Workshop Episode 92 (Guest Host: Andrew Weston)

[Featured Image is “Pillars of Creation” by roald92 on DeviantART] Guest Host K.C. Wayland – creator of the amazing and award-winning…

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

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! 🙂

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!

Karen Healey – educator, advocate, and author of astonishing YA novels like “When We Wake” and the newly-released sequel “While We Run” – returns to the Big Chair at the Roundtable to catalyze our brainstorming efforts into a maelstrom of awesomeness with her storytelling mojo (spoilers: she succeeds). Joined by the eloquent and insightful Katie Bryski (author of Hapax, numerous short tales, AND a children’s opera), the stage is set for a fabulous story workshop.

The Roundtable Podcast, First Anniversary Episode pt II, with J. Daniel Sawyer, John Mierau, and Dave RobisonWe conclude our anniversary celebration with a remarkable workshop worthy of the first year of our quest for Literary Gold.

We have our returning Guest Host, J. Daniel Sawyer – author of sweeping sci-fi thrillers, rich and complex mysteries, comprehensive guides and resources for writers, and so many more artistic and literary explorations – lending his substantial vision and experience to the workshop. Add to that the articulate and insightful John Mierau, another veteran Guest Host of the Roundtable and crafter of exquisite tales with casts of nuanced and complex characters. With these two creative trailblazers as our guides we launch into a workshop… of my story!

My tale of a young woman’s shame in denying her child an honorable death in a culture that reveres their sacrificed innocents spawns a remarkable discussion, affirming once again our decision to bring seasoned and experienced authors to the table. Dan, John, and Brion all helped reveal layers of both the story AND my approach to it that gave a new appreciation of my own process and the depth of the story I had undertaken. In short, it was a smorgasbord of Literary Gold.

[image credit: AlexWild on deviantART] We are delighted to welcome Peter Orullian – author of the Vault of Heaven series, including “The Unremembered”…

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 must have been VERY good this year, ’cause Santa really came through and gave us James Sutter – author, musician, Managing Editor at Paizo Publishing, and co-creator of the fabulous Pathfinder role-playing game – as a Guest Host! We’re delighted to have James return to the Big Chair to lend his patented writerly mojo to our stock and trade here at the Roundtable… brainstorming stories. With author/editor Jennifer Melzer in the co-pilot’s chair, we buckle in for another adventure in awesomeness.

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

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.

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!

Brion and I are joined by authors Colin F. Barnes, Alasdair Stuart, Starla Hutchton, and Stephen Godden to discuss the challenges of writing near-future scifi in a world where science fact keeps out pacing our imaginations. Along the way we manage to debunk the reported “death of cyberpunk” as well as explore the sources of the trend towards genre mash-ups.

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.

Patrick E. McLean – author of “Unkillable” and “How to Succeed in Evil” and founder of Good Words (Right Order) – returns to apply his unique insights and experience towards helping Ryan Stevenson and I workshop a delicious tale served up by writer, and vocal performer Patrick Lewis.

Patrick brings a SciFi tale of corporate corruption, betrayal, all centered around a really sweet caper. It’s Ocean’s Eleven set in the far future and you know we’re gonna have some fun exploring the intricacies of complex characters, crossed motivations, and making everything works out in the end… which is, or course, where everyone finds the huge stack of Literary Gold for the taking!