Podcasts for Writing

Since this year’s Penguicon, which I was sadly unable to attend, I’ve been collecting episodes of the Writing Excuses podcast. Two writers whom I admire were guests in those episodes, so I started downloading. I would eventually get around to listening to them.

I finally copied the files over to my phone last night, and began listening while I was on the way to pick up my might-as-well-be-biological sister in preparation for her holiday return to Delaware. As an aside, I still dig my cassette tape adapter.

There’s something to be said about listening to writers talk about writing, when you’re a writer. (Write.) I didn’t lack motivation before I started to listen again, but I’m finding that I have more of it now that I did. It reminds me of listening to Mur Lafferty‘s I Should be Writing podcast. Which, now that I go and visit the site, seems to have included video.

If you are writing, want to write, or want to improve your writing, I would recommend both of these podcasts. They give us access to those that are going through the same trials and tribulations that we are, or those that already have. They give us ideas and writing prompts that may take us in a direction that we would never have thought to take. And, if we’re lucky enough to pick up on it, they might even give us perspective.

Rewrite

I’ve rewritten the first, and largest, part of Adam’s Name.  Its first working title was Motor City Mafia, and was intended on having a pulpy, cheesy feel that revolved around a story that even the characters knew was implausible.  I had attempted to fine-tune this story, after it had collected dust for a few years, but what it needed was a full rewrite. Instead of feeling like real people stuck in bad writing, it was just bad writing.

The flow is better, the story is better, and the characters seem far more comfortable in their roles.  They now know that they’re the background noise, the filler, the extras in their world, and that running into Adam has pulled them out of that.  Seth, Susan, Sol, and Jonah are all making the journey to main characters, and are not entirely happy with how that’s going.  Instead of leaving them isolated in their introductory chapter, as I did in the last few versions, I’m going to carry the cast through, and find out how long they can hold up in the tornado that is building around Adam.

Things I’m looking forward to in the next chapter:

  • Solidifying the central mystery/conflict of the story
  • Writing some steamy scenes
  • Killing off one of the characters in strange circumstances

Holiday Cheese

I love the Holidays.  I love the Christmas season.  I love the tree, the decorations, the hats, the carols, the unwrapping of gifts, the lights… I love it!

To me, Christmastime has always been secular, and  that’s how I continue to celebrate it.  The giving gives me a great feeling, and the receiving ain’t half bad, either!

As my kids are getting older, and their gifts are evolving, I find myself taking more enjoyment in their tearing open the paper, in their need to have the toy/video game/stuffed animal out of the box right now so that they can play with the awesomeness that has been bestowed upon them.

We’ve already had a couple of celebrations amongst family and friends, and with the way that our family is blended, we will be having them off and on through the middle of January.

I have to admit, my wife does the heavy lifting.  She braves Black Friday every year, so that we can afford things that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to purchase and give.  She meticulously wraps every gift, because she cannot abide my fumbling and inexact paper folding.  She juggles the schedules of two distinct blended families, not to mention both her extended family and mine.

It just wouldn’t be Christmas without all of her hard work, and for that, I want to wish her, most of all, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and a Joyous New Year.