UpperPen Podcast

Becky Chambers joins UpperPen to talk about her newest book As You Wake, Break the Shell. We talk about the typical Becky Chambers things like the sapphic romance, humans in space, and spaceships, but we also go in to the structure of the novel.

I enjoyed the book so much. Her prose is wonderful, the love story is sweet, and the time shifts didn't bother me.

You can find Becky Chambers on her website OtherScribbles.com.

Preordered signed copies can be ordered at Mysterious Galaxy.

Jonathan Strahan joins UpperPen to talk about The Book of the Dead, a new anthology of popular writers....and maybe some you've never heard of. Short stories are how I "sample" authors. They are less of a commitment than an whole book, and often I find authors I follow like the internet stalker that I am.

The Book of the Dead is the third in a series of these anthologies. The first two are The Book of Dragons and The Book of Witches.

I hope you enjoy these stories. If you read them, or either of the previous books, let me know which short stories are your favorite. I loved Tamsyn Muir's story in The Book of the Dead!

You can find out what Jonathan is up to through his website.

A.T. Qureshi joins UpperPen to talk about her new book Rider of Dragons which is part of the Baby Dragon Cafe universe! This is the F1 romance book of the romantasy world. This is such an awesome shift in the already established Baby Dragon world. This is the first sharp shift that I've seen from the cozy realm to high octane dragon racing. I love it.

You can find A.T. Qureshi on Instagram @aamna_qureshi or on her website aamnaqureshi.com (this is where you can find where to order Kissed for Christmas).

Signed copies can be purchased through BooksAndMortarNY.com

Marshall J. Moore joins UpperPen to talk about his book The Henchperson's Guide to Unionizing. We talk about classic horror characters and how Moore reimagines them for this story. Igor for Union President!

You can get a preorder of the book through Eagle Eye Books.

Marshall J. Moore can be found on Instagram ⁨@MarshallJMooreAuthor⁩ and through his website MarshallJMoore.com.

Meihan Boey joins UpperPen to talk about her books The Formidable Miss Cassidy and The Enigmatic Madam Ingram (I have trouble saying "enigmatic" in the interview, sorry). These books explore Singapore in the late 1800s and early 1900s from the point of view of an outsider. This POV invites non-Singaporean readers to join these adventures.

Both Miss Cassidy and Madam Ingram are such good books! I think they might be two of the best books that I've read all year. Book 3, The Mystical Mister Kay is currently out in Singapore from Epigram Bookstore, and hopefully in the US (and everywhere else) soon.

You can follow Meihan Boey on Instagram @formidablemisscassidy and on her website MeihanBoey.wordpress.com

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Hannah Mathewson joins UpperPen to talk about her new novel The Age of Blood and Magic. It is a book exploring the "what if" of if tech oligarchs had exclusive access to magic. We talk about the main family in the story, young protagonists, and setting up how the world got magic in the first place. The Age of Blood and Magic is out on September 15th in the US.You can find Hannah Mathewson on Instagram @HannahOclock

Lauren Wiesebron is back on UpperPen! She joined me to talk about her second novel, The Palace Beneath the Sea, which is based on French myths and helps me out with some language lessons for the difficult names.I really love both of Lauren's books. She is great at looking at folklore and myths and making them her own. The Palace Beneath the Sea is out on September 15th in the US. The book is already out in Europe.You can follow Lauren on Instagram @lwiesebron and her website LaurenWiesebron.com

Today, Gryffin Murphy joined me on UpperPen to talk about her new cozy fantasy book Twig's Traveling Tomes. We talk about what we think "cozy" fantasy is, how you gain the readers trust when one of your main characters is a theif, and so much more! I loved this book so much that I preordered the paperback....and I think I'll end up buying the audiobook so that I can enjoy it in a new way!You can get Twig's Traveling Tomes on September 8th, 2026. Check out Gryffin's Instagram @GryffinMurphyWritesBooks for fun socials. She also has other books available on her website GryffinMurphy.com

This an extra episode! Laurie Gilmore joined UpperPen this week to talk about her new book Big Bad Wolf. We talked about reworking previously published books, spicy romance, and problematic relationships in books. Spoiler, no one wants a super possessive guy in real life. Big Bad Wolf is out September 8th, 2026 and book 2 Wild Wicked Mate is out October 20th! You can find Laurie on Instagram @lauriegilmore_author and through her website TheLaurieGilmore.com.

S.B. West joins me on UpperPen to talk about her debut novel Morfran, Dark Lord Reformed. We talk about the characters and subverting expectations. The need for comedy in books about pretty awful things if you want to make the bad guy sympathetic. I loved this book so much! When I started reading it, I found myself stopping repeatedly to share a paragraph here and a paragraph there with my husband (who admittedly was very confused with the out of context story, lol). Morfran, Dark Lord Reformed is a funny take on the dark lord redemption story. And it has goats. Three specifically. Morfran, Dark Lord Reformed is out on September 8th. If you live near Pocatello, ID, stop by Hares and Hatters Bookshop to see S.B. West in person on October 2nd!You can find S.B. West on Instagram @sbwestauthor and through her websited SBWestAuthor.com