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Ditch Diggers #93: Virtual Conventions

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:25 — 38.6MB)

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  • Mur and Matt come to you live from the Shelter-in-Place Shelter That’s Right Next To The Quarantine Room In Our Manor (there’s a sign that says this above the door) in the plague times!
  • Mur has been amusing herself with Animal Crossing, and Matt explains what he thinks Animal Crossing is solely based on the screen shots he’s seen people post on Twitter.
  • Mur was planning to fly to New Zealand for WorldCon this year, and now she is no longer doing that, nor is WorldCon happening in New Zealand as it is going virtual this year!
  • Matt encourages everyone having to cancel non-refundable travel to complain to the airlines until they at least give you a credit.
  • The Ditch Diggers discuss how the pandemic lockdown has revealed a lot about the arbitrary unwillingness of institutions, businesses, and people in general to make workplaces and events more accessible to those with accessibility issues.
  • Virtual/online models for conventions should be integrated into the culture after the lockdown ends.
  • What we do lose with conventions not consisting of congregating in person in a specific place with other people.
  • How virtual conventions might replicate the physical con-going experience from “barcon” to other random meet-ups.
  • The benefits of online cons, such as more easily archiving and making available convention content digitally after the event, and making the con more accessible to a wider range of people and guests.
  • The challenges of virtual cons, such as timezone differences and international attendees possibly having to wake up at 3:00 a.m. to attend their panels.
  • The possibility of virtual cons opening up the field for ancillary online events that occur around the same time, and Matt and Mur talk about hosting a live Ditch Diggers and possibly an online freelance business seminar.
  • Send us more of your Ditch Diggers business of writing/writing as a business questions! We want to hear from you!
  • Mur talks about the Patreon, and both how the Ditch Diggers fully understand people having to walk back their pledges and how the Ditch Diggers Discord has been opened up to more folks!
  • Matt still has a book coming out, and it just got a starred review in Library Journal! Please preorder SAVAGE LEGION, hopefully from your local bookstore, coming July 21st!
  • Matt and Mur end the episode with obscure references to The Office, like pros.

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Podcasts, Projects

ISBW #488: We’ve been served poop juice. (AKA The Artist’s Way again)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:59 — 12.4MB)

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Well it should be called The Artist’s Way, but I talk a lot about poop juice. And poop po’boys*. And I don’t swear. The Discord will have a new channel to discus it if anyone wants to join me!

Hey! Red Meat is online!

Artist’s Way on Indiebound and Amazon.

*my daughter said “please never say that in my presence again”

Podcasts, Projects

Ditch Diggers #92: So you’re working from home now…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:56 — 37.4MB)

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NOTE- Recorded last week (the 12th I think?) and the news has moved fast since.

Matt and Mur come to you live from their shiny new quarantine room within the new Ditch Diggers mansion.

  • The Ditch Diggers are not theological scholars.
  • COVID-19 is discussed, as is America’s response to it, because how could they not be? It’s a pandemic. And Matt and Mur are in America.
  • Many people are working at home right now, and thus the topic of the episode emerges.
  • How “doing more stuff around the house” can become your whole day when you work from home, and transitioning your daily/weekly commute time into valuable work-from-home time.
  • The foundation of your new work-from-home routine is still getting ready like you’re going to go to work.
  • You have to find your version of pants.
  • Advice for people for whom “stick to a routine” is useless advice, and how writers are the worst people to put in charge of writers.
  • Working from home with partners/spouses and also kids.
  • Matt talks about staying in the moment when you work from home, triaging tasks, and the almighty reward system.
  • Mur talks about her Two-Face-esque random chance method of managing daily tasks.
  • At the end of the day, you just have to find the method that works for you, and working from home is a wholly individualistic thing.
  • Mur talks about the Pomodoro Method and Matt invents the Pompadour Method.
  • Twitter Q&A! Topics include choosing your “people,” those from whom you take advice on your work.
  • Read more romance!
  • The ceremonial end of episode shilling (buy Mur’s SIX WAKES which is still not about a space deli and please preorder Matt’s book SAVAGE LEGION).

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