Speculate!

In this episode, we look at what we’ve been reading (and playing) over the summer, with brief comments about Sarah Kuhn’s Heroine Worship, the Superman Rebirth hardcover edition, Vivian Jackson’s Wanted and Wired, L.E. Modesitt’s Imager, Herge’s Tintin series, and Will Cuppy’s How To Attract the Wombat, plus discussion of Harebrained Schemes’ Battletech. We had a great time discussing some things engaging us in a pretty difficult political climate, and we hope you’ll find the recommendations useful. If you like what you hear, please tune in next week for a discussion of work/life balance in writing and a special announcement coming soon about the future of Speculate, and please spread the word about the show. And thanks as always for listening!

In this episode, we combine writing and gaming as we conduct part two of a joint session of Speculate and Greg’s Twitch show Masters of the Dungeon, talking with veteran game masters Askren and Dave (the Digital DM) about story and narrative in tabletop games. We discuss high-level campaigns, the way different systems contribute to different kinds of storytelling, and how collaborative storytelling can draw lessons from individual writing and vice versa, and we hope you find the conversation (and last week’s) as engaging as we did. If you like what you hear, please tune in soon for more discussion of speculative fiction, consider supporting the Patreon for even more great content (with more on the way!), and spread the word about the show. And thanks as always for listening!

In this episode, we combine writing and gaming as we conduct a joint session of Speculate and Greg’s Twitch show Masters of the Dungeon, talking with veteran game masters Askren and Dave (the Digital DM) about story and narrative in tabletop games. We discuss high-level campaigns, the way different systems contribute to different kinds of storytelling, and how collaborative storytelling can draw lessons from individual writing and vice versa. Because of the length of this recording, we’ve split this into two parts; each of them was a really interesting discussion which covered a lot of ground, and we hope you find them as engaging as we did. If you like what you hear, please tune in next week for part two, consider supporting the Patreon for even more great content (with more on the way!), and spread the word about the show. And thanks as always for listening!

In this episode, we talk about the State of the Field with author, editor, and project manager Jaym Gates, looking in particular at tie-in fiction, game writing, and working in shared worlds. This was an interesting conversation, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. If you like what you hear, please tune in for more great episodes to come, consider supporting the Patreon for even more great content, spread the word about the show, and thanks as always for listening!

In this episode, we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Andrej Sapkowski with a roundtable discussion of his book The Last Wish, as we’re joined by author, editor, and project manager Jaym Gates. We chat about the book’s translation, the commercial vs. literary quality of the work, the creation of a character with both a sense of nostalgia and a sense of duty and more. If you like what you hear and are able to support our Patreon at the $5 level, please tune in next week when we’ll discuss some of the writing techniques involved in the book. Please spread the word about the show, and thanks as always for listening and supporting the Patreon!

In this episode, we start a new triptych of shows on the work of Andrzej Sapkowski with our reader response to his book The Last Wish, which introduced the character of Geralt of Rivia and The Witcher to the world and inspired CD Projekt’s incredible series of Witcher games. We chat about the book’s crisp pace, the amazing character of Geralt, the use of fairy tales with a twist, the difference between commercial and more “literary” fiction, and more. If you like what you hear, please tune in next week when we’ll have a roundtable discussion about the book with author, editor, and project manager Jaym Gates. Please spread the word about the show, and thanks as always for listening and supporting the Patreon!

Greg and Mike met up with author David Mack at Farpoint in Baltimore, MD. David is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels of science fiction, fantasy, and adventure, including the Star Trek Destiny and Cold Equations trilogies. We talked with him about his new Dark Arts series of Alt-History Fantasy, starting with The Midnight Front. We asked David about writing historical divergences in Alternate History, tackling the weight of history in writing about WWII and the Holocaust, and more. Note: since this is a live interview at a convention, the audio may have a bit of random background noise. Trigger Warning: This interview involves some frank and graphic discussion about the horrific results of the Holocaust, given the nature of the book’s setting and themes. David believes (and we agree) that representation of the reality of what happened is important, but we nonetheless wanted to make sure people knew such topics are present in this discussion.

Welcome to Episode 180 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers, and Fans. In this episode Mike and guest co-host Elsa Sjunneson-Henry continue our triptych of shows on the work of Mishell Baker, looking at her novel Borderline.  We talk with Mishell about inspiration from gaming and other sources, Millie’s distinct character voice, sense of place, and more. If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back next week for our final show of the triptych as we look at some of the writing techniques used in the novel–and if you’d like access to that show, please head to our Patreon page and support us at the $5 or higher level.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show! BONUS: Writers should check out the call for submissions for Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction! Elsa is the guest non-fiction editor for the special issue. The submission window runs from Jan 15th 2018 through Feb 15th, 2018.

Welcome to Episode 179 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers, and Fans.  In this episode Mike welcomes writer and editor Elsa Sjunneson-Henry as a guest co-host for our next triptych, this one on Mishell Baker’s Borderline. Greg is taking a much-deserved month off from the triptych, to return soon. Borderline provides a fresh take on the Fair Folk in an Urban/Contemporary Fantasy story, starring Millie, a suicide survivor who joins The Arcadia Project, an organization that regulates the movements of the Fair Folk in the human world. We talked about some of the reasons why Borderline has been a critical darling, including the sharpness of Millie’s character voice, the way disability and interdependence are used in the book, and how the novel goes beyond the easy and the expected in using Los Angeles and Hollywood as a setting. Elsa suggested Borderline for this triptych, and brought excellent perspectives for the conversation. If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll chat with Mishell Baker about the book.  Please check out our Patreon and consider becoming a patron so you can get access to even more content as our show continues to grow and develop.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon page, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show! BONUS: Writers should check out the call for submissions for Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction! Elsa is the guest non-fiction editor for the special issue. The submission window runs from Jan 15th 2018 through Feb 15th, 2018.

Welcome to Episode 178 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, we launch our third joint production of Speculate and Greg’s Twitch channel (under the moniker Arvan Eleron) as we discuss the world of Portal, Valve‘s groundbreaking puzzle game with a whole lot of story both implicit and explicit.  We talk about how the appearance of the otherwise silent protagonist allows the player to experience the story more immersively, the way game mechanics and increasing difficulty help to further the sense of increasing dread, and how the cake must clearly be a lie (it will make sense after you play the game for yourself).  Greg has never played Portal before, and having Mike comment on the story elements as Greg was discovering them for himself was a great experience–and one which the Twitch chat apparently enjoyed as well.  We hope you find it similarly interesting in helping think of narrative in new and different ways.  If you’d like to see the video version of this, head to Greg’s YouTube channel, and if you liked what you saw and heard, don’t forget to check back soon as we start a new triptych of shows.  Thanks for supporting us here and via the Patreon, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 176 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers, and Fans.  In this episode we continue our triptych of shows on the work of Malka Older, looking at her novel Infomocracy.  We chat about dystopia (and whether it’s an overused term), idea-driven fiction, narrative disorder, and more–and how all of it is tied together in this fascinating book.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back next week for our final show of the triptych as we look at some of the writing techniques used in the novel–and if you’d like access to that show, please head to our Patreon page (the Patreon now moving back to live status) and support us at the $5 or higher level.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 175 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers, and Fans.  In this episode we welcome everyone back and thank everyone for their understanding during our hiatus before beginning our next triptych, this one on Malka Older‘s Infomocracy.  This book, which envisions a near future environment where “microdemocracy” has become the dominant political system in the world, created a major buzz when it came out last year, and as we go through things here we can see why–we talk about the book’s idea-driven dynamic, the optimism of its premise (and how realistic that optimism might or might not be), and the intoxicating nature of its presentation, among other things.  If you like what you hear, don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll chat with Malka Older about the book.  And now that we’re back, please check out our Patreon and consider becoming a patron so you can get access to even more content as our show continues to grow and develop.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon page, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 174 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we start by explaining a bit of what’s been going on with our schedule, and what’s on tap for the future, before moving on to our chat with author Jason M. Hough.  Jason has been on the show before, but in this episode we focus on his (and co-author K.C. Alexander‘s) Mass Effect: Andromeda–Nexus Uprising novel, looking at the difference between original and tie-in work, working in the Mass Effect world, collaboration, and why Thane is obviously the best companion character in the ME series (okay, this might have been Greg’s suggestion, but still).  If you like what you hear, remember to check back soon for our next show, and please head to our Patreon page and support us at the $5 or higher level to get access to even more content.  Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

    Welcome to Episode 173 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode, we venture into the world of healthcare and politics–and yes, they’re related!–as they relate to the speculative fiction community, as we discuss what happens next with authors Gwenda Bond and Kameron Hurley.  Both have talked extensively, on and offline, about these issues, and during our conversation we cover a lot of ground, drawing upon Kameron’s history of advocacy relating to medical rights and Gwenda’s extensive government experience in healthcare and policy.  Surprisingly, the conversation is much more upbeat than you might expect, and a lot of real suggestions for coping with current circumstances and working to create change come out of this discussion.  If you like what you hear, remember to check back soon for our next show, and please head to our Patreon page and support us at the $5 or higher level to get access to even more content. Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show!

Welcome to Episode 172 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans. In this State of the Field episode we chat with former editor and current agent DongWon Song of the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency about the current publishing environment for speculative fiction, how the line between agent and editor has become increasingly blurred, what authors need to know in the new hybrid/traditional market, and even what he enjoys most about teaching book editing…and many other things.  If you like what you hear, remember to check back soon for our next show, and please head to our Patreon page and support us at the $5 or higher level to get access to even more content. Thanks for supporting us here and via our Patreon, and thanks as always for listening to and spreading the word about the show…and best wishes for a happy holiday season and a wonderful 2017!