Signal Boost

On today’s Signal Boosts, Shaun and Jen share some exciting news about the Skiffy and Fanty website, our RSS feeds, the future of our funding sources, and our 2017 Reader/Listener Survey! Even though we’re pissed about what Patreon just did, our patron support has allowed us to do some really big things that will help us grow and provide you more control over what you listen to. It’s pretty gosh darn amazing. And please make sure you go take the survey so we can get even more awesome than we are now!

And then we get to our VERY IMPORTANT mini-boosts!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show!

Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Signal Boost #29 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

“Funny Money, Patreon Style” by Natalie Luhrs

Mini-Boosts

* Shaun’s Boosts:

* Jady Ivy Monet of Alt Jade Designs – Web Designer Extraordinaire

* GO VOTE FOR DOUG JONES, ALABAMA! Like, right this minute. Stop reading this and go vote.

* Jen’s Boosts:

* Get Joyce Chng to ICFA!

* #TheDarkisReading – The Dark is Rising read-along!

Our new intro music comes “The Launch” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next time.

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks to Claudie Arseneault about her work, including the recently released second book of the City of Spires trilogy, City of Betrayal. They discuss the mosaic narrative of City of Spires, found families, the solar punk genre and her first book, Viral Airwaves, and what inspired Claudie to create the Aromantic and Asexual Speculative Fiction Database.

Then Brandon O’Brien, speculative poet and poetry editor, joins Shaun to talk about what draws him to poetry as a medium, his classical and local influences, how he explores the African diaspora from a Caribbean perspective in his work, and about FIYAH Magazine and what he looks for in a good speculative fiction poem.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show!

Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Signal Boost #28 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

* Claudie Arseneault (00:55 – 16:25)

* Claudie’s Website

* Claudie’s Twitter

* The Aromantic and Asexual Speculative Fiction Database

* City of Betrayal (GO BUY IT!)

* Brandon O’Brien (16:47 – 39:14)

* Brandon’s Website

* Brandon’s Twitter

* Brandon’s Patreon

* FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction

Our new intro music comes “The Launch” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next time.

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks K. Arsenault Rivera about her debut novel, The Tiger’s Daughter. K talks about the narrative structure of the novel, the importance of queer representation, how her Kung Fu film obsession helped her write the action sequences, and gives us a great break down of the important characters.

Then Stacey Berg, author of Dissension and Regeneration, joins Paul to tell us about her character driven, post-apocalyptic Echo Hunter 367 Duology, how they were shaped by a very specific scene and what inspired the post-apocalyptic secular society she created.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show!

Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Signal Boost #27 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

* K Arsenault Rivera (00:54 – 15:32)

* K’s Website

* K’s Twitter

* The Tiger’s Daughter (GO BUY IT!)

* Stacey Berg (15:54 – 29:39)

* Stacey’s Website

* Stacey’s Twitter

* Echo Hunter 367 Novels (GO BUY THEM!)

Our new intro music comes “The Launch” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next time.

On today’s Signal Boosts, Shaun and Jen take a moment to squee about the fact that there are going to be THREE WHOLE NEW STAR WARS MOVIES AND A TV SHOW AND OMG! SQUEEEEEE!!! They’re moderately more coherent than that as they tackle what type of story Rian Johnson might tell. Then Jen moves them into both a squee about the new character, Rose, and a rant about jewelry.

And then we get to our subliminal messaging mini-boosts!

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show!

Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Signal Boost #26 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

* All the Star Wars

* New ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy in Works With Rian Johnson, TV Series Also Coming to Disney Streaming Service

* What Star Wars History May Tell Us About Rian Johnson’s New Trilogy

* New Star Wars: The Last Jedi image reveals Rose’s mystery necklace

* Carrie Fisher is the Reason Star Wars: The Last Jedi is Filled With Space Jewelry

Mini-Boosts

* Jen’s Boosts:

* Sword and Sonnet Anthology Kickstarter

* FIYAH Literary Magazine Subscription Preorder Special

* Shaun’s Boosts:

* Medieval Fantasy City Generator

* yWriter

Our new intro music comes “The Launch” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next time.

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks to Mike Brooks about the third installment of his Keiko series, Dark Deeds. Mike gives us a recap of the the first two books, which he calls dirty space opera, and sets us up for the crew’s shenanigans as they try to pull off a heist and save a crew-member. He also discusses how he worked to make this series his own given its Firefly inspired origins.

Then S.A. Chakraborty, debut author of The City of Brass, joins Jen to tell us about the medieval middle eastern inspirations of her novel, how it started out as historical fan fic, how a djinn (not the Disney version) might be influenced by a long-view of human history, and how Nahri is forced to make her way in Daevabad, the City of Brass. We also get a glimpse into how The City of Brass found a home through the #DVPit pitch process! (Apologies for the audio; sometimes the internet just doesn’t want to cooperate!)

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show!

Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Signal Boost #25 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

* Mike Brooks (00:55 – 14:25)

* Mike’s Website

* Mike’s Twitter

* Mike’s Patreon

* Dark Deeds (GO BUY IT!)

* S.A. Chakraborty (14:50 – 26:14)

* Shannon’s Website

* Shannon’s Twitter

* The City of Brass (GO BUY IT!)

Our new intro music comes “The Launch” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next time.

This is the final episode of our month of focusing on horror writers, and it has been so much fun that we’ll be sure to do it again next year! Each of our guests had different reasons for why they write horror and how they use the conventions of horror to explore themes that are important and interesting to them, so make sure you listen to all of them!

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks to Ian Muneshwar, a queer writer of Indo-Guyanese descent, about how he uses his work to explore his cultural history of forced diaspora, how he works with language in his stories, and how his queer identity influences his writing.

Then Zin E. Rocklyn, a writer of Trinidadian descent, talks to Jen about the childhood stories (CW: Gore) that inspired her love of horror, how she juxtaposes the sacred and the profane, and how important it was to her to be included alongside other black women in the horror anthology Sycorax’s Daughters.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show!

Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Signal Boost #24 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

* Ian Muneshwar (00:55 – 16:20)

* Ian’s Website

* Ian’s Twitter

* “Ravana’s Children” in Podcastle

* “Skins Smooth as Plantains, Hearts Soft as Mango” in The Dark Magazine

* “Ossuary” in Clarkesworld

* “The Falling Game” in Liminal Stories

* Zin E. Rocklyn (16:45 – 33:45)

* Zin’s Websites: Here and Here

* Zin’s Twitter

* “Razorfangs”

* Sycorax’s Daughters edited by Kinitra Brooks, PhD, Linda D. Addison & Susana Morris, PhD

* Forever Vacancy edited by Mya Lairis

Our new intro music comes “The Launch” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next time

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks to Eden Royce, a southern black woman transplanted to jolly old England, about the differences between horror and the Southern Gothic, the influences of her rootwork and hoodoo cultural background, the challenges of getting published in horror given the kinds of stories she writes, and so much more.

Then Karolina Fedyk, a non-binary Polish writer, talks to Jen about why they write horror, the importance of representing marginalized people in stories about Polish history, the challenges to writing in two different languages, and how their stories are different depending on which language they write in.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show!

Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Signal Boost #23 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

* Eden Royce (00:55 – 18:48)

* Eden’s Website

* Eden’s Twitter

* “Crickets Sing for Naomi” in Podcastle (GO LISTEN OR READ!)

* Karolina Fedyk (19:11 – 33:01)

* Karolina’s Twitter

* “Seams” in The Dark Magazine

* “The Early History of the Moon” in Metaphorosis

* “Następcy tronu” in Esensja

* “Serce Vann” in Zabawa w Boga Anthology

Our new intro music comes “The Launch” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next time

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks to Canadian-Born Trinidadian horror writer, Tonya Liburd, about the horror of losing identity, how horror allows you to talk about taboo subjects, and her short story, “A Question of Faith.”

Then Stephen Graham Jones — award winning author — joins Jen to talk about how he first got into horror, his first published horror novel, Demon, and about the compact between horror writer and reader.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show!

Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Signal Boost #22 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

* Tonya Liburd (00:55 – 17:18)

* Tonya’s Website

* Tonya’s Twitter

* “A Question of Faith” at Book Smugglers (GO READ/BUY IT!)

* Stephen Graham Jones(17:41 – 30:49)

* Stephen’s Website

* Stephen’s Twitter

* Demon Theory (GO BUY IT!)

Our new intro music comes “The Launch” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next time.

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, we kick off our month of focusing on horror writers from traditionally marginalized communities. First up, Jen talks to Nathan Adler — artist, writer, Anishinaabe and Jewish member of the Lac Des Milles Lacs First Nation — about his novel, Wrist, how Anishinaabe stories informed the monster and how his identities contribute to the topics he explores.

Then Darcie Little Badger — Lipan Apache writer and scientist — joins Jen to talk about indigenous futurism, how she uses horror to wrestle with her personal ghosts, and about her newest story, “The Whalebone Parrot,” and the history that informs it.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show!

Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Signal Boost #21 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

* Nathan Adler (00:55 – 16:47)

* Nathan’s Website

* Nathan’s Twitter

* Wrist (GO BUY IT!)

* Darcie Little Badger (17:15 – 32:56)

* Darcie’s Website

* Darcie’s Twitter

* “The Whalebone Parrot” in The Dark Magazine (GO READ IT!)

Our new intro music comes “The Launch” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next time.

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Sandra Odell, prolific short story writer, joins Jen to talk about disability, sexuality, and gender representation in science fiction and fantasy, how her identities inform her short stories, and what good representation actually looks like.

Then Ausma Zehanat Khan, author of the Esa Khattak and Rachel Getty mysteries, joins Jen to talk about her debut fantasy novel, The Bloodprint, the influence of the Silk Road on the story, how human rights act as a through-line in all her work, and how she loves stories in which women get to take control of their destinies.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show!

Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Signal Boost #20 — Download (MP3)

Show Notes:

* Sandra Odell (00:51 – 17:57)

* Sandra’s Website

* Sandra’s Twitter

* “For” at Cast of Wonders(GO READ IT!)

* Ausma Zehanat Khan (18:24 – 31:42)

* Ausma’s Website

* Ausma’s Twitter

* The Bloodprint (GO BUY THIS!)

Our new intro music comes “The Launch” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next time.