Episode 39 - Going Ape!

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Alan and Dave talk about their writing life, current projects and future plans.

Dave talks about the latest Gryphonwood Press signing, Justin Macumber, of Dead Robot’s Society fame.

Then we talk about some listener feedback:

Dave responds to some feedback about Scrivener and talks about how he uses it to help his novel writing.

Here’s the ebook Dave mentions from a listener comment: http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Novel-Scrivener-ebook/dp/B004ZG7BMU

Here’s the Wordle site the listener tipped: http://www.wordle.net/  

Alan talks about how he doesn’t really get on with the writing aid applications but uses several Word documents instead.

Here’s the Y-Writer software we mention from Simon Haynes: http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html

We then talk about tracking productivity or wordcounts and whether we do or don’t use those kind of goals.

Next, we discuss what kind of music we listen to while we write and why.

Then we go ape.

Alan talks about how he was driven to rage-tweet about just how awful the Tim Burton movie of Planet Of The Apes was as he watched it on TV.

Dave reviews the original book, Planet Of The Apes by Pierre Boulle (1963), then Alan talks about why the Burton movie is so bad in comparison to such a great book.

This leads us to lament the distinct lack of story in movies these days, with spectacle always sacrificing storytelling.

Dave then talks about some listener response to his question: What are your favourite Ape/Protohuman stories.

Following that, Dave lists his own Top 10 Ape/Human Ancestor Books:

1. Planet of the Apes - Pierre Boulle

2. Neanderthal - John Darnton

3. Congo - Michael Crichton

4. The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle

5. Direct Descendant - Charles Wilson

6. Almost Adam - Petro Popescu

7. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells

8. Tarzan of the Apes - Edgar Rice Burroughs

9. Eaters of the Dead - Michael Crichton

10. Hominids - Robert J. Sawyer

Episode 038 – Heroes and Superheroes with Adam Christopher

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Dave and Alan talk briefly about where they are in their writing life, then go on to chat a bit about their favourite heroes and superheroes.

Alan’s Top 10 Fictional Characters post, as mentioned in the chat - http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/2010/09/17/top-ten-fictional-characters.html

We then discuss the need among people for heroes. Even if you don’t watch movies or read comics or books, sports stars become heroes and so on.

We discuss historical heroes and the Indiana Jones type of exploratory hero. We need to admire and look up to someone and aspire to greater things.

Batman really would beat Jesus in a fight, incidentally.

Then we have a great chat with new Angry Robot author Adam Christopher, whose new superhero/alt-history novel, Empire State, is out now.

Empire State - http://angryrobotbooks.com/our-authors/adam-christopher/empire-state-adam-christopher/

Adam talks a bit about his writing life and previous publications in short fiction.

We also give a mention to Emma Newman who narrated a podcast of one of Adam’s stories. Emma’s collection is fantastic, and I was lucky enough to get an early read and blurb it. You can find that here: http://www.enewman.co.uk/book-details/from-dark-places

But back to Adam. He talks about how he was discovered by Angry Robot Books through Twitter, which is a really fascinating story.

Adam mentions his short fiction published at Hub Magazine - http://www.hubfiction.com/

Adam talks about how his representation with his agent came about after the Angry Robot interest.

Then Adam goes on to talk about just what Empire State is all about.

We talk about reading habits, comics, books and others.

We talk briefly about Adam’s current and future projects, but he’s being mysterious on that front.

We talk about reading widely to be a good writer.

We have a chat about our favourite comics.

Then the great question – What superpower would we choose if we could?

http://www.adamchristopher.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/#!/ghostfinder

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ThrillerCast is Going Ape and Needs Your Help!

ThrillerCast is going ape! In our upcoming episode we're going to discuss books and movies in which apes or ape-like creatures are central to the plot. Here's what we want to know in advance: What is your favorite book that falls into that category and why?

It could be something like Planet of the Apes or Congo. Maybe it's something cryptid like Primeval by David Lynn Golemon. We'll even stretch it to include human ancestors and related hominids (Is that the correct word?) such as Almost Adam by Petru Popescu or Instinct by Jeremy Robinson...

We'll read your answers during the episode! You can reply in the comments section or email us at thrillerpodcast [at] gmail.com

Episode 37 - Catching Up and Crapping On

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In our most free-flow episode in some time, Dave and Alan catch up on writing, discuss various issues and share a few news items.

- Updates on Alan's writing- several recent sales.
- David is working on a Young Adult novella.
- David will be a guest at Balticon 2012.
- Jeremy Robinson's next Chess Team novel will be published (in print) by Seven Realms Publishing.
- Will more big press authors manage their own e-rights in the future and sell their print rights only? How can publishers give successful authors incentives to remain with publishing houses?
- Are readers forgotten in contemporary publishing discussions?
- Trends in e-reading and "gaps" in potential readership.
- In what circumstances do we still want a physical copy?
- Dave's thoughts on The Adventures of Tintin.
- New and forthcoming releases in thrillers.
- Guests coming to ThrillerCast in February.