The Functional Nerds Podcast

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Samantha Cohoe whose debut novel, A GOLDEN FURY is available for pre-orders today, and will arrive on October 13, 2020!

About A GOLDEN FURY: Thea Hope longs to be an alchemist out of the shadow of her famous mother. The two of them are close to creating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone?whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold?but just when the promise of the Stone’s riches is in their grasp, Thea’s mother destroys the Stone in a sudden fit of violent madness.

While combing through her mother’s notes, Thea learns that there’s a curse on the Stone that causes anyone who tries to make it to lose their sanity. With the threat of a revolution looming, Thea is sent to live with the father who doesn’t know she exists.

But there are alchemists after the Stone who don’t believe Thea’s warning about the curse?instead, they’ll stop at nothing to steal Thea’s knowledge of how to create the Stone. But Thea can only run for so long, and soon she will have to choose: create the Stone and sacrifice her sanity, or let the people she loves die.

ABOUT Samantha Cohoe: Samantha Cohoe was raised in San Luis Obispo, California, where she enjoyed an idyllic childhood of beach trips, omnivorous reading, and writing stories brimming with adverbs. She attended Thomas Aquinas College, a Great Books college in California, and graduated with a BA in liberal arts. After studying Philosophical Theology at Yale Divinity School, she decided academia wasn’t for her.

In the midst of marriage, child-bearing, and the identity crisis that followed, she rediscovered her early love of writing and adverbs. In 2011, she moved with her family to Denver, where she currently divides her time between teaching Latin, mothering, writing, reading, and deleting adverbs.

This week’s picks:

* Samantha: Costco Business Center

* Tracy: River City Girls (PS4)

* Patrick: Cobra Kai (Netflix)

Links:

* Samantha Cohoe on Twitter

* Tracy Townsend on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Chris Mooney, author of the new thriller – BLOOD WORLD!

About BLOOD WORLD: Everything changed when scientists discovered the drug. It looked like the cure for aging, but all progress comes with a price tag. Now, eternal youthfulness will be paid for by the blood of the innocent.

The blood of “carriers” is the most valuable commodity on earth. When treated with a new wonder drug, it cures disease, increases power, and makes the recipient a virtual superman.

It also makes the carriers targets. Young people with the right genes are ripped from their families and stashed in “blood farms.”

Ellie Batista became an LAPD officer specifically to fight this evil as a member of the Blood Squad, but her ambitions are thwarted—until the day she and her partner are ambushed during a routine stop. The resulting events plunge her into an undercover world more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.

Because a madman has found a way to increase the potency of the blood to levels previously unimagined. As he cuts a bloody swath through the already deadly world of blood cartels, Ellie is the only hope to stop him before the body count explodes.

ABOUT Chris Mooney: Hailed as “one of the best thriller writers working today” by Lee Child and “a wonderful writer” by Michael Connelly, Chris Mooney is the international bestselling author of twelve novels, most recently, Blood World. His fourth book, The Missing, the first in the Darby McCormick series, was a main selection of the International Book of the Month Club and an instant bestseller in over thirteen countries. The Mystery Writer’s Association nominated Chris’s third book, Remembering Sarah, for an Edgar Award for Best Novel. Foreign rights to his novels have been sold to twenty-eight territories. He has sold nearly two million copies of his books.

Chris teaches writing courses at Harvard and the Harvard Extension School, and lives in the Boston area with his wife and son. His new novel, Blood World, will be released in August of 2020.

This week’s picks:

* Chris: The Last of Us 2 (PS4)

* Tracy: Favorite Folktales from Around the World (The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) by Jane Yolen

* Patrick: Project Power (Netflix)

Links:

* Chris Mooney on Twitter

* Tracy Townsend on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Carole Stivers, whose debut novel – THE MOTHER CODE is available today – August 25th!

About THE MOTHER CODE: Kai is born in America’s desert Southwest, his only companion his robotic Mother, Rho-Z. Equipped with the knowledge and motivations of a human mother, Rho-Z raises Kai and teaches him how to survive. But as children like Kai come of age, their Mothers transform too—in ways that were never predicted. And when government survivors decide that the Mothers must be destroyed, Kai is faced with a choice. Will he break the bond he shares with Rho-Z? Or will he fight to save the only parent he has ever known?

Set in a future that could be our own, The Mother Code explores what truly makes us human—and the tenuous nature of the boundaries between us and the machines we create.

ABOUT Carole Stivers: Carole Stivers was born in East Cleveland, Ohio. She received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She went on to post-doctoral work at Stanford University before launching a career in medical diagnostics. She now lives in California, where she’s combined her love of writing and her fascination with the possibilities of science to create her first novel, The Mother Code.

This week’s picks:

* Carole #1: Migrations: A Novel by Charlotte McConaghy

* Carole #2: The Sirens of Mars: Searching for Life on Another World by Sarah Stewart Johnson

* Tracy: Century: Golem Edition (Board Game)

* Patrick: High Score (Netflix))

Links:

* Carole Stivers on Facebook

* Tracy Townsend on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Brandon Crilly!

About Brandon Crilly: An Ottawa teacher by day, Brandon Crilly has been previously published by On Spec, The 2017 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide, and Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation. He received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards, reviews fiction for BlackGate.com and develops programming for Can-Con in Ottawa.

This week’s picks:

* Brandon: Ephemera Reading Series by Jen R. Albert

* Tracy: Ghost of Tsushima (PS4)

* Patrick: The Dead South (Band)

Links:

* Brandon Crilly on Twitter

* Tracy Townsend on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome back Matt Wallace, cohost of the Hugo Award winning Ditch Diggers podcast, and author of Rencor: Life in Grudge City, the Sin du Jour series and his brand new, debut epic Fantasy, SAVAGE LEGION.

About SAVAGE LEGION: They call them Savages. Brutal. Efficient. Expendable.

The empire relies on them. The Savages are the greatest weapon they ever developed. Culled from the streets of their cities, they take the ones no one will miss and throw them, by the thousands, at the empire’s enemies. If they live, they fight again. If they die, there are always more to take their place.

Evie is not a Savage. She’s a warrior with a mission: to find the man she once loved, the man who holds the key to exposing the secret of the Savage Legion and ending the mass conscription of the empire’s poor and wretched.

But to find him, she must become one of them, to be marked in her blood, to fight in their wars, and to find her purpose. Evie will die a Savage if she has to, but not before showing the world who she really is and what the Savage Legion can really do.

About Matt Wallace: Matt Wallace is the Hugo–winning author of Rencor: Life in Grudge City, the Sin du Jour series, and Savage Legion. He’s also penned over one hundred short stories in addition to writing for film and television. In his youth he traveled the world as a professional wrestler, unarmed combat, and self-defense instructor before retiring to write full-time. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Nikki.

This week’s picks:

* Matt: Unconquerable Sun (The Sun Chronicles Book 1) by Kate Elliott

* Tracy: Batman: The Animated Series

* Patrick: Umbrella Academy Season 2 (Netflix)

Links:

* Matt Wallace on Twitter

* Tracy Townsend on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome not one, but TWO guests! Jennifer Brody and Jules Rivera, whose graphic novel – SPECTRE DEEP 6, is out now from Turner Publishing!

About SPECTRE DEEP 6: SPECTRE DEEP 6 is a paranormal sci-fi story about a team of secret government agents who have been resurrected as ghosts to carry out clandestine missions for our government in exchange for day passes to haunt their old lives and fix their unfinished business. The story follows Bianca Vasquez, a woman who became a secret agent to find her missing husband who disappeared undercover – and bring her family back together. Alongside her misfit team of five other Spectre Agents, Bianca goes on missions to ensure the powerful and dangerous spectre technology doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. However, when an ally begins running his own agenda, the lives of her daughter and everyone on earth are put into jeopardy.

About Jennifer Brody: Jennifer Brody / Vera Strange is the award-winning author of the Disney Chills book series, The 13th Continuum trilogy, and the graphic novels Spectre Deep 6 and 200 with Jules Rivera. She’s a graduate of Harvard University, a film and TV producer and writer, and a creative writing teacher. She began her career in Hollywood working on many films, including The Lord of the Rings and The Golden Compass. She lives and writes in Malibu by the beach.

About Jules Rivera: Jules is an illustrator, graphic novelist, colorist, animator, and writer, prompting SyFy Wire to call her “a multi-talented force in indie comics.” She contributed to the Eisner Award winning Puerto Rico Strong (Lion Forge) and Ringo Award winning Where We Live, A Benefit for the Survivors in Las Vegas (Image Comics). Jules is the co-creator of Spectre Deep 6, a sci-fi graphic novel series by Turner publishing, Love, Joolz, a weekly autobiographical cartoon strip, Love, Joolz, and feminist sci-fi epic, Valkyrie Squadron. She also creates sci-fi designs for TV and film and teaches storyboarding at California Lutheran University. She lives and works in LA and goes surfing on the weekends.

Links:

* Jennifer Brody on Twitter

* Jules Rivera on Twitter

* Tracy Townsend on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome N.Y. Times Bestselling Author R. A. Salvatore, whose latest book – RELENTLESS – concludes his Generations trilogy.

About RELENTLESS: Displaced in time and unexpectedly reunited with his son Drizzt Do’Urden, Zaknafein has overcome the prejudices ingrained in him as a drow warrior to help his son battle the ambitious Spider Queen and stem the tide of darkness that has been unleashed upon the Forgotten Realms. Though Zaknafein has endured the most difficult battles, survival has come at a terrible cost, and the fight is far from over.

Facing demons and driders, Zaknafein carries the entire weight of Menzoberranzan surrounding Gauntlgym on his shoulders once more. But the chances of survival for him and his old friend and mercenary Jarlaxle look bleak. Trapped in a desperate and seemingly hopeless situation, the legendary warriors must reach deep inside themselves to face the impossible.

While the burdens Zaknafein bears are more than enough for one of Menzoberrazan’s greatest warriors, fate holds further challenges. When circumstances take an unexpected turn, Zaknafein discovers he must not only conquer the darkness but learn to accept the uncontrollable: life itself.

The stakes have never been higher for R. A. Salvatore’s most beloved creations in this final volume of his latest bestselling trilogy begun with Timeless and Boundless. A story of brave heroes filled with dangerous thrills, Relentless also considers eternal questions about morality, purpose, sacrifice, and the definition of harmony. Exciting, imaginative, and thought-provoking, it takes fans on an action-packed ride that will challenge their assumptions and leave them breathless and satisfied.

About R. A. Salvatore: 30 years ago, R. A. Salvatore created the character of Drizzt Do’Urden, the dark elf who has withstood the test of time to stand today as an icon in the fantasy genre. With his work in the Forgotten Realms, Crimson Shadow, DemonWars, and other series, Salvatore has sold more than thirty million books worldwide and has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list more than two dozen times. he considers writing to be his personal journey, but still, he’s quite pleased that so many are walking the road beside him!

R. A. Lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Diane, and their three dogs, Ivan Pikel and Dexter. He still plays softball for his team, Clan Battlehammer, and enjoys his weekly DemonWarsRPG game.

This week’s picks:

* Bob: The Tudors (Netflix)

* Tracy: Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guides Series

* Patrick: Stargirl (The CW)

Links:

* R. A. Salvatore on Twitter

* Tracy Townsend on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

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This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Anaea Lay – author of LIGHT YEARS APART, a 230,000-word interactive sci-fi novel where your choices control the story.

LIGHT YEARS APART: Can you and your sister outfox a galaxy-spanning AI to save your home planet? A rollicking adventure with space pirates, spies, and snarky computers.

You trained at the Kempari College, an academy for super spies, fighting against the Aydan-machine interplanetary AI. Aydan-machine and its affiliated megacorp, the ICA, have monopolized control over FTL weft-drives.

You resigned from the College when your teachers ordered you to commit murder. Since then, you’ve wandered the galaxy for a decade, so long that your shipboard computer has become your surrogate parent.

But now, the ICA has blockaded Kempus, and you’re in a unique position to prevent thousands of unnecessary deaths. Will you ally with the enemy, or return to the rebels who once betrayed you?

What’s more, your hacker sister has brought your old flame back into your orbit, and the love you left behind is now mission-critical. As a former spy, you have flexible morals, but there are certain lines you won’t cross. The blockade is real, and it’s killing kids.

When your planet needs you, will you step up or storm off?

About Anaea Lay: Anaea Lay lives in Chicago, Illinois where she is engaged in a torrid love affair with the city.

She’s the fiction podcast editor for Strange Horizons, where you can hear her read a new short story nearly every week. She’s the president of the Dream Foundry, an organization dedicated to bolstering and nurturing the careers of nascent professionals working with the speculative arts.

Her fiction work has appeared in a variety of venues including Lightspeed, Apex, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Pod Castle. Her interactive novel, Gilded Rails, was released by Choice of Games in 2018. She lives online at anaealay.com where you can find a complete biography and her blog.

This week’s picks:

* Anaea: Biking in Chicago

* Tracy: The Quacks of Quedlinburg (Board Game)

* Patrick: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend (Netflix)

Links:

* Anaea Lay on Twitter

* Tracy Townsend on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Corry L. Lee – author of WEAVE THE LIGHTNING.

WEAVE THE LIGHTNING: Gerrit is the son of Bourshkanya’s Supreme-General. Despite his powerful storm-affinity and the State’s best training, he can’t control his magic. To escape the brutal consequences, he flees.

Celka is a travelling circus performer, hiding both her link to the underground and her storm-affinity from the prying eyes of the secret police. But Gerrit’s arrival threatens to expose everything: her magic, her family, and the people they protect.

The storms have returned, and everything will change.

About Corry L. Lee: Corry L. Lee is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author, Ph.D. physicist, science educator, data geek, and mom.

Her fantasy novel, Weave the Lightning, debuted in April 2020 from Solaris Books; book 2 in the Bourshkanya Trilogy, The Storm’s Betrayal, is due out in 2021. Her science fiction short story “Shutdown” won the Writers of the Future award.

In Ph.D. research at Harvard, she shed light on the universe fractions of a second after the Big Bang. At Amazon, she connected science to technology, improving customer experience through online experimentation.

Corry is a frequent panelist at science fiction and fantasy conventions, where she discusses writing, science, and speculative fiction. This year, she’s especially excited to talk about the science of lightning.

Everything Corry does, she does with intensity. Currently, she’s obsessed with nordic skiing, French pop music, and single origin coffee.

This week’s picks:

* Corry: Spirit Island (Board Game)

* Tracy: Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirits

* Patrick: Warrior Nun (Netflix)

Links:

* Corry L. Lee on Twitter

* Tracy Townsend on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

© 2020 Patrick Hester

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome K.C. Alexander – author of Nanoshock – SINless #2 and co-author (With Jason M. Hough) of Mass Effect: Andromeda: Nexus Uprising.

About Nanoshock – SINless #2: Being a mercenary isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Especially when Riko’s hard-won reputation has taken a hard dive into fucked. Now she’s fair game for every Tom, Dick and Blow looking to score some cred.

In this city, credibility means everything — there’s no room for excuses. She still doesn’t know what she did to screw up so badly, and chasing every gone-cold lead is only making it worse. Without help and losing ground fast, Riko has a choice: break every rule of the street on her search for answers… or die trying.

About Mass Effect: Andromeda: Nexus Uprising: They slept for hundreds of years, dreaming of a new home in the Andromeda Galaxy. When finally they awake, their dreams of peace are shattered. These colonists—turian, salarian, asari, human, and more*—face an uncharted galaxy and threats beyond understanding. The Nexus is the core from which the colonists will explore their new home. Yet even before the arks arrive, the massive space station sustains critical damage.

The entire mission is placed in jeopardy, and security director Sloane Kelly must reassert order while racing to identify the nature of the threat that faces them. If she fails, the Andromeda Initiative could crumble.

About K.C. Alexander: K. C. Alexander is the author of Necrotech and Nanoshock—transhumanist sci-fi called “a speed freak rush” by NYT bestseller Richard Kadrey and “slick, sharp and snarky” by NYT bestseller Chuck Wendig. She co-wrote Mass Effect: Andromeda: Nexus Uprising with NYT bestseller Jason M. Hough, Bioware’s first novelization for Mass Effect: Andromeda. Other credits consist of a short story to Fireside magazine and an essay for Uncanny’s Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction. Specialties include voice-driven prose, imperfect characters, and an inclination to defy expectations.

This week’s picks:

* K.C.: #1 The Show Must Go On: Queen + Adam Lambert – Documentary (Netflix)

* K.C.: #2 Somebody Feed Phil – (Netflix)

* Tracy: Cravings: Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat: A Cookbook by Chrissy Teigen

* Patrick: The US vs John Lennon – Documentary (Prime)

Links:

* K.C. Alexander on Twitter

* Tracy Townsend on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

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