Tag Archives: catching up

Episode #38 – Wait..what…it’s November??

 

TSD-crackup

Hard to believe it is November, but here we are. This week we talk about the new cool way publishers want to release books and why authors may not like it, and we get into the ultimate eagle vs kiwi, RUBGY!!

Have a listen, comment on the blog, and feel free to reach out to us at 703.791.1701 to share your thoughts with us!

 

00:00 — Introduction & Catching Up

 

13:12 — Publication schedules…things are getting intense

  • Getting three novels published in three months
  • Jeff VanderMeer and the Southern Reach Trilogy. Actually they came out in February, May and September.
  • Are we all going to be expected to get books out this quickly?
  • Self-publishing is pushing this move. New York is taking a trick from them.
  • Some people can crank books out this quickly.
  • Even if these books are written before hand, what about the next three?
  • Authors are expected to do more than just writer these days.
  • Pip invents a new word for the marketing world…
  • There is more than just cranking out a first draft…like editing…
  • Foreword Literary is now Fuse Literary, but still helmed by the Agent of Awesome Laurie McLean
  • Tee and Pip argue other media competition.
  • Pip goes all Rocky Horror Picture Show
  • Readers who wait until a series are completed, but that doesn’t tell your publisher you want more…
  • Pip talks about the days of constant writing
  • For most authors it doesn’t seem sustainable
  • Pip anticipates now they will get a contract like that!

27:04 — Eagle vs Kiwi The Rugby Edition

  • To Chicago…chilly but awesome Chicago
  • Pip points out it wasn’t just a rugby game.
  • 100 years since the All Blacks played the American Eagles on American soil
  • PC Haring hosted Tee and Pip while Aly Grauer, and Mel Fox joined in the shenanigans
  • Pip points out there is no stopping in rugby, while Tee waxes lyrical on the difference between American and this game of rugby
  • Pip and other kiwis feel a little pity, but there are no pity points in rugby either.
  • Who knew there were so many American All Blacks fans!
  • Aly and Mel sum up the attractions of rugby.

34.59 — The Wrap-Up

  • Pip and Tee talk about how David Bowie makes them feel like slackers. Pip wrote a blogpiece on it.
  • It could be the pants 
  • Tee is obsessing about a Walkman
  • Some awesome kid Ziggy Stardust…there is hope for the future
  • Pip has a moment or two, and now so does Sonic Boom
  • Tee learns Bowie appreciation, and his acting
  • Pip and Tee think of Alex White and Bowie…with an inappropriate dropin
  • Tales from the Archives wrapping up by the end of the year. Plans of the fourth season to be firmed up
  • Pip is finishing up the audiobook of Weather Child
  • Ministry Protocol is now out as an audiobook
  • Pip does indeed do the shownotes
  • Pip does indeed get the tumblr address for the Ministry right
  • One-Stop Writer Shop will have a deal coming soon for all those Nano participants

Related Links

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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or question for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.

Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.

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Episode #37: Kindle Unlimited — Whether You Like It or Not

 

TSD-crackup

Amazon, man. Amazon.

After a month of writing, blogging, event planning, and deering-do, Tee and Pip return to the mics (finally!) for a brand new Shared Desk…but wait, didn’t we talk about Amazon last time? Well, yeah, we did, and once again we return to the latest “sweet deal” for you. It’s a look at Kindle Unlimited, and a look back to Tee’s Past all caught on video in this latest podcast.

Have a listen, comment on the blog, and feel free to reach out to us at 703.791.1701 to share your thoughts with us!

 

00:00 — Introduction & Catching Up

  • Waxing nostalgic over Eva Marie Saint and Cary Grant
  • July got by us. Let’s just say that.
  • Pip’s feeling the sting of hard-core audio editing.
  • Pip’s been spending a lot of time in Deadly Hollywood.
  • If anyone has zero room to talk about our edits as being “light tweaks”…
  • Tee and Pip are waiting to hear from ACX and Writers’ Digest…on separate subject matters.
  • We may not be at San Diego ComicCon, but our work is.
  • One degree closer to Del Toro!
  • Got to love that agent-of-awesome, Laurie McLean, and the way she’s working our works-in-progress…
  • Darkwater is going through the pitching phase again.
  • Tee’s still working on Wolf in the Fold.
  • Publication date for The Diamond Conspiracy: End of March 2015.
  • Sometimes Pip will let Tee in on what ideas she’s hatching…

AmazonHold

9:04 — Kindle Unlimited…and Bad Timing on Amazon’s Part

  • We’re not turning our Shared Desk into the “What the Hell is Amazon up to this show?” show…
  • Kindle Unlimited
    • Spotify for Books. (Don’t you call that a library?)
    • Another great idea for Amazon…until the details come to light.
    • How “deep” does this pool reach?
    • There’s a deal for Kindle Unlimited for the Big Six, for indie authors, and for indie authors of a certain caliber.
    • Hugh Howey got this “special” deal.
    • And we turned to Joe Konrath for an opinion….
  • Just so you know, it’s not just us who are stopping to wonder…
  • The feudal system of authors on Amazon
  • How Amazon surprised — or strong-armed — indie authors into this program…
  • It’s a great idea with terrible timing.
  • We’re trying this, but only with a couple of our titles.
  • Three months of exclusivity? In book terms, that’s an eternity.
  • Seriously, Jeff Bezos — between that letter to Hachette authors and now this little stunt, are you not thinking about how this looks?
  • And Tee, once again, turns to Joe for comment on this matter of KU.
  • If you think the comparison to Spotify is good, it’s not.
  • Pushback from Episode #36 
  • Kindle Unlimited is a nice idea, but we want to try it on our terms.
  • When it comes to Amazon and their services, know the terms.
  • Exclusivity is never a good thing!

25:27 — “Writers Off the Clock”

  • In this household, we support a swash and a buckle…
  • It was The Musketeers that motivated Tee to go through stacks and stacks AND STACKS of videotapes.
  • What have we discovered in this deep dive into Tee’s Past?
    • Tee in his long-haired-hippie days.
    • Tee taps!
    • Tee on stage with ComedySportz, JMU, and Vpstart Crow
  • My plan: Go through VHS footage, and then edit it all down to one “master” performance.
  • Still searching for an edited rehearsal and footage of The Three Musketeers, on stage with Vpstart Crow.
  • Why go through and edit all this? New ideas for #ThrowbackThursday.
  • Signing with Swords — coming soon!
  • Other great gems discovered…
    • Some footage of me and my father, spinning tunes for WXJM
    • Glyn JonesRed in the Morning, premiering at JMU
  • Tee discovers in this stumble down Memory Lane an interview in 1986…and I had the worst acne on my chin…

35:41 — The Wrap-Up

  • Tee puts up a case for hanging on to some of these VHS tapes.
  • The Curse of the Blair Witch Project…a better production than The Blair Witch Project.
  • Besides digitizing video, we are…
    • Having a sale on One-Stop Writer Shop. Check it out!
    • September 13 — S4, coming soon!
    • September 26-28 — Steampunk Unlimited in Strasburg, PA
    • October (possibly November) — a special event at Huzzah Hobbies in Ashburn, VA
    • October 25 — HallowRead (alongside Kate Smith and PJ Schnyder) in Ellicot City, MD
  • Tales from the Archives — yeah, we fell off the rails…but we’re getting back on track.
  • Anxiously waiting for word from The Parsec Awards
  • …and ACX on the audio edition of Ministry Protocol.
  • Onward, to the future…

Related Links

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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or question for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.

Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.

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The Shared Desk — Episode #19: Catching Up with Tee & Pip

Mic check. Hello? How does this thing work again?

Yes, we have returned to the mics (finally); and for this show, we are putting segments and subjects on hold to take some time to get you all caught up on what we have been doing since (ouch!) August when we last recorded. This is a catch-up show where you might not learn anything about the writing process but you’ll get a look inside the writer’s lifestyle.

00:00 — Introduction

  • I hope we remember how to do this!
  • Pip mocks the opening drop-in’s.
  • O hai! We’re back!!!
  • Welcome to the Catch-Up episode of The Shared Desk

01:39 — Life Happens…even around Dragon*Con

  • Tee gets laid off again the day Tee & Pip get back from Authors After Dark.
  • The good news: I saw the writing on the wall this time, and now I’m working with the American Public University System.
  • The new job pulls me away a day early from Dragon*Con 2013.
  • It was a neat orientation…what I remember of it…
  • Good times at the W Atlanta and at Dragon*Con.
  • Didn’t think D*C could get any bigger, could you? Guess what…
  • Some lovely perks of staying at the W
  • Could D*C be getting too big?
  • Special props to Doc Quartermain for running a killer Steampunk/Alternative Track!
  • Some stargazing at D*C…and Pip fangrrls again.
  • THE GEM FROM PIP: When do you know you’re done? (And here’s Pip’s answer…at 16:22…)

13:24 — Baltimore Book Festival

  • A terrific experience from SFWA, but not as enriching as our journey there…
  • Some terrific panels and great people to enjoy time with like…
    • Lianna Heiber
    • P.J. Schnyder
    • Rich White
    • Ellen Datlow
  • Getting cozy with the Nissan LEAF
  • Winding down from the day, and we find a new love that is the music of Joe Bonamassa

17:40 — Emerald City Steampunk Expo (Wichita, KS)

  • Pip adds a new state to her “Places I Have Visited”
  • Abney Park and Unwoman — show-stoppers of the ECSE
  • Pip wants to user her Rafflecopter to give away some steampunk music swag!
  • Other cool stuff in Wichita
    • Giant steam engines!
    • Melissa Conroy
    • Our First Ministry Cosplayer!

20:01 — Facebook Pages and Deadlines

  • Pip kicks off a Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Facebook page
  • Pip’s Deadlines
    • First edits for Harbinger are off.
    • Pyr Books gets their Kindred & Wings
  • Other cool stuff
    • The Omnibus of The Books of the Order is coming from the Science Fiction Book Club.
    • Pip is pretty stoked about the new K&W cover art.
  • Oh yeah…and we not only turned in the third Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences novel but signed a new contract!

22:29 — The Future of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences (Part I)

  • What is going to happen in 2013, either with Ace or with Kickstarter…
  • The Anthology to Be Named
    • Authors are signed on. Well, two are signed on.
    • We have a wish list of writers.
    • Two stories are ready and complete.
    • The question is how, with who, and when.
    • There goes December…
  • The anthology is our bridge between books, depending on the timing of Dawn’s Early Light.
  • How about this? A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences of RPG!!!
    • Produced by Galileo Games
    • Designed by J.R. (MF) Blackwell!
    • Written by P.J. (MF) Schnyder!

27:49 — What Is Tee Working on?

  • The steampunk reboot of MOREVICodename: Darkwater — is now underway.
  • What is different between MOREVI and Codename: Darkwater
    • This is not me pulling a Lucas. This is a whole new universe.
    • My characters are present, Lisa Lee’s characters are not as omnipresent.
    • No elves. Period.
    • Smaller (much smaller) word count, and tighter plotlines.
    • No Defiant.
    • No parallel universe. Working in historical China with some help from Aleen the Peacemaker.
  • The difference between a rewrite and a reboot
  • Taking MOREVI and making it my own.
  • Rafe Rafton…a character born for steampunk.

33:42 — More deadlines and Projects from Pip 

  • Clockwork Fairy Tales is coming in 2013
  • Pip is on the “tail end” of her steampunk novella based on “The Little Mermaid”
  • A new project in the works: The Touchstone Empire.
  • This year, it is Pip’s turn to write the Tales from the Archives Christmas Special.

35:23 — The Future of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences (Part II)

  • Tales from the Archives has jumped the rails…but coming soon….
  • Shame on us…we jump the shark after winning twoParsec Awards!
    • P.C. Haring brings home the gold for “The Seven”
    • Pip Ballantine also scores a win with “The Precarious Child.”
  • The Bookie Awards in Savannah, Georgia give a nomination to The Janus Affair for Best Steampunk of 2012.
  • Then there is Goodreads and we are in the running again for The Janus Affair!
  • Tee makes a prediction as to who will take the Goodreads title for Best Science Fiction of 2012…

40:22 — And Here’s What Happens when Real Life Comes a-Callin’….

  • Tee throws a political gauntlet down as he talks up the new car….
  • The 2013 Nissan LEAF from Sheehey Nissan Manassas.
    • It is an incredibly cool drive…
    • …until someone doesn’t do a head check before bolting out of a parking spot.
  • Want to know what NOT to say at the sight of an accident? It’s in this podcast.
  • Another story that tops Tee’s 24 hours with a new LEAF.
  • Fortunately, our iPod with wheels is in the body shop, and it’s covered. Then Pip gets the car for one week. ONE.

45:10 — The Wrap-Up

  • Congratulations! You are now up to speed with Tee & Pip!
  • Pip now wants to talk about books we haven’t event started.
  • Pip and Tee pursue the Medifast Plan to get back into shape.
    • Pip wants to reward her goal weight with a kickin’ new steampunk ensemble.
    • Tee just wants to fit in his pants again.
  • Tee & Pip promise to return in two weeks! No, seriously….
  • Defying the odds, Tee nails the Creative Commons tag, Pip is stunned! (And so am I!)
RELATED LINKS
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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or question for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.
Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.

 

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