I attended ReaderCon for the first time this year and (among many others) attended a panel titled: “The Year In Novels”. I was able to get two of the panelists, Rose Fox and Graham Sleight, to recreate some of what they said for this special edition of the podcast.

Rose Fox is a longtime book reviewer currently editing science fiction, fantasy, and horror book reviews for Publishers Weekly and maintains a blog named Genreville.

Graham Sleight is a British writer, editor and critic, whose work has appeared in Strange Horizons, The New York Review Of Science Fiction and Vector. He currently writes a column for Locus.

Rose and Graham mention the following authors and books (please note the books are all Amazon links): Peter Straub’s A Dark Matter and A Special Place: The Heart of a Dark Matter, Greer Gilman’s Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter’s Tales, Catherynne Valente’s Palimpsest, China Mieville’s The City & The City, Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl, Ian McDonald’s The Dervish House, William Gibson’s Zero History, and N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Book 1 (The Inheritance Trilogy).

 

 Rose Fox and Graham Sleight Talk The Year's Best Books [26:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I met Paul De Filippo at ReaderCon just a week ago and recorded this conversation. Paul talked about the rise of Fandom, ReaderCon, being on discussion panels, music, and about meeting one of his favorite authors, Samuel (Chip) Delany.

Paul has been working as a freelance writer since the early 80s. He is a novelist (including: Spondulix, Harp, Pipe, And Symphony, Creature from the Black Lagoon: Time’s Black Lagoon, and most recently, Cosmocopia), short story writer, reviewer, and has written for comics.

His website is: pauldifilippo.com

He is part of a group blog called The Inferior 4 + 1.

 

 Paul Di Fillipo Talks Readercon, Fandom, Music, and Samuel R. Delany [21:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The award-winning Elizabeth Hand is that special kind of writer who can seemingly do anything. She’s written novels (including: Generation Loss, Mortal Love, and most recently, Illyria), short stories, comics (Anima), and movie and television spin-off novels (including: Boba Fett: Maze of Deception and12 Monkeys).

We talked about her wonderful new YA novel, Illyria, terrible auditions, and the importance of character’s names among other things. Elizabeth also gives me some writing advice–advice she admits she has and will continue to ignore!

Her website is ElizabethHand.com.

Photo Credit: Liza Croen Trombi

 

 Elizabeth Hand Talks, Illyria, Theater, Terrible Auditions, Naming Chracters. [24:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Amelia Beamer works as an editor, reviewer, and photographer for Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Field. She has published fiction and poetry in Interfictions 2, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Red Cedar Review, and other venues, but the big news is that her novel, The Loving Dead, (Night Shade Books, July 2010) is just days away.

Amelia and I talked about zombies, nightmares, Trader Joes, her writing process, and of course her new novel!

If you’re seeing this before July 1st, her novel is available on her website for FREE. Hurry! Or better yet, read the first couple of chapters and then order your very own copy of The Loving Dead (Amazon.)

Her website: http://www.ameliabeamer.com

 

 Amelia Beamer Talks Zombies, Trader Joes, Nightmares, Writing, and Her Novel The Loving Dead [27:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Technically, Jeffrey Ford has been on before, but that was a reading and QA. This is an interview.

Jeffrey Ford is the author of such novels as: The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, The Girl in the Glass, The Shadow Year, and the Well-Built City Trilogy. He has written numerous short stories, including the collections: The Empire of Ice-Cream, and The Drowned Life

Jeffrey and I talk about his writing, the power of making things up, book covers, teaching, trusting government, and many other things.

Jeffrey Ford’s official site

Another Jeffrey Ford site

 

 Jeffrey Ford Talks Writing, Making Things Up, Book Covers, Teaching. [29:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Paul Witcover graciously asked me to read for the May 5th New York Review of Science Fiction Reading Series.I brought two short selections from my upcoming novel, Yarn.

What is Yarn? you ask. The following is from my wonderful agent, Ginger Clark:

Set in the future, it’s a kind of SF that has been called “fashionpunk.” It’s the back story of a minor character in Grey (the main character’s tailor, named Tane Cedar). Tane is now a very successful, wealthy tailor who has never married and lives a somewhat solitary life. One day his lost love, Vada, shows up mysteriously at his office and asks him to make her a coat made of a drug similar to heroin. She’s dying, and she wants to pass away in peace. She then disappears, and Tane must journey around the world (which is over populated, polluted, and also abandoned—a little like the futuristic worlds of Stephenson and Philip K Dick) to find her this illegal, rare material. Along the way, we find how Tane went from growing up in the conforming, dictatorial suburbs (called “slubs”) of future Seattle and eventually escaping to the city, where he was involved with some fringe groups involved in taking down massive corporations. Along the way, he encounters three important women in his life—including Vada.

The program was recorded by the executive producer of the series, Jim Freund.

 

 A Preview of Jon Armstrong's Upcoming Yarn from the NYRSF Reading Series [28:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Douglas Lain is the author of dozens of short stories and two novels. His work appeared in nationally distributed literary magazines and journals such as Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet and Amazing Stories since 1999. His first book Last Week’s Apocalypse was a collection of these stories published by Night Shade Books. His first novel, entitled Billy Moon: 1968, tells the story of Christopher Robin Milne’s fictional involvement with the French general strike in May of 1968, and is due out from Tor Books in 2011.

He has hosted the excellent weekly Diet Soap Podcast for more than a year, and is embarking on a new community and writing endeavor he’s calling the Pick Your Battle Project. If you’d like to help support the PYBP, please visit his page on Kickstarter. Find his homepage at: DouglasLain.com.

Douglas and I talked about podcasting, homeschooling, his Pick Your Battle Project, his new short story, Noam Chomsky and the Time Box, and more.

 

 Author and Podcaster Douglas Lain Talks Activism, Home Schooling, Noam Chomsky, and the Time Box [39:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Juliet Ulman took her first job as an editorial assistant at Bantam Dell in 1998. She edited numerous books including: The Etched City by K.J. Bishop, Light by M. John Harrison, and City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer. In 2009, as a senior editor, she left to pursue other opportunities.

She is now a freelance editor and worked on my upcoming novel, Yarn. Just as I was working my way through her editorial notes, we spoke. Although I had met her before, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but we ended up talking for two hours that afternoon. This podcast is part of that conversation.

Juliet’s company is Paper Tyger.

Her twitter is @papertyger. (Is that a sentence?)

 

 Editor Juliet Ulman Talks Editing, Writing, Red Ink, Her Moods, and Yarn [33:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week I took my microphone and headed to the Brooklyn apartment of chef and food-blogger James Kenji Lopez-Alt. He is a contributing editor to Cook’s Illustrated and on-screen test cook for America’s Test Kitchen. For SeriousEats.com he has produced a number of Food Lab and Burger Lab pieces that feature his scientific approach to cooking.

James decided to test the old adage: only flip a burger once. Is it true or a myth? Join us as good cooking meets the spread sheet!

We talked about his years cooking in Boston, his name, food and science, grilled pizza, and of course, burgers.

James has a catering and food consulting company, called KACuisine, he has a food blog GoodEater.org. His Food Lab and Burger Lab Posts can be found on SeriousEats.com and their sister site, A Hamburger Today. Read Kenji’s article:
How Often Should You Flip a Burger?

 

 The Burger Lab Podcast with Chef James Kenji Lopez-Alt [30:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I met Trevor Corson’s Literary Agent a few years ago. She had the first iPhone I ever saw. And what did she have on it to listen to? The podcast of my novel! When I ran into her last last year, we talked and I asked if she had any clients who would be good for my podcast. She said: Trevor Corson would be great. She was right.

Trevor is the bestselling author of The Secret Life of Lobsters and The Story of Sushi.

Trevor and I talked about lobsters and their odd sex lives, wrong lobster wisdom from Phoebe of “Friends”, Mono Sodium Glutamate, Sushi, and stand-up comedy.

You can find Trevor’s website at trevorcorson.com and follow him on twitter at twitter.com/trevorcorson

Please note: I had a technical difficulty with the first upload of the show. Sorry. You can delete it in iTunes and then right click and select “Show All Available Shows” and try again. Did I mention I’m sorry?

 

 Author Trevor Corson Talks Lobster Sex, MSG, Japan, Sushi, and More [26:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download