Episode Archives

In The Act Of Falling | Danielle Mclaughlin | Literary Roadhouse Ep 55

Next week’s story is The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

Rated: Adult themes, but does not contain explicit language

This week we discuss In The Act Of Falling, a short story about a family’s emotional struggles after the financial collapse in Ireland. This story lends itself to deep analysis of the characters and themes. Both Anais and Maya enjoyed the symbolism woven throughout the work. We also considered the emotional issues of the son, and debated questions still left unsolved at the end of the story. We found this story well controlled and artfully crafted. How did you answer for yourself the story’s questions that were never answered?

Don’t forget to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” On a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate In The Act Of Falling? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Structural Problems and Stories in Gaming The Bradbury Challenge Ep 8

Pardon the sound issues, we are working on it. This week Maya and Gerald discuss structural problems with their stories. Crissy was sick after catching conference crud, but still managed to start a story. She is a huge gamer and it was interesting to hear her discuss stories in gaming. Then we each read part of our stories. I gotta say, we are loving this new addition to the show. Enjoy!

This Weeks Writing Prompt:

A blinking white light in the dark…

Three Questions | Leo Tolstoy | Literary Roadhouse Ep 54

Three Questions

Next week’s story is In The Act Of Falling by Danielle Mclaughlin

Rated Clean

Maya couldn’t join the podcast for this episode. Anais, Gerald, and Rammy dug into this story without the Tolstoy fan girl, and discovered divergent opinions. Three Questions surprised Anais and Gerald by being a short parable, which is not what one expects of Tolstoy. for this reason, the story left them wanting more. Meanwhile, Rammy was happy as a clam with this morality tale. And while this short story received mixed reviews from our hosts, nonetheless the themes and lessons are timeless and well received. How would you have answered the three questions?

During the discussion, we also debate the merits of children’s morality tales versus adult morality tales. Let us know your thoughts on what makes for adults themes versus children’s themes. We’re curious to hear your opinion in the comment section below.

Don’t forget to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” On a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate Three Questions? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Overcoming Writer’s Block The Bradbury Challenge Ep 7

Crissy is at a convention and records from her hotel this week. It sounds like a ton of fun but we’re all jealous of her hotel breakfast. Maya had writer’s block and drilling down a story to it’s most basic elements allowed her to overcome her lack of story. Gerald talks about another exercise he used to help a friend break writers block. We also tested a new segment that listener DarkenedMoor suggested. It was a great suggestion! If you have any comments or ideas for the show, we’d love to hear them.

This Weeks Writing Prompt:

Take three pieces of paper and make a numbered list 1-5. One the first sheet, list 5 characters/archetypes with no more than 5 words each. On the second sheet, list 2 strong desires you have and 3 strong desires people who aren’t like you have. On the third paper, list 5 random obstacles that could block a desire. As you make each list, do not consider the other lists. Then using dice or This Random Integer Generator select three random numbers 1-5. Use those numbers to select a character, a desire and an obstacle for your story.

Thank You Ma’am | Langston Hughes | Literary Roadhouse Ep 53

Thank You Ma’am

Next week’s story is Three Questions by Leo Tolstoy

Rated Clean

This week we discuss a lovely story by Langston Hughes about a teenager whose attempts at robbery are defeated by the kind woman who was to be his victim. This simple, clean story of compassion won us over. However, through discussion we discovered it lacked some of the layers we’ve seen in other pieces. Still, simplicity could work in the story’s favor. It worked for some hosts, and less so for others. Listen to hear a discussion on when less is more.

Also, the story led to a timely discussion about how children are treated differently in modern culture, and what we as a society may have lost. Additionally, the racial themes in the text also reflect current times, and our hosts explore them in the conversation.

Share with us your thoughts.

Don’t forget to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” On a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate Thank You Ma’am? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Researching Our Stories The Bradbury Challenge Ep 6

Rated Explicit for Language

Wew, finally, here is this weeks episode!

Maya, Gerald and Crissy discussed researching our stories and different types of research. While research is important, it can easily be a procrastination minefield. We have enormous resources available through the internet, but is remote research enough to portray the experience of a location? What other types of research do we find helpful? Crissy’s research as a fantasy writer uses all the knowledge she’s accumulated over many subjects. While Maya worries about cultural and real world locations.

This Weeks Writing Prompt:

Snow Walking

It’s Our Anniversary!!! Come Join the Party Sun Feb 7 at 12PM PST

 

Blab is a social video conferencing app that works on iPhone or desktop. It allows up to four people to talk on live streamed video with a great chat system for listeners to get together or ask questions. But the best part is that you can request to join the video if you have headphones and an iPhone or computer with webcam. We used blab for our 1 year anniversary party and Got to talk to a random guest and… Gabriel, maya’s ex boyfriend from the late 90’s about all things art, literature, film and wine.

To be alerted to the next Live Blab follow us at Blab.im/literaryroadhouse

A Discussion of Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff Literary Roadhouse Bookclub Ep 2

Rated Explicit for Adult Themes and Language

Author Roz MorrisThis month Roz Morris joins us as guest co-host. She is a ghost writer, writing teacher and author of My Memories of a Future Life and Lifeform Three. She was a wonderful addition to this weeks discussion lending her experience as a writing teacher and all around well-read person to deepen our analysis of Fates and Furies. To find more information about her, please visit her website.

While Anais, Gerald and Maya enjoyed the novel, both Maya and Roz had issues with some parts of this much talked about piece. We discuss our differences, ideas, the language and structure in depth so do not listen if you want to avoid spoilers.

Yay! The Literary Roadhouse Bookclub is here and this month we discussed Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. It led to quite the debate and I can’t wait for the next book. For the next month’s episode we will discuss Inheritance: A Novel by Lan Samantha Chang.

If you have any suggestions for the new bookclub please let us know in the comments. We also have a voicemail system on the website; if you would like to leave a voicemail and perhaps have us play your comments about Inheritance, please click the green bar that says voicemail. We air the first Friday of every month and discuss the books on twitter using #LRHBookclub

 

Discussing Escape From Spiderhead | George Saunders | Literary Roadhouse Ep 52

Next week’s story is Thank You Ma’am by Langston Hughes

Rated PG-13 for Adult Themes

Tamara WoodsThis week Tamara Woods joins us as a guest co-host. She is new to the Literary Roadhouse family and will be the host of an upcoming show. You can find out more about Tamara, her poetry and the Reverie Journal at tamarawoodsauthor.com

Escape from Spiderhead is a story about a many who is part of clinical drug trials as part of his imprisonment. As we analyze the story, we discussed questions of consent, murder, and the definition of love. Maya, Anais and Gerald all loved the story, but both Tamara and Rammy had issues being sucked into the story, or with George Saunders use of languag. Rammy found it a bit explicit for his taste.

Don’t forget to rate the story! For the history of our goofy system, see Anais’ post “Read Short Stories or Ray Bradbury Cries.” On a scale of 1-6 Bradberries, how do you rate Escape from Spiderhead? Tell us in the comments below or via voicemail, and we will give the final tally on the next episode.

Getting Out of Your Usual Environment Bradbury Challenge Ep 5

Rated PG-13 for comparing public brainstorming to having a sex tape

This week both Gerald and Maya experienced breakthroughs in their writing. Maya is happy with her words for the first time this year and Gerald had a flood of enjoyment. Going on a walk with a recorder helped Maya better understand her story from last week. They also discuss different ideas to get connected with their projects.

Mentioned in the Episode:

Ask Us Anything with R. L. Stine

Fates and Furies

This Weeks Writing Prompt:

If you go scuba diving deep into the ocean where all the corals and the fish are swimming around you, and you find something amazing and out of the ordinary down there… what is it?