Lasers, Dragons, and Keyboards Podcast

In this week’s (bonus!) episode of the show, Josh and Liberty pick Aaron’s brain on what happened in Philadelphia at Realm Makers 2016. For anyone who hasn’t been, the camaraderie is amazing, and you immediately feel like you’ve found your tribe.

This year, Aaron got to hear sessions from Thomas Locke, Tosca Lee, and Kathy Tyers, among others. Aaron shares some of his notes from Tosca’s sessions on characterization (these are really good!) Josh and Liberty wished we were in this session alongside him!

We decide that for 2017, we need a cloning machine. There’s too many sessions that we want to go to! (But we’re pretty sure that’s part of the plan since the founders do sell recordings!)

Creativity is one of the rarest gifts. We have our creativity to honor God with, and that’s who we are, no matter what our day job is. Love it and know you’re meant to do that. — Tom Black

Realm Makers 2017 is at the Atlantis Casino & Resort in Reno, NV July 27 – 29. You need to be there! Registration opens in the spring (usually in late March or April 1.)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqGc3VZy0sQ]

This week on the show, we’re lacking Josh, but we have the wonderful Mary Ruth Pursselley on with us! Aaron and Liberty have trouble getting into a good rhythm without Josh, so there’s a bit of back and forth as those two try to get going.

Mary Ruth is the author of epic fantasy novel, Song of the Wren Falcon, and a lover of hot tea.

In Episode 33:

• Mastering subtext–or at least faking it when your readers pick up on something you didn’t necessarily intend.
• Rewriting and redrafting multiple times on your first novel.
• Doing a redemption theme well. (Aaron kinda geeks out about this!)
• Embarrassing ways to be discovered while figuring out choreography for a sword fight by ones brother.
• Interesting medical stuff researched.
• Aaron talks Mary Ruth out of her favorite superhero, then proceeds to tease both the women about Tom Hiddleston.
• Early childhood crushes.
• Mary Ruth’s boyfriend had to twist her arm to be in a relationship by watching a particular movie.
• Mary Ruth shares some bitterness towards the hosts for forcing her to join Facebook. 😉

In Episode 34:

• Confessions of a full-on pantser!
• Chaotic first drafts and how they inform you in the future when you look back.
• Binge-watching My Little Pony.
• Having friends to help with problems in your book.
• The benefits of having neighbors far away when you’re a fantasy novelist.
• Useful ideas on how to overcome writer’s block.
• Mary Ruth’s Earl Grey snobbery. 😉
• The crazy things Mary Ruth has Googled and her new favorite word.
• Mary Ruth’s profound advice to new authors (not what you’d expect!)

Links:

Mary Ruth Pursselley
Song of the Wren Falcon
Raphael Sabitini (Captain Blood, The Seahawk, Scar Moonshade)
Patrick W. Carr (listen to his interviews: Part 1 & Part 2)
J.R.R. Tolkien
L.M. Montgomery (Emily of New Moon)
Mary Ruth on Instagram
Mary Ruth on Facebook

While forcing Mary Ruth to join Facebook (Aaron in center, photo taken by Liberty.) Previous guests Kat Heckenbach and Grace Bridges pictured.

We’re delighted to have contemporary fantasy author K.M. (aka Kessie) Carroll on our show this week! After we discuss the heat in Arizona (where Kessie lives), and Aaron gives Liberty a really hard time, we actually get down to the business of the day.

In Episode 31

• The Spacetime Legacy, Kessie’s urban fantasy series, and her wish to see it in a Manga form.
• The origins of her series
• Sacrificial cars
• Superstition Mountains (super creepy stories!)
• Arizona Vortexes (No,  not that kind…)
• Classic Batman show from the 1960s…and her kids’ likely reaction to watching the show. (Hilarity ensues.)
• Kessie’s Doctor (Who)
• Writing with 5 kids (great advice for ALL of us parents.)
• Scrivener for iOS (Which should be out by the time you can hear this! Yay!)
• Discussing Jim Butcher (some of it got cut…if our listeners could be flies on the walls during our intermissions!)

In Episode 32

• Overly suggestive book titles for outlining (Take Off Your Pants)
• Dealing with writer’s block, and why it may be happening.
• Kessie’s ideal Chai latte, as well as hot chocolate
• How a city might respond to a zombie apocalypse.
• E-Reader News Today & Pixel of Ink going belly up. 🙁
• A very unusual answer to our fandom question. 🙂
• When readers read into your books deeper than you intended. Lots of funnies.
• You’re allowed to write crap, just keep writing.

Links:

• K.M. Carroll
• The Spacetime Legacy
• Magic Weaver (latest in her series)
• Diana Wynne Jones (Howl’s Moving Castle)
• Sara Prineas
• Elizabeth Goudge
• Jim Butcher (Dresden Files)
• Larry Correia (Monster Hunter’s International)
• Domino Finn (Black Magic Outlaw)
• Heartstriker Series by Rachel Aaron
• Take Off Your Pants by Libbie Hawker
• Bookzio
• Story Cartel
• Mark Dawson’s Self-Publishing Formula
• The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones

On this episode we spoke with Patrick Carr, author of the Staff and Sword Series, about his venture into the Darkwater Saga and the Shock of Night.

A trilogy of trilogies awaits!

In these episodes, Patrick keeps us laughing. Also, you’ll never believe how accident prone Patrick is!

All of us wax nostalgic at some point…you’d think we’re old or something!

In Episode 29

• Odd character traits with Patrick’s main character. (How does sleep walking and murders correlate?)
• Writing with an unreliable protagonist.
• Hating your writing while you’re writing.
• Juggling. Emergency room visits! We manage to gross Aaron out. How Patrick uses his own accidents to inform his books.
• How to recast your books from one setting to another when your editor and agent tell you to.
• Fencing stories! Some engineering talk, which is totally fascinating.
• Googling has some interesting answers…including how dogs see.
• We get off into old time radio and radio broadcasts in general because of Patrick’s answer to the superhero question.
• You will NEVER guess Patrick’s answer to his Captain. Never, never, never!
• Patrick’s looking forward to teaching a class at Realm Makers!

In Episode 30

• Character-driven fantasy, and how he accomplishes this in his plotting process.
• Patrick and his disagreeable muse.
• Planning for a series long-term + happy circumstance
• Re-doing books from scratch…under deadline
• Carrying around your books and your characters in your head all the time.
• Patrick’s advice: be a merciless critic where your writing is concerned.
• Patrick’s methods for attacking writer’s block
• Candy bar in a cup drinks at Starbucks at Christmas
• Patrick shares some of his techniques for making perfect fudge (yes, seriously)
• Patrick and Liberty discuss rigor mortis…and gross Aaron out
• Traditional marketing advice from Patrick’s agent, Steve Laube. The phrase “literary Amway guy” comes into play.
• Patrick’s funny experiences of being an author

Links:

Patrick Carr
The Darkwater Saga
The Shock of Night
Home Improvement
Steve Laube (Patrick’s agent!)
David Eddings (The Belgariad)
Steven R. Donaldson (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant)
Robert Ludlum
Brandon Sanderson
C. S. Lewis (Screwtape Letters; The Space Trilogy)
Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series
The Magician by Raymond Feist

Mike Duran, author of The Ghost Box and Saint Death, novels in the Reagan Moon para-noir series, joins us in Episodes 27 & 28 this week. We had a blast talking to him. Sometimes funny, sometimes very serious, Mike is a former pastor and he definitely keeps us on our toes throughout both episodes.

As Christian writers…hope has to be a pretty big factor in our writing. ~Mike Duran

In Episode 27:

Mike shares about his unlikely background, which includes going from dabbling in the occult to being a pastor. We’re pretty sure it informs Reagan Moon’s stories, which are definitely fun reads, but they may not be for all our listeners. Mike describes Reagan in a bit of a…colorful…manner. 😉

We discuss paranormal stuff…and Mike suggests that a lot of that may exist more than people realize. You may or may not agree, but it’s still a fascinating discussion.

So, what you’re saying is that life is a little more like Hot Topic than we want to admit? ~Aaron DeMott

Why Los Angeles needed to be the setting for the Reagan Moon books…I think when you hear his reasoning, it’ll make perfect sense.

The background for Saint Death is really a fascinating discussion, and some of it has been in the news in the last few months (I vaguely remember hearing about it.) Mike describes a research trip he and his wife did in the process of writing this book. It’s interesting, to say the least.

Mike’s answer to our superhero question raises a few eyebrows. But given his background, it makes perfect sense.

Gremlins! (And not the movie!) The true origins of ghost boxes (who knew?)! Some moderately gross stuff (that may make some of our listeners squeamish!)

Mike’s “what’s up next” is definitely something to look forward to if you’re a writer interested in horror and/or writing from a faith perspective and what the parameters are for that.

In Episode 28, Stand On Your Head:

Our Plotting vs Pantsing question sends us down a hilarious rabbit trail, before Mike helps us get back on track. Then he talks about his own paranoia as a writer. Mike shares how he figures out what book to write next.

We discuss the learning curve of Scrivener, but also the benefits, too. (Hint: we all use Scrivener and LOVE it.)

Mike compares the editing process to a visit to a dentist, and while it’s a gross comparison in a way, it has a lot of merit. Had us in stitches! 🙂

Writer’s block, or the lack thereof. Mike’s solutions for feeling inspirationally dry are tremendously helpful (and is a technique I’ve used myself!) Mike starts waxing philosophical about writer’s inspirational…and it gets deep (in a good way.)

Mike recommends not eating or drinking during writing, and also uses a standing desk. He believes he writes better when he’s standing.

What characteristic does Mike share with his son? (Hint: it kind of grosses Aaron out!) And yeah, we went there. Mike compares his marketing practices to corpses about to be autopsied. (He’s kidding.)

Through giggles, we manage to get in some deep theological discussion. Which, if you’ve read Mike’s blog, shouldn’t surprise you at all. When we start discussing theology in tandem with physics and the reality of time, it gets deep. Truly a fascinating discussion.

Listen to Episode 27
Listen to Episode 28

Links:

Mike Duran
The Ghost Box
Saint Death
Peace Like a River (Leif Enger)
Moby Dick
Dante
Twilight Zone
Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas Series
Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein
Tosca Lee’s Demon
Realm Makers
Ex Machina (motion picture)
Drawing On the Right Side of Your Brain
Eternity in Their Heart
The Creator and the Cosmos

Due to some last minute circumstances, we had our guest for our normal recording session reschedule on us, so what’s a podcast to do? Well, we filled it with discussing some aspects of the writing life! Sorry to our reader-only listeners, this one is mostly focused on writing. But we do take a few bunny trails that our readers may enjoy!

Aaron & Josh have some helpful marriage advice for all the guys out there, some of it coming from The Red Green Show.

Then we get into the meat of the podcast. All three of us share what our “normal” lives look like, and then how we balance in our writing time.

We were taking listener questions during this episode, and someone asked us how long it takes for us to WRITE our first drafts. I (Liberty) kind of took over the show at that point for a while before giving the guys a chance to share.

First draft: Say it.
Second draft: Say what you mean.
Third draft: Say it well.
~Sean Platt

We do talk editing at length (and I think we need to do an editing episode–any freelance editors want to come on and talk editing exclusively?) And we also talk about goals with our careers.

Some of our favorite resources come up (see our short links list below!) Fight scenes are a lengthy part of the discussion.

And we cover some of the quirky questions we ask our guests. 🙂 Aaron and Liberty disagree about the quality of Star Trek: Voyager (which we’re pretty sure is going to be a topic that comes up again…and again…and again…) Discussion about the merit of time-travel episodes may or may not happen.

Tune in to hear which books we think should be turned into movies and/or TV shows.

Listen Now

Links

Writing Fight Scenes by Rayne Hall
Anne McCafferey’s Pern Series
Codex Alera by Jim Butcher
Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Dresden Files (TV series)
Wheel of Time
J.D. Robb’s In Death series
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
The Martian by Andy Weir (book)
The Martian (movie)

Supernatural gifts, demons, and martial arts – oh my!

Amy Brock McNew

In our two segments with Amy Brock McNew, Aaron manages to break Amy before we barely even get started. Which is totally epic.

Amy, for those of you not in the know, is the author of REBIRTH, which debuts May 24th. She is an interesting character (and one you may be hearing more from in the near future!)

In Episode 22:

• Why Amy wrote REBIRTH, which sounds a lot like many other authors’ reasons for writing their books.
• The cathartic background of REBIRTH for Amy.
• Amy teases the sequel, RECONCILIATION, in her description of her favorite character in the book. (There’s popcorn involved!) And it makes all of us want to read Rebirth.
• Crazy looks from the neighbors (this story is totally worth the entire interview)
• Some of the freaky things that Amy ran across in the course of research, and how off so much of it was.

Isn’t this an amazing book cover?

In Episode 23:

• We are Josh-less in this part!
• The myriad of places that Amy’s notes end up during her plotsing process.
• Her unbelievable production rate during NaNoWriMo
• Her crazy Scrivener/note card hybrid organizing process.
• Paydays, yellow Starbursts, Jelly Bellies, and all the other goodies in Amy’s desk.
• Vampiric blood (you have to listen to hear how this figures in).
• How Pinterest figures in to her relating to her readers.
• How her background in journalism led to her being surprised by the author culture.
• Where her heart is and what she wants to do in the future where that is concerned.

Links!

Amy Brock McNew
Rebirth (on preorder until May 24, 2016)
Tosca Lee (Demon)
Ronie Kendig.
Michele Israel Harper
Scrivener
J.R.R. Tolkien
Firefly
Gilbert Morris HOUSE OF WINSLOW series
The Rigs
Red

Listen to Episode 22
Listen to Episode 23

We were delighted to have Kat Heckenbach on the podcast this week! Kat is the author of Finding Angel & Seeking Unseen, both entries in the Toch Island Chronicles. With origins in biology, math, and art, her journey to become an author took a bit of circuitous route.

We had a bit of technical difficulties with this podcast, so we apologize for a few blips here and there. I think Aaron suggests juggling a couple rabbits and/or tin foil for the next time. 😉

Happenings In Part 1:

With Kat’s background in biology, she shares how that informs the Toch Island Chronicles. The flora and fauna are very important details in her books! The Lord of the Rings is also discussed and how it figures into Kat’s favorite character in her books. There’s magically-powered electric guitars involved! (This, I gotta see!) With the biology background, it really feeds into how adamant Kat is about the setting of her books. I can’t recall if we’ve seen any of our guests so far be so firm about a story location! Reasons for writing fantasy abound, and there be sheep involved! And as we get into Kat’s answer to our superhero question, Aaron brings up some trivia about the making of The Avengers.

Goings On In Part 2:

As we shift into writing mode, we of course ask our plotting versus pantsing question. Kat’s answer involves a lot of notecards. Can you guess her answer? Because Aaron has an irreverent solution to her notecard “problem.” About that point in the show, we start plotting against Aaron’s neighbor’s tree….which continues to cause connectivity issues for the podcast. Getting back on track (is this a possibility with this bunch?), we talk about a lack of snacks and drinks with Kat and why that is.

We hates research, Precious! That is why we writes fantasy!

Every writer’s favorite part of the episode: Kat offers some of her favorite tips for marketing, and some are pretty off beat options, but definitely viable for most every author.

Even though Kat’s is a well-known Harry Potter fan, her answer to our new fandom question may surprise you. But her favorite book is the Harry Potter series. Can you guess which one? And as we wrap things up with Kat for this time, her most surprising thing about being a writer may just surprise you as well.

This and a whole lot more—with lots of laughing!—in this week’s episode.

Links to topics we discussed:
Kat Heckenbach
Finding Angel
Seeking Unseen
J.K. Rowling
Brandon Sanderson (Y.A. stuff)
Brandon Mull (Fable Haven series)
Cornelia Funke
Sage Blackwood

Listen to Episode 20
Listen to Episode 21

This week with Cindy Koepp…

Hi ho, Silver, away! We learn about the strange inspiration for “Like Herding the Wind”… Also, this book was apparently set in every location known to man (and some that weren’t) before the final draft.
We also learn that Cindy loves to write fight scenes… hmm….

What does a 1925 Ford have to do with Like Herding the Wind? You’ll have to listen to find out. Also, we get a new answer to “What’s your favorite superhero?”!!

Part 2:

Some people make it up as they go, some people take a few notes along the way, then there’s Cindy… take a listen to learn about her… detailed… process.

Cindy also talks about too many subplots, and what to do with those little rascals, and a lot more.

Things we talked about:

• Cindy Koepp
• Like Herding the Wind
• Bruce Hale‘s Chet Gheko series
• Gordon R. Dixon‘s Dorsai’s series
• Janet Kagen‘s Hellspark
• Space 1999 (BBC)
• Travis Perry‘s Medieval Mars

Episode 19 Audio