The Future Lab with Lee Schneider Season 3

Step into the vibrant world of independent bookselling with this captivating episode of Future Lab. Host Lee Schneider sits down with Joey Puente, the passionate sci-fi and fantasy specialist at Diesel bookstore in Los Angeles' Brentwood neighborhood. With an impressive 20-year tenure at Diesel, Joey brings unparalleled expertise in connecting readers with their perfect next read.

This conversation explores the evolving landscape of science fiction and fantasy publishing, from the current "romantasy" boom driven by BookTok to the emergence of queer voices reshaping genre fiction. Joey shares insights into trending subgenres like LitRPG, how the shift from dystopian narratives toward hopeful futures is being led by new voices, and how independent bookstores serve as vital cultural hubs in their communities.

Discover Joey's current staff picks, learn about Diesel's author events featuring luminaries like William Gibson and Cory Doctorow, and gain insider perspective on how genre fiction serves as both escapism and social commentary, reflecting our contemporary anxieties while imagining better tomorrows. For a list of the books Joey discusses in this episode, go to this link.

The store Instagram account is here. 

Creators & Guests

In today’s episode, host Lee Schneider sits down with Eiren Caffall, musician and author of the powerful climate fiction novel All the Water in the World.

Set in a flooded future New York City, Caffall’s debut novel tells an intimate family survival story that cuts through the overwhelming scope of climate catastrophe by focusing on how we protect each other when everything falls apart. Rather than relying on apocalyptic set pieces, she crafts what she calls a “bedtime story”—a hopeful narrative about resilience, community, and the human capacity to rebuild.

Caffall brings a unique perspective to climate fiction, drawing from her background as both a musician and the daughter of an EPA hydrogeologist. She discusses how her dual creative practices inform each other, why she chose the Museum of Natural History in New York as a sanctuary in her novel’s drowned world, and how communities of care can emerge from disaster.

This conversation explores the evolving landscape of climate fiction, the power of personal narrative in processing global crisis, and why stories about “what comes after” might be exactly what we need right now. 

Creators & Guests

Join host Lee Schneider in this fascinating conversation about writing and activism as Aya De León discusses her unique approach to writing climate fiction, working in the genre of feminist heist novels. She emphasizes the importance of storytelling in addressing social justice issues, including climate change and racism, while also sharing insights into her writing process and productivity. De León advocates for empowering young readers and highlights the role of activism in her work. She also reflects on the current state of the literary industry and offers valuable advice for aspiring writers.

Aya shares candid insights about her writing process, including how NaNoWriMo transformed her approach to first drafts, and offers powerful advice for writers looking to combine creativity with activism. She also previews her upcoming novel Undisclosed and discusses the current state of publishing.

Perfect for fans of speculative fiction, climate literature, and anyone interested in the intersection of storytelling and social change.

Creators & Guests

Join Lee Schneider as he speaks with debut author R.E. Kurz, whose fascinating journey into published paranormal fantasy is as twisty as her plot lines in her debut novel THE FALL OF LINDA WATERS. Discover how studies in biology and medieval studies shaped a story filled with nature spirits, realistic teenage drama, and a romance that doesn't shy away from the messy realities of growing up.

Whether you're a writer, a fantasy fan, or just curious about how medieval literature might influence modern storytelling, this conversation will leave you inspired to listen to your own creative voices and discover a new book.

Learn more about R.E. Kurz and THE FALL OF LINDA WATERS on the author's website.

Creators & Guests

In this conversation, Lee Schneider and Robin Sloan explore the joys of making things, the intersection of technology and creativity, and the evolving landscape of storytelling. They discuss the importance of kindness in fiction, the challenges posed by AI, and the value of offline creativity. Robin shares insights on his writing process, the significance of note-taking, and his reflections on the state of science fiction and fantasy today. Subscribe to Robin's newsletter on his website. 

Creators & Guests

Eleanor Keisman discusses her journey from writing a short story to creating her novella New Animal, exploring the themes of human-animal interaction and communication, climate change, and how non-human animals see the world we share with them.

We talk about the challenges of writing animal protagonists and the long shadow cast by American author Jack London in writing about the natural world. Keisman emphasizes the need for hope in storytelling and offers advice for aspiring writers navigating the publishing landscape.

Check out her blog on Substack: https://eleanorkeisman.substack.com

Chapters

00:00 The Journey of Writing a Novella
04:11 Character Development and Research
09:34 Nature and Climate Change in Writing
11:51 Exploring Climate Change Themes
16:28 Learning from Animals and Indigenous Wisdom
19:35 Speculative Fiction as a Path Forward
23:11 Breaking into Science Fiction and Fantasy
30:13 Building an Audience for New Animal
31:38 Reflections on Career and Aspirations
36:59 Writing Animal Characters with Depth

Sue Toth is a book editor and coach who specializes in romance, mystery, and thrillers. She keeps writers inspired, helps them work through writers' block, and helps their books be born into the world. 

I asked Sue about the special challenges of writing climate fiction, and she offered to have a conversation on the show about how her developmental editing work with thrillers could apply to climate fiction. 

Creators & Guests

Tory Stephens works at Grist Magazine as their climate fiction creative manager and uses storytelling to champion climate justice, and imagine green, clean, and just futures. He's going to tell us about a climate fiction contest, called Imagine 2200, that he says changed him and challenged him on a personal level. 

It also inspired thousands of writers to explore what it would be like to write hopeful fiction about the future.

Find out more about Imagine 2200.

Creators & Guests

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The Future Lab tells the stories that shape the future. It’s where thriller, science fiction, climate fiction, and fantasy authors discuss how we shape the future with the stories we tell today.

If the interview coming up with Matt Gemmell has a theme, I’d say it is, when writing long-form fiction, don’t follow templates. Instead let intention guide you. 

Matt is the author of four books of fiction, including the popular KESTREL techo-thriller trilogy. He has also published four nonfiction books, and six collections of short stories about the supernatural. He’ll send you a free short story by email if you sign up for his newsletter. All the links are in the show notes, and you’ll find Matt online at mattgemmell.scot. 

Matt was once a software engineer doing design and user experience work for companies like Apple, and he approaches writing with an engineer’s mind combined with the improvisational approach of a session musician. 

Here’s a quote from our conversation: Matt said: “There's this sense of being so engrossed and encompassed in the work of an actual book that I only learn the lessons of it and improve after a major piece of work."

I take that to mean that it’s by doing the writing that we improve, certainly, and we learn by a kind of spidey-sense to hone everthing down to what is absolutely needed. Writing along the path of your story becomes like muscle memory. 

You get to know your characters so well that you could drop them into any scene, even an outlandish one, and you would know how they would react and what they would say. You cultivate a deep intentionality that shapes your creative spark.

As Matt says, “You will always, always, always get better results in anything by doing it deliberately and for a reason."
 
Toward the end of our conversation, we talk about Matt’s writing setup, why he likes mechanical keyboards, and the pleasure he derives from a good e-ink tablet. 

Find Matt online: 

Website: https://mattgemmell.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MattGemmellAuthor
Mastodon: https://mastodon.scot/@mattgemmell

Creators & Guests

Welcome to the Future Lab with me, Lee Schneider.  This is the trailer before the trailer, the advance word, the beginning of the beginning, just tapping the mic to be sure everything works.  I'm excited about what we're going to be doing in this space, and I just had to tell you about it. 

Creators & Guests