In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks to Rati Mehrotra about her debut novel, Markswoman. They explore how Mehrotra’s own background inspired the world, why she decided to write it as a post-apocalyptic novel, what inspires her writing, and a few hints about what is coming next in the Asiana duology. Then Elizabeth is joined by Marlee Jane Ward, award winning author of Welcome to Orphancore and its sequel, Psynode, and current candidate of the Down Under Fan Fund! They discuss Marlee Jane’s breakout hit, Welcome to Orphancore, what she’s working on now, her experience attending Kij Johnson’s writing workshop, and why she’s excited to be the DUFF candidate. We hope you enjoy the episode! Show Notes: Rati Mehrotra (00:53 – 12:17) Rati’s Website Rati on Twitter Markswoman Marlee Jane Ward (12:32 – 21:06) Marlee Jane’s Website Marlee Jane on Twitter Down Under Fan Fund If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page. Our new intro and outro music comes “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Killer lawnmowers, crucifixions, and cybersex, oh my! This is our very first Torture Cinema of the year, and so OF COURSE our Patrons had to pick something that was TRULY terrible! In this episode, Julia, Paul, Alex, and Daniel dig deep into the movie that is so awful and so unlike the short story it was based on that Stephen King successfully sued the production company! Keep in mind that Stephen King is directly responsible for Maximum Overdrive, and he STILL thought this movie was awful! But even worse, the team had to watch the Director’s Cut! Which we’re pretty sure just added an additional twenty minutes of Jeff Fahey having cybersex, but still… You guys get more sadistic every month. Keep up the good work! We hope you enjoy the episode! Show Notes: Lawnmower Man: The Director’s Cut (1992)(IMDb) Feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page. Our new intro and outro music comes “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Paul talks to Marko Kloos about his military SF series, Frontlines, and more specifically about the sixth and “final” book in the series, Points of Impact. Marko shares how he tried to play with the typical military SF tropes, how his military service inspired the series, and a little about his new series that should be out later this year. Then Cody Sisco, author of the Resonant Earth series, joins Elizabeth (in her very first solo interview!), to talk about what inspired the Resonant Earth series, some of the reasons for making it an alternate history, and the process to write and release the first book, Broken Mirrors, including what motivated him to do self-publishing, an anthology that he’s publishing, and more! We hope you enjoy the episode! Show Notes: Marko Kloos (00:53 – 16:26) Marko on Twitter Marko’s Website “Frontlines is an action-packed military sci-fi series that captures the essence of warfare” by Andrew Liptak Cody Sisco (16:39 – 30:54) Cody’s Website Cody on Twitter Resonant Earth Series If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page. Our new intro and outro music comes “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Conjure, dialect, and gatekeepers, oh my! Jen and Trish are joined by Eden Royce and Troy L. Wiggins to discuss the current field of Black Southern Speculative Fiction, including how the speculative is part of the Black Southern experience, whether or not standard genre labels fail speculative fiction written by black people from the South, what gatekeepers can do to promote Black Southern voices, and so much more. Make sure you stay through the very end to hear some recommendations on where to start your journey into Black Southern Speculative Fiction! We hope you enjoy the episode! Show Notes: Eden Royce’s Things: Eden on Twitter Eden’s Website Spook Lights II: Southern Gothic Horror (GO BUY IT!) Troy L. Wiggins’ Things: Troy on Twitter Troy’s Website Fiyah Literary Magazine Cecily Kane’s Things Cecily on Twitter Cecily’s Website Works Mentioned: #BlackSpecFic Report The Goophered Grapevine by Charles Chesnutt Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed Mama Day by Gloria Naylor The Works of Walter Mosley Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston The Gilded Six-Bits by Zora Neale Hurston Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Long Division by Kiese Laymon The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson The Works of  Sheree Renée Thomas Daughters of the Dust Beyoncé: Lemonade Eve’s Bayou Voodoo Season by Jewell Parker Rhodes A Piece of Mine and Some Love, Some Pain, Sometime by J. California Cooper American Specter and Everlasting by Rasheedah Prioleau Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush by Virginia Hamilton Song of the Trees and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi We Love You Charlie Freeman by Helen Oyeyemi Feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page. Our new intro and outro music comes “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

The brand-new and sparkling Speculative Fiction in Translation podcast is here! In her 1st episode, Rachel introduces herself and talks about what to expect from the podcast throughout 2018. She also takes a quick look back at 2017 and its SFT riches and forward to the rest of 2018 and the novels/collections coming up. Episodes moving forward will feature two segments: 15 minutes of up-to-date news, new-releases, and details about speculative fiction in translation available online 15 minutes of interviews with wonderful translators, publishers, editors, authors, and readers. A bientôt! Show Notes: Speculative Fiction in Translation website Speculative Fiction in Translation facebook page SFT on twitter: @Rcordas Things to read: “The Catalog of Virgins” by Nicoletta Vallorani, translated from the Italian by Rachel Cordasco, Clarkesworld Magazine, November 2017 “A Day to Remember” by Clelia Farris, translated from the Italian by Rachel Cordasco, Samovar Magazine, December 2017 SFT 2017 Stats SFT Out in 2018 Feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page. Our new intro and outro music comes “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

It’s finally here. The Show Formerly Known as Shoot the WISB returns with its new name:  At the Movies. In today’s episode, we’re joined by Caitlyn Paxson in a riveting discussion of the much-acclaimed Guillermo Del Toro fantasy, The Shape of Water. The crew looks at how the film examines folklore, its approaches to marginalized identities, where it succeeds and fails, the importance of the color green, and much more. We hope you enjoy the episode! Show Notes: The Shape of Water (2017)(IMDb) Caitlyn Paxson’s Stuff: Caitlyn’s Twitter “I Belong Where the People Are: Disability and The Shape of Water“ by Elsa Feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page. Our new intro and outro music comes “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Signal Boost is back! In our 1st boost festival of the year, a very sick Jen and a dissertation-downtrodden Shaun attempt to answer a few of your silly questions. Based on questions by @Runalongwomble and @timata87, we tell you about our secret Jaeger names, our fight songs, and the sf/f worlds we like to live or go on vacation in! It’s a bit of absurd podcastery with a heavy dose of laughs, and when it’s all done, we take a minute to share some mini-boosts. We hope you enjoy the episode! Show Notes: Mini-Boosts Shaun’s Boosts: The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian – A Science Fiction for Kids Podcast Space Cases – S1E1 Jen’s Boosts: Insignia Volume 5 Capricious SF Issue 9 – Gender Diverse Pronouns If you have a question you’d like us to answer, feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page. Our new intro and outro music comes “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Mecha, the Nascent Church, and invented fears, oh my!  Myke Cole, one of our most frequent guests over the years, joins Paul and Shaun to talk about his new fantasy novel, The Armored Saint. Over the course of the interview, Myke discusses what it meant to him to write and publish this book that allowed him, as a military SFF writer, to prove that he’s a “Writer” with a capital “W”, the challenge of writing in a voice that is the exact opposite of his own, and some of the influences on his Mecha. Bonus: We all learn how to properly pronounce Heloise. We hope you enjoy the episode! Show Notes: Myke’s Website Myke’s Twitter The Armored Saint (BUY IT!) We have also interviewed Myke about his previous novels: On Control Point On Fortress Frontier On Breach Zone On Gemini Cell Become a Patron of the Skiffy and Fanty Show to hear 5 Questions with Myke Cole! Feel free to shoot us a message on our contact page. Our new intro and outro music comes “Dimension” by Creo (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes.

Wow. It’s finally here! Our first episode on our new website, using our new feed! Hopefully everything works out and it ends up in your ears, because it’s time for the team to talk about what they loved in 2017 and what they’re looking forward to in 2018! We had reason to be a bit down about 2017. Last year was tough for many of us, but it still brought with it some amazing speculative fiction and some amazing growth on the Skiffy and Fanty Show. Our Patreon supporters allowed us to start 2018 fresh and shiny and new, and that brought with it a renewed sense of hope! For the last couple of weeks, many of our previous guests have been sharing what brings them joy. Hopefully, their joy has inspired some of your own. But sometimes it’s a struggle to find joy, to embrace joy. Our theme this year is “hope,” but hope often starts from a dark place, a place of struggle, fear, and pain. That’s where we leave 2017 and how we’re going to tackle 2018. In some ways, 2017 was a year where we declared ourselves as members of the resistance. In that sense, 2018 is the year we declare that we know we can win. But since I’m officially rambling, I’m going to let you go listen to this episode! Shaun, Jen, Paul, and David share some updates about the podcast and look back to the past year and ahead to the future. In addition, most of the rest of the team, including Becca, Trish, David, Daniel, Elizabeth, Alex, Joyce, Stephen, and Rachel, our newest member, hop on for their own quick additions! Hopefully, once you’re finished, you’ll have some new things to add to your reading and watching lists! Those weren’t already too long, right? We hope you enjoy the episode! Show Notes [one-half-first] 2017 in Review: Shaun Star Wars: The Last Jedi Provenance by Ann Leckie Shaun got to go to Helsinki WorldCon, ride roller coasters in Germany, and go to Puerto Rico! Jen Dark An Unkindness of Ghost by Rivers Solomon Jen got to do Signal Boost! Paul Blade Runner 2049 The Tiger’s Daughter by K Arsenault Rivera Paul was the DUFF delegate! And also got to go to Helsinki WorldCon! David Get Out The Novelization of Konga by Dean Owen David got a black lab puppy named Rosie! Becca American Gods TV series The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Watson Daniel Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Joyce Star Wars: The Last Jedi Water into Wine by Joyce Chng Avocado! Elizabeth Your Name Valentine by Jodie McAllister Monsterhearts 2 RPG Rachel The Invented Part by Rodrico Fresan, translated by Will Vanderhyden Orbital Cloud by Taiyo Fuji, translated by Timothy Silver “Milla” by Lorenzo Crescentini and Emanuela Valentini, translated by Rich Larson “Person Who Saw Cetus” by Tang Fei, translated by S. Qiouyi Lu “The Gates of Balawat” by Maria Haskins, translated by Maria Haskins Alex The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin KJ Charles & Courtney Milan Romance Novels The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang Thrawn by Timothy Zahn The Shape of Water Get Out Thor: Ragnarok Star Wars: The Last Jedi Stephen Voltron: Legendary Defender Moonstruck by Grace Ellis, illustrated by Shae Beagle The National Gallery of Canada Trish Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee The Last Hawk by Catherine Osaro Episode 579 of Escape Pod: “Texts from the Ghost War” by Alex Yuschik, narrated by Adam Pracht and Trendane Sparks Get Out [/one-half-first] [one-half] Looking Forward to 2018: Shaun Black Panther The Armored Saint by Myke Cole The Tangled Lands by Tobias Buckell and Paolo Bacigalupi Tom Hardy has a rap mix-tape (but it may have already disappeared!) Jen A Wrinkle in Time Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse Jen is excited about more Skiffy and Fanty! Paul Westworld Season 2 Fire Dance Ilana C. Myer Traveling to the east coast & the Scintillation Convention David The Nun Blood Binds the Pack by Alex Wells David is looking forward to more Skiffy and Fanty! Becca Doctor Who Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce Daniel SF in Translation podcast! Joyce Black Panther Ruse by Cindy Pon Pu-ehr Tea Elizabeth E...

In our final podcast of the year, Shaun and Jen offer a quick wrap-up of all the things we loved about 2017. We share some of our favorite episodes, remind folks of our listener/reader survey, and offer up some last minute mini boosts to make 2017 just a little bit more joyful. We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Signal Boost #31 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Our Favorite Episodes: Jen’s Picks: 319. The Core (2003) — A Torture Cinema “Adventure” 333. Malka Older (a.k.a. The Information Broker) — Null States (An Interview) 317. Disability in SF/F — A Discussion w/ Sarah Chorn and Elsa Sjunneson-Henry 324. Inclusivity in Fairy Tales — A Discussion w/ Sara Cleto, Brittany Warman, and Shveta Thakrar October Signal Boosts Signal Boost #21: Nathan Adler and Darcie Little Badger Signal Boost #22: Tonya Liburd and Stephen Graham Jones Signal Boost #23: Eden Royce and Karolina Fedyk Signal Boost #24: Ian Muneshwar and Zin E. Rocklyn Shaun’s Picks: 338. Indigenous Representation in Horror — A Discussion w/ Darcie Little Badger, Nathan Adler, and Stephen Graham Jones 337. Ann Leckie (a.k.a. Singularitrix) — Provenance (An Interview) #63. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) — A Shoot the WISB Subcast Signal Boost #10: Alien Nation, Supergirl, and Flash! Mini Boosts: Jen’s Picks: The Wounded Warrior Project The NAACP Legal Defense Fund Shaun’s Picks: Mass Effect: Initiation by N.K. Jemisin Founders Brewing Breakfast Stout Our new intro music comes “The Launch” by Chronox (CC BY 4.0), which has been slightly modified to include sound effects and for length purposes. That’s all, folks!  Thanks for listening.  See you next time.