Speculate

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!

Welcome to Episode 117 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, simultaneously run on two other podcasts, we talk about the medium and message as we chat with authors and podcasters Patrick Hester (of the Hugo award-winning SF Signal podcast and the Functional Nerds podcast) and Anton Strout (of The Once and Future Podcast) about podcasting, writing, and everything in between.  We talk about what we’ve learned from the experience, what we’ve been most inspired by in the interviews we’ve conducted, and why Lion Voltron is obviously better than Auto Voltron (no idea why this was even a question, frankly).  This is the first time we’ve really had the chance to talk about this particular media, and almost four full years into production we decided there was no reason to wait any longer–the result was a fun and wide-ranging discussion, and we hope to do it again in the future.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back next episode when we’ll begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Lev Grossman.  And if you haven’t already, please check out our Patreon; for a small pledge you can both support the show and get even more content, and we really 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 117 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, simultaneously run on two other podcasts, we talk about the medium and message as we chat with authors and podcasters Patrick Hester (of the Hugo award-winning SF Signal […]

Welcome to Episode 116 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk for the second time to Lou Anders, former editor at Pyr Books during an award-winning career and author of Frostborn, the first book in the middle grade fantasy series Thrones & Bones.  We talk about what it’s like to transition from editor to author, how Lou’s somehow managed to get even busier in his new career, and why Kermit the Frog serves as an inspiration…even in Norway!  We really enjoyed chatting with Lou again, and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  If so, make sure to check back next week when we’ll have a special episode on podcasting in the speculative fiction field with Patrick Hester of the SF Signal Podcast and Anton Strout of the Once & Future Podcast.  Until then, thanks as always for listening to the show, and please continue to spread the word!

Additional Note: We taped our fifth Good, Bad and Ugly segment during this interview, and it’s one of the most comprehensive ones on record!  If you’re interested in hearing it, keep in mind that it’s available to our Patreon backers of $3 or more a month–so please head over and become a patron, and thanks!

Welcome to Episode 116 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk for the second time to Lou Anders, former editor at Pyr Books during an award-winning career and author of Frostborn, the first book in the middle grade fantasy series Thrones & Bones.  We talk about what it’s […]

Welcome to Episode 114 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Ann Leckie, focusing on her multiple award winning debut novel Ancillary Justice, as we speak to the author herself.  Ann talks about the genesis of AJ, her love for NaNoWriMo, and how she’s planning the second (and third) act for one of the most celebrated debut novels in the history of science fiction, and even manages to throw in some tidbits of writing advice and wisdom about adjusting to life after the publication of a breakthrough novel; her professionalism and positive outlook are both on display during this chat, and we hope you found it as enjoyable as we did.  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.  As a reminder, both our writing technique shows and our Good, Bad and Ugly segments are only available to our Patreon supporters of $3 and up, so if you’re interested, please head over there so you won’t miss more from and about Ann–and thanks as always for your support!

Welcome to Episode 114 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Ann Leckie, focusing on her multiple award winning debut novel Ancillary Justice, as we speak to the author herself.  Ann talks about the genesis of AJ, her love for […]

Welcome to Episode 113 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Ann Leckie, focusing on her debut novel Ancillary Justice–the first novel ever to win the Hugo, Nebula and Clarke awards in a single year.  Ancillary Justice plays with conventions of gender, points of view and mediations on empire, and during the course of our response we talk about the power of a great concept, excellent worldbuilding and engaging character development.  If you enjoy the discussion, don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll talk to the author herself about the process of writing this book.  Until then, thanks as always for listening, and please continue to spread the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 113 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a new triptych of shows on the work of Ann Leckie, focusing on her debut novel Ancillary Justice–the first novel ever to win the Hugo, Nebula and Clarke awards in a single year.  Ancillary Justice plays with […]

Welcome to Episode 112 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we sit down for a chat with Jim Butcher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dresden Files and the Codex Alera series.  We talk about what it’s like to put together a long-running series of books (in the case of Dresden, over fourteen books and ten years to date), how to build a long-term career, and why Jim likes games so much…and how his writing has helped him be a better game player.  We also discuss his future work, including an interesting sneak peek at his upcoming Cinder Spires series.  We had a really great time with this discussion, and we hope you enjoyed it too–if so, don’t forget to check back in the next two weeks when we’ll start our triptych of shows on Ann Leckie‘s Ancillary Justice.  Until then, thanks as always for listening to the show, and please continue to spread the word!

Additional Note: The hits keep coming as we taped our third Good, Bad and Ugly segment as a part of this interview, available to our Patreon backers of $3 or more a month.  If you’re interested in hearing that and/or in supporting the show in general, please head over and become a patron–and thanks!