Clarion is currently underway in California, and Shaun Farrell of Adventures in SciFi Publishing is getting interviews with the instructors. (I’m not jealous). But Shaun did allow me to put these amazing interviews in my feed, because I know you’ll get a lot out of it.
From AISFP
In our last episode with the instructors of Clarion, Nalo Hopkinson and Geoff Ryman discuss how San Diego has changed the culture of Clarion, issues of race in SF, the birth of Mundane Science Fiction, and much more.
Show Notes
Sam is back, and she tells us a little bit about her week at Comic-Con.
Publishing News: Wizards of the Coast has cancelled its new Discoveries imprint.
Nalo Hopkinson and Geoff Ryman took a break from preparing dinner to talk with me about Clarion, the ubiquity of American culture, race in science fiction, the birth of the Mundane, and much more.
Brenda Cooper joins us to deliver Publishing Key Number 3.
Feedback: Will says hello, having discovered the show from Mur’s feed. Welcome, Will, and thanks, Mur! Keith writes to share his experience as a self-published author. We’ll see you next week with the final Clarion episode: the students take center stage. Or center mic, maybe?
Promo: Reading the Wind, by Brenda Cooper
Promo: Bones Burnt Black, by Stephen Euin Cobb.
Links: Wizards of the Coast: Discoveries, Mundane Science Fiction
Clarion is currently underway in California, and Shaun Farrell of Adventures in SciFi Publishing is getting interviews with the instructors. (I’m not jealous). But Shaun did allow me to put these amazing interviews in my feed, because I know you’ll get a lot out of it.
From AISFP
Neil Gaiman joins us to discuss his first teaching experience at Clarion. He also talks about why he has resisted teaching, The Graveyard Book, judging the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and his love for radio plays.
Show Notes:
I left Comic-Con early on a Friday to meet with Neil Gaiman at his hotel as he finished his week at Clarion. Subsequently, given that I was walking around the convention center all day avoiding blood thirsty zombie strippers and various incarnations of the Joker, I didn’t have my recording gear with me, but the iRiver did a fair job at capturing the thoughts of this exceptional author.
I answer a couple of emails after the interview. Many of you have shared some wonderful advice regarding Amazon.com, and I’m deeply grateful. John asks me about writing groups, and Roxane points out that France has an even deeper struggle with Amazon due to the Lang Law.
That’s it for this week. See you next time with the final Clarion interviews and our coverage of Comic-Con International 2008.
Promo: Bones Burnt Black, by Stephen Euin Cobb
Promo: Reading the Wind, by Brenda Cooper
Links:
The Critters Writing Workshop
The Arthur C. Clarke Awards
The Lang Law
Clarion is currently underway in California, and Shaun Farrell of Adventures in SciFi Publishing is getting interviews with the instructors. (I’m not jealous). But Shaun did allow me to put these amazing interviews in my feed, because I know you’ll get a lot out of it.
From AISFP
Mary Anne Mohanraj joins us in our third Clarion special show to discuss MFA work, writing grants, how to write the Other, Strange Horizons, and more. Then we present the first Publishing Key in our contest, and Tobias S. Buckell addresses POV in Ask a Writer.
Show Notes
I start this episode off by reading an article concerning the latest ploy by Amazon.com to wrestle rights and profits away from publishers and writers. I am deeply concerned by a series of events committed by Amazon, each depicting a steady move toward monopolizing the book world. I’m concerned enough that I’m considering eliminating this podcast’s association with them. What are your thoughts on the matter? I could use some feedback, and a healthy conversation would go a long way.
Mary Anne Mohanraj joins us from the Clarion Workshop. She and I discuss her background, her Clarion West experiences, grant money for writers, writing the Other, her current work, problems with the writing of inexperienced writers, Strange Horizons, and more.
Then Tobias Buckell presents the First Publishing Key in our summer contest, sponsored by Tor and Pyr SF. Toby also brings us another segment of Ask a Writer, this time addressing Jonathan’s question about POV.
We’ll see you next week with Neil Gaiman!
Promos: The Keys to Publishing Contest; Staked, by Jeremy F. Lewis
Links:
Times Online article about Amazon
Turkey City Lexicon
Strange Horizons
The Speculative Literature Foundation
The Carl Brandon Society
Clarion is currently underway in California, and Shaun Farrell of Adventures in SciFi Publishing is getting interviews with the instructors. (I’m not jealous). But Shaun did allow me to put these amazing interviews in my feed, because I know you’ll get a lot out of it.
From AISFP
In our second Clarion episode, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author James Patrick Kelly joins us to discuss teaching, the importance of podcasting, writing for scifi.com, and his new short story collection. Also, Matthew Wanye Selznick emerges Out of the Slush to share the success of his first book deal.
Sam and I start things off with some Publishing News: Con Talk! That’s right, we engage in a few minutes of geeky goodness about those strange and often wonderful gatherings called science fiction conventions. Top on our radar is Comic-Con, at which both of us will loose four days of our life and another four days to recover. Many interviews are being planned, so we have some nice content to share with you from the Con. I will be a guest at Conjecture 6 in September, but what if you don’t live in San Diego? Where are the cons near you? Thank you, Locus.
I met with James Patrick Kelly at his hotel and had a lovely time chatting about workshops, podcasting, writing, the Scifi Channel, and a variety of subjects. Enjoy.
Then, Out of the Slush comes Matthew Wayne Selznick to discuss his book deal for Brave Men Run.
Finally, Sam and I wrap things up by pondering the theme of this episode: podcasting your fiction. Is it different from traditional self-publishing? Should authors do it? What factors go into making it a success?
We’ll be back next week with our third Clarion interview: Mary Anne Mohanraj.
I apologize to Arkle, I gear up for Amazon rush (25th! August 25th!), and then Matt Wallace comes into the studio to talk to me about 3 years of ISBW and my new book.
- Promo: Keys to Publishing #3
- Interview with Mur
- Promo: Babylon 5 Heat Em Up
- Feedback: Self-hypnosis MP3, Dexter novels, Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, Escape Pod, Podcastle, Strange Horizons, Hub, Warren Ellis’s view of print SF
- Remember, please don’t buy the book until August 25 unless you have to. (And if you have to, then I certainly don’t begrudge your support at all…
)
Clarion is currently underway in California, and Shaun Farrell of Adventures in SciFi Publishing is getting interviews with the instructors. (I’m not jealous). But Shaun did allow me to put these amazing interviews in my feed, because I know you’ll get a lot out of it. We’re looking forward to Kelly Link, James Patrick Kelly, Neil Gaiman, and more!
From AISFP
In our first Clarion special show, Kelly Link joins us to discuss workshops, MFA programs, writing short fiction, and more. Then Lou Anders of Pyr SF stops by to analyze the purpose of cover art.
Show Notes
We start this show with Publishing News: Tobias Buckell has been selected to write the next Halo novel for the bestselling series. This spawns Shaun and Sam to discuss media tie-ins. And who wrote those other novels in the Halo series: The Flood, First Strike, The Fall of Reach, and Ghosts of Onyx, all by Eric Nylund, and Contact Harvest, by Joseph Staten.
We are very pleased to bring you weekly episodes for the rest of the year, and we start off with our special Clarion Series, where we go behind the scenes of the Clarion Workshop. Kelly Link joins us to talk about the program, low-residency MFA programs, writing short stories, Creative Commons, and her new story collection, Pretty Monsters. Also, Lou Anders examines the purpose of cover art. Is it meant to accurately portray the book? Should SF books be laden in iconic SF imagery, or is Photoshop the way to go?
Lastly, no feedback this time, and we have some fun with it. Don’t forget to get in on the Keys to Publishing contest, coming soon.
Promo: The Keys to Publishing contest
Promo: I Should Be Writing
You know those things that you let sit cause you either forget about them or you think you don’t have time, and then you realize over 6 months have passed, so you wonder if you should keep your word or not do it at all and hope everyone forgot…?
I promised PG Holyfield that I’d put his review of the software yWriter from the Nanomonkeys podcast in my feed. A long time ago. And now I’m doing it. Sorry it’s late, PG!
Matthew Wayne Selznick, author of the podiobook Brave Men Run: A Novel of the Sovereign Era (the guy I just interviewed), wanted to borrow my feed to promote his plans to rush the Amazon charts on July 13 (the book’s release date), and the all-day event to celebrate the release.
As part of this live video event, Matt will read seven short stories set in the Brave Men Run universe, from some of the hottest names in podfiction, including:
- JC Hutchins (”7th Son”)
- Nathan Lowell (The “Golden Age of the Solar Clipper” novels)
- Matt Wallace (”The Next Fix”)
- J.R. Blackwell (Voices of Tomorrow)
- Jared Axelrod (The Voice of Free Planet X)
- P.G. Holyfield (”Murder At Avedon Hill”)
- And Mur Lafferty
If you’ve enjoyed Matt’s excellent free podcast content, now is the time for you to give back and support his hard work by purchasing a copy of Brave Men Run on Sunday, July 13, at Amazon. Actually, you’ll be doing all podiobook authors a favor by purchasing the book, because the more podiobooks that do well in print, the better chances we all have in getting on the shelves.
Visit Matt’s site for all the details.
Guest interviewer Christopher Lester cornered journalist, SF author, award winner and blogger John Scalzi at a convention and got this fantastic interview with him. We learn where he got his start, how he doesn’t recommend it for others, and how to be a full time writer.
I’ve been a fan of Scalzi’s blog for some time and have been dying to read his books, so I enjoyed this interview immensley. Hope you do too.
Promo: On the Podcast vs Podcast Junky, High Moon
We’ll (hopefully) have an unexpected interview coming up shortly, and then the podcast will resume with our grand massive feedback show!
Thanks to Christopher Lester of the Metamor City podcast, who went to ConClave and interviewed Kim Harrison on behalf of I Should Be Writing!
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by Robert Walch and Mur Lafferty