After bouts of illness, work travel, and an extended period that can only be described as “no dopamine, only adrenaline,” there’s finally a new episode! Steph and Trevor catch up about progress on their projects and then dive into the topic of having other people read your work. What is beta reading? Why is what Steph and Trevor do for one another not really beta reading? How do we get betas and apply feedback? How do you find the note within the note? What other roles are there for people reading your work? And why is this rhetorical question format what we landed on for the episode description?

In this loose, long-awaited, and longer-than-usual episode, Stephanie and Trevor commiserate about a season of sickness, debrief on Steph’s NaNoWriMo win and the final chapter of The Pantser who Planned, discuss Steph’s newest release, and then dig in on what it’s like to write creatively when writing is also your day job. In between discussions of developing a sense of audience and voice, they indulge in asides about author socials, how wardrobe helps you find your audience at events, new Doctor Who, and bizarrely, Tony Curran’s oeuvre. They do the slowest-ever lightning round of pros and cons of writing when writing is your day job, touching on planning, ego death, and busted hands, among other things. Also, Stephanie administers a test on Bishop.

Bishop receives an upgrade, which Trevor immediately needs to fix. Stephanie reports on her experience as The Pantser Who Plans. We discuss writer's block in the context of Steph's work. Trevor looks to a hundred-year-old model of the creative process to help understand why he doesn't really experience writer's block. They explore different solutions to writer's block, ways to lessen the impact of it, and what the hustle-culture "no zero days" philosophy can look like when applied in a healthy way. Be gentle with yourselves, writers, and enjoy. A new writing prompt is available! And stick around for a post-credits scene.

Steph and Trevor reflect on past NaNoWrimo wins and losses. How do we approach NaNoWriMo to set ourselves up for success? Do pantsers really exist? What makes a good NaNo project? What are our goals for a first draft? What kind of goals might you have for NaNoWriMo beyond "get 50 000 words?" How does picking your project well promote your success? How do we leverage music to help our prep and writing? And how does notorious pantser Steph plan to plan? Will she subject herself to mad science for the sake of the podcast? These questions and more, and a reminder that our first flash fiction prompt is available on the website at writingandrobots.com!

How to you open a scene? A short story? A novel? What are some great openings? And what, pray tell, is a podcasting robot, and what does it do? Stephanie and Trevor explore writing the first words of a new work, and their new digital friend says their first words, too. You should write some words! Flash fiction prompts are now available at https://writingandrobots.com.

In our debut episode, join friends, collaborators, and co-conspirators Stephanie and Trevor as they invite you to get to know the hosts, the work, the genres, and the podcast.

Meet Steph, the oddball self-published crazy cat lady horror author, who is three anthologies in and shows no sign of slowing. Learn about how family informs her short story collections, how true events inspired one of her most ick-inducing horror shorts, and how she coordinates her outfits for her tattoo appointments.

Meet Trevor, instructional designer and dad of three, who writes for a living and keeps writing when he gets home. Learn about how his parenting and borderline-obsessive need to make stuff inform both his creative non-fiction and his novels.

Join them on the borderlands between horror and suspense. Dodge fast-flying recommendations from TV, film, Twitter, and books. Salivate in anticipation of their upcoming flash fiction prompts. And breathe a sigh of relief that these two will continue gracing your feeds, but only every couple of weeks.

Welcome to Writing and Robots. The writing is coming. The robots are coming. Brace yourself.

Links to everything discussed in the show can be found at writingandrobots.com!

Welcome to Writing and Robots, a new podcast from stephanieanneauthor.ca and Love Make Share! Visit us online at writingandrobots.com for episodes, show notes, links, writing prompts, and more.