Travis interviews science fiction and fantasy author Kate Elliott about her latest book, Unconquerable Sun. The book kicks off the space opera series The Sun Chronicles from Tor Books, and is pitched as gender swapped Alexander the Great in space.

Kate and Travis discuss the Hawaiian Islands method of writing, how to approach the world-building of new cultures, and the history of Alexander the Great.

Kate Elliott has been writing science fiction and fantasy for 30 years, with 27 books in print. Her most recent novel is Unconquerable Sun, gender-swapped Alexander the Great in space. She is best known for her Crown of Stars epic fantasy series, the Afro-Celtic post-Roman alt-history fantasy (with lawyer dinosaurs) Cold Magic, and YA fantasy Court of Fives. Her particular focus is immersive world-building & centering women in epic stories of adventure & transformative cultural change. She lives in Hawaii, where she paddles outrigger canoes & spoils her schnauzer.

You can find her online at her official website, her blog, and as @KateElliottSFF on Twitter.

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One of the great things about being a speculative fiction fan in the last couple of decades is the ability to discuss any book, game, movie, etc. you can possibly imagine online. Social media lets us have the geeky conversations online that we may not be able to have in other areas of our lives.

So, how do we usually use bookish social media as fans? What type of content do we want to see from writers, publishers, and artists? And what are some of the unspoken rules for interacting in online SFF circles?

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Travis interviews fantasy author S.A. Chakraborty about concluding her debut trilogy with The Empire of Gold, the final novel in the Daevabad series. The books center around a young con artist named Nahri who is thrust into a world full of djinn, political turmoil, and magic.

Travis and Shannon discuss the upcoming Netflix adaptation of the books, how historical accounts often read like angry Yelp reviews, and how stories can be a mirror in which we can find hope and understanding in our own lives.

S. A. Chakraborty is the author of the critically acclaimed and internationally best-selling The Daevabad Trilogy. Her work has been nominated for the Locus, World Fantasy, Crawford, and Astounding awards. When not buried in books about thirteenth-century con artists and Abbasid political intrigue, she enjoys hiking, knitting, and re-creating unnecessarily complicated medieval meals. You can find her online at www.sachakraborty.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @SAChakrabooks, where she likes to talk about history, politics, and Islamic art. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, daughter, and an ever-increasing number of cats.

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Travis interviews fantasy author K.A. Doore about concluding her debut trilogy with The Unconquered City, the final novel in The Chronicles of Ghadid series. Her books are all about queer assassins saving the day, and so far hold the record for the most undead camels in any book we've read.

Travis and Kai discuss the pros and cons of switching your keyboard layout to avoid wrist strain, some lesser-known facts about ancient Roman history, and the challenges of writing a series out of order.

K.A. Doore grew up in Florida, but now lives in cherry-infused Michigan. During the day, she develops eLearnings. At night, she wrangles a small child. In between, she writes fantasy. The Chronicles of Ghadid is her trilogy debut, beginning with The Perfect Assassin from Tor Books.

Find her on Twitter, Instagram, or at https://kadoore.com/.

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Mood reading and book slumps are two topics that come up often in the book community. Sometimes it's hard to stick to a reading schedule and we read whatever strikes our fancy. Other times it's hard to read at all. And of course, mood reading and book slumps can be hard to separate.

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Travis interviews fantasy author Rowenna Miller about concluding her debut trilogy with Rule, the final novel in The Unraveled Kingdom historical fantasy series. The two of them discuss mail delivery chickens, the delightful niche geekdom that is living history, and the effects of neutrality in the face of oppression.

Rowenna Miller, a self-professed nerd from the Midwest, is the author of fantasy novels TORN, FRAY, and RULE. When she's not writing, she enjoys trespassing while hiking and recreating historical textiles.

Find her on Twitter, Instagram, or at www.rowennamiller.com.

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There's something wonderful about animal companions in fantasy, magical or not. We'd love to do a deep dive into why these friendly critters capture our hearts, the various types of animals usually found in fantasy stories, and examining how the fantasy genre's relationship with animals has evolved over the decades.

Unfortunately, this is not that episode.

If you've ever been captivated by the majestic beauty of a wooly coo, wondered about the logistics of riding a giant snake into battle, or been curious about the myriad of deadly creatures lurking in Australia... you're welcome.

And if not? Don't say you weren't warned.

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Travis interviews fantasy author Lindsay Smith about her latest project, Marvel's Black Widow: Bad Blood series from Serial Box. Lindsay Smith is the co-lead of a team of writers bringing the Russian super-spy into a serialized story that releases new episodes each week.

Travis and Lindsay talk about how her experience as a Russian cybersecurity analyst applies to her writing, the joys of working with a collaborative writers room, and how iconic superheroes have evolved over time with the changing political landscape.

Lindsay Smith is the author of the YA espionage thrillers Sekret, Skandal, and Dreamstrider, all from Macmillan Children's. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband and dog, where she writes on international issues in cybersecurity.

You can find Lindsay at her website or on Twitter as @LindsaySmithDC.

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Travis interviews science fiction and fantasy author Martha Wells about her latest novel, Network Effect. It's the first full-length novel in the Murderbot Diaries and releases today from Tor.com.

The two of them talk about the challenges of writing nonhuman characters, amazing books they wish more people were reading, and what the future holds in store for Murderbot.

Check out the full virtual book tour schedule for Network Effect here.

Martha Wells has written many fantasy novels, including The Books of the Raksura series (beginning with The Cloud Roads), the Ile-Rien series (including The Death of the Necromancer) as well as YA fantasy novels, short stories, media tie-ins (for Star Wars and Stargate: Atlantis), and non-fiction. She has won a Nebula Award, two Hugo Awards, an ALA/YALSA Alex Award, two Locus Awards, and her work has appeared on the Philip K. Dick Award ballot, the BSFA Award ballot, the USA Today Bestseller List, and the New York Times Bestseller List. Her books have been published in sixteen languages.

Find Martha at her website, blog, or as @MarthaWells1 on Twitter. You can support Martha by buying her books or pledging to her Patreon.

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Books on tape have been around for half a century, but audiobooks have exploded in popularity in the last decade. What is the appeal of the audio format? Which books and narrators do we enjoy the most? And does listening to an audiobook even count as reading?

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