Podcasts, Projects

Ditch Diggers #41: HOT BUTTON TOPICS

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What Are People Mad About Today?
Ditch Diggers 41: Hot Button Topics

  • Matt and Mur come to you live from Morgan Freeman’s 24-hour news network control room where we are discussing the latest hot button topics on the news! (Mur has a new applause machine, but it’s not working right now, so you’ll have to infer the applause.)
  • Sound f/x as the new vernacular, and addiction to sound f/x machines.
  • Mur and Matt are tackling ISSUES on this HOT BUTTON EPISODE of Ditch Diggers. AKA heatedly discussed topics recently on writer social media.
  • Matt explains (poorly and too meta, according to Mur) what hot button issues are and how they come into being.
  • Mur explains (far more eloquently) the nature of click-bait and how it drives/poisons discourse on the internet.
  • Hot Button #1: The infamous “if you don’t write every day you’re not a real writer” article and the larger “real writer” myth.
  • Hot Button #2: The “don’t you dare smack talk your copy editor on social media” debate, and the larger issue of how important discourse gets derailed by pretense and false premises. We also discuss the difference between discussing issues and discussing individuals, and authors criticizing other authors.
  • Hot Button #3: “Literary” magazines publishing genre fiction, and also not paying authors.
  • Matt and Mur go on a tangent about the detriment of labeling fiction and how the market has shrunk.
  • Returning to the hot button, Matt and Mur talk about the difference between the business of “literary” and SFF magazines.
  • Twitter Q&A! Questions include outlining book series, “bonehead” things aspiring writers do again and again, and knives.

Matt and Mur shill their books, GREEDY PIGS and RENCOR and SIX WAKES respectively, and remind Hugo voting listeners Ditch Diggers is up for best fancast, so vote for us!

Affiliate links to our books!

Projects

[P1] The Daughters’ Pact

The Page One Project / June 1, 2017

“Dead at school or alive in the woods,” Darla had said. But she had wanted to meet at night, and Serena’s closest experience with nature had been her mother’s window flower box.

Right before she was ready to panic, give up, and pull out the forbidden phone, Serena spied a light flickering through the trees. She breathed a sigh as she finally found her bearings. She hurried toward it, trying not to make a lot of noise to attract the wrong kind of attention, but trying to make enough noise to avoid sneaking up on the others.

Jasmine stood by the fire, holding her hands over it and staring at it. A stuffed backpack sat at her feet, leaning slightly against her calf. Her tight braids hung around her face, and only her eyes were visible.

Darla gathered more tinder for the fire, looking up at Serena when she arrived, acknowledging her with a nod, and then getting back to work. Her limp was less pronounced in the woods. Why had Serena never noticed that before?

HD sat leaning against a log, her hair short and dirty, face twisted as if pained. Her hand clenched on the sack on her lap: a fraying vinyl bag that said Carolina Mudcats. Its thin straps, no wider than thick yarn, drooped over her legs, and Serena wondered how much it hurt to carry it.

HD’s eyes flicked to her as she joined them. “You’re late,” she said. “Did you bring them?”

Serena nodded. “All I could find, anyway.” She dropped her leather backpack on the ground and opened it. Trying to hide her distaste, she reached in and grabbed the bundle of bloody rags, drawing them slowly out.

Darla watched her, transfixed. “Do we really have to do this? If my mother ever finds out-”

“Sure, your mother is what we have to worry about here,” HD interrupted. She rubbed her face, leaving a smear of dirt. “Your mother is the least of our worries.”

What happens next? That’s up to you.

Read more about The Page One Project here.

Creative Commons License
The Page One Project by Mur Lafferty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Links are affiliate.
Podcasts, Projects

ISBW #376: Must you be writing daily? And Robyn Bennis interview!

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Is Writing Daily a Necessity?

Writing daily, with Robyn Bennis interview
Robyn Bennis

A new article has writer Twitter in a froth. It turns out that someone wrote a clickbait article about how if you aren’t writing daily, then you might as well quit. This is so, so, so wrong.

Did I write daily for a while? Yes. Do I recommend the Magic Spreadsheet for others who want to write daily? Yes. Did it help me and others? Yes. But telling you that you MUST write daily because I did is like saying that since I ran a marathon, everyone must run a marathon else they have no chance of being an athlete. So I get into that more in this episode.

Then I talk to Robyn Bennis, author of the debut novel The Guns Above! (Note, the interview has some NSFW words but I reversed them, so there’s no swearing but there are a few strange backward-sounding words. But I do have a new tool coming to make bleeping words easier!)

Also, don’t miss the latest Ditch Diggers regarding parenting and a writing career!

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Podcasts, Projects

Ditch Diggers #40: Ditches for Writers and Parents

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Show Notes for the Parents

(Note, we are having some problems with the official Ditch Diggers site, so please be patient with us.)

  • Mur and Matt welcome parents: author Adam Rakunas and author, games, transmedia, and screenwriter Andrea Phillips as guest co-hosts!
    Andrea Phillips: Writers and Parents
    Andrea Phillips [Ditches for Writers and Parents]
  • Adam and Andrea are both full-time freelance writers and full-time primary caregivers to their (what seems to Matt to be, anyway) many children.
  • Recording this episode was delayed because Adam’s daughter vomited on literally everything in the world, which sets a perfect tone for the topic of the show.
  • Andrea and Adam share their backgrounds as writers, how and when they started, and where they are now.
  • Full-time caregiving while full-time writing, and how each affects the other.
  • Matt asks if having kids changes your professional goals as a writer (e.g. lights a larger fire under your ass to succeed).
  • Andrea talks how being a mother unduly influences others’ perception of her and her writing, the struggles of that, and about crowdfunding her Lucy Smokeheart series of fiction.
  • Mur asks about scheduling conflicts and other insightful things as the sole Ditch Digging parent among the regular hosts.
  • Our guest co-hosts tackle Q&A from Twitter!

Links

Adam Rakunas: Writers and Parents
Adam Rakunas [Ditches for Writers and Parents]
News

I’m Back at Escape Pod – and More

Escape Pod

Escape Pod
Escape Pod

I’ve been bad about announcing this, but it went public two weeks ago that I have rejoined the editorial staff of Escape Pod! We put Mothership Zeta on hiatus and then the new editor Divya Breed invited me join her as she took the helm of EP.

I love podcast fiction and I’ve always loved EP, so I happily stayed with the Escape Artists family in another role. I’ve been working on the backend (stories, decision making, etc) for a few months now, but we just announced it to the public. Today will feature my first host spot.

It’s great to be back at the longest running short fiction podcast. We have some big plans for the future, including planning for the big episode 600.

Nebula Weekend

So many of my friends are off at the Nebulas this weekend, and I hope they have a great time. I’ll be watching the awards ceremony on Saturday night – I know too many nominees not to. It’s a tough year, which is a good thing for science fiction.

The Nebulas are our industry awards, voted on only by members of SFWA. They often mirror the Hugo Award ballot, but not always (especially in the past few years.) This year they’re fairly close, actually. Sadly, the Nebulas don’t award comics or podcasts, but there is an award for movies: The Bradbury.

And, as Ursula Vernon let me hold hers once, I can attest that one can use the statue as a very effective blunt weapon. So if the revolution comes on Nebula night, I’d hide behind a winner if I were you.

Official Cover for I Should Be Writing

My editor sent me more details about the I Should Be Writing book, which is slated for release August 8. The final cover just came out, and it’s a beauty. You can totally preorder it, you know.

I Should Be Writing cover
I Should Be Writing cover
Podcasts, Projects

ISBW #375: Feedback with Pacing, the Magical Negro Trope, and more

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It’s a feedback show where I go back through the spring and clean up the outstanding questions and topics!

Feedback Show Notes

ISBW Cover (Feedback Ep)
ISBW Cover

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Podcasts, Projects

Ditch Diggers #39: Lexi Alexander and Punching Hollywood. Metaphorically.

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Lexi Alexander is Punching Hollywood
Lexi Alexander
  • Mur and Matt come to you live from Morgan Freeman’s Dojo (where we’re punching Hollywood) with special guest co-host writer, director, and martial artist Lexi Alexander!
  • Lexi is excited to talk about the writing side of her career as a director of films like Green Street Hooligans, Punisher: War Zone, the Oscar-nominated Johnny Flynton, and pretty much ALL of the TV series.
  • How we needlessly shake the confidence of English-as-a-second-language writers in America. How a chance encounter with Quentin Tarantino cured Lexi of that self-confidence issue.
  • Lexi recounts how she began her career as a writer and filmmaker. (It involves Chuck Norris. No, seriously).
  • It’s easier to be accepted as a woman in a martial arts/competitive combat sports environment than it is to be accepted as a female filmmaker in Hollywood.
  • Lexi talks about the many challenges women writers and directors face in the entertainment industry. She includes her own experiences.
  • Lexi tells the Ditch Diggers about her recently sold pilot script, the process of writing it, and what inspired/motivated both.
  • Lexi talks about what stopped her from writing for a long time, how she almost left the business to become a war correspondent, and what brought her back.
  • Mur asks about the difference between working on your own film projects and writing/adapting the work and ideas of others, and how you survive doing both.
  • Lexi takes questions from Twitter!
  • Mur and Matt attempt unsuccessfully to end the show several times, but Lexi is just too damn enthusiastic and complimentary about everyone. (New goal: Get both Cory Doctorow and Lexi on the show together.)

Lexi on Twitter: @Lexialex
Lexi’s website
Lexi on IMDb

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News

Appearance! Flyleaf Books with Cory Doctorow!

HEY- if you are in the Triangle area, I will be appearing at Flyleaf Books this Friday night! Cory Doctorow will be coming through on his book tour for his new book Walkaway, and I am joining him for a conversation about the book. I hope to see you there!

From Flyleaf Books:

Fri 5/5, 7pm – 8pm
Cory Doctorow discusses his new novel Walkaway in conversation with Mur Lafferty. Walkaway is Cory Doctorow’s first adult novel in eight years: an epic tale of revolution, love, post-scarcity, and the end of death.

Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow

Hubert Vernon Rudolph Clayton Irving Wilson Alva Anton Jeff Harley Timothy Curtis Cleveland Cecil Ollie Edmund Eli Wiley Marvin Ellis Espinoza—known to his friends as Hubert, Etc—was too old to be at that Communist party.

But after watching the breakdown of modern society, he really has no where left to be—except amongst the dregs of disaffected youth who party all night and heap scorn on the sheep they see on the morning commute. After falling in with Natalie, an ultra-rich heiress trying to escape the clutches of her repressive father, the two decide to give up fully on formal society—and walk away.

After all, now that anyone can design and print the basic necessities of life—food, clothing, shelter—from a computer, there seems to be little reason to toil within the system.

Event date:
Friday, May 5, 2017 – 7:00pm
Event address:
752 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Podcasts, Projects

ISBW #374 – Writing conflict with two facets (at least)

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We are back to basics this week with conflict and what tools you need in your toolbox to create strong characters and plots. Show notes ahoy!

ISBW Cover - conflict
ISBW Cover
  • I credit one of the things that is making me consistent lately to taking ADHD meds for the first time. Yay, mental health!
  • Been feeling invisible lately. It’s not too terribly bad, but it’s strange. I can’t go into details, but dang, it’s not a good feeling.
  • I started a new book! Alasdair Stuart code named it SPACE MEAT DINER for me. I probably will not submit the book under this title. Current wordcount (including proposal parts) 7706.
  • Main Topic: Conflict!
    • Characters work best with an internal conflict to make fighting the external conflict harder.
    • Internal conflicts include: phobias (India Jones and snakes), flaws (Hamlet’s hubris), or basic human weaknesses (inability to address your own needs, like unrequited love).
    • Internal conflict will shape how the character deals with the other conflicts you put in their story.

We will see you in two weeks for a feedback show. Next week I will have a new Ditch Diggers for you!

Email: mightymur at gmail
Twitter: mightymur
Patreon: patreon.com/mightymur


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(I have managed a weekly show for a while now! WOW! My audio is not the best in this show, but I think I’ve figured out what is wrong and next one should be different.)

Podcasts, Projects

Ditch Diggers #38: Tobias Buckell and The Power of No

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:15:20 — 49.7MB)

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Tobias Buckell
Tobias Buckell
  • Live from Morgan Freeman’s bear sanctuary, it’s the (Hugo Finalist!) Ditch Diggers with special guest co-host Tobias Buckell!
  • Mur recounts Toby blowing her mind this past January at ConFusion in Detroit, which prompted his appearance on the show.
  • Toby talks about accessing your inner asshole (the tactful version uses Toby’s description: “the power of no”) in negotiations as a freelancer.
  • What happened when Toby had to stop accepting con invitations on his own dollar, and how it took him to the next level as an author and speaker.
  • Toby on releasing his earlier work as a self-published book and educational tool for writers.
  • Toby talks about trying out Patreon as a partial income replacement for a year, what prompted it, and how it’s going.
  • Twitter and email Q&A! Many of Toby’s fans ask him questions ranging from professional advice to the inside scoop on characters from his Xenowealth universe.

Also mentioned by Toby in this episode…

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