Just what do you do with a PhD in the History of Science? Write novels–science fiction, urban fantasy, and thriller. Our guest today is Steve Ruskin, PhD. He’s the author of the nonfiction popular history novel America’s First Great Eclipse and countless academic writings, and also of the ExoRok Rebels science fiction series and Trina Piper magical thrillers.

Steve’s unique background in academics and fiction give him great insight to author resources, creativity, and bringing character-driven fiction to life.

In Part Two, We Discuss:

• Painting targets around the points you want to hit in your plots

• On-location research and

• Detail writing, and using the five senses to set a scene

• Worldbuilding and story development in someone else’s shared universe

• Pulling story inspiration from history and integrating it into other genres

• Organization and juggling multiple projects

Resources and Guest Links:

• Steve Ruskin: https://www.steveruskin.com/

• Steve’s Newsletter: https://storyoriginapp.com/giveaways/f424f312-0fb9-11ee-938d-7f884ddf8bd0

• America’s First Great Eclipse: https://www.amazon.com/Americas-First-Great-Eclipse-Scientists-ebook/dp/B0716GT8FH

• ExoRok Rebels: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1BMNQQ1

• Trina Piper Thrillers: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9KGPCSS

• Extinction by Douglas Preston: https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Extinction-A-Novel/dp/B0C31M5X6V

Huge thanks to Steve for coming over to record at our dining room table. We love being able to bring field specialists onto the show, and he’s no exception. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it!

Host Links:

• H.Y. Gregor: https://hygregor.com/

• David Shadoin: https://www.davidshadoin.com/

Credits: (all assets licensed through the sites listed)

• Intro: Music- Cinematic Epic Trailer by PaulYudin on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user- kazim hussian; from pixabay users-davidfoxx, DavidGallie, olenchic, stefaniejockschat, AiVreaSaStii, RuneSnow, duyen-nguyen, EnchantedStudios,

• Outro: Music- Good Night by FASSounds on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user-onlydesignz; from pixabay users-olenchic, Placidplace, Evgeniy_Z, Dantegrafico, Shayea_Kim

Just what do you do with a PhD in the History of Science? Write novels–science fiction, urban fantasy, and thriller. Our guest today is Steve Ruskin, PhD. He’s the author of the nonfiction popular history novel America’s First Great Eclipse and countless academic writings, and also of the ExoRok Rebels science fiction series and Trina Piper magical thrillers.

Steve’s unique background in academics and fiction give him great insight to author resources, creativity, and bringing character-driven fiction to life.

In Part One, We Discuss:

• Worldbuilding in historical and popular history writings

• Nonfiction worldbuilding and research

• Writing character-driven nonfiction

• Where to start historical research and how to reach out to professionals

• “Secret histories”: Finding the balance between historical accuracy and fictional liberties

• Maintaining a timeline and the differences between historical fiction and alternate history

• The Village Idiot Approach

Resources and Guest Links:

• Steve Ruskin: https://www.steveruskin.com/

• Steve’s Newsletter: https://storyoriginapp.com/giveaways/f424f312-0fb9-11ee-938d-7f884ddf8bd0

• America’s First Great Eclipse: https://www.amazon.com/Americas-First-Great-Eclipse-Scientists-ebook/dp/B0716GT8FH

• ExoRok Rebels: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1BMNQQ1

• Trina Piper Thrillers: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9KGPCSS

• Extinction by Douglas Preston: https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Extinction-A-Novel/dp/B0C31M5X6V

Huge thanks to Steve for coming over to record at our dining room table. We love being able to bring field specialists onto the show, and he’s no exception. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it!

Host Links:

• H.Y. Gregor: https://hygregor.com/

• David Shadoin: https://www.davidshadoin.com/

Credits: (all assets licensed through the sites listed)

• Intro: Music- Cinematic Epic Trailer by PaulYudin on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user- kazim hussian; from pixabay users-davidfoxx, DavidGallie, olenchic, stefaniejockschat, AiVreaSaStii, RuneSnow, duyen-nguyen, EnchantedStudios,

• Outro: Music- Good Night by FASSounds on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user-onlydesignz; from pixabay users-olenchic, Placidplace, Evgeniy_Z, Dantegrafico, Shayea_Kim

Sorry we’re late this week! Shady got trapped in a server when they shut Anthem down…and by that, we mean, he decided to relive the glory of the freelancers one last time…but at least it’s still Tuesday!

They say you should never judge a book by its cover, but let's face it--you only get one first impression. A good cover needs to be eye-catching, signal your genre, give clues to your story, have an engaging and readable title treatment, and make readers want to know more.

Easy, right?

If only! The trouble is, authors aren't always the best at breaking their stories down into one or two compelling visuals. Where words fail us, enter Jake Clark and J Caleb Design. The artistic mind behind countless covers, J Caleb focuses on badass covers for badass stories. He lent us his expertise for this episode! Join us in discussing what exactly goes into making a book cover great, from concept and brief to final product.

In Part Two, We Discuss:

• More Lucky Charms

• A Cover Brief Story

• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Artists and Writers working together.

Resources and Guest Links:

• J Caleb Design: https://www.jcalebdesign.com/

Help us thank Jake! Covers are tricky, and we’ve been so excited to share this episode and give people insights from such a talented artist and creator.

Host Links:

• H.Y. Gregor: https://hygregor.com/

• David Shadoin: https://www.davidshadoin.com/

Credits: (all assets licensed through the sites listed)

• Intro: Music- Cinematic Epic Trailer by PaulYudin on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user- kazim hussian; from pixabay users-davidfoxx, DavidGallie, olenchic, stefaniejockschat, AiVreaSaStii, RuneSnow, duyen-nguyen, EnchantedStudios,

• Outro: Music- Good Night by FASSounds on Pixabay

• Animation and Image- From Vecteezy user-onlydesignz; from pixabay users-olenchic, Placidplace, Evgeniy_Z, Dantegrafico, Shayea_Kim