Writers of Strange Fiction with Alessandor Earnest

Writers of Strange Fiction Interview

[00:00:00] Casey: It was that, that was one of the most fun jobs I’ve ever had because like I learned a lot about working with people and how to bring them down softly. I

Alessandor Earnest: know how to get people to take their bracelets off.

Casey: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We had a bass player from this metal band and he wanted, he was doing this thing and it sucked and the producer was.

Telling us, like, I don’t like that at all. That sounds very muddy. And he didn’t want to hurt his feelings. So I went in there and I said, you know, Hey man, can you just try to play in the root notes? He’s like, no, I want him to do this jazz thing. And finally the sound engineer came out and said, that’s not jazz.

That’s shit. Wow. I felt so bad for him. I was like, I never want to treat anybody like that. But he got the point across effectively and quickly. So, you recorded it fine after that, but all right, Alexander that’s me. Let me go ahead and [00:01:00] do a brief intro and we will we’ll talk about the, the con and the, the group, which is, you know, An awesome thing that you do.

And then we’ll talk about the evolution of the group and why you’re doing the con okay. All right, everybody. Welcome again, to another episode of spoiler country today, I just wanted to do a quick announcement for you guys. I have a good friend named Alessandra earnest, who is the head of a group called writers of strange fiction.

Rogers of strange fiction is a group on discord and they’re doing a con. So, It’s for writers of all stripes and the con is going to be having a bunch of people on to talk about different types of writing and things that writers need to know. Oh, so, Alexandra, how are you doing? Fabulous. How are [00:02:00] you?

I’m well I’m well, so, tell me a little bit about the origins of writers of strange friction. Where did this come from?

Alessandor Earnest: Well, I, I’m a developmental editor and writing coach and I find myself saying the same things over and over and over again to coaching clients and authors that I’m editing.

And sometimes it, sometimes it just. Feels better too. Have multiple people giving you advice than just hearing it from one person. So I thought that it might be great to start a community of writers of strange fiction, which is what I focus on to have support and resources and feedback w with like-minded people, you know, so it’s not just my voice telling them, you know, That sometimes, sometimes getting better at writing means that you have to write really ugly sentences [00:03:00] and that you know, that a lot it’s it’s, you know, it it’s it’s, I don’t know, it can be such a lonely process to be a writer.

And I, I just thought that if we had a community of other. Weirdos that it, you know, it would, it would be more fun and collegial to, to, right.

Casey: And I see that in your community, that you’ve, that you’ve been able to establish it. There’s so much of a just a welcoming aspect and everyone is really supportive and Very quick to give help and information.

So, that’s one thing that impressed me about your discord and now you’re kind of taking it to the next level by inviting some people on to do some talks about all of these different things that a writer might come across. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Alessandor Earnest: About about the origins of the con or like what kinds of panels that we’re going to [00:04:00] have, what we’ll

Casey: list with the origins.

And and then we’ll, we’ll get into the panels. Cause you’ve got some really interesting panels and for sure am going to be checking some of those out cause they look amazing.

Alessandor Earnest: Yeah, I’m really excited about the lineup. The, the idea actually came from a group call in the discord. I tried to do those about once a month just to have some, some voice interaction among the members, because I know that like so many writers are introverts and it can just be nice sometimes to like have a really low key get together.

So we do that about once a month. And someone mentioned that they really missed the Kahn experience. And I was like, Oh, well, that’s something we could do in the discord. Why don’t we, why don’t we set that up? And you know, I, I opened it up to the membership and asked if anyone would be interested in giving a talk about something.

But not very many people stepped forward. And you know, I. I, I thought that it was just, oops, I’ve got a lawnmower. Sorry. [00:05:00] It’s it’s okay. I I, I thought, you know where we’re going to have like a little, a little cosplay thing. We’ll see, we’ll see costumes and maybe we’ll we’ll I don’t know, eat popcorn, watch a movie, something small.

But then about two weeks ago, I suddenly found myself with like, 10 different people who wanted to come talk to us. And I was like, okay, this is a roster. You know, we, we’ve got, we’ve got skin in the game. Now I can, I can probably build this a little bit more and get even more people involved. So yeah, so like, I, I had planned for it to be all of April, like a month and a half ago.

And then two weeks ago, suddenly I. Yeah. Suddenly I had to make it a real thing. You know, it, it, it actually, it, it snowballed like overnight, it just became this kind of huge thing with You know, a lot more people coming in to talk to us than than I had anticipated. So [00:06:00] I made a website and started, you know, advertising and bringing in even more people to come talk to us.

And now it’s like a full fledged month, long con with panels almost every single day.

Casey: That’s really awesome. Can you, can you tell us a little bit about those panels that you have lined up? Because some of them really, I was like, I never would’ve thought of that for something to be discussed, but Oh my gosh, that makes so much sense because you, you always think about. The writing aspect of it because, you know, we’re creatives, we’re idiots.

We like to, you know, just, just plug away and right. But as far as like organization and, you know, getting stuff, you know, actually done we need help with that. 

Alessandor Earnest: yeah. So. Kind of, part of it was that, that, that [00:07:00] thing I mentioned earlier about it being kind of hard to get people to come forward and.

Give a talk about something that they’re good at. It seems like it’s a, it’s a really big thing in the writing community for people to have imposter syndrome. So it’s, it’s hard to get someone to agree to talk about something because they don’t feel like they know enough about it. So I, when I reached out to people to talk, I had to kind of interview them and find out, you know, what do they know?

What can they offer the group and then convince them that they had that. So, So like for example, we have one that is how, how to write an effective sex scene and an honor Radhika context. You know, th this, the talk is being given by a, an editor friend of mine who does speculative fiction and romance.

So I was like, okay, this is someone who has to know how to write a sex scene. That like is realistic. And not over the top or physically impossible, you know, she she’s [00:08:00] probably got accepted,

Casey: you know, read it

Alessandor Earnest: well, you know what I mean? Like, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. If, if we’re, if we’re saying fantasy writer is like, we’re not, you know, writing sex scenes every day.

So, I was like, you know, this is, this is something that I want to know because I don’t know how to write a sex scene, you know? So. And I, you know, and that

Casey: terrifies me, actually.

Alessandor Earnest: I think it, I think it’s intimidating to a lot of people and you know, when I approached her about it, I was like, you know, it seems like you would probably have a lot to say about this stuff.

You know, she said, Oh no, I don’t think I have opinions about that. And I was like, well, what about, you know, this thing and that thing. And she was like, actually I have some strong opinions. And I, I do have the experience that you’re talking about because. I have, I have been editing sex scenes for years.

So, so you know, we, we got her to come in and talk to us about that. So I think some of, some of the maybe [00:09:00] stranger topics just came out of w the process for finding panelists, you know, just finding, finding those gems that we could bring to the discord and Yeah,

Casey: that that’s so cool. And I I’m really excited.

Where can we find the information about where the you know, the con’s going to be on what website and how to get access to the discord, all that good stuff.

Alessandor Earnest: Everything you need to know. Is on the website writers of strange fiction.com. So you can, you can, there’s, there’s a link to join the discord.

Everything is happening live in the discord. So if you want to be there to ask questions of the panelists you know, it’s, it’s a really good idea to join the discord. But I’m also going to be uploading recordings of all the talks to both the discord and the website. So if you can’t make it, you’re in Australia and [00:10:00] it’s midnight and you just can’t it it’ll be available for you to listen to after.

But I do encourage you to join the discord. Discord links are kind of funky, so I, I’m not gonna like. Read you the link, but you can join through the website. Yeah, so I joined through the website and w th the discord is around all the time, you know, it’s, it’s not going to end at the end of April when the con is over, you know, the friends you make during this experience will, will be there, you know, forever.

Hopefully. So,

Casey: yeah. Well, I’m really excited for this con it happens all throughout the month of April. And it, it sounds like an amazing thing that you’re doing right now. So, thank you and thank you for what you do. And I can’t wait to to check out this car.

Alessandor Earnest: Yeah, thanks so much. I’m, I’m excited to have you

Casey: no worries.

And You guys be sure to check out writers of strange [00:11:00] fiction.com.com and check it out, go to the discord. And like she said earlier, if you miss it, you can always watch the videos. It is going to be a hoot and can’t wait to see you there. Yay. All right, thanks again. All right.

We’ll we’ll cut it right here. Thank you again. I hope I’ll try to get this up. Probably will be next week, but if I can get it up earlier than that, I’ll let you know. And don’t pull your hair out, cause I know all of this is stressful, but yeah. All right. Take it easy.

Alessandor Earnest: Yeah.

Casey: Thanks so much.

No worries. No worries. I’d like to get you on the podcast. Eventually I talked to, we have a lot of comic people on, we have a lot of actors on. I talked to, I don’t know if you’re familiar with Tom DeFalco. He was the editor in chief of Marvel during the nineties, talked to him last night, but I don’t know that we’ve ever had any [00:12:00] like pros editors on, and I’d really like to know, you know, what you do.

So,

Alessandor Earnest: Yeah, I can, I could talk to you about editing. There’s all kinds of stuff. That’s a rabbit hole. So there’s plenty of time.

Casey: How long have you been doing this?

Alessandor Earnest: About five years. I, I I’m actually mostly edited like indie comics. Cool. Okay. Yeah. So,

Casey: so, so you’re, you’re not unfamiliar with the comics world at all.

Okay, cool.

Alessandor Earnest: Yeah, I mean, I, I would say that I fall away more on the indie side than the DC Marvel side. I don’t do a lot of like super long form superhero comics or anything like that. It’s mostly like, you know, short Bren’s that. You know, either they’re like released serially on like Kickstarter or they’re going to be a graphic novel

Casey: Yeah.

Are you a comics fan or are you, is it just something that, you know? No,

Alessandor Earnest: I w I love comics. [00:13:00] Yeah. I mean, I wouldn’t edit them with me if I didn’t love them.

Casey: It’s funny, like, I’ve met so many people, like, even like the, the old dudes from Marvel don’t know, like I needed a job. I got out of college. I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do.

And then my friend worked at Marvel, so. Okay. And that’s their origin of like a 40 year career at Mars.

Alessandor Earnest: All right. Yeah. I mean, I, I actually went to college because I wanted to be a comic book editor. That’s what I hoping to do. Where’d you go to school? I actually it’s it’s, it’s a Donald Long story.

I actually went to two different universities, but yeah I it’s college was crazy, but

Casey: it’s all good. Well, Alessandra, thank you very much. And I’ll I’ll get this up soon and hopefully it can get, get some ears interested and good luck with everything. Okay. If you ever need anything, let me know.

Alessandor Earnest: Thanks. I appreciate that so [00:14:00] much. Worries. Yeah. I mean, right, right now that this, this kind of support is really what I need.

Just getting people through the door. So this, I really appreciate

Casey: it. No worries. It sounds like such a cool idea. So, you know, and I think what you’re doing is cool. So, I’m going to help if I can.

Alessandor Earnest: Okay. Thank you.

Casey: All right. Did, did you ever get in touch with Melissa Serratia?

Alessandor Earnest: No. I, I got. Super sidetracked with the good.

Yeah. But I did find someone who, who wanted to talk about comics versus novels. So, and I actually, I actually got some, some pretty neat like comics, veterans to talk about early cool comics industry. And are you familiar with the green bones?

Casey: That they like to watch team. Yeah,

Alessandor Earnest: they did a Legion of superheroes.

Yes. Yes. I might be having them on for an AMA. But I, I still have to coordinate that, but that’s, you know, [00:15:00] I, I sort of, might’ve gotten a few more comics talks than I had set out to do. Cause I was trying to. Make a make, I don’t know most of the panels appeal to everyone and not just the comics niche, but I dunno, I’m the green bombs.

I can’t say no.

Casey: Well, good luck with everything and just take it in there. April is going to be a busy month, but I’ll take it. So, yeah. All right. Well, I’ll let you get back to what you’re doing and I’m about to. Get my kid out of ballet. So I have two daughters. I have a 10 year old, a six year old and they both do ballet.

So Monday through Wednesday is like his dad be in Schaeffer. So,

Alessandor Earnest: so it’s so cool. I love that. You’re doing that for them. I, I didn’t, I didn’t get to do stuff like that. So, I think it’s really cool [00:16:00] that they can do that.

Casey: I, I love it. And my, my 10 year old is getting to where she doesn’t want to do it anymore.

So we’re, we’re thinking about like putting her in like a theater class or something like that. Cause she’s, she’s mentioned that she’s interested in that and she told me she, she loves doing art, so I’m going to get a friend of mine to teach her how to flat nice. And Cause she’s won. She’s a hell.

Want to make money through my art? I was like, well, you know, let me teach you how to flat. And you could like do that and people will pay you to, to do the colors on their books. And she’s like, Oh, okay. So we’re going to try that. So at least she’ll, she’ll learn how to do clip studio, so nice. All right.

Well be good. Take it easy. I’m sure you’re busy. So, all right.

Alessandor Earnest: All right. Do you want to get one

Casey: that said to you? Bye bye.