We open today's episode with some life stuff and book talk. After that, we have a detailed discussion about narrative voice. What is it? How do you use it? Why does it matter? We answer all these questions and more in this first part of a two-part conversation. You can follow us @dpwpodcast on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can check out Cal…

We kick off today's episode with tales of woe from being a writer. After that, we discuss a list of the worst Marvel comic books ever. Incredibly, people got paid to make some of these! You can follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's stuff at www.calebjamesk.com.…

For May's Book of the Month, we're discussing John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning absurdist classic, A Confederacy of Dunces. You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.Von Drunken Pen Writing

We open today's episode with some great publishing news about Spencer. After that, we discuss a list detailing the best ways to write crime fiction. Here's a hint: the list isn't great! You can follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.…

We open today's episode with news about our good friend Nicolás Obregón and his newest novel, The Sugar Man. After that, we sit back and discuss the greatest writers in history and where they fall on our tier list as storytellers. Believe it or not, some of the best writers are actually terrible at telling stories. You might be surprised by who top…

Today, we are diving back in and discussing a second Q&A email we received from the editor of Story Magazine. We learn more about the story publishing process used by major literary magazines and your chances of acceptance. You can follow us @dpwpodcast on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.…

We start today's episode with some excellent publication news, and then quickly digress into a best storyteller tier list. After that, we attempt to finish discussing a list of the top 51 amazing lines of prose. Here's a bit of a spoiler, most of the lines are neither amazing nor worthy of being on such a list. Our disgruntled rebuttals are peppere…

We kick off today's episode with some excellent publishing news! After that, we discuss some of the "greatest" lines of prose. Despite the title of this episode, we do not take things seriously at all. You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.…

We begin today's episode with some publication updates. After that, we read a list of what are supposedly considered the best lines in fiction. Unsatisfied with said lines, we go ahead and read some of our favorite lines from our own stories. You can follow us @dpwpodcast on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You can check out Caleb's work at www.ca…

We open today's episode with some decent writing updates. After that, we discuss an absolutely awful list of the "most awful authors" of all time. Do not expect a serious conversation from this one! Follow us @dpwpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.…

We begin today's episode with some "what if" talk regarding famous writers. For instance, what if Robert E. Howard lived for another 30 or 40 years? How much would his writing style have evolved? What if Stephen King stopped writing in the 1980s? You get the idea. After that, we cover some defunct (dead) book genres. We discuss whether the mentione…

Caleb starts today's episode with some trouble he's having reading Ulysses by James Joyce. After that, we sit back, relax, and discuss the numerous obstacles we've encountered from editors when reviewing the edits for our works set for publication. You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at w…

We begin today's episode with a quick review of "The Monkey, " adapted from the Stephen King short story of the same name. After that, we go into a deep and nuanced discussion about reading the works of authors who have done terrible things in their personal lives. The main culprit we discuss is Neil Gaiman who has recently come under fire for alle…

We kick things off with a rant about people who boycott art they were never going to purchase in the first place—especially the jerks who try to cancel books even though they don't read. After that, we settle into a fun discussion about writing good dialogue. This begins with David Foster Wallace's opinion on Stephen King's method for writing dialo…

Caleb opens today's episode with a mini (sarcastic) review of "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner. After that, we discuss our Book of the Month, "Native Son" by Richard Wright. We cover the topics of racism, social injustice, class status, and poverty. You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work…

We have an extra-long cold open as we discuss some good, bad, and worse news. But that's not what takes so long. Caleb dives into his recent read of Crime and Punishment and shares what he took away from the book. After that, we discuss the supposed downfall of contemporary fiction and the belief that nearly all modern writing is terrible (not our …

In today's cold open, we discuss the AI tool for plot development on Microsoft Word. Things get a bit heated! After that, we discuss Lester Dent's formula for writing easy-to-sell pulp stories. Things don't go quite as planned, but we do our best to relay the information provided. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast Yo…

We start with an extra "cold" cold open as Caleb talks about his recent illness and working in frigid temperatures. After that, we read an AMA from the Editor-In-Chief of Story Magazine and learn about their submission reading practices. We discuss how different publications handle submissions, what we think is fair, and what is absolute garbage. O…

In today's special Storycast episode, we read The Crimson Tower from L. Stephenson's upcoming short story collection, When Strange Things Bite. A mythical monster stalks a farming community -- A titan from the stars brings destruction to a small costal town -- A centuries old curse takes hold of a family -- A sea creature hunts a young group of tre…

We kick things off with some writing and submission news. After that, we discuss a controversial topic in the reading community. We also figure out a fun way to make Goodreads reviews more legitimate. Here's a hint, it deals with users getting assigned a difficulty score based on the books they read. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Inst…

We spent New Year's Eve getting drunk and talking about the greatest 50 WWE wrestlers of all time. There's also some brief literary talk. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.Von Drunken Pen Writing

Caleb starts the episode by announcing his new favorite book. After that, we talk about how 2024 treated us regarding our writing and what publications we got. We end by discussing our writing goals for 2025. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.…

Caleb opens the show with some writing woes. After that, we discuss all the books we've read in 2024, including our biggest disappointments and best reads of the year. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.Von Drunken Pen Writing

We open things off with some good publishing news! After that, we settle in for a discussion about some unexpected problems authors might encounter after getting their work accepted for publication. We also talk about getting paid as a writer and when you should stop submitting to publishers that don't pay for your work. You can follow us on Twitte…

Caleb opens things up with a follow-up to an issue from last week's episode. After that, we discuss a list of Christmas horror books. But we do a terrible job! You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's publication history at www.calebjamesk.com.Von Drunken Pen Writing

We begin the episode by discussing Cormac McCarthy and a specific scene in his novel Suttree that depicts a young man fornicating with watermelons. After that, we have a much longer discussion about offending publishers and your audience. We start with what big comic book creators and movie studios have been doing wrong by alienating their core aud…

We kick off the episode with some publishing news, a quick discussion about putting your previously published stories into your own collection, and what changes we think are acceptable from a publisher's editors. The actual episode begins around the 17:36 mark for those who want to jump straight to our review of Violent Advents: A Christmas Horror …

We open the episode with some publishing talk. After that, a very ill Caleb does his best to talk about conspiracy novels. Things do not go well. Follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast Check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.Von Drunken Pen Writing

We start the episode with some BAD publishing news with a good outcome. At least for us. After that, we attempt to discuss 20 of the best detective crime stories according to the good people at Forbes. Our train seems to have a bad track though, and we go off the rails every 30 seconds. Despite this, we have a great time. Also, make sure to get che…

We kick things off with some controversial Edgar Allan Poe news. Did he steal The Raven from another writer!? After that, we discuss some potentially bad publishing news, a newly found Bram Stoker book, and Caleb ends the episode by reading a scene from his story "Dead Men Don't Scream" which will be featured in Beautiful Darkness 3: A Dragon Soul …

We discuss "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson. We review the book by breaking down the characters and their motivations, the feminist themes throughout, and what we took away from the story. You can follow us on X, Facebook, and Instagram @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.…

After an exhausting recording gauntlet, we do a terrible job of reviewing Basketful of Heads by Joe Hill. We constantly interrupt ourselves with giggly nonsense, but we had a great time, which is all that really matters! You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.…

We open the episode with more great publishing news—a trend we hope never ends! After that, we get into the episode proper with a review of L. Stephenson's new horror novella, The Boy at No. 9 Whitlock. At first it was bad parents, bullies, and budding romances. But the tragic life of young Matthew Rose is about to get much worse...because the boy …

We were so eager to record this episode that we forgot to do a cold open and the introduction! What we did record is an entertaining discussion of Edgar Allan Poe's masterpiece, The Raven. While we break down the poem in style and structure, we also discuss how it came to be, its influences, the life of Poe after writing The Raven, and some writers…

We discuss a list featuring the best horror authors of all time. Some we know very well, some we've never heard of. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and X @dpwpodcast Check out Caleb's work at www.calebjamesk.com.Von Drunken Pen Writing

After getting our hands on an early copy of Born of Bloodshed by A.D. Jones, we give our honest review of this fun, gory novella just in time for the spooky season. Born of Bloodshed: Nothing exciting ever happens in the border towns of Scotland, and the village of Newcastleton, with a population in the hundreds, is no exception to the rule. That i…

For a slight change of pace, Spencer is the one who opens the episode with some good publishing news! After that, we settle down and read some of the greatest Halloween-time poems. Of course, this leads to instant nonsense things continuously go off the rails. You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's wor…

We kick things off with even more great publishing news! After that, we attempt to cover a list of great Halloween books. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your view, we succumb to an intense giggle fest and aren't able to take things seriously. You can follow us on X, Instagram, and Facebook @dpwpodcast You can check out Caleb's work at w…

We open the episode with more good publishing news! After that, we discuss the greatest "satirical" novels of all time. However, there is some contention on what constitutes satire. Make sure you stick around to the end because we play something especially odd and stupid for your listening pleasure. You can follow us on Instagram, X, and Facebook @…

In our final installment discussing Manga Stories Vol 1, we cover Haruki Murakami's short story and manga adaptation, The Seventh Man."Von Drunken Pen Writing

Caleb opens the episode with his biggest publishing news to date! After that, we discuss our big plans for October, including reading a novel, short story, poem, and graphic novel throughout the month. We also decide to do a special Halloween episode that'll include an excerpt from one of Caleb's newest stories. You can follow us on X, Instagram, a…

We discuss the short story and manga adaptation of Birthday Girl by Haruki Murakami.Von Drunken Pen Writing

Caleb opens the episode with some more exciting publishing news! After that, we discuss some of the costs associated with writing. We first dive into the publishing world and what you can expect to get paid for your work. Then we talk about what struggles indie authors face when putting out their own work. A lot of which revolves around hiring othe…

We discuss Where I'm Likely to Find It by Haruki Murakami, featured in Manga Stories Volume 1 and the prose version in The New Yorker.Von Drunken Pen Writing

Caleb opens the episode with some super exciting publishing news! After that, we discuss speculative poetry, a topic we're both woefully ignorant about. We talk about the various forms of speculative poetry, how they differ from traditional poetry, and how absolutely awesome genres like sword and sorcery poetry are. For a bonus, we read many exampl…

We discuss two versions of Haruki Murakami's short story, Super Frog Saves Tokyo. We compare Murakami's original story to the manga adaptation in Manga Stories Volume 1.Von Drunken Pen Writing

We open the episode with a bit of housekeeping. After that, we have a fun discussion about cliches and better writing methods. Things go askew fairly quickly but we cover a lot of useful information. To add an element of pure chaos to things, we end the episode by changing some common cliches to much dumber versions. You can follow us on X, Instagr…

We are back with A Murakami Minute! This time, we are covering Haruki Murakami's Manga Stories Volume 1. In this first volume, Jc Deveney has adapted four of Murakami's stories into a manga collection with art by PMGL Pierre-Marie Grille-Liou. The four stories in this collection are: Super-Frog Saves Tokyo: A few days after an earthquake, Katagiri …

Spencer starts the episode with a grievance against a certain group of people urinating into his breakfast cereal of choice. After that, we have an interesting conversation about lyrical prose. Specifically, what constitutes lyrical prose, how to write it well, and how to realize that you've gone beyond lyrical prose into the dirty category of purp…

We open the episode with a few reviews and some possibly upsetting Neil Gaiman news. After that, we have a fun discussion about the novel NSFW by previous DPW guest David Scott Hay. We talk about the themes of the book and how they reflect our current world, why experimental fiction might not work for all readers, and the dark road our society migh…