Episode 29 - Catfights, Causes and Controversies

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ThrillerCast is one year old!

Alan was recently a guest at ConFlux.

David is looking forward to the release of the Quest audiobook.

The strange and cool experience of hearing your characters interpreted by a voice actor.

Writing Fight Scenes Online Master Class- Alan will be leading this class along with Joanna Penn, author of Pentecost and host of The Creative Penn. A few spaces remain. Thursday Oct 20, 2011 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM EDT (9pm GMT). A recording with slides will be available if you can't make the live session.

Registration link:
http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/write-fight-scenes-masterclass

This is the one year anniversary of ThrillerCast! What has changed in publishing in the last year?

Industry growing pains.

Negative reactions to Amazon's publishing imprint. Conflicts over excluse digital rights. Are booksellers making the right decision by refusing to carry print versions of books on which Kindle holds exclusive rights?

Disparate viewpoints on how authors should approach this tumultuous world. Then and now- watchdog organizations and where to get advice.

The Write Agenda
-What exactly is their agenda? We don't quite get it.
-Who are they angry with and why? What did Writer Beware and random SFWA officers ever do to them? We find them confusing.
-Why don't the individuals in the group identify themselves? (Or are we just missing it on their website?)
-Why does their highlighted bestseller list seem to be almost exclusively authors from pay-to-publish businesses? Perhaps there's nothing to it, but it gives a negative impression.
-Perhaps their cause is a good one, but we're having a hard time 'getting it.'

Our advice
- If you don't want to go the traditional publishing route, you are better off avoiding pay-to-publish companies. You can hire people to do the things you can't, and you'll be better off in the long run.
-Connect with the indie community for mutual support and guidance.
-Whether it's a cause like The Write Agenda or an advice site like Writer Beware, always weigh the value of what their saying, then make your own educated decision.

Episode 28 - Setting the Hook with David Sakmyster and R.P. Steeves

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This week, Alan and David discuss how to keep a reader interested from the start.

Updates:
Alan is headed to Conflux and is working on writing for a gaming project.

David was interviewed on AllPulp.


Why do some books grab you from the start and others don't?

Start the story "as close to end as possible."

The importance of a strong "hook" in the age of the e-reader.

Purchasing based on samples.

Promo- Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing

Guests- David Sakymster and R.P. Steeves

The importance of setting in an engaging thriller.

How do our guests approach "hooking" the reader?

Prologues in thrillers.

Character development and secondary characters.

David's forthcoming screenplay project with David Golemon.


Visit our guests on the web:

David Sakmyster

R.P. Steeves


And don't forget our weekly

awesome and sometimes inappropriate outtakes after the closing credits!

Episode 27 – Branching out as a writer with David L Golemon

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Show notes

David and Alan talk about their writing life and where they’re at right now.

David mentions the release of Callsign Queen. http://www.amazon.com/Callsign-Queen-Zelda-Novella-ebook/dp/B005MLJ6G6

David talks about his lack of focus in writing direction – the problem of having too many genres and idea directions in his head. David wonders if he has writer's ADD, and is it a problem to work on several projects at once.

Alan talks about how he works on many projects, but usually one at a time.

The importance of re-reading work when you’ve had a break from it.

Mur Lafferty’s “I Should Be Writing” podcast promo. www.ishouldbewriting.com

Then we chat with thriller and multi-genre author, N Y Times bestseller, David Lynn Golemon.

David Golemon talks about the Event Group books and their inspiration.

The latest book is Legacy - http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Event-Group-Thriller-Thrillers/dp/0312580797/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316222595&sr=1-1

We talk about multiple characters in stories.

We talk about the importance of realism in characters and the need to kill main characters sometimes to ensure readers are always engaged and under suspense. Otherwise it’s just Red Shirt syndrome. “Real life is death sometimes.”

We talk about the personal impact on the writer of these character deaths.

David talks about how his and his family’s military background has influenced his writing.

We go on to discuss David’s new book, The Supernaturals - http://www.sevenrealmspublishing.com/products.php?product=The-Supernaturals . David talks about why he wrote a ghost story.

David talks about his move to Seven Realms to publish The Supernaturals and his position on small press.

This leads David to talk about how publishing is changing and the nature of mainstream press compared to small press, and the state of the book.

David also mentions the possibility of starting a new pulp magazine for horror and adventure stories, including graphic stories with great artwork. You heard it here first!

What scares David Golemon?

David Golemon – pantser or planner?

David talks about the great American historical novel he really wants to write.

Find David at www.eventgroupfiles.com

And yes, throughout the interview there’s the repeated sound of a dog. We have no idea why...

Episode 26 – From Stage to Novel – the A J Hartley interview

An unusually long ThrillerCast this week, but well worth the extra time.

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Dave and Alan share some great news with regard to both their novel series’.

We get a nice bit of listener feedback that Dave shares.

Then Dave talks about some Stupid Author Antics.

Dave plugs a few new releases that are due soon which are well worth all thriller and genre fans paying attention to.

Promo- The Dead Robots' Society Podcast - http://deadrobotssociety.com/

The A.J. Hartley interview:

Thriller adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth - http://www.ajhartley.net/Macbeth.htm

How the novel came to be, and the differences from the original.

Play vs Novel

Writing battle scenes

The challenges of adapting Shakespeare to the modern thriller and reader response.

Perceptions and misconceptions about Shakespeare.

AJ's thriller novels.

The "Shakespeare Conspiracy"

AJ's fantasy novels and forthcoming middle grades book.

Common threads that cut across genres.

Genre restraints in adult literature that are absent from children's and young adult literature.

An Englishman's obsession with the American pastime

Magical Words www.magicalwords.net

AJ Hartley's website www.ajhartley.net 

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Episode 25 - The Game with Sean Ellis

In this week's episode, we discuss the new thriller anthology, The Game, to which Alan and David each contributed a story. Our guest is Sean Ellis, who conceived of, contributed to, and edited the anthology.

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Show Notes

Updates on writing and the proverbial "real world."

David's new book, Quest, was the #1 Hot New Release on Amazon's Men's Adventure chart.

Promo: I Should Be Writing

The Game anthology from Seven Realms Publishing

How/why Sean conceived of the anthology.

How Alan adapted his very powerful character to a "being hunted" scenario.

How David chose the particular setup of his story.

Sean's thoughts on the variety of stories in the anthology.

The lasting impact of "The Most Dangerous Game."

The power of the "man hunting man" theme.

Parallels with the popular YA series The Hunger Games.

Catching up on all of Sean's current and forthcoming books including Dark Trinity and Callsign: King.

How Sean manages to juggle multiple projects.

Visit Sean Ellis on the web at www.seanellisthrillers.webs.com.

Episode 24 – To Pen Name or Not To Pen Name

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We talk geography and that Dave will soon be moving to a much better place in the US.

Alan talks about research and the beauty of not needing any with pure speculative fiction.

Here’s the link to the Joanna Penn interview Dave mentioned that he did.

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2011/08/10/writing-thrillers-david-wood/

We talk about The Game anthology, which is out now.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Game-ebook/dp/B005F9YFHU/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2

And here’s the cool cover:

We go on to discuss the use (or not) of a pen name. Dave writes in multiple genres and is wondering whether he should keep his fantasy name, David Debord, along with his thrillers under his real name, David Wood.

We also discuss the nature of author branding and how much it can help or hinder an author’s career.

We discuss the nature of book stores and libraries and their need to have books in the right place, which is not an issue now with online stores.

This leads to a discussion of book covers making genre and style clear.

We discuss how sometimes publishers insist on an author changing their name to avoid sales downturns with new books from midlisters.

This leads us to talk about new publishing options which might allow unclassifiable books to be published where they might never have been published before.

Episode 23 – Keeping It Real

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We talk about the nature of research in fiction.

The blog post Alan refers to regarding research:

http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/2011/07/21/fiction.html

We talk about making sure the real things in our novels are correctly represented in order to not upset the readers who would know. And to add realism for the people who wouldn’t know.

We talk about the duty of editors to fact check the work of their authors.

We discuss the importance of beta readers to proof and fact check.

The importance of research, especially travelling to places you’re writing about in order describe them well.

The beauty of modern technology, like Google Earth, to help us with our research.

And, in a shameless plug, if you want to get your fight scenes right, read Alan’s short guide to writing convincing fight scenes, Write The Fight Right, available for only $1.99 - http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/write-fight

And Dave’s new Dane Maddock book is out – Quest. http://davidwoodonline.blogspot.com/2011/07/friday-update.html