Huge thanks to our listeners for helping us hit 50,000 total downloads! We are incredibly humbled by the interest and support so far. This episode was recorded during the week while Scott was off for paternity leave, and only features Sunyi as host, with R.R. Virdi (author of THE FIRST BINDING) and Wayne Santos (author of THE CHIMERA CODE) as dual guests, and is more wide-ranging and conversational that some of our other episodes as a result.Content warning for open discussion of drug use, mental health, suicidal ideation, and probably a few other things. SHOW NOTES: ⦁ Ronnie's story of selling a 350k trad debut, on proposal (unwritten), without an agent, to Tor⦁ Wayne's story of near misses, 600 rejections, 15 years of rejection, and the launching into the Covid pandemic⦁ Mental health - how do we cope (if we do?) as writers⦁ How we frame success or failure, as individuals⦁ Authors writing under horrendous pressure and circumstances⦁ Diaspora discussion - writing as diaspora authors in a landscape that often feels hostile and contradictory⦁ Deviations into colonialist history in various SE Asian countries⦁ The toxicity of Twitter and other concentrated social media groups⦁ The souring relationship between authors and readers in the modern era⦁ Twitter's cycle of unending apologies⦁ Some positives about reader/author interactions