Mike Duran, author of The Ghost Box and Saint Death, novels in the Reagan Moon para-noir series, joins us in Episodes 27 & 28 this week. 
We had a blast talking to him. Sometimes funny, sometimes very serious, Mike is a former pastor and he definitely keeps us on our toes throughout both episodes.
As Christian writers...hope has to be a pretty big factor in our writing. ~Mike Duran
In Episode 28, Stand On Your Head:
Our Plotting vs Pantsing question sends us down a hilarious rabbit trail, before Mike helps us get back on track. Then he talks about his own paranoia as a writer. Mike shares how he figures out what book to write next.
We discuss the learning curve of Scrivener, but also the benefits, too. (Hint: we all use Scrivener and LOVE it.)
Mike compares the editing process to a visit to a dentist, and while it's a gross comparison in a way, it has a lot of merit. Had us in stitches! :)
Writer's block, or the lack thereof. Mike's solutions for feeling inspirationally dry are tremendously helpful (and is a technique I've used myself!) Mike starts waxing philosophical about writer's inspirational...and it gets deep (in a good way.)
Mike recommends not eating or drinking during writing, and also uses a standing desk. He believes he writes better when he's standing.
What characteristic does Mike share with his son? (Hint: it kind of grosses Aaron out!) And yeah, we went there. Mike compares his marketing practices to corpses about to be autopsied. (He's kidding.)
Through giggles, we manage to get in some deep theological discussion. Which, if you've read Mike's blog, shouldn't surprise you at all. When we start discussing theology in tandem with physics and the reality of time, it gets deep. Truly a fascinating discussion.
Links:
Mike Duran
The Ghost Box
Saint Death
Peace Like a River (Leif Enger)
Moby Dick
Dante
Twilight Zone
Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas Series
Dean Koontz's Frankenstein
Tosca Lee's Demon
Realm Makers
Ex Machina (motion picture)
Drawing On the Right Side of Your Brain
Eternity in Their Heart
The Creator and the Cosmos
Mike Duran, author of The Ghost Box and Saint Death, novels in the Reagan Moon para-noir series, joins us in Episodes 27 & 28 this week. We had a blast talking to him. Sometimes funny, sometimes very serious, Mike is a former pastor and he definitely keeps us on our toes throughout both episodes.
As Christian writers...hope has to be a pretty big factor in our writing. ~Mike Duran
In Episode 27:
Mike shares about his unlikely background, which includes going from dabbling in the occult to being a pastor. We're pretty sure it informs Reagan Moon's stories, which are definitely fun reads, but they may not be for all our listeners. Mike describes Reagan in a bit of a...colorful...manner. ;)
We discuss paranormal stuff...and Mike suggests that a lot of that may exist more than people realize. You may or may not agree, but it's still a fascinating discussion.
So, what you're saying is that life is a little more like Hot Topic than we want to admit? ~Aaron DeMott
Why Los Angeles needed to be the setting for the Reagan Moon books...I think when you hear his reasoning, it'll make perfect sense.
The background for Saint Death is really a fascinating discussion, and some of it has been in the news in the last few months (I vaguely remember hearing about it.) Mike describes a research trip he and his wife did in the process of writing this book. It's interesting, to say the least.
Mike's answer to our superhero question raises a few eyebrows. But given his background, it makes perfect sense.
Gremlins! (And not the movie!) The true origins of ghost boxes (who knew?)! Some moderately gross stuff (that may make some of our listeners squeamish!)
Mike's "what's up next" is definitely something to look forward to if you're a writer interested in horror and/or writing from a faith perspective and what the parameters are for that.
Links:
Mike Duran
The Ghost Box
Saint Death
Peace Like a River (Leif Enger)
Moby Dick
Dante
Twilight Zone
Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas Series
Dean Koontz's Frankenstein
Tosca Lee's Demon
Realm Makers
Due to some last minute circumstances, we had our guest for our normal recording session reschedule on us, so what's a podcast to do? Well, we filled it with discussing some aspects of the writing life! Sorry to our reader-only listeners, this one is mostly focused on writing. But we do take a few bunny trails that our readers may enjoy!
Aaron & Josh have some helpful marriage advice for all the guys out there, some of it coming from The Red Green Show.
Then we get into the meat of the podcast. All three of us share what our "normal" lives look like, and then how we balance in our writing time.
We were taking listener questions during this episode, and someone asked us how long it takes for us to WRITE our first drafts. I (Liberty) kind of took over the show at that point for a while before giving the guys a chance to share.
First draft: Say it.
Second draft: Say what you mean.
Third draft: Say it well.
~Sean Platt
We do talk editing at length (and I think we need to do an editing episode--any freelance editors want to come on and talk editing exclusively?) And we also talk about goals with our careers.
Some of our favorite resources come up (see our short links list below!) Fight scenes are a lengthy part of the discussion.
And we cover some of the quirky questions we ask our guests. :) Aaron and Liberty disagree about the quality of Star Trek: Voyager (which we're pretty sure is going to be a topic that comes up again...and again...and again...) Discussion about the merit of time-travel episodes may or may not happen.
Tune in to hear which books we think should be turned into movies and/or TV shows.
Links
Writing Fight Scenes by Rayne Hall
Anne McCafferey's Pern Series
Codex Alera by Jim Butcher
Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Dresden Files (TV series)
Wheel of Time
J.D. Robb's In Death series
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
The Martian by Andy Weir (book)
The Martian (movie)
We had the pleasure of having Tosca join us on this episode of LD&K. In between ramblings by the hosts we got to hear how much Tosca loves car chases. And fashion. A donkey race may have been spoken of as well. Believe it or not, that all ties in to her latest book Progeny, due to drop in stores on May 24th!
Stick through the whole thing to hear Tosca's views on naming favorite authors - and to get some good Audible recommendations!
In Episode 25 (AKA the FOOD episode):
- Plotsing, and how Tosca handles plotting. Hint: she references looking at her plot from 30,000 feet is way different than when you're "boots on the ground".
- Tosca discusses techniques to overcome writer's block, even though she doesn't get it very often.
- Tosca imparts a ton of wisdom.
Tosca Lee
MYST
Call of Duty
Shazam/Isis Power Hour
Thundarr the Barbarian
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Thomas Locke
Ronie Kendig
Ted Dekker
Frank Peretti
Ben Wolf
Robert Lipaluro
The 5th Wave
Six of Crows
Red Rising
Legend
Big Magic