not just for dead white dudes
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Novel Ideas: The Library Podcast is made by librarians for readers and bookish fanatics of all kinds! We are an amazing public library that has been serving Derby, KS and all surrounding cities including Wichita since 1958. We offer many resources, services, and programs to our patrons. Check out the podcast for reading inspiration, tips and tricks for parents, segments such as Author Spotlight and Teens Talk, and so much more!
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Blithering Thoughts about T-shirt Ideas, Novel First Sentences, and Etcetera Moments
Hopeful Humanist
Join me for a non sequitur playful moment where I attempt to inspire creativity by talking about ideas for T-shirts and possible first sentences for your personal writing projects. This is a just some guy production brought to you by the Hopefulhumanist Cafe. Cover art photo by https://www.instagram.com/jacktthunter/
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Welcome to the start of Novel Ideas with Camille Grube-Hall. This quick little trailer will provide you with brief insight on what this podcast is going to be about! Thanks so much for listening.
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This is a special episode of the podcast featuring the kids of the library! We've interviewed some of our staff's children to get the inside scoop on their favorite books, what they like about reading, and what it's really like to have a librarian in the family! John and Mark's Recommendations - 0:55Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope OsborneThe M…
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Summertime approaches, and we want to know what you're packing in your suitcases for those vacations and staycations! Our librarians share their favorite vacations and their upcoming Summer 2019 plans, plus how they balance summer fun and reading. Listen in for some great tips and recommendations for your summer reading list! Mentioned Books/Author…
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Whether you've wanted to try an audiobook or you're looking for narrator recommendations, this episode covers it all! Our librarians discuss why they listen to audiobooks, what qualities in an audiobook are important to them, and share their hot take on the controversial question; is listening to a book really reading it? Mentioned Works/Recommenda…
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Episode 2.07 Lessons in Contemporary Fiction
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Get ready to go on a road trip or fall in love for the first time as our librarians explore the genre of contemporary fiction. Without the flare of dragons, swords, and magic, how do these realistic reads hold up? Are these fluffy stories really just surface-level entertainment or is there a deeper theme to discover? From John Green to the renowned…
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Fostering Creativity - Generation Alpha and Driver-less Cars
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Join me for a creativity-building activity as we IMAGINE working in the "OFF-SCRIPT LIVING" department for a car manufacturer to explore ways to help Generation Alpha adjust to a mobile existence in a jobless world.
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Let's get out our journals and learn a little more about our selves so we can manifest that self. In this episode, I thought I would suggest a self-reflection topic for journaling.
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A thought from Jean Paul Sartre and Socrates about the meaning of life.
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Welcome back to a very spoooooky part two of the Novel Ideas Halloween Extravaganza (consisting of two episodes of questionable quality). This episode is about The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson is probably best known for her excellent short story, “The Lottery,” which you can read by clicking on the link. In this episod…
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Time for a spoooooky Halloween double feature from Novel Ideas! This week we discussed The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, a classic ghost novel from the turn of the (20th) century. In this episode, we talk about 19th century framing devices, horror tropes, class, and classic versus modern audience expectations. We also cover literary conspiracy …
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Hello, fans, listeners, and non-listening readers of this post. This episode of Novel Ideas is about Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, a sort-of-memoir/sort-of-fictional anthology set in and around the Vietnam War. In this episode we discuss classroom books, ambiguity, character archetypes, and unreliable narrators. We also talk about what we …
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We interrupt this irregularly scheduled podcast with a special, albeit belated, episode. We decided to sit down and discuss the 2017 Hugo Award Nominees for Best Novel. Extra heavy spoiler alert on this episode, as every book we talk about was published in 2016 at the earliest. In addition to touching on every nominated book, we also discuss divers…
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After a long hiatus, Novel Ideas has returned with an episode about Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Ignore anything we say about timing in this episode as we recorded it back in March. I’d apologize, but by now you’ve been burned so many times by our erratic schedule that you would probably assume that I don’t mean it. In this episode we talk about strong …
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This week on Novel Ideas, we are discussing a listener suggested book, A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner. In this episode, we have a bit of a role reversal at the top of the episode due to an attempted technical workaround that didn’t end up working. Or perhaps it’s better if we don’t explain these things and you just chalk …
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Novel Ideas, in a completionist turn, brings you Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling (but really by Jack Thorne and John Tiffany). In this episode we discuss insane bestselling sales, the nature of long delayed sequels, time travel plots, and how plays differ from novels. We also talk about the influence of cocaine (probably none), th…
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Happy New Year! We’re back with a classic in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, a book that many would call a quintessential American girl’s tale. Do we agree with this assessment? You’ll find out if you listen to this episode. You’ll also discover what we think about feminism in historical context, question certain self-improvements, agree with the…
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Novel Ideas apologizes for the delay, but we return with a new episode on N.K. Jemisin’s The Obelisk Gate. This novel is the sequel to The Fifth Season, the Hugo award winner and a Novel Ideas favorite. We should warn you going in, since this is a recent publication, this episode is chock full of spoilers. In addition to spoilers, we also cover Cho…
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Novel Ideas makes its return after too long away. This episode is about Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, a story about a quirky quirkster and a sad sack in a wheelchair. In this one we discuss ableism, depression, class, and assisted suicide, subjects which may cause you to feel icky. We also talk about our obscure theories (this book is secretly an ef…
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Novel Ideas returns with Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, the winner of the Nebula award in the novella category this year. In this episode, we discuss empathy, outsider perspectives, colonialism, and forgiveness. We also talk about the lack of snark, kindergarten level thinking, adult hair touching, and not being a hater. The music bump is “All is Forgive…
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Here is the second half of our conversation about the publishing industry, this time focusing on newspapers, magazines, and the internet. In this episode we discuss the possible death of newspapers, why magazines are still doing okay, clickbait, and whether the word “content” is overused. We also talk about how to break into the industry and our ow…
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This week, on a very special Novel Ideas, Gabs has an important message for Ben. Is it time for Ben to finally kick his coke habit? No, it’s time to tell him everything she knows about the publishing industry. Well, as much as she can condense two years of school into two hours of podcast. This episode will air in two parts; the first part is (most…
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Welcome to the March edition of Novel Ideas, featuring The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. In this episode we talk about the genre of the children’s novel, colonialism, subversions, and–need I say it?–feminism. We also discuss why Colin is kind of a dick, plot related illnesses, failed attempts at comic relief, and children’s dialogue. Ga…
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The Novel Ideas roulette wheel landed on a classic this month, so we’re back with The Color Purple by Alice Walker. In this episode we discuss racism, injustice, abuse, and other upsetting things. We also talk about the cold open, black comedy, down home cookin’, and laughably ineffective missionaries. The music bump is Ella Fitzgerald with Duke El…
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The new year brings a new episode here at Novel Ideas world headquarters. This month we discussed Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older, a recent YA urban fantasy novel. In this episode you hear a punchy and tired Novel Ideas crew talk about YA character archetypes, the nature of trust, race and racism, and authentic teenage dialogue. You can also hear…
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Novel Ideas ends the year with our 100th episode, a pseudo-special that we’ve talked about doing since the early days. We recorded ourselves discussing Twilight by Stephanie Meyer in the form of a drinking game. There were official rules, but the real rule was to invent rules as the discussion developed. It’s pretty fun and we’re not that much less…
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This month Novel Ideas discusses The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. This is a recently published fantasy novel, released this summer, so those of you who are inclined to worry about spoilers: There will be spoilers. In this episode we talk about interesting narrative structure, justifiable anger, cast diversity, and slavery parallels. We also mentio…
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Novel Ideas is back for another month of sibling book-related antics. This time with The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne. We chose this book as part of our ongoing campaign to read more fiction about and/or by non-white, non-male authors. In this episode we discuss women in science fiction, elements of good world building, travel narratives, and f…
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This week’s episode of Novel Ideas is about three short stories from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes canon, discussing “The Adventure of the Speckled Band,” “Scandal in Bohemia,” and “The Final Solution.” We discuss the light characterization, feminism, various adaptations, and Victorian writing style. We also talk about Sherlock Holmes as a p…
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Novel Ideas returns with a rare venture into the topical, reading Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee, the very hyped “sequel” to To Kill A Mockingbird. In this episode, we discuss why the word “sequel” might by appropriately contained within quotation marks, the murky ethics of this book’s publication, racism, and (of course) feminism. We also talk ab…
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Welcome to a very special episode of Novel Ideas. This week we join the Minerva podcast network. If you found us through Minerva Magazine, we’re pleased to have you! A quick word of warning: this podcast contains some adult language, so if that concerns you, consider this fair warning. Our spoiler policy generally doesn’t matter as much for classic…
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For those of you who were expecting Sherlock Holmes… it has mysteriously disappeared. In its place is The Martian by Andy Weir, a hard science fiction account of a lone man surviving on the surface of Mars. We recorded this one with special guest, Adam Milton. In this episode we discuss the resourcefulness of astronauts, the geniuses at NASA, the r…
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New authors will often break characters to fix a plot problem. We'll discuss why that doesn't work and what to do about it.
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Today we'll talk about taking a long term view of your writing career. With dropping sales and a market flooded with titles, it's time for indie writers to decide who will stay and who will go.
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Blogs can be a great way for a writer to build their fan base and gain experience. James Floyd Kelly and I will talk about working for a blog on the latest Novel Ideas.
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Today we will be talking social media for authors. Everyone says that you have to have an online presence but why? And how do you use it if you have it?
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So we tried to record our regular podcast this week but the internet did not cooperate. Perhaps we'll return to that topic next week and talk about it again. Instead I included the audio recording of a presentation that I did for the Tigard Library on creating an indie publishing career. It turned into a rather sobering look at the forces changing …
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Empathy is an important skill when developing characters.
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Novel Ideas is back! At least for this week. The plan had been to get this episode up around the time the movie was released, so expect a lot of hedging on estimates of when new episodes will be released. Adding context makes comments about having more content up by the end of the year more understandable, more amusing, and a bit more shameful. At …
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WARNING: This episode contains one instance of language which some may find offensive. Today we interview fellow GeekDad and author of twenty-seven novels, Matt Forbeck. We talk about his career path as a writer and hear a little about his upcoming projects.
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Today we talk about the Martian by Andy Weir, an indie book picked up and popularized by Crown Publishing. What makes the difference?
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Today we’re talking about writer’s block and procrastination. Are there scientific reasons and answers? You betcha. Find out how to spend less time stuck and more time being productive.
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Viewer Cindy wrote in with some great questions. Today we tackle some of them.
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On today's episode James Floyd Kelly talks about writing technology books, including generating ideas, creating proposals for publishers, and royalties.
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Today we talk about fixing a scene which just isn't working for others but is important to you.
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After an unscheduled delay caused mostly by a certain male sibling’s recent life changes/laziness, Novel Ideas returns with ‘night Mother by Marsha Norman. We read this play because it is award winning and unlike our previous two plays, written by a female playwright. We brought back special guest Jessica Showers (at least at the time of recording)…
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Our drama push continues this week on Novel Ideas with Angels in America by Tony Kushner, a very long two part play about… AIDS, maybe? This is a massive work, resulting in a longer than average episode where we mostly thrash about and try to figure out what various fantastical occurrences actually mean. In this episode, we discuss change, reluctan…
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Shakespeare is back on Novel Ideas! Well, one of Shakespeare’s plays is a topic for Novel Ideas, Shakespeare himself is a bit bigger get than we are currently capable of. But we were able to get the very capable Dr. Anthony Funari back as a guest to discuss William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a comedy full of cross dressing, something the English …
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We’re back! We have returned from our own fake murder to finish doing justice to evildoers and to record this podcast about Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. This is a whodunnit about mystery, murder, and politically correct modifications of the title. Okay, the book isn’t actually about that last part, but there is a bit of a history the…
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