Joe asks:How has living on a homestead affected your writing life? If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently?

Brad asks: Do you ever collaborate or bounce ideas with other authors? And any advice on writing a screenplay first, then adapting the story into a novel? Down From TenAnd Then She Was Gone

Caine asks: What is a play? Not the mechanics of how documents are formatted or anything like that, but what Plays are, what they aren’t, and why people would write one. www.storybundle.com/steampunk

Roland asks:I want to write short stories to give my readers an extra taste of my characters and side characters, but my mind goes blank trying to come up with a story. I imagine scenes and situations all the time, but they don’t feel very standalone. I also have lots of ideas for long things like novels or novellas, but when it comes to shorts, I come up short, too. Q-in-Law by Peter DavidA View from the Gallery Babylon 5 episodeThe Eugenics Wars by Greg CoxThe Kobayashi Maru by Julia EcklarLone RangerHave Gun will TravelThe Destroyer by Warren Murphy and Richard SapirJohn Carter Edgar Rice BurroughsTarzan of the Apes Edgar Rice BurroughsConan The Barbarian Robert E HowardHadrian’s FlightThe Antithesis Progression Archives The A-TeamMagnum PIAll in the FamilyThe JeffersonsAndy GriffithTales from the Mos Eisley CantinaTales from Jabba’s PalaceThe Han Solo AdventuresThe Lando Calrissian AdventuresLost Days, Last NightsThe Open Source Womanwww.storybundle.com/steampunk

Herb asks: A while back on Twitter you said you give every protagonist a feature you hate and even antagonist one you admire to prevent creating characters who are just your avatar in the story. What is your process for inserting them transparently and selecting the traits? What are some examples from your work? Hadrian’s FlightInsensitivity ReadersRevenge of the SithSuave Rob’s Amazing Ass-Saving AssociationRaiders of the Lost Arkwww.storybundle.com/steampunk

Roland asksI love Star Wars, but in the most narrow way. Episodes IV-VI and a few other things are pretty cool. But, I want new stories, not dozens of prequel movies and series. Why are they afraid to go forward vs living in the Star Wars past? It’s not just Star Wars, either. I see the same thing with Game of Thrones and many popular book series. Why are they so obsessed with filling in the past and giving fans all those empty Easter eggs? Star Wars original trilogyGodfather 2A Subversive Masterpiece: Alien 3 articleAlien/Aliens/Alien 3Alien Vs. PredatorFire and Blood (Game of Thrones prequel)A Knight of the Seven KingdomsDune MessiahChildren of DuneGod Emperor of Dune

Roland asks: A lot of authors say they’re writing a prequel (as a lead magnet) when they haven’t published, or even finished, Book 1 yet. I know what they mean, but if they release ‘the prequel’ first, then isn’t that just Book 1 and not actually a prequel? The HobbitThe Three Theban Plays: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, AntigoneRomeo and Juliet

Roland asks: Indie authors are obsessed with prequels to their Book Ones but I don’t get it. I almost never want to know MORE about what happened before Book 1. Why have prequels become such a thing these days? Star Wars Prequel TrilogyStar Trek VJob (the Bible)Clash of the Titans (1981)The Story of King JosiahThe Hobbit and Lord of the RingsDuneThe Complete HP LovecraftThe Homeric HymnsStar Trek The Original SeriesThe Nitpicker’s Guide For Classic Trekkers by Phil Farrand

Listener Ian has a progress report on doing the Bradbury Challenge for NanoWriMo

Jim asks:Previously I mentioned I had a character who was 10 years old in a first book in a series. I had used him as a reader proxy, who gets into a little trouble but isn’t really a protagonist. How do I take a character who is now 15, grow him beyond proxy and make him interesting enough to turn pages, but not so interesting that he’s trying to drive an adult book with adult-sized life-or-death stakes? Hadrian’s FlightBetween PlanetsThe Secrets of the Heinlein Juvenile