20 Minutes with C.W. LaSart

Dan Wells is an author who has crafted some truly superb tales that shine a light on the darker facets of humanity, including the John Cleaver novels, the dystopian YA novel “Partials” (and the soon to be released sequel “Fragments”, The Hollow city, and more. He’s also one of the co-hosts of the Parsec Award winning Writing Excuses podcast. With such a vast range of experience in both the crafting of fiction as well as discussing the finer points of the craft, you know this 20(ish) minutes is going to be chock full of writerly goodness. And you know what? You’d be absolutely right!

Paul Elard Cooley (aka The Fiendmaster) has evolved a growing canon of psychological and supernatural horror. Notable not only for its bone-chilling dread, but also its use of history as the backdrop for the progression of tales he tells, Paula has distinguished himself as a storyteller and a student of history. And if you’ve heard what he does to Muppets, you might question our sanity in bringing him on the show. As it turns out, he’s a cool guys with a lot of excellent insights for writers and horror fans.

Larry Santoro is an explorer of expression. He has pursued and taught theater, written poetry and plays, produced films, hosted podcasts (like Tales to Terrify, part of the District of Wonders Network), and – of course – stories and novels.

While much of his work has been classified as horror, Larry contends that he’s not a horror writer… his stories just turn out that way. Paul E. Cooley joins me as co-host for this episode as we delve into the creative perspectives of this remarkable individual.

Andrew Weston (author of many tales of thrilling adventure, like “The IX” from Perseid Press – returns to the BIG Chair at the RTP to lend his storytelling mojo to to a tale of evil queens, twisted cobblers, and ultimate balance of power.

The tale is offered up by Guest Writer Clara Robertson, a storytelling trickster in her own right. Her story of the Wicked Witch returning to her land after her defeat from Prince Charming and the mayhem that ensues serves as a marvelous feast for workshop delights. Joined by fabulous co-host Mike Luoma, we dive into brainstorming deep waters, exploring the nature of interweaving characters, the value of foreshadowing, and so much more. Literary Gold awaits you… just click that “PLAY” button!

He was our first Guest Host and now the first person to BE a Guest Host three times. But it’s always worth it… J. Daniel Sawyer – author of “Predestination”, “The Resurrection Junket”, “Making Tracks: A Writer’s Guide to Audiobooks (and How to Produce Them)” and much more – is a rare combination of deep knowledge, savvy business, and writerly mojo.

Joined by Mighty Mike Luoma (of the “Glow in the Dark Radio” podcast), we engage Master Sawyer in 20(ish) minutes of superb writerly discourse, exploring how to prepare and develop a multi-book story arc, the value of using screenplay structure for developing stories, how to assess the storytelling format, and more. The writerly goodness flows as soon as you hit that “PLAY” button.

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

J. Daniel Sawyer – author of “Predestination“, “The Resurrection Junket“, “Making Tracks: A Writer’s Guide to Audiobooks (and How to…

This episode we are joined by Ada Palmer – scholar, composer, and author of the astonishing and richly-acclaimed “Too Like the Lightning” (and so much more), discussing the optimal skill set for a student of the writerly arts, Ada’s fascination with speculative fiction, the challenges of writing short fiction, and more.

“By night, David Annandale brings doom to untold billions as a writer of Warhammer 40,000 fiction for the Black Library, most recently in the novels The Death of Antagonis, Yarrick: Imperial Creed, The Damnation of Pythos and Maledictus. As the author of the horror novel Gethsemane Hall, he hopes to end sleep for you forever. And in his Jen Blaylock thrillers (Crown Fire, Kornukopia, and The Valedictorians), he does his best to blow up everything in sight. During the day, he poisons minds as he teaches film, video games and English literature at the University of Manitoba. If you have any fragments of hope still left, you can have them crushed at his website or by following his Twitter account.”

Do you see why we wanted him on the RTP?

David Annandale describes horror as “the cluster of tactics and strategies that set about to create the effect of horror.” As such, it can be…

J. Robert King has told hundreds of stories, including “The Incubus Tweets”, “Guild Wars: Edge of Destiny”, “Angel of Death”, and more… and with each story, he seeks a truth. What he finds is rarely what he set out looking for, but he persists in following his stories faithfully and honestly. That makes him a badass in our book.

Joined by veteran podcaster, storyteller, and former Guest Host, John Mierau, we engage in a most intriguing 20(ish) minutes of writerly discourse with Rob, exploring the nature of evil in fiction (and ourselves), the end of the “age of the author”, and more. There’s writerly goodness (and maybe one or two epiphanies) awaiting you, friends… it’s all just a “PLAY” button away

So here we are, one year into our ongoing search for Literary Gold and we were wondering how we can celebrate. The answer came from long-time fan Peter Ellis… workshop our OWN stories (thanks, Peter)!

We have the remarkable Christopher Moore – author of exquisite tales of satirical humor – returning to the Big Chair, and we wheel in a second Big Chair for our Special Co-Guest Host and veteran RTP Host Alasdair Stuart! With this astonishing Duo of Awesomeness we are primed for some epic story workshopping… of Brion’s story idea!!

Brion’s tale of a dystopian post-apocalyptic horror serves as a marvelous opportunity not only to explore a very cool story idea, but also to observe how two masters of their craft approach the same story terrain. The end result is an intricate tapestry of concept and perception woven densely with threads of Literary Gold.

C.W. LaSart – weaver of tales of horror featured in collections like “Ad Nauseam” and “Grimm Mistresses” – returns to the Big Chair…

Clint Gaige – storyteller, film maker, and general badass – returns to the Big Chair at the Roundtable to lend his mojo with visual narratives to a story… no wait, excuse me… a SCRIPT brainstorm of a horror film exploring what happens when our children (ALL our children) turn on us.

The script concept is offered up by creageous Guest Writer Matteo Marsiello, a tale of what happens in a suburban Midwest town when the children go on a murder spree targeting the adults. Marie Bilodeau returns to take the co-host chair and together we enter the dark horrifying world of Matteo’s vision, exploring character arcs and thematic nuances, jumping and shadows and unearthing a treasure trove of Literary Gold. It’s yours for the taking if you DARE… to push that “PLAY” button!

[image credit: Fan Ming] Brian Kirk – author of the newly released “We Are Monsters” returns to the Big Chair at…