244. Brian Lee Durfee Award-Winning Artist to Bestselling Author
Brian Lee Duree was an Illustrators of the Future winner in volume 9. Due to vision complications, he had to transfer from painting to writing and has since become a bestselling writer of science fiction. In this podcast, we discuss how Brian never lost his desire for creativity despite anything thrown at him. His is a story of persistence that can inspire anyone! Learn more at brianleedurfee.weebly.com.
245. Dennis E. Taylor Pokes Fun With His Humorous Sci-Fi
Dennis E. Taylor's bio simply states that he is a retired computer programmer, an enthusiastic snowboarder, and an inveterate science fiction reader. His Bobiverse Trilogy steps on any authoritarian, political, or religious toes. We discuss his satire as a lead-up to our upcoming relaunch of Mission Earth. It was written in multiple first-person points of view. Fascinating! Having read We Are Legion (We Are Bob) in the Bobiverse trilogy, I now understand his writing satire. Learn more at dennisetaylor.org.
246. D.J. Butler Navigating Right and Wrong in Storytelling
D.J. Butler (Dave) is a novelist living in the Rocky Mountains. He worked as a securities lawyer at a major international firm and in-house at two multinational semiconductor manufacturers before taking up writing fiction in 2010. He is a lover of language and languages, a guitarist and self-recorder, and a serious reader. He is married to a powerful and clever novelist and together, they have three devious children. Dave is published by Baen, Knopf, and WordFire Press. He writes adventure fiction for all ages. He writes for young readers under the name Dave Butler. Learn more at davidjohnbutler.com.
247. James Rosone Top 100 Amazon Author Tells How He Does It
Top 100 Amazon author James Rosone returns to discuss his Monroe Doctrine Series and how he researches near-future warfare tying in newly evolving technologies leading to a very questionable future. He provides his techniques on how he has remained a top 100 Amazon author for several years. Learn more at www.frontlinepublishinginc.com.
248. Ringling College: Award-Winning Artists Turned Teachers
Ringling College of Art & Design has produced several Illustrators of the Future winners. This interview is with two of the reasons why. James Martin, professor of illustration in the illustration dept. He’s been an illustrator, mostly in the movie industry, and worked on movies like Titanic. Dominic Avant majored in illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design. He worked in movie animation at Disney on many feature films including Mulan. He has been at Ringling for 17 years. I first saw Dominic in a TV interview as one of Zaine Lodhi's (Illustrator winner) teachers. So when attending the Tampa Comic Con, I asked if I could interview both of these gentlemen and they graciously accepted and I trust you will enjoy what they had to say as much as I did! Learn more at www.ringling.edu.
249. Charles E. Gannon on Writing Hard Science Fiction
Dr. Charles E. Gannon is a Distinguished Professor of English (St. Bonaventure University) and was a Fulbright Senior Specialist in American Literature & Culture from 2004–2009. His series includes hard-sf interstellar epic (the Caine Riordan series, set in his Terran Republic universe, nominated for three Nebulas, two Dragons, and winner of the Compton Crook Award). Along with about 50 other SF writers (such as Larry Niven, Ben Bova, John Hemry/Jack Armstrong, and Greg Bear), he is a member of SIGMA, the "SF think-tank" that advises intelligence and defense agencies (www.sigmaforum.org). In his role as a subject matter expert on advanced military/defense/intel concepts, he has been featured on the Discovery Channel, NPR, Fox, and a wide variety of other national media outlets.
250. Lazarus Black A Dream Come True
Lazarus Black was first an accomplished professional artist before tackling his true love—writing. He applied himself to learn his craft. He eventually won the Writers of the Future Contest. Now he has published his first novel. I enjoyed it so much I wanted to have him on as a guest and introduce him to fans of this podcast. Enjoy! Learn more at www.lazarus.black.
251. Brandon Mull Special Magical World Building
I met Brandon Mull at Life the Universe and Everything conference last year in Provo, Utah, and we immediately hit it off. He was such a super nice guy and I wanted to have him as a guest on this podcast as I felt he would be an inspiration to this podcast's listeners. He sent me the first volume of Fablehaven and Candy Shop War and I really enjoyed reading them. I told several several of my fellow staff at Galaxy Press about Brandon and they began reading and raving about his books. I know you are going to enjoy this podcast because I sure did! Learn more at brandonmull.com.
252. Jim Meskimen—Actor, Comedian, Impressionist at FanX
Jim Meskimen is a voice actor known for voicing Deadshot, Ultron, and Kuruk. As a professional actor for nearly thirty years, Jim has appeared in the films Apollo 13, The Grinch, Frost/Nixon, The Punisher, Not Forgotten, There Will Be Blood, and many others. Some of Jim’s TV credits include Friends, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Castle, Lie to Me, and Rules of Engagement. We discuss how to create voice in characters that actually work in writing stories. Check out this video showing how fast he can change celebrity voices!
252. Jim Meskimen—Actor, Comedian, Impressionist at FanX
Jim Meskimen is a voice actor known for voicing Deadshot, Ultron, and Kuruk. As a professional actor for nearly thirty years, Jim has appeared in the films Apollo 13, The Grinch, Frost/Nixon, The Punisher, Not Forgotten, There Will Be Blood, and many others. Some of Jim’s TV credits include Friends, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Castle, Lie to Me, and Rules of Engagement. We discuss how to create voice in characters that actually work in writing stories. Check out this video showing how fast he can change celebrity voices!
Meskimmen performed the finest audio fiction I have ever heard: The Devil's Rescue.
http://nineandsixtyways.com/
Tools, Not Rules.
Martin L. Shoemaker
3rd Place Q1 V31
"Today I Am Paul", WSFA Small Press Award 2015, Nebula nomination 2015
Today I Am Carey from Baen
The Last Dance (#1 science fiction eBook on Amazon, October 2019) and The Last Campaign from 47North
253. Gray Levett History of UK Rock & Roll Photography & More
Grey Levitt began his career as a photographer shooting bands such as Jethro Tull, Kinks, Genesis and expanded from there to creating one of the most well-known Nikon camera shops in London, Grey's of Westminster. He researched the history of photography before publishing his books, as well as for each issue of his magazine. Learn more at www.graysofwestminster.co.uk.
254. Pak Gallego Board Game Creator from Spain
I met Pak Gallego at the Frankfurt Book Fair and learned that he created board games and card games: writing, designing, and working out the math needed to create a game. And I immediately wanted to have him on as a guest as I had never discussed gaming (creating of) with anyone! So meet Gak Gallego from Barcelona, Spain.
255. Matthew Wolf the Role of Inspiration in Fantasy Storytelling
Allow me to introduce you to Matthew Wolf, an incredible epic fantasy author. We discuss his origins as an author, inspiration, and creating vivid characters and storylines. And let me recommend the Ronin Saga. Learn more at www.matthewwolfauthor.com.
256. Michael Johnson, a Technologist on Future Publishing Trends
Michael Johnson has many years of experience in publishing, technology, and educational distribution. He is currently Vice President of Content at Benetech, a global company that creates software for social good in the areas of education, employment, and social inclusion. In other words, Michael assists in making your stories and art accessible to anyone, regardless of their circumstances. Michael has been involved with many publishing evolutions that were feared to be the end of publishing, such as eBooks, only to find publishing emerging all the stronger. As long as there are humans reading stories, there will be publishing. We cover accessibility in publishing and define the term and its importance in the coming years. We also discuss AI in book publishing—plagiarism.
257. Barbara Lund Writing Sci-Fi Detective Procedurals
Barbara Lund was the Writers of the Future Golden Pen Award-winning author for Volume 37 and writes sci-fi and fantasy. But I really enjoyed her sci-fi detective procedural Platform 8. She has a full-time job, is a mom, and gives her formula for being able to write and publish as well—working out priorities. Learn more at barbaralund.com.
258. José Sánchez & Chris Arias artists from Costa Rica
The first half of this interview is with José Sánchez & Chris Arias at the Writers of the Future Awards week. The second half is with Chris, who has had a whirlwind of excitement and recognition after he returned to Costa Rica.
259. Alex Shvartsman on Writing Snark in SF&F
Alex Shvartsman is from Ukraine and came to the US as the USSR was collapsing and now lives in New York. With English as his third language, he read voraciously and began writing in his thirties. He sold 100 short stories before venturing into novels. He loves to write. He also holds the distinction of having been #3 in the world in Magic: The Gathering. He was originally published in Galaxy's Edge magazine as published by Mike Resnick (WOTF judge). We discuss how he writes snarky (satire, humor) fantasy and sci-fi. Visit Alex at alexshvartsman.com and receive the free ebook Explaining Cthulu to Grandma.
Enjoyed the podcast Jason. Alex's journey to becoming a successful writer is different than most.
Today's science fiction is tomorrow's reality-D.R.Sweeney
HM x5
Published Poetry
2012 Stars in Our Hearts
Silver Ships
260. Judith Anderle Discusses AI, Publishing, and Copyright Law
Judith Anderle, who, along with her husband, Michael, has built an indie publishing empire and created the 20BooksTo50K annual conference. In this interview, we discuss publishing, AI, and copyright law as it currently stands in January 2024.
261. Jo Henry, Managing Director of Bookbrunch Publishing News Service
Jo Henry is the managing director of Bookbrunch, a daily news service and information site for the book industry. She has worked in the book industry for over 40 years, starting at the literary agency A.M Heath; she has worn probably every possible hat in the publishing industry. She joined BookBrunch in 2018. Jo was co-founder of the Book Marketing Society and a former chair of both the Book Society and the Book Trade Charity.
262. Rebecca Hardy Discusses Writing in 1st Person
I met Rebecca Hardy, pen name for Rebecca Hardy, after she wrote a blog post on the cameras of Battlefield Earth. She was subsequently a guest just over a year ago with her debut novel, House of Lost Wives. She is a writer, photographer, and artist working in London while residing in West Sussex, England. She has just come out with her second novel, The Merchant’s Daughter, again written in first person. As I am routinely cautioned about writing in the first person, I wanted to revisit the subject with someone who successfully uses first-person narrative. Learn more at www.rebeccadanese.com.
263. Contest Director Joni Labaqui Discusses the History of the Contest
Joni Labaqui has been the Contest Director since 1995. In this episode, we discuss both Contests, starting with what it was like in 1995 and how it has grown. We also discussed each of the Coordinating judges for both Contests.
264. Deon McAdoo Tells Authors How to Get Books Published Through Ingram Spark
Deon McAdoo, Key Accounts Sales Manager for Ingram Spark. IngramSpark is an online self-publishing company that allows you to print, globally distribute, and manage your print and ebooks. I knew very little about Ingram Spark before this interview but rapidly learned what an amazing tool this is for authors wanting to get their books published and distributed—EVEN IN BOOKSTORES!
@jason this podcast is only 7 minutes long, but a very interesting 7 minutes!
Vol. 36: 3rd -- R, 4th -- R
Vol. 37: R, HM, HM, SHM
Vol. 38: HM, HM, HM, HM
Vol. 39: SHM, RWC, RWC, HM
Vol. 40: HM, R, RWC, R
Vol. 41: R, 2nd -- HM, 3rd -- HM, 4th -- WIP
Amateur published stories:
"The Tell-Tale Cricket" in The Murderbugs Anthololgy
"Follow the Pretrons" in Martian Magazine, and a Critters Award
"Eyes and Hands" in Galaxy's Edge Magazine
"The Last Dance" in Parliament of Wizards, LTUE anthology
"My Ten Cents" in Sci Fi Lampoon
Professional Publication:
"Invasion" in Daily Science Fiction
265. Jim Butcher Dresden Files and Writing Urban Fantasy
I met up with Jim Butcher at the Superstars Writing Conference in Colorado Springs. He is the creator of The Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new series, the Cinder Spires. We talk about his journey to becoming a bestselling author and any backstories of the characters in his Dresden series. Much more insight into why he is the incredible author that he is. Learn more at www.jim-butcher.com.
@jason Thank you! I'm a huge Jim Butcher fan.
~~ Pegeen ~~
Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Writer
V40 - Q1 RWC, Q2 HM,
Came across the Dresden Files a couple of months ago, I'm reading my third right now. Good stuff. Look forward to listening to this one.
?
266. Craig Martelle on Compelling Military Fiction Drama
Craig Martelle has taken his more than twenty years of experience in the Marine Corps, his legal education, and his business consulting career to write compelling stories. He recommended the first in his Ian Bragg Thriller Series, The Operator, which I read and thoroughly enjoyed. But his bio also says he writes sf, urban fantasy, YA fantasy, and regular fantasy as well as thriller. But today, it's all about the thriller! Learn more at craigmartelle.com.
267. David Weber Creator of Honor Harrington and Other Incredible Sci-Fi
In this interview done at Superstars 2024 in Colorado Springs, CO, David Weber discusses his journey to becoming the bestselling author, including Honor Harrington, and we also address his coming to grips with being the new "old guard" of science fiction and fantasy authors. I really enjoyed this interview. He is not only a great author, but a very lovely man. Learn more at www.davidweber.net.
