The Functional Nerds Podcast

Would you purchase an audiobook with closed captioning? That’s the main topic this week as Patrick and John discuss how Audible wants to add CC to audiobooks, and the publishers of those books are crying foul… On top of that, we discuss Facebook Pages vs Groups, and Patrick goes down a digital marketing tutorial for the ages…

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick Hester on Instagram

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

This week, Patrick runs solo due to John’s technical difficulties and welcomes author, filmmaker and podcaster Ian Brazee-Cannon to the show! Ian’s new novel – A Day at Georgie and Armand’s Place – is available right now! Like Patrick, Ian is local to Colorado and will be attending and participating on panels at MileHiCon 51, October 18-20.

About Ian Brazee-Cannon: Ian was a story teller from a young age, always being involved in assorted creative endeavors. He is a writer, filmmaker, game designer and podcaster. Over a dozen of his short stories have seen publication. ‘The Fifth Di…’, ‘Wondrous Web Worlds’, ‘Forgotten Worlds’, ‘Tales of the Talisman’ and various anthologies have featured his works. He has worked with Nomadic Delirium Press on supplements for the Ephemeris RPG. You can hear him discuss all manner of subjects as one of the founders and regular co-hosts on the Amateur Skeptics podcast. Dangling Carrot Films, Running Riot Productions and Ijin Studios have made use of him as a writer, director, producer and editor on their projects. In some manner of warping time, he is able to find a way to participate in other hobbies and raise two young boys. His collections of books, comic books, action figures and more dominate his office and basement. Regulars at the various Denver area sci-fi conventions will often find him involved in the programming there.

About A Day at Georgie and Armand’s Place: Welcome to the famous Georgie and Armand’s place, an interdimensional hotel unlike any place you have ever seen before. Inside you will find doorways to a thousand-thousand worlds, with all manner of beings interacting and going about their lives. The hotel is run by Georgie and Armand, dragons, life partners and Master Mages of the highest order.Meet the guests and staff members from countless worlds, each with their own stories to tell. Follow their stories as a memorable day at the Hotel plays out around them, leading to their stories colliding as a mysterious adversary threatens the stability of the Hotel, putting at risk all those who call it home.Come experience a true cross-genre adventure. At Georgie and Armand’s Place you get science fiction, fantasy, steampunk all overlapping with one another, with some mystery and romance sprinkled in the mix.

This week’s picks:

* Ian: Classic Doctor Who recreation: Mission to the Unknown…

* Patrick: Warriors of Waterdeep mobile game

Links:

* Ian Brazee-Cannon on Facebook

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick Hester on Instagram

* Patrick’s Book:

This week, Patrick and John welcome back two of our favorite authors Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne! Their latest book in THE TALES OF PELL series – The Princes Beard – Drops on October 8th!

About Kevin Hearne: KEVIN HEARNE hugs trees, pets doggies, and rocks out to heavy metal. He also thinks tacos are a pretty nifty idea. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling series the Iron Druid Chronicles, the Seven Kennings trilogy that begins with A PLAGUE OF GIANTS, and co-author of the Tales of Pell with Delilah S. Dawson.

About Delilah S. Dawson: Delilah S. Dawson is the New York Times bestselling writer of Star Wars: PHASMA, plus The Secrets of Long Snoot, The Perfect Weapon, and Scorched; the Blud series, Servants of the Storm, the HIT series, Wake of Vultures and the Shadow series (as Lila Bowen), and a variety of short stories in anthologies such as Death & Honey, Robots vs. Fairies, Hellboy: an Assortment of Horrors, Violent Ends, Carniepunk, Three Slices, and Last Night a Superhero Saved My Life. With Kevin Hearne, she is the co-writer of Kill the Farm Boy, No Country For Old Gnomes and The Princess Beard in the Tales of Pell series.

About The Princess Beard: Once upon a time, a princess slept in a magical tower cloaked in thorns and roses.

When she woke, she found no Prince Charming, only a surfeit of hair and grotesquely long fingernails—which was, honestly, better than some creep who acted without consent. She cut off her long braids and used them to escape. But she kept the beard because it made a great disguise.

This is not a story about finding true love’s kiss—it’s a story about finding yourself. On a pirate ship. Where you belong.

But these are no ordinary pirates aboard The Puffy Peach, serving under Filthy Lucre, the one-eyed parrot pirate captain. First there’s Vic, a swole and misogynistic centaur on a mission to expunge himself of the magic that causes him to conjure tea and dainty cupcakes in response to stress. Then there’s Tempest, who’s determined to become the first dryad lawyer—preferably before she takes her ultimate form as a man-eating tree. They’re joined by Alobartalus, an awkward and unelfly elf who longs to meet his hero, the Sn’archivist who is said to take dictation directly from the gods of Pell. Throw in some mystery meat and a dastardly capitalist plot, and you’ve got one Pell of an adventure on the high seas!

In this new escapade set in the magical land of Pell, Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne lovingly skewer the tropes of fairy tales and create a new kind of fantasy: generous, gently humorous, and inclusive. There might also be otters.

This week’s picks:

* Delilah Pick #1: Where the Light Enters by Sara Donati

* Delilah Pick #2: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

* Kevin Pick #1: Steel Crow Saga by Paul Kreuger

* Kevin Pick #2:

Fall is here, and so are Patrick and John with a very special episode about unexpected hiatuses, The Hugo Loser’s Party controversy, and Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere…

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick Hester on Instagram

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

This week, Patrick and John welcome back Ferrett Steinmetz! His latest book – The Sol Majestic – is out now!

About Ferrett Steinmetz: His debut urban fantasy FLEX features a bureaucracy-obsessed magician who is in love with the DMV, a goth videogamemancer who tries not to go all Grand Theft Auto on people, and one of the weirder magic systems yet devised. He was nominated for the Nebula in 2012, for which he remains moderately stoked, and lives in Cleveland with his very clever wife, a small black dog of indeterminate origin, and a friendly ghost. He Tweeters at @ferretthimself, and blogs entirely too much about puns, politics, and polyamory at www.theferrett.com.

About The Sol Majestic: Kenna, an aspirational teen guru, wanders destitute across the stars as he tries to achieve his parents’ ambition to advise the celestial elite.

Everything changes when Kenna wins a free dinner at The Sol Majestic, the galaxy’s most renowned restaurant, giving him access to the cosmos’s one-percent. His dream is jeopardized, however, when he learns his highly-publicized “free meal” risks putting The Sol Majestic into financial ruin. Kenna and a motley gang of newfound friends?including a teleporting celebrity chef, a trust-fund adrenaline junkie, an inept apprentice, and a brilliant mistress of disguise?must concoct an extravagant scheme to save everything they cherish. In doing so, Kenna may sacrifice his ideals?or learn even greater lessons about wisdom, friendship, and love.

This week’s picks:

* Ferrett: Control (video game)

* John: Quincy (documentary – Netflix)

* Patrick: Mindhunter S2 (Netflix)

Links:

* Ferrett Steinmetz on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick Hester on Instagram

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

August is done and September dawns, bringing with it the first hints of fall and, of course, a brand new episode of the Functional Nerds podcast! This week, Patrick and John are talking about the rumors swirling around the next Star Wars movie, as well as Marvel’s Kevin Feige, DC’s Bruce Timm, The Mandalorian, Rebels, Outlander, Starz, Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, bundles for tv, the DCU, Young Justice, audible and ebooks…

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick Hester on Instagram

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

This week, Patrick and John welcome back an old friend – Kate Baker! Kate is the Podcast Director and Non-fiction Editor for Clarkesworld Magazine, is a Hugo Award winner, a British Fantasy Award winner and a World Fantasy Award winner, and is the Executive Director for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)! She has narrated hundreds of short stories and poems, so of course, we talk with her about OTHER things. Like what? Well – you need to listen to the episode to find out.

Patrick and John are talking about Hulu this week, along with Patrick getting back into golf, the new season of Veronica Mars, how a pair of headphones should shout ‘I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO YOU’ in the grocery store, break room and the driving range – among other places, The Boys, Archer (DO YOU WANT ANTS?! BECAUSE THIS IS HOW YOU GET ANTS!), Crisis, being introverted, Sony Crackle and much, much more…

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick Hester on Instagram

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Patrick and John are back talking about all the trailers and information coming out of SDCC, including The Expanse, Cibola Burn, Jay & Silent Bob Rebooted, The Witcher and more. Additionally, we chat about Led Zepplin, John’s music, never reading the comments, Clerks, The Eternals, Beyond the Trope and more…

Links:

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick Hester on Instagram

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

It’s Patrick’s turn to go it alone for episode 411, chatting with Stephen Aryan! His new book, Mage Bane, is out on August 6th.

About Stephen: Stephen Aryan was born in 1977 and was raised and educated in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear. After graduating from Loughborough University he started working in marketing, and for some reason he hasn’t stopped. A keen podcaster, lapsed gamer and wannabe forest ranger, when not extolling the virtues of Babylon 5, he can be found drinking real ale and reading comics. He lives in the West Midlands with his partner and two cats.

About Mage Bane: Magic is the only weapon against the gods in the powerful final novel of this epic fantasy trilogy about battlemages and sorcerers in a world that fears their powers.

A plague rages in the streets of Perizzi. City guards rally to deal with riots while the young magicians of the Tower pool their healing powers to find a cure.

Elsewhere, new alliances are formed to stem the rising darkness strengthening a deity who feeds on pestilence and decay. Gods, Sorcerers and Battlemages must set aside the past and their vendettas to work together or risk unleashing greater suffering than they can possibly imagine…

This week’s picks:

* Stephen: Joyride (Comic)

* Patrick: Shazam!

Links:

* Stephen Aryan on Twitter

* John Anealio on Twitter

* Patrick Hester on Twitter

* The Functional Nerds Patreon Page

* Patrick Hester on Instagram

* Patrick’s Book: Into the Fire (available everywhere)

© 2019 Patrick Hester and John Anealio

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.