"Sometimes you just need to chase the inspiration, even if it means working on a project nobody asked for." - Ursula

Transcript

(This post went live for supporters on October 4, 2024. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack!)

In this episode, Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon tackle the complexities of burnout, the writing hustle, and the latest controversies in the literary world. Ursula shares her battle with mortgage woes, while Mur discusses the challenges of juggling multiple podcasts and writing projects.

The duo also delves into the fallout from NaNoWriMo's recent controversies and the implications of AI in the writing community. They ponder the impact of fallen idols in the literary world and the importance of making good choices in public-facing careers.

Recorded on Twitch every other Monday at 3pm Eastern time.

Highlights include:

• The struggles of balancing writing and personal life
• NaNoWriMo's AI controversy and community backlash
• Fallen idols and the consequences of public misconduct
• The importance of community in writing challenges

Links:

• Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher
• Mur Lafferty
• Devo Spice
• Legends and Lattes
• Babel by RF Kuang
• Supernova Con

Evergreen Links:

• Mur on Focusmate!
• Mur on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube
• Newsletter, The Hot Mic
• Support via Patreon! Or Substack!
• Theme song by Devo Spice
• Check Bookshop.org for all mentioned books!

 

Support Local Book Stores! Ditch Diggers credits:theme song by Devo Spice, art by Numbers Ninja, site hosted by Libsyn (or Patreon). October 9, 2024 | Season 10 Ep 5 | murverse.com "Elephants in the Room: NaNoWriMo, Burnout, and More" by Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

"Networking is just meeting people and having them remember you exist." - Ursula Vernon

Transcript

(This post went live for supporters on October 2, 2024. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack!)

In this episode of Ditch Diggers, Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon return from their adventures in Scotland and dive into the art of networking. They explore the nuances of making connections in the writing world, share tales from Worldcon, and discuss the challenges and joys of upcoming conventions.

The duo also tackles the importance of maintaining a presence in the ever-shifting landscape of social media and the significance of in-person networking at conventions. From the intricacies of interactive fiction to the recent developments at SFWA, Mur and Ursula cover a wide range of topics with the wisdom you have come to expect from them.

Highlights include:

• Networking strategies and the importance of being present
• Worldcon reflections and Ursula's Hugo win
• Upcoming conventions and the art of balancing work with travel
• Social media alternatives in a post-Twitter world
• Interactive fiction and the joy of hidden Easter eggs

Links:

• Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher
• Mur Lafferty
• Devo Spice
• TJ Klune
• Worldcon
• Bubonicon
• Magic: The Gathering
• Baldur's Gate 3
• Tor Books
• Blue Sky

Evergreen Links:

• Mur on Focusmate!
• Mur on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube
• Newsletter, The Hot Mic
• Support via Patreon! Or Substack!
• Theme song by Devo Spice
• Check Bookshop.org for all mentioned books!

Support Local Book Stores! Ditch Diggers credits:theme song by Devo Spice, art by Numbers Ninja, site hosted by Libsyn (or Patreon). October 2, 2024 | Season 10 Ep 4 | murverse.com "Recorded back when Mur still had a Gallbladder" by Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

"If you, you know, give ten writers an idea, you get eleven different books." - Ursula

Transcript

(This post went live for supporters on July 30, 2024. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack!)

In this episode of Ditch Diggers, Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon dive into the gritty realities of the writing world. From the anxiety of upcoming surgeries to the chaos of travel and illness, they share their personal and professional struggles.

The episode takes a critical look at the pitfalls of online behavior, especially concerning agents making inappropriate comments on social media. They discuss the importance of professionalism, the fear of idea theft, and the phenomenon of simultaneous similar ideas emerging in the literary world. 

Links:

• Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher
• Mur Lafferty
• Devo Spice

Evergreen Links:

• Mur on Focusmate!
• Mur on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube
• Newsletter, The Hot Mic
• Support via Patreon! Or Substack!
• Theme song by Devo Spice
• Check Bookshop.org for all mentioned books!

 

Support Local Book Stores! Ditch Diggers credits:theme song by Devo Spice, art by Numbers Ninja, site hosted by Libsyn (or Patreon). July 31, 2024 | Season 10 Ep 3 | murverse.com "Recorded back when Mur still had a Gallbladder" by Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

"Being on BookTok will not give you a career if you don't have one. Do what makes you happy." - Ursula

Transcript

(This post went live for supporters on July 3, 2024. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack!)

In this episode, Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon dive into the realities of book tours, the financial intricacies of publishing, and the ever-changing landscape of social media for authors. Ursula shares a retraction about the profitability of her book tour, while Mur discusses the challenges of balancing writing with personal commitments and health issues.

They also tackle the latest trends and controversies in the writing community, including the misguided advice about writing styles and the pressure to be active on platforms like TikTok.

• Book Tour Financials
• Author Panels and Interviews
• Social Media Trends
• Writing Styles and Absolutes

Links:

• Veronica Roth
• Chuck Wendig
• John Scalzi
• McIntyre's Books

Evergreen Links:

• Mur on Focusmate!
• Mur on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube
• Newsletter, The Hot Mic
• Support via Patreon! Or Substack!
• Theme song by Devo Spice
• Check Bookshop.org for all mentioned books!

Support Local Book Stores! Ditch Diggers credits:theme song by Devo Spice, art by Numbers Ninja, site hosted by Libsyn (or Patreon). July 5, 2024 | Season 10 Ep 2 | murverse.com "Book Tours, TikTok, and Twitter Tantrums" by Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

"If you want to make money, you have to think about it like a job."- Mur

Transcript

(This post went live for supporters on June 26, 2024. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack!)

Welcome back to Ditch Diggers! In this episode, we kick things off with a fresh start and a new co-host. The mighty Mur Lafferty is joined by the fabulous Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher) as they dive into the nitty-gritty of the writing business.

Ursula shares her personal journey of overcoming cancer and getting back into the writing groove, while Mur talks about the realities of making deadlines and the business side of writing. They also discuss the recent Hugo Awards controversy and the implications for authors involved.

Highlights include: - Transition to Ursula as the new co-host - Ursula's health update and return to writing - The Hugo Awards controversy and its impact - Backing up your work and the Google Drive debacle - The pros and cons of attending conventions

Links:

• Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher
• Mur Lafferty
• Hugo Awards
• Legends and Lattes
• Babel by RF Kuang
• Supernova Con
• Devo Spice
• Backblaze
• JoCo Cruise
• FenCon
• RavenCon
• NASFiC
• World Science Fiction Society
• Robert's Rules of Order

Evergreen Links:

• Mur on Focusmate!
• Mur on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube
• Newsletter, The Hot Mic
• Support via Patreon! Or Substack!
• Theme song by Devo Spice

(check here for all mentioned books)

Support Local Book Stores! Ditch Diggers credits:theme song by Devo Spice, art by Numbers Ninja, site hosted by Libsyn (or Patreon). June 28, 2024 | Season 10 Ep 1 | murverse.com "Ursula Vernon Takes Over New Beginnings and No More Cancer." by Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

This was recorded back in July, but time and things and travel got away with me. 

Actually what happened was the fact that I can't spread podcast production across more than one day. If I do, I will forget it needs to be finished. It's not great spending 4+ hours to produce and upload 2 shows, but if I don't, one will fall by the wayside. ADHD brain for the win. 

We will be back in september, hopefully with lots of amazing ditch digging. 

August 10, 2023 | Season 9 Ep 9 | murverse.com Copyright 2023, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License

Streamed live, July 10, 2023 Below are some affiliate links that support indie bookstores and may benefit me financially with no cost to you.

S9 Ep8 Horny chaotic god energy is what we're all about in today's Ditch Diggers, "Data Wonking with Podmother Gail Carriger" where Gail joins us to talk about sifting through data in self publishing. It is some heady stuff, and we discuss tying your self worth to "bad" data and more!

Gail Carriger: 30:30 (ish): My sense of failure will kick in when a reader says I love Gail Carriger. And I didn't know she had a new book out, that's when I feel like I failed at my job. I am an author, that's the one job I had is to make sure that people who liked me can read my new books, right? That's it.

Transcript

• Let's Get Weedy
• Twitter doesn't kiss well
• When you have a new book out, your main job is to make sure your existing fans know.
• We <3 librarians!

Links

• Gail's blog
• Gail's books
• Matt's site
• Mur on Focusmate!
• Mur on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube
• Newsletter, The Hot Mic
• Support via Patreon! Or Substack!
• Theme song by Devo Spice

(check here for all mentioned books)

July 20, 2023 | Season 9 Ep 8 | murverse.com Copyright 2023, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License

S9 Ep7

Recorded live on Twitch!

Mur's agent Seth Fishman joins us to take your questions, and we fill up an hour FAST. Full transcript available!

Seth Fishman: ...the industry is right now, where editors are just, they just have, they're just too busy. There's just not enough people working in publishing. So it's harder for agents to do to sell books is really what we're saying. There's a number of times that were like, were you passing because of this, you don't want to put that like, work into it or whatever. But you know, what the people pass for all sorts of reasons, we get the books into pretty great shape, before we send them out. And I mean, we try to, and if an editor is passing, for those reasons, they're what they're really probably saying is more along the lines of developing of an author versus, like editing an author.

Transcript Links

• Seth's books
• Seth's agency, The Gernert Company
• Matt's site
• Mur on Focusmate!
• Mur on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube
• Newsletter, The Hot Mic
• Support via Patreon!
• Theme song by Devo Spice

(check here for all mentioned books)

June 21, 2023 | Season 9 Ep 7 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License

Streamed live, June 13, 2023 Below are some affiliate links that support indie bookstores and may benefit me financially with no cost to you.

S9 Ep6 It's our 1001st episode (not really) and Matt is here to launch the final book in the Savage Rebellion trilogy, and it's a very honest episode. Serious Ditch Digging here, y'all. He doesn't hold back. It's publishing, warts and all. Links to Savage Crowns and other books below! Full transcript available!

Matt Wallace: I was like, what if I did 'the Wire' as an epic fantasy? That was my other thought when I started it. So my mother says there are strong women characters, there are, Thank you, mom. And I was raised, but I was raised by a strong woman who's definitely a character.

Transcript (I wanted to do an annotated transcript like the other two podcasts, but frankly, the others are already taking up so much time I can't do three transcripts, annotate all three, record the podcasts, AND write books.)

Links

• Matt's site
• Mur on Focusmate!
• Mur on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube
• Newsletter, The Hot Mic
• Support via Patreon!
• Theme song by Devo Spice

(check here for book links)

June 13 2023 | Season 9 Ep 6 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License

Matt and Mur welcome Premee Mohamed, multiple award winning author of No One Will Come Back for Us. We talk about chickens, sea cucumbers, conventions and anxiety, and there's a hair flip in there, but you can only see it if you get the video on Patreon. Links

• Premee Mohamed
• Matt's site
• Mur on Focusmate!
• Mur on Twitter, Instagram, Youtube
• Newsletter, The Hot Mic
• Support via Patreon!
• Theme song by Devo Spice

May 15, 2023 | Season 9 Ep 5 | murverse.com | Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License