Stay ConnectedPage Break is a collection of casual conversations between epic fantasy author Brian McClellan and fellow creative professionals—like two friends sitting down over lunch to discuss career, craft, family, and hobbies. Authorhood is a quiet sort of minor fame where the person behind the words is often obscured by the works they’ve created. Brian aims to use this podcast to find out more about his friends and colleagues.
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Copyright: © Brian McClellan
Hey everyone! Here's your very first Page Break Supplemental - just a quick catchup of everything going on in the Brianverse at the moment.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is intellectual property agent Steve Fisher. Steve began his career in the research department of World News Tonight before becoming an agent and ultimately joining APA where he’s been since 1999. Steve’s specialty is working out deals that bring your favorite existing properties to TV and film.
Steve and Brian talk about his career, the sheer scope of the TV and film industry compared to publishing, and of course the process with which a book becomes a show or film. They dig into the business side of page and screen and talk about rookie mistakes from property holders and the complications with dealing with artistic egos. They even touch on the Powder Mage deal that Steve facilitated for Brian!
Check out Steve's agency, APA.
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is author, comic writer, screenwriter, and blogger Chuck Wendig. Chuck’s early career began as a freelance RPG writer for over a decade before he broke into the novel scene with Blackbirds, Blue Blazes, Shotgun Gravy, and the Heartland Trilogy. He was tapped to write the Aftermath Trilogy to kick off the new canon in Disney’s Star Wars, bridging the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Chuck is also known for his ranting blog, Terribleminds.
Chuck and Brian chat extensively about the internet: the early days, the strange sort of celebrity it spawns, and the way it changes constantly under your feet. They also discuss writing long books and the secrecy behind writing Star Wars. Enjoy Brian's conversation with Chuck Wendig!
Find Chuck on Twitter, Instagram, and his website!
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is graphic designer Lauren Panepinto. Lauren is the creative director and a book designer for Orbit Books, where she has worked on covers for many of your favorite science fiction and fantasy authors including, by happy coincidence, Brian's! She’s also a vice president at Hachette Book Group and has written and lectured extensively about art and graphic design both online and in person at massive conventions, colleges, and art schools.
Lauren and Brian talk extensively about the huge amount of work that goes into creating a book cover, often using the Powder Mage Trilogy and Gods of Blood and Powder as examples. They also talk about how Lauren’s nerdiness got her into design, how the state of diverse representation helps her stay in love with her job, the importance of self-insert, and why cover trends happen. Enjoy Brian's conversation with Lauren Panepinto!
Find Lauren on Twitter and her website.
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is tabletop game designer Chris Birch. Chris is the founder and publisher of Modiphius, a company that creates roleplaying games, board games, and war games in a diverse range of original and licensed properties including Dune, Star Trek, Fallout, Homeworld, Skyrim, Conan, James Bond, and more! Before founding Modiphius, Chris managed bands, tours, and night clubs for the dance music industry and ran a video game fashion label.
Chris and Brian talk about Modiphius; the magnificent backlist of licensed properties they’ve been able to work with, how much sociability and the convention circuit matters to a gaming company, and how fantasy art has changed over the years. They also cover Chris’s past jobs, including how those experiences paved the way for Modiphius and how happy accidents drive both our personal and professional lives. Enjoy Brian's conversation with Chris Birch!
Find Modiphius on Twitter and their website.
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is Youtuber Logan Reese, better known by his online handle Runesmith. Logan gives viewers his comedic take on writing and Dungeons and Dragons on his Runesmith Youtube channel and has a liveplay series called Tall Tales. He also writes and produces supplemental modules for Dungeons and Dragons including the wildly successful Kickstarted “Stibbles’ Code of Companions” and “The Seeker’s Guide to Twisted Taverns.”
Logan and Brian chat about Logan's Youtube channel, creative collaboration, writing for tabletop gaming, the burnout so common amongst weekly creators, and how algorithms and fan demand inevitably steer our professional lives. Enjoy Brian's conversation with Logan Reese!
Find Logan on his Youtube channel or on Twitter, or check out one of his D&D supplements!
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is game designer and fantasy author James L Sutter. James is the co-creator of the Pathfinder and Starfinder roleplaying games, and was the editor and developer for Paizo Publishing for over a decade where he oversaw Dungeon Magazine and the Pathfinder Tales novel line. James wrote for the Paizo world, and has published short stories and essays in a number of venues. He’s also written comics, tabletop gaming material, video games, and most recently sold a young adult romance. Most importantly, and we think key to his whole essence as a creator, James wrote and recorded the music for this podcast!
James and Brian talk about roleplaying games, his love of music, having equity in one’s work as a writer, viewing the industry from both the creative and corporate sides, and the way the world has changed since they were kids and how that affects writing modern young adult books. Enjoy Brian's conversation with James L Sutter!
Find James on his twitter or his website, and check out some of his books.
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is literary agent Caitlin Blasdell. Caitlin began her career editing for Harvard Business School and Harper Collins before making the transition to her current job as a literary agent for Liza Dawson Associates where she has helped nurture and sell such clients as Charles Stross, Rebecca Zanetti, Zen Cho, and numerous others that include Brian himself!
Brian chats with Caitlin about their professional relationship, the ups and downs of the publishing market, an agent’s role where business and creativity meet, and the way their industry has changed over the last decade. Caitlin was also kind enough to answer some of the more standard agent questions, such as what she’s looking for and what kills a query letter. Enjoy Brian's conversation with Caitlin Blasdell!
Find Caitlin's submission guidelines and client list at her agency, Liza Dawson Associates.
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is actor, writer, and comedian Maggie Mae Fish. Maggie is a wildly prolific writer having worked on projects for Cracked.com, College Humor, Screen Junkies, DreamworksTV, Amazon, and more. She also has a popular Youtube channel, Maggie Does Film Analysis. She’s won awards and shout-outs for her work from Sundance Labs, Coverfly, the LA Independent Film Festival, Polygon, and Forbes.
Maggie and Brian talk about the acting ecosystem, generational expectations, film and culture from a woman’s perspective, and the unconscious baggage readers and viewers bring to their entertainment experiences. Enjoy Brian's conversation with Maggie Mae Fish!
Find Maggie on Twitter, Youtube, or her website!
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is fantasy author—and a friend for many years—Robert Jackson Bennett. Robert’s career began back in 2010 with the award-winning Mr. Shivers and the Company Man, followed by The Troupe and American Elsewhere. He then took a turn into epic fantasy with the Divine Cities Trilogy, and is currently two books into the Founders Trilogy which concludes in June 2022 with Locklands.
Robert and Brian talk about his early work in literary fantasy, keeping his day job while navigating his successful writing career, and his interests in technology, climate change, and politics. We also cover the way we use our writing to discover the way we feel about the world, and condensing real-world problems into digestible narratives. Enjoy Brian's conversation with Robert Jackson Bennett!
Find Robert on Twitter, and pick up one of his books from Amazon or your favorite bookstore.
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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