Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter, especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for February is Romance, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Isaac Fellman and I discuss:

• How he used his day job as an archivist as a metaphor for his characters.
• Why you should consider writing fanfiction to develop your writing skills.
• His approach to exploring bigger topics in his writing and why he finds the challenge fun.

Plus, his #1 tip for writers.

About Isaac Fellman

Isaac Fellman is the author of Dead Collections, out 2-22-2022 from Penguin Books, as well as The Breath of the Sun (published under his pre-transition first name), which won the 2018 Lambda Literary Award for queer science fiction, fantasy, and horror. He is an archivist at the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco.

You can find them on his website or follow him on Twitter or Ghost.

Dead Collections 

When archivist Sol meets Elsie, the larger-than-life widow of a moderately famous television writer who’s come to donate her wife’s papers, there’s an instant spark. But Sol has a secret: he suffers from an illness called vampirism and hides from the sun by living in his basement office. On their way to falling in love, the two traverse grief, delve into the Internet fandom they once unknowingly shared, and navigate the realities of transphobia and the stigmas of carrying the “vampire disease.”

Then, when strange things start happening at the collection, Sol must embrace even more of the unknown to save himself and his job. Dead Collections is a wry novel full of heart and empathy, that celebrates the journey, the difficulties and joys, in finding love and comfort within our own bodies.  

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 397

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 397: Archives, Fandoms, and Committing Your Obsessions – Interview with Isaac Fellman appeared first on DIY MFA.

And welcome to our extra special Halloween episode, as today I have the pleasure of having the amazing mother-daughter writing team of P.C. and Kristin Cast on the show!

P.C. and Kristin are both New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors, most known for their wildly successful House of Night series. This mega popular series spanning numerous novels and novellas, celebrated its ten year anniversary in 2017.

In honor of this milestone, P.C. and Kristin dove back into this awesome world and created the all new House of Night: Other World series. The first novel, Loved, was released in 2017, with the second, Lost, just releasing in July of this year.

So listen in as we chat about these awesome Other World novels, and get a window into the whole House of Night series.

In this episode P.C., Kristin and I discuss:

• Tag team brainstorming.
• Worldbuilding techniques to expand your story’s world over multiple books.
• P.C.’s alternative universe character building exercise.
• How to stand out in an oversaturated market.
• Why you need to get graphic with your characters’ feelings.

Plus, both P.C.’s and Kristin’s #1 tip for writers.

About P.C. and Kristin Cast

P.C. Cast is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose novels have been awarded the prestigious Oklahoma Book Award, as well as the Prism, Booksellers Best, Holt Medallion, and more. She lives in Oregon with lots of dogs, cats, horses, and a burro.

Kristin Cast is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who teamed with her mother, P. C. Cast, to write the wildly successful House of Night series. She has a passion for all things paranormal.

Their latest series, House of Night: Other World, released its second novel Lost in July of 2018.

To connect with P.C. and Kristin Cast check out their website at www.infinitelyinteresting.co

Lost

Things have settled down at the Tulsa House of Night since Zoey and the gang closed the tear between worlds and sent Other Kevin back to the Other World. Neferet hasn’t stirred. Damien and Jack are falling in love all over again. Stevie Rae and Rephaim are back in Tulsa where they belong. The Depot Restaurant is being rebuilt with the enthusiastic involvement of local humans. A new school year has begun, and Zoey’s exchange student program with public schools is really taking off. All is well.

But if all is well, why is Zoey increasingly withdrawn and moody?

Sadly, Stark is sure he knows the answer to that question. Zoey can’t stop thinking about following her brother to the Other World, and Stark isn’t deluding himself about why. Of course she wants to be sure her brother is okay. Of course she wants to help defeat Neferet in yet another world and be sure the balance between Light and Darkness is restored.

But the real reason Z is so drawn to that other House of Night world is because Heath Luck, her childhood sweetheart, is alive in that world—alive and mourning her death.

In Lost, we follow Zoey, Stevie Rae, and Rephaim to an alternative version of the House of Night, where dangers take the form of friends and allies are found in the strangest places. Will Z return to our world and leave Heath to his? And if she does, will Stark forgive her for leaving? Find out in the second part of this exciting new House of Night Other World adventure!

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 224

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 224: Into the House of Night — Interview with P.C. and Kristin Cast appeared first on DIY MFA.