Speculate

Welcome to Episode 137 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk to the inimitable Ed Greenwood, author, editor, creator of the Forgotten Realms, and head of the new publishing company The Ed Greenwood Group, about his new work and his new venture.  As usual, Ed amazes with his inexhaustible energy and enthusiasm, and his plans are exciting, to say the least–plus we get to hear his thoughts about how publishing has changed over the past ten years, and why now is the perfect time for TEGG.  We hope you enjoyed the chat as much as we did!  If so, don’t forget to check back for our next set of shows, interviews with some of the luminaries at Gen Con 2015.  And if you haven’t already, please check out our Patreon and consider becoming a patron so we can continue to bring you analysis of the best authors, editors and artists in speculative fiction. Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon page, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 135 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Ken Liu, focusing on his novel The Grace of Kings.  During the course of our chat Ken talks about the books and films which influenced the novel, the nature of story telling in Chinese culture and its impact on the novel’s structure, the role of the gods, and the ways women are represented in the work (and the reasons for all of the above).  This was a really interesting and wide-ranging discussion, and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back next week for our final show of the triptych as we look at some of the writing techniques used in the novel.  And remember, both our writing technique shows and the Good, Bad and Ugly segments (a new one of which Ken recorded for us) are only available to our Patreon supporters, so please head over there to hear more about Ken and his work.  Thanks to all who have supported us, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 135 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Ken Liu, focusing on his novel The Grace of Kings.  During the course of our chat Ken talks about the books and films which influenced the novel, the nature of story telling in Chinese culture and its impact on the novel’s structure, the role of the gods, and the ways women are represented in the work (and the reasons for all of the above).  This was a really interesting and wide-ranging discussion, and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back next week for our final show of the triptych as we look at some of the writing techniques used in the novel.  And remember, both our writing technique shows and the Good, Bad and Ugly segments (a new one of which Ken recorded for us) are only available to our Patreon supporters, so please head over there to hear more about Ken and his work.  Thanks to all who have supported us, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 134 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a new triptych of shows on the work of multiple Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award winning author Ken Liu, focusing on his debut novel, The Grace of Kings.  Ken’s reputation speaks for itself, and as we discuss in this show, it’s easy to see in his character creation and worldbuilding how he’s earned that reputation…to say nothing of his grasp of Chinese history and politics (and airships!) which are so often in evidence in the book.  If you enjoy the discussion, don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll interview the author himself (a conversation we’re really looking forward to) about the process of writing The Grace of Kings.  And if you haven’t already, please check out our Patreon and consider becoming a patron so we can continue to bring you analysis of the best authors, editors and artists in speculative fiction.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon page, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 134 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a new triptych of shows on the work of multiple Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award winning author Ken Liu, focusing on his debut novel, The Grace of Kings.  Ken’s reputation speaks for itself, and as we discuss in this show, it’s easy to see in his character creation and worldbuilding how he’s earned that reputation…to say nothing of his grasp of Chinese history and politics (and airships!) which are so often in evidence in the book.  If you enjoy the discussion, don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll interview the author himself (a conversation we’re really looking forward to) about the process of writing The Grace of Kings.  And if you haven’t already, please check out our Patreon and consider becoming a patron so we can continue to bring you analysis of the best authors, editors and artists in speculative fiction.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon page, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 133 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk speculative fiction and music with podcaster/musician John Anealio and writer/musician Peter Orullian, looking at how to write music in speculative fiction believably, how music has informed our work (and, in some cases, vice versa), and why music and its literary representation has its intangible but undeniable impact on us as listeners and readers.  We really enjoyed this discussion (and Greg in particular had fun talking a different kind of “shop” with fellow musicians!), which ran a bit longer than normal–but we hope you’ll agree with us that it was worth the extra time.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back soon when we’ll begin our triptych of shows on Ken Liu‘s The Grace of Kings.  And don’t forget that our Good, Bad and Ugly segments (including one from Peter here) are only available to our Patreon supporters, so please head over there to hear more about our guests and their work.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon page, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 133 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk speculative fiction and music with podcaster/musician John Anealio and writer/musician Peter Orullian, looking at how to write music in speculative fiction believably, how music has informed our work (and, in some cases, vice versa), and why music and its literary representation has its intangible but undeniable impact on us as listeners and readers.  We really enjoyed this discussion (and Greg in particular had fun talking a different kind of “shop” with fellow musicians!), which ran a bit longer than normal–but we hope you’ll agree with us that it was worth the extra time.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back soon when we’ll begin our triptych of shows on Ken Liu‘s The Grace of Kings.  And don’t forget that our Good, Bad and Ugly segments (including one from Peter here) are only available to our Patreon supporters, so please head over there to hear more about our guests and their work.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon page, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 132 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, we talk about speculative fiction and games–and the increasingly blurred lines between them–with authors Carrie Patel and Josh Vogt, both with game and novel writing credits.  We consider the ways writing for games and writing for novels are linked, how to navigate the treacherous waters from idea to publication, and the ways authors (and how we see authors) are changing.  We really enjoyed chatting with two people who like books and games as much as we do, and we hope you find it as interesting as we did.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back soon when we’ll have a discussion with John Anealio and Peter Orullian about speculative fiction and music.  And don’t forget that our Good, Bad and Ugly segments (including the one from Carrie and Josh here) are only available to our Patreon supporters, so please head over there to hear more about our guests and their work.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon page, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 132 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, we talk about speculative fiction and games–and the increasingly blurred lines between them–with authors Carrie Patel and Josh Vogt, both with game and novel writing credits.  We consider the ways writing for games and writing for novels are linked, how to navigate the treacherous waters from idea to publication, and the ways authors (and how we see authors) are changing.  We really enjoyed chatting with two people who like books and games as much as we do, and we hope you find it as interesting as we did.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back soon when we’ll have a discussion with John Anealio and Peter Orullian about speculative fiction and music.  And don’t forget that our Good, Bad and Ugly segments (including the one from Carrie and Josh here) are only available to our Patreon supporters, so please head over there to hear more about our guests and their work.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon page, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 130 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we tackle China Mieville‘s The City and the City with Tor.com‘s commissioning editor and Rocket Talk‘s co-host Justin Landon, looking at what makes the 2010 Hugo winner such a compelling read.  We consider the role of space, spaces, and the ways we intentionally and unintentionally breach them, the nature of political agency and intention, and what makes a speculative fiction work truly speculative…and what The City and the City does in all of these areas.  If you like what you hear, make sure to support our Patreon so you can get access to our writing technique show next week, when we’ll discuss some of the specific ways Mieville produces the effects he does in his novel.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon page, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!