Writing Excuses
Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler and Dan Wells
writingexcuses.com
Writing Excuses is a master class creative writing course broken up into bite sized chunks. Hosted by three best-selling novel writers and one of the internet’s most successful cartoonists, each episode goes surprisingly deep on a topic of craft in a very short amount of time. Their tag line, “Fifteen minutes long because you’re in a hurry and we’re not that smart,” is falsely modest. Each one is packed with useful tidbits from leading spec-fic authors.
Essentially secrets of the pros for those struggling to make it, Writing Excuses is on its tenth season and has a huge back catalog covering a wide variety of writing related subjects. The current season has been examining the process of creating a book from outline all the way to revision.
In addition to being useful, this podcast is also surprisingly entertaining. The four hosts have an excellent rapport with one another, and they also have a great stage presence. They also have frequent guest authors for more perspective.
In addition to the topic, each episode ends with a writing exercise or homework assignment to further illustrate the lesson.
Writing Excuses is like the greatest creative writing course you never took, taught by a quartet of engaging experts. If you are looking for an informative writing podcast, this one should be at the top of your list.
Hugh Likes Podcasts: Writing Excuses
November 18, 2015
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Hugh Likes Podcasts: Supervillian Corner
November 2, 2015
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Supervillain Corner
Written, Produced, and Hosted by Christopher Morse
supervilliancorner.podbean.com
How do you bring a super-villain to life? For actor and podcaster Christopher Morse, it seems like it’s as easy as opening his mouth. The creator of Supervillain Corner, Chris steps into the roles of a huge cast of powered villains and heroes, from the brilliant Professor Brainfever to the ever-vigilant Nocturnal Knight. Every wanted to how heroes find time to fall in love, or what to do when your diabolical plan is foiled? This podcast has the answers.
Each episode is hosted by a different character as they reveal a little bit of their world and give advice to would-be rulers of the world or saviors. And when Chris isn’t behind the mic, he gets a little help from stellar podcasting talents like Christiana Ellis, Dave Robison, and Veronica Giguere.
Obviously it can’t be as easy as all that, though, because the effort that goes in to each episode really shows. From the sharp-witted and gloriously nerdy scripts to the impeccable voice-work and sound design, this is an outstanding and enjoyable program worth more than any doomsday device. I especially enjoy the in-world promos that Chris includes in every episode. From Superhero tailors and costume designers to Henchperson H R services and Supervillain dating websites, they’re hilarious and spot on.
Supervillain Corner has been on hiatus for far too long, but has just launched its third season, “Supervillain World.” Chris has always peppered in an ongoing plot with his villainous hijinks and advice, and this is a great place for new listeners to jump onboard.
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Hugh Likes Podcasts: The Fantasticast
October 12, 2015
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The Fantasticast
Stephen Lacey and Andrew Leyland
https://fantasticflameon.wordpress.com/
One of the advantages of digital comics is that issues that were once collectors items are easily available for modern readers. Wether through reprinted omnibuses, black and white ‘essential editions,’ DVD editions, or online stores, there are more ways to read comics than ever before. Which in turn means that issues that might have been lost to time can be reexamined, enjoyed, and picked apart. Which is just what the Fantasticast does.
A team-up of two veteran comics podcasters, Steve Lacey of “Twenty Minute Long Box,” and Andrew Leyland of “Hey Kids, Comics!” The Fantasticast sets out to summarize, celebrate, and take the piss out of every issue and appearance of “The Fantastic Four,” in order. With well over six-hundred issues and innumerable guest appearances, this is no small task. After 100-and-something episodes, they’ve just gone from their original appearance in 1961 to the early seventies.
I’ve been listening along issue-by-issue using the Marvel Unlimited app, and it is great fun. Andrew and Steve have a great rapport, and it is interesting to hear the perspective of British fans to so American a medium as silver-age Marvel comics. The show is a lot of fun, and balances humor, reverence for the subject matter, and intelligent perspective quite well. Their synopses are entertaining and complete, and listeners don’t need a long box handy to follow along.
The Fantasticast is certainly a by-fans-for-fans presentation, and I don’t know if it would hold much interest for listeners who aren’t interested in the origins of the Marvel universe, or the Fantastic Four in particular, but it is well done and worth a listen for the comics geek who wants a bit of light perspective along with their heroism.
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Hugh Likes Podcasts: The Melting Potcast
October 5, 2015
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The Melting Potcast
A F Grapin and Erin Kazmark
TheMeltingPotcast.com
I listen to a lot of writing and fiction podcasts. Most of them try and cultivate a specific audience. The Drabblecast is narrowly focused on weird fiction. Ditch Diggers is specifically about the business side of writing professionally. Specificity is good, usually. But I really enjoy podcasts that go a bit broader. My own podcast, The Way of the Buffalo, is founded on the new, rather than specific genre or even medium. But I can’t think of a podcast that attempts to reach a broader audience that The Melting Potcast.
Billed as ‘a little bit of everything for everyone everywhere,’ they present flash audio fiction based on prompts, longer short stories not constrained by topic, and author interviews, amongst other content. For the sake of full disclosure, I have had one of my own stories appear on the show.
Hosts Erin and A. F. inject humor and passion into their presentations, and the quality is top-knotch. They are accompanied by regular and guest readers. The prompts so far have been clever and interesting, creating a surprising variety of stories that hit on a variety of genre and emotional beats. They’re still fairly new, but their passion for fiction, hard work, and supportive community all shine through. This is definitely a podcast to watch, because it’s only going to get better as it keeps going. Find The Metling Potcast in iTunes, or the podcatcher of your choice.
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Hugh Likes Podcasts: The Voice of Free Planet X
September 21, 2015
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HLP-The Voice of Free Planet X
Produced and hosted by Jared Axelrod
Over the course of over one-hundred and seventy-five episodes, Jared Axelrod has hosted a variety of projects on his podcast, The Voice of Free Planet X. It began as a presentation of his short fiction. It has also served as a platform for his sci-fi puppetry project, “Aliens You WIll Meet.” It featured the serialized steampunk adventure “Fables of the Flying City,” which is where I jumped on board. But the latest, recently begun project revives the original title, and is an outstanding podcast production.
Ostensibly published by GPR (Galactic Public Radio) The Voice of Free Planet X is This American Life for a fantasy world, a Radio Lab of the impossible. Jared interviews stranded aliens and out-of-the-casket vampires. He talks to AI musicians and post-apocalyptic road warriors.
It is a clever response to the post-Serial podcast landscape, and the production values are top-notch. It takes a discerning ear to determine the show was made in a home studio with actors, and not on the board of a WBEZ mobile truck. But the real strength lays in Axelrod’s writing, and the performances of his interview subjects. He’s managed to take spec-fic cliches, such as vampires as metaphors for sexual deviancy, and breathe new, and interesting, human life into them. The format does an end run around suspension of disbelief, but the voice, if you will, is what sells it. These interviews aren’t pulse-pounding adventure stories. They are the best sort of feature story for people that never existed. And like the best of this flavor of fiction, it bleeds into the way we see the real world. Because you never know when that youtuber will turn out to be an incarcerated computer intelligence.
Hugh Likes Podcasts: Coxwood History Fun Cast
September 14, 2015
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Coxwood History Fun Cast
Written and Produced by K. T. Bryski
https://coxwoodhistoryfunpark.wordpress.com/
Those that don’t learn from history, are doomed.
This is the motto, nay, the mission statement of The Coxwood History Fun Cast, a full-cast audio horror comedy set in the world’s most evil living history museum. If you liked “Welcome To Night Vale,” but wish it had more hoop skirts and opium dens, this is the podcast for you.
The story centers on the park’s social media rep, Katherine Sinclair. Ms. Sinclair has it tough. Her office is a broom closet, her boss is demonically possessed, and the interpreters all make fun of her. But when disaster strikes, from witches to bloodthirsty groundhog armies, to, worst of all, fundraising, it’s up to her to save the day. And get a quick podcast recording done as well.
While Coxwood’s production isn’t quite as polished as “Nightvale,” it has just as much humor, wit, and heart. The oddball characters and farcical situations are brought to life by excellent voice acting, particularly P. C. Herring as one of the opium girls. The characters have a perfect mix of strangeness and likability that makes this podcast a treat. Writer and producer K. T. Bryski, (who also voices Katherine,) really knows her stuff, and pours her love of historical interpretation and podcasting into the work. I especially enjoyed the character of Old Mabel, whose youth and sanity were taken by her own full-cast podcast. And also moonshine.
The Coxwood History Fun Cast just completed its first season, and at the moment their is no word on a second, but I hope that we get another chance to visit the park, see the ballroom, complete with giant pulsing ball of evil energy, and have tea and authentic 19th century biscuits with the unspeakable horror. No raisins please, they’re the food of the devil.
You can find the RSS feed HERE, or join the Facebook fan page.
Hugh Likes Podcasts: Writing In Suburbia
September 7, 2015
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Writing In Suburbia is a podcast for professional writers. Except that it isn’t. It is, like a lot of other writing podcasts, by a professional writer for aspiring professional writers. But it is still a damn good one, and well worth your time.
A very informal solo cast, WiS comes from the brain squeezin’s of indie horror wunderkind Jake Bible. The author of the Dead Mech, as well as half a dozen more series from small press outlets, Jake is a master of ebook horror with a herculean work ethic. Bible is incredibly prolific, releasing book after book on an almost monthly basis. On the podcast, he shares the secrets of his success, which mostly boil down to planning well and putting in the work, which he can do as a full-time writer. He also gives the audience a look into the life and lifestyle of novel writing as a day job, and gives a lot of insight on daily life as well as the pitfalls of being your own small business. And he ends every episode with a mean blues-harp performance.
Fans of Jake Bible’s writing will already be familiar with his bombastic, and often not safe for work, style. His off the cuff manner is occasionally meandering, but equally charming and easy to listen to. He pulls off the rare trick of making a solo podcast sound like a conversation. If you want to really know what it’s like to write for a living, or you want some tips to improve your work (as opposed to your craft) Writing in Suburbia is a podcast well worth checking out. Find it at jakebible.com or your preferred podcatcher.
Hugh Likes Podcasts: The Dork Forest
August 31, 2015
Hugh Likes Podcasts Comedy, Geekery, HLP, Hugh Likes Podcasts, Jackie Kashian, podcasting, The Dork Forest Leave a comment
Hugh Likes Podcasts: The Dork Forest
Hosted by Jackie Kashian
TheDorkForest.com
There are a lot of nerdy podcasts out there. In fact, the later almost always implies the former. But The Dork Forest is a nerd podcast in an entirely different vein, and it is one of the best.
Hosted by comedian Jackie Kashian, this is an interview show that dives deeply into the unexpected and delightful things that we all dork out about. Everyone has something they love, and Jackie finds out about the unusual obsessions of celebrity geeks. This isn’t just Dungeons and Dragons and comic books, although subject have been covered in the past. Anything could be a topic, from Presidential biographies to 70’s McDonalds advertising mascots.
A show like this could focus on the bizarre and incomprehensible aspects of these dorkdoms, but Kashian approaches her subjects with an empathy and sense of humor that celebrates their interests rather than points fingers. The Dork Forest is a podcast that celebrates wonderful and weird corners of nerd culture at a time when so much of fan discussion has devolved into mean-spirited yelling, internet trolling, and attempts to dictate how other people should enjoy things.
The Dork Forest is a geeky ray of sunshine that always shows me something delightful and surprising. The show can be found in your favorite podcatcher or at JackieKashian.com
Hugh Likes Podcasts: Nutty Bites!
August 24, 2015
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Nuchtchas is not your average geek. And her show “Nutty Bites” is not your average pop culture podcast. A transplant from Long Island to Canada, she brings creativity, wit, and above all empathy to the discussion and dissection of nerd culture.
Joined by her husband/cohost/antagonist Tek, as well as other guests, Nutty debates geeky topics, interviews nerd celebrities like Paul and Storm, and generally brings the awesome to every discussion she sets her sights on.
Nuchtchas, AKA Nutty, has a particular talent for finding and bringing out the best in other geeks. Nutty Debates always feature some cool geek I haven’t heard from before. These roundtable discussions are as far-reaching as they are nerdy, ranging from lamest super-powers to favorite SF Films.
She is also a participant in the Dog Days of Podcasting. Going on every August, this is a project to record a podcast every day leading up to Dragon*Con. Nutty uses the opportunity to interview geeks from across the web. These mini-episodes act as ten to twenty-minute windows into the lives of podcasters, artists, writers, and other interesting geeks. For propriety’s sake, I will put in the disclaimer that I was a participant in this year’s set of podcasts.
In addition to her own show, Nutty also is a member of specficmedia.com’s Beyond The Wall “Game of Thrones” podcast, and a frequent contributor to CHSR’s Epic.
Nutty visits all corners of the nerd community, and she’s enthusiastic about everything. In an internet where so much of the conversation has become a battle, even Nutty Debates are friendly, fun, and above all positive. I always find out something I didn’t know, or become a fan of a podcaster, writer, cosplayer or artist I hadn’t heard of before. This is required fan listening in my book. Visit NIMLAS.org and listen to this illuminating podcast.
Hugh Likes Podcasts: Ditch Diggers
March 30, 2015
Hugh Likes Podcasts, Reviews Ditch Diggers, HLP, Hugh Likes Podcasts, Matt Wallace, Mur Lafferty, review Leave a comment
Ditch Diggers
Hosted by Mur Lafferty and Matt F. Wallace
www.matt-wallace.com/tag/ditchdiggers
“Ditch Diggers” is a different kind of writing podcast. Hosted by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace, with special guests from throughout the SF writing community, this is less a writing podcast and more a writing-adjacent business advice show.
The Campbell award-winning Lafferty is perhaps best known as the host of “I Should Be Writing,” an also excellent podcast featuring encouragement and practical advice for aspiring writers. This is the other show, where she gets more down to earth with business advice for writers who know how to put one word in front of the other. Co-host Matt Wallacer contributes his own expertise as a novelist and screenwriter. The podcast actually springs from a segment on ISBW called “Good Cop, Bad Cop,” in which the pair answered letters, with Mur offering encouragement, and Matt giving over the top criticism.
While they aren’t in character on this podcast, “Ditch Diggers” has the same energy as those old segments, and the banter between the two is a delight. They’ve also featured guest authors, including Kameron Hurley and Chuck Wendig, to talk about their career successes and failures.
While “Ditch Diggers” is geared towards writers looking for career advice, it is still an entertaining listen if you aren’t looking for an agent or an editor. It’s a peek behind the the curtain into the real world of how books get from manuscript to bookstore shelf, with a pair of wry, witty hosts who work well together. “Ditch Diggers” can be found at their website, via Mur Lafferty’s site, or in your favorite podcatcher. It’s all the fun of going to a writer’s convention, without the bar tab.
Hugh J. O'Donnell 