Prose and Cons

Alex sits down with established and prolific Australian writer Catherine Jinks and discusses all things writing: how she got started in her career, what the traditional book market looks like today, …

One month, 50,000 words, and half a million people worldwide - NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is one of the very best ways to jumpstart your writing project. But 50,000 words can be a might…

Welcome all! Step up if you dare, to a very spOoooOOky episode of Prose and Cons. Follow Phoenix, Paddy, and Alex through the deep woods, the darkness of homes left to themselves, and some off-puttin…

What do Titanic, Princess Mononoke and The Matrix have in common? They're all great examples of "thematic conflict". But what is thematic conflict? Why is it so important? And how can we use this oft…

Today Phoenix, Ally and Paddy get together to discuss the big cyborg elephant in the room: AI. What does it mean for the future of writers and editors? What is Amazon doing to combat the flood of AI …

Head hopping, third-person dissonance, jarring changes in perspective? Join Phoenix, Alex, and James as they narrate the world of … well … narration. Third person, third-person tight, even second per…

Witch of Words, Doula of Dialogue, Alchemist of Artistic Expression: Shelley Robinson helps authors find their creativity and overcome their emotional hurdles. Join us as we interview this great sage…

In this episode, Paddy, Alex and Matan discuss the merits of writing groups, why you need them, what the etiquette is and what to do if you find yourself stuck in a dud one!
Having started from a pure…

H.P. Lovecraft has, in recent decades, become a large part of the modern zeitgeist. From references across a multitude of popular media to tabletop roleplaying games, most are well and truly familiar…

Imposter syndrome: the feeling that, no matter how good you seem to be, deep down you know you're a fake. And worse - that sooner or later, people are going to find out.
It's all too common, and even …

Yeah, look, we’re not going to beat around the bush, The Book of Boba Fett was not great. But, as they say, another person’s failed attempt at representing a well-known IP is another writer’s treasur…

But what about when the narrator isn't giving the full story? When about when you can't trust them at all? And where's the line between unreliable narrator and ineffectual storyteller?

In this episode…

We've got a MONSTER of an episode for you today ... I'm truly sorry about that. But it's true! Matan, Paddy, James  and Alex discuss monsters in all their incarnations and ask some questions:

•  How do …

The episode so nice we did it twice! Sorta. As James and Paddy couldn't make our Barbenheimer episode extravaganza, we're releasing their own micro-episode just on Christopher Nolan's new film Oppenh…

What is Lord of the Rings without Middle Earth? What is Star Trek without the Final Frontier? To some settings, the right setting can be absolutely crucial; and to others, next to irrelevant. So when…

Who could imagine something so explosive, something that could impact the world so much, such as . . . Barbenheimer! That’s right. This week on Prose and Cons, Phoenix (who was very sleepy for this o…

On this special, extended episode of Prose and Cons, Phoenix talks with C.M. Kosemen, the author of All Tomorrows and co-author of All Yesterdays (as well as an all-around impressive artist). From ev…

From sweet childhood memories to the mildly traumatic literary moments, in this episode of Prose and Cons, Alex, Ally, and Phoenix explore yesteryear and all those glorious, early literary influences…

Hello Listeners! Today we managed to snag ourselves another delightful interviewee. Our very own Matan Elul grabbed none other than Galatea Sensation Herself, Sapir Englard, for a talk about publishi…

Break time!

Put down the tome you’ve been reading to research global wind patterns and take a break—there’s plenty of space around this proverbial water cooler here. This week, Paddy, Alex, and James …