Drunken Pen Writing Podcast

This is a packed episode! We discuss some tips on submitting to literary journals and our current efforts. Then talk about people's weird obsession with serial killers, the importance of creating a writing gimmick, woke vs anti-woke bs, and why manufactured outrage is hurting the movie and TV industries. 

 

After an unnecessarily long cold open about math, we discuss the novel Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar. We highly recommend it. Five out of five whiskey shots!

Well, it has been a sad week. We had to shut down the Drunken Pen Writing website and are no longer accepting submissions, nor can you read any of our back catalog of work. In today's episode, we discuss what led to this awful outcome and what the future holds for DPW. 

You can follow us on Twitter @drunkpenwriting

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Caleb informs the world of his new status in life. After that, we discuss our current writing projects, what it's like getting stuck in a literary bog, and a bunch of other writing-related topics. 

This episode was recorded before certain events unfolded, but our Halloween Submission period has been canceled and the website is shut down for the time being. 

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After we botched the first take of recording this episode, we decided to go easy on you by ditching the cold open and just reading about some of the most challenging books ever written. 

Check out our work at www.drunkenpenwriting.com

Follow us on Twitter @drunkpenwriting

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Oh, this episode is PACKED full of goodies! We kick things off by discussing literature's evolution (or devolution) and why challenging fiction is necessary for the progression of art.

After all that, we go into the real topic of the day, banned books. We cover two lists. The first list is the top ten books currently banned or being boycotted in the United States. The second list is the top ten banned books of all time. 

We spend most of our time on the first list which deals with many LGBTQ+ and racial issues. Specifically, and why most of these books are banned, is that many of these books on the list cover sexual topics that seem to be aimed at children and teenagers. 

These are tough waters to navigate but we did our best in seeing both sides of the book banning issue. 

You can check out our non-banned work or enter our Halloween Submission Period at www.drunkenpenwriting.com. 

You can follow us on Twitter @drunkpenwriting

On Instagram @drunkenpenwriting

And like us on Facebook @drunkenpenwriting

We discuss our August pick for book of the month, The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. There are many sci-fi shenanigans to cover, but we also cover the book's essential themes: free will, religion, war, and loneliness. 

This was a fun book to read and we highly recommend checking it out.

 

We begin the episode with our opinions on the Freewrite, a distraction-free writing apparatus that is sort of like a keyboard with a Kindle attached. After that, we get into a great discussion on the importance of word choices. 

We use multiple examples from the work of famous authors to show how and why being purposeful with your word choices is so damn important. We offer the simplicity of Jk Rowling's word choices aimed at children, how Stephen King's word choices build unique characters, why Hemingway's work cannot be changed, and we end things by explaining the madness of James Joyce's Ulysses. 

Check out our word choices at www.drunkenpenwriting.com

Follow us on Twitter @drunkpenwriting

On Instagram @drunkenpenwriting

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We start by discussing what a great show The Orville is. After that, we have a good conversation about what really makes a hero in fiction (or real life). We use examples from a bunch of superhero movies and comics, plus some other sources that exemplify what it truly means to be a hero. 

Check out our work at www.drunkpenwriting.com

Follow us on Twitter @drunkpenwriting

On Instagram @drunkenpenwriting

And like us on Facebook @drunkenpenwriting

 

We start by discussing diversity in literary magazines and how the submission process can be unfair to some authors. After that, we talk about a poll we ran which showed that the majority of people (who follow us on Twitter) consider audiobooks to be the same as reading a book.

We break things down further and give our definitive opinions on the matter, factoring in things like visual impairment that doesn't allow one to read in the traditional sense, how one absorbs an audiobook compared to a written book, and how effort plays a role. 

Once we settle that matter, we discuss the age-old question, book or movie? Which is better and why? We give many examples.

Check out our work at www.drunkenpenwriting.com