Adron talks with New York Times Bestselling author Dayton Ward. A prolific writer with dozens of books, novellas and short stories spanning a twenty-year career, Dayton is probably best known as one of the core writers of the Star Trek novels. Along with his frequent co-author Kevin Dilmore, Dayton writes within the canon continuities of the original Star Trek series, Next Generation, and more. He has also developed new crews and characters to boldly explore the well established Star Trek universe with fresh perspectives. We talk about how Dayton kickstarted his writing career by entering a publisher's contest back in the '90s. We explore the pros and cons of writing licensed work, while having to please the fanbase and the protectors of the intellectual property. Dayton explains how he works with a co-author while balancing numerous projects, and we talk about Twitter and the social media styles of professional creators.

Adron and Wendy talk with Sam Coster and Seth Coster from indie video game studio Butterscotch Shenanigans. Together with their brother Adam, they created the hit platform-crossover game, Crashlands. Crashlands is an outlandish, story-driven action-adventure set in a world of hidden magic and high technology. The game combines classic RPG elements with crafting mechanics with vibrant, whimsical characters and a distinct sense of humor. Available on both desktop and mobile devices, Crashlands took iTunes, Steam, and Google Play by storm, with great reviews and instant popularity. We talk with Seth and Sam about the two-year development cycle for Crashlands, a project they estimated early on would only take them a few months. We discuss how their studio came together, and all the ways their college educations did NOT put them on the path to careers in video games.

Adron talks with author Todd McCaffrey, son of science fiction / fantasy legend Anne McCaffrey (Dragon Riders of Pern novels). Todd's latest release is City of Angels, a near-future sci-fi thriller available now from WordFire Press. We're also joined in this conversation by City of Angels editor Bryan Thomas Schmidt, who was an editor on the breakout Andy Weir novel The Martian. We discuss Todd's new book, working with his mother and taking over the Pern legacy, and the many iterations a book takes before it finally lands at a publisher.

Adron talks with voice actress Linda Ballantyne, who is best known as the voice of Sailor Moon from the english language version of the anime television series. She has also provided voices for Air Master, Avengers: United They Stand, Care Bears, Ying! Yang! Yo! and many more series and movies. They discuss how she got the job on Sailor Moon (replacing the original voice actor), working in the fast-turnaround environment of adapted cartoons, and why original animation programming is far more lucrative for voice actors than adaptions.

Adron talks with John Ottman, composer and film editor on the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse from director Bryan Singer. John was also the composer on the recently released Shane Black film, The Nice Guys. They discuss the challenges of doing double duty on a huge project like X-Men, his long history working with Bryan Singer, the tools John uses to compose music, and why he does not conduct the orchestras performing his scores.

Adron talks with screenwriter and award-winning comic creator Brandon Easton. Brandon was a staff writer on the second season of Marvel's Agent Carter on ABC. He's also written for animated TV shows Thundercats and Transformers: Rescue Bots. His biographical comic Andre The Giant: Closer To Heaven was a 2015 critical darling, and IDW Comics just released his Transformers: Deviations one-shot. IDW also recently announced that Brandon will be the writer on their upcoming M.A.S.K. series, rebooting the beloved Hasbro 1980s toy and cartoon franchise. We explore Brandon's journey from school teacher to professional screenwriter, navigating the turbulent world of Hollywood staffing season, and working on life-long beloved properties.

Recorded live at Emerald City Comicon 2016 in Seattle, this episode features our Marketing (Isn't) Magic panel, a discussion of practical advice for promoting your small business or other creative endeavors. Our guest speakers included Jaimie Cordero, the CEO and Glitter Jedi of nerd makeup company Espionage Cosmetics; Danielle Davis, the founder of Lady Killer Marketing & PR; and Jen Vaughn, a marketing professional who has worked with a number of notable comic book publishers. She's also a comic book creator, and is currently a colorist on the new Archie comic series. Nerd For A Living's Adron Buske moderated the panel.

Ellen Wright is the senior publicist at Orbit Books, which is the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Hachette Book Group. Orbit's authors include Joe Abercrombie, James S.A. Corey, Karen Miller, Lilith Saintcrow and Brent Weeks. They publish approximately 60 titles each year from both established and debut authors. Ellen has been in the publishing industry for over a decade, working on both nonfiction and fiction. As a passionate genre fiction fan working at Orbit, her job is spread the word about exciting new sci-fi and fantasy releases and their authors. We explore exactly what that entails, from office communication to social media connections, fan outreach at conventions to building personal relationships with both authors and notable reviewers.

Recorded live at Wizard World Comic-Con St. Louis 2016, Nerd For A Living’s Adron Buske moderates our panel, "How to Be a Nerd For A Living: Finding Your Career in Pop Culture”. Our guests speakers include best-selling author Ellie Ann, Doctor Who comic artist Rachael Stott, video game creator and studio co-founder Carol Mertz, and Eisner Award-winning comic book artist Rick Burchett.

In this announcement episode, Adron talks about the ongoing evolution of the N4AL podcast, including updates to our format and overall brand, plus upcoming events at Wizard World St. Louis and Emerald City Comicon in Seattle.