All Kittysneezes Podcasts

When you write a story, do you ever stop to consider who you’re telling the story to? We’re not talking about the real-life author and the real-life audience demographics. We’re talking about what’s going on within the fictional pocket universe of the story you’ve created. Who is the narrator telling the story to within the universe of the story? And why is the narrator telling their story to that...

In this episode, Mistress Snow, PhD joins us to talk about sex work in writing. What do writers get wrong? How do writers promote inaccurate and harmful stereotypes about sex workers? How can writers do better? We also talk about emotional labor, how Russians have too many names, and the agony of the academic job market. Links: Mistress Snow’s piece about her mentor dumping her for being a domme H...

When Stephen Mazur, Assistant editor at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, interviews writers, he always asks them this question: “Why do you write?” One of the most common answers is: “Because I couldn’t find the stories I wanted to read.” In this episode, filmmaker Shannon Strucci and critic Leslie Lee of Struggle Session were kind enough to join us to talk about why we need to tell...

In this episode, we talk to writer/editor Sarena Ulibarri about what it means to be a writer during a global climate crisis. Do writers have a responsibility to address the problem? Are we a part of the problem? Does art matter when the world is on fire? Should we educate people or offer them an escape from the horrors of reality? Should we give people hope or scare the shit out of them? Can art c...

Straight writers frequently portray cisgender heterosexual characters with twisted sexual pathologies or dysfunctional, miserable relationships. But when an emerging sci-fi writer published a sharp, witty, in-your-face short story about a transgender helicopter pilot in a dystopian future, prominent members of the writing community rushed to viciously condemn her until she withdrew her work and we...

In this spooktacular episode, we talk to Ash and Jon of the Horror Vanguard podcast about the internet-based form of horror fiction known as creepypasta. In a culture increasingly controlled by a small handful of media corporations, creepypasta presents a form of communal storytelling, a digital version of the campfire where kids gather round to swap scary stories. We take a look at how creepypast...

The road to publishing can be a thorny one, filled with con artists lying in wait to pounce on unwary writers. Fortunately, Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware is here to tell us how to avoid being scammed. During our chat, Victoria answers questions like the following: How can you spot a shady agent? What’s the difference between self-publishing and vanity publishing? Should you enter a contest wit...

Why do people love the Disney corporation? Why do people watch other people play video games? Can fans influence creatives’ work for the worse? Does the mainstreaming of geek culture represent a triumph for social outcasts, or is it all just a capitalist plot? In part two of our discussion on the dark side of fandom , RS Benedict talks to Tim Heiderich about parasocial relationships, Twitch...

Tim Heiderich of Have You Seen This  took the time to talk to us about the creative perils of fandom. Fandom can be fun, but it can also turn ugly too, or it can keep us so busy focusing on someone else’s work that we fail to develop our own talents. This was a huge conversation, so we split it into two parts. In the first installment, we talk about toxic fandom, simulacra, and the siren son...

RS Benedict talks to Stephen Mazur, Assistant Editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction , about originality. How important is it, really? Readers and editors say they crave original stories, but much of our pop culture these days is proudly derivative: sequels, remakes, reboots and adaptations of pre-existing source material. And the human race has been telling stories for millennia;...

Much of speculative literature focuses on superheroes and Chosen Ones. But what about ordinary people or flawed people who don’t  save the world? Do they matter? Sci-fi/fantasy author JR Dawson joins us to talk about why she writes about ordinary people, and how privilege and inequality warp our idea of whose story deserves to be told. She also talks about being a Midwestern writer, her favo...

Tons of stories feature guns, but they’re usually portrayed in a wildly unrealistic way. Nate Bethea of What a Hell of a Way to Die was kind enough to stop by to talk to us about what writers get wrong about firearms. What’s the difference between a clip and a magazine? Why do you have to pump a shotgun (besides it sounds really cool)? Some things to remember: guns are very loud and ve...

R.S. Benedict and guest Meg talk about the creepy, objectifying, or just plain ridiculous way that all too many male authors write female characters. No one is spared as we poke fun at your favorites from Don DeLillo to Vampire Hunter D. Why does the literary establishment make fun of Stephenie Meyer’s thirsty, purple prose while lauding similarly horny descriptions by John Updike? Why do me...

In this episode, special guest Jennifer Albright of Have You Seen This?  drops by to talk about Mary Sues, a term used to describe an overly-perfect female character created as a self-insertion wish fulfillment vehicle for the author. The discussion traces the expression Mary Sue back to its origin in Star Trek fanfiction and tries to grapple with its current usage. Does Mary Sue  mean anything an...

In this episode, learn a simple exercise that will help you cultivate your inner witness. It might even help with your anxiety, too. Sources/Additional Reading: KonMari Fallout 4 ‘s skulls near the toilet: More information on the 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique Brokeback Mountain shirt scene: About Rite Gud: R.S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois&#...

A followup to the last episode , R.S. Benedict is again joined by Gareth and Langdon of Death Sentence , a podcast about books for people who hate books, podcasts and capitalism but like metal. In this episode, we look at things other than fiction that a well-rounded writer should read—poetry, literature in a foreign language, nonfiction and literary criticism. We also take a look at  how to read....

In this week’s episode, R.S. Benedict is joined by Gareth and Langdon of  Death Sentence , a podcast about books for people who hate books, podcasts and capitalism but like metal. And in order to Rite Gud, you’ve got to Reed Gud — in particular, why you need to read books other than Harry Potter .  Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with reading and enjoying  Harry Potter . But you...

Dark humor has always been tricky to pull off. If you do it right, it can be amazing. But if you don’t, you come off as a edgelord trying too hard to offend people. Of course, humor is subjective — but R.S. Benedict has identified five general rules that successful dark humor generally follows. She’s joined by Rite Gud producer, Matt Keeley, as they examine what makes dark humor work a...

Being criticized sucks. If you’re a writer and you’re putting your work out into the world for other people to see, you’re going to receive criticism.  But criticism is an immense part of writing well. Developing a critical eye makes you a better writer. And, sometimes, listening to other people’s criticism can help you find flaws in your own writing so you can fix them. It’s really, really hard t...

If you’ve been on the internet for a while, you may have heard about SEO, or “Search Engine Optimization.” From casinos to cannabis seo , it is part of every business to succeed online. But do you know what seo firms for property managers really is — and the effect it has on writing? While some SEO tips are good — like citing your sources with added external links! — others make...

Are you a writer? Are you pretty good, but want to tune up your writing skills? Then  Rite Gud is for you!  Rite Gud is the new podcast from Kittysneezes, hosted by R.S. Benedict, who has been published in  Fantasy and Science Fiction and in Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction . Kittysneezes founder, Matt Keeley, is the producer, and t...

Deutsch: Lytton Strachey (1880–1932) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) It’s time for episode three of The Painful Threshold !   The Painful Threshold is a brand new panel show where all the questions come from the Internet at large!  You! Send in questions questions to the official show Tumblr , our Twitter account  or our Facebook page !  This week, our panel is blogger, podcaster and Kittysneezes...

William D. Drake (source: Cardiacs .com) This is NOT the new episode of the Painful Threshold, but rather a special teaser for Episode 3, which is coming soon!   This is not going to be in the episode proper, but it was way too good to lose — especially for Cardiacs fans.   Our panelists are Madeleine Drake, William D. Drake and Nora Anderson — and Maddie asked Bill about his days in C...

A kitten pie by Calamity Jon Morris Check out episode 2 of The Painful Threshold !   The Painful Threshold is a brand new panel show where all the questions come from the Internet at large!  Anyone can send in questions questions  to the official show Tumblr , our Twitter account  or our Facebook page !  This week, our panel is cartoonist Calamity Jon Morris, musician Gavin Wallace-Ailsworth of Be...

Nora, a non-shitty baby. (Photo by Jenny Byfield) Welcome to the very first episode of The Painful Threshold !   The Painful Threshold is a brand new podcast where YOU provide the questions to our lovely panel!  The show runs off questions sent to the official show Tumblr , our Twitter account or our Facebook page !  This week, our panel is comedian Nick Decktor, musician and KEXP DJ Troy Nelson o...