Mur Lafferty's Blog

ISBW 22.24

I take a determined look at outlining again, going through some tried and true methods, mainly the Snowflake Method and a brief look at the StoryGrid site...which has changed a bit since the last time I was there.

This post went live for supporters on October 28, 2026. If you want early and ad-free episodes, support at Patreon!

Remember you can join us most Thursdays, 3pm Eastern on Twitch! HOWEVER the next live episode is Wednesday, Nov. 4 when we interview Lucy Foley!

Did you hear we have merch? Yes, we do, with the new logo and everything!

Evergreen Links

Like podcasts? Check my Hugo-winning show with T. Kingfisher where we talk about the business of a writing career: Ditch Diggers. Check out Escape Pod if you want free audio and print science fiction stories, edited by myself and Valerie Valdes! I Should Be Writing merch If you're enjoying ISBW, get the book! I Should Be Writing . Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube Theme by John Anealio 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!

Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. You can also support by leaving a Spotify or Apple review!

CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn. Get archives of the show via Patreon. October 30, 2026 | ISBW 22.24 | murverse.com "Return to Outline Hell" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. And "AI" or large language models are wretched and we hate them so very much. ABSOLUTELY NO AI scraping/learning of my content is permitted. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

ISBW 22.23

I got to interview the delightful Gillian Daniels, whose debut novel Jenny Will Eat You Now is available now! It's a rom-com horror novel, so of course we had to talk about genre mixing, how to write romance, and her agent hunt story.

Titles discussed in this episode: Heated Rivalry, Something Extraordinary, Manhunt, Wide Sargasso Sea, Frankenstein, Roadside Picnic, Sweet Berries.

Find Gillian online: website, Instagram, Bluesky.

This post went live for supporters on October 16, 2026. If you want early and ad-free episodes, support at Patreon!

Remember you can join us on Thursdays, 3pm Eastern on Twitch! The next live episode is October 22 when we interview Lucy Foley!

Did you hear we have merch? Yes, we do, with the new logo and everything!

Evergreen Links

Like podcasts? Check my Hugo-winning show with T. Kingfisher where we talk about the business of a writing career: Ditch Diggers. Check out Escape Pod if you want free audio and print science fiction stories, edited by myself and Valerie Valdes! I Should Be Writing merch If you're enjoying ISBW, get the book! I Should Be Writing . Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube Theme by John Anealio 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!

Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. You can also support by leaving a Spotify or Apple review!

CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn. Get archives of the show via Patreon. October 19, 2026 | ISBW 22.23 | murverse.com "Jenny Will Eat Us Now" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. And "AI" or large language models are wretched and we hate them so very much. ABSOLUTELY NO AI scraping/learning of my content is permitted. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

ISBW 22.22

In classic Mur style, I am posting this mid October, not beginning. I need a minder.

But the concept still works, if you can start now as day 1, or wait till November, or do it any time, really.

We talk about Roger Zelazny's book, A Night In the Lonesome October, and how I map it to a writing challenge, then we cover the Snowflake Method.

Did you hear we have merch? Yes, we do, with the new logo and everything!

This post went live for supporters on October 13, 2026. If you want early and ad-free episodes, support at Patreon!

Remember you can join us on Thursdays, 3pm Eastern on Twitch! The next live episode is October 15!

Evergreen Links

Like podcasts? Check my Hugo-winning show with T. Kingfisher where we talk about the business of a writing career: Ditch Diggers. Check out Escape Pod if you want free audio and print science fiction stories, edited by myself and Valerie Valdes! I Should Be Writing merch If you're enjoying ISBW, get the book! I Should Be Writing . Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube Theme by John Anealio 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!

Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. You can also support by leaving a Spotify or Apple review!

CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn. Get archives of the show via Patreon. October 15, 2026 | ISBW 22.22 | murverse.com "The Lonesome October Club" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. And "AI" or large language models are wretched and we hate them so very much. ABSOLUTELY NO AI scraping/learning of my content is permitted. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

ISBW 22.21

It's time to talk about Imposter Syndrome, where it comes from, and how to handle it. If we can. I'm not sure I'm qualified.

In other news I have a new logo, leaning into the age of the podcast and the shiny new fountain pen crow friend designed by NumbersNinja!

(Yeah i'm gonna have merch soon)

This post went live for supporters on September 30, 2026. If you want early and ad-free episodes, support at Patreon!

Remember you can join us on Thursdays, 3pm Eastern on Twitch! The next live episode is October 8!

Evergreen Links

Like podcasts? Check my Hugo-winning show with T. Kingfisher where we talk about the business of a writing career: Ditch Diggers. Check out Escape Pod if you want free audio and print science fiction stories, edited by myself and Valerie Valdes! I Should Be Writing merch If you're enjoying ISBW, get the book! I Should Be Writing . Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube Theme by John Anealio 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!

Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. You can also support by leaving a Spotify or Apple review!

CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn. Get archives of the show via Patreon.

September 30, 2026 | ISBW 22.21 | murverse.com "Deconstructing Imposter Syndrome" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow.

And "AI" or large language models are wretched and we hate them so very much. ABSOLUTELY NO AI scraping/learning of my content is permitted. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

ISBW 22.20

I met Durham author Isaac Green at a local reading and loved his work, so I invited him on the show. Get ready for some talk about MFAs, writing energy, agent hunting, and writing consistency!

Award-winning author and teacher Isaac Green NC State MFA program, and North Carolina Central University Small Worldcon report, and Covid report.

This post went live for supporters on September 18, 2026. If you want early and ad-free episodes, support at Patreon!

Remember you can join us on Thursdays, 3pm Eastern on Twitch! The next live episode is August 20!

Evergreen Links

Like podcasts? Check my Hugo-winning show with T. Kingfisher where we talk about the business of a writing career: Ditch Diggers. Check out Escape Pod if you want free audio and print science fiction stories, edited by myself and Valerie Valdes! I Should Be Writing merch If you're enjoying ISBW, get the book! I Should Be Writing . Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube Theme by John Anealio 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!

Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. You can also support by leaving a Spotify or Apple review!

CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn. Get archives of the show via Patreon.

September 21, 2026 | ISBW 22.20 | murverse.com "Isaac Green says Start Before You're Ready" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow.

And "AI" or large language models are wretched and we hate them so very much. ABSOLUTELY NO AI scraping/learning of my content is permitted. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

ISBW 22.20

After a heartbreaking Q&A session at a recent convention, I felt the need to say something that's cold and honest. And that is about the magic bullet.

Shorter episode, the last one before worldcon. And since I'm posting it after worldcon, I cut out a lot of the "see me at worldcon" bits—also because no one saw me because I got covid.

We catch up in a few days with this week's interview with Isaac Green, then we're back on track with recording!

This post went live for supporters on September 14, 2026. If you want early and ad-free episodes, support at Patreon!

Remember you can join us on Thursdays, 3pm Eastern on Twitch!

Evergreen Links

Like podcasts? Check my Hugo-winning show with T. Kingfisher where we talk about the business of a writing career: Ditch Diggers.

Check out Escape Pod if you want free audio and print science fiction stories, edited by myself and Valerie Valdes!

I Should Be Writing merch

If you're enjoying ISBW, get the book! I Should Be Writing.

Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube

Theme by John Anealio

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!

Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. You can also support by leaving a Spotify or Apple review!

CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn. Get archives of the show via Patreon.

September 17, 2026 | ISBW 22.19 | murverse.com "The Magic Bullet Myth" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow.

And "AI" or large language models are wretched and we hate them so very much. ABSOLUTELY NO AI scraping/learning of my content is permitted. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

ISBW 22.18

I had imposter syndrome so sneaky I didn't even realize it! (recorded before WorldCon).

We all talk ourselves out of good ideas.

Convention rules, updated for 2026! (But you still have to 3,2,1. That will never change.)

We talk 2k-10k and Page One to Done.

Regrettably, Roberts Rules of Order is discussed.

All the other perks that come with a Worldcon membership.

See you in Montreal in 2027!

I attended Worldcon and promptly got Covid (my first time!) and so I cut out a lot of talk of my plans and my panels because the episode is late and I had very little fun. Congrats to all the Hugo finalists!

This post went live for supporters on September 11, 2026. If you want early and ad-free episodes, support at Patreon!

Remember you can join us on Thursdays, 3pm Eastern on Twitch! The next live episode is September 17!

Evergreen Links

Like podcasts? Check my Hugo-winning show with T. Kingfisher where we talk about the business of a writing career: Ditch Diggers. Check out Escape Pod if you want free audio and print science fiction stories, edited by myself and Valerie Valdes! I Should Be Writing merch Like the podcast? Get the book! I Should Be Writing . Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube Theme by John Anealio 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!

Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. You can also support by leaving a Spotify or Apple review!

CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn. Get archives of the show via Patreon.

Sept 14, 2026 | ISBW 22.18 | murverse.com "Emotions are Stupid" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow.

And "AI" or large language models are wretched and we hate them so very much. ABSOLUTELY NO AI scraping/learning of my content is permitted. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

ISBW 22.17

So much to talk about! Worldcon is looming, and we take listener questions.

How do you handle writing after a long break?

What books do you recommend for writing fight scenes? Books by Alan Baxter and Marie Brennan are mentioned

Mur is reading Page One to Done.

Mur also has silly notebook problems that no one else seems to have.

The HWA sent a ridiculous newsletter out and we are all seeing the fallout. See Chuck Wendig's take on it, and HWA's response is in the comments.

The lesson of this episode is the classic, if no one buys your thing, it is probably because THEY DO NOT WANT THE THING, not because they want to spite you. Authors have many reasons to hate AI that have nothing to do with "gatekeeping."

Other links of stuff I said: Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter Covers, Grant Baciocco's Creativity Journal video, Hobonichi Planners.

This post went live for supporters on August 17, 2026. If you want early and ad-free episodes, support at Patreon!

Remember you can join us on Thursdays, 3pm Eastern on Twitch! The next live episode is August 20!

Evergreen Links

I Should Be Writing merch

Like the podcast? Get the book! I Should Be Writing.

Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate

Theme by John Anealio

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!

Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. You can also support by leaving a Spotify or Apple review!

CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn. Get archives of the show via Patreon.

Aug 19, 2026 | ISBW 22.17 | murverse.com "AMA, Silly Notebook Problems" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow.

And "AI" or large language models are wretched and we hate them so very much.

If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

ISBW 22.16

I finished the book, I started a short story, and I have been looking at the concept of confidence a bit lately. Also been enjoying Charisma on Command videos. So let's talk about confidence.

Don't forget the book giveaway from last time! You have a week to enter!

The Books (along with links if you want to just order right now!):

The Good Girl Effect by Sara Cate Nemesis Mine by Ann Archer A Grim Reaper's Guide to Cheating Death by Maxie Dara To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley (and Agatha Christie)

This post went live for supporters on August 7, 2026. If you want early and ad-free episodes, support at Patreon!

Remember you can join us on Thursdays, 3pm Eastern on Twitch! The next live episode is August 13 with Ann Archer!

Evergreen Links

Like the podcast? Get the book! I Should Be Writing . Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate Theme by John Anealio 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!

Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. You can also support by leaving a Spotify or Apple review! CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn. Get archives of the show via Patreon. Aug 7, 2026 | ISBW 22.16 | murverse.com "Are you confident? What does "confident" actually mean?" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. And "AI" or large language models are wretched and we hate it so very much. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.

ISBW 22.15

I want a lot of books.

I buy a lot of books.

I get sent a lot of books.

I can't with all these books. So you get to benefit! I'm discussing five new or upcoming books of several different genres and then doing a giveaway! All you have to do is email me (mightymur at gmail) and tell me which one you want to be in the drawing for!

I will draw the winners August 15!

This is open to anyone, Patreon supporter/follower or not!

The Books (along with links if you want to just order right now!):

The Good Girl Effect by Sara Cate Nemesis Mine by Ann Archer A Grim Reaper's Guide to Cheating Death by Maxie Dara To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley (and Agatha Christie)

This post went live for supporters on July 24, 2026. If you want early and ad-free episodes, support at Patreon!

Remember you can join us on Thursdays, 3pm Eastern on Twitch! The next live episode is August 6!

Evergreen Links

Like the podcast? Get the book! I Should Be Writing . Socials: Bluesky, Instagram, YouTube, Focusmate Theme by John Anealio 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! Some of the links above may be affiliate, allowing you to support the show at no extra cost to you. You can also support by leaving a Spotify or Apple review! CREDITS Theme song by John Anealio, art by Numbers Ninja, and files hosted by Libsyn. Get archives of the show via Patreon. Jul 29, 2026 | ISBW 22.15 | murverse.com "Let's Give Away Some Books! (#1)" by Mur Lafferty is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 In case it wasn't clear: Mur and this podcast are fully supportive of LGBTQ+ folks, believe that Black Lives Matter, and trans rights are human rights, despite which direction the political winds blow. If you do not agree, then there are plenty of other places to go on the Internet.