Writers Drinking Coffee

Today we sat down with the wife and husband team of Eddie Louise and Chip Clark from Sage & Savant, a serial podcast of steampunk adventures in Mad Science! Eddie wrote the serial adventure story and keep it going for years, while Chip composed music, created sound effects and other foley work. Come learn how they did it, and what they’re up to next! … Continue... Episode 79 – A Sit Do...

People with quirks are called eccentric, unusual, strange, or even bizarre, but the truth is bigger. Quirky people play weird games, wear different clothes, have unusual hobbies, or say what they mean in company. Quirky people have less fear. Jeannie submits the theory that all good protagonists need to be a little quirky. The committee pokes at her theory with examples from books, television, and...

It’s not every day we get to talk to someone who single-handedly launched a genre. Harry Turtledove is the father of alternative history fiction, alongside his many fantasy and science fiction novels and stories. We caught up with him to talk about how to play the “what if” game in historic storytelling. … Continue... Episode 77 – Alternative History with Harry Turtledove

There's the novel, and then there is short fiction. There's multi-act plays, and then there's one-act plays and community theatre. We sat down with stunningly successful community theatre playwright and author Damian Trasler to talk about how to write (and run) custom shorter plays and productions for local productions. … Continue... Episode 76 – Community Theatre with Damian Trasler

In which Karen and Chaz enjoy an old home week of sorts with the incomparable Jacey Bedford from Milford. Jacey chats with us about the MIlford process, her favorite tools for writing, and describes her process for both historic fantasy and science fiction. … Continue... Episode 75 – Interview with Jacey Bedford

Grab a coffee, faithful listeners. Chaz is going to read us a story from his upcoming collection titled “Everything in All the Wrong Order: The best of Chaz Brenchley.” This story is called I am Death's Brother - originally published in 2004, now lost to the vaguarities of publishing. We will link to the upcoming collection right here the moment it's available for pre-order! … Continue... Ep...

NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month and coffee give us life. John sits down with Violette Woods and Liz Hamill to discuss writing, motivation, and coffee. … Continue... Episode 73 – NANONANO

The coffee couch welcomes back Alma Alexander, who wrote a lovely series on shapeshifting with an entirely new view on biology and shifter change mechanisms. She takes us through her Were creature books before we delve down into genetics, mass, blood types, and possible triggers. … Continue... Episode 72 – A Creature by Any Other Stripe

This is about openings, and new beginnings. This is a discussion on how writers pull us in and make us unable not to read the next sentence. Sometimes a first line is like the opening guitar riff to your favorite song, unforgettable and unmistakable. Some authors have said they can't write a story until they have landed the first line. Today we talked about our favorites, and what we loved about t...

Does every hero need a sidekick? When they have one, what roles do they fill in a story? How can a sidekick help you tell your story more effectively? We explore our favorite sidekicks through time and how they effectively advance each story. … Continue... Episode 70 – Dude! – The Hero & Sidekick’s Excellent Journey

In which our committee sits down and talks about who our favorite story villains are and why. There’s some advice in writing villains, more admonitions on what to avoid, and how to romance your audience while horrifying them at once. … Continue... Episode 68 – Sympathy for the Devil

Raven’s love of vampires came from a love of Bram Stoker combined with history, science, and even religion over the ages. She brings new ideas into the paranormal romance horror/adventure novels, with ideas about super effective bio systems rather than sparkles or magic. Raven’s historic exploration is something we need more of in our would-be ageless paramours. … Continue... Episode ̶6̶7̶ 6...

Haven’t you always wanted to travel the world and get paid for it? That’s the dream of being a food and travel writer. Liz is here to talk about the business and give you a reality check, as she describes how she found her way into the niche that got her noticed and published: How to successfully travel with a disability. When your disability isn't that visible, there are special steps to take for...

John and Karen sit down and talk through Karen's process and ideas about a Vampire Abbess story. From research to editing, she talks her way through a new story. There is no "right way" to write! Hope it proves inspirational to someone else. … Continue... Episode 65 – Karen Sources a Story

We finally have a chance to catch up with Kit Kerr, writer of the magnificent Deverry series which runs for 16 books and spans over 40 years of her writing career. Kit talks with us about her inspiration, how her process worked in writing the saga, and some of the research to create her world. … Continue... Episode 64 – Interview with Katharine Kit Kerr

Jaime specializes in historical fiction for her published novels and talks about how she does her research and finds the right images to paint pictures in her mind that she brings to life. Come listen to her describe on the page what she sees in the movie of her imagination. … Continue... Episode 63 – Interview with Jaime Lee Moyer

In which your hosts wallow in the Deeps with Tentacles and Nick Mamatas, discussing everything from Sherlock Holmes to Kerouac and Lovecraft. Nick talks about writing, editing, teaching, and the latest stuff he’s working on. Write short fiction, Nick says! … Continue... Episode 62 – Tentacles with Nick Mamatas

Carol Berg, an extremely popular writer with the female hockey player set, joined us to talk about how she builds stories based on characters and questions. … Continue... Episode 61 – Interview with Carol Berg

Sean writes horror, science fiction, and fantasy, with a unique and focused approach for the writing and publishing market. He got started writing short stories because, “Fail fast!” learn from your mistakes! He blends his experience as part of the military with a deft storytelling twist, and tells us how he learned and grew as a writer. … Continue... Episode 60 – Weird Wars with Sean...

We welcome our first writer of scripts for TV and Film – Christy Marx. While Christy is a veritable “Jill of all Trades” in writing talent, we sat down to quiz her about how one comes into a career writing for movies, tv, and cartoons. … Continue... Episode 59 – Silver Screenwriting with Christy Marx

We welcome a NY Times Bestselling author to the coffee house, as she takes a break from WorldCon. Come hear how Carrie found her way into writing, her thoughts on genres and trends, and how she measured her own success and KPIs as a writer of commercial fiction. … Continue... Episode 58 – Interview with Carrie Vaughn

Jeannie, John, and Raymond Miller wish they were at the Bean Scene, and run through a creative writing site for paranormal Authors. Being delighted by the find, our intrepid writers click on the random generator and talk out how to use this to create a story treatment. … Continue... Episode 57 – Scene it, Done that!

There you are, your first great country novel written and ready to go. You start sending it out to agents and websites and they ask you for things. Shorter things. Summaries. Synopses. Hook lines. Elevator Pitches. Start thinking about how to market yourself and your work so you can re-use your work over and over. … Continue... Episode 56 – How to Sum Things Up

Alma Alexander was born on the banks of the Danube in a country that no longer exists, grew up in Africa, and is married to an American she met online. We caught up with her via Zoom, and had a long chat about her writing. (60 minutes) … Continue... Episode 55 – Interview with the Duchess of Fantasy

We’re happy to welcome author Raymond Miller back to the coffee house. Raymond reads part of a story for us, and takes the listener on an emotional roller coaster through Kentucky and From the Train Station, along with his experience writing in the time of Covid19. He talks about understanding life through the stories you’ve been told, and the styles and choices of authors. … Continue... Epi...