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Lasers Dragons And Keyboards

A podcast for readers and writers of science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction.
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Lasers Dragons And Keyboards
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Now displaying: January, 2016
Jan 29, 2016

12509403_530637840443972_4593858077574301851_nSo we decided that we couldn't ignore Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens, (Read: "Liberty FINALLY saw it...") and it deserved its own episode. Ironically--and we didn't plan this--it coincided as our 7th episode!

We got off to a rip-roaring start, launching immediately into what we didn't like about the movie, but that quickly shifted into analysis of the story, what we loved, and what we hope to see in Episodes 8 & 9.

But beware of the rants! Each of us launch into at least a couple, although I'm pretty sure Aaron is the rant-master as he occupied the floor much of the time. But he made a lot of good points, and I think you'll find his insight into the movies valuable. He's our resident Star Wars expert, having read much more in the expanded universe than Josh and I combined. I mean, look at how he made an impression on both Josh and I when we met in August 2015: 

 jediaaron

If you aren't laughing uproariously with us by the end of both of the episodes, you may want to check if you have a pulse. We sure enjoyed doing this episode, and are contemplating doing analysis of future movies...although both the guys won't be going to see Deadpool, so don't get your hopes up about that one. (I'm still weighing it, but I won't do a podcast without Josh and Aaron.) Isn't Guardians of the Galaxy 2 coming out this summer...?

10548837_10153188588877397_6928215781338276545_oFor convenience sake, we did break this up into two parts, however if you leap from 1 to 2 immediately, it will make a lot more sense. We don't recommend listening to 7.5 before you listen to 7.

Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments or send us an e-mail!

Links to things we discussed:
Star Wars: Aftermath (book that takes place between ROTJ and TFA)
The novelization of the movie
Huffington Post 40 Plot holes article
Star Wars fan "debunks" 40 Plot holes article
- and calls everyone who doesn't agree with him an idiot
Pre-order Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Emo Kylo Ren on Twitter
Very Lonely Luke on Twitter
Darth Jar Jar Theory
Star Wars: Rebels (Animated TV Series)
Star Wars: Clone Wars (Animated TV Series)
Star Wars: Clone Wars (Animated Movie)

 

 

Jan 29, 2016

12509403_530637840443972_4593858077574301851_nSo we decided that we couldn't ignore Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens, (Read: "Liberty FINALLY saw it...") and it deserved its own episode. Ironically--and we didn't plan this--it coincided as our 7th episode!

We got off to a rip-roaring start, launching immediately into what we didn't like about the movie, but that quickly shifted into analysis of the story, what we loved, and what we hope to see in Episodes 8 & 9.

But beware of the rants! Each of us launch into at least a couple, although I'm pretty sure Aaron is the rant-master as he occupied the floor much of the time. But he made a lot of good points, and I think you'll find his insight into the movies valuable. He's our resident Star Wars expert, having read much more in the expanded universe than Josh and I combined. I mean, look at how he made an impression on both Josh and I when we met in August 2015: 

 jediaaron

If you aren't laughing uproariously with us by the end of both of the episodes, you may want to check if you have a pulse. We sure enjoyed doing this episode, and are contemplating doing analysis of future movies...although both the guys won't be going to see Deadpool, so don't get your hopes up about that one. (I'm still weighing it, but I won't do a podcast without Josh and Aaron.) Isn't Guardians of the Galaxy 2 coming out this summer...?

10548837_10153188588877397_6928215781338276545_oFor convenience sake, we did break this up into two parts, however if you leap from 1 to 2 immediately, it will make a lot more sense. We don't recommend listening to 7.5 before you listen to 7.

Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments or send us an e-mail!

Links to things we discussed:
Star Wars: Aftermath (book that takes place between ROTJ and TFA)
The novelization of the movie
Huffington Post 40 Plot holes article
Star Wars fan "debunks" 40 Plot holes article
- and calls everyone who doesn't agree with him an idiot
Pre-order Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Emo Kylo Ren on Twitter
Very Lonely Luke on Twitter
Darth Jar Jar Theory
Star Wars: Rebels (Animated TV Series)
Star Wars: Clone Wars (Animated TV Series)
Star Wars: Clone Wars (Animated Movie)

 

 

Jan 19, 2016

This week on the podcast we're thrilled to have historical/speculative author and all-around writing guru, K.M. Weiland. We covered a lot of ground in both episodes, so it's well worth a listen!

A good deal of our first podcast revolves around Katie's new book, Storming, which I (Liberty) highly recommend. It's a great introduction to the dieselpunk subgenre, and besides that, a very enjoyable read. Katie discusses why she set the story in her hometown, and how fun it was to dig into her town's history. She also talks about some of her story research, which revolves heavily around barnstorming and the absolutely insane stunts people pulled back in the day when barnstorming was popular. She gives some examples, which I think stunned all three of us. Perhaps it will surprise you as well.

In the second podcast, we discuss Katie's extensive outlining and editing processes. If you've never had a chance to read Outlining Your Novel or Structuring Your Novel, you're in for an eye-opening interview. When we say it's extensive...well, let's just say that we were only able to hit the highlights of her process. There's a reason why it takes three years for her to put out a new novel!

Katie also shares a bit about her overall marketing strategy, and how to set your writing as a priority. Both pieces are very informative and thought-provoking.

As always, we have a lot of laughs, talk about fandoms and superheroes, and wander off-topic a bit.

Thanks so much to K.M. Weiland for joining us! We hope she'll be back in the future.

Links to things discussed:
K.M. Weiland
Helping Writers Become Authors
Storming
Outlining Your Novel
Timothy Zahn - Thrawn Trilogy
I, Jedi by Michael A. Stackpole
Orson Scott Card
Charles Dickens
Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin Series
ChristianWriters.com
Realm Makers
NaNoWriMo
The Creative Penn

Jan 19, 2016

This week on the podcast we're thrilled to have historical/speculative author and all-around writing guru, K.M. Weiland. We covered a lot of ground in both episodes, so it's well worth a listen!

A good deal of our first podcast revolves around Katie's new book, Storming, which I (Liberty) highly recommend. It's a great introduction to the dieselpunk subgenre, and besides that, a very enjoyable read. Katie discusses why she set the story in her hometown, and how fun it was to dig into her town's history. She also talks about some of her story research, which revolves heavily around barnstorming and the absolutely insane stunts people pulled back in the day when barnstorming was popular. She gives some examples, which I think stunned all three of us. Perhaps it will surprise you as well.

In the second podcast, we discuss Katie's extensive outlining and editing processes. If you've never had a chance to read Outlining Your Novel or Structuring Your Novel, you're in for an eye-opening interview. When we say it's extensive...well, let's just say that we were only able to hit the highlights of her process. There's a reason why it takes three years for her to put out a new novel!

Katie also shares a bit about her overall marketing strategy, and how to set your writing as a priority. Both pieces are very informative and thought-provoking.

As always, we have a lot of laughs, talk about fandoms and superheroes, and wander off-topic a bit.

Thanks so much to K.M. Weiland for joining us! We hope she'll be back in the future.

Links to things discussed:
K.M. Weiland
Helping Writers Become Authors
Storming
Outlining Your Novel
Timothy Zahn - Thrawn Trilogy
I, Jedi by Michael A. Stackpole
Orson Scott Card
Charles Dickens
Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin Series
ChristianWriters.com
Realm Makers
NaNoWriMo
The Creative Penn

Jan 11, 2016

After quite a bit of technical difficulties, we were thrilled to finally have H.A. "Heather" Titus on with us! She's the Celtic Urban Fantasy Author of Forged Steel, which came out in summer 2015.

In addition to talking about her book and her writing process, Aaron gave Heather a hard time about being from "da U.P." (Upper Peninsula of Michigan). DC's Arrow came up, as did Aaron's theory that the rebooted Star Trek movies aren't "true" Star Trek.

The idea of "plotsing" comes up, and you'll have to listen to hear how that word came into being. Heather also discusses some of the weird facts she had to Google, and one of them has to do with werewolves and the Mark of Cain. Kinda interesting stuff!

Oh, and Aaron's trying to get us our first hate mail. ;)

Jan 11, 2016

After quite a bit of technical difficulties, we were thrilled to finally have H.A. "Heather" Titus on with us! She's the Celtic Urban Fantasy Author of Forged Steel, which came out in summer 2015.

In addition to talking about her book and her writing process, Aaron gave Heather a hard time about being from "da U.P." (Upper Peninsula of Michigan). DC's Arrow came up, as did Aaron's theory that the rebooted Star Trek movies aren't "true" Star Trek.

The idea of "plotsing" comes up, and you'll have to listen to hear how that word came into being. Heather also discusses some of the weird facts she had to Google, and one of them has to do with werewolves and the Mark of Cain. Kinda interesting stuff!

Oh, and Aaron's trying to get us our first hate mail. ;)

Jan 11, 2016

Our first ever guest for the Podcast was the fabulous Lindsay Franklin. After the inevitable technical difficulties we took time out to discuss the merits of homeschooling.

We got to learn the awesome origins of the name of her current work-in-progress, The Story Peddler. Believe us – it’s worth the listen just for that!

We got to hear some interesting facts about farming near salt water, cocaine addiction, and more in our ‘Weird Google-Fu’ segment.

Lindsay shared a bit about how Real Life stuff caused this book to take longer than her typical process…and why that’s not a bad thing.

We also had the chance to hear Lindsay wax eloquent on the plotter/pantser debate. Her editing process was also discussed.

Aaron couldn’t resist teasing our guest. A trend that we are all sure will continue for years to come.

We also all geeked out over Scrivener, the world's most awesome writing software. You'd have thought we were sponsored by them or something.

Jan 11, 2016

Our first ever guest for the Podcast was the fabulous Lindsay Franklin. After the inevitable technical difficulties we took time out to discuss the merits of homeschooling.

We got to learn the awesome origins of the name of her current work-in-progress, The Story Peddler. Believe us – it’s worth the listen just for that!

We got to hear some interesting facts about farming near salt water, cocaine addiction, and more in our ‘Weird Google-Fu’ segment.

Lindsay shared a bit about how Real Life stuff caused this book to take longer than her typical process…and why that’s not a bad thing.

We also had the chance to hear Lindsay wax eloquent on the plotter/pantser debate. Her editing process was also discussed.

Aaron couldn’t resist teasing our guest. A trend that we are all sure will continue for years to come.

We also all geeked out over Scrivener, the world's most awesome writing software. You'd have thought we were sponsored by them or something.

Jan 11, 2016

You don't know us yet, but we hope you'll like what you hear. Aaron DeMott, Joshua Hardt, and Liberty Speidel are the masterminds behind the brand new Lasers, Dragons, and Keyboards Podcast. We'll be talking to up-and-coming and established speculative, science fiction, and fantasy authors every couple of weeks. We're taking a unique approach to our podcast. Each interview is typically broken into two parts: a reader-centric part, where we talk to an author about their books. The second part of the interview, we'll be talking to them about their process, and writing in general.

So whether you're a reader or a writer, we think you'll get something out of our podcast.

If you're into science fiction & fantasy, there's a strong possibility that we're into the same fandoms you are. We're nerds just like you.

Where you can find us:

Lasers, Dragons, & KeyboardsAaron DeMott
Liberty SpeidelJoshua Hardt

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