Rite Gud

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Rite Gud episodes

December 15, 2022How We Read and Why
[Full Transcript Here]
This is a writing podcast, so we talk a lot about reading. Most of the time, we’ve been discussing what we read, but today we’re going to discuss how we read and why we read. What’s the point of reading when there are other ways of getting information? Does reading make you a better person? And why are so many Americans so bad at it? Joining us today is Chrisbookishcauldron, book critic and YouTuber.
Links:
Chris’s YouTube Channel
Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong
Gambling streamer Adin Ross attempting to read
Against YA: Adults Should Be Embarrassed to Read Children’s Books
Henry James and the Great YA Debate
The Bookcast Club
In Defense of Defending the Literary Canon
About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes and more.
The Rite Gud theme is by OK Glass. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Bandcamp, and at OK.Glass.
The post How We Read and Why by Matt Keeley appeared first on Kittysneezes.
1 hr 17 min
November 23, 2022Sci-fi and Fantasy for Peasants
[Full transcript available here.]
Science fiction and fantasy can imagine many things–impossible worlds, unthinkable technology, fantastic creatures, magic, gods and monsters–but for some reason, a lot of SFF authors have a hard time imagining stories about poor people. Fantasy stories often focus on royalty. Sci-fi protagonists tend to be middle or upper class: tenured professors, scientists, white-collar astronauts, federal agents, military officers, that kind of thing. Even when a story starts with a poor protagonist, by the end they’ve usually achieved knighthood or become captain of a spaceship or something like that. But what’s wrong with writing about poor people or working class people? Don’t they have stories worth telling?
Links:
About the Kinsey Institute
We Will Support You: The Story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners
Christian Smalls: A New Kind of Labor Leader
The Smol Bean Emperor
The Wage Gap Among LGBTQ Workers in the United States
The Disturbing Story of Death and Insanity at Wales’ Most Remote Lighthouse
Qualia Redux: Is Twitter Dead?
About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes and more.
The Rite Gud theme is by OK Glass. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Bandcamp, and at OK.Glass.
The post Sci-fi and Fantasy for Peasants by Matt Keeley appeared first on Kittysneezes.
1 hr 8 min
November 03, 2022Diverse Sci-Fi/Fantasy of the 20th Century
In part two of our discussion on diverse sci-fi and fantasy, we turn our attention to the later half of the 20th century, when the field opened up a little more to BIPOC and queer authors.
This is a huge topic and we couldn’t possibly cover everyone, so here’s a list of recommended authors who we didn’t get a chance to discuss in depth in this episode:
Josephine Saxton
Virginia Hamilton
Kate Wilhelm
D. C. Fontana
Margaret Brundage (artist, the famous cover artist for Weird Tales)
Rachel Pollack
Jean-Marie Stine
Somtow Sucharitkul (S. P. Somtow)
Ernest Hogan
R. Garcia y Robertson
Elizabeth A. Lynn
C. L. Moore
Leigh Brackett
Kit Reed
James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon)
Rosel George Brown
Joanna Russ
Nicola Griffith
Suzy McKee Charnas
Nalo Hopkinson
Tananarive Due
Samuel R. Delany (duh)
Ursula K. Le Guin (duh)
Octavia Butler (duh)
Katherine MacLean
Wilmar Shiras
Judith Merril
Andre Norton
Tom Disch
Mildred Clingerman
Zenna Henderson
C. J. Cherryh
David Gerrold
Tanith Lee
Margaret St. Clair
Carol Emshwiller
Michelle Sagara West
Geoff Ryman
Ellen Kushner
Delia Sherman
Vonda MacIntyre
Marta Randall
Pauline Hopkins
Sheri S. Tepper
About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes and more.
The Rite Gud theme is by OK Glass. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Bandcamp, and at OK.Glass.
The post Diverse Sci-Fi/Fantasy of the 20th Century by Matt Keeley appeared first on Kittysneezes.
2 hr 5 min
October 13, 2022Women Writers of the Pulp Era
Women have always been in science fiction, ever since Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, but far too many of them have been forgotten or at least underappreciated. In this episode of Rite Gud, we are joined by Stephen Mazur, former Assistant Editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, to talk about the women of sci-fi’s pulp era.
Books and Magazines Read or Consulted
Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926-1965 by Eric Leif Davin
Storyteller by Kate Wilhelm
Women of Wonder, edited by Pamela Sargent
Women of Futures Past, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Dream Makers: The Uncommon People Who Write Science Fiction by Charles Platt
Dream Makers Volume II by Charles Platt
F&SF September 2001, Special Kate Wilhelm Issue
Castle of the Otter by Gene Wolfe
Locus Magazine June 1998
Locus November 2002
Locus March 2003
The Citadel of Fear by Francis Stevens
The Best From Fantasy & Science Fiction, 3rd Series
Star Songs of an Old Primate by James Tiptree, Jr.
Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
Again, Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
Women of Vision: Essays by women writing science fiction, edited by Denise Du Pont
Imaro by Charles Saunders
Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction From the African Diaspora edited by Sheree R. Thomas
The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines from the beginning to 1950, by Mike Ashley
Transformations: The Story of the Science Fiction Magazines from 1950-1970, by Mike Ashley
The Futurians, by Damon Knight
The Time of Their Lives: The Golden Age of Great American Publishers, Their Editors and Authors by Al Silverman
Lightspeed Women Destroy Science Fiction! Special Issue June 2014
Lightspeed Queers Destroy Science Fiction! Special Issue June 2015
Lightspeed People of Color Destroy Science Fiction! Special Issue June 2016
The Age of Ruin by John M. Faucette
The Best of C. L. Moore edited by Lester del Rey
Further Reading
The Best of Leigh Brackett edited by Edmond Hamilton
Black No More by George Schuyler
More Women of Wonder edited by Pamela Sargent
The New Women of Wonder edited Pamela Sargent
Women of Wonder: The Classic Years edited by Pamela Sargent
Women of Wonder: The Contemporary Years edited by Pamela Sargent
The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction by Justine Larbalestier
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips
We Who Are About To by Joanna Russ
Dark Matter: Reading the Bones edited by Sheree R. Thomas
Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers: 1852-1923edited by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger
Weird Women: Volume 2: 1840-1925: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers edited by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger
Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction edited by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson
The Yellow Peril: Chinese Americans in American Fiction, 1850-1940 by William F. Wu
About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes and more.
The Rite Gud theme is by OK Glass. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Bandcamp, and at OK.Glass.
The post Women Writers of the Pulp Era by Matt Keeley appeared first on Kittysneezes.
2 hr 8 min
September 21, 2022No Plot Just Vibes
In fiction, a plot is the sequence of connected events that make up a narrative. These events aren’t random things that happen–there’s a relationship between them, usually a causative one. Generally, a plot in fiction leads up to a climax that answers a central question or resolves a central conflict.
Unless you’re writing really experimental fiction, your story has a plot in it. Narrative works have a plot. If you want to be a writer, it is a good idea to understand how to structure a good plot.
However! Many writers overemphasize the importance of plot. They focus on plot so much they forget about everything else. In this episode of Rite Gud, we are joined once again by Karlo Yeager Rodríguez, who is going to tell us why plot isn’t everything.
Links:
What is plot?
The Problem with Plot
Freytag’s Pyramid
Has plot driven out other kinds of story?
The Japanese Words for Space Could Change Your View of the World
A Line of Ink
Podside Picnic
Seize the Press
Image from Jordi Torrents.
About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes and more.
The Rite Gud theme is by OK Glass. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Bandcamp, and at OK.Glass.
The post No Plot Just Vibes by Matt Keeley appeared first on Kittysneezes.
1 hr 19 min
September 01, 2022Writing Beyond the End of History
Sci-fi and fantasy are imaginative genres that can show us new, impossible worlds. Sometimes, they offer us escape from our dreary lives. But there’s one thing contemporary SFF can’t seem to escape. As Mark Fisher once said, “It’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.
” In this episode of Rite Gud, Simon McNeil joins us to talk about writing beyond the end of history.
Links:
Gothic Anti-Realism: Art for the Unsatisfied
The Problem with the Middle
The Problem of Neoliberal Realism in Contemporary Fiction
Francis Fukuyama Postpones the End of History
The End of History revisited
Machinic Unconscious Happy Hour
Murasaki Shikibu and The Tale of Genji
About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes and more.
The Rite Gud theme is by OK Glass. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Bandcamp, and at OK.Glass.
The post Writing Beyond the End of History by Matt Keeley appeared first on Kittysneezes.
53 min
August 11, 2022How To Start a Magazine for Fun and Absolutely No Profit
Writer, podcaster, editor, and mall explorer Kurt Schiller joins us to discuss how he started his magazine, Blood Knife. Since its inception a few short years ago, Blood Knife has become a notable voice in cultural criticism, and has been cited by NPR, the BBC, and the New York Times. In this episode, Kurt shares what it takes to launch a magazine, attract subscribers, and give writers a space to create thought-provoking work.
Links:
How to Summon the Devil and What to Do When He Shows Up
Gnostic Horror and the Fall into History
An article that came out a few months after the article above
Another Tor piece that definitely isn’t imitating another viral essay that came out a few months prior
VERY ONLINE, a zine partly inspired by June Martin’s story
The Culture War: Iain M. Banks’s Billionaire Fans
L*vecraft Country
I Gave You My Soul (and I Am Dead): Gender and Faustian Fiction
Kurt’s secret project
About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes and more.
The Rite Gud theme is by OK Glass. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Bandcamp, and at OK.Glass.
The post How To Start a Magazine for Fun and Absolutely No Profit by Matt Keeley appeared first on Kittysneezes.
1 hr 15 min
July 21, 2022Space Racism, Oppressed Wizards, and Other Marginalized Fantasy Allegories
Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror have always used speculative elements to express political ideas. HG Wells wrote War of the Worlds as a reaction to British colonialism, Tolkien explored his feelings about World War I and industrialization in The Lord of the Rings, and Mary Shelley had a lot to say about gender and modernity in Frankenstein. Many speculative authors use fantastic creatures–mutants, fairies, werewolves, androids, vampires, and so on–as allegories for oppressed people. Sometimes that can work. But sometimes, it falls flat in terms of storytelling and politics.
In the first episode of our second season, Ashely Adams joins us to talk about plant influencers, gay werewolves, and what House in the Cerulean Sea has in common with The Iron Dream.
Links:
How Allegory in Sci-Fi Can Narrow Representation
Interview with TJ Klune
48 Books by Indigenous Writers to Read to Understand Residential Schools
Best of Super Best Friends play Detroit: Become Human
A super-dark deleted scene from Zootopia
Hijacking the Dead? Terry Pratchett and the Trans ‘Debate’
Grey
About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes and more.
The Rite Gud theme is by OK Glass. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Bandcamp, and at OK.Glass.
Rite Gud is supported by readers like you. If you enjoy what you’ve heard here, please consider supporting Rite Gud on Patreon, or via the Kittysneezes Boutique.
The post Space Racism, Oppressed Wizards, and Other Marginalized Fantasy Allegories by Matt Keeley appeared first on Kittysneezes.
1 hr 9 min
June 30, 2022Writing Beyond Limits with Naben Ruthnum
Writers are often under pressure to follow rules, to write to the market, to carefully fit themselves into a safe cultural and commercial niche. You have to stick to one genre, and follow the standard recipe for that genre, or else audiences will get mad and your book won’t sell. At least, that’s what publishers say. But some writers know better.
In this episode, Naben Ruthnum joins us to talk about body horror, the pressures of the market, and how Indian diaspora writers get pushed into writing formulaic “curry” books.
(Image via NEON)
Links:
Helpmeet
Find You in the Dark
Your Life Is Mine
A Hero of Our Time
Why Curry Doesn’t Really Exist
About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes and more.
The Rite Gud theme is by Surgeryhead. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Soundcloud.
Rite Gud is supported by readers like you. If you enjoy what you’ve heard here, please consider supporting Rite Gud on Patreon, or via the Kittysneezes Boutique.
The post Writing Beyond Limits with Naben Ruthnum by Matt Keeley appeared first on Kittysneezes.
1 hr 3 min
June 30, 2022 Writing Beyond Limits with Naben Ruthnum

Writers are often under pressure to follow rules, to write to the market, to carefully fit themselves into a safe cultural and commercial niche. You have to stick to one genre, and follow the standard recipe for that genre, or else audiences will get mad and your book won’t sell. At least, that’s what publishers say. But some writers know better.

In this episode, Naben Ruthnum joins us to talk about body horror, the pressures of the market, and how Indian diaspora writers get pushed into writing formulaic “curry” books.

(Image via NEON)

Links:

*
Helpmeet

*
Find You in the Dark

*
Your Life Is Mine

*
A Hero of Our Time

*
Why Curry Doesn’t Really Exist

About Rite Gud: Raquel S. Benedict is an author, appearing in Fantasy and Science Fiction and Gardner Dozois’ The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction. Matt Keeley, founder of Kittysneezes, is producing Rite Gud for KS Media, LLC. Rite Gud is a Kittysneezes production. If you have questions, comments and concerns, email ritegud – at – kittysneezes – dot – com. Rite Gud is also on Patreon, at patreon.com/ritegud. Patrons receive access to the official Kittysneezes Discord, exclusive episodes and more.
The Rite Gud theme is by Surgeryhead. Follow them on Twitter, YouTube and Soundcloud.

Rite Gud is supported by readers like you. If you enjoy what you’ve heard here, please consider supporting Rite Gud on Patreon, or via the Kittysneezes Boutique.
1 hr 3 min

About Rite Gud

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This isn’t a podcast for total beginners. We’re going to assume that you know what plot structure is, what a protagonist is, where ideas come from, and how to use a semicolon. This is a podcast for…

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