20 Minutes with J. Robert King

And so we come to the conclusion, the final workshop/prep session with our four remarkable writers. NaNoWriMo begins tomorrow and they will be joining the thousands of bold and dedicated writers who will be burning up their keyboards to crank out the 1,667 words a day required to make the 50,000 word deadline in 30 days. This is only the beginning! The prep is done… now everyone gets to GO WRITE! 🙂

For Brian Kirk, storytelling is more than a career. It’s a way of life and a way of living. Author of the newly released (and deeply disturbing) “We Are Monsters”, Brian pursues his craft with the rigor and discipline of someone who truly loves what they do.

Joined by co-host horror writer CW LaSart (who has been on the RTP a few times before), we indulge in a fabulous 20(ish) minutes of writerly discourse with Brian, discussing why he writes, finding the “writer’s zone”, how to infuse terror into any scene, the distinction between “hero” and “protagonist”, and more. The writerly goodness flows like wine… grab a cup, hit the “PLAY” button and get some for yourself

With only a couple weeks left, our four NaNoWriMo writers are applying every ounce of discipline and dedication to reach their goal.

And real life doesn’t take a holiday for NaNoWriMo, and that includes day jobs, academic responsibilities (tests?!), professional responsibilities, extracurricular commitments, family duties, health issues, and technical difficulties! And don’t forget holidays (Thanksgiving isn’t canceled, after all) ! This is an epic journey for our writing team and we spoke to each of them (briefly) to see how they’re doing, find out what they’ve learned so far, and hear their plans for these last two weeks.

Joe McKinney is our guest for this edition of 20 Minutes With, talking horror, suspense, zombie pride

John Mierau – whose literary endeavors span genres and media with intriguing tales that explore the boundaries of speculative fiction – returns to the Big Comfy Chair at the Roundtable to help workshop a tale offered by writer and podcaster Jay Langejans. Jay’s dystopian aquatic scifi story generated a lot of excitement around the table and ​everybody​ dove in and splashed around. This is classic Roundtable goodness, friends… a fabulous story idea, a brilliant guests, and literary gold flying around at every turn.

It has been a remarkable journey these last 30 days as we followed these writers through their unique challenges of NaNoWriMo. As each of them shared their strategies and experiences, we all gleaned a wealth of insight into what it takes to reach the 50K goal. And now, with NaNoWriMo complete, we reach out to them one more time to learn how they did and what comes next.

In support of the thousands of bold and dedicated writers accepting the 2012 NaNoWriMo challenge (to get 50,000 words on paper in a month), The Roundtable Podcast invited four remarkable writers to gather at the table and share their own preparations for the NaNoWriMo event.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be the Roundtable without some brainstorming, so everyone dives in and helps workshop each other’s stories. This is writerly goodness, literary gold, and a NaNoWriMo preparation all rolled into one!

Each year, thousands of bold and dedicated writers accept the NaNoWriMo challenge: get 50,000 words on paper in a month. At The Roundtable Podcast, we support this worthy ambition wholeheartedly, and we wanted to help… so we invited four remarkable writers to gather at the table and share their own preparations for the NaNoWriMo event.

It’s NaNoWriMo-Eve! Soon, thousands of bold and dedicated writers will be getting down to the business of crafting 50,000 words of fabulous story in 30 days. To support and celebrate those brave souls, The Roundtable Podcast invited four remarkable writers to gather at the table and share their own preparations for this epic annual event.

The discussion continues – as well as the brainstorming goodness – in this third chapter of the four-part podcast. The quest for writerly goodness, literary gold, and NaNoWriMo inspiration carries on!

John Mierau is someone you want to talk to. I mean, he’s definitely someone you want to read because his works are startling, innovative, and richly crafted. But the depth and insight (and humor) that comprise John’s outlook on life, writing, and the creative process are things that come up almost immediately once you start a conversation with him. And that, my friends, will be time well spent. We were fortunate to have John spend 20(-ish) minutes with us where he shared some honest and inspiring perspectives on how he does what he does… a fabulous conversation we’re proud to share with you.

Award-winning author CW LaSart is serious about her storytelling. Her passion for the writerly arts is evident in the clarity and insight with which she speaks about her craft. LaSart’s “Ad Nauseam” and her contributions to to over a dozen publications and anthologies (including “Grimm Mistresses” from Ragnarok Publications) are just the first installments in her canon of tales that push the boundaries of horror.
Joined by the mighty Mike Luoma, we indulge in 20(esque) Minutes of seriously writerly exploration, uncovering some startling truths about the nature of short fiction, the dynamics of discovery writing, the key to building suspense, how much is too much in horror, and more. Great googly-moogly, gang… have your pencils poised and your seat belts strapped, then click that “PLAY” button and hold on!

J. Robert King – author of Guild Wars: Edge of Destiny, the Mad Merlin series, and Hellmaw: Incubus Tweets – returns to the Big Chair at the Roundtable to lend his considerable storytelling mojo to brainstorming a scifi tale of humanity on the brink of interstellar expansion and a tormented man who has the potential to save it from a dark conspiracy or bring it all crashing down.

Our Guest Writer, Terry Mixon is a repeat offender… er… has appeared in the Guest Writer chair before and this time he brings us a tale of extreme future sports in a solar system where warp drive is possible, but strictly controlled, and dark violent forces are arrayed to seize power for their own ends. With Serving World’s John Mierau returning to the co-host chair, we strap in for from the jump to Awesome Space and havest asteroids loaded with Literary Goal. It’s a heck of a haul… you can get some for yourself by clicking that play button! (and if you want even more writerly goodness, check out Rob’s fabulous 20 Minutes With… episode!)

This week, I’m delighted to have Bradley Beaulieu (BOW-lee-er)(no, really) take the Big Chair at the Roundtable for 20-ish minutes of some stellar writerly discourse. Brad is an author of sweeping epic fantasy, tales of rich authentic and intriguing characters told in lushly rendered story worlds. His works include: The Winds of Khalakovo, The Straits of Galahesh, The Flames of Shadam Khoreh, as well as “Strata”, a collaborative scifi tale with Stephen Gaskell. His stories have appeared in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, The Crimson Pact, and more. AND he’s the co-host (with Greg Wilson) of SPECULATE, one of the podosphere’s premiere podcasts on the writing craft.

Andrew Weston has been busy since the last time he appeared on the Roundtable. His creations in the world have expanded to…

Lauren Oliver brings so much fabulousity into the world – through her novels, including the much-lauded “Delerium” series, “Liesl and Po” and “The Spindlers”, and more, AND her work with partner-in-crime-and-story Lexa Hillyer at the astonishing Paper Lantern Lit – and the adventure of her pursuits thus far has refined her awareness of the writers craft without blunting her delight in the process.

During this 20(ish) minutes of intriguing conversation, Ryan Stevenson and I discover Laurens perspectives on the collaborative process, the power and virtue of YA literature, the power of understanding plot, and so much more…