"Genre is a marketing tool, just like a book cover." - Mur Lafferty In this episode of Ditch Diggers, Mur and Ursula rant about genre expectations, marketing, and what happens when you decide that genre isn't for you because you're special. Ursula lists her whales, and Imposter Syndrome doesn't really make a showing when Mur travels. Highlights: - (05:12) Ursula's anxiety over multiple deadlines and projects - (12:45) Mur's recent business trip and the absence of imposter syndrome - (25:30) The ...
Jun 09, 2025•44 min•Season 11Ep. 6
"If you want this to be your thing, you got to keep doing the thing." - Ursula Vernon In this episode of Ditch Diggers, Mur and Ursula dive into the chaotic world of writing, sharing their latest projects, travel plans, and ask you if that thing you wanted to say actually is the thing you want to say online. They discuss the SNAFU of the WorldCon AI controversy, the ethical considerations surrounding generative technologies, and whether it matters if the dog dies or not. Highlights: (01:15) Welc...
Jun 05, 2025•49 min•Season 11Ep. 5
"The best way to survive is to turn everything into hilarity." - Ursula Vernon In this episode we dive into the chaotic world of writing, marketing, and the ups and downs of self-publishing. Mur shares her recent trip to Maryland for Independent Bookstore Day, and Ursula catches us up on Swordheart's launch. Self promotion is hard, ya'll. Highlights: (05:12) Mur's experience running a solo RPG at an independent bookstore (12:45) Ursula's updates on Swordheart and her UK marketing team (25:30) Th...
May 26, 2025•36 min
"If you can tolerate the boring and lonely, then hopefully you'll be rewarded on the other side." - Ursula Vernon In this episode of Ditch Diggers, Mur and Ursula navigate the chaotic world of freelancing, taxes, and the ups and downs of being a writer. They discuss the recent Hugo nominations (two for Ursula, one for Mur!), share insights into their creative processes, and delve into the challenges of working with agents. Chapters: (03:29) Congratulations to Hugo Finalists! (04:06) Several peop...
Apr 28, 2025•55 min•Season 11Ep. 3
"Sometimes the best way to survive is to turn everything into hilarity." - Ursula Vernon Transcript S.11 Ep.2 In this episode of Ditch Diggers, join hosts Mur and Ursula as they navigate the chaotic world of freelancing, taxes, and the ups and downs of being a writer. They discuss the recent Hugo nominations, share insights into their creative processes, and delve into the challenges of working with agents. Highlights include: (05:32) Ursula has too many author copies. She's written nearly 50 bo...
Apr 21, 2025•41 min•Season 11Ep. 2
"Try to make the world a better place. You personally are not on the hook to fix everything." - Ursula Vernon (This post went live for supporters on January 17, 2025 . If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack !) Transcript S.11 Ep.1 Welcome to Season 11 of Ditch Diggers with Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon! We try to be positive and funny in this episode, but stuff happens. We cover the Neil Gaiman controversy, touch on Ursula's move, and what ou...
Jan 22, 2025•48 min•Season 11Ep. 1
"Editing is where you leave the craft behind and start thinking like a business." - Mur Lafferty "I am the person with the hat." - Ursula Vernon Transcript (This post went live for supporters on January 13, 2025 . If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack !) In this final episode of season six of Ditch Diggers, Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon dive deep into the world of editing. From the trials and tribulations of editing passes to the nuances of ...
Jan 15, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 10Ep. 6
"Sometimes you just need to chase the inspiration, even if it means working on a project nobody asked for." - Ursula Transcript (This post went live for supporters on October 4, 2024. If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack!) In this episode, Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon tackle the complexities of burnout, the writing hustle, and the latest controversies in the literary world. Ursula shares her battle with mortgage woes, while Mur discusses t...
Oct 08, 2024•45 min•Season 10Ep. 5
"Networking is just meeting people and having them remember you exist." - Ursula Vernon Transcript (This post went live for supporters on October 2, 2024 . If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack !) In this episode of Ditch Diggers, Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon return from their adventures in Scotland and dive into the art of networking. They explore the nuances of making connections in the writing world, share tales from Worldcon, and discus...
Oct 04, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 10Ep. 4
"If you, you know, give ten writers an idea, you get eleven different books." - Ursula Transcript (This post went live for supporters on July 30, 2024 . If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack !) In this episode of Ditch Diggers, Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon dive into the gritty realities of the writing world. From the anxiety of upcoming surgeries to the chaos of travel and illness, they share their personal and professional struggles. The e...
Jul 31, 2024•44 min•Season 10Ep. 3
"Being on BookTok will not give you a career if you don't have one. Do what makes you happy." - Ursula Transcript (This post went live for supporters on July 3, 2024 . If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack !) In this episode, Mur Lafferty and Ursula Vernon dive into the realities of book tours, the financial intricacies of publishing, and the ever-changing landscape of social media for authors. Ursula shares a retraction about the profitabili...
Jul 05, 2024•38 min•Season 10Ep. 2
"If you want to make money, you have to think about it like a job." - Mur Transcript (This post went live for supporters on June 26, 2024 . If you want early, ad-free, and sometimes expanded episodes, support at Patreon or Substack !) Welcome back to Ditch Diggers! In this episode, we kick things off with a fresh start and a new co-host. The mighty Mur Lafferty is joined by the fabulous Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher) as they dive into the nitty-gritty of the writing business. Ursula shares he...
Jun 28, 2024•56 min•Season 10Ep. 1
This was recorded back in July, but time and things and travel got away with me. Actually what happened was the fact that I can't spread podcast production across more than one day. If I do, I will forget it needs to be finished. It's not great spending 4+ hours to produce and upload 2 shows, but if I don't, one will fall by the wayside. ADHD brain for the win. We will be back in september, hopefully with lots of amazing ditch digging. August 10, 2023 | Season 9 Ep 9 | murverse.com Copyright 202...
Sep 05, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 9Ep. 9
Streamed live , July 10, 2023 Below are some affiliate links that support indie bookstores and may benefit me financially with no cost to you. S9 Ep8 Horny chaotic god energy is what we're all about in today's Ditch Diggers, "Data Wonking with Podmother Gail Carriger" where Gail joins us to talk about sifting through data in self publishing. It is some heady stuff, and we discuss tying your self worth to "bad" data and more! Gail Carriger: 30:30 (ish): My sense of failure will kick in when a rea...
Jul 20, 2023•59 min•Season 9Ep. 8
S9 Ep7 Recorded live on Twitch ! Mur's agent Seth Fishman joins us to take your questions, and we fill up an hour FAST. Full transcript available! Seth Fishman: ...the industry is right now, where editors are just, they just have, they're just too busy. There's just not enough people working in publishing. So it's harder for agents to do to sell books is really what we're saying. There's a number of times that were like, were you passing because of this, you don't want to put that like, work int...
Jun 26, 2023•53 min•Season 9Ep. 7
Streamed live , June 13, 2023 Below are some affiliate links that support indie bookstores and may benefit me financially with no cost to you. S9 Ep6 It's our 1001st episode (not really) and Matt is here to launch the final book in the Savage Rebellion trilogy, and it's a very honest episode. Serious Ditch Digging here, y'all. He doesn't hold back. It's publishing, warts and all. Links to Savage Crowns and other books below! Full transcript available! Matt Wallace: I was like, what if I did 'the...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 9Ep. 6
Matt and Mur welcome Premee Mohamed , multiple award winning author of No One Will Come Back for Us . We talk about chickens, sea cucumbers, conventions and anxiety, and there's a hair flip in there, but you can only see it if you get the video on Patreon. Links Premee Mohamed Matt's site Mur on Focusmate ! Mur on Twitter , Instagram , Youtube Newsletter, The Hot Mic Support via Patreon ! Theme song by Devo Spice May 15, 2023 | Season 9 Ep 5 | murverse.com | Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty and Matt...
May 22, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 9Ep. 5
Streamed live , April 3, 2023 S9 Ep4 Matt and Mur welcome Fonda Lee , multiple award winning author of Untethered Sky . Fonda talks Patreon , starting something new after a very successful series, and more! Links Fonda Lee Matt's site Mur on Focusmate ! Mur on Twitter , Instagram , Youtube Newsletter, The Hot Mic Support via Patreon ! Theme song by Devo Spice April 3, 2023 | Season 9 Ep 4 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License...
Apr 11, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 9Ep. 4
S9 Ep3 Matt and Mur welcome Mary Robinette Kowal , podcaster, puppeteer, former SFWA president, audiobook narrator, and Hugo Award winning writer. Mary Robinette has had blog posts helping out debut authors, so we decided to pick her brain for a few more pieces of advice, from how to run a kaffeklatch to how to write something cute into your book that isn't insufferable. Links Mary Robinette Kowal Writing Excuses Matt's site Mur on Focusmate ! Mur on Twitter , Instagram , Youtube Newsletter, The...
Mar 23, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 9Ep. 3
Streamed live , February 27, 2022 S.9 Ep.2 I'm joined at the last minute by Valerie Valdes, my co-editor at Escape Pod! We talk about the whole AI thing and look to shed some light on the current kerfuffle. Links Valerie Valdes Fault Tolerance Escape Pod Matt's site Mur on Focusmate ! Mur on Twitter , Instagram , Youtube Newsletter, The Hot Mic Support via Patreon ! Theme song by Devo Spice February 27, 2023 | Season 9 Ep 2 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace | CC BY-NC-...
Mar 07, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 9Ep. 2
S9 Ep1 Streamed live , February 6, 2022 - next livestream is Feb 27, 2023 How do we, the little guys, handle things like strikes and other uncomfortable news? HarperCollins strike news Tom Monteleone news from File 770 " Missing Stair " concept Links Matt's site Mur on Focusmate ! Mur on Twitter , Instagram , Youtube Newsletter, The Hot Mic Support via Patreon ! Theme song by Devo Spice February 6, 2023 | Season 9 Ep 1 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace | CC BY-NC-ND 4....
Feb 16, 2023•49 min•Season 9Ep. 1
S8 Ep22 Streamed live , December 12, 2022 Matt joins us to close down the year and send seasonal greetings! Links Mur on Focusmate ! Mur on Twitter , Instagram , Youtube Newsletter, The Hot Mic Support via Patreon ! John Anealio on Bandcamp I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books! Support Local Book Stores! Station Eternity (The Midsolar ...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Season 8Ep. 22
Yep, I'm still behind in posting the final episodes for 2022! Here you go! S8 Ep21 Streamed live , December 5, 2022 Matt can't make this episode, so Mur handles it herself! Links Mur on Focusmate ! Mur on Twitter , Instagram , Youtube Newsletter, The Hot Mic Support via Patreon ! John Anealio on Bandcamp I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf ...
Jan 31, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 8Ep. 21
Streamed live , October 24, 2022. I was thrilled to have Veronica Roth of Divergent and Chosen Ones fame to come talk about her new book, Poster Girl , and what the business has taught her in her career! Links Mur on Focusmate ! Mur on Twitter , Instagram , Youtube Newsletter, The Hot Mic Support via Patreon ! John Anealio on Bandcamp I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from...
Oct 28, 2022•45 min•Season 8Ep. 20
Matt had a family emergency so Ursula stepped in to talk about the gross topic of grooming, and whether any one person has the power to make or break your career. Links Mur on Focusmate ! Mur on Twitter , Instagram , Youtube Newsletter, The Hot Mic Support via Patreon ! John Anealio on Bandcamp I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books! ...
Oct 17, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 8Ep. 19
Station Eternity is out! Cherie Priest and Chuck Wendig come on the show to celebrate with me! Links Mur on Focusmate ! Mur on Twitter , Instagram , Youtube Newsletter, The Hot Mic Support via Patreon ! John Anealio on Bandcamp I Should Be Writing tea blends Support local book stores! Station Eternity, Six Wakes, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition and more! OR Get signed books from my friendly local store, Flyleaf Books! Twitch schedule Oct. 17-Oct 21 (Eastern time): M 12:00p,: Ditch Digg...
Oct 14, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 8Ep. 18
Streamed live , September 26, 2022. Mur has a book coming out! And it's hard to think about anything else. Matt's taking a well-earned break from writing novels. Links Preorder Station Eternity! Mur on Twitter , Youtube , website Matt on Twitter , YouTube , website Matt's merch ! Mur's merch! Support via Patreon Twitch schedule for September (Eastern time): Sept 29 3:00pm: I Should Be Writing with Oct 1 7:00pm: Station Eternity LIVE! Mini Audio Drama performance on Twitch! All times EDT Septembe...
Sep 30, 2022•44 min
Streamed live , September 23, 2022. Kameron Hurley is guest host today, and we are talking with Margaret Dunlap about the enigma that is Hollywood, money, and how you keep going when so few projects actually get to the screen. Links Preorder Station Eternity! Mur on Twitter , Youtube , website Matt on Twitter , YouTube , website Matt's merch ! Mur's merch! Support via Patreon Twitch schedule for September (Eastern time): Sept 29 3:00pm: I Should Be Writing with Oct 1 7:00pm: Station Eternity LIV...
Sep 29, 2022•1 hr
S8 Ep15 It's Post-WorldCon, and Mur and Matt have stuff to talk about regarding short stories and short story markets. Matt has new merch! September 5, 2022 | Season 8 Ep 15 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License
Sep 24, 2022•51 min•Season 8Ep. 15
S8 Ep14 Kameron and Mur aren't bitter at all. But we do mention Nick Mamatas' Starve Better . Kameron Hurley's site August 22, 2022 | Season 8 Ep 14 | murverse.com Copyright 2022, Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License
Sep 22, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Season 8Ep. 14
