Welcome to Episode 124 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Kameron Hurley, focusing on the first novel from the Worldbreaker Saga, The Mirror Empire.  We had a chance to see this book in an earlier form when we were all at Wellspring Workshop a couple of years ago, and we were pretty impressed by it then–and as we discuss during this show, Kameron’s trademark worldbuilding excellence is in full display here, along with her willingness to challenge established tropes in a way that is both brave and in service to the story rather than forced and shoehorned into the narrative.  (We’re also big fans of political intrigue, interesting characters and insect/plant magic–all of which The Mirror Empire has in spades.)  If you enjoy the discussion, don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll talk to the author herself about the book and her process of seeing it safely through to publication with Angry Robot Books.  And if you haven’t already, please check out our Patreon (now over $110 a month) and consider becoming a patron–doing so will both get you extra content every month with the Good, Bad and Ugly segments and the writing technique shows, and will also help get us to levels where we can provide even more awesome content.  Thanks again to everyone who’s helped out so far, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

During the show, we mentioned the Indie Fantasy Bundle that Brad’s critically acclaimed epic fantasy novel, The Winds of Khalakovo, is a part of. Please head over to Story Bundle for more information on the books and how to buy!

Additional Note: Nominations for the 2015 Hugo Awards are now open, and Speculate is eligible to be nominated in the Best Fancast category.  If you’re a voting member of either last year’s, this year’s or next year’s Worldcon, you’re eligible to make Hugo nominations, and we’d be honored (and grateful) if you would nominate us for Best Fancast.  Please go here for more details, spread the word, and thanks so much as always for your support!

Welcome to Episode 123 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk to Jason M. Hough, author of the highly successful Dire Earth Cycle, about his writing process, the appeal of NaNoWriMo, and how “Scalzi writes Firefly” got him a contract with Del Rey–even if he doesn’t think his writing is much like Scalzi’s.  We also get to talk a bit about the current state of science fiction and how to maintain your equilibrium when success comes your way.  This was an interesting conversation with someone who’s thought a lot about the business, and we hope you find it as enlightening as we did.  If so, don’t forget to check back for our next show when we’ll begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Kameron Hurley; until then, thanks as always for listening to the show, and please continue to spread the word!

Additional Note: We’ve got another Good, Bad and Ugly segment from this interview, and we think it’s a particularly good one–if you’d like to hear it, remember it’s available to our Patreon backers, so head over there and become a patron–and thanks so much for the support!

Welcome to Episode 123 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk to Jason M. Hough, author of the highly successful Dire Earth Cycle, about his writing process, the appeal of NaNoWriMo, and how “Scalzi writes Firefly” got him a contract with Del Rey–even if he doesn’t think his writing is much like Scalzi’s.  We also get to talk a bit about the current state of science fiction and how to maintain your equilibrium when success comes your way.  This was an interesting conversation with someone who’s thought a lot about the business, and we hope you find it as enlightening as we did.  If so, don’t forget to check back for our next show when we’ll begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Kameron Hurley; until then, thanks as always for listening to the show, and please continue to spread the word!

Additional Note: We’ve got another Good, Bad and Ugly segment from this interview, and we think it’s a particularly good one–if you’d like to hear it, remember it’s available to our Patreon backers, so head over there and become a patron–and thanks so much for the support!

Welcome to Episode 122 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk to Jeanne Cavelos, founder of the long-running and highly respected Odyssey Writing Workshop, about the reasons she started the workshop, how it’s measured up to her expectations (and surpassed them!), and both the benefits and potential pitfalls of a workshop like Odyssey.  We also get to chat about what workshops actually do for an author’s career, and who will (and won’t) see a benefit in attending.  This is an interesting chat with a real expert about something we’ve both done before, and we hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.  If so, don’t forget to check back next week for our discussion with author Jason M. Hough, and until then, thanks as always for listening to the show, and please continue to spread the word!

From the Odyssey team:

The Odyssey Writing Workshop is widely considered one of the top programs in the world for fantasy, science fiction, and horror writers.  The 2015 workshop will be held from June 8th to July 17th at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.  Odyssey is a great opportunity for writers to improve their work and receive feedback from top authors and editors.

The Odyssey site, odysseyworkshop.org, offers many free resources for writers, including podcasts, a weekly video-discussion salon, writing tips, and a monthly blog in addition to offering information about our workshop, online classes, and critique service.

Additional Note: We taped another Good, Bad and Ugly segment during this interview, and if you’re interested in hearing it (and other special episodes, like our writing technique ones), keep in mind it’s available to our Patreon backers–we’ve gotten great feedback on these, so please head over and see what all the buzz is about by becoming a patron.  Thanks!

Welcome to Episode 122 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk to Jeanne Cavelos, founder of the long-running and highly respected Odyssey Writing Workshop, about the reasons she started the workshop, how it’s measured up to her expectations (and surpassed them!), and both the benefits and potential pitfalls of a workshop like Odyssey.  We also get to chat about what workshops actually do for an author’s career, and who will (and won’t) see a benefit in attending.  This is an interesting chat with a real expert about something we’ve both done before, and we hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.  If so, don’t forget to check back next week for our discussion with author Jason M. Hough, and until then, thanks as always for listening to the show, and please continue to spread the word!

From the Odyssey team:

The Odyssey Writing Workshop is widely considered one of the top programs in the world for fantasy, science fiction, and horror writers.  The 2015 workshop will be held from June 8th to July 17th at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.  Odyssey is a great opportunity for writers to improve their work and receive feedback from top authors and editors.

The Odyssey site, odysseyworkshop.org, offers many free resources for writers, including podcasts, a weekly video-discussion salon, writing tips, and a monthly blog in addition to offering information about our workshop, online classes, and critique service.

Additional Note: We taped another Good, Bad and Ugly segment during this interview, and if you’re interested in hearing it (and other special episodes, like our writing technique ones), keep in mind it’s available to our Patreon backers–we’ve gotten great feedback on these, so please head over and see what all the buzz is about by becoming a patron.  Thanks!

Welcome to Episode 120 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Lev Grossman, focusing on his breakout novel The Magicians.  During the course of a remarkably frank discussion Lev talks about growing up in New York City, the ways he has both been inspired by and resisted the influence of works like The Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter series in his own writing, and how his own insecurities and growing pains affected the construction of his characters and the ways they experience magic–more with realism than wonder.  He also touches on his career as a literary critic and shares some of his unique marketing savvy; all in all, we found it a really enlightening chat, and we hope you’ll feel the same.  If you like what you hear, please check back next week for our final show of the triptych as we look at a few of the writing techniques used in the novel.  And as a reminder, both our writing technique shows and Good, Bad and Ugly segments are only available to our Patreon supporters of $3 and up, so please head over there to get more from and about Lev.  Thanks as always for your support, and Happy New Year!

Welcome to Episode 120 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Lev Grossman, focusing on his breakout novel The Magicians.  During the course of a remarkably frank discussion Lev talks about growing up in New York City, the ways he has both been inspired by and resisted the influence of works like The Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter series in his own writing, and how his own insecurities and growing pains affected the construction of his characters and the ways they experience magic–more with realism than wonder.  He also touches on his career as a literary critic and shares some of his unique marketing savvy; all in all, we found it a really enlightening chat, and we hope you’ll feel the same.  If you like what you hear, please check back next week for our final show of the triptych as we look at a few of the writing techniques used in the novel.  And as a reminder, both our writing technique shows and Good, Bad and Ugly segments are only available to our Patreon supporters of $3 and up, so please head over there to get more from and about Lev.  Thanks as always for your support, and Happy New Year!

Welcome to Episode 119 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Lev Grossman, focusing on his breakout novel The Magicians, the book which began the bestselling trilogy of the same name.  The Magicians is an unabashedly New York book, looking at the more realistic and darker side of magic and those who would practice it, and during the course of our response we talk about its strong flavor, the influences which inform it, the distinctive way in which magic is portrayed and other such topics.  If you enjoy the discussion, don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll talk to the author himself about the process of writing this book. And if you haven’t already, please check out our Patreon, now starting to really climb and get us to levels which will let us provide you even more and cooler content; for a small pledge you can support the show and get even more content from it, and we appreciate everyone who has become a patron so far. Until next time, thanks as always for listening, and please continue to spread the word!

Welcome to Episode 119 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Lev Grossman, focusing on his breakout novel The Magicians, the book which began the bestselling trilogy of the same name.  The Magicians is an unabashedly New York book, looking at the more realistic and darker side of magic and those who would practice it, and during the course of our response we talk about its strong flavor, the influences which inform it, the distinctive way in which magic is portrayed and other such topics.  If you enjoy the discussion, don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll talk to the author himself about the process of writing this book. And if you haven’t already, please check out our Patreon, now starting to really climb and get us to levels which will let us provide you even more and cooler content; for a small pledge you can support the show and get even more content from it, and we appreciate everyone who has become a patron so far. Until next time, thanks as always for listening, and please continue to spread the word!

Welcome to Episode 118 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, we delve more into the world of short speculative fiction as we chat with authors (and former guests) Brenda Cooper and Martha Wells about their particular approaches to writing short fiction, the difference in process and product between writing novels and short stories, and how each form can complement the other.  Since Brenda, Martha and Brad have joined forces with Will McIntosh, Tina Connolly and Stephen Gaskell in the Six by Six Kickstarter, we also discuss the “synergistic energy” of stories in an anthology and how, even though each author is producing his or her own collection of six stories, working as part of a team can still be an exciting change from the often solitary working life of the author.  If you like what you hear, head over to the Kickstarter to find out more–and of course, don’t forget to check back next episode when we’ll begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Lev Grossman. And finally, we’ve gotten some excellent movement on our Patreon over the past few days; thanks so much to those of you who have gotten on board, and for those of you haven’t yet, don’t forget that for a small pledge you can both support the show and get even more content–like the Good, Bad and Ugly segment from this very episode!  Until next time, thanks as always for listening, and please continue to spread the word!