Desie and Lena. So I would start there for them. Jeff: Yay. Yeah. I would totally read that book because one of the things you did in “Clean Break” and I’m sure you established it back in “Controlled Burn” too, was just the tight community of friends that Travis and Connor both have, and even, like, the strong family presence of Connor’s family and how they support him. So it would be great to see more of all of that. Erin: Yeah. So… Yeah. And I definitely… I think I did a little bit more successfully in “Clean Break” for sure where they have very supportive families and they do have kind of a big wide friend group. And so, yeah, I’m glad that you like that, but I do want to do the F/F romance for Lena and Desie kind of. But Lena is quite young in this book. She’s 20 and so, I wanna give her a little bit of time to grow up, I guess. Jeff: Yeah. That’s cool. Now, you’ve got another series out there called “Love Life.” And tell us a little bit about what goes on in that series? Erin: Sure. So that’s also, they’re both male/male romances. Set in Oklahoma, Eastern Oklahoma for the first book, “Life on Pause.” They’re kind of small town romances there. The first one is about a guy that works at a homestead kind of prairie museum. They’re kind of common in Oklahoma where the people that work there have to dress in like, historical costumes of the time. So he works at that type of museum and then he is paired with a high school choir teacher. And it’s kind of them trying to fall in love and figure out how their relationship will work. It’s definitely kind of lighter in tone than the farm college series, but it’s still a little angsty. The second book in the series, “Life of Bliss,” is more novella link that’s a little short and it’s very tropey. It’s kind of two people that don’t like each other very much, but are fooling around kind of behind their friends’ backs. They agree to be fake boyfriends for a family wedding in Arkansas and Arkansas kind of, well, it has this… Historically in the area, it was the only state that didn’t have a waiting period for marriage licenses. Now, most of the states don’t, but back in the day, you know, they made you like, test for syphilis and all kind of stuffs. But extended the marriage license period. So Arkansas is kind of the place where people go for their shotgun weddings historically. So this is going back quite away, but in this book they go to a wedding in Arkansas, they get drunk at the wedding and basically, end up getting married themselves. It’s set in Eureka Springs, Arkansas for the wedding part and I don’t know if anybody would be familiar with that. But you can get married practically anywhere in Eureka Springs. It’s kind of an economy there. So it’s quite easy to get married and that’s what happens. So it’s kind of fake dating to accidental marriage. Jeff: Fake dating to accidental marriage. I like… Those are favorite tropes right there. Erin: Yeah. It’s a fun one, I think. Jeff: So what is your writing origin story? You’ve got these four books out. How did all this start? Erin: Well, I was a creative writing English major in undergrad, but then I ended up going to grad school for library and information studies. And I was a public librarian. And I had… I kind of had a lot of big changes in my life. I just graduated grad school. I just got married, I just moved away from home like, all of these big changes. I had a full time job for the first time and I had… I was living in Houston, Texas and I had this horrible commute. It was like, an hour and a half each way and… Jeff: Yeah. that’s pretty horrible. Erin: I think most people that have been in Houston know what I’m talking about. And I had all this time to kind of think and I basically on my commute started plotting a book. And some of it came from, I missed kind of the creative outlet writing research papers and stuff like that from school. And so, yeah, that’s kind of how I started writing as I plotted this book on my commute and then finally, I decided that I was gonna sit down and write it. And that book was “Controlled Burn.” Jeff: That’s an awesome story. Erin: Thank you. Jeff: What led you into putting this creativity towards M/M romance amongst all of the genres that were possible? Erin: Yeah. Some of it I think is that I was reading a lot of it at that time, I kind of got into M/M romance I guess if we’re going further back by reading Suzanne Brockmann, right? So she has the “Troubleshooters” series and that has Jules Cassidy who’s the gay FBI agent, right? He’s got that kind of the secondary romance through several books and then the primary thorugh a novella. And then whenever I was in grad school, I kind of didn’t have time to read for pleasure very much. So I wasn’t reading very much and then I took a class about reader’s advisory that we had to read like, the books from the best books of the year for “Publishers Weekly” and “Kirkus,” and stuff. And I just kind of… I can’t remember what year it was, but I grabbed kind of a random book off the romance list and it ended up being “Brothers of the Wild North Sea” by Harper Fox and I didn’t really realize that it was a male/male romance. So I just kinda grabbed it and started reading, and then it became quite clear, you know, very early on what it was. And it’s a beautiful book. Harper Fox is, you know, is a beautiful writer. Everything that she writes is really awesome and so, I kind of gobbled up everything that she had written and then it kind of hit me at that time. There has to be other writers that are doing this and, you know, they weren’t the books that were in the libraries. They weren’t in my libraries. So I kind of started searching them out and, you know, read a lot of K.A. Mitchell and Z.A. Maxfield, and some of those authors at that time that were the most prolific. And I was just very excited because I felt like there are all these authors that I had never heard of that I didn’t know about and they were all really, really good. And they were writing, you know, stories that kind of the themes were very important to me. And so, then when I write finally, eventually, decided to sit down and write a book. I think probably the main thing for me is that I wanted to write characters who are LGBTQIA in Oklahoma and it just happened to be that the first book that kind of came to mind, and that I plotted fully was an M/M romance in “Controlled Burn.” So that’s definitely how I got started. Jeff: That’s very cool and some great authors there to get you introduced to the genre as well. Who do you count as your author influences? Erin: Well, definitely, you know, my gateways were Suzanne Brockmann into romance in general and then Harper Fox. Kind of on a wider scale, I really like Alisha Rai. She kind of, she writes the heroines that are the type of parents that I just love. They are raunchy and rowdy, and wonderful. I would say also Annabeth Albert in terms of contemporary romance. Alexis Hall, I think kind of teaches or his books are like a master class on first person point of view if you look at “For Real” or “Glitterland.” And so, I really, really like his books too. Jeff: Now, your bio mentions that you like binge worthy TV shows. So of course, we have to know what are you binging these days or have binged recently that you would recommend? Erin: So my husband and I have been rewatching “Game of Thrones” of course, because the last season was about to come out. So when you binge that show, you just kind of realize how many awful things happened back to back to back because the first time we watched it, we didn’t binge it. We are watching it week to week, but when you’re binge watching that it’s like, “Oh, my God. That’s so awful, these things that keep happening.” Other than that, I really like… I like true crime, but I’m not watching any kind of true crime right now. And I like comedies. So I’ve watched “Schitt’s Creek” recently which I love, “The Good Place,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “One Day at a Time,” all these sitcoms that I think are really good, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” because I love musicals is really good. And then I also watch a lot of like, reality TV. So I like, like, “Tiny House Hunters,” and “Instant Hotel,” and “Project Runway,” shows kind of like that. Jeff: Very cool. Yeah. Some good stuff on there. Erin: You can tell me I watch a lot of TV. Jeff: “The Good Place” is a particular favorite. Erin: Yeah. It’s so smart. It’s so different than like, yeah, it’s very, very unique. So this is a great list for everybody who’s looking for something to binge the spring right here. So what’s coming up next for you in your release plans? Jeff: So I don’t have anything kind of set in stone. I’m not very good at planning. [I”m working on one about] tornado chasers or storm chasers. That’s a male/male romance that I have on submission right now to a publisher that I’m hoping will pick it up. If they don’t, then, you know, it’ll keep going out and hopefully somebody else will want it. I’m currently writing a book about a rec league softball team and I want this to be really, really tropey and kind of fun and light. The first one is using kind of the one bed trope. So I hope that that would be a lot of fun. I’ll write Alex’s story pretty soon and then I have a book that I wrote. But I’m hoping to put out at Christmas, it’s called “Stocking Stuffers.” And it’s a M/F romance with a bi heroine who sell sex toys. You know, like the Tupperware parties, but it’s like the, you know, the sex toy Tupperware parties kind of. And so, she works for a company kinda is the marketing person for a company like that and she’s hosting one of those parties, get snowed in, you know, with a big red bag of toys basically. Jeff: Yeah. That’s like an interesting forced proximity story. Erin: yeah. So it was a lot of fun to write. Jeff: And I’m very interested in the storm chasers one too because I’m kind of a weather geek at heart. So you kind of got me on that one. Erin: It was a lot of fun to write. Growing up in Oklahoma, you know, tornadoes are such a kind of a constant really. I mean, my parents have lost a house in tornado. I know lots of people that have lost houses in tornado. It’s so common. It’s just kind of a part of your life especially if you’re from Central Oklahoma like me and so, it’s… Yeah. It was a really fun one to write because you are just kind of entrenched in bad weather in Oklahoma in the spring all the time. So… Jeff: Very cool. And how can readers keep up with you online to keep track of all these projects? Erin: So I have a Facebook group called Erin McLellan’s Meet Cute. That’s a good one if you kind of… I do giveaways and book recs, and stuff. On Twitter my handle is @emclellanwrites and I’m on Twitter pretty often. On Instagram it’s @erinmclellanwrites and on Instagram, I would say it’s about 70% Alaska stuff like, every moves that I’ve ever seen and then 30% books. Unless there’s a book released and then it flips. But it’s a lot of Alaska if you follow me on Instagram. And then my newsletter which you can get too on my website or through any of the social media too. You would be able to kind of find the link to my newsletter and that’s probably the best way if you just want like, to know about new releases or sales, or things like that without having to kind of trudge through Twitter. Jeff: Well, fantastic. Well, I thank you so much for coming to talk to us about “Clean Break” and wish you all the success on that one and the upcoming releases as well. Erin: Thank you so much. It was so fun.

"You aren't influenced later in life, you're inspired." - Matthew Hankins Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Santa Chris here, Bonsai Chris is tending to his bonsai tree, which is in desperate need of a trimming. Last night, I was filling Bonsai Chris' stocking with small squares of organic, paleo friendly, non-chocolate-chocolate-covered cashew-butters when I noticed that someone (perhaps Bonsai Nick) had already placed a gift inside Bonsai Chris' stocking. Why, it was a freshly-baked, ready to serve bonus episode of the MAKE IT podcast. A podcast with guest Matthew Hankins, who has been in the film business since 1991 as a Sound Engineer. He's worked on television series like Tiny House Hunters, short films like Generation Mixed Tape, and feature films like Crazy All These Years, Wild Man, and All Light Will End. To learn more about Matthew and his work visit his Facebook profile and group at www.facebook.com/matt.hankins.79 and to learn more about Bonsai Creative and our work in independent film, visit https://bonsai.film. Listen+Subscribe+Rate = Love  Enjoy! Questions or Comments? Reach out to us at contact@bonsai.film or on social and the web at https://linktr.ee/BonsaiCreative #MAKEIT   Links: FaceBook IMDb   Boom: A Serial Podcast Primer (film) Upstream Color (film) Shane Carruth (composer) Darren Aronofsky (director) Pi (film) Requiem for a Dream (film) Alex Proyas (director) The Crow (film) Dark City (film) Garage Days (film)  

Analicia runs late. Yale accidentally leaves his coffee at home. Scheduled guest Meredith Hopping calls in sick. Against all odds the show goes on with final holiday thoughts, a recap of recent comedic exploits, a new twist on Tiny House Hunters and more!

We stayed in a Tiny House! We watched Tiny House Hunters! We also watched Tiny House, Big Living! This episode is all about giant dreams and little abodes. AND!!! We’re on vacation. Rate, review, subscribe! @RealityBlowsPod RealityBlowsPodcast IG:NickMaritato IG:Ashley_Brooke_Roberts

I don’t know about you, but I’m obsessed with tiny houses and their potential for maximizing space while minimizing home maintainence AND the mortgage bill. I’ve got Pinterest boards filled with them, have binge watched episodes of Tiny House Hunters and keep getting inspired by their sheer coolness. SO when I found out that our next guest was indeed a tiny home dweller I got pretty excited. I met Claudia Pennington at the NEPA Blog Conference in northeastern Pennsylvania in the fall of last year. It was held in the Scranton area, which is home of TV series The Office and a really cool park with a treehouse—Nay Aug Park where our family once visited my sister’s and took our dogs out to a cool dog festival (kind of like a Doggie Palooza type deal with loud music, lots of local vendors selling dog products, food with wading pools for dogs). I digress. Part of living a Simply Designed Life is assessing your values, goals, and vision for your life, and then making choices in alignment with that—which is exactly what Claudia did for her particular situation. She and her husband Garret (whom I had also met at the conference) had over $200,000 in debt and decided that paying it off, while also downsizing to a tiny house, would be some of the steps they’d take to creating a life that’s rich in time and money for them. Here are some facts: They’ve downsized from a 1,500 square foot home to a 500 square foot home in 2015. They were able to do this by learning everything they could on personal finance through reading lots of books and listening to lots of podcast episodes which helped them pay off all their debt (including their mortgage). Nowadays, they operate two businesses and four side hustle projects in digital marketing. They didn’t do it all at once though, but through a series of simple steps (not always easy though mind you), which you’ll find on their blog and I’ll link to the show notes. While this isn’t a story about the granular details on how to get out of debt, how to have a better money mindset or how to design your life around a tiny house (although those topics are cool too, which I’ll include references to previous episodes and other relevant resources in the show notes), it’s more about getting a glimpse of what life is like on the other side once you’re financially free and have the ability and means to live your version of a simply designed life. Without further ado, let’s get to the conversation! Who is Claudia? Claudia Pennington is a digital marketing coach, consultant, and trainer. With more than a decade’s worth of experience in online marketing, she has become an expert in search engine optimization, Google Analytics, and Google Tag Manager through her work with small and enterprise level businesses. Claudia trains small business owners on how to grow their businesses by leveraging digital marketing and SEO. Additionally, Claudia and her husband Garrett own and operate a business and personal finance blog, Two Cup House which discusses their journey to financial independence by way of tiny house living, minimalism, and entrepreneurship. The millennial couple live with their three cats in beautiful Lancaster County, PA. They’ve been featured on numerous outlets, such as the Stacking Benjamins Podcast, The Motley Fool, CNN Money, New York Post and MarketWatch. Quotes from Claudia I think of myself as having x-ray vision when it comes to developing a marketing strategy for another person and another person's business. So I can see and hear what they're saying. I can see through what's happening today, be able to diagnose any challenges they've experienced and help them structure a strategy, but for myself, I have to treat my own business like a client. If this business came to me on my own with a desire to grow, what would I do differently? How would I structure the marketing plan, what does the target audience look like? So really trying to treat myself like a client ha...

This Thanksgiving, we're grateful for our Patreons, one of whom forced Andrew to watch an episode of Tiny House Hunters and then share that experience with us. It's pretty amazing. We continue along in our Stranger Things 2 book club, and discuss such things as: does Radio Shack still exist? And, why would you keep a baseball bat covered in nails in the trunk of your car?  Finally, stay tuned at the end for some brief yelling about motion smoothing. 

Ever wanted to assert your independence by moving to a trailer on your parents' lawn? We discuss compostable toilets and contemplate calling child protective services after watching HGTV's Tiny House Hunters.

In Part Two of this interview the senior culture writer for Buzzfeed News and author of the debut novel Startup, Doree Shafrir, took a few minutes to talk with me about the early days at Gawker, her highly-anticipated fiction debut, and her tips for getting words onto the page. Rainmaker.FM is Brought to You By Discover why more than 80,000 companies in 135 countries choose WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting. Start getting more from your site today! The veteran online journalist started out at the Philadelphia Weekly before taking a position at Gawker in 2006. She went on to work as an editor and staff writer for Rolling Stone, The New York Observer, and has contributed to publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Slate, The Awl, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, and WIRED. Her whip-smart debut novel is Startup, a satirical skewering of startup culture in New York City “…that proves there are some dilemmas that no app can solve.” Vanity Fair’s Nick Bilton, former tech and business columnist for the New York Times, said of the book, “I was hooked from the first page and found myself lost in a beautifully-written fiction that so succinctly echoes today’s bizarre reality.” Doree also co-hosts a podcast with husband and Nerdist alum, TV writer Matt Mira, titled “Matt and Doree’s Eggcellent Adventure,” described as an “…unintentionally hilarious journey through the world of infertility.” If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, click subscribe to automatically see new interviews. If you missed the first half you can find it right here. In Part Two of this file Doree Shafrir and I discuss: The reality and frustration of writer’s block Why she made the revelatory move from Microsoft Word to Scrivener How the author manages stress (hint: HGTV) The city as muse Why done is sometimes better than good Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ... Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes If you’re ready to see for yourself why over 200,000 website owners trust StudioPress — the industry standard for premium WordPress themes and plugins — just go to Rainmaker.FM/StudioPress How Senior BuzzFeed Writer and Author of Startup Doree Shafrir Writes: Part One Doree-Shafrir.com Meet Startup Author Doree Shafrir – Tour Dates Startup: A Novel – Doree Shafrir Doree Shafrir is a culture writer for BuzzFeed Sex, Lies and Tech: How New Novel Skewers Startup Culture – Rolling Stone Episode 865: Nerdist Podcast – Doree Shafrir 24 Quotes That Will Inspire You To Write More – Doree Shafrir Doree Shafrir on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter The Transcript How Senior BuzzFeed Writer and Author of Startup Doree Shafrir Writes: Part Two Voiceover: Rainmaker FM. Kelton Reid: Hey. Welcome back to the Writer Files. I’m your host, Kelton Reid, here to take you on another tour of the habits, habitats, and brands of renowned writers. In part two of this interview, the Senior Culture Writer for BuzzFeed News and author of the debut novel Startup, Doree Shafrir, took a few minutes to talk with me about the early days at Gawker, her highly anticipated fiction debut, and her tips for getting words onto the page. The veteran online journalist started out at the Philadelphia Weekly before taking a position at Gawker in 2006. She went on to work as an editor and staff writer for The Rolling Stone and the New York Observer and has contributed to publications including The New York Times, New Yorker, Slate, The Awl, New York Magazine, the Daily Beast, and WIRED. Her whip smart debut novel is Startup,” a satirical skewering of startup culture in New York City that proves there are some dilemmas that no app can solve. Vanity Fair’s Nick Bilton, former tech and business columnist for The New York Times, said of the book, “I was hooked from the first page and found myself lost in a beautifully written fiction that so succinctly echoes today’s bizarre reality.” Doree also cohosts a podcast with husband and nerdist alum TV writer Matt Mira, titled Matt and Doree’s Eggcellent Adventure, described as an unintentionally hilarious journey through the world of infertility. In part two of this file, Doree and I discuss the reality and frustration of writer’s block, why she made the revelatory move from Microsoft Word to Scrivener, how the author manages stress (hint: HGTV), the city as muse, and why done is sometimes better than good. If you missed the first half of this show, you can find it in the archives on iTunes on WriterFiles.FM and in the show notes. The Writer Files is brought to you by the all the new StudioPress Sites, a turnkey solution that combines the ease of an all-in-one website builder with the flexible power of WordPress. It’s perfect for authors, bloggers, podcasters, and affiliate marketers, as well as those selling physical products, digital downloads, and membership programs. If you’re ready to take your WordPress site to the next level, see for yourself why over 200,000 website owners trust StudioPress. Go to Rainmaker.FM/StudioPress now. That’s Rainmaker.FM/StudioPress. And if you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews as soon as they’re published. The Reality and Frustration of Writer s Block Kelton Reid: Have you ever run up against writer’s block? Is that something you believe in or is it a myth? Doree Shafrir: I think writer’s block is totally real. Yeah. I mean there were … I went on book leave for two months from BuzzFeed. I really wanted to make the best use of my time because I knew I only had two months. The days during those two months that I wasn’t able to write anything were so frustrating because I was like, “Ugh, I have this time.” Some days, I would just sit in front of the computer, and I was like, “I don’t know where this is going, what to write.” I just felt so stuck. People say like, “If you’re stuck, you should just try to free write.” I think that that can be helpful. I also often find it helpful to just go on a really long walk, do something that takes you away from the actual writing. I find that it is very rare that just staring at a computer or being in front of the computer and surfing the Internet, that does not tend to break writer’s block. Kelton Reid: No. All right. Well, let’s talk about your workflow as a journalist and fictionist. Now, are you a Mac or a PC user? Doree Shafrir: I am a Mac user. Why She Made the Revelatory Move from Microsoft Word to Scrivener Kelton Reid: When you were writing the book, were you doing it in Word or Scrivener or something else? Doree Shafrir: Actually a combination. I started the book in Word, and then, probably … I was quite far along in the book when a friend told me about Scrivener. It changed my life. I don’t think I would’ve been able to finish the book if I hadn’t switched everything over to Scrivener. I was kind of a pain in the ass to switch everything, because in Word, it was one big document. Scrivener doesn’t detect chapter separations from a big document in Word, so I had to kind of manually put each chapter in, but once I did that, and I could have a split screen and have an outline and also be working on the actual text at the same time, that was very revelatory. Kelton Reid: I’ve heard this before that getting up to speed with Scrivener at first is a little painful, but then, it’s, again, like you said, a kind of a revelation. Do you have some best practices for beating that dreaded procrastination when you’re on a deadline? Doree Shafrir: I am a big proponent of I guess it’s the Pomodoro method where you set a timer for … I forget what Pomodoro actually … Pomodoro has a specific amount of time. It might be like half an hour, but I find it very useful to set a timer for a specified amount of time and turn off the Internet. I use the Freedom app and just focus. That can be in as small a chunk of time as 15 minutes. If I have a dedicated amount of time that I know at the end I will be allowed to look at Twitter and check my email, then I can focus, but I find it very difficult to focus with large unstructured blocks of free time. Kelton Reid: I forgot to ask you before, but do you stick on headphones or are you someone who prefers silence? Doree Shafrir: It depends where I am. When I’m working in my house, I usually don’t wear headphones. If I’m in a public place, like if I go to a coffee shop or somewhere else, I will listen to … There’s a Spotify playlist called Deep Focus that I listen to. I can’t listen to anything with words, so that music is sort of calming, like vaguely electronica, not stuff I would ever really listen to just on my own. But, I find this kind of ambient noise of it to be very helpful. How the Author Manages Stress (Hint: HGTV) Kelton Reid: I’m with you on the ambient. How does Doree Shafrir unplug at the end of a long writing day? Besides blackjack. Doree Shafrir: If you ask my husband, he would say I can’t unplug. I’m not great at relaxing. I find it very hard to relax. Although last night, I was like, “Okay, I just need to just chill out and not get … ” I was feeling very anxious, so I just watched a couple of episodes of House Hunters, and that calmed me down. Kelton Reid: It is very calming that the … I actually don’t find that calming. The house hunting is cool. I’m very jealous of every home on those shows. That makes me kind of anxious, because I’m like, “Oh, man. Look at that cool place.” Doree Shafrir: I also watch Tiny House Hunters. I’m not jealous of those living spaces. I also do yoga. I do Pilates. I try to stay active, and that definitely helps with stress and kind of unwinding. I also read a lot. That is also just kind of like getting lost in a good book is like very … It’s good to take myself out of the world for a little while. Kelton Reid: For sure, for sure. How would you define creativity in your own words? Doree Shafrir: I would say being imaginative, being curious, being expressive. Those are all hallmarks of creativity, I think. The City as Muse Kelton Reid: I think for a lot of writers, creativity is kind of the bedrock of what you do, but do you have something that makes you feel most creative or like a creative muse right now? Doree Shafrir: Hmm. A creative muse … Kelton Reid: Something that spurs your interest. Doree Shafrir: For Startup, New York was a muse for me. Because I live in Los Angeles now, it was interesting for me to have that distance on New York and to be able to romanticize it a little bit, which I was not really able to do while I was living there. Los Angeles, I kind of want Los Angeles to be a muse in a similar way, but I’m not quite there yet. I love living here, but I … Yeah. I’m not totally there yet. Kelton Reid: Interesting, interesting. I’ve heard the New York muse story often, actually, by some story fictionists such as Jay McInerney for instance. That is his muse, for sure. Just kind of plugging into the city. And it seems like when you’re in Manhattan or really anywhere in New York, but especially in Manhattan, there’s that … I don’t know, there’s that kind of spirit of New York that you don’t sense in LA. I mean I did live in LA myself. Doree Shafrir: Totally. Oh, okay. Kelton Reid: This vast sprawling mini-mall, but … Manhattan has this history and these ghosts that you don’t sense in LA, but … Doree Shafrir: Yeah. I mean I guess if I were like living at the Chateau Marmont, I might feel differently, but I am not, and that’s probably not going to happen. Kelton Reid: Is that why every cool rock star lives at the Chateau Marmont? Doree Shafrir: Yeah because I think it is one of the places in Los Angeles that has that kind of mystique and feels old even though compared to stuff in New York, it’s not that old, but it has that kind of mysterious, cool vibe. Kelton Reid: Yeah. And the ghost of John Belushi … Doree Shafrir: Yeah. Exactly, exactly. Kelton Reid:The Sunset Strip is probably the beating heart of that weird universe. Doree Shafrir: Totally. What Makes a Writer Great Kelton Reid: What do you think makes a writer great? Doree Shafrir: Oh, boy. What do I think makes a writer great? Certainly having imagination and being able to create characters and worlds and narratives that take people out of their worlds, like kind of what I was just saying. I think it’s really hard to write a book that people feel completely engrossed in. I always admire writers in any genre who are able to do that. Of course, unlike a purely mechanical prose level, there is a way of writing prose that I think is instantly recognizable to people who appreciate good writing. You want someone who feels original, who has their own voice, who doesn’t resort to clichés or standard writing tropes, and who has an original story to tell. Kelton Reid: Do you have a couple faves that are sitting on your nightstand right now? Or in your Kindle, I should’ve said? Doree Shafrir: I actually I’m one of those people who has been going back and forth, ebook and paper. I kind of appreciate both of them for different reasons. Certainly, traveling is a lot easier with an ebook. There’s just no question about that. Often, when I’m traveling, I will load up my Kindle with long books that I would not want to lug around. I also really appreciate a hardcover book. I think especially now that I have written a novel, I appreciate a hardcover book even more. There is something really powerful about being able to hold a book, a physical object in your hands. For someone like me who has worked on the Internet for so long, that was really powerful when I first was able to hold my book in my hands. It had this power that I wasn’t expecting. To answer your question, some books that I really liked recently. I loved Jami Attenberg’s last book, All Grown Up. I just thought it was so smart and funny and poignant, really well done. I really liked Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer. I thought that was such an amazing book. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s book, Americanah, I loved. What else have I … My colleague, Scaachi Koul has a book of essays coming out called One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter, which in my opinion is like the best title for a book of essays ever. Not just because I know Scaachi, but her book is just so good. I’m always a little bit skeptical of people in their 20s who write books of essays or memoirs, but she is so talented and so funny and so sharp. It’s such a good book. She is the daughter of Indian immigrants and grew up in Canada and has really smart things to say about race, and it’s in immigration, and Canada. It’s a really, really great book. Timeless Inspirational Quotes for Writers Kelton Reid: Nice, nice. All right. Before we wrap it up here, I could keep you all afternoon, I’m sure, but you have places to be. As most writers do, do you have a best love quote kind of floating over your desk or in your mind? Doree Shafrir: I don’t really have a quote like that, but I did … No, I saw that question on your list, and I was like, “Huh. Nothing really comes to mind,” But, I did once do a post for BuzzFeed called 24 Quotes That Will Inspire You to Write More. I actually worked pretty hard to find these quotes, but … Kelton Reid: I’m looking it up now. All right. We got it. I’ll link to it. Doree Shafrir: Okay. Cool. There’s Harper Lee saying, “I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent, he would be wise to develop a thick hide.” Kelton Reid: I love it. Doree Shafrir: Ray Bradbury, “Just write every day of your life, read intensely, then see what happens. Most of my friends who were put on that diet have very pleasant careers. Toni Morrison, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” So yeah, you know. All those kinds of quotes, I appreciate. Kelton Reid: I love it. I will link to it. I will link to it often. Before we wrap up with some advice to your fellow scribes, maybe we’ll do one fun one here. If you could choose any author from any era for an all expense paid dinner to your favorite spot in the world, who would you take and where would you take them? Doree Shafrir: It would definitely be Dorothy Parker because she’s just so fascinating and so funny and of a New York that I am fascinated by. I think I would take her to Keens Steakhouse in New York City, which is a very classic New York steakhouse. I would just kind of want to see what she was like in that environment. I think we would have a great time and probably get very drunk. Kelton Reid: That’s awesome. All right, I can picture it. Before you offer advice to your fellow scribes, we will mention the novel one more time. Startup. One of the most anticipated books of this year or any year, really, a hilarious debut novel that proves there are some dilemmas that no app can solve. It’s a lot of fun. I’m enjoying it, get sucked right in, and it’s definitely a page turner. Doree Shafrir: Thank you. Why Done is Sometimes Better than Good Kelton Reid: Listeners, find Startup: A Novel. Can you offer some advice to your fellow writers on how to keep going, how to keep the ink flowing, how to keep the cursor moving? Doree Shafrir: I think really writing everyday, which is something that I don’t always do, but I try to do is really important. I think that quantity influences quality. I think that if you are so concerned with always having everything perfect, you’re never going to write anything. It’s better to finish something than to not finish something because you’re worried that it’s not good. Kelton Reid: Very good, very good. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. Best of luck with finishing up your tour out there. Doree Shafrir: Thank you. Kelton Reid: We hope you come back and chat with us again sometime. Doree Shafrir: Yeah, I’d love to. Thanks for having me. Kelton Reid: All right. Cheers. Thanks so much for joining me for this half of a tour through the writer’s process. If you enjoy The Writer Files podcast, please subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating or a review on iTunes to help other writers find us. For more episodes, or to just leave a comment or a question, you can drop by WriterFiles.FM. And you can always chat with me on Twitter @KeltonReid. Cheers. Talk to you next week.

In this episode we split the Hatewatch Difference. First, Kelsey explores a hatewatch staple, the Prestige HBO Drama Tiny House Hunters. We cover all the bases including yurts, millennial humor, and a Tiny House Hunters drinking game. Then we enter Kelsey's fear landscape with a Hatewatch BYOB, a segment where we each get to bring something to the table potluck style. In this case, The Bachelor serves as the stand in for that shitty friend who always brings PBR, and while Kirstie fails to justify or otherwise expand upon any of her original talking points, we do get pretty deep into some weird shit.

Well, we all saw this coming. Brittany got Meredith sick, and then she trapped her in her basement and made her talk about her HGTV obsession, while drinking bad wine and googling the Property Brothers.

6 AM - 1 - Sean's beard is non-political; Vincent has been watching Tiny House Hunters; The Notorious RBG does 10 push-ups a day; Opening Thoughts. 2 - ; MailBag. 3 - The News with Marshall Phillips. 4 - Russia decriminalized domestic violence.

Today we have Aubree & Jordan, the couple who shocked America by choosing a burned down shack as their dream-home on Tiny House Hunters. I also give rapid fire advice alone & with cartoonist Liz Prince, and try Golden Milk with Morgan Grundstein Helvey.

The guys are back for the fourth installment of the Brunch Breakdown Podcast! Chris, Dan and DD discuss lots of topics this week including: Sunday Brunch stories, driving by OJ’s house, an OJ series update, Wendy Bell, Tiny House Hunters, an entertaining debate on which band/artist needs to return and who should hang it up, an “On the Mat” segment about Wrestlemania, Kanye finally joins Apple, the Pope on Instagram, and another list of new music to check out this week.

There are times when Melanie and I record a podcast and everything seems right in the world. The skies are blue, life is easy, and cheerfulness comes oh-so-naturally. This particular podcast is not necessarily one of those times. But here's the thing, I guess. After the last few weeks and everything that's been going on in the world - not to mention with our close friends and family members - well, we were feeling a little punchy. And while yes, punchy can certainly be funny, we probably weren't showing off the sunniest sides of our personalities the day we recorded episode 62.  But you know what? It ended up being an oddly therapeutic conversation (well, I mean, I can't speak for Melanie, but it was therapy for me, at least). And we covered all sorts of topics: Tiny House Hunters, my great closet clean-out of 2016, the confusion over when a "dress" is actually a shirt, Melanie's lack of interest in a process, my unfortunate experience with a handkerchief dress, plus so much more. Finally, thank you so much for your emails, messages, comments, and prayers during Mama's hospital stay and after she passed away. I said this yesterday on the podcast Facebook page, but the joy of the Lord really has been our strength. Please know that our family is so grateful for y'all.

Welcome to The Horror Writers Podcast, the show with two horror authors discussing all things in the world of horror. At times, music can make or break a movie. Horror has had some great scores and soundtracks, and today, Zach and J., musicians themselves, are talking about some of their favorites. Don't worry Dokken fans, J. has got your back. Also, Zach admits to binging episodes of Tiny House Hunters. Remember to subscribe and to leave comments. We answer all of them. Be on the lookout for new episodes being posted every Sunday. Episode Links: Support The Horror Writers Podcast on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/thehorrorwriterspodcast?ty=h John Carpenter ‘Lost Themes' on Amazon - http://amzn.to/29gxsPE It Follows Soundtrack on Amazon - http://amzn.to/297ttWc Judgement Night Soundtrack on Amazon - http://amzn.to/29x3vIu The Devil's Rejects Soundtrack on Amazon - http://amzn.to/297tBoE The Crow Soundtrack on Amazon - http://amzn.to/297ucXu Zach Bohannon's Website - http://www.zachbohannon.com J. Thorn's Website - http://jthorn.net