Welcome to Episode 164 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans. In this episode we talk about Mike’s successful Genrenauts Kickstarter and the new arrival in Greg’s family–the new youngest Speculate podcaster!–along with coming travel plans before beginning our next triptych, this one on Daniel Jose Older‘s Shadowshaper.  This book, about a young Puerto Rican woman from Brooklyn who learns about her family’s ability to use spirits, is our first YA novel in a while, and it’s one which has attracted an enormous amount of critical attention over the past year.  We talk about the book’s really engaging protagonist Sierra, the well-done sense of place (this is the actual Brooklyn, not the hipster one we hear about so often), and the interesting magic system, among other things.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll chat with Daniel Jose Older himself about the book.  And if you haven’t already, please check out our Patreon and consider becoming a patron so you can get access to even more content as our show continues to grow and develop.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon page, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!