Writing About Dragons and Shit

Morning Glory Book Club: Chapters 7-8

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters,  Treavor Bettis, and special guest Shanna Germain talk about Chapters 7 and 8 of Morning Glory Milking Farm...

Ep. 115: Listener Questions with Shanna Germain 

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, Treavor Bettis, and special guest Shanna Germain answer questions about Fig...

Morning Glory Book Club: Chapters 5-6

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis talk about Chapters 5 and 6 of Morning Glory Milking Farm. Get your copy of Morning Glory...

Ep. 114: Killing Point of Views, Character Mental Health, & Irredeemable Actions  

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions about Killing Point of Views, Character...

Morning Glory Book Club: Chapters 3-4

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This Book Club episode is taken from the main show, Episode 113, where we talked with Summer England. We're just putting this as it's own epis...

Ep. 113: MGMF Ep. 2 with Summer England & Listener Questions (Starts at 35:13)

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week we are joined by Summer England! Her TikTok started us down the path to this book club and she’s here to talk about Chapters 3 and 4. But,...

Ep. 112: Staying Motivated, Past/Present, & Tragic Heroes 

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions about Staying Motivated, Past/Present, ...

Morning Glory Book Club: Chapters 1-2

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Welp, here we are! You all joined the discord and now we’re reading some good ol’ smut. This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bett...

Ep. 111: Getting Words Out, Pacing, Developing Antagonists, and Writing with ADHD.

03 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions about Getting Words Out, Pacing, Develo...

Ep. 110: Connected Series, Feedback, No Villains, and First Lines

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions from the WADS Discord Channel - as well...

Ep. 109: Inspiration from Research with Allison Epstein

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’re taking a quick break from listener questions because this week we are joined by Allison Epstein! She talks with Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters...

Ep. 108: Long Range Foot

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions from their shiny new Discord Channel - ...

Ep. 107: Horror Comedy, Mystery, & Conflict

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions about Horror Comedy, Mystery, Dragons &...

Ep. 106: Himbo McDecimator 

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions about Describing Fantasy Settings, The ...

Ep. 105: Historical, First Book, & Villain Stories

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions about Historical Based Fantasy, Should ...

Ep. 104: Suddenly, Writing Full-Time, Pronouns, & Timelines

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions about the dreaded Suddenly, Writing Ful...

Ep. 103: Love Triangles, Kernel Scenes, & Point of View

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions about Head/Gut/Heart, Love Triangles, K...

Ep. 102: Anti-Heroes, Love Triangles, Kernel Scenes, & Point of View

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The listener questions continue! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions about Anit-Heroes, Love Triangles, Kern...

Ep. 101: Return of the Listener Questions!

24 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week we’re kicking off a series of listener questions episodes! How many will there be? We’ll keep recording them until we’re out of questi...

Episode 100

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In our 100th episode we do very little writing talk and instead ask each other questions! Starring: Erin M Evans (Empire of Exiles, Brimstone Angels) ...

Ep. 99: A Year of Tangents

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s our 99th episode and the last episode of 2023! Instead of our normal show we decided to get together and just talk about the year, our writing,...

Interview: Bethany Jacobs

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we are trying something new. Host Treavor Bettis sits down with Bethany Jacobs to talk about her novel These Burning Stars, as well as her b...

Ep. 98: Sequels with Bethany Jacobs

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You’re done with your first novel! …and now they want more? What do you do?! This week special guest Bethany Jacobs, author of These Burning Stars...

Ep. 97: Mid-Book Blues

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

At the time of recording we are halfway through nanowrimo 2023! Which means many of you are halfway through your book and you might be feeling those M...

Ep. 96: NaNoWriMo: Questions

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

NaNoWriMo is right around the corner! To get yall just a little more prepped and ready we did an episode of NaNoWriMo questions that will hopefully he...

Ep. 95: NaNoWriMo: Structure

20 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

November is getting closer! Are you ready for NaNoWriMo? To help you get ready during Preptober Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis tal...

Ep. 94: NaNoWriMo: Worldbuilding

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We continue Preptober with a talk about Worldbuilding! Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis talk about some ways they go about worldbuil...

Ep. 93: NaNoWriMo: Be Excited About Poop

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Erin and B. Dave claim the title will make sense to parents. Welcome to Preptober! This month we’ll be releasing episodes that will (hopefully) get ...

Ep. 92: The Snowflake Method

29 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There are several methods out there for making plot, characters, and settings - and on this episode we’re going to talk about a listener suggested o...

Ep. 91: 20%, Writer Voice, & Pacing

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The final listener questions from our backlog are here! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions about changing t...

Ep. 90: Swearing, Theme, Point of View, & More!

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sorry for the delay! Treavor is Hot Spotting his phone to upload this episode! We had even MORE listener questions in the backlog so here’s more ans...

Ep. 89: Calendars, Prologues, Pantsing vs. Outlining

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’re back answering more questions from our amazing listeners! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions about ...

Ep. 88: Self Promotion, Loveable Characters, & Story Formats

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’re continuing where we left off last week with more listener questions! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer quest...

Ep. 87: Buddy Cop, Foreshadowing, & Research

18 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Time to get serious about listener questions! This week we kick off the first of a few episodes focusing on questions from listeners like you - that’...

Ep. 86: Questions & Redemption Arcs (or A Judicious Use of Portals)

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we catch up more on our listener question backlog - and one gives us a topic for the second half of the show! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Da...

Ep. 85: Return of the Tangerinos

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are SO lucky to have a group of awesome listeners that send in questions to the show so we’re doing another listener episode! This week Erin M. E...

Ep. 84: Flaws

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

My main character is SO perfect! There’s nothing wrong with them and that’s why people love them! …what do you mean they aren’t interesting? T...

Ep. 83: Critique

06 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do you give critiques? Do you just tell them it sucks? Well about taking critique? This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis ta...

Ep. 82: Listener Topics

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Over all the time we’ve been getting emails (thank you for those by the way) we’ve been getting topic suggestions with them. So we decided to talk...

Ep. 81: Too Many Ideas!

14 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What are Bad Ideas? When do you Reread Your Book? What do we do when we just have TOO MANY Ideas?! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treav...

Ep. 80: YA and Tie-Ins with James L. Sutter

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What are the differences between writing YA and Adult Fiction? What can and can’t you do? And we’ve talked about tie-ins - but what’s really goi...

Ep. 79: You Always Wake Up Spooning

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hey! We had a few weeks off, but we’re back and ready to answer YOUR questions! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer ...

Ep. 78: Trilogies

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Trilogies. How do they work? Do I really need three books to tell a story? This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis talk about Tri...

Ep. 77: Writing When You Don’t Feel Like It

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We were off for a few weeks, but we’re back with some listener questions and a quick topic! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Be...

Ep. 76: A Modicum of %$&#ery

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do you take down the villain in a satisfying way? What do magic stats look like? And how do flashbacks work? This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walt...

Ep. 75: What’s Stopping You?

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

“I just need to do more World Building.” “I need a perfect outline…” “I need to know EVERYTHING about my magic system!” If you’ve had ...

Ep. 74: Worldbuilding Gods

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time for another worldbuilding episode - and we decided this time to talk about creating the most powerful beings in fantasy and sci-fi. This w...

Ep. 73: Name This Dragon!

16 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We got even more listener questions - so let’s do another listener episode! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis talk about ...

Ep. 72: Ideas

02 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve talked here and there about what happens when we come up with an idea for a project - but not how we come up with those ideas. This week Erin ...

Ep. 71: Listener Questions 2: The Second One

23 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we got a bunch of awesome questions and topic suggestions from listeners like you! Yes - YOU! And because of that Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Wal...

Ep. 70: Writing Strengths

08 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we kick things off with two listener questions! One about writing dark themes and one about short story structure. After that, Erin M. Evans...

Ep. 69: Revisiting Prologues and Info Dumps

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we got a listener question that brought up two topics we’ve talked about before, but needed some clarification. This week Erin M. Evans, B...

Ep. 68: And Another Tangent (or The Anti-Hero Episode)

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we got together and decided to do one of our good old Tangent episodes! …Except we did do that at all and instead ended up talking about A...

Ep. 67: Purposefully Improving

19 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We recently talked about forming a writing habit - and doing it intentionally. But what other things can we do to purposefully improve our craft? This...

Ep. 66: Comic Writing

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’re a host down this week, but we decided this was the perfect time to talk about the art of writing comics! This week B. Dave Walters and Treavor...

Ep. 65: Forming a Writing Habit

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’re back! And in our first episode of 2023 we wanted to talk about writing habits that weren’t NaNoWriMo. This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walte...

Ep. 64: Journey of the Tangerinos

15 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s the last episode of 2022! To celebrate Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis sat down with some mixed drinks and listener question...

Ep. 63: Naming Stuff

30 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Like most books things need names - but in Fantasy and Sci-Fi those names are usually made up! So how do you make them up? This week Erin M. Evans, B....

Ep. 62: You Wrote a Book! Now What?

23 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

NOTE: B. Dave's audio was being weird at the start of the show - but it clears up half-way through and none of us know how or why. Did my best to clea...

Ep. 61: New Book Glow

17 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week the gang is back together for another tangent episode! B. Dave checks in with Erin about how the first week of Empire of Exiles has been, Tr...

Ep. 60: Empire of Exiles

09 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week Treavor Bettis sits down with Erin M. Evans to talk about her brand new book Empire of Exiles! They discuss everything from how the idea for...

Ep. 59: Empire of Exiles Worldbuilding

26 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve talked about Worldbuilding in several episodes, but we haven’t gotten to talk about already built worlds and what thoughts went into making ...

Ep. 58: NaNoWrMo Questions

19 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s October - which only means one thing! NaNoWrMo is upon us! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis take a trip through r/N...

Special: Welcome to Dragon Talk

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis sit down with the amazing hosts of Dragon Talk - the Official D&D Podcast! Greg Tito ...

Ep. 57: Return of the Tangent

05 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After having several wonderful guests we’re back to just the three of us - and what better way to get back into the groove than a tangent episode? T...

Ep. 56: Cursing with Shanna Germain (or Judicious F-Bomb)

28 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We swear A LOT on this show - but it’s also something that appears often in novels. Whether it’s a good old $%*# or a **** - or something complete...

Ep. 55: Thoughts on Sci-Fi World Building with Rich Larson

07 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve talked a lot about World Building - but mainly from a Fantasy point of view. Let’s change that! And to help us out we’ve got someone who h...

Ep. 54: Quick Fire Topics with Ed McDonald

31 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Prophecies - do we love them or hate them? How do we reflect real world issues in fantasy? What’s your favorite monster and why is it a Dragon?! Thi...

Ep. 53: Dialogue 2: The Second One

24 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Hey remember that time we answered questions about Dialogue that Erin had answered years before? Remember how we didn’t finish all the questions? Th...

Ep.52: Film Scripts

03 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How do people write movies?! What does a script even look like? What’s the difference between novels and scripts? This week B. Dave Walters and Trea...

Ep. 51: Time Travel with Ren Hutchings

20 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Is it future? Or it is past? How do you keep time travel straight in your head while writing? And are there rules of time travel? This week Erin M. Ev...

Ep. 50: Not Writing About Dragons and Shit

06 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Hey remember how we said we were gonna work on a book for our 50th Episode? Plot twist - we didn’t do that! (We will down the road) Instead - Erin M...

Ep. 49: Listener Questions (or Impactful Um)

22 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We put out a call and you answered! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis answer questions from listeners (like you!) about boo...

Ep. 48: Worldbuilding Revisited

08 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been a bit since we talked about Worldbuilding (WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT’S BEEN A YEAR?!) - so let’s change that! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Da...

Ep. 47: Lesbian Werewolf Crimefighters

01 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Not every topic can be an hour long - but some listener questions can be a half an episode! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bett...

Ep. 46: Multiple Points of View

25 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Does your book have more than one point of view? How does that work? When are you supposed to switch? Whose head am I in?! Okay, that may be overreact...

Ep. 45: Outlines

04 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Outlines have come up several times over the course of this show (with strong encouragement from B. Dave), but how do you do one? This week Erin M. Ev...

Ep. 44: Free Writing and Subplots (or Load-Bearing “Just”)

20 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What do we mean when we talk about Free Writing - and is it worth it? Also, what the heck is a Subplot?! Do I have too many of them?! This week Erin M...

Ep. 43: Oops All Questions

13 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We put a call out for questions and you answered! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis relax and answer all your burning quest...

Ep. 42: Our First Projects

06 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We have talked about our WIP as well as recent projects - but what about when we were all the wee-baby-writer? How did we go from hobbyist to Writer? ...

Ep. 41: Monster Tangents

23 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis sit down for another Tangent episode. They start off with a listener question about fanta...

Ep. 40: Magic (or Magic Bananas)

16 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Does magic need rules? Can it solve all your stories problems? Do you need to know EVERYTHING about how it works? This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Wal...

Ep. 39: TTRPG Writing with Richard August

09 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

One of the biggest requests from our listeners has been to talk about writing for TTRPGs and we finally did it! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walte...

Ep. 38: Descriptions

23 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How much detail is too much? How do you find a good place to describe your main character? Who is Chekhov - and what’s up with his gun? This week Er...

Ep. 37: Sex Scenes (or Fictional Nipples)

16 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sex scenes might not be in every book - but when they are it’s important to get them right. Well, right for your story that is. This week Erin M. Ev...

Ep. 36: Real World Culture in World Building

02 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week we answer another Tangerino question - this time about using Real World Cultures as inspiration for your world building. Erin M. Evans, B. D...

Ep. 35: First and Last Lines

26 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We got another email from one of our awesome Tangarinos and we spent a whole episode answering it! This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treav...

Ep. 34: Co-Writing and Character Flaws

19 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You may have seen books with two authors names on it - or film credits with a list of writer names. How does this work? This week Erin M. Evans, B. Da...

Ep. 33: Killing Characters

05 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes a character just needs to die - but does it always have to be a heroic sacrifice? This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bett...

Ep. 32: Year in Review

15 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s our last show of 2021! And what better way to round out the year than having some fun conversations, writing talk, and answering a few listener...

Ep. 31: Prologues

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve talked about Starting Your Book, but what if that start isn’t quite connected to the main characters? This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walte...

Ep. 30: Fancy Chocolate & Strange Liquor

01 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After a short (unexpected) break we’re back with another tangent episode! And to our surprise there’s actually some educational stuff sprinkled in...

Ep. 29: Realism and Plot Holes

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How much of the real world do you need in your fantasy story? And how little is considered a problem? This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Tr...

Ep. 28: Dawn Voyage of the Tangerinos

03 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week B. Dave Walters, Erin M. Evans, and Treavor Bettis spend a whole episode talking about two questions from one of their listeners. How did th...

Ep. 27: NaNoWriMo Pep Talk

27 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

National Novel Writing Month is right around the corner! Are you ready for it? To get you psyched for writing 50,000 words in 30 days Erin M. Evans, B...

Ep. 26: Magic in Your Setting with Keith Baker

20 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

If we all had access to magic powers - how would that change our everyday life? And what would it do to the world itself? This week special guest Keit...

Ep. 25: Making Heroes

13 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve talked about how to make villains, but what about who is going to stand in their way? This week Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Be...

Ep. 24: Oops All Tangents

06 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Talking about writing is so much fun! So Erin M. Evans, B. Dave Walters, and Treavor Bettis decided to do just that. Sit down, and just talk about wri...

Ep. 23: The Business (or Bitter, Fat Washed, and Nutty)

29 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Getting published in any way is more than just writing something and hitting a “Publish Button”. But what does the business side look like? This w...

Ep. 22: Character Chemistry with Rhiannon Held

22 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We all want our characters to be happy - and sometimes that means they want a relationship! But how do you make convincing chemistry between two chara...