Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards discuss a subset of future-looking fiction they call “Prophetic Fiction”. Drawing on different traditions around prophecy, including religious traditions and the writings of E.M. Forster, they explore different aspects of this kind of writing.
Interview with Marco V Morelli
Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk with Marco Morelli, poet, editor and publisher, about the process of writing poetry and how this process led him to develop a publishing business and take on editorial responsibilities.
Marco V Morelli is the founder of Cosmos Cooperative and Infinite Conversations (infiniteconversations.com) as well as the cofounder and creative director of Metapsychosis Journal. He studied Philosophy and Comparative Literature at Binghamton University, and worked for Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute from 2003 to 2007, co-authoring the book Integral Life Practice, before leaving to follow the pathways of art. He is currently at work on a book of poems titled I AM THE SINGULARITY.
Writing Residencies
Authors Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about the benefits to doing a Writing Residency and present highlights from recent residencies in which they took part, including a residency on the Isle of Crete and another in upstate New York.
Historical Fiction
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards dive into the murky study of historically motivated fiction from their contrasting perspectives, exploring issues of veracity and where there is scope for imagination, subjects that are sometimes neglected while others attract interest. Hope you will join us!
Interview with Thea Boodhoo
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards conduct an interview with writer Thea Boodhoo. Thea (pronounced “tay-ah”) is a science fiction writer based in San Francisco, California. Her short stories ‘Growing Swirling Clouds’ and ‘A Layer Thin As Breath’ can be found at https://tersejournal.com/2019/02/22/g… and https://magazine.metaphorosis.com/sto… and she can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @tharkibo.
Ending Writings
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards finish up the episode on Endings by switching from talking about how to write endings, to how to end writings – often itself a tricky step.
Writing Endings
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about Endings across two related episodes. This first deals with Writing Endings. We talk about several contexts, single book endings or endings of series, stories with more or fewer subplots, and other aspects of handling endings.
Writing About War
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about some of the challenges and issues that arise when one is writing about war and war situations.
Writing About Age
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about some of the different ways that issues of age and aging come into play in writing, with focus on our own diverse ways of dealing with the question.
Special Coronavirus Episode
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about how the worldwide pandemic, as well as being in “lockdown”, that is, confined to our homes, has affected our activities as writers. Maybe our experience will help you deal with your own!
Interview with Karin Murray-Bergquist
Karin Murray-Bergquist is a PhD. candidate in Folklore at Memorial University, Newfoundland. She’s the author of a poem in the upcoming issue of Augur Magazine, and numerous travel essays that can be found at the following links: https://www.travelade.com/iceland/stories/essentials-icelandic-winter-road-trip ; http://arcticjournal.ca/featured/subarctic-lichens/ ; https://thryve.world/everyday-adventures/ransome-notes .
Excerpts from our Writing, Part 3
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards finish reading excerpts from each other’s work in this third instalment of our 19th Episode of “Writing Off The Deep End”. These include a second excerpt from Geoffrey’s novel “Goodness in Small Doses”, and two excerpts from Mary’s novel “The Shell Midden”. Both are works-in-progress, and both are historical novels. “Goodness in Small Doses” deals with a family trying to escape the Nazis in wartime France, while “The Shell Midden” recounts a 19th century voyage of a vessel in the far north, based on historical documents. Enjoy!
Excerpts from our Writing, Part 2
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards continue reading from their work. In this episode, Geoffrey reads two excerpts from one of Mary’s short stories called “The Island Lovers”, which can be found online at Eclectica Magazine : http://www.eclectica.org/v18n3/thaler… This is fantasy. Mary then reads from Geoffrey’s unpublished novel “Goodness in Small Doses”.
Excerpts from our Writings, Part 1
Hosts Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler read from each others’ work as a complement to the other episodes concerned with different aspects of writing. In this first part, Mary is reading from “Plenum : The First Book of Deo”, Geoffrey’s first novel which will be published in March 2021.
Worldbuilding
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about how they undertake diverse worldbuilding activities, not just within SF and fantasy but also in historical and contemporary fiction. The claim is that worldbuilding tasks for SF and fantasy constitute a continuum with research tasks undertaken for any fiction exercise. If you disagree, let us know, by commenting!
Writing and Family
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about the ins and outs of the relationships (some of them!) between writing and family. How does family inform one’s writing? Whose family?
Writing and Religion
Hosts Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler venture off the deep end to talk about religion, faith, spirituality… and writing. Foolhardy, perhaps, but it makes for an interesting discussion.
Writing Poetry
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about the challenges, and benefits of writing poetry, both for its own sake and as a support to other writing efforts.
Dramatic Writing, Part 1 – Writing for Opera
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards explore the process of dramatic writing. In this first of two parts, the focus in on writing for opera.
Short Fiction
Hosts Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler discuss the strengths and weaknesses of writing short fiction.
Writing Characters
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards discuss the process of writing characters. Do you love them or hate them? How do you separate them from yourself as a writer? And other issues as they arise.
Writing Communities
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about drawing on larger communities of writers for various kinds of support, both online and offline.
Writing in a Second Language
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards discuss some of the issues around writing when one lives in a city that speaks a different language than one’s native tongue.
Illustrations and Artwork
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about (and show!) the development of visual story telling ideas in relation to writing fiction. Shown below are the illustrations referred to within the dialogue.
Brulierie St-Denis, Montreal, circle 2350, from The One and Only (G. Edwards) 
Jonah, from Plenum : The First Book of Deo (G. Edwards) 
To the People I Loved … Who didn’t feel that way (M. Thaler) 
To the People I Loved… Who didn’t feel that way (M. Thaler) 
Pet-stitting in Iqaluit (M. Thaler) 
Pet-sitting in Iqaluit (M. Thaler) 
Pet-sitting in Iqaluit (M. Thaler)
Dramatic Writing, Part 2 – Writing for Theatre
Hosts Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards continue their discussion of Dramatic Writing, this time focusing on writing for theatre. This is the second of two parts, the first dealt with writing for opera.
Names and Naming
Mary Thaler and Geoffrey Edwards talk about how they choose names for characters, places and sci-fi concepts, whether they’re writing about the distant past, the present day or the far future.
Writing Practices, Part 2
Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler discuss writing practices — the habits, daily routines and techniques they use to get words down on page.
Writing Practices, Part 1
Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler discuss writing practices — the habits, daily routines and techniques they use to get words down on page.
Writing as Scientists, Part 2
Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler talk about how their careers as scientists—working in fields like astrophysics, geomatics, microbiology, and ocean science—influenced the way they write fiction
Writing as Scientists, Part 1
Writers Geoffrey Edwards and Mary Thaler talk about how their careers as scientists—working in fields like astrophysics, geomatics, microbiology, and ocean science—have influenced the way they write fiction