SciFi

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EP092
By Dave Robison
Workshop Episode 92 (Guest Host: Andrew Weston)

Andrew Weston – author of “Hell Bound” from Perseid Press – returns to the big chair to workshop a story of survival amid the frozen wastes of a planet in the cold darkness of space.

The story is served up by Guest Writer Justin Tseng whose tale of a colony ship arriving at its destination only to spark a bitter war between the inhabitants of the planet is a fabulous feast for the brainstorming table. With John Mierau (of Serving Worlds fame… known to some as “El Writer Libre”) joining us on this epic quest of epicness, we launch into a brain maelstrom fraught with thunderbolts, epiphanies, and lots of “Oh YEAHs”. A jump start for your creative mojo awaits behind that “PLAY” button… El Writer Libre says “CLICK IT!”

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Brainstorming
By Dave Robison
Workshop Episode 69 (Guest Host: James Sutter)

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.

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Firing up the Literary Gold Machine
By Dave Robison
Workshop Episode 66 (Guest Host: Karen Healey)

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.

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By Dave Robison
Workshop Episode 60 (Guest Host: Kameron Hurley)

Hugo Award Winner Kameron Hurley – wordsmith of the epic Bel Dame Apocrypha series (featuring “God’s War”, “Infidel”, and “Rapture”) and the eagerly anticipated “Mirror Empire” (on shelves Aug 26) – returns to the Big Chair, wielding her potent storytelling mojo in the arena of the story brainstorm.

The catalyst for our workshopping-fu is provided by our Guest Writer, Shiri Sondheimer, who brings an epic scifi version of the Arthurian tales to the Table. With such a delightful weave of threads to draw upon, the ensemble entangles itself into the tale, emerging with a rich tapestry woven with Literary Gold.

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By Dave Robison
RTP Dialogues #1: Near-Future SciFi and the “Death” of Cyberpunk

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.

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By Dave Robison
Workshop Episode 55 (Guest Host: Patrick E. McLean)

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!

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By Dave Robison
Workshop Episode 52 (Guest Host: Hugh Howey)

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!

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By Dave Robison
Workshop Episode 46 (Guest Host: E. C. Myers)

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.

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By Dave Robison
Workshop Episode 38 (Guest Host: Jerry Gordon)

Jerry Gordon – editor of anthologies and author of tales (check his “Coming Up” section below for all his awesomeness) – returns to the Big Chair at the Roundtable for an ​epic​ story workshop. Guest Writer, Dan Scholes, brings a scifi tale of a distant culture dominated by nanites that infect every aspect of society.

Dan’s story becomes the foundation of one our most intriguing and in-depth workshops ever. You’ll be raking in the literary gold like autumn leaves, friends… just hit that “play” button.

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By Dave Robison
Workshop Episode 23 (Guest Host: Dan Wells)

Dan Wells – author of “The Hollow City”, “Partials”, the John Cleaver series, and co-host of the Parsec-award winning “Writing Excuses” Podcast – returns to the Roundtable to add his experience and insights to this weeks workshop. Our Guest Writer is Dan Absalonson – an author with two tales on Amazon and his own podcast – who brings a marvelous zombie/robot scifi thriller tale to the table. The discussion is brisk, moving from one intriguing topic to the next, each stop revealing more literary gold. This is classic RTP goodness, friends… join us!

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