The SpecFicNZ Podcast

Episode 19 Sharon Hannaford on Urban Fantasy, marketing and more

Sun, 19 Apr 2020 14:40:22 +1300

In this episode we got to chat with Dunedin author Sharon Hannaford, about Urban Fantasy, marketing, and the importance of character flaws.

You can find Sharon here at her website

As ever your co-hosts are:

Nix Whittaker

Kura Carpenter

Mat Danaher

Episode 18 with president of the New Zealand Society of Authors Mandy Hager

Sun, 05 Apr 2020 14:10:40 +1300

In this episode we talk about rights for writers and other creatives, fiction as a way of exploring what's happening to our world, and why New Zealand writers should join the NZSA.

Mandy's website can be found here

The New Zealand Society of Authors can be found here

And as ever your co-hosts can be found by clicking on the links below:

Kura Carpenter

Mat Danaher

Nix Whittaker

If you have any questions or feedback or would like to be interviewed please flick an email to: podcast@specfic.nz

Episode 17 In Which Melanie Harding-Shaw talks about CoNZ

Tue, 25 Feb 2020 23:06:05 +1300

In the episode Wellington writer Melanie Harding-Shaw talks about the 2020 World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon which is coming from Wellington this year. She also talks about the new anthology she is helping to edit (Black Dogs, Black Tales), and why submitting a lot of short stories is the key to success.

You can find more Melanie's website here, the CoNZ website here and the Facebook Page here.

Just like last season your co-hosts are:

Kura Carpenter

Nix Whittaker and,

Mathew Danaher

And as usual the Podcast is brought to you by SpecFicNZ which you can find here. If you're already a member don't forget to join the Facebook Group here.

Episode 16: Jean Gilbert on writing and breaking into Hollywood

Sat, 02 Nov 2019 21:34:35 +1300

For this episode we were joined by award winning Hamilton based author Jean Gilbert. She talked about teaching writing to young people, living with face blindness, and writing for film and TV.

You can find her here:

Web.

Facebook.

Twitter.

As always your co-hosts are:

Kura Carpenter

Nix Whittaker

and Mathew Danaher, who is also to blame for any audio glitches or issues.

Episode 15 Jamie Sands on Romance, RPGs, and Research

Sun, 20 Oct 2019 19:29:24 +1300

In this episode we had a chat (and a laugh) with Jamie Sands. We talked about their YA book the Suburban Book of the Dead (buy it here), identity, role playing games, and romance, among other things.

You can find them at the following links:

You can buy their romance novels here

As ever you can join SpecFicNZ here

Your hosts are:

Kura Carpenter

Nix Whittaker

Mathew Danaher (who amateurishly edited and produced this episode).

Episode 14: What I Wished I knew Before

Wed, 02 Oct 2019 16:29:00 +1300

In this episode your hosts talk about what they wished they had known before starting out down the self publishing, or traditional publishing routes.

Some of the things they talk about are:

Amazon Author Central.

Book Funnel.

New Zealand Society of Authors and their contract reading service.

And vanity publishing and why you should avoid it, You can read more about them on the Writer Beware website.

As every your hosts are:

Kura Carpenter

Nix Whittaker

Mathew Danaher.

And this podcast is part of SpecFicNZ which you really should join.

Episode 13 with Trudie Jaye from the SPA Girls Podcast

Sat, 14 Sep 2019 11:44:00 +1300

We had a lot of fun recording this episode as you can probably tell. Apologies from Mat for being a bit mumbly, as he was sat in the room where the recording was happening, there's no excuse. He will try better next time!

Trudie Jaye

Trudie is one of the hosts of the wonderful and super useful if you are or want to get into self publishing SPA Girls Podcast. Available on all good apps. Subscribe to it already!

We talked a lot about:

20 Books to 50K

Craig Martell

Romance Writers of New Zealand, and of course SpecFicNZ.

Your hosts:

Kura Carpenter

Nix Whittaker

Mathew Danaher (who also does the recording, producing, and editing).

If you would like to be interviewed or otherwise get involved - get in touch: podcast@specfic.nz

Episode 12 Tim Jones and Climate Fiction and Activism

Fri, 30 Aug 2019 12:00:00 +1300

You can find Tim Jones Online:

Blog

Twitter

NZ Book Council

You can buy his latest book - Where We Land.

And you can read a review here - SpecFicNZ

As ever your co-hosts are:

Kura Carpenter

Nix Whittaker

Mathew Danaher

Episode 11 in which we talk about dragons, maps, and email marketing with multi award winner Eileen Mueller

Sat, 24 Aug 2019 19:44:45 +1300

You can find out more about Eileen at her website here - https://www.eileenmuellerauthor.com/

Ava Fairhall's map for Dragons Realm - http://www.geysercon.nz/updates/avafairhallsfantasymaps

50booksto20k

Book Funnel.

As ever your hosts are:

Kura Carpenter

Nix Whittaker

Mathew Danaher

Episode 10. Dan Rabarts talks about horror writing and those ideas that keep you up at night.

Sun, 04 Aug 2019 14:31:50 +1300

In this episode we talked with award winning Wellington based horror writer Dan Rabarts.

You can find him online at:

http://dan.rabarts.com

https://twitter.com/rabarts

https://www.facebook.com/rabarts

He is a member of the Australasian Horror Writers Association, as well as FFANZ.

As usual your co-hosts are:

Kura Carpenter

Nix Whittaker

Mathew Danaher

Episode Nine in which Aaron Compton talks about being a mentee editor and other things

Sat, 20 Jul 2019 19:52:55 +1300

We were really lucky to spend an evening talking with Aaron Compton co-editor of Te Korero Ahi Ka

As well as talking about his experience as a mentee editor, we also talked about being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, cryptozoological porn, and whether vikings were the first New Zealanders (hint - no they weren't!).

You can visit Aaron's website here - https://www.compton.ink/

And you can find him on Twitter and Instagram - aaron.compton

As ever your co-hosts are:

Kura Carpenter

Nix Whittaker

Mathew Danaher

If you are a New Zealand based or originating creator of speculative fiction you should join SpecFicNZ you can do that here - https://specfic.nz/join

Episode Eight: Hero's Journey or Fools Errand?

Sat, 06 Jul 2019 14:04:04 +1300

In this episode your regular co-hosts talked about plot and structure...

They talked a lot about the hero's journey and their opinions of it, as well as saggy middles, sub plots, and more. Also Nix sets some homework.

You can read more here:

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

Why I seldom teach the hero's journey any more

The hero's journey is no longer serving us

Structure and Beats

Your co-hosts:

Nix Whittaker

Kura Carpenter

Mat Danaher (Editor/Producer/Engineer).

NB: This episode was recorded with different software to usual, but that shouldn't impact on the sound too much.

As ever please send any feedback, comments, or questions to: podcast@specfic.nz

Episode 07: Mark McCabe talks about Kindle Direct, getting that cover, fantasy maps, and more.

Wed, 19 Jun 2019 20:53:41 +1300

In this episode your hosts were lucky enough to spend an enjoyable half an hour or so in the company of Australian born, Dunedin resident author Mark McCabe who talked about Kindle Direct Publishing, going wide, making sure you have the right cover, and creating fantasy maps.

If you want to do some further reading -

You can find Mark online here.

You find his artist Jeff Brown here.

Generate your own fantasy city maps here.

Other fantasy maps here.

As ever you can find your hosts online -

Nix Whittiker

Kura Carpenter

Mat Danaher

This episode was produced, edited, and mixed by the hopefully ever improving, Mat.

You can find SpecFicNZ here.

Episode Six Kevin Berry talks about Interactive Fiction and more

Wed, 05 Jun 2019 22:26:20 +1300

In this episode Christchurch author Kevin Berry talks about writing interactive fiction for a middle grade audience, as well as speculative fiction, YA, and crime fiction.

You can find Kevin and his books here.

The SpecFicNZ Podcast Episode 05 In which Nix, Kura, and Mat ask do pantsers exist?

Sun, 26 May 2019 14:18:01 +1300

In this episode our three hosts talk about different aspects of writing from the point of view of an indie novelist, a traditionally published novelist, and a short story writer. As always this is with a focus on New Zealand.

As always our hosts are:

Kura Carpenter

Mat Danaher

Nix Whittaker

If you have any comments or questions, or would like to get involved in our podcast, or be interviewed, flick us an email: podcast@specfic.nz

Episode Four: In which we talk about the psychology of characters and other things with Darian Smith

Sat, 18 May 2019 15:43:05 +1300

This episode features an enjoyable chat with Darian Smith, author of the 'Agents of Kalanon Sequence', as well as the extremely useful 'Psychology Workbook for Writers'.

You can like Darian's Facebook page here - https://www.facebook.com/DarianSmithAuthor/

You can find his books on Goodreads here - https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/7370521.Darian_Smith and you can buy them at all good bookshops both online and off.

Episode Three: Deb E Howell

Sat, 04 May 2019 18:22:06 +1300

In this episode we had a chat with Deb E Howell, Dunedin based author of Warrior's Touch, Healer's Touch and the soon to be published Magician's Touch among other works.

You can find her website here - https://deberelene.com/

And you can find her on Facebook here - https://facebook.com/deberelene

As you can tell we had a good laugh recording this one, and it was the second episode we actually recorded, so you can tell we were still getting used to the flow of the interview, and using the technology.

Episode 2 in which we interview Dunedin based author Daniel Stride

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 11:01:24 +1300

In this episode we talked with Dunedin based author Daniel Stride. We talked about his work in the SpecFicNZ anthology which you can find out more about here. We also talked about Daniel's novel Wise Phuul which you can buy here.

We also talked about TV Tropes and the Society for Creative Anachronism.

You can find Daniel's website here.

Episode One: Lee Murray and Piper Mejia Talk about Geysercon and NZ Young Writers Fest

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 17:25:34 +1300

Award winning New Zealand Writers Lee Murray and Piper Mejia talk about New Zealand's premier event for science and fantasy creators - Geysercon, as well as the import work that New Zealand Young Writers, and their Young Writers Fest do.

You can find out more about Lee here, and more about Piper here.

Podcast hosted by: