Tag Archives: Guardians of the Galaxy

by | May 31, 2017 · 2:51 am

Episode #75: Recorded LIVE from the 2017 SFWA Nebula Awards Conference

photo from Heidi Ruby-Miller

Tee and Pip make to Steel City for the 2017 Nebula Awards, and at the en masse signing, the pace for them slowed down. That tends to happen when the SFWA bookstore doesn’t stock your books. Fortunately, Tee stocked his satchel with the iPad and a Shure MV51. Five minutes later, Tee and Pip are bringing the 2017 Nebula Awards Book Signing and passer’s-by to you! Welcome to a moment at The Nebula Awards Conference where Katie, Tee, Pip, Lauren, Piper, and Matt — the Smoky Writers Mafia — gathered amongst the best in science fiction. Give them a call at 703-791-1701, and ask about anything concerning this conference. It was quite the education!

00:00 —  Episode #75: The 2017 SFWA Nebula Awards Conference 

  • Promo: The Nerd Out App
  • LIVE from Pittsburgh!!!
  • Pip thinks she has a “radio voice” but it’s not really
  • Looks who dropped by! It’s Mel!!! And Heather is here as well!
  • What brings Mel and Heather to The Nebula Awards? Well, this is Mel’s hometown!
  • Notes from The Nebula Conference, Confluence, and Pittsburgh on a whole
    • Beer tastings happen, especially when K.T. Bryski is around!
    • Avoid food served in a bucket.
    • Pip might get in some sight-seeing…
  • Tee’s asked to sign a program. As he looks for a place to sign, have a listen to the Programming of the conference.
  • Pip recalls her panel of awesome with Mary Robinette Kowall.
  • Escape Artists, Inc. shows up in force at the Nebulas.
  • A few words on audio rights, and how important they are…
  • Tee reflects on his first panel: Other Day Jobs for Writers…
  • …then came Podcasting 101 with Piper J Drake and Pip in the Moderator’s Seat.
  • What happens when you sit down with Apple iBooks…
    • Want to visit the Mother Ship in Cuppertino? (YES!!!)
    • Changing travel plans for December.
    • Apple wants to talk to authors, and be more author friendly.
  • We get a visit from Heidi Ruby Miller (right) who is rocking this cool retro sci-fi pattern…
  • And just like that Heidi’s on the podcast.
  • Yes, there is a ball app and Tee travels with one.
  • Heidi has snuck away from the Penn Writers Conference to hang with science fiction authors.
  • What was Heidi up to at the Penn Writers Conference?
  • What Heidi and her husband, Jack, are up to on social media?
    • Check out Small Space, Big Life on YouTube
    • And Jack is shaking his backsides at the Nebulas.
    • And as Larry Connelly passes by, Tee recognizes him from Podcasting 101!
    • Larry, it turns out, is a podcasting veteran.
  • No books to sign, but we do have autograph cards!
  • Grabbing Jennifer Dawson, a Stonecoaster alongside K.T. Bryski, to clock in some time on the mic…
    • A quick opinion on Stonecoast
    • And what does Jenn write? Well now…
    • The support of a community matters.
    • Tee tells Jenn about the James River Writers, and how he found out about them.
    • Turns out Omaha has a LOT going on for writers!
    • Jenn’s favorite panels from the conference.
  • The power of podcasting: Keeping ourselves entertained when books are not around.
  • Signing off…

34:59 — The Loot Crate Lookie-Loo (with The Kelly Family!)

  • Nick, Stacia, and Brandon wanted to be around when we opened up this Loot Crate…
  • May’s Theme: Guardians
    • Q-Fig of Rocket and Groot! How about those Q-Fig creations?
    • The tee shirt is Goonies-riffic!
    • A Star Wars Coloring Book?! Tee is 7 again!
    • The Loot Crate pin is Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not his fandom, but it’s pretty sweet.
    • A Character Class Patch Set from Destiny…
    • …and the box becomes your Ghost, as we talk about in Happy Hour from the Tower.
    • Here’s what it looks like when it’s done…
  • NICE HAUL!!!

45:45 — The Wrap-Up

  • Pip needs some Stark-splaining!
  • WE GOT TICKETS FOR WONDER WOMAN!!!
  • The Nebula Conference was fun! So was our visit to Balticon 51!
  • Where are we going to be?
    • 16-18 June, AwesomeCon in Washington D.C. (No, we’re not going to get that photo with Stan Lee…)
    • 30 June-July 2, BlerDCon in Washington D.C. (Wait, hold on, what’s BlerDCon? And what are Nick and Tee up to?)
    • A quick tangent on Star Trek: Discovery...
    • 14-16 July, Motor City Steam Con in Detroit, MI
  • This ain’t Tee’s first rodeo. Obviously.

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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or questions for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.
We’ll talk about it!
And remember, you can find the show on iTunes or Stitcher!
Subscribe, listen, and review.

Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.

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by | December 20, 2016 · 3:18 am

Episode #69 (Dudes!): Antagonists, Villains, and the Writers’ Challenge

With weeks remaining in 2016, we find ourselves hitting the show landmark that makes us both snigger like fifth graders: SHOW #69!!! We’re not talking about sex, erotica, or naughty bits. We are looking at the antagonist. Sure, the antagonist is a villain, but a villain is not always your antagonist. What are the challenges you face when developing the foil to your protagonist? Where is the line drawn between the mustache-twirler and the complicated antagonist?

Let’s talk about how good it is to be bad…

00:00 —  Introduction

  • As we have said before, we are twelve years old…
  • Can you feel the excitement over Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2?
  • Groot. The new Hodor.
  • Nobilis Reed, celebrating a new book and a new house!
  • Show #69? Do we talk about sex, baby? Do we talk about you and me?
  • No, we actually decided to take a high ground for this show, and go low…

02:28 — Episode #69: Antagonists, Villains, and the Writers’ Challenge

  • One writer’s villain is another’s antagonist…sometimes, according to Miss Fancy Pants.
  • New drop-in’s are getting a workout.
  • Tee has already talked about the importance of developing your villains, but it’s worth returning to.
  • This is Pip’s current dilemma in her new fiction coming in 2017. (Something to look forward to…)
  • If you want to know more about editor-of-infinite-awesome, Jennifer Meltzer, pay her a visit at One-Stop Writer Shop!
  • What is Pip’s villain lacking?
  • Pardon the Galaxy Quest tangent…
  • Pip can do villains and antagonists. Look at Geist and the other Books of the Order.
  • Worthy to note: Mysteries handle antagonists different than Epic Fantasy.
  • Then you got antagonists within antagonists ala The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences.
  • Tee & Pip audition for a Metallica tribute band.
  • Antagonists risk going neglected when “pantsing” through a work-in-progress.
  • The value of having a focus with your antagonist
  • No SPECTRE without Earnst Stavro Bloefeld
  • Lessons in antagonists from William Shakespeare
  • A turning point in the development of the game, Destiny.
    • The Fallen. Bad Guys. Eh.
    • Then we meet the Taken King…
      There’s your focus.
  • Making antagonists sympathetic
    • Done right: Loki and Marvel’s Thor
    • Done wrong: Vader and the Star Wars prequels
  • More on an antagonist’s focus
    • The lack of focus in Star Trek: The Motion Picture versus KHAAAAAAANNNN! 
    • The Phantom Menace. What was it again?
  • Antagonists as the central character of your property
    • Dr. Hannibal Lecter
    • Walter White
    • Dexter Morgan

24:57 — Writers Off the Clock

  • Pip tries to bleep herself. She fails.
  • The creepiest cover of “Edelweiss you will ever hear…”
  • Amazon Studios’ The Man in the High Castle
  • Talking about Dick
    • Lou Anders says it best…
    • Some great films coming from Philip K. Dick’s concepts
  • The details add a degree of creepiness.
  • A quick run-down of the cast form The Man in the High Castle
  • The story of The Man in the High Castle
  • It’s worth Amazon Prime just to have access to this!

34:41 — Voicemail

  • We had dinner with Nobilis…and told him “Share this with the show!”
  • Steve Saylor asks for our favorite Dungeons & Dragons stories.
    • We’re RPGing again, and you can hear all our current adventures at the Geek Wolfpack Podcast
    • Pip’s Memory: When Ashimei enjoyed her own “Leeroy Jenkins” moment…and some things still never change.
    • Tee’s Memory: When Eryk can’t hit the broadside of a barn. The next week, though, Tee goes all John Woo on the “hobogoblins” in range…
  • Nobilis Reed has a new book out…and he asks about shipping books and how you work it into the cost of a book.
    • Pip is a big fan of using Indica.com or Stamps.com, especially when it comes to shipping from our online store.
    • Flat rates are best for domestic shipping for one book.
    • Going international? More than one book? Well, there’s a grey area…

48:13 — Wrapping up

  • Not done yet with 2016!
  • We’ve got some bonus audio we are going to throw in to a feed for the holidays! Thanks for hanging out with out this year!
  • Best. Year. EVAR! For posting shows, that is…
  • ONE MORE SHOW for 2016…with K.T. Brisket. (Sorry, K.T. Bryski.)
  • What we have coming up in 2017…
  • What was your favorite or most informative show in 2016?
    • Call us at 703.791.1701 (now accessible through the Instagram app!)
    • Send Tee email — tee@teemorris.com
    • Send Pip email — pip@pjballantine.com
    • …or find us on social media everywhere.
  • Join us for our final show of the year featuring 100% MORE CANADA! 

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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or questions for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.
We’ll talk about it!
And remember, you can find the show on iTunes or Stitcher!
Subscribe, listen, and review.

Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.

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