Writing Podcast Update for Monday, May 23

Reminder to Writing podcasters…if your podcast is missing from the menu on the left, then I’m not checking your site for updates. Please leave a comment if you wish to be included!

New Podcasts This Week
Thanks to Jeff Rutherford of the Reading and Writing Podcast, I will be following two new podcasts for updates each week:

• If You’re Just Joining Us – well-produced interviews with Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors, updated every 2-3 weeks
• Books on the Nightstand – two employees of Random House with unique insights into the publishing industry discuss books and reading

Neither podcast has been updated since the 16th, but from now on when they do update, I’ll be including them in my weekly review.

For Monday, May 23:

• Writing Excuses – Their May 23 update, 5.38 Dialog with John Scalzi features some great tips on writing dialog in fiction, including Mr. Scalzi’s statement that “Dialog is not speech, it is a speech-like process that is used to convey information in a story.” Also, Brandon talks about advice he received to watch The Thin Man for dialog tips, and Howard discusses fitting his dialog into “those tiny cartoon bubbles.”
• I Should Be Writing #201 – Mur has two updates this week. Her first, Episode #201 – Feedback Returns answers lots of different writing questions, including how to respond to agents and editors after receiving a rejection containing feedback from them. Mur also tells us about her upcoming conference schedule.
• I Should Be Writing #202 – Mur’s second update this week, Episode #202 – Being Smart/Howard Andrew Jones Interview features an interview with Howard Andrew Jones, author of The Desert of Souls, a work he says was inspired partly by Ramadan, issue #50 of Sandman by Neil Gaiman, one of my favorites as well.
• Reading and Writing Podcast – Episode 039 – this week’s interview by Jeff is with Steve Alten, author of the new novel Grim Reaper: End of Days. I’m a big fan of his first novel, Meg, but need to catch up on his other works.
• The Writing Show – Paula provides Slush Pile Workshop #14 this week, featuring three submissions read and critiqued off the top of the slush pile, including a work of literary fiction, one in the supernatural horror genre, and a portion of a short story, or perhaps part of a mosaic novel.

Enjoy!