“The Importance of Fanfic” is brought to you in large part by by my patrons, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon as low as $3 a month!

Some links below are affiliate links and I may earn some money at no cost to you when you use them. 

S19 Ep24

It’s June, and I have had some disappointments (She Podcasts, Live! and Blaseball), but at least I’m not worrying about travel so much. Got my 10k words turned into my agent, and lament the loss of the podcast community. But Tee Morris, Scott Sigler, and Christiana Ellis are all live streaming too. And so is Grant Baciocco!

(from the transcript)

Mur Lafferty  00:59

…Whatever you’re afraid of, you’re not alone. And the thing is about those fears, if everybody has them, no matter how successful you are, does it really have to do with writing? 

What I’m Reading

I’m currently reading The Other Side of Infinity by Joan Smith, magical real world YA romance about seeing the future and wondering if you can make a difference.

* Savage Crowns launch party next week on Twitch! (2pm EDT June 13, 2023)

* We have a transcript! Support the Patreon if you’d like to see the annotated transcripts!

* RIV Blaseball

Evergreen Links

* Mur’s newsletter, The Hot Mic

* Socials: Bluesky, Twitter, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate,

* 19 years of archives, Discord, workshops, and more if you support via Patreon!

* Theme by John Anealio

* I Should Be Writing tea blends

* Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more!

* OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!

And remember, we can’t do this without you. Thanks for your support.

CREDITS

Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, site design by Clockpunk Studio

and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon.

June 6, 2023 | Season 19 Ep 24 | murverse.com

“The Importance of Fanfic (RIV Blaseball)” by Mur Lafferty

is licensed under

I Should Be Writing is new again with classic podcasts from 2005! If you wonder what I Should Be Writing sounded like back in the old days, when podcasting was new and before I was published, look no farther! I’m releasing most of my old episodes with commentary, and maybe some new interviews with old friends. The shows will also be released with transcriptions for free, but Patreon and Substack supporters will get the episodes first, and annotated transcripts too!

I Should’ve Been Writing S1 Ep2

(from the transcript)

Mur Lafferty  08:43

…you read Neil Gaiman’s blog and you hear “Yes, I went up to the cabin for the week to finish Anansi Boys…’ and, well, that’s great for him, but he’s a best selling author with best selling comic books and just best selling all over the place. Everybody else you see on the shelves, they likely have day jobs, they likely have children, they find time to write, they make time to write because it’s one of their priorities. Have you ever picked up a book and thought, ‘wow, this is crap, I can write better than this?’ Well, maybe that’s true. But one thing that that writer has that you may not have, is persistence. You may have noticed in your life in other places than writing that the people who are not the most talented are the ones that succeed. And I’m starting to sound like a business self improvement tape right now.

Get the full transcript. Get the annotated transcript when you support via Patreon or Substack!

I’m going to hang a lampshade on the elephant in the room and mix my metaphors and say that yeah, I need to get my audio problems fixed. The reasons they are bad are frankly uninteresting and I need to deal with it. The next episode should be better.

So! We pretend it’s August, 2005, and Mur is still messing about on Online Writer’s Workshops. Let’s talk about it.

* Music: Dana Countryman

* Sonar

* Online Writer’s Workshop

* Critters is still around too!

* Playing for Keeps

CREDITS

Art by Numbers Ninja, site design by Clockpunk Studio

and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon.

June 7, 2023 | Season 1 Ep 2 | murverse.com

“Online Writing Workshops, how are they now?” by Mur Lafferty

is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

“Promises Authors Make // Arley Sorg Interview” is brought to you in large part by by my patrons, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon as low as $3 a month!

Some links below are affiliate links and I may earn some money at no cost to you when you use them. 

S19 Ep23

Thinky bits about reading and pacing and migraines. I’ll be clever next week, promise. But what I’m really excited about is the interview with Arley Sorg, editor, writer, and now a new agent!

We have a transcript! Support the Patreon if you’d like to see the annotated transcripts!

New Agent in Town: Arley Sorg!

* Arley Sorg

* KT Literary

* Writer Beware

* Preditors and Editors

* Query Tracker

* Readercon

Evergreen Links

* Mur’s newsletter, The Hot Mic

* Socials: Bluesky, Twitter, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate,

* 19 years of archives, Discord, workshops, and more if you support via Patreon!

* Theme by John Anealio

* I Should Be Writing tea blends

* Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more!

* OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!

And remember, we can’t do this without you. Thanks for your support.

CREDITS

Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, site design by Clockpunk Studio

and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon.

June 1, 2023 | Season 19 Ep 23 | murverse.com

“Promises Authors Make // Arley Sorg Interview” by Mur Lafferty

is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

And so it begins: I Should Be Writing is new again with classic podcasts from 2005! If you wonder what I Should Be Writing sounded like back in the old days, when podcasting was new and before I was published, look no farther! I’m releasing most of my old episodes with commentary, and maybe some new interviews with old friends. The shows will also be released with transcriptions for free, but Patreon supporters will get the episodes first, and annotated transcripts too!

The show is super new, but for now you can subscribe via the feed. I’ll have specific podcatcher links soon!

Where It All Began

I Should’ve Been Writing S1 Ep1

Transcribed Thu, Jun 01, 2023 Download

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

short stories, books, rejections, sonar, published, editor, backburner

SPEAKERS

Mur Lafferty

Mur Lafferty 00:00

My name is Mur Lafferty. And in 2005, I started a little podcast called I Should Be Writing. I hadn’t sold anything; I had done some work on RPGs. But I hadn’t sold a story at all. Nothing. I’d been doing agent hunts. I’ve been sending out short stories. And I was miserable.

00:24

But I was podcasting. And I thought, are there any podcasts for writers? and there was there was one. And that was The Secrets by Michael A Stackpole. He was taking his advice, that he put in his newsletters and putting it out in audio, which was great. The downside being, he was giving advice to seasoned writers, career writers, aka not me. I mean, I could take the advice, but it wasn’t applicable yet. And I thought, let’s make a podcast for people who are just at my level. And I’ll try to pass on what I’ve learned….

Get the full transcript with annotations. **

Links

Music: Dana Countryman

The Secrets

Sonar

Playing for Keeps

CREDITS

Art by Numbers Ninja, site design by Clockpunk Studio

and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon.

June 1, 2023 | Season 1 Ep 1 | murverse.com

“Where It All Began” by Mur Lafferty

is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

PyFYsHOv7yghREFiSWuL

“The Importance of Interviewing Agents // Chana Porter Interview” is brought to you in large part by by my patrons, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon as low as $3 a month!

Some links below are affiliate links and I may earn some money at no cost to you when you use them. 

S19 Ep22

I’m back doing solo episodes with an interview at the end. In this episode I talk about the importance of you interviewing any agent who’s interested in you, and the disasters that can happen if you don’t. Then I talk to Chana Porter, then discuss the books I’m reading.

News, and Let’s Talk Agent Stuff

* The Nebula Awards

* The Bigolas Dickolas story (and the book that blew up)

* The New Leaf story

* Station Eternity gets a second printing!

* Chaos Terminal can be pre-ordered!

Guest: Chana Porter

* Chana Porter

* All books mentioned in this podcast are below Time War, Legends and Lattes, Babel, Marrying In, Death Watch, and of course, The Thick and the Lean, links below (affiliate link with Bookshop where applicable)

Evergreen Links

* Mur’s newsletter, The Hot Mic

* Socials: Bluesky, Twitter, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate,

* 19 years of archives, Discord, workshops, and more if you support via Patreon!

* Theme by John Anealio

* I Should Be Writing tea blends

* Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more!

* OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!

And remember, we can’t do this without you. Thanks for your support.

CREDITS

Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, site design by Clockpunk Studio

and files hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link). Get archives of the show via Patreon.

May 24, 2023 | Season 19 Ep 22 | murverse.com

“The Importance of Interviewing Agents // Chana Porter Interview” by Mur Lafferty

is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Ditch Diggers is brought to you in large part by my patrons, who received an early version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon as low as $3 a month! You can get the entire archive and bonus episodes!

Follow the show on your favorite service!

Streamed live, May 11, 2023

Below are some affiliate links that support indie bookstores and may benefit me financially with no cost to you.

S9 Ep5 (*not 1000)

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.

The George RR Martin gag in Logan Lucky:

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

Support Local Book Stores!

See more friends of Ditch Diggers here!

Ditch Diggers credits:

theme song by Devo Spice, art by Numbers Ninja,

site design by Clockpunk Studio and hosted by Libsyn (or Patreon).

May 11, 2023 | Season 9 Ep 5 | murverse.com

“Premee Mohamed Joins Us for Episode 1000 (?)” by Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace

is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

PyFYsHOv7yghREFiSWuL

“Stina Leicht, Genre Switching, and Loki’s Ring” is brought to you in large part by by my patrons, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon as low as $3 a month!

Some links below are affiliate links and I may earn some money at no cost to you when you use them. 

S19 Ep21

Recorded live, April 27, 2023

Good News Good News

* Station Eternity gets a second printing!

* Chaos Terminal can be pre-ordered!

* Team Rejection 2023 Count: 111

* Mur will be attending the Nebula Conference in Los Angeles (May 12-14, 2023)

* Mur will be speaking at She Podcasts, Live! (June 19-22)

Main Topic: Welcome Stina Leicht!

* We were nominated for the Astounding Award at the same time, and we talk about the last 10 years since that nomination.

* Stina’s book Loki’s Ring is out now!

* Space Fantasy vs Space Opera vs Science Fiction

* Stina’s Patreon

Links

* Stina’s website, Patreon, and books!

* The Hot Mic

* Socials: Twitter, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate, NEW: Bluesky

* Support via Patreon!

* John Anealio on Bandcamp

* I Should Be Writing tea blends

* Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more!

* OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!

And remember, we can’t do this without you. Thanks for your support.

I Should Be Writing credits: production by Summer Brooks,

theme song by John Anealio,

art by Numbers Ninja, site design by Clockpunk Studio

and hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link) (or you can get it via Patreon).

April 27, 2023 | Season 19 Ep 21 | murverse.com

“Stina Leicht, Genre Switching, and Loki’s Ring” by Mur Lafferty

is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

“Should I Talk About My WiP?” is brought to you in large part by by my patrons, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon as low as $3 a month!

Some links below are affiliate links and I may earn some money at no cost to you when you use them. 

Follow the show on your favorite service!

S19 Ep20

Recorded live, April 24, 2023

Good News Good News

* Station Eternity gets a second printing!

* Chaos Terminal can be pre-ordered!

* Team Rejection 2023 Count: 110

* Mur will be attending the Nebula Awards in Los Angeles (May 12-14, 2023)

Main Topic: Rule One of WiP Club (I had to.)

* Had some real thoughts about what happens when I tell people what I’m working on, and decided not to do that anymore.

Links

* The Hot Mic

* Socials: Twitter, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate

* Support via Patreon!

* John Anealio on Bandcamp

* I Should Be Writing tea blends

* Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more!

* OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!

And remember, we can’t do this without you. Thanks for your support.

I Should Be Writing credits: production by Summer Brooks,

theme song by John Anealio,

art by Numbers Ninja, site design by Clockpunk Studio

and hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link) (or you can get it via Patreon).

April 24, 2023 | Season 19 Ep 20 | murverse.com

“Should I Talk About My WiP?” by Mur Lafferty

is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

“Kat Howard, Sequels, and A Sleight of Shadows” is brought to you in large part by by my patrons, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon as low as $3 a month!

Some links below are affiliate links and I may earn some money at no cost to you when you use them. 

Follow the show on your favorite service!

S19 Ep19

Recorded live, April 20, 2023

Good News Good News

* Station Eternity gets a second printing!

* Chaos Terminal can be pre-ordered!

* Team Rejection 2023 Count: 108

* Mur will be attending the Nebula Awards in Los Angeles (May 12-14, 2023)

Main Topic: Kat Howard Interview!

* The amazing fantasy author and comic book writer Kat Howard joins us to talk about her new book, A Sleight of Shadows

* Why are sequels so hard?

* Kat’s site, and substack newsletter

Links

* The Hot Mic, Mur’s Newsletter

* Socials: Twitter, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate.

* Support via Patreon!

* John Anealio on Bandcamp

* I Should Be Writing tea blends

* Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more!

* OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!

And remember, we can’t do this without you. Thanks for your support.

I Should Be Writing credits: production by Summer Brooks,

theme song by John Anealio,

art by Numbers Ninja, site design by Clockpunk Studio

and hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link) (or you can get it via

“Finishing Projects” is brought to you in large part by by my patrons, who received an early, expanded version of this episode. You can join our Fabulist community with a pledge on Patreon as low as $3 a month!

Some links below are affiliate links and I may earn some money at no cost to you when you use them. 

Follow the show on your favorite service!

S19 Ep18

Recorded live, April 6, 2023

Good News Good News

* Station Eternity gets a second printing!

* Chaos Terminal can be pre-ordered!

* Team Rejection 2023 Count: 103

* Mur will be attending the Nebula Awards in Los Angeles (May 12-14, 2023)

Main Topic: The Push to the Finish Line

* The end of your story should end things in a way that makes the journey worth the trip

* Supporting characters and bit players should inhabit the import & impact of their roles

* Writing comedy is still hard

Links

* The Void Door by VM Amalya (aka spacevalkyries)

* Writing the Other classes

* K-Drama Inspirations to Maximize Your Story

* Marple: Twelve New Mysteries

* The Hot Mic

* Socials: Twitter, Mastodon, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate

* Support via Patreon!

* John Anealio on Bandcamp

* I Should Be Writing tea blends

* Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more!

* OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books!

And remember, we can’t do this without you. Thanks for your support.

I Should Be Writing credits: production by Summer Brooks,

theme song by John Anealio,

art by Numbers Ninja, site design by Clockpunk Studio

and hosted by Libsyn (affiliate link) (or you can get it via