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Episode #85: Ending a Series

Did you hear? We have a new book on the shelves! (The digital ones anyway.) With Operation: Endgame out and waiting for you to read, The Shared Desk is looking back on the ministry of Peculiar Occurrences and talks about everything a writer thinks, feels, and fears when wrapping up a series and dropping the curtain on familiar grounds.

And really, are they done with the Ministry? Well……

00:00 —  Introduction

  • Whew! It’s been a week…
  • If you want to relax, Dunkirk is NOT the movie to help you with that.
  • Okay, if you didn’t hear about it today…
    • Operation: Endgame is coming out today in all digital formats.
    • And did you know a new Christmas story is out for Tales from the Archives?
    • Audio and print books are coming in January/February 2018.
    • There’s also a special offer on 12/26 and 12/27 so download your copy now!

04:08 —  Episode #85: Ending a Series

  • You are having so much fun with this series, but now comes a time to wrap it up.
    • Nothing new for Pip with the Books of the Order.
    • For Tee, reaching the end has been proving elusive.
  • There’s a lot of time invested into a series, its characters, its world…and you wonder if you have one more book in you.
  • Is the drive and the desire there?
  • Pip was sad to see Sorcha and Raed go…but she got over it.
  • Tee’s issue with getting Operation: Endgame done — REAL LIFE.
  • Tee’s failed attempts at writing a series
    • MOREVI (which has fans on PSN and Twitch apparently)
    • The Billibub Baddings Mysteries
  • Tee may not have wanted to say goodbye to Books & Braun just yet…
  • The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences is not going anywhere. The podcast and this series, however, are done.
  • Ending on your own terms feels pretty damn good.
  • Kickstarter made it clear: A demand was there.
  • Tee finished Operation: Endgame…and fell apart.
  • Achievement Unlocked: We reached the end we had planned.
  • Verity Fitzroy is making the sting of ending a series less painful.
  • Change of all kinds take place in Operation: Endgame.
  • We do resolve things in the book…mostly.
  • BIG SHOUT-OUT to our editor, K.T. Bryski who will be here next week!
  • Humble beginnings to the series and the wild ride that ensued…
  • And we’re still married…but there was that one time during Curse of the Silver Pharaoh….
  • Taking a break from now until the summer because we got stuff to do on our own!
  • How can we forget Countless Hues of Crimson? Rivaled only by this amazing work of literature
  • Taking a bittersweet Victory Lap

26:40 — Writers Off the Clock

  • We just finished a book. LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES!!!
  • Let’s talk about some of the movies we saw over the weekend….
  • Dunkirk

    • Hans Zimmer decides to actually give us a really amazing score for this cinematic triumph.
    • Wait? you mean, things happened in World War II before Americans got involved?
    • Just brace yourself for those first ten minutes.
    • Hands down, Nolan’s best film.
  • Star Wars: The Last Jedi 

    • Spoiler Alert — JUMP TO TIMECODE 42:09 TO AVOID SPOILERS
    • LAST CHANCE — 42:09 TO AVOID SPOILERS
    • Tee liked it more than Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, but did not like it as much as Rogue One
    • Thoughts on the middle section
    • Thoughts on Rose
    • Thoughts on humor in Star Wars
    • Thoughts on Mary Poppins
    • Thoughts on Fan Rage
    • Thoughts from someone else about how we’ve been here before…
  • Bright

    • Bright is, according to Pip, Shadowrun.
    • It was more like Training Day: Shadowrun, but here’s the rundown of this (pretty damn clever) plot.
    • This is not high art, but it does not pretend to be anything else than what it is. AND IT WORKS!
    • Definitely rocking a Men in Black or Alien Nation vibe.
    • We talked about Suicide Squad, but this is a better film.
    • Critics are hating Bright…but Netflix is listening to the audience. 
    • Why Alien Nation was a better television show than it was a movie.
    • Is race an issue in this movie? Yes. Because LOOK AT OUR FREAKIN’ HEADLINES!

50:42 — The Wrap-Up

  • The Adventures of Centaur Cop, coming soon from Pip Ballantine.
  • We’re done for the year. So, go out, use that Amazon.com gift card, and buy our new book!
  • K.T. Bryski is coming!
  • 2017 was better than 2016, that’s for damn sure.
  • Foreshadowing for the next show — Your Author Word for 2018!
  • If you have an event and want The Shared Desk to appear there, or if you just want to share an opinion about the show, here’s where to find us…
    • 703.791.1701
    • pip@pjballantine.com
    • tee@teemorris.com
    • …and social media, of course.
  • Pip’s Patreon will feature the first episode of her ALL-NEW PODCAST!
  • See you in 2018!

54:15 — The Last Word

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Find us on Twitter at either Tee’s or Pip’s account,
leave us a voicemail or questions for the show at 703.791.1701,
or leave us a comment here at the blog.
We’ll talk about it!
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Subscribe, listen, and review.

Enjoy the ride
and we’ll catch you later.

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