Tell The Damn Story

He's the author of over 45 crime, sci-fi, western and suspense novels, novellas and comics! With a tv show based on one of his series.  How does he do it? Back in 2018 cohost Chris Ryan attended PULPFEST in Pittsburg, PA. Chris managed to interview a number of writers, creators, illustrators, and others and Joe R. Lansdale was one of them. Have questions or comments for us? Post in the commen...

Chris and me are on hiatus so this is the first of their Summer Flashbacks visits of earlier episodes.   This week, Chris and Alex discuss some of the many ways artists learn not only how to create, but also how to deal with some of those negative mindsets.  Just back from a writers' conference with Neil Gaiman, Amy Tan and others, Chris shares some of their thoughts on, "How do you lear...

Despite some technological challenges we made it. In this episode, Alex and Chris take a quick look at pop culture, discuss big changes coming for them, reflect on the importance of authors reflecting on their career and their work, and then make a whopper of an announcement. Don't miss it! Have any comments or questions? Then please leave them in our comments section here, Our Facebook page, (Tel...

"Previously On..." In this momentous episode, Alex and Chris celebrate the "free writing school" aspects of TTDS. For over 6 years their conversations have included discussions and advice about writing habits, techniques, tropes, genres, and a ton of creative advice.  Not to mention the many locations and countries they've recorded in, conferences they reported from, and the over 100 people t...

A long buried Broadway secret is now getting national attention because of one man's long shot. Chris and Alex welcome the return of author CASEEN GAINES, this time to delve into how his new book, FOOTNOTES , is getting national recognition.  From the Hollywood Reporter to the New York Times, and more.   The three dig deep into the gamble that Caseen took, writing about the fate of a lon...

This week Alex and Chris team up with writer/publishers Jim Beard and John C. Bruening of Flinch Books. The four creatives get together for a fantastic, fun, and enlightening discussion about the nature and value of pulp fiction, what it is like to run an independent publishing company, and how to put together an anthology project.  The conversation tackles what is "pulp," writing styles, res...

Or ... Caught In A Vortex Called The MCU. This week Alex and Chris had an idea. Like most ideas, it went awry.  The plan was to do a "just us" episode after having six very solid interview episodes in a row. If you haven't experienced those episodes they're 191 through 196 .  But today we were going to keep it light. LOL. We may have started with personal news but we soon found ourselves...

Care to wander down the Halls of Horror? On this episode Alex and Chris meet Dr. Vanessa Hintz , licensed clinical psychologist and self-professed " Geek Therapist " for a trip through horror classics and tropes. We discuss what they mean to our culture, what they say about us, how we can use them to help heal, and what writers of the new horror classics should be looking for. *Originally aired as...

Listen and learn. In this episode, Alex and Chris talk to Dr. Janina Scarlet , a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who engages her clients in "superhero therapy."  Her goal is to help them with PTSD, other traumas, self-esteem issues, and connecting with inner power to resolve what is holding them back.  As a disaster survivor and a self proclaimed geek, Dr. Scarlet's work is fascinating, a...

He made it from Miami to New York. From local journalist to VP of Publishing. And he's a family man. In this episode Chris is surrounded by Alexes when the legendary Simmons is joined by Alex Segura , acclaimed, multi award-winning writer of novels, comic books, short stories, and podcasts.  The trio gets to talk about everything from Segura's Pete Fernandez mystery series to his experiences...

He started out as a child on a farm in Mississippi, and eventually became one of the few Washington DC journalist with clearance to cover all three main governmental branch sessions. And he didn't stop there. This week Alex and Chris interview the multi talented Jesse J. Holland . Reaching out beyond his carrier with the Associated Press, Jesse also became a university professor. He's written two...

We've been trapped in "our caves" for over a year.  Has that affected us creatively? This week Alex and Chris update us on some continuing creative project threads that have been evolving, for some time. Then they get to the main event: as the Covid lockdown is slowly lifted, how do creatives re-integrate ourselves with society, especially the kinds of crowds we might see at conferences and c...

Today's episode starts with a righteous rejection of cohost Christopher Ryan.  In an email received right before recording the episode, divinationhollow.com was gracious and generous and educational in their rejection of a story Chris sent to them only two days ago.  Their reasoning was sound, and they could've stopped right there. But they didn't. They offered to further educate on the...

Get ready for ready for nonsense that ... will surely make sense. Today Alex and Chris celebrate Mother's Day with a very special look at how fictional characters, especially superheroes, deal with this day. Bring flowers and a box of chocolate.  And trust the creative process. Have any comments or questions for this episode topics? Then please leave them in our comments section . Or write to...

In today's episode, Alex and Chris interview Maureen Britt , who has lead a life of theater and corporate adventures and continued finding new outlets for her creativity throughout. We discuss her time sharing stages with ...  #ChristopherReeves #RichardChamberlain #FrankLangella #AustinPendleton #BlytheDanner #DwightSchultz (from #theATeam) and #Richard Dreyfus As well as her long friendship...

Life is art, and art is life. This week Alex and Chris interview Juan Espinoza, creator of the comic book series, "Adventures Of A Systems Admin."  Written by Juan Espinosa, with art by El Santa, and colors by Candella Grizutti. The series follows the lives of a diverse IT team as they deal with, old school parents, up tight fellow employees, and some serious hacker threats.  "I created...

That's how we tell the damn story this week, when Alex and Chris discuss episode five of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier , without spoilers, (Yes we are the only people left in the world who do not spoil these shows).  We yack about the importance of the show and what it is saying on so many levels, and then we use that to spring into our main topic: how Alex Simmons gets young people to cr...

While participating in a creative arts program to support and inspire young men of color, Chris and Alex talk with two pros they've interviewed before. Once again TTDS welcomes authors, Caseen Gaines and Omar Holman to the show. Both were Chris' students in high school.  Now they have books coming out that, as Chris put it, "... are significant enough to become required reading..." In very di...

This week, Alex and Chris talk everything pop culture, covering the first three episodes of Marvel's "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" , plus those hilarious trailers for The Suicide Squad by the amazing James Gunn. And they smack around a rumor about DC Comics and take its lunch money.  And finally, Alex and Chris open themselves up for Audience Q&A, focusing on how to write both estab...

With Alex in the hospital, and with Chris recovering from a royal butt-kicking courtesy of his second Moderna vaccination, we discuss: how honesty is a key skill for the creative; the blessing of supportive people(and pets); the need to invest in your creativity via hiring editors, and how THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER might be the most important statement the MCU has ever made. Have any comme...

This week, Alex and Chris discuss the value of story structure, and offer tips on how to go about gaining a good foundation, internalizing it, and then applying and adjusting the "rules" to create your own original story. We also discuss ways to open your story and offer several examples from famous books and movies for you to check out. Oh, and Chris has a battle with Aaron Sorkin that Sorkin wil...

Today Alex must heroically persevere through Chris's awful Irish brogue and endless tributes to Roddy Doyle and Tim Fielder to discuss lingering questions about WandaVision and what it's like to write heroic characters.  A hero is usually someone who does “the right thing, at a precarious time.”  Or they face something life threatening for the sake of others. They save lives, invent cure...

Or "Vaccinations, WandaVision, and Author Rights, Oh My!"  This episode, Alex and Chris get wacky celebrating the fact that Alex was getting vaccinated!  Of course, while Chris got vaccinated at CVS at 3:30 PM, Alex had to get his at Yankee Stadium at one in the morning! Always an adventure with that guy!  Being writers, we discuss possible side effects Alex could have, covering eve...

It's a jam-packed episode of TV shows , international animation , and the value of writer's groups . Today Alex and Chris talk about getting vaccinated, WandaVision episode seven and eight and how that show is offering master classes to creatives.  Alex talks about spending the week on panels to promote the upcoming Tales of Wakanda anthology that he is a part of.  He also mentions appea...