Shipping & Handling

In this episode we discuss voice, point of view, the seasons of publishing, and answering how we’re doing in “Trump-Adjusted Terms,” and discover that Jen doesn’t know what to call the pluperfect tense (she calls it past-past).   

“Ethan, you weird sweet goober.”  Listen to the episode here.  In this episode of the Shipping & Handling Book Club (#SHBookClub) we talk about Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold. Check out Jo Walton’s discussion of the book, “Quest for Ovaries” on tor.com.  Next up:  Brothers in Arms! 

In this episode, Bridget and Jen speak to a whole crowd of awesome folks at the 2017 Nebula Awards Weekend, held in June in Pittsburgh, PA. “Come eat things with us, because you are also people.” Guests include:  Barry Goldblatt, literary agent Jeffe Kennedy, author of the Twelve Kingdoms series Carrie Ann DiRisio, author & founder of Brooding YA Hero K.M. Szpara, author, “Small Change over Long Periods” Anna Zabo/Ann Kopchik, author, TAKEOVER series Tracy Townsend, author, THE NINE  and JANE YOLEN! Author and SFWA Grandmaster.   

The all-singing, all-dancing, all-questions episode of Shipping & Handling. We discuss sensitivity readers, “write what you know,” revision, pitching novels in “dead” genres, and much, much more.  ANNOUNCMENT 1: We will be doing another query critique episode! Please email your query (your query ONLY) to shippingandhandlingpodcast@gmail.com by Friday, May 19th if you would like it to be considered for the episode.  -we will not be able to critique every query we receive -we will omit personal details like names and titles.  ANNOUNCEMENT 2: More of a request for more information. We had a cool shades anon write in on tumblr and ask a question about past involvement in fandom and its effect on future publication prospects - can you write in to us with more information so we can give better advice? You can email or do another anon ask, whichever works. Thank you!

In this episode we discuss Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold. Mild spoilers about THE RAVEN BOYS by Maggie Stiefvater also contained therein. (I know.)  For next time, we’re reading Ethan of Athos!  You can listen to the episode here. 

Bridget & Jen read THE VOR GAME by Lois McMaster Bujold as part of the Vorkosigan Saga #shbookclub! 

In this episode we discuss the merits and drawbacks of Having A Plan as a writer. Quote of the episode:  Jen: “I wonder what my thing is [that I dislike], besides characters being happy.”

In this episode we discuss social media-ing while anxious, the current political climate, amazing rumors, and That Book Deal. 

Well, some shit’s happened. In this episode, recorded December 5, 2016, Bridget and Jen discuss Recent Events, election-related depression, cheer-up media, and listicles. 

Notes for this episode: We realized midway through recording the regular episode that Bridget’s mic was turned around, so if she sound tinny that’s why.   

In this episode (recorded before the election, ahahah) Bridget and Jen discuss the basics of vetting agents, critique partners, and career moves. 

In this episode, Bridget snd Jen discuss the thinning boundaries between fans and creators, when your ship becomes a hassle, and what to do if you meet an editor out in the wild. We also wrap up our discussion of Maggie Stiefvater's THE RAVEN CYCLE. 

This episode is 90% shrieking “CORDELIA!!!” and 10% feudal nonsense.  TW for abortion, child murder, ableism.  You can listen to the episode here.  The next book in the series is THE WARRIOR’S APPRENTICE! 

SPOILERS FOR THE RAVEN CYCLE FROM 17:57 ONWARD “Magic! History! Fast Cars! Crushing Poverty! Gayness!”  In which Jen and Bridget talk about Maggie Stiefvater’s four-book YA series THE RAVEN CYCLE.   

In this episode we talk to special guest Mika Kasuga, Associate Editor at Random House, about nonfiction, what platform actually means, and more!  Favorite quotes from this episode:  “You can’t make eye contact with a woman, they’ll bite you.”  “The Secret Passageway is a Metaphor!”

In which Bridget and Jen basically just doodle little hearts that say ARAL + CORDELIA 4 EVA 

In which Jen, Bridget, and special guest Connor Goldsmith of Fuse Literary talk Captain America: Civil War, romance novelist pseudonyms, and the Best Vegas Story of All Time. 

In which Bridget & Jen talk about Falling Free, the first (chronological) volume in Lois McMaster Bujold's long-running Vorkosigan saga. Covered in this episode are such topics as how weird it is to have four arms instead of two, the relative radness of a harpsichord in space, and whether or not engineering jokes are funny. 

In this episode, Bridget and Jen ask each other Why Do You Read That? regarding middle grade and romance and are terrified for a good five minutes by a creature that may or may not be coming to attack. 

In this episode Jen recounts magical tales of her travel to the nation’s silliest city, the insanity of RT, and the details of the Shipping & Handling Book Club, plus much more!