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Cat, Jennifer, and I discuss writing, dating, our biggest moments as a writer, and more.
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Cat Rambo has published over 250 fiction pieces, including the Nebula Award-winning novelette, Carpe Glitter, as well as nonfiction works.

Since first appearing on the SF scene in 2005, Cat Rambo has published over 250 fiction pieces, including Nebula Award-winning novelette, Carpe Glitter, and nonfiction works that include Ad Astra: The SFWA 50th Anniversary Cookbook (co-edited with Fran Wilde) and writing book, Moving From Idea to Finished Draft. Their 2021 works include the fantasy novel Exiles of Tabat (Wordfire Press) and the space opera You Sexy Thing (Tor Macmillan).

Rambo has been short-listed for the World Fantasy Award, the Compton Crook Award, and the Nebula Short Story Award. A former Vice President and two-term President of the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America), Cat continues to volunteer with the organization as part of its mentorship program and Grievance Committee.

They founded the online school The Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers in 2010, specializing in classes aimed at genre writers, which now offers dozens of classes from some of the best writers currently working in speculative fiction.

Cat lives in Indianapolis.
Blog: https://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/
Classes: https://catrambo.teachable.com/

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Jennifer Brozek is a multi-talented, award-winning author, editor, and media tie-in writer. She is the author of the Never Let Me Sleep, and The Last Days of Salton Academy, both of which were nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Her BattleTech tie-in novel, The Nellus Academy Incident, won a Scribe Award.

Her editing work has earned her nominations for the British Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the Hugo Award. She won the Australian Shadows Award for the Grants Pass anthology, co-edited with Amanda Pillar. Jennifer’s short-form work has appeared in Apex Publications, Uncanny Magazine, and in anthologies set in the worlds of Valdemar, Shadowrun, V-Wars, Masters of Orion, and Predator.

Jennifer has been a freelance author and editor for over fifteen years after leaving a high-paying tech job, and she has never been happier. She shares her husband, Jeff, with several cats and often uses him as a sounding board for her story ideas. She lives in Seattle.
Website: http://www.jenniferbrozek.com/

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Tracy Bonham sits down to discuss the highs and lows of her music career as well as the challenges in love, parenting, and her breast cancer diagnosis.

Tracy Bonham is a classically trained violinist and pianist turned alternative singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 1996 with her twice GRAMMY™nominatedalbum, The Burdens of Being Upright(Island Records). This debut album cast Bonham into the global spotlight with MTV fame and major radio airplay with her #1 alternative chart-topping song Mother Mother, an anthem for disgruntled teenagers of all ages. While so many of her songs have been placed in film and TV throughout the decades, you might have most recently heard Mother Mother in Yellow Jackets season 1 episode 2.

Over the past 27 years, Bonham’s albums and live performances have shown what it is to be an ever-evolving artist. While Bonham sings, she moves from guitar to violin, from violin to piano, and back again. When playing live, her songs from the 90s blend and blur with stylistic changes that she has created over time making her entire repertoire make sense as an entire body of work. She plays the old and new material and even though the songs span thirty years they all continue to be equally relevant. Bonham will be joined by upright bassist Rene Hart (David Amram, James Hunter) and drummer Alvester Garnett (Regina Carter, Abbey Lincoln), and with her new material she connects to something deeper than ever, her true self.
Most of the new songs are performed on the piano giving her the chance to lean back on what made her fall in love with music in the first place. Borrowing harmonic structures and beautiful melodies from her favorite classical romantic composers, Bonham stretches herself artistically to combine this rediscovered passion with her unique and quirky songwriting style to create musical alchemy. This purifying process most certainly acts as a vehicle for inner transformation for Bonham. "It's like going back to the spark I had as a very young musician, discovering the beauty of Ravel and DeBussy and reclaiming that spark and everything that has happened after that". Bonham speaks of her current line-up, "Playing with incredible jazz musicians like Rene and Alvester has opened my mind and is now giving me the support I have always needed to spread my wings and fly. I am really enjoying exploring the intersections and overlaps of where classical and jazz meet without excluding my alternative rock sensibilities. These dudes can rock too. The three of us playing together is definitely my happy place"

People Magazine: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6RaSfqo4f0b42iNouQeAKK?si=vuFrzhFYQm2Am2rigsy3JQ
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6RaSfqo4f0b42iNouQeAKK?si=vuFrzhFYQm2Am2rigsy3JQ&nd=1&dlsi=997a4b6a968e483e

***
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This episode is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jx8FL3BQqRc
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Audio production by Rich Zei of Third Ear Audio
Intro and Outro music compliments of Fast Suzi
Upcoming guests: https://www.dmneedom.com/better-topodcast

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Dave and I discuss the music business, how sometimes giving up on a dream for a bit can be the best, and more.
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LIFE OF A "LONG PLAYER"

After a 25-year hiatus, long-time rocker Dave Lebental returned to his musical roots and started to investigate the modern music landscape. He quickly realized he was a modern-day Rip Van Winkle who had awoken into a different musical world than the one he left. Digital recording, digital distribution, and social media have all made it much easier to be an independent artist.

He started writing new songs on his acoustic guitar and learning how to record them in his home studio. The byproduct of these self-produced recording sessions is Dave Lebental's debut solo LP entitled “The Long Player”. The LP is a collection of 11 Americana, Blues, and Rock tracks. Now 62 years old, Lebental says his songs and sound owe a debt to James Taylor, Ryan Adams, The Eagles, Tom Petty, and The Beatles.

Band - the Driftwood Souls

Website: https://dlmusic.us/

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If you would like to contact the show about being a guest please email us at Dauna@bettertopodcast.com
This episode is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XupS8aeNd3k
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Have a question for our producer Rich Zei contact him at rich.zei@thirdearaudio.com
Intro and Outro music compliments of Fast Suzi
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©2024 Better To...Podcast with D. M.Needom

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