special guest Archives | Writers Drinking Coffee

A pencil, a ball point pen, and a quill sitting in lounge chairs drinking coffee; Title: Writers Drinking Coffee

Episode 77 – Alternative History with Harry Turtledove

It’s not every day we get to talk to someone who single-handedly launched a genre. Harry Turtledove is the father of alternative history fiction, alongside his many fantasy and science fiction novels and stories. We caught up with him to talk about how to play the “what if” game in historic storytelling. … Continue…Episode 77 – Alternative History with Harry Turtledove

Episode 76 – Community Theatre with Damian Trasler

There’s the novel, and then there is short fiction. There’s multi-act plays, and then there’s one-act plays and community theatre. We sat down with stunningly successful community theatre playwright and author Damian Trasler to talk about how to write (and run) custom shorter plays and productions for local productions. … Continue…Episode 76 – Community Theatre with Damian Trasler

Episode 75 – Interview with Jacey Bedford

In which Karen and Chaz enjoy an old home week of sorts with the incomparable Jacey Bedford from Milford. Jacey chats with us about the MIlford process, her favorite tools for writing, and describes her process for both historic fantasy and science fiction. … Continue…Episode 75 – Interview with Jacey Bedford

Episode 73 – NANONANO

NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month and coffee give us life. John sits down with Violette Woods and Liz Hamill to discuss writing, motivation, and coffee. … Continue…Episode 73 – NANONANO

Episode 72 – A Creature by Any Other Stripe

The coffee couch welcomes back Alma Alexander, who wrote a lovely series on shapeshifting with an entirely new view on biology and shifter change mechanisms. She takes us through her Were creature books before we delve down into genetics, mass, blood types, and possible triggers. … Continue…Episode 72 – A Creature by Any Other Stripe

Episode 70 – Dude! – The Hero & Sidekick’s Excellent Journey

Does every hero need a sidekick? When they have one, what roles do they fill in a story? How can a sidekick help you tell your story more effectively? We explore our favorite sidekicks through time and how they effectively advance each story. … Continue…Episode 70 – Dude! – The Hero & Sidekick’s Excellent Journey

Episode 68 – Sympathy for the Devil

In which our committee sits down and talks about who our favorite story villains are and why. There’s some advice in writing villains, more admonitions on what to avoid, and how to romance your audience while horrifying them at once. … Continue…Episode 68 – Sympathy for the Devil

Episode 67 – Interview with Raven Belasco

Raven’s love of vampires came from a love of Bram Stoker combined with history, science, and even religion over the ages. She brings new ideas into the paranormal romance horror/adventure novels, with ideas about super effective bio systems rather than sparkles or magic. Raven’s historic exploration is something we need more of in our would-be ageless paramours. … Continue…Episode 67 – Interview with Raven Belasco

Episode 66 – Traveling with Pain and Liz Hamill

Haven’t you always wanted to travel the world and get paid for it? That’s the dream of being a food and travel writer. Liz is here to talk about the business and give you a reality check, as she describes how she found her way into the niche that got her noticed and published: How to successfully travel with a disability. When your disability isn’t that visible, there are special steps to take for traveling success. Liz takes us through some of those challenges as well as talking about how she made the leap from tech writing to travel writing. … Continue…Episode 66 – Traveling with Pain and Liz Hamill

Episode 65 – Karen Sources a Story

John and Karen sit down and talk through Karen’s process and ideas about a Vampire Abbess story. From research to editing, she talks her way through a new story. There is no “right way” to write! Hope it proves inspirational to someone else. … Continue…Episode 65 – Karen Sources a Story