Episode 41 - Can't See No Forest For All These Trees

We all have our little pet scenes and characters. You know, that one line you'll watch again and again or that minor villain you write long fan fictions about because he's just SO COOL. Then there's costumes design of the palace guards (which is just so tacky) and the euphoric emotionality of their sordid romance and that shadows--see, it really is a munchkin hanging himself! And wait, what? You mean Orlando Bloom isn't the star of The Hobbit?

Let's just say we sometimes get caught up in the spectacle, in the moment, in the inessential details and bunny trails, and miss what the story is really all about--and that's what this episode is all about.

Then in the second half, Nick and Tim perform a live dramatic reading of a section of The Unremarkable Squire, Nick's latest fantasy novel.

Serious discussion, obligatory LOST references, long analyses of Frozen, and ridiculous accents--that's what you can expect from Episode 41 of your premiere podcast about storytelling! Listen in!

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Episode 36 - Real "Steel"?

We're back! Again! After an extended hiatus to reflect and retool the podcast, Nick and Tim return with a new, live format for Derailed Trains of Thought! This episode was originally streamed live last week at mixlr.com, which allowed us to interact with our listener while recording as well as drastically reduce our editing time. We had a few technical snafus (early on, you'll hear music playing before we intended it to), but overall it was a fun and mostly successful first broadcast!

But what, pray tell, did we talk about? Realism in fantasy, a topic inspired by the end of the summer movie season and controversy over Man of Steel in particular. How do storytellers help audiences suspend disbelief? And how does one make a story believable while maintaining the essence of the fantastic? Tim and Nick wrestle with these questions, review some of this summer's movies, babble about their current projects, and more in the long-awaited return of Derailed Trains of Thought!

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