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Blog and Podcast Round Up 22 June 2011

There are a lot of great bloggers and podcasters out there who are writing / reading a lot of great fantasy and sci-fi related posts. Below are a few of the best that I have been reading / listening to over the past couple of weeks and I highly recommend you check them all out:

 

Michael A. Stackpole – Protect Yourself: Sample ebooks before you buy!

I spend a lot of time writing and talking about electronic publishing. One of the issues that comes up from both writers and readers is this: With everyone publishing out there, how do I know what is good? (The author version of that question is, “With everyone publishing out there, how can I make my stuff stand out?”)

Adventures In Sci-Fi Publishing Ep 124 – Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Sci-Fi Trivia

Kristine Kathryn Rusch joins us for a special two segment interview. First, we discuss the changing publishing industry, including why Kris says new writers should not seek agents at this time, the changing marketplace, the use of ebooks to revive older series that traditional publishers no longer wish to publish, and what writers don’t understand about book contracts and agency contracts. Then Kris returns to discuss CITY OF RUINS, DIVING INTO THE WRECK, her many pen-names, archaeology, her use of short chapters, and so much more.

Suvudu – A Grand Finale: “Fire and Blood” (Warning: Article contains Game of Thrones spoilers)

Briskly, deftly guided by the pens of executive producers/writers David Benioff and Dan Weiss and the skilled direction of Alan Taylor, this episode quickly visited the aftermath in various areas. News arrives in far flung areas, one by one, and we see the differing responses beautifully captured and presented by the actors. Game of Thrones is truly one of the best cast shows on television right now, with an amazing crop of young unknowns and even children carrying the show over.

Scott Lynch – Good Brain, Bad Brain

Grab your Morrissey records, today’s subject is… depression.

I have avoided trying to write some sort of comprehensive “what does it all mean?” essay on this subject because, frankly, I don’t know what the hell it all means, or should mean, or will mean, or might ever mean. The illness is ongoing, the coping is perpetual, and I don’t have some neat capstone to drop on top of the whole mess as thought I’ve “conquered” it and moved on.

C. R. Hindmarsh – A Twitter Tale of Rapture Survival

At 6pm on May 21st 2011 the Rapture was scheduled to begin, according to religious leader Harold Camping. Of course, this didn’t happen. But since New Zealand was supposed to be the first country to experience the Rapture, I figured it would be a great chance to start a War of the Worlds-style fictional documentary of the Rapture, posted through Twitter and using the hashtag #FirstRapture

If you missed it, here’s the entire tale below. Enjoy!

Writing Excuses S06 Ep02 – Internal Motivations

If you have to ask yourself “what’s my motivation?” when you’re sitting down to write, this isn’t the podcast for you. We’re talking about character motivation in this cast.

Mary breaks it down into different aspects: what the character wants, and how that is expressed on the page. From there the analysis proceeds. We talk about how to do it, how others have done it, and what some of the pitfalls are.

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