Workshop Episode 92 (Guest Host: Andrew Weston)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

We asked thirteen authors, podcasters, and content creators if they thought talent was something we’re born with or something we acquire over time. In this episode, we cover the final. Their answers are as intriguing as the people themselves and Brion and Dave riff extensively off them.

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

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!

Hugh Howey – a storyteller who’s pen has scribed many marvelous tales, including the astonishing dystopian scifi tale “Wool” that continues to impact the literary world in the most delightful ways – returns to the big chair at the Roundtable to workshop a very cool mid-grade scifi story idea offered up by the inventive and inspired Holli Mintzer.

Holli’s tale of deep space generational ships and alien first contact (and first abduction) is fraught with intriguements that set us to exploring all the nooks and crannies of Holli’s universe. Along the way, we scarf up a metric ton of Literary Gold!

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.

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!)

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

Last week, Guest Host Peter Newman’s book “The Vagrant” was released on the world and we couldn’t be more delighted for him. So delighted in…