Writers Drinking Coffee
161 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 12 ratingsCoffee & Ideas
This is a podcast based on writers sitting around, drinking coffee and/or occasionally wine, and talking about anything and everything.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Episode 110 – Interview with Isabelle Hardesty
July 27, 2021 14:52 - 29 minutes - 25.8 MBIsabelle started as a fashion designer, and her eye for rich detail turned into a love of writing. She started with a short story for an Anthology, discovered world building, and from that writing the Delacourt Shapeshifter Trilogy sprang up. Her latest new book is out - The Witch of Belle Fleur, with a sequel on the way. Isabelle created an Afro-Latina protagonist based on her own Miami upbringing, and you might like her heroine's journey to become lead witch of her small town. … Continue......
Episode 109 – Interview with Cassandra Lane
July 20, 2021 15:06 - 33 minutes - 29.4 MBCassandra started as a reporter, then went back to get her MFA in creative writing. Cassandra’s first full-length book is a non-fiction memoir called We Are Bridges, and Jeannie devoured it entirely in a day. We Are Bridges a story that ranges across three generations from Louisiana with the lynching of a great-grandfather to modern life in Los Angeles, exploring romance and race and motherhood and what they all mean together. She shares with us her practiced art of listening, how working wit...
Episode 108 – Interview with Liz Williams
July 13, 2021 14:28 - 31 minutes - 16.8 MBLiz Williams is a British science fantasy writer, historian, and occultist. With a PhD in Epistemology and a fascination for occultism, her work ranges from science, pure fantasy, supernatural, and even into non-fiction historical survey of British paganism. We loved her “pantsing a bucket list” approach! Grab a latte and learn more! … Continue...Episode 108 – Interview with Liz Williams
Episode 107 – Adventures in Oz!
July 06, 2021 14:07 - 36 minutes - 19.6 MBThe Kickstarter is going strong for the Adventures in Oz 5e RPG, and Jeannie and Dave (both contributing writers) sit down with David Speakman and Aaron Cheung from Double Critical to talk about the mechanics of cranking out a major game module set in L. Frank Baum’s Land of Oz. … Continue...Episode 107 – Adventures in Oz!
Episode 106 – Cliff Winnig Reads a Story
June 29, 2021 14:17 - 21 minutes - 12.7 MBCliff Winnig joins Jeannie in the coffee lounge to read a story he wrote for the last Mad Scientist Journal called The Obelisk. … Continue...Episode 106 – Cliff Winnig Reads a Story
Episode 105 – True Crime with Monique Patterson
June 22, 2021 14:34 - 29 minutes - 16.7 MBMonique started as a journalist, and after covering the news for years developed an interest in writing True Crime novels, especially from the view of the victims and the impact on the affected communities. The disparity of how victims can be treated by the law and wheels of justice as well as in the press inspires her to tell their stories and hope that they can help inspire change. She has written three true crime novels thus far, along with a children's picture book and a published collect...
Episode 104 – Tropes and Perspectives
June 15, 2021 14:15 - 25 minutes - 15.8 MBIn which we explore TV and other Tropes in writing. A Trope can be defined as a cliche, but it can also be a leitmotif (in the musical sense) or standard devices used in serial dramas. We think it works for any writing, playing to the audience’s expectations of the narrative. … Continue...Episode 104 – Tropes and Perspectives
Episode 103 – Diasporica with Professor J.L. Torres
June 08, 2021 14:40 - 25 minutes - 13.7 MBIn this interview we celebrate J.L. Torres’ new book, Migrations. We discuss the impact of migration on storytelling, and the Diasporica (Puerto Rican Diaspora) on American literary culture. … Continue...Episode 103 – Diasporica with Professor J.L. Torres
Episode 102 – Crime and Euphemisms
June 01, 2021 14:54 - 36 minutes - 20.2 MBWe explore some of our favorite crime novels, the genre at large as part of mystery, and pick apart the differences between detective novels (tending to support law & order) vs caper novels (tending to be anti-establishment or radical) and the exceptions. Crime and caper novels can be historic or modern, and cross every genre. What do you need to think about when writing crime stories? We have some ideas. … Continue...Episode 102 – Crime and Euphemisms
Episode 101 – Short movies with Jordan Heron
May 18, 2021 15:00 - 38 minutes - 20.4 MBJordan makes movies. He started acting in commercials and showing up for casting calls, then discovered that he really liked directing. The next step involved him needing scripts, so he started adapting short stories into scripts – then just writing his own. All perfectly logical, right? Making movies is fun! … Continue...Episode 101 – Short movies with Jordan Heron
Episode 100 – Interview with Paul Attaway
May 11, 2021 14:53 - 38 minutes - 22.1 MBPaul Attaway is a new author who published his first book this last fall. He talks about his writing process, how to decide what the book is actually about – namely, a family drama with a murder. He approached writing his first book with a hybrid approach of plotting and organic growth based on the inter-relationship of characters. … Continue...Episode 100 – Interview with Paul Attaway
Episode 99 – Notes and Notebooks
May 04, 2021 15:14 - 36 minutes - 22.5 MBWhat’s in your notebook? The WDC crew all keep a little notebook of some fashion – although there’s discussion over moleskine, spiral notebooks, electronic Notes. Having a notebook in hand or in easy reach can help keep those nifty ideas from flitting back out of your brain by trapping them in ink or electrons. And then there’s refining the idea… … Continue...Episode 99 – Notes and Notebooks
Episode 98 – Interview with David Drake
April 27, 2021 15:05 - 28 minutes - 15.2 MBDavid Drake picked up writing, so he says, as a therapy for his time spent riding tanks around Vietnam and Cambodia. But what started as short stories ended up as a brilliant and far-reaching career that explored historic fantasy, horror, sci fi, and everything in between. Whether you love Roman legions, Byzantine politics, or Space Opera that combines the spirits of each, Drake has something for you – all his characters are exquisitely human and complex. … Continue...Episode 98 – Interview w...
Episode 97 – Chaz Brenchley’s Crater School Girls on Mars
April 20, 2021 13:39 - 28 minutes - 15.5 MBIn which we celebrate our own Chaz’ new book coming out in May 2021. Formerly only found if you were a Patreon member, now you can buy Three Twins at the Crater School in book format. Based on the concept of boarding school storylines from England, these posit a habitable Mars and a race to colonize the moons and planets in a steampunk Ethership universe. … Continue...Episode 97 – Chaz Brenchley’s Crater School Girls on Mars
Episode 96 – Video Biographies with Carol Wolf
April 13, 2021 14:14 - 35 minutes - 19.2 MBCarol Wolf says “If you point a camera at someone and ask them what they know about how to live your life, they tell you amazing, inspiring, and moving stories.” What is the lived experience? We continue our discussion from last week talking about the importance of telling your own (and other people’s) life stories with Carol’s film making experience, with some digressions for shark mating habits and propaganda. … Continue...Episode 96 – Video Biographies with Carol Wolf
Episode 95 – Memoir Writing with Jill Phillips
April 06, 2021 12:16 - 28 minutes - 15.9 MBThere are so many people who talk about writing down family memoirs. We interviewed Jill Phillips, who has completed her first novel of non-fiction memoirs to talk about her process, her journey, and her recommendations for anyone thinking it’s time to start writing their own family stories. She describes how to start and set yourself up for success, deliberations on whose truth to go with, and other important decisions a memoir will need to make. … Continue...Episode 95 – Memoir Writing with...
Episode 94 – Interview with Aleksandr Voinov
March 30, 2021 13:51 - 32 minutes - 18.1 MBExploring topics in gay romance, and emotive expression open for men – and how reading novels outside your own experience act like empathy boxes of learning and understanding. Aleksandr’s character-driven approach to storytelling combines with research to create vivid stories and hot gay romance. They also have some excellent advice for writers on maintaining separation from a day job while avoiding misrepresentation of your identity. … Continue...Episode 94 – Interview with Aleksandr Voinov
Episode 93 – Interview with Nancy Jane Moore
March 23, 2021 14:30 - 29 minutes - 16.1 MBNancy has found a unique way of conquering the general zeitgeist of creativity challenge with meditation and poetry to unlock new creativity. We discuss colonialism, and the challenge of looking at discovered civilizations (on earth, in space, wherever) through a lens of diversity instead of the old models, and what might happen when we start to do that even more. … Continue...Episode 93 – Interview with Nancy Jane Moore
Episode 92 – Interview with Bruce Holland Rogers
March 16, 2021 14:59 - 43 minutes - 35.3 MBBruce helps advance the question what the term “literary” means. Is it a commercial label? Is it a publishing market category for how to put similar books together in a bookstore? Class distinction or participation is one way to look, but so is technical accomplishment. In any case, learning to write seems a noble (and spiritual) way to squander your time as well as a social network, and Bruce has been amazing over a long and fruitful career as both a writer and educator. … Continue...Episode...
Episode 91 – A Psychological Model for Character Building
March 09, 2021 15:03 - 35 minutes - 26.5 MBIn this episode, Dave, Chaz, and John briefly discuss character development using the "Big Five" model of personality before haring off on a number of predictable tangents. Also in this episode: everything Dave knows about factor analysis and psychological modeling (tl;dr: psychology is squishy); what Chaz doesn't know about "Aspects of the Novel:" by E.M. Forster (quite a bit, and seemingly proud of it); and John reminds Chaz to panic about being replaced by a computer. Also: MFAs are a dodg...
Episode 90 – Race, Romance, and Regency
March 02, 2021 15:41 - 31 minutes - 20.8 MBIt’s Black History month, and we all watched Bridgerton (and a certain Duke) over Christmas, right? We invite Madeleine Robins back and start pondering how to make our writing accurately reflect the cultural mélange that existed in London and beyond. From racism to classism, our writers look at our inherent biases, how “common knowledge” of history isn’t, and how it takes something evocative with a new spin to challenge our ideas of history. … Continue...Episode 90 – Race, Romance, and Regency
Episode 89 – Interview with Jennifer Brozek
February 23, 2021 16:13 - 31 minutes - 20.1 MBJennifer has been nominated twice for the Bram Stoker award for horror, and won both the Bram Stoker and the Hugo Award for editing work. She’s written stories and novels for Battletech, Shadowrun, Valdemar, as well as many original stories and novels in YA Horror, Fantasy, and Sci Fi. She has the Best Quote Ever: You can be blunt or you can be vulgar but you can’t be both. … Continue...Episode 89 – Interview with Jennifer Brozek
Episode 88 – Interview with Megan Lloyd: Storyboarding
February 16, 2021 15:26 - 38 minutes - 24.6 MBWho is the first wizard on call when you need to make movie magic? Meg is a that wizard! A storyboard artist introduces us all to the world where the print meets the screen. Come learn about this exciting position working in TV and Movies, where you can tell stories with pictures and words in tandem. … Continue...Episode 88 – Interview with Megan Lloyd: Storyboarding
Episode 87 – Carol Wolf, Shotgun Artist
February 09, 2021 15:50 - 35 minutes - 23.1 MBWDC once again talks with master of many forms Carol Wolf, who discusses plays, movies, screenplays, horror, and some of her recent work, and inspires WDC to write more! … Continue...Episode 87 – Carol Wolf, Shotgun Artist
Episode 86 – Charlie Stross, Harbinger of Our Times
February 02, 2021 15:55 - 25 minutes - 14.6 MBThere are writers who can take one genre and then turn it into multiple genres before they're done - and you can't put the books down. We sat down one of our favorites who gets away with it all the time. Charles Stross, unrepentant Pantser, as he labels himself, tells us all about his books, his inspirations, his process, and his latest projects. … Continue...Episode 86 – Charlie Stross, Harbinger of Our Times
Episode 85 – Juliette Wade Returns!
January 26, 2021 15:55 - 30 minutes - 17.9 MBJuliette’s second book, Transgressions of Power (sequel to Mazes of Power), is coming out in February! Get your tiara and boa together and think about what you’re going to wear to her book release party! Juliette talks about dialect work, plotting, and how world building and pre-construction helps her write faster. … Continue...Episode 85 – Juliette Wade Returns!
Episode 84 – Interview with Richard Kadrey
January 19, 2021 15:27 - 43 minutes - 25.1 MBRichard Kadrey has been a successful novelist, written for comic books, scripts, and journalistic articles about art, culture, and technology. He creates music under the name Seven Blood-Stained Orchids. We caught up with him to find out the latest gossip on his Sandman Slim series, as there’s rumors of a movie in the offing. … Continue...Episode 84 – Interview with Richard Kadrey
Episode 83 – From a Certain Point of View
January 12, 2021 16:49 - 30 minutes - 16.5 MBIn which our merry hosts contemplate finding the right point of view from which to tell a story. The perspective of looking at a story is fungible, but each point of view will have a different voice. The coffee committee ponders the right point of view for a story about an incident, and how the voice of the view affects the story's tone and outcome. … Continue...Episode 83 – From a Certain Point of View
Episode 82 – Writing Political Satire
January 05, 2021 15:32 - 27 minutes - 16.5 MBThis is our first foray into discussing satire, and how to make fun of politics. Whether cartooning, focusing a microscope on an individual trait or issue, or simply drawing attention to an injustice, satire has a place in writing and the arts. … Continue...Episode 82 – Writing Political Satire
Episode 81 – Podcasting from Cobbler’s Gulch
December 29, 2020 15:47 - 30 minutes - 16.4 MBWe welcome another podcaster - Norman Leonard, the creative mind behind the kids’ podcast, Cobbler’s Gulch. Is it for kids? Or is it a podcast narrative for adults? Who loves goblins and gooslers and trolls and two-headed soil serpents? We do, and we say they’re for everyone, especially orphans. … Continue...Episode 81 – Podcasting from Cobbler’s Gulch
Episode 80 – Midwinter Ghosts and Scary Stories
December 22, 2020 15:07 - 18 minutes - 10.9 MBThe midwinter holidays have an old tradition of ghost stories and scary tales to whisper around the fire as people huddle close and wait for the light to return. We've recreated this for you with new spooky stories written by Chaz and Jeannie, and with a little help from John they're going to read them to you. … Continue...Episode 80 – Midwinter Ghosts and Scary Stories
Episode 79 – A Sit Down with Sage & Savant
December 15, 2020 15:00 - 44 minutes - 30.2 MBToday we sat down with the wife and husband team of Eddie Louise and Chip Clark from Sage & Savant, a serial podcast of steampunk adventures in Mad Science! Eddie wrote the serial adventure story and keep it going for years, while Chip composed music, created sound effects and other foley work. Come learn how they did it, and what they’re up to next! … Continue...Episode 79 – A Sit Down with Sage & Savant
Episode 78 – What’s in a Quirk?
December 08, 2020 15:44 - 38 minutes - 24.4 MBPeople with quirks are called eccentric, unusual, strange, or even bizarre, but the truth is bigger. Quirky people play weird games, wear different clothes, have unusual hobbies, or say what they mean in company. Quirky people have less fear. Jeannie submits the theory that all good protagonists need to be a little quirky. The committee pokes at her theory with examples from books, television, and movies. … Continue...Episode 78 – What’s in a Quirk?
Episode 77 – Alternative History with Harry Turtledove
December 01, 2020 15:51 - 31 minutes - 17.5 MBIt’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
November 24, 2020 16:20 - 35 minutes - 21.3 MBThere'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
November 17, 2020 16:59 - 41 minutes - 22.8 MBIn 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 74 – I am Death’s Brother
November 10, 2020 15:22 - 18 minutes - 10.2 MBGrab a coffee, faithful listeners. Chaz is going to read us a story from his upcoming collection titled “Everything in All the Wrong Order: The best of Chaz Brenchley.” This story is called I am Death's Brother - originally published in 2004, now lost to the vaguarities of publishing. We will link to the upcoming collection right here the moment it's available for pre-order! … Continue...Episode 74 – I am Death’s Brother
Episode 73 – NANONANO
November 03, 2020 16:03 - 32 minutes - 18 MBNaNoWriMo 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
October 27, 2020 14:53 - 30 minutes - 16.3 MBThe 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 71 – Putting a Toe in the Water
October 20, 2020 13:33 - 35 minutes - 21.8 MBThis is about openings, and new beginnings. This is a discussion on how writers pull us in and make us unable not to read the next sentence. Sometimes a first line is like the opening guitar riff to your favorite song, unforgettable and unmistakable. Some authors have said they can't write a story until they have landed the first line. Today we talked about our favorites, and what we loved about them. … Continue...Episode 71 – Putting a Toe in the Water
Episode 70 – Dude! – The Hero & Sidekick’s Excellent Journey
October 13, 2020 15:19 - 36 minutes - 23.3 MBDoes 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
October 06, 2020 14:22 - 40 minutes - 25 MBIn 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
September 29, 2020 14:42 - 37 minutes - 20.3 MBRaven’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
September 22, 2020 14:40 - 33 minutes - 21.2 MBHaven’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 s...
Episode 65 – Karen Sources a Story
September 15, 2020 14:49 - 42 minutes - 43.6 MBJohn 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
Episode 64 – Interview with Katharine Kit Kerr
September 08, 2020 15:56 - 33 minutes - 18.6 MBWe finally have a chance to catch up with Kit Kerr, writer of the magnificent Deverry series which runs for 16 books and spans over 40 years of her writing career. Kit talks with us about her inspiration, how her process worked in writing the saga, and some of the research to create her world. … Continue...Episode 64 – Interview with Katharine Kit Kerr
Episode 63 – Interview with Jaime Lee Moyer
September 01, 2020 14:37 - 34 minutes - 20.9 MBJaime specializes in historical fiction for her published novels and talks about how she does her research and finds the right images to paint pictures in her mind that she brings to life. Come listen to her describe on the page what she sees in the movie of her imagination. … Continue...Episode 63 – Interview with Jaime Lee Moyer
Episode 62 – Tentacles with Nick Mamatas
August 25, 2020 15:21 - 39 minutes - 22.8 MBIn which your hosts wallow in the Deeps with Tentacles and Nick Mamatas, discussing everything from Sherlock Holmes to Kerouac and Lovecraft. Nick talks about writing, editing, teaching, and the latest stuff he’s working on. Write short fiction, Nick says! … Continue...Episode 62 – Tentacles with Nick Mamatas
Episode 61 – Interview with Carol Berg
August 18, 2020 15:46 - 36 minutes - 21.8 MBCarol Berg, an extremely popular writer with the female hockey player set, joined us to talk about how she builds stories based on characters and questions. … Continue...Episode 61 – Interview with Carol Berg
Episode 60 – Weird Wars with Sean Patrick Hazlett
August 11, 2020 15:31 - 37 minutes - 24.1 MBSean writes horror, science fiction, and fantasy, with a unique and focused approach for the writing and publishing market. He got started writing short stories because, “Fail fast!” learn from your mistakes! He blends his experience as part of the military with a deft storytelling twist, and tells us how he learned and grew as a writer. … Continue...Episode 60 – Weird Wars with Sean Patrick Hazlett