Michael & Ethan present themselves as co-teachers of an Advanced Creative Writing Course, in which their promising (but potentially troubled) student Daniel Brown has offered them his thriller novel. They take out their red pens and give writing advice. In this episode:

Alternate titles are offered, such as, "Everything Michael & Ethan Know About Physics," "Hyperbole Cast," "Suck-It, Podcast!" "Just Good Advice with Michael & Ethan," and "Bad Podcast Ideas."

Trigger warning: Michael & Ethan don't like The Da Vinci Code.

If Michael dies, arrest Ethan.

They talk about the concept of a prologue.  It takes up a good chunk of the episode.

They don't talk about the text of the book for half an hour.

They  help someone.

They've been reading Don Quixote for...a long time.

They offer a general apology, but Ethan specifically apologizes to the French.

Next month they'll be reading and discussing Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

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