So why stop writing for movies and TV to create a genre-busting mix of scifi and crime? Michael and I talk about that, the business of TV writing, the pain and difficulty of coming back to life, an encounter with Jerry Seinfeld’s Porsche, and more.

Find out more at Michael’s site for his book: NecropolisTheNovel.com. Follow him on Twitter at: Twitter.com/demzer.

Jeffrey Ford said it’s, “…a story that generates itself as it devours itself… Terrific writing, good laughs, and the flawless execution of a fictional tightrope walk between “reality” and nothing.”

We talk about his new novella, meta fiction, the writing process, his upcoming work, and much more.

Douglas is the host of Diet Soap Podcast. His site is douglaslain.com.

Lauren and I talk about her book, writing, animals, journalism, face recognition, a harrowing experience at a church in Johannesburg, among many other things.

Lauren’s website is laurenbeukes.com.

In the podcast she mentioned a rehabilitation program Khulisa.

We talk about writing rituals, long walks, Scotland, the Acacia Trilogy, and several other writing projects he’s working on.

Anthony’s website is davidanthonydurham.com.

Jon Armstrong (besides having a killer name!) is an award winning magician who has performed worldwide. He gives his take on what magic is for him personally and professional. He also talks about how audiences and a comic book he’s helping to write with a magic theme titled Smoke and Mirrors.

Chris Moriarty is a Philip K. Dick Award winning science fiction author whose new book, The Inquisitor’s Apprentice (Amazon), uses magic in unique ways. We talk about the book, the main character, the time period (New York in the 1900s) and how she used magic to talk about work.

Jon’s website is CardJon.com. The comic he’s helping to write is Smoke and Mirrors.

Chris can be found at ChrisMoriartyBooks.com. A website for her latest book is at InquisitorsApprentice.com.

Lev’s website is: levgrossman.com.

I then speak with the narrators for Grey and Yarn, Macleod Andrews and Mark Boyette, respectively. We get some background on who they are, why they do audiobooks, how long they take, why they can be a blast, and the special challenges of my books.

Also included are a couple clips from the audiobooks!

Help support the If You’re Just Joining Us Podcast and try Audible now. You’ll get a Free audiobook download with a 14 day trial. Choose from over 85,000 Titles, including my novels Grey and Yarn!

His latest work, Wolfsangel (Amazon), is quite different from his first works. We discuss his bloody fantasy novel, it’s unique magic system, and where the series is going. We also talk about stand-up comedy and choosing the right and wrong pen name.

We talk about how his new book came to be, urban foraging, mystical experiences while at work, and Doug’s his own very curious wedding. This is Doug’s second visit to IYJJU.

Will is a psychology professor at Georgia Southern University who studies internet dating among other things. We talk about Soft Apocalypse, dating in the collapse, seeing a movie made of one of his short stories, how he found his wife, and the day he proposed to her and conked out!

Alan Dean Foster is the author of more then one hundred science fiction and fantasy books. He is best known for his science fiction novels set in the Humanx Commonwealth, many of which feature Philip Lynx (Flinx), and his constant companion Pip, a flying snake.

Alan’s latest book, Predators I Have Known (Amazon), is a collection of stories about animals, specifically predators he has encountered in his numerous trips to Africa, South America, and the East.

Alan and I talk writing lots of books, sharks, lions, leaches, and how to kill tsetse flies with a Frisbee.
(Photo of Alan Dean Foster by Michael Medford.)

Alexander O Smith is the translator of Project Itoh’s Harmony (Amazon) a dystopian novel set in a medical nanotechnology future.

Alexander is founder of Kajiya Productions and has been translating video games, novels, manga, and lyrics from Japanese to English professionally since 1998.

SPOILER ALERT!

Alex and I talked about Project Itoh, his novel Harmony including several spoilers, my own PKD Award nominated novel Yarn, the differences between Japanese and American authors, and translating for game Final Fantasy.

Also, Alex is the translator of The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino (Amazon). It’s an atmospheric noir that’s getting really good reviews from some big places like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Elizabeth Bear is the author of Chill, (Amazon) a science fiction novel about a generation ship. It is part of her Jacob’s Ladder Trilogy (Dust, Chill, and Grail).

Elizabeth has won multiple awards, including Hugos, and was the recipient of the the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2008.

Elizabeth and I talked about her novel Chill, (Amazon), her novel titling secret, writing process, Las Vegas, and the evils of word counts.

Her own site is elizabethbear.com, and Shadow Unit is the serial Web fiction she mentioned written by Elizabeth, Emma Bull, Sarah Monette, and Will Shetterly.

James is a computer programmer by day, writer by night. State of Decay is his debut with sequels already out!

James and I talked about early reading, naming characters, getting a job in computing, book readings and signings that don’t go well.

His websites are: stateofdecay.net and james-knapp.com.

For several years she was involved with Aurealis, Australia’s science fiction and fantasy magazine, first as copy editor and then as associate editor. Song of Scarabaeus was her debut published in 2010 by Eos, and the sequel Children of Scarabaeus will come out a year later.

Sara and I talked about her biology degree, science fiction and romance, nationality, and dead bodies down stairs.