Deadline City's Podcast

Welcome to the season finale of Deadline City. We're headed to the Commercial Tower! In this episode, we're going to talk about literary vs. commercial fiction. We break down some of our favorite books and turn them into log lines. Is the book commercial or is it the pitch? What is the science of an alluring pitch? How does publishing pigeonhole us? Most importantly, do any of these things matter in the grand scheme of things as long as we're writing amazing books? All of this and more in our final episode of the season. See you in season 3! 

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This week on Deadline City we are heading to the Arena! Fantasy vs. Contemporary. We have the immense pleasure of being joined by multi-award-winning and bestselling author, Jason Reynolds. The big debate? How do creators keep pushing themselves to become innovators? Is fantasy in a Middle-Earth sized rut? Do contemporary writers feel the same constraints as their genre counterparts? But most importantly, what did dragons ever do to Jason Reynolds? Find that out and more in this lively discussion.

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What's up, Deadline City? This week Dhonielle and I are talking about MONEY. That's right. We're going to the Bank. We know that there is a lot of mystery surrounding the financial aspects of becoming a writer. What are world rights? How do I even get paid? How much, in the eyes of publishing, is my book worth? Do you go full time? Do you keep your job? That decision is one you have to make yourself. But, we can share some of our knowledge. We cover what advances are, how they're broken up, the viral hashtag #PublishingPaidMe (created by L.L. McKinney and Tochi Onyebuchi), and much more. Here at Deadline City we try to be as open and honest as we can. We hope that no matter what level of publishing you're in, you get something out of this episode. 

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Don't kill the mentor! (Or do! But first, let's talk about why). In our final episode on character study and archetypes, we talk about one of the staples in fantasy: the mentor. One of our jobs as writers is to keep inventing fresh stories and language, and the work only gets harder. The Mentor figure is one that rarely seems to change and we try to figure out why that is. How can we push ourselves and our stories to surprise the reader? Worldbuilding is never finished, but this is a wrap on our character study (for now)! 

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Welcome to the Champagne Room. A shimmering lounge where we discuss love interests—the good, the villainous, and the ones who belong in the trash with us. As part of or character study, we move on to the Love Interest. How do they serve the narrative and further the plot and the protagonist's main story arc? How do you make a love interest that is hard to forget? As always, we run through some examples using books and movies with characters we love to love. 

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Hop aboard the Murder Express! This week we put some of our character building to the test while we interview Gretchen McNeil, acclaimed horror and mystery author of Ten, #MurderTrending, and the Get Even duology, now on the BBC and soon to be on Netflix. We break down horror tropes, how to build a good mystery, and how to take these tools and apply them into any genre you're working on. Sometimes the scariest stories will surprise you! 

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Welcome to Sidekick Central! We continue our character study during the month of May. Sidekicks can sometimes take on a life of their own. We name some of our favorites as well as the do's and don't's that can help while you're on deadline. The more life you give the people surrounding your hero, the more complexity you bring to your world. Bonus: the time Dhonielle met Outlander's Sam Heughan by accident in Scotland. 

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Welcome to Plot Depot! This week we cover Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey and break down each section using 'Into the Spider-Verse'. Outlines don't always work. The Hero's Journey is one of the most popular ones used by fantasy authors. It certainly doesn't work for everyone, nor should it be prescriptive. In this episode, we aim to understand how each section can move the character's inner journey alongside the physical one. We might end up breaking our books, or possibly fix them! Happy writing!

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Welcome back to Deadline City! This week kicks off our month-long series of character studies. From now until the end of May we will be breaking down heroes, villains, and the journeys they take. Hang with us in our Hero & Villain Lounge where we discuss the traits that make us love these protagonists and the gray areas that make their stories so potent. How do you take the idea of a character and build someone complex and relatable? How do we make their journey compelling enough to maintain that narrative tension? Tune in to this week's episode to find out. 

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This week on Deadline City we have Clean Getaway author, Nic Stone joining the Author Salon! Nic Stone writes in multiple genres and age groups and we pick her brain about how she keeps track of everything. We all have so many stories to tell, but how do you decide a particular story is "the one"? What is Nic's method? How do you figure out who the protagonist is, or what age groups your audience is? All of these things come into play, as well as our usual writer shenanigans. 

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