Mur Lafferty
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mur Lafferty | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 25, 1973 |
| Occupation | Author, Geek Fu Master |
| Nationality | American |
| Genres | Science Fiction/Fantasy |
| Literary movement | The Podiobook (Podcast Novel) |
Mur Lafferty (born July 25, 1973) is an American podcaster and writer based in Durham, North Carolina. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a degree in English. She was, until July, 2007, the host and co-editor of Pseudopod. She is also the host and creator of the podcasts Geek Fu Action Grip (on hiatus) and I Should be Writing.
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[edit] Podcasting
[edit] Geek Fu Action Grip
Lafferty was first introduced to podcasting in October of 2004 by a friend, and she immediately seized on it as an opportunity for publishing her essays on geekdom. This led to her first podcast, Geek Fu Action Grip which launched in December of 2004. It consisted of her thoughts for the week and then a reading of one of her essays. Early topics included her obsession with Alton Brown and her uncomfortable crushes on the hosts of her child's TV shows like Steve Burns, and expanded to discussions of games, movies and television shows. In later episodes she began podcasting her fiction, in particular her serialized novels Heaven and Heaven Part 2: Hell. The show has been put on indefinite hold as of episode 103, since Ms. Lafferty feels she has too many things on her table and needs to focus her energy on a smaller set of projects.
These essays also led to her becoming an early contributor to Michael and Evo's Wingin' It, a sci-fi variety show podcast hosted by Michael R. Mennenga and Evo Terra. While she is no longer a regular, she did step in to produce an essay during their 2006 Dragon*Con show that is considered one of her best.
[edit] I Should Be Writing
Ms. Lafferty's second podcast was formed from her desire to share her experiences as a struggling fiction writer. I Should Be Writing is self-described as "a podcast for wanna-be fiction writers, by a wanna-be fiction writer." Each show covers a specific topic about working your way through the publishing market, from producing queries, cover letters and seeking out agents. This is interspersed with interviews with published professionals, often covering topics from previous shows.
I Should Be Writing won the 2007 Parsec Award for Best Writing Podcast.
[edit] Pseudopod
Ms. Lafferty's third podcast is a spin-off of the weekly podcast magazine Escape Pod. While Escape Pod focuses on science fiction and fantasy, Pseudopod is a horror podcast. Together with co-editor Ben Phillips and publisher Steve Eley, she presents "the best in audio horror." As of July, 2007 Ms. Lafferty has stepped down as co-editor to focus her energy on a smaller number of projects.
[edit] Geek Fu Morning Show
Ms. Lafferty returned to the Geek Fu world on Aug. 24 2007 with long time friend and fellow pod caster Jason Adams by pod casting the Geek Fu morning show on the Geek Fu Action Grip feed. The new podcast is heralded as a morning show for geeks that can be recorded at any time of the day and listened to at any time of the day (hey it's always morning somewhere). The show regularly features updates on the host's lives, commentary on issues of interest and suggestions taken from listeners via twitter.
[edit] Voices: New Media Fiction
In early 2006, Ms. Lafferty edited and published Voices: New Media Fiction through podiobooks.com. This is an anthology of short fiction, podcasted by the authors, and featuring such contributors as James Patrick Kelly, and Cory Doctorow.
[edit] The Parsec Awards
In September 2006, Ms. Lafferty, along with Michael R. Mennenga and Tracy Hickman, founded the Parsec Awards, an awards show for the best in science fiction podcasting.
[edit] Quotes
- "I HAVE GOTTEN SO BIG I AM A SPACE STATION. RAR."
- "Go Eagle Go!"
[edit] Awards and Honors
- Member of the Podcast Pickle Hall of Fame
- One of the Top Ten Savvy Women in Podcasting, 2006
- Tricks of the Podcasting Masters was named one of the top 5 reference books for 2006 by Amazon.com.
- 2007 Parsec Award for Best Writing Podcast
[edit] Writing
Outside of podcasting, Ms. Lafferty has also worked as a freelance writer. Her early career began with her writing for White Wolf and other role playing game companies, and she has expanded to writing about games for such publications as Scrye, Knights of the Dinner Table, Anime Insider, Games Quarterly, and The Escapist.
She has also written essays for the online magazine Grumble, many of which have ended up on Geek Fu Action Grip.
[edit] Books
- Tricks of the Podcasting Masters (With Robert Walch) Que 2006 ISBN 0789735741
- Heaven - Season One, Podiobooks.com 2006 [1]
- Heaven - Season Two: Hell, Podiobooks.com 2007 [2]
- Heaven - Season Three: Earth, Podiobooks.com 2007 [3]
- Heaven - Season Four: Wasteland, Podiobooks.com 2007 [4]
- Playing for Keeps, Podiobooks.com 2007 [5]
