Last week's guest, Dave Thomas, stuck around to help us answer questions about self-publishing, giving away your work for free, the differences between undergrad and graduate workshops, and the joys and aggravations of academia. Talking points include: free e-books, shrimp on the barbie, Tom getting punched in the face, bloomin' onions, Kiwis, the Rocka-Fire Explosion, and belletriciousness. For more, visit bookfightpod.com.

We welcome special guest Dave Thomas to talk about Salter's new novel, Tom as a mentor, horse ejaculate and the sexiness of bakeries.

We talk writers' desks, literary agents, and grad-school recommendations. Plus Garfield, sexual roleplay, eggs (which are delicious!) and Tom's ill-fated turn on reality television. Get more at bookfightpod.com.

Would you like to hear us talk about Disney World for half an hour? If so, then this is the episode for you! Also we dig into Doctorow's first novel, in our continuing efforts to explore some work outside our usual genre comfort zones. Talking points include: the defeat of death, Facebook likes as currency, problematic premises, the Haunted Mansion, Mike's childhood propensity for tears, carnival food, the Gravitron, and Battlestar Galactica. Get more at bookfightpod.com.

We offer tips for organizing your files, dealing with your MFA classmates, and Highlandering your enemies. Got questions for us? Email them to bookfightpod@gmail.com, or tweet them to us at @Book_Fight.

We foist a book upon Tom's college roommate, an avowed non-reader. Will he like it? Will he spit it out, like a child being forced to eat spinach? Talking points include: 80s trivia, Sarah Palin, TV Guide Recommends, info-dumps, dystopian futures, The Princess Bride, and videogames.

Heartbreaking church lock-ins, awkward rest stop encounters, and also we answer some questions about writing. How does one find a mentor? Once you get some work accepted, do the rejections lose their sting? And what's the deal with book trailers?

Book Fight road trip! We recorded this episode in a car (Tom's) while driving to the annual Conversations and Connections conference in Washington, D.C. The book this week is Tom's pick, and boy is it a bummer. Though a very well-written, culturally important bummer. We still found stuff to joke about, including bears, Tom's driving skills, tunnels, sharks, and Jay Leno's quest for love and approval. We also talked about the upsides and downsides of allegory, and whether Coetzee's narrator is a creep.

This week's closing music is from Phosphorescent's 2005 album "To Willie," which you can find in the iTunes store.

To MFA or not to MFA: that is the question. Also, what's our beef with flash fiction? And how should writers use Twitter and Facebook? Plus Tom burns a bridge, and Mike tries to glean some lessons from past failures.

One of Mike's favorite books, which means if Tom doesn't properly love it Mike might have to punch him. Also: Britishisms, the Middle Ages, academic ambivalence, Jenga, and ballet.