Speculate

Welcome to Episode 11 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk about the life of a bestselling fantasy author with, well, a bestselling fantasy author!  Pat Rothfuss, whose sequel to his acclaimed debut novel The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man’s Fear, has hit #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List,  checks in with us to discuss the development and progress of his career.  Over the course of the discussion, though, Pat touches on more topics than those simply related to writing, including his Worldbuilders project on behalf of Heifer International.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to keep checking back for our follow-up video interview with Pat, which we plan to record later this summer–and in the meantime, check back with us next week as we plunge into Eclipse Four, the latest new fantasy and science fiction anthology from Night Shade Books.  As always, thanks for listening, and please continue to spread the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 10 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we look at some of the writing techniques in N.K. Jemisin‘s Nebula-nominated novel The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms…and how aspiring writers can learn from those techniques to improve their own work.  If you like what you hear, please check back in two weeks for Episode 11, where we’ll begin a new sequence of shows on a prominent short story anthology.  Until then, thanks as always for listening, and please continue to spread the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 9 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, the second of our sequence on The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, we interview the book’s author N.K. Jemisin about both process and product.  We cover a good deal of ground during the interview, talking about psychology, politics and magic within a fantasy setting–and how speculative fiction books have the coolest covers ever, of course!  If you like the conversation, don’t forget to check back next week for our final show on Jemisin’s work, looking in particular at some writing techniques used in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.  Thanks for listening, and please continue to spread the word about the show!

Hi all,

Welcome back for Episode 8 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we begin a sequence of shows on the work of N.K. Jemisin, focusing specifically on her Nebula-nominated book The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.  If you like what you hear, don’t miss next week’s show where we talk to the author directly about her work.  As always, thanks for spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 7 of Speculate!  The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we interview artist Adam Paquette, whose work in the speculative fiction, gaming and other fields is both broad and deep.  Adam discusses the creative process generally and specifically in his own work, focusing for a good part of the interview on how he developed his cover for Brad’s forthcoming novel The Winds of Khalakovo.  If you enjoy the conversation, remember to check back in two weeks for Episode 8, where we’ll begin our next sequence of shows with a discussion of the work of N.K. Jemisin.  Thanks as always for tuning in, and please continue to spread the word about the show!

Update from Brad: We’ve posted some of Adam’s wonderful artwork in our art gallery. Also, in the interview, Adam mentioned the early sketches of the cover art for The Winds of Khalakovo. I’ve posted the sketches and preliminary art he created for Winds on my blog.

Welcome to Episode 6 of Speculate!  The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we examine some of the specific writing techniques in Kij Johnson‘s short fiction, focusing on the three stories discussed in the previous two shows.  If you enjoy the episode, please let us know by leaving feedback or getting in touch with us directly–and don’t forget to come back for Episode 7, where we interview our first artist.  Until then, thanks for tuning in, and please continue to spread the word about the show!

Hi again,

Welcome to Episode 5 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our exploration of Kij Johnson‘s short fiction with an interview of the author, discussing art, craft, and the intersection between the two in her work.  If you enjoy the discussion, please remember to come back next week for Episode 6, where we talk about some of the writing techniques demonstrated in her stories.  As always, let us know what you think, and please continue to spread the word about the show!

Hey everyone,

Welcome back for Episode 4 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we start a new sequence of discussion/interview/discussion shows concerning the work of Nebula and World Fantasy Award winning author Kij Johnson, in particular focusing on three stories: 26 monkeys, also the abyss, Ponies, and Spar.  If you enjoy the discussion, don’t miss next week’s show in which we interview the author herself.  And as usual, thanks for spreading the word about the show!

Note from Greg:  It occurs to me that I haven’t mentioned the details about our musical intro and outro for the show yet–the song is called “Yellow Wood,” from my band The Road‘s debut album Drift, released about four years ago.  Our second album, Monomyth, was just officially released in December (a concept album dealing with a fantastic journey, of course!)–so if you like the song and progressive rock in general, please check the band out at www.thebandtheroad.com.  /shameless plug off.  🙂

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Episode 3 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk about some specific writing techniques used in the Apex stories discussed in the last two shows, both how they function within their respective stories and how proper use of them can help authors in their own works.  If you enjoy the show, please come back for our next episode, where we’ll be beginning a whole new series of discussions, interviews and analysis of a prominent speculative fiction author.  And as always, please continue to spread the word about the show!

Note: Please be aware that this episode features several excerpts from the stories, one of which uses adult language.

Hello again,

Welcome to the second episode of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we talk to two of the authors from the Apex issue discussed in Episode 1, Amal El-Mohtar and Saladin Ahmed, and find out more about their writing process, the link between the personal and the political, and their thoughts on the future of Arabic and Islamic themes within speculative fiction.  If you enjoy the interview, please check out the work of both authors, and make sure to come back for Episode 3, where we’ll discuss some of the nitty-gritty of the writing technique in the Apex stories.  And of course, please continue to spread the word about the show!

Update from Brad: I mentioned I would post a bit more about the Starry Heaven workshop, the format of which was based on the Blue Heaven workshop, started by Charles Coleman Finlay. It’s a very repeatable format, and in fact I’m using the format to run the Wellspring Writing Workshop this year in Lake Geneva, WI.