The Murverse Mothership

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• The Ditch Diggers come to you live from Jeff Goldblum’s Free-Range Panther Habitat with special guests, Parvus Press co-founder and publisher, Colin Coyle, and FLOTSAM author RJ Theodore, known conversationally as Rekka!
• Jeff Goldblum’s open-door panther policy is discussed, including panther-proofed biometric panther doors, as well as the definition of “honcho” and how many honchos fit in Jeff Goldblum’s spa/pool.
• Colin discusses the founding of Parvus Press and his personal journey to become an indie publisher.
• Rekka talks about FLOTSAM and the journey of an author choosing to go with an indie publisher for their book.
• Colin announces that Parvus Press has inked a national distribution deal for their books, talks about how that happened, and also discusses indie publishers and distribution deals, the pitfalls and positives, and what warning signs to look for when you suspect you’re dealing with a predatory distributor.
• Everyone agrees to collaborate on Jeff Goldblum panther fiction.
• Colin and Rekka take the Ditch Diggers thru the life of an indie book from the perspectives of both the publisher and the author.
• The customary end-of-episode shilling, including an unprecedented shilling move from Matt!
• Rekka’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/bittybittyzap
• Colin’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/cwcoyle
• Parvus Press on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParvusPress
• Parvus Press Website: https://parvuspress.com/
• Buy FLOTSAM: http://a.co/d/1U8b7Us
• Rekka’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rjtheodore
• Hybrid Author Podcast: https://www.rjtheodore.com/hybrid-author-podcast/

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• Matt and Mur come to you live from Jeff Goldblum’s Seattle-based CPAP Emporium with special returning guest, Hugo-nominated writer, editor, and disability activist, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry
• The Ditch Diggers explain the incredibly inside-baseball location of today’s episode.
• Elsa answers a listener’s question about networking as an author with a disability, particularly at conventions, and con accessibility.
• Self-rejecting as an author (or other creative) with a disability, and how to deal with writing disability-forward fiction in the current marketplace.
• Elsa explains ME BEFORE YOU to Matt, who was unfamiliar with both the book and the movie, and her issues with it.
• Elsa and the Ditch Diggers discuss sensitivity editing.
• Matt is still upset Mur looked better in the hats given to winners at this year’s Hugo Losers Party (plus George’s Chicken Hats. You’ll find out.)
• Listener Q&A! Topics include tie-in novelization writing and including LGBTQ characters in your fiction.

• Elsa on Twitter: https://twitter.com/snarkbat
• Elsa’s blog: http://feministsonar.com/elsa/
• Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction: https://uncannymagazine.com/issues/uncanny-magazine-issue-twenty-four/
• Chicago University Dialogue Series on Censorship: https://voices.uchicago.edu/censorship/dialogueseries/

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• Mur and Matt come to you live from Jodie Foster’s Hurricane Florence Relief Center.
• It’s been a little while since the Ditch Diggers hit you with a newly recorded episode, and they explain why.
• Matt and Mur talk about their WorldCon 76 experiences, including (winning at) the Hugo Awards, the Hugo Losers Party, and staging Ditch Diggers Live!
• Matt talks about losing his marketing writing job after the agency unexpectedly closed its doors, and what’s happened since.
• Mur talks about post-WorldCon turmoil. Family vacation, finishing another unannounced secret project, the release of SOLO, her Star Wars movie novelization, and a freaking hurricane.
• Mur talks about depression and imposter syndrome and sudden realization and working on your internal life.
• The Ditch Diggers discuss how your goals change after you’ve achieved many of the big professional freelance writer benchmarks, and what goals mean when you’re an author.
• Matt and Mur catch up on some listener Q&A! Topics include signing with agents, the differences between writing fiction and non-fiction, and starting new projects.
• Mentioned in this episode: Matt’s WorldCon vlog, including the Ditch Diggers’ Hugo acceptance speech: https://youtu.be/YLFRKUPb40Y

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:09:32 — 51.1MB)

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• Mur and Matt come to you live after abandoning Morgan Freeman’s elaborate and fictitious estate (because, once again, the Ditch Diggers believe women) and tunneling from the interstate (for reasons Mur explains) to Jeff Goldblum’s modest empire. Or possibly Jodie Foster’s underground lair. It’s all very complicated, but we’re working on it.
• After a typically masterful Ditch Diggers segue, Matt and Mur turn their attention to the hot button topic of the week on Twitter (a recurring and always relevant hot button topic): unpaid internships, particularly in freelance writing fields.
• Mur and Matt talk about the classist wall that are unpaid internships, and how they exist as a barrier between anyone who isn’t financially independent from entering the industry.
• How the concept of unpaid internships are normalized to the point people actually defend them and how the general public still thinks creative work should be done for free.
• The hard wiring of people to accept “the way it’s always been” as the way it should be.
• Matt reminds you that JoBlo.com is a low-rent stalker porn website posing as a movie news website that exploits its writers and editors.
• The idea that those who suffered before you did it so you wouldn’t have to. Also, capitalism!
• Matt and Mur discuss how to actually abolish the unpaid internship model and change the system for the better.
• Matt tells a story that segues into the next topic, which is related to the previous topic, which is film/TV representation for authors.
• Matt and Mur talk about dealing with the entertainment agent, manager, or entity your literary agency might partner with.
• Twitter Q&A! When should you start looking for an agent? Are business cards for writers?

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