Dissecting Dragons

On the surface, you probably wouldn't immediately think of time travel when you think of Christmas stories, and yet there is a distinct connection which is hard to deny. Nor does it date to when Dr Who regularly began to deliver Christmas special episodes - it goes far further back than that. For the final episode in this year's festive selection, the dragons dive into why Christmas is the perfect setting for a time travel story. From liminal spaces where impossible deliveries take place in a single night to the chance to go back a right a wrong, learn from a mistake or take a missed opportunity, Christmas magic and temporal mechanics go hand in hand. Under the mistletoe this week - The Chronicles of St Mary's, A Christmas Carol, Torchwood and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Every enduring Christmas story has a villain woven in somewhere - whether that's King Herod in the nativity or Ebenezer Scrooge, the Grinch of Hans Gruber in Die Hard. Whether the audience is rooting for huge redemption arc or waiting for the bad guy to take a nosedive off the Nakatomi Plaza, there's something about a festive story that uniquely lends itself to a good villain. This week Jules and Madeleine delve into what makes a good Christmas villain; where do they come from? (The answer is surprisingly far back!) And how do you create your own? On the slab this week - A Christmas Carol, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, The Winter Smith and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Sliding towards the festive season, Jules and Madeleine take a look at gifts. Everyone loves a present, right? But what does a present actually signify? Are they always good things or can they be sinister or manipulative? From fae gifts to mystical burdens, the dragons take a deep dive into the sort of present you can't exchange for something else on your xmas list.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

'Ugly' is a subjective term, of course. Tastes vary and opinions are heavily influenced by how we perceive someone or how much we like them. However, there are plenty of characters in speculative fiction who even on the page do not fit the parameters of being conventionally physically attractive. When those books are translated to the screen, often the 'it' actors of the moment are cast in these roles because they are often great characters. And this is where the cognitive dissonance sets in. Social media and the drive towards a physical ideal which can only be attained through wealth and extreme intervention adds another, somewhat more troubling dimension as platforms like Instagram directly influence beauty standards and celebrity popularity. Have we lost the ability to see a normal human as attractive? Find out in this week's episode. On the slab this week - Bridget Jones' Diary, Harker & Blackthorn, Game of Thrones, Howl's Moving Castle and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Moving slightly away from spooky season and weird folklore, the dragons are clocking in with a writing episode. At the moment, Romantasy is the biggest whale splashing around in the sea of fantasy, partially drowning out other subgenres (at least temporarily). While romantasy is a lot of fun, it's caused further changes in the 'strong female character' trope which are less fun. This week, Jules and Madeleine revisit the subject, looking at what really defines 'strength' in character terms and how to best write your own female character, even with Romantasy putting a thumb on the scales. Under the microscope this week - Jane Eyre, Anne of Green Gables, The Hunger Games and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

How many jobs and professions have existed over the centuries which we now no longer know anything about? Who thinks about warreners and coopers? Fowlers and knocker-ups? And yet this now unnecessary work lingers in surname origins and in the strange tales that grow up around these jobs. This week, still feeling semi spooky and continuing their recent folklore deep dive, Jules and Madeleine take a look at the urban myths which sprang up and are still springing up, around jobs made obsolete by time and new technology. Why do with mythologise the mundane? What are the origins of folklore arising from old trades? And how can you use this in your writing? Find out in this week's episode.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Still in the spooky zone, this week Jules and Madeleine take a look at the fascinating phenomenon of folklore being created in real time. There have always been parallels between technology and superstition, magic and science. As technology moves further into the non tangible realm of digital space, ghosts and other entities have begun to echo this shift. So what exactly is the part that folklore plays in this? Are all our ghosts going digital? And why do such disparate subjects actually go hand in hand? Find out in this week's episode.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

As far as the dragons are concerned it's still spooky season and this week, they are featuring one of the most beloved 'universal monsters' - the Mummy. From Ancient Egypt to Victorian obsession to post war film era, the Mummy has been a symbol for secrets and forbidden knowledge, often reflecting discomforting truths back at us. Jules and Madeleine take a look at why this is a universal monster - what are its origins? When did it first start appearing in fiction? And what does the creature mean to us today? On the slab this week - Lok No 249 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Beetle - Richard Marsh, Ramses the Damned - Anne Rice and many more. Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Sleep - something so mundane we do it around eight hours out of every twenty-four - makes a great vehicle for horror. Judging by folkloric record and cross cultural points of similarity, it's been part of horror for millennia. From old hag syndrome to nightmares to the simple but essential necessity of being unaware and vulnerable for blocks of time, sleep is it's own carnival of terror. This week Jules and Madeleine delve into why, tracking through folklore into modern horror and looking at how you can use sleep effectively in your own writing. (Aside from aiming for eight hours a night, that is!) Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

This week's spooky season offering dives past the whole haunted house experience to go deeper. What if the haunting was more specific? An attic or cellar is well known trope, but what about a playground? A nursery? A clock or a mirror? What do those things say about the state of the main character's mind in storytelling? And what exactly is the quiet terror of the mundane more effective than dripping gore and howling monsters? Jules and Madeleine tackle these questions and more.   On the slab this week: Rebekah - Daphne du Maurier, The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Scald Crow - Grace Daly and many more

It's time for episode three of the dragons' spooky season extravaganza and don't be deceived by the title. Folk Magic can go to some pretty dark places... This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at a magic system that relies on mundane objects and folk knowledge. In fact this type of magic is, on the surface, so mundane that many people would argue that it's more superstition than a magic system. It forms a backbone in many folk horror and dark fantasy stories and even creeps into sci-fi and urban fantasy. So where does the magic of the mundane originate from? What is its logic? And how do you incorporate it in your own world building? On the slab this week - October Daye - Seanan McGuire, Terry Pratchett's Discworld, Practical Magic and many more. Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Continuing their spooky season, this week the dragons pose a question: what's more frightening? The object of terror can see or the entity you can't? A fear of non tangible threats is baked into the essential human make up - we would hardly have survived to evolve as we have if our ancestors had not had the capability to 'what if' about predators concealed in shadows or long grass. This is reflected in fairy tales, folklore, gothic fiction all the way up to modern horror. Jules and Madeleine delve into how this trope hits the fear centres in the brain and how you as a writer can use it. On the slab this week - The Invisible Man - H G Wells, The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters, It Follows and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

The dragons are back just in time for spooky season. They are naturally kicking off their favourite season with a new slant on and old favourite subject - the Gothic. But what exactly do 'outsiders' have to do with Gothic literature? As it turns out, quite a lot. Jules and Madeleine take a joyful autumn romp through this little mentioned but essential ingredient of the genre from it's literary inception up to its quirky, spooky modern day equivalent. On the slab this week classics such as Dracula, Frankenstein & Jane Eyre, as well as Penny Dreadful, the Addams Family and Wednesday. Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic.    

Approximately ten years ago, both dragons signed their first publishing contracts. Since then it's been a riotous series of highs and lows and new adventures - including the creation of this podcast. This week, Jules and Madeleine look back over the last decade. Would they have written their first books the same way if they'd been writing them now? What is the relationship between writing and creativity and where does creative inspiration come from? Where do they see themselves going in their writing from here? And just what is good etiquette around reviews? Join them for a semi- biographical episode about the ups and downs of being a writer. (Please note this is the last episode of this season - the Dragons will be back in October for spooky season)   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic  

Part Two of a Two Part Episode   Continuing on from last week's examination of how depictions of the work place in fiction have transitioned over the decades from daily grinds where hard work will reward the worthy to places where you can find fun and family (if you're a team player) to recent depictions of bleak office hellscapes where baffled, exploited employees are required to perform a series of increasingly bizarre and senseless tasks (Severence - we're looking at you), this week Jules and Madeleine delve into the archetypes of this genre. Why might you want to write an anarchist or a saboteur? Why is sci-fi such good fit for telling workplace stories and why might you want to write one? And just what can we learn from these stories? Under the microscope this week: Severence, Fight Club, Squid Game and many more.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Part one of a two part episode Sci-fi and fantasy have portrayed many workplace settings over the decades - engineers and pilots on space craft, for example, or fairy smiths and kitchen witches in fantasy. However while fantasy has been leaning into the idea of leaving unfulfilling work and finding a perfect cosy profession, sci-fi has been delving into the nightmare of the bad workplace. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at the common criticisms and fallacies of the workplace highlighted by  fiction, and just why this is finding an avid audience now.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Disney, purveyors and creators of magical family friendly (mostly) entertainment have existed through an interesting and checquered 9 decades. The company is responsible for some of the most beloved fairytale retellings and pioneered the animated feature film. However, it's not all magic kingdoms and pixiedust. As with all multi billion dollar corporations, there's a dark side. The company has shapeshifted several times over the decades and interestingly, it seems to be undergoing a change again right now. Whether that will be for good or ill remains to be seen. This week the dragons look at why Disney might have a creativity problem and why the family friendly image is more of a facade than ever.  Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic

Have you ever picked up a book, full of anticipation, only to quit 100 pages in? Or maybe you read the whole thing and were left annoyed and baffled when you reached the end? Welcome to the baked in cognitive dissonance of the bookish community. Uber hyped books can turn out to be...bad. Not just bad in your opinion but objectively bad when employing the metrics of writing skill, storytelling and production values. So why exactly are they selling millions of copies? This week, Jules and Madeleine delve into the roots of this question. Is it really a matter of opinion? Can you measure the fitness of a book based entirely on measurable considerations? Is it ever fair to call any book bad? Join the dragons as they interrogate their own beliefs on the subject.   Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic 

If you've noticed all the celebrations, new editions of Austen's work, new adaptations and not a few arguments over issues which seem to amount to 'who's the biggest fan?' then you may have an inkling that it is a major Jane Austen landmark this year.  Celebrating the 250th year since Jane Austen's birth, the dragons have decided to do their own thing and judge a pageant of Jane Austen adaptations in film, TV, theatre and book form, in an effort to find their own favourite adaptation of Austen's work. Under the magnifying glass this week - 1995 Pride & Prejudice, Ang Lee's Sense & Sensibility, Bridget Jones' Diary and many more.    Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic  

Making a living from writing comes with practical considerations which the actual creative process doesn't prepare you for (probably). This week Jules and Madeleine delve into how to be a healthy creative ( spoiler alert: sleep is really important), what you need to consider when planning your finances, what legal considerations you need to bear in mind and a variety of other issues which writers often blithely ignore. We know. We did. Join the dragons as they talk candidly about the less glamorous side of being a writer.    Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic