Workshop Episode 64 (Guest Host: Bradley P. Beaulieu)

Leanna Renee Hieber – performer, playwright, and author of lush and luxurious tales of dark Victorian and Gothic splendor – returns to the Big Chair to help Brion and I workshop a marvelous magical spin on a venerable theater superstition offered up by Guest Writer Mac McEntire.

Mac’s tale may be YA or midgrade, but it’s filled with many levels of genuine drama, humor, and character nuance. With all our theatrical enthusiasm escalating our natural delight in seeking out the awesomeness of a story, we all find many paths to explore on our way to a mountain of Literary Gold!

E.C. Myers – author of “Fair Coin” and “Quantum Coin” – brings a veritable cornucopia of skills, perceptions, and aesthetics to his craft. His fiction is inventive and authentic, a offering a fresh and unpredictable (and immensely satisfying) feast for his readers. During this engaging 20(ish) minutes of craft discussion, E. C. explores the discovery of his distinctive authorial voice, the qualities and merits of YA fiction, his experience at Clarion West and so much more. No need to flip a coin… writerly goodness is a sure thing.

Gail Carriger – author of the Parasol Protectorate series, The Finishing School series, the Custard Protocol, and more – returns to claim her rightful seat in the Big Chair at the Roundtable (with a nice cup of tea) to lend her not inconsiderable writerly mojo to brainstorm a tale of young adventurers in a most dangerous city.

The table for our brainstorming feast is set by creageous Guest Writer Rick Milone, a story of friends caught in conspiracies in a city that defends the world against its greatest evil. Joined once again by the incomparable (and brilliant) Lauren “Scribe” Harris as co-host, we launch into a truly epic, sometimes (very) silly, but ultimately fabulous search for Literary Gold. We found SO MUCH we can’t carry it all… we need your help, so click that “PLAY” button and get you some.

If you’re going to workshop a story, you might as well do it right… bring in a scientist who has also been an editor with Dell, founded two editorial lines of books, published three novels for a hugely successful television franchise, AND has spent the last 20 years leading one of the top literary workshops in the industry. That’s exactly what we did, inviting Jeanne Cavelos, founder and lead instructor of the Odyssey Writers Workshop back to the Big Chair to brainstorm a story idea.

E. C. Myers – author of the acclaimed “Fair Coin” and “Quantum Coin” – returns to the Big Chair to bring his superb insights and aesthetic to help Brion and I workshop a very cool YA SciFi tale offered up by podcaster and Gentleman Twitter-kin Richard Green.

Richard brings a delightful tale of an alien school field trip on Earth that goes horribly wrong that inspires a great discussion about the qualities of YA stories, defining character arcs and relationships, and a superb exploration of how to take a great idea and make it even better (which is kinda what we do, right?). Literary Gold is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

We kick off the first episode of the newly reawakened RTP by enjoying 20(ish) Minutes With Cat Rambo. Cat is the whole literary package – author, editor, educator, award-winner, and VP of the mighty SFWA – and it was a pleasure to explore her craft with her. With Moses Siregar (author of “Black God’s War”) as my guest co-host and wingman, we delve into the idea of collaborating with yourself, the joys and perils of worldbuilding, and so much more!

Lauren Oliver – author of astonishing tales for all ages, including the New York Times Best-Selling YA series “Delirium”, and “Liesl and Po” and “The Spindlers“ (for younger audiences) AND one half of the evil genius team (with Lexa Hillyr) behind the innovative Paper Lantern Lit literary house – returns to the Big Chair at the Roundtable to apply her experience and writerly mojo in the workshopping of a tale offered up by Guest Writer Kebreht Walker.

Keb comes load for bear (or wolf, as the case may be) with a very cool YA spin on the Red Ridinghood fairy tale, full of intrigue and danger. Ryan Stevenson and I dive in and everyone brings their “A” game resulting in a huge basket of Literary Gold. Don’t take it to Grandma’s… hit ‘play’ and keep it for yourself!

Mary Robinette Kowal – Hugo Award-winning author of Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamour in Glass, Without a Summer, and Valor and Vanity – returns to the Big Chair at the Roundtable to workshop a tale of supernatural murder.

Back in October, one of our fearless and loyal Wandering Alchemists, John McCarthy (aka “Surfside Jack”), braved the ravening hordes of the frothing mayhem that IS New York Comic Con 2012, microphone in hand, in search of (among other things) Literary Gold.

He asked only one question: What is the future of storytelling?

Join us as John and I explore the answers and insights offered by Alethea Kontis, Sam Ita, Howie Noel, and Brad Guigar!

There’s can be no doubt Cat Rambo is a veteran brainstormer. Author of over 150 tales including “Beasts of Tabat (The Tabat Quartet…

Cat Rambo, weaver of hundreds of lush story tapestries, returns to the Big Chair at the Roundtable to join co-host Moses Siregar (“Black God’s War”, and the ‘Adventures in SciFi Publishing’ and ‘Hide and Create’ podcasts) and myself, lending her storytelling mojo in the time-honored tradition of a good frothing brainstorm.

Seeding the thunder clouds of awesomeness is our Guest Writer, August Grappin. Gus brings a most intriguing coming-of-age tale fraught with oracles, fate, and destinies. As the episode unfolds, it becomes clear it’s OUR fate to have a rollicking good time as we brainstorm our way through the tale, unearthing a veritable cornucopia of Literary Gold

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.

This week we are delighted to welcome Tim Marquitz – Editor in Chief and Co-Publisher at Ragnarok Publications as well as author of grim and fantastical tales – to the Big Chair at the Roundtable. Tim’s experience runs the gambit from crafting novels (like the Demon Squad Series, The Blood War Trilogy and more) and short fiction (appearing in anthologies like “Neverland’s Library” along side Mark Lawrence, Jeff Salyards, and Tad Williams) to editing superb anthologies (like “Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters” and “Fading Light”) to co-authoring the Dead West series with Joe Martin and Kenny Soward.

Justin Macumber – author of Haywire, co-host of The Dead Robots’ Society and The Hollywood Outsider, writer of a diverse spectrum of intriguing speculative fiction – rejoins us for an awesome Workshop episode. We are joined by Scott Roche, an accomplished author and podcaster in his own right, offering up a very cool YA superhero tale that generates an epic Roundtable Podcast discussion.

Gail Carson Levine, recognized by the New York Times, LA Times, Library Journal and numerous other Best-Seller lists, joins us at the table to discuss Jacci Turne’rs intriguing YA tale of time-travel. Everyone weighs in and, by the end of the episode, Jacci departs with a large bag of Roundtable Podcast gold.