Hey, folks. I’m incredibly late posting about this, but when the first episode went live and for several days after the fact I was in the middle of the woods in Ohio with no internet access (it was bliss). Upon returning they were jackhammering the pavement in our complex non-stop, during which they hit a water main and killed all WiFi/cable, and I had plumbers coming in and out of the house and damaging our drywall and it was not a good couple of days.

Anyway.

I’ve only had the chance to listen to part one of the episode yesterday, and I’ve just now listened to part two. Authors Kameron Hurley and Chuck Wendig made their triumphant return to Ditch Diggers, the writing-as-a-job podcast hosted by me and Campbell Award winning author Mur Lafferty, and it was so epic we had to split it intwine.

Click here to listen to part one.

I made a minor miscalculation before recording this one. You see, the last time Mur and I sat with Hurley and Wendig it was decided it would be a booze episode, and I was openly mocked for not drinking enough. I overcorrected this go around and as a result I was, in a word, drunk. Like, really drunk. It’s shocking how drunk I am.

While it was unprofessional and not something I plan on repeating, I’m pleased to report the episode(s) is actually one of my favorites Mur and I have done, largely owing to the incisiveness, knowledge, and personality of our guest hosts.

In addition to the laughs, we cover a ton of worthy ground ranging from book cover design to writing day jobs and balancing them with creative writing, to the ups and downs of authoring books that sell and then don’t sell and how to deal with and perceive same, to the very relevant and important topic of depression amongst writers. It’s really great stuff, and the kind of discussion/information that makes me proud of this podcast and what we’re doing with it.

Part two just went live today. In this second half of talking with Wendig and Hurley we discuss the challenges of writing/publishing the sequel/second book in a series. We also discuss fear, during which Mur tells a hilarious story about her grandmother and a live turkey (seriously) and Kameron owns us all talking about facing death and what it taught her. Other topics covered include when to turn down contracts/writing jobs and how to conduct yourself on the internet as a writer among others.

It’s a great conclusion to a great two-parter about the writing profession.

Click here to listen to part two.

I want to thank Kameron and Chuck for coming back on the show. They’re two of the best writers in any genre, ultimate professionals, and hardcore ditch diggers. We always learn a lot from them.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the show and plaster it all over you social media-type things.