The Sword and Laser discussion

Chuck Wendig has a reputation for cursing. He also has a reputation for being a badass writer of amazing characters in inventive situations, across novels, comics and movies. He also invented cornpunk. Oh wait, he ALSO writes one of the best guides for writers ever made. But what is his favorite word? Well, now you'll just have to watch for that, and to see how many times our editor has to use the bleep button. Spoiler: he uses it more on the hosts than the guest.

http://swordandlaser.com/home/2014/4/...

Another author to put on the TBR list. The video show is just a great way to find out about authors I know nothing about. Already read a Max Gladstone book and it was great.

Tom can you please hit the iTunes button pretty please with whipped cream and a cherry on top? And maybe some Woodford Reserve or Bullit on the side?

F*ck yeah!

Learn how to curse just like Uncle Chuck: http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/...

Speaking of Chuck Wendig, one of his books is on sale on Amazon's Kindle for their Daily Deal! This deal will last for today (Friday, April 4th) only!

The Blue Blazes (Mookie Pearl #1) by Chuck Wendig: $1.99: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A...

The first Miriam Black book was pretty decent I thought, and they have gotten progressively better from there. The next two are really good. The character of Miriam is fantastic, one of the most complex characters I've read, and it's the type of Urban Fantasy that I like to read. Not a whole amalgamation of every ancient legend and piece of folklore and the kitchen sink, but just one idea/type of magic/weird thing really thought through, so that it could exist in the real world and it'd be plausible that noone knew about it.

Wendig's Atlanta Burns novel(la)s are very good too. It's YA, as it is written from and about the worldview of teenagers, but it handles some pretty heavy themes (child abuse, racism, the seedy underworld of dog fighting) and pulls as few punches as his other work.

And he writes an entertaining blog.

Great interview. Someone in a reading group I belong too had been singing the praises of Blackbirds a while back, so I added it to my reading list. I've also recommended adding it to that group's potential reads list, and if it does get added it'll be my pick for group read when my turn comes around.

This was a blast! Good stuff.
Susurrus is a great word. I like its derivative susurrant .
Soporific and chunter are great words too.

Sussudio is a good word too.

I haven't watched this one yet but I have to say I tried to read Blackbirds and gave up at about 15%. I don't mind grimdark, I like urban fantasy, I even like horror fiction, but I found it to be just awful - the main character had no redeeming qualities at all that I could see, she just seemed to be a foul-mouthed (bizarre made up combos of curses), angry bitch. I couldn't even pity her. Or root for her to find a way to deal with her issues. I just wanted a bomb to land on her.

It does have a very cool cover.

Maybe it gets better. I may try again someday

Michelle, you might want to try Blackbird in audio. I think it's only $1.99 if you have the Kindle edition. I got the Kindle version when it was on sale, so I consider it gettin an audiobook for 4 bucks rather than buying a book twice.

terpkristin wrote: "Tom can you please hit the iTunes button pretty please with whipped cream and a cherry on top? And maybe some Woodford Reserve or Bullit on the side?"

Tom is on it!

Veronica wrote: "Tom is on it!"

It's there! Thanks, both of you (since I see episode #169 in the audio feed, too!) :)

Michele wrote: "I haven't watched this one yet but I have to say I tried to read Blackbirds and gave up at about 15%. I don't mind grimdark, I like urban fantasy, I even like horror fiction, but I found it to be j..."

Yeah, I love Wendig's concepts, but I find I don't like his characters very much. I think I'm a bit too sheltered to enjoy his prose, too.

Ah this episode was fun! I'm really not a fan of horror fiction, but that quote from the beginning makes me think I'd really enjoy his prose.


Also, Tom, do you just have the Prologue memorized?!

Yay, just watched it! T & V really seemed to be having fun in this interview...not that they don't have fun in all of them, but this one just seemed "cheerier" somehow. It was a ball to watch, silly puns and all. :)

Wendig's books aren't for me. I read Blackbirds and while I thought the concept was interesting, it was too violent, too graphic for me. It was really interesting to see the breadth of his works...I'd never have known.