A sci-fi romance about two people trying to live their lives while the universe quietly comes apart, Elliot Blake reveals the gritty, fast-moving story behind Into the Great and why he chose to build a love story inside a world of mining planets, border-town thieves, and unnerving alien visitors who say nothing and stare.

Blake brings an unusually deep entertainment background to the page. He is the executive producer of Apple TV’s The Sisters Grimm, and the director and executive producer of the three-season Moriarty Audible Original, set in a twisted Sherlock Holmes universe. That mix of animation, audio drama, and screen storytelling shapes everything about how he writes, from pacing and POV to the way he grounds big ideas in sharp character work.

We break down how Into the Great went from a shelved comic concept to a prose novella, including the challenge of adapting from script-style writing into past tense fiction. We also get into the influences that shaped the book’s atmosphere: the lived-in grit of Blade Runner, Alien, The Expanse, John Scalzi, and the Culture novels of Iain M. Banks.

If you love science fiction that's character-driven, and emotionally alive, this episode is for you.

In this episode, Sheila Masterson joins us to discuss her latest works and the intricacies of writing dark romance. With a captivating mix of humor and seriousness, Sheila reveals the challenges and joys of creating complex characters in intense settings.

Sheila shares her journey into the realm of dark romance, starting with her acclaimed book, The Poison Daughter. A story about a woman with a poison kiss, who lures unsuspecting men to their demise, until one night, things take an unexpected turn.

Join us in exploring the full episode to hear more about Sheila's writing process and her exciting future projects. You won't want to miss it!

Have you ever wondered how to build stories that truly resonate with readers who see themselves in the pages?

C.L. Clark reveals how writing characters from marginalized communities creates immersive, emotionally charged worlds that fans obsess over.

In this episode, Clark shares the surprising origins of Fortune’s Wake, the process for writing tight, impactful novellas, and how fan reactions unexpectedly brought their work into the spotlight.

Don't miss Fortune's Wake, coming from Grimdark Magazine on 8/24!

Cal Logan is back for round two, and it's the show's first return guest. His debut ShadowBane landed as one of Pete's picks for Indie Book of 2025, and the sequel, ShadowVein, closes out a very different kind of book two. Cal walks through the decision to pull back from book one's battle heavy structure and lean into political, character driven fantasy instead, a swing he knew was risky right after such a strong debut.

We get into the covers, including the original concept Cal brought his artist that got scrapped for something stronger, and the color shift for book two that quietly sets up book three. Cal also breaks down how much of ShadowBane and ShadowVein pulls directly from real Japanese yokai folklore rather than invented mythology, why he chose feudal Japan over Western demon lore for the series' backbone, and the specific liberties he did and didn't feel comfortable taking with a culture that isn't his own.

Plus how a planned single book split into a trilogy once the story kept growing past 700 pages, the advice Cal has for indie authors nervous to put themselves out there, and a first look at what's coming: a prequel novella covering the twins' early days, and a much bigger, war focused book three landing in 2028.

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Instagram / TikTok: @cal_logan_author

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0:00 — Intro and welcome back to episode twelve with Cal Logan

3:33 — Cal introduces Shadow Bane, Shadow Vein, and the Schism of Souls trilogy

4:41 — Why book two pulls back from action into political, character-driven fantasy

8:39 — Cover art process: the scrapped original concept and finding the right artist

11:40 — Book two's color shift and what it sets up for book three

27:35 — Splitting one massive manuscript into a trilogy

29:29 — Grimdark influences and that eight-message death scene

30:51 — How much of the demon mythology is real Japanese yokai folklore

32:25 — Why feudal Japan instead of Western demon lore

33:36 — Anime influences, Demon Slayer comps, and the Andy Palakin quote

37:21 — Advice for indie authors: being unafraid and staying genuine online

1:01:58 — The background mythology readers latched onto more than expected

1:03:11 — Why nothing an indie author writes goes to waste

1:04:51 — Book three update: war, mythology payoff, and a 2028 target

1:07:02 — The prequel novella: the twins' early days before Shadow Bane

1:08:26 — Wrap-up and where to find Cal

Pete has been dying to get Jesse Aragon on the show since he saw the cover of Demon Star back in January, and six months later the wait pays off. Jesse is a science fantasy author and full-time nurse whose debut, out July 28 from DAW, follows an exorcist and a demon-possessed warrior on a god-ruled, ruined planet, where the woman's son is chosen to become the vessel of a god-killing demon.

We get into how that cover came together, down to Jesse sketching stick-figure poses on a work schedule and sending it to the artist as reference. Jesse walks through the wild road to this book: querying at 19, a shelved 180,000-word novel that died on submission, a second agent, and a leaner 109,000-word manuscript that DAW then asked to expand by 20 to 30 percent. We talk about writing morally compromised leads without losing reader investment, the deliberate choice to let a queer relationship be as messy and "problematic" as any straight one in the genre, and how years working trauma and emergency medicine feed directly into how Jesse writes violence: ugly, consequential, never just cool.

Plus the exorcism horror movies and a half-remembered X-Files episode about a parasitic worm cult that Jesse didn't realize had shaped the whole book until a rewatch last year, the no-context text that delivered a Pierce Brown blurb, a second blurb from Rebecca Roanhorse that arrived the same way, and the advice Jesse has for anyone still years out from a book deal: the work still counts even when nobody's watching.

Demon Star releases July 28 from DAW. Book two, a standalone set in the same universe, is already in progress.

Instagram: @jva_writes

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0:00 — Intro and welcome to episode eleven with Jesse Aragon
1:02 — Jesse introduces Demon Star, out July 28
4:39 — The cover: working with artist Kieran Yanner and the stick-figure pose sketch
7:42 — Commissioning character art before the book deal even existed
10:20 — What DAW let Jesse do: expanding from a lean 109K to a longer, fuller book
12:16 — Writing flashbacks that don't break immersion
17:00 — Writing morally compromised leads without losing the reader
20:04 — Committing to an unlikable character instead of softening her
22:32 — How ER and nursing work shaped writing injury and trauma
26:52 — Why violence should hurt on the page, not just look cool
27:48 — Getting blurbed by Pierce Brown with zero context
31:31 — Messy, complicated relationships and "problematic" queer representation
35:26 — The horror side: exorcism movies, bugs, and a childhood love of possession stories
38:06 — The X-Files parasite-cult episode that quietly inspired the whole book
42:06 — Advice for aspiring authors: querying at 19, a book deal at 30
49:38 — Book two: a standalone set in the same universe
53:03 — What's surprised Jesse about early reader reactions
59:15 — Where to find Jesse and wrap-up

Gemma Vale discusses her debut novel 'Daughter of the Night' and her unique writing process, self-editing, and immersive marketing strategies. She also shares insights on her social media journey and the challenges of self-publishing. We cover Gemma Vale's writing process, the unique aspects of her editing style, the inspiration behind her book's shadows as characters, and the psychological horror elements of her upcoming work. Gemma also discusses her decision to self-publish and her approach to character perspectives in her writing.

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Connect with Gemma https://www.instagram.com/author.gemmavale/
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Chapters

• 00:00 Immersive Marketing Strategies
• 30:14 Inspiration from Stephen King and Editing Style
• 31:10 Unique Editing Process and Self-Publishing Decision
• 32:27 Shadows as Characters in the Book
• 33:31 Psychological Horror Elements and Character Perspectives

Fantasy Romance Month wraps up as Caty Rogan joins Devin and Pete to talk Kissed by the Gods, her recent traditional release with Requited and the first book in the Eternal Wars series. Caty writes feminine rage, winged war horses, and epic battles, and she made a believer out of Pete, a lifelong classic-fantasy reader who connected with this one harder than anything else in the genre lately.

We get into the world her husband stress-tested down to the population math, why language "rules" in fantasy are mostly made up, and the Star Wars DNA running under the whole series. Caty cops to Riot and Lena being her grown-up Anakin and Ahsoka fix-it fic, walks through Lena's training arc as someone who already had the badass part and had to learn how not to kill people, and lands on the line that took a few drafts to earn... found and furious.

Plus the pantser problem of fantasy, characters who refuse to do what you plotted, why duet audio is the only way, epigraphs she now regrets making this good, and the side couple that came to her the easiest. She also drops a strong rec on the way out.

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Connect with Caty https://www.instagram.com/catyrogan/

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Timestamps:

00:00 - Welcome and introduction to Katie Rogan

02:00 - Katie’s background in fantasy and transition into romance

05:00 - Making characters emotionally real and side characters memorable

10:00 - Worldbuilding: Landmass, population, and logistics

15:00 - Writing spicy scenes and audiobook experiences

20:00 - Social media's role in publishing success

25:00 - Developing her next project with a focus on character growth

30:00 - Indie versus traditional publishing: benefits and industry shifts

35:00 - Parenting, deadlines, and balancing creative life

40:00 - Audience questions on favorite quotes, reader reactions, and favorite reads

50:00 - Final book recommendations and upcoming projects

58:00 - Closing thoughts and thank you to Katie Rogan

Fantasy Romance Month continues as Stacia Stark joins to break down We Who Will Die, the ancient Rome-inspired romantasy she originally pitched as gladiator meets Vampire Diaries. Stacia went indie first, built her readership on the Kingdom of Lies series, and We Who Will Die is her first fully trad book, sold to Avon as a trilogy off a few chapters and a synopsis.

We get into why this is a book with trials and not a trials book, how Arvell's binding vow to kill the emperor in the first chapter gave Stacia a huge amount of rope to write into, and why a Taylor Jenkins Reed tennis novel quietly inspired one of the best training arcs in the genre. Stacia explains how she wrote real slow burn instead of miscommunication wearing a slow-burn costume, and walks through the sigil magic system where your power is literally stamped on your forehead, and a book two release date update you heard here first.

A heads up: there are a couple of light first-chapter setups discussed, all flagged in the moment.

NY Times and USA today best selling author Stacey McEwan joins Devin and Pete to kick off Fantasy Romance Month on Realm Runners, and it's a full hour of craft, chaos, and chicken-flavored chips. Stacey is the bestselling author of A Forbidden Alchemy (Peaky Blinders with magic) part of The Artisan series, published by Saga Press. She breaks down how the book came together from a genuinely unhinged first draft (dark academia war fiction steampunk romantasy was a real pitch), why she almost miscommunication-trapped herself into a corner, what it's actually like to get editor notes back when your entire brain is on the page, and where book three stands right now.

A Forsaken Prophecy releases July 14 (AU/UK) and July 21 (US). Tour dates coming soon.

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Connect with Stacey

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Chapters:

0:00 — Intro and Fantasy Romance Month

1:30 — How Devin ended up with a signed copy of Ledge

4:00 — Why Patrick works for readers regardless of gender

7:30 — What makes romance land vs. what makes it die

10:00 — Writing Nina's silence without it being a miscommunication cop-out

13:30 — How the book actually came together: dark academia + war docs + nan's bodice rippers

16:30 — The school arc that became its own book and then got cut

18:45 — The editor notes reel: what it looks like on the outside vs. what it feels like on the inside

21:15 — Coles vs. Woolies

23:00 — Chicken-flavored chips and the cultural divide

26:45 — Balancing writing, mothering, and touring (and the bargain she made with herself)

31:20 — How teaching shaped her storytelling instincts

35:00 — Student plot twists, reader DMs, and Raven Kennedy's lawyers

37:00 — A Forsaken Prophecy updates and why book two was an absolute pain to write

39:15 — AFV: the book three title tease

41:00 — The Kindle highlights that surprised her

43:15 — Readers obsessing over an air charmer that isn't coming

45:30 — The gaslight fantasy world and how ANZAC tunnelers inspired the magic system

49:30 — Writing real sibling dynamics (Patrick's brothers and the banter)

52:00 — Tour dates, wrap-up, and the Stacia Stark teaser for next week

Thomas Clark Schecter joins Realm Runners to talk about The Shieldbreaker Saga, his epic dark fantasy series following 19-year-old Kareva as he leads the last of the Hodrir against the seemingly unstoppable Pohyor. Described by readers as the fantasy equivalent of 300, with the heart of Bernard Cornwell and the brutality of Abercrombie, The Shieldbreaker: Book One – The Last of the Etela is a lean, visceral, and emotionally devastating debut that proves you don't need 800 pages to build a world worth dying in.

Tom breaks down how his background as an educator and history enthusiast shaped the tribal cultures, naming conventions, and military tactics in the book, why he opened with an epilogue that tells you the ending from page one (and why that was the right call), how his multi-POV battle sequences were designed to make readers feel the tide of war shift in real time, and where the Shieldbreaker Saga goes from here.

📖 The Shieldbreaker, Book One: The Last of the Etela → https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/236990876

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Connect with Thomas Schecter → https://ShieldbreakerSaga.com

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00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction

02:28 Book Cover Design and Aesthetic Choices

05:24 The Writing Process and Series Development

08:21 Influences and Inspirations for the Story

11:07 Narrative Structure and Epilogue Discussion

13:55 Character Development and Motivations

16:42 Historical Context and Research

19:23 Writing Style and POV Techniques

22:14 Final Thoughts and Future Works

31:40 Building Epic Battles and Character Depth

33:36 The Emotional Impact of Character Connections

35:44 Character-Driven Worldbuilding in Fantasy

38:20 The Challenge of Expanding a Fantasy Universe

40:25 Creating Rhythm and Pacing in Storytelling

44:49 Themes of Identity in Times of Crisis

47:11 Escapism vs. Realism in Fantasy Literature

50:26 The Future of the Shield Breaker Saga