Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Podcast fun: discussing worldbuilding, characters and craft with Kate Elliott, Helen Lowe, and Paul Weimer

So you might remember me mentioning a while back that I'd recorded a podcast with fellow fantasy authors Kate Elliott and Helen Lowe, hosted by the always-awesome Paul Weimer for the Skiffy and Fanty show. The podcast is now live, and you can listen to the four of us discuss all manner of things relating to our books and the craft of fantasy writing, from characters to magic systems to geography to plot. (Kate, a veteran of the genre, has many fascinating things to say--as does Helen, who has the added bonus of a lovely New Zealand accent!)

This was the most fun I've ever had with a podcast, I think because of the group discussion setting. As with panels and signings, I find sharing the limelight (so to speak) always significantly lessens my nerves and helps me relax and enjoy myself. Recording this felt to me more like sharing in the sort of interesting dinner conversation you might have with friends at a convention (my favorite part of cons!), as opposed to a live interview where I'm always worried I'm about to say something stupid (I tend to babble when I'm nervous).

In other news, in case you missed it, I put up my February reading round-up over on tumblr...though arrgh, I got the name of Catherine Fisher's book wrong (it was The Speed of Darkness, not Obsidian Mirror--the latter is the 1st in the series instead of the last). If it's possible to edit tumblr posts, I haven't yet figured out how. Maybe next time I'll just post the roundup here and link to it there, instead of the other way around. (The one thing I do like about Tumblr is it feels more casual, somehow...I don't feel pressure to make a post all beautiful with pics of the books I'm talking about. Instead I can just whip out a quick "here are my reactions" post, which takes far less time and therefore is more likely to happen.)

And because this blog has been sadly lacking in wilderness pictures lately--my main computer with all my photos on it died, and we're still working to recover them off the hard drive--I'll end with a couple pics I found on my laptop of our last trip to Utah. Because Utah pictures make every Monday better.

Klondike Bluffs in Arches National Park
Slickrock bowl and Delicate Arch

Classic Utah: red rock, blue sky

Goblin Valley
Utah has the best sunsets

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