The Murverse

War Episode 19

Mur Lafferty — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:00:13 +0000

This episode is longer than usual as our heroes and their sort-of allies head into the Dark to see what they can find there.

ISBW #135 – NaNoWriMo Extravaganzaaaaa – Baty, Lowell, Wilson interviews

Mur Lafferty — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:15:21 +0000

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00:00:07 ISBW #135
00:00:39 GoTo Meeting Message
00:01:27 Happy NaNoWriMo! Special episode: three interviews, no feedback. Mur is still editing as well as NaNo-ing, and trying to pace herself to avoid early November burnout. You are invited to be Mur’s NaNoWriMo buddy, but it make take her some time to return the favor. [You are also invited to be my writing buddy! I’m not as popular as Mur, so I’ll probably be able to “friend” you back a little faster. –Carrie.]
00:03:58 Promo: P.G. Holyfield and Tabitha Grace Smith of Angel Between the Lines write short stories for each other’s podcasts. On Nov. 16, 2009, download P.G.’s Exit Strategy at Stories from Wolfram & Hart, and on Nov. 18, 2009, at 9:30 EST, visit Stickam.com to view the live video recording of Tabz’s story for Tales of Children, Love’s Sacrificial Song.
00:06:06 Interview with author Nathan Lowell of the Solar Clipper series – 6 books written in 2 ½ years.
00:24:01 Promo: J.C. Hutchins & the print debut of 7th Son Descent – serialized novel, audiobook, and other content also available online.
00:25:40 Interview: David Niall Wilson author of Vintage Soul – novel originated as a 2005 NaNoWriMo project. Register to read this year’s NaNoWriMo read-along book, The Heart of a Dragon , and be David’s NaNoWriMo buddy
00:38:38 Promo: Jon Armstrong and Underland Press present Jeff Vandermeer’s Finch listen to an interview with the author at If You’re Just Joining Us
00:39:48 Interview: Chris Baty, creator of NaNoWriMo (don’t forget to check out the NaNo Video podcasts).

Show notes provided by Carrie Kei Heim Binas.

War Episode 18

Mur Lafferty — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:51 +0000

Kate learns what the other gods have decided her fate will be, and whether she will fight Chaos alone.

War Episode 17

Mur Lafferty — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:00:23 +0000

Like Orpheus and Izanagi before him, Daniel heads into the Underworld to fetch a soul.

ISBW #134 Importance of Language / Devo Spice Interview

Mur Lafferty — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:00:56 +0000

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00:00:07 ISBW #134
00:00:38 GoTo Meeting Message
00:01:26 State of the Mur update: giving a talk at BlogWorld re: podiobooks, and working on edits for “Project Underground”
00:05:26 Promo: J.C. Hutchins & the print debut of 7th Son Descent – serialized novel (at BoingBoing), audiobook (at podiobooks.com), and other content (at JCHutchins.net) also available online.
00:07:04 Main topic: “That’s just words”? The importance of language.
00:15:09 Promo: Tuning in to SciFi TV
00:16:27 Interview: Devo Spice (aka Tom Rockwell) Recommended sites: The FuMP (Funny Music Project), Dr. Demento, The Real UHF, and Working Indie Musician
00:34:48 Promo: A. P. Stephens & The White Shadow Saga
00:35:49 Feedback: Neil Gaiman writes a book via Twitter; Is it worthwhile to invest in 3rd-party editing before shopping a novel?; Advice on writing from the perspective of a character who slowly goes insane; New website — Lit Drift ; Possibly useful organizing software — Writer’s Café; 100 Questions for Character Development – Geocities closed down, so we were unable to use the link originally sent to us, but Carrie found another similar list here.

Show notes provided by Carrie Kei Heim Binas.

Belief

Mur Lafferty — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:48:34 +0000

I worry a lot. An awful lot. This whole self-marketing thing has been hard for me, first in admitting it’s not egotistical to list my podcasting achievements, to acknowledge that I speak to a large audience, and then in having the brass ovaries to talk to that audience and tell them, in no flowery language, that I believe in my book enough to encourage them to buy it.

This is the thing about podcasting-or any self-publishing, because podcasting your fiction is simply free self-publishing in audio format-if you do the work and don’t tell people you’ve done the work, and that the work is worth their time, no one will pay attention. So no matter if your insecurities loom large, and your ego is a forgotten raisin under the fridge of your psyche, you have to be able to market your work.

And to do that, you have to believe in it. When you believe in something, you can make others believe in it too.

This summer, my friend JC Hutchins came out with a podcast where he discussed how “disbelief is the enemy.” He and I talked about this some, and it seems to be one of those totally true things that you don’t think about till it’s said aloud. When you do this thing, this content creation, and then the self-marketing, you have to believe in it – every aspect.

I always wondered why the NPR pledge drives work. My local NPR phone number is drilled into my head (1-800-962-9862) because of their pledge drives. It drives me mad. I can’t stand it. And yet, I give. I give because I know these people pushing it believe in NPR, and I do too. And I realized our marketing is the same; we believe in our work, and we have to do the NPR thing to make a splash, to make people remember us (1-800-962-9862), but those true fans that we have believe too, and they tolerate us. Because they know we’re our own best cheerleaders, because they know we believe in our work, and because they believe too.

When I did my marketing on twitter and my blog last year at Playing For Keeps’ launch to hit as high as I could on Amazon, I was terrified I’d turn people off. And I’m sure I did. In fact, I know I did. But the little raisin ego tried to understand that I can’t please all people, and that if I get ten fans behind me, supporting me, it’s worth losing the one who got sick of me promoting. Because if I don’t believe in my stuff, and tell you that I believe in it, no one else will.

So it was with interest that I watched JC’s marketing efforts of his new book, 7th Son: Descent, which came out two days ago. He tweeted and he blogged and he encouraged others to play too, pretending to have their twitter or facebook or blogs hacked by one of his characters. He started the day with the caveat that if someone wants to unfollow him to avoid the deluge, then he wouldn’t take it personally. He believed in this book. And he had fans who believed in the book. And goddamn did they deliver. To sum up (from JC’s site):

188 overall, up from 209 at 11:55 pm (we started yesterday at 3,711)

31 in Science Fiction/Fantasy (up from 34)

11 in Science Fiction (up from 12)

3 in Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > High Tech

55 in Mystery & Thrillers (holding steady)

36 in Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers (holding steady)

14 in Hot New Releases (Sci-Fi/Fantasy) (up from 16)

3 in Hot New Releases (Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction) (up from 4)

39 in Hot New Releases (Mystery/Thrillers) (holding steady)

26 in Hot New Releases (Mystery/Thrillers > Thrillers) (holding steady)

6 in Movers and Shakers (down from 5)

Note: Since some books in the Amazon charts are free Kindle titles, I’ve adjusted the list below to reflect what positions we “earned.” When these free titles are removed…

20 in Science Fiction/Fantasy — 11 free titles were removed

5 in Science Fiction — 6 free titles were removed

1 in Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > High Tech — 2 free titles were removed

50 in Mystery & Thrillers — 5 free titles were removed

2 in Hot New Releases (Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction) — 1 free title was removed

38 in Hot New Releases (Mystery/Thrillers) — 1 free title was removed

I watched with glee as my good friend who wrote a damn fine book finally saw some print success after years of building his podcast and his audience, and it really made me think about the concept of belief. This is not snake oil sales, cult-building bullshit “belief.” This is not seeing who you can fool, who you can scam. This is honestly believing in your work, and honestly telling people about it. And that they should believe too.

He believed in 7th Son because it was a good book. And he made us believe. So if you don’t believe yet, check out the PDF below. It’s free, and it’s the first 10 chapters of the book. And if you believe, pass it around, and pick up a copy yourself.

War Episode 16

Mur Lafferty — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:00:24 +0000

IN which we find out what actually happened once Gamma and Prosper fell into the ocean.

War Episode 15

Mur Lafferty — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:29:52 +0000

I finished all of War, and finally got it all recorded. You’ll get the rest of the story at regular, three-day intervals!

Episode 15, at which Kate explains her revelation. They return to The Sheridan.

War Episode 14

Mur Lafferty — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:01:49 +0000

Daniel and Kate meet Morrigan at last, and one other unexpected person.

ISBW #133 – You’re allowed to suck / Anders and Defendini Interview – LIVE

Mur Lafferty — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:27:23 +0000

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00:00:07 ISBW #133
00:00:38 GoTo Meeting Message http://www.gotomeeting.com/podcast
00:01:12 State of the Mur update: final season of Heaven (War) is finished! Upcoming projects:
- “Project Underground”
- NaNoWriMo – other WriMos are welcome to visit the MightyMur profile page (Mur is happy and flattered that so many people want to be her NaNo “writing buddies”… but it may take time for her to “friend” you back. Please be patient!)
- List of helpful iPhone/iTouch writing-themed apps for future blog post
- Mailing books to winners of the writing prompt contest
00:04:38 Promo: Jennifer Hudock’s Goblin Market
00:05:43 Main topic: Cautionary tales for novice writers, including advice re: NaNoWriMo & podcasting novels. Balancing “you’re allowed to suck” with “is it ready to put out there?”
00:13:45 Promo: The Scotchcast
00:15:03 Interview: Lou Anders of Pyr Books and Pablo Defendini of Tor.com at DragonCon
- Short fiction website mentioned during interview: SF Signal
- How to submit to Tor.com?
- Email short fiction to Patrick Nielsen Hayden at pnh at panix.com
- Email comics to tordotcomics at gmail.com or pablo.defendini at tor.com
00:50:52 Promo: Well Told Tales
00:51:48 Feedback & Announcements: Event! December 10, 2009 (Thursday) from 7pm-8:30pm reading/singing/performances with Jeff VanderMeer and Natania Barron at Chapel Hill Comics. Mur will also be at BlogWorld in two weeks to talk about podiobooks. Feedback: Who is the antagonist in the typical romance novel? Update from listener Tom, re: balancing multiple projects. Writers’ conferences. Writing contests. Who does the podcast intro music? Beatnik Turtle! More thoughts on use of language originating with the specifics of the real universe in the context of a fictional and other-worldly novel.

Show notes provided by Carrie Kei Heim Binas.

War Episode 13

Mur Lafferty — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:01:12 +0000

So why was Gamma called back to The Sheridan, anyway?

ISBW PDF Chapters 1-3

Mur Lafferty — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:22:33 +0000

I continue to update the ISBW PDF but I just hadn’t gotten around to actually editing and getting it turned into PDF format. Thankfully, the mighty Phil Lunt has come to my rescue and created some awesome ebook files for me! You can get the first three chapters now in PDF or PRC format.

Did I mention it’s free?

(intro, chapters 1,2 and …) Chapter 3- Ideas are EASY. Work is HARD (Direct PDF download — Direct PRC download)

War Episode 12

Mur Lafferty — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:45:31 +0000

In which the group in Leviathan City deal with a number of surprises.

ISBW #132 – Feedback Special

Mur Lafferty — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:09:59 +0000

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00:00:07 ISBW #132
00:00:38 GoTo Meeting Message
00:01:12 Mur tackles ISBW administrative activities
00:02:49 Mur names her new assistant, Carrie Kei Heim Binas — check out Carrie’s writing blog at Heim Binas Fiction
00:03:37 State of the Mur update: finishing recording War, edits from agent on Heaven, more work on “Project Underground”, and then NaNoWriMo in November (if all goes according to plan) to write Playing for Keeps 2: No Takebacks
00:04:44 Upcoming NaNoWriMo focused interviews! Possibly Chris Baty [update since recording- INTERVIEW CONFIRMED!], definitely David Niall Wilson, and Nathan Lowell
00:06:05 Promo: The Kingdom Crisis Anthology
00:07:05 FEEDBACK: July emails: Is printing a single copy of a book “publishing”? What is a good synopsis? (Suggested reading: Mastering the Dreaded Synopsis, Writing the Novel Synopsis, Writing a Synopsis (with lots of links from a romance writer.) How do I protect my short stories? Is it legal to mention famous people in books? How do I best present my children’s picture book for publication? (Suggested reading: Editorial Anonymous, the blog of a children’s book editor.) Line-by-line editing vs. “big picture” editing. Polite ways to withdraw a short story from consideration. New beta software for managing timelines: Aeon Timeline. How do you manage your various writing obligations (freelance vs. fiction)? Is it proper to use italics and exclamation marks in manuscript submissions?
00:19:24 FEEDBACK, continued: August emails: How does an author refer to objects or situations with culture-specific names if writing a fantasy or SciFi story based in a world that has no knowledge of these cultures? Using children and plants to show the passage of time. What is a story bible? Letting authors know the value of their blurbs for other books. How should I handle my disobedient characters? How can I balance my screenplay writing with my novel writing? ISBW’s News from Poughkeepsie inspires listener Jason Ramboz to create the Fifty First Lines project – free ideas to take and use (under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license). Recommended podcast: Writing Challenges. How do I tell a story without explaining everything? How do you outline short stories? When should you apply for a copyright? Applying for contests instead of submitting to a magazine. How do I get a job writing for RPGs/writing for money?
00:35:03 FEEDBACK, continued: September emails: How do I get access to the ISBW archive episodes that aren’t currently on iTunes (Download them HERE.) How do I handle too many ideas for too many different kinds of writing? Concerns about needing to write more on a daily basis/how can I look at my output and be proud of it? Advice on alternate media/releasing books in podcast form, etc. Cory Doctorow calls for YA writers to donate digital books to a class for blind students. Should I rearrange and edit the first parts of my draft novel now, or finish writing first? Writing franchise fiction (or not). Starship Sofa is launching its first anthology complete with free ebook.
00:47:28 Promo: Into the Blender
00:48:44 Contest winners announced (thank you to the 19 people who submitted writing prompts!)

Show notes provided by Carrie Kei Heim Binas.

Additionally, Carrie weighs in with some good synopsis advice:

My personal listener feedback on how to write a good synopsis — I’ve read that a synopsis is the place where you can “tell, don’t show.” After all, there’s not enough space to show, but if (for example) a major plot point happens because a character gets really angry at another character, you can just say “this makes the hero very angry, and an epic battle ensues” without going into much detail. However, I think that the best synopses are ones where the tone of the synopsis matches the tone of the manuscript. An epic tale should have some hints of grandeur in the synopsis, but a lighthearted tale can have a hint of humor in it, etc. My own main character is a bit irreverent, and the story is told with a rather “confidential” tone, so in my 6-page synopsis, I found room to drop 2 or 3 quotes of the MC’s language straight from the text of my novel, so that the reader could “hear” her voice more effectively.

ISBW #131- Worldcon Interviews – Lake, Gilman, and Kelly, Kessel, and Cadigan

Mur Lafferty — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:14:55 +0000

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00:00:07: ISBW #131
00:00:38: GoTo Meeting Message
00:01:12: State of the Mur roundup (vacation, DragonCon, writing)
00:02:43: Plan for the fall: War, “project underground”, and NaNoWriMo
00:03:58: Announcement! Upcoming interview with David Niall Wilson
00:06:32: Promo: The Dreamer’s Thread
00:07:47: WorldCon interview with Hugo nominee Jay Lake
00:26:52: Promo: Lost Gods
00:28:10: WorldCon interview with Campbell award nominee Felix Gilman
00:39:07: Gilman references The Warriors, a 1979 cult action/thriller based on the 1965 novel of the same name by Sol Yurick. The book and movie are modern retellings of Xenophon’s Anabasis.
00:48:03: Promo: Jennifer Hudock’s Goblin Market
00:49:08: WorldCon impromptu Round Table chat with James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel
00:53:26: Pat Cadigan joins the round table
01:05:12: Recommended reading: Tom Reamy’s San Diego Lightfoot Sue and Other Stories (1979) and Blind Voices (1978)

Show notes provided by Carrie Kei Heim Binas.

ISBW #130 LITE- Fear

Mur Lafferty — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:25:35 +0000

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I’m afraid.

ISBW #129 LITE- Content rating system for children’s books?

Mur Lafferty — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:25:25 +0000

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I talk in this podcast about whether we should give children’s books content ratings like video games and movies.

ISBW #128 LITE- You can’t convince people to love you

Mur Lafferty — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:23:47 +0000

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No means no, and you can’t make people love you. Really.

ISBW #127 LITE – Wanna give up

Mur Lafferty — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:23:31 +0000

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Everyone feels it. But we have to press on.

Also, it’s hot.

Short. Unedited. Free.

War Episode 11

Mur Lafferty — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:46:40 +0000

APOLOGIES- DragonCon internet was expensive and I didn’t get a chance to make this live for everyone before my one-day-splurge ran out!

Kate, Daniel and crew enter Leviathan city, find Barris and Ishmael, and prepare to meet the queen.

War Pt. 10

Mur Lafferty — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:59:08 +0000

We’re back! This one is short and transitional, but next week’s is already written and I promise you lots of stuff happens. Lots. Thanks for your patience!

In which Barris meets a new friend and Kate, Daniel, and crew hit the water and formulate a clever plan that cannot fail.

Also, if you are interested in buying prints from War, check out our new art page!

ISBW #126 LITE – Drawing Class

Mur Lafferty — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:50:44 +0000

I test out my new headphone/mic combo for my ipod and talk about my latest creative attempt: a beginning drawing class where I have to allow myself to suck. Square one, baby.

It’s short, it’s unedited, it’s attempting to be daily, and it’s free.

ISBW #125 LITE! – Intro to ISBW

Mur Lafferty — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:00:12 +0000

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Yes. If you want something done, ask a busy person. Welcome to ISBW Lite- It’s attempting to be daily, it’s small, it’s experimental, it’s unedited. But hey, it’s free.

Today I give an introduction to ISBW, for any new listeners we may have.

ISBW #124 – 4 Year Anniversary / Neil Gaiman Interview

Mur Lafferty — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:47:01 +0000

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Neil Gaiman - photo by .guilty

I’m starting to wonder if I should just take August off from podcasting. It seems to be the month I have the most trouble getting content out. But no more! This week you will be DELUGED with content! Starting with the (one week late) anniversary episode of I Should Be Writing, featuring an interview with one of my favorite writers, Neil Gaiman!

Abbreviated show notes:

It’s 4 years since I started ISBW. And boy have I learned a lot. And a lot more to go. I’m also writing a ton, hence being behind on podcasting. Also, if you use iTunes, can you give some review love to ISBW?
Promo: World Wide Weird Podcast
Meta thoughts on writing, accomplishment, media, etc. I take questions from Twitter.
Promo: The Dreamer’s Thread
35:50 Neil Gaiman interview from WorldCon (And The Graveyard Book did win the Hugo! Congrats, Neil!)
Promo: Inner Demons novel
Contest! You send me writing prompts, I send you books! All writing prompts are ownership of me, the books you win are ownership of you.

NOTE- This podcast is explicit. I told Neil I’d bleep the bad word, but dangit, the quote is too good and I left it in. There’s one swear word in this interview. It’s quick, and Neil is soft spoken so people not listening carefully (like your kids) will likely miss it. But to quote A Christmas Story, it’s THE dirty word, the “f dash dash dash” word, so I’m marking this one explicit. Neil Gaiman and Matt Wallace – too explicit for I Should Be Writing. Aw yeah.

Hugos- Kessel, Kelly, and me [Flickr]

mightymur — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:47:43 PDT

mightymur posted a photo:

Hugos- Jay Lake and me [Flickr]

mightymur — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:47:28 PDT

mightymur posted a photo:

Me and Hugo-nominee Jay Lake at the after-party at WorldCon 2009, Montreal, Canada. Even dressed up, this man is very colorful!

Hugos- John Scalzi and me [Flickr]

mightymur — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:47:20 PDT

mightymur posted a photo:

Me and Hugo-winner John Scalzi at the after party, WorldCon 2009, Montreal, Canada. Meeting Scalzi was a thrill, and standing in close proximity to his Hugo was also awesome. The thing weighed around 10 pounds!

Hugos- Cory and Mur [Flickr]

mightymur — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:47:05 PDT

mightymur posted a photo:

Hugo nominee and my former instructor, Cory Doctorow and I at the Hugo Loser's Party, WorldCon 2009, Montreal, Canada. I look stunned. Cory looks hot. I think I'm stunned because I'm standing next to Cory.

Hugos- Kessel and Kelly [Flickr]

mightymur — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:46:58 PDT

mightymur posted a photo:

Hugo nominee Dr. John Kessel and my former instructor James Patrick Kelly all dressed up at the Hugos- WorldCon 2009, Montreal, Canada. Kessel's Chuck Taylor's were awesome, but I only got his sole, even though Kelly tried to help me out.

War Episode 09

Mur Lafferty — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:23:37 +0000

The gods take a trip to Leviathan City, and Morrigan finds an unlikely ally. Professor Burns has a neat sign for his shop.

ISBW #123 – Art vs Popularity / Greg van Eekhout Interview

Mur Lafferty — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:57:32 +0000

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We are also proud to be sponsored by JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects series, both the free podcast novella Sword of Blood and the novel Personal Effects: Dark Art are available (order now!)

00:07: ISBW #123
00:37: GoTo Meeting Message
01:24: Words, pants, and my WorldCon schedule!
03:50: Promo: Movie Mantras
05:27: Art vs Popularity - This blog post says Hugo nominees are mediocre and fandom are wrong for choosing these books. These two blog posts say the first was out of line for a couple of different reasons (note, neither complained that his opinion of their own work was objectionable.) Your thoughts?
12:30: Promo: The Casting Game
14:40: Greg van Eekhout (Greg on Twitter) interview, we talk about his novel, Norse Code. We talk mythology and workshops and clams. John Scalzi’s blog post about Fantasy and Science Fiction’s new workshop.
37:37: Promo: JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects: Dark Art
39:14: Feedback: Time passes… how? Removing submissions from editor consideration, novellas, writing licensed work, The Secrets podcast, podcasting necessity, innovate, rewrite help, Holly Lisle interview, PANTS, and how to deal with writing monthly.

War 08

Mur Lafferty — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:20:33 +0000

We meet Barris’ Leviathan City saviors, and one of those saviors meets Morrigan.

War Episode 07

Mur Lafferty — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:00:21 +0000

Morrigan sets her heart on a goal, and Barris wakes up from a terrible idea hangover.

ISBW #122 – Antagonists / JC Hutchins Interview

Mur Lafferty — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:17:55 +0000

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We are also proud to be sponsored by JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects series, both the free podcast novella Sword of Blood and the novel Personal Effects: Dark Art are available (order now!)

00:07: ISBW #122
00:37: GoTo Meeting Message
01:18: Pants report!
02:40: Words report!
03:20: Announcement! ISBW PDF content coming soon!
03:50: Promo: The Imperium Panjianium by Chris Mack
04:55: Antagonists
11:44: Promo: JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects: Sword of Blood
14:40: JC Hutchins interview. Buy Personal Effects: Dark Art! The party PDF is here, and more PE:DA stuff will go into the feed today!
38:30: Promo: Jennifer Hudock’s Goblin Market
40:04: Feedback: incompetence, COTTON PRODUCTIVITY VACUUM, in defense of MS Word, researching your genre, a pants voicemail from Carrie (visit her awesome blog).

War Episode 6

Mur Lafferty — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:00:18 +0000

Sick family and power outages and Internet outages, oh my! Sorry for lateness. Unavoidable.

Daniel returns, Barris goes shopping, and Professor Burns makes a decision.

ISBW #121 – PANTS! / Laura Mixon Interview

Mur Lafferty — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:29:31 +0000

Once again we are proud to have GoTo Meeting as a sponsor this week! Get a Free 30-Day Trial!

We are also proud to be sponsored by JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects series, both the free podcast novella Sword of Blood and the novel Personal Effects: Dark Art are available (order now!)

00:07: ISBW #121
00:37: GoTo Meeting Message
01:30: Not much writing except for column.
01:57: Collaboration effort with JR Blackwell, Her Side
02:10: Goals for July
03:55: Promo: The Burning Skies
05:01: Pants are powerful and will help me write more. Seriously. I mention Flylady.
13:17: Promo: JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects: Sword of Blood
14:40: Laura Mixon interview. Storytron, Interactive Storytelling. (the dog barking ends shortly into the interview) Laura’s books on Amazon. Laura on Twitter.
36:22: Promo: Chris Moody’s Qattusverse
37:52: Feedback: Dialogue, blurbs, text to speech, new ISBW superfan!, when to edit, beta readers, and diversify!

And yes, I DO know what some non-US people consider the word “pants” to mean. Snicker all you want; I’m from the US, I know what I mean, and I am pretty sure that you know what I mean, too.

ISBW #120 – Don’t Be an Ass! / Matthew Wayne Selznick Interview

Mur Lafferty — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:26:27 +0000

Once again we are proud to have GoTo Meeting as a sponsor this week! Get a Free 30-Day Trial!

We are also proud to be sponsored by JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects series, both the free podcast novella Sword of Blood and the novel Personal Effects: Dark Art are available (order now!)

00:07: ISBW #120
00:37: GoTo Meeting Message
01:303: I just don’t manage to podcast during vacation.
02:40: Collaboration effort with JR Blackwell, Her Side
03:57: I have a new agent! Brandi Bowles from the Howard Morhaim agency.
04:27 Promo: Nephilim Push
06:10: New rule for writing- Don’t be an ass.
13:40: Promo: Matthew Wayne Selznick’s Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights
14:40: Matthew Wayne Selznick interview.
49:33: Promo: Scott Sigler’s The Rookie (use coupon code MUR to save $!)
51:40: Feedback: Changing POVs, how to choose what to write, restarting a lost novel, short story listing Ralan, other outlining options.

War Episode 5

Mur Lafferty — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:59:33 +0000

Daniel finds himself in a sticky situation, and has to resort to an odd way out.

War Episode 4

Mur Lafferty — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:52:45 +0000

Kate and Daniel have a not-fun trek through the improbability storm, Kate finds a lost god. Stockholm Syndrome, anyone? (Bonus geek points to whoever can tell me who this episode is in homage to.)

War Episode #3

Mur Lafferty — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:00:47 +0000

Kate and Daniel escape from the improbability storm and learn something surprising about the god Prosper’s whereabouts.

ISBW #119 – Are You a God? / Seth Harwood Interview

Mur Lafferty — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:55:03 +0000

Once again we are proud to have GoTo Meeting as a sponsor this week! Get a Free 30-Day Trial!

We are also proud to be sponsored by JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects series, the podcast Sword of Blood is available free now, and the novel Personal Effects: Dark Art, launched this past week (order now!)

Note- I recorded this before I spent two weeks of hardcore writing and editing. I wrote 25,000 words in four days, and did basically nothing else. So I apologize for not getting this up until now.

00:07: ISBW #119
00:37: GoTo Meeting Message
01:30: Balticon was a blast!
02:30: War launched June 1
05:23: Promo: John Mierau’s Serving Worlds
06:17: Ghostbusters’ lessons – and yes, I now remember SW’s character was not Zool – If someone asks you if you’re a god, YOU SAY YES. (most of the time)
13:35: Promo: Feedback: A Hero’s Calling Season 2
14:50: Interview with Seth Harwood, author of Jack Wakes Up
35:07: Promo: JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects: Sword of Blood
36:58: Feedback: Very awesome “I’m a writer” email, outlining including the snowflake method, wordcount, standard manuscript format (see edit below), mentors, you’re allowed to suck, kill your darlings, self publishing, more outlines, putting work online, Super Note Card is good writing software for PCs, how to send mss to publishers when you can’t afford printing, always send polished mss to agents/publishers!

EDIT- mistakenly said standard manuscript format is 10 pt Courier- I was wrong. It’s 12 pt Courier. Sorry! Thanks to people who reminded me!

War Episode #2

Mur Lafferty — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:16:26 +0000

We meet a being wronged by Kate and bent on revenge, and Kate and Daniel learn a little bit about the mysterious city beneath the waves.

New Suicide Girls, and Mur Endorses Personal Effects: Dark Art

Mur Lafferty — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:28:13 +0000

My new Suicide Girls column is live, it’s about getting into Alternate Reality Games.

I finally heard about ARGs in 2007 and became fascinated by the idea. See, an alternate reality game is a game that claims it is not a game, but has a central narrative, often on a website or within a novel, with a paths, or ‘rabbit holes’ that lead elsewhere: other websites, phone numbers to call, even places to visit for messages. Each path will offer more information, a puzzle, or a clue. ARGs can have hundreds of pieces of extra content to discover, and it’s as immersive as you can make it. The first successful ARGs were devised as marketing material for existing licenses or products (The Beast was connected to the film AI: Artificial Intelligence), but they’ve expanded since then.

And speaking of ARGs, this past weekend I picked up JC Hutchins’ first print release, Personal Effects: Dark Art. I got a chance to read an advanced copy of it, and loved it. So I was thrilled when Hutch asked me to do one of his ground-breaking “vlurbs” – a video endorsement.

You can order the book, or if you’re curious about Hutchins’ work, check out his free podcasts (including one novella set in the PE:DA universe, called Sword of Blood) at his site.

War Episode 1

Mur Lafferty — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:00:05 +0000

Remember Barris, the sun god? He has a secret, a wonderful secret that he’s not willing to share. And why is the moon now smaller?

The complete intro, the whole tragic story up to now, is done by the talented James Melzer, author of The Zombie Chronicles: Escape.

Thanks for your support in making this a thrilling series to develop!

ISBW Video #009 – Book Trailers Revisited

Mur Lafferty — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:35:12 +0000

Book trailers. Well. They’re hard. That’s about it.

In this video, we have two versions of my WAR trailer, and lots of help and love from fans. I asked for content, and got well over TWENTY comments, videos and audio clips. Deluge of love! I couldn’t use them all, but I do plan on putting each comment either on the site or in an audio promo, so don’t think you did a bunch of work for nothing.

And as usual, I forget someone in the credits- ARGH. Natalie Metzger did some graphic design doctoring on the WAR cover, and she created the amazingly creepy image of our new villain, the masked woman you’ll see in the video. Also, Will Hoffacker took the still pics of me and JR Blackwell from Balticon.

[EDIT You can get all of the ISBW video episodes on YouTube now!]

ISBW Video Podcast #8 – JC Hutchins Interview LIVE from Balticon

Mur Lafferty — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:12:36 +0000

I got to get an exclusive sneak peek at the awesomeness that is Personal Effects: Dark Art this past weekend at Balticon! I talk to author JC Hutchins about his ground-breaking book, and we try not to get distracted by passers-by.

Camera work by John Cmar, Additional Direction by David Moldawer

War Promo #1

Mur Lafferty — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:46:04 +0000

Here’s the promo for WAR – this is to promote the Inside Story – I’ll have proper podcast promos coming soon. But if you want to spread the word before June 1, this is the promo to use!

ISBW Video #007 – Submission Survival Kit

Mur Lafferty — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:55:19 +0000

In this podcast me and my camerawoman head to Staples to talk about the best tools for your submission kit. Her camera work isn’t the best, and I mispronounce “Pyr Books“, but we had a good time.

The kit:
Pens
Self-adhesive #10 envelopes for small queries and SASEs
Self-adhesive large envelopes for larger queries/partials
Tracking system for queries
Stamps (USA just raised postage to $0.44)
Adhesive address labels
And a chair.

Sponsored by Personal Effects, Dark Art.

ISBW #118 – Getting Restarted – Christiana Ellis Interview

Mur Lafferty — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:17:54 +0000

Once again we are proud to have GoTo Meeting as a sponsor this week! Get a Free 30-Day Trial!

We are also proud to be sponsored by JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects series, the podcast Sword of Blood, launching for free on May 15, 2009, and the novel Personal Effects: Dark Art, launching mid-June (pre-order now!)

Frankly, it’s late. I’ll make the show notes detailed tomorrow. But for now, check out Ellis’s book, Nina Kimberly the Merciless, at Amazon, and support indie authors!

ISBW #117 – Back to Basics / Scott Sigler Interview

Mur Lafferty — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:31:22 +0000

Once again we are proud to have GoTo Meeting as a sponsor this week! Get a Free 30-Day Trial!

00:07: ISBW #117
00:37: GoTo Meeting Message
01:43: Crossed the 20K word mark on War
03:03: Promo: JC Hutchins’ Personal Effects: Sword of Blood
06:00: Download archives of ISBW at Murverse
08:30: Mur’s Four Basic Rules of Writing
17:34: Promo: Nina Kimberly the Merciless
19:22: Interview with Scott Sigler, author of The Rookie
42:40: Promo: Scott Sigler’s The Rookie
44:47: Feedback, or lack thereof

ISBW #116 – Writing Magazines / China Miéville Interview

Mur Lafferty — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:47:22 +0000

New show format, new show notes format!

Once again we are proud to have GoTo Meeting as a sponsor this week! Get a Free 30-Day Trial!

00:07: ISBW #117
00:37: GoTo Meeting Message
01:27: Allergy Attack!
01:52: Change in show format – adding interviews, subtracting nothing
03:57: Progress report on WAR
04:40: Hope to see you at Balticon- sign up for our ISBW Workshop!
05:30: Join me for breakfast at Balticon!
05:57: Promo: Jack Wakes Up
07:52: What can you get out of writing magazines? We peruse two to find out.
18:00: Promo: How To Succeed In Evil: The Novel
19:17: Interview with China Miéville, author of The City & The City
01:02:39: Promo: The Signal
01:04:20: Feedback! You can do book galleys at Lulu.com
01:07:34: Voicemail: How DO you write a prologue? We look to Nathan Bransford’s blog for answers.

ISBW Special #43 – Nebula Award Winner John Kessel

Mur Lafferty — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:30:46 +0000

Once again we are proud to have GoTo Meeting as a sponsor this week! Get a Free 30-Day Trial!

I interviewed Dr. John Kessel, winner of the 2009 Nebula Award for best novella! We talked in a coffee shop, so please forgive the background noise.

Did I mention you can get the early info of the new Heaven book at the site, if you join the Inside Story?
Promo: Get a $3 discount off Scott Sigler’s The Rookie with the discount code MUR
Interview with Dr. John Kessel, author of Pride and Prometheus, winner of the Nebula award! Audio files at his website, the story here, and his free, CC licensed short story collection from Small Beer Press here. We talk education, longer short fiction, and translating a story to television.
Promo: Amaz!ng Meeting 7
Lastly, what direction would YOU like to see ISBW go in? More interviews? Mix of interviews and advice? I need your input!

I Should Be Writing by Mur Lafferty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

ISBW #115 – Beginnings and Prologues

Mur Lafferty — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:49:51 +0000

Once again we are proud to have GoTo Meeting as a sponsor this week! Get a Free 30-Day Trial!

I come up from illness to say hi and talk about stuff!

My Story “Mother Sponge” came out in Hub magazine!
Friend me at GoodReads!
Promo: GreatHites
Beginnings, prologues, and yes, you are allowed to suck!
Promo: Nina Kimberly the Merciless
6 yr old Nicholas Skidmore, author
New software: Jer’s Novel Writer, DarkCopy, JDarkRoom

New Short Story: Mother Sponge

Mur Lafferty — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:42:49 +0000

I recently had another short story published through Hub magazine: “Mother Sponge.” It’s a futuristic take on food, rituals, religion, and the deaths of loved ones.

Hub is FREE and weekly and I highly recommend it. They’re a paying market, so donate if you can. They’ve allowed me to put the PDF in my feed to share with all of you. Hope you enjoy!

ISBW #114 – Feedback

Mur Lafferty — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:11:02 +0000

We are proud to have GoTo Meeting as a sponsor this week! Get a Free 30-Day Trial!

Show Notes:

I’m doing a new thing with War – subscribe to the premium feed at the Heaven site!
Promo: Dice Jockies
You must check out the new interactive storytelling site, Storytron!
David Moldawer and I are running a beginning writer workshop at Balticon this year!
Create your own ebooks at Smashwords.com, you can also place your work at Scribd.com and Fictionpress.
For scriptwriting, Celtx 2.0 was just released.
I say I dont know where to get feedback on queries, but since this recording, Nathan Bransford has started the Be An Agent For A Day contest that you can submit to and have other authors look at your queries.
Promo: French Quarter Hustle
I’m going to start asking for feedback opinions from other podcast novelists, and the first is about character deaths from JC Hutchins, author of 7th Son and the upcoming novel, Personal Effects: Dark Art (pre-order now! You know you want to…)
Let’s cheer on Carrie with her novel in the comments!
The Book, a project portal
We hear from a listener who got to see Mary Jo Pehl in Cinematic Titanic live! *jealous*
Dead Robots Society on Create Space.
I endorse, again, the Online Writer’s Workshop.
I mention Viable Paradise and Clarion as good workshops for SF writers.
More writing software: Write Room.