Eating The Fantastic

Practice social distancing with Scott Edelman, host of Eating the Fantastic, as he answers listener questions about his early days in the Marvel Comics Bullpen, the many things he and legendary editor Gardner Dozois shoved up their noses, when his food and fandom interests began to overlap, what he would have said to Harlan Ellison had he been in Barry Malzberg's shoes, whether experiencing personal tragedy helps or harms a writer, the cognitive dissonance he feel about comics having taken over the world, which characters caused him to start writing (hint: it was Conan the Barbarian), what he wishes he knew less about, who he was the most thrilled to have met in his life, whether he still gets a kick out of his favorite childhood treats, what a terrible collaborator he is, and much, much more.

Catch up with the award-winning Sarah Pinsker — this podcast's first guest — as we discuss how relieved she was her pandemic novel A Song for a New Day was published in 2019 rather than 2020, why she originally wrote that book in a song format (and why that had to change), how she loves being surprised by her own characters, why neither of us can bear listening to music while we write, the extremely scientific, color-coded process she came up with for organizing her first short story collection, how one of her favorite fictional tropes led to the creation of the original story she wrote specifically for that collection, why the thing that most interests her is the way people cope with what's put in front of them rather than why those things happen, the reason she prefers leaving interpretations to readers rather than providing answers, her terrible habit when reading collections and anthologies, how she's coping with the surreal feeling of living in the world of her novel, and much more.

Shelter in place for lunch with Scott Edelman, host of Eating the Fantastic, as he answers questions from listeners and former guests of the podcast, revealing his love for The Twilight Zone (and the negative effect it had on him as a beginning writer), the origins of the Scarecrow character he created for Marvel in 1975, what it was like editing a professional wrestling magazine, whether the difficulties he faced in getting his Lambda Award-nominated novel The Gift published during the ‘80s still hold true today, the embarrassing things he wishes he hadn’t done as editor and publisher of Last Wave magazine, how it felt seeing one of his comic book creations on the big screen in Captain Marvel, his opinion on the James Tiptree Jr. Award controversy, and much more.

Time travel to 1995 with scientist/science fiction writers Geoffrey A. Landis, Jr. and Yoji Kondo as we chew over the question of the age of the universe. We discuss how the idea of the universe even having a beginning is a relatively new concept, the way we choose between the many competing theories of its age, how the phrase "Big Bang" was a joke which stuck, the paradox of some stars appearing to be older than the universe itself, how a science fiction writer’s imagination might solve unanswered questions, whether knowing when the universe was born will help us calculate when it will end, and more.

Chow down on crab cakes with Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic Michael Dirda as we discuss the convention at which he thought he was about to be punched out by Harlan Ellison, the book he wants to write but which he realizes he could probably never publish, how discovering E. F. Bleiler's Guide to Supernatural Fiction opened a whole new world for him, whether he faced judgment from his peers for believing Georgette Heyer is as important as George Eliot, why he wants to be buried with a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, how Beverly Cleary's Henry Huggins is like a Proustian madeleine, the way he navigates the tricky act of reviewing the fiction of friends, the word he used which annoyed Gene Wolfe, and much more.

Brunch on biscuits and gravy with Keith R.A. DeCandido as we discuss how the kids TV show The Electric Company made him a Marvel fan, the serendipitous way he sold his first short story (and how it was all thanks to Spider-Man), what we each learned from working with Stan Lee, how he was given the chance to write his first novel in lieu of being given a raise, which of the more than 30 franchises he's written tickled his inner child the most, whether the bias against writers of tie-in work has lessened, the novel which put more money in his pocket than any other, what surprised him the most during his Next Generation rewatch, the debt he owes fan wikis, his advice on crowdfunding and for those who want to join him in the world of tie-in writing, plus much more.

Nibble fried noodles with John Edward Lawson as we discuss the birth of the bizarro horror subgenre (and the surprisingly democratic way in which it was named), the reason Alien both repelled and attracted him, how trying to sell screenplays led to him publishing his first short fiction instead, the story of his which was the most emotionally difficult to write, how he won a poetry award only after giving up on poetry, the unexpected gift he was given when starting his own publishing company, his initial doubts about naming his press Raw Dog Screaming, how he survived the 2008 financial meltdown which sank so many small presses, why he loves watching people bicker, the reason he became known as "the forgotten black man of horror," and much more.

Join Alfie Award-winning writer Alexandra Erin for waffle fries (but no waffling) as we discuss the way Mark Twain gave her permission to comment satirically on science fiction, the thoughts which went through her mind the night George R. R. Martin handed her that Alfie Award, her preferred role when playing Dungeons and Dragons, how she knew her Tales of MU saga was meant to go on for several million words, the way in which she's transformed herself into a cyborg, how she knows when an idea is a poem vs. a short story vs. a serial, the one question I felt I could not ask her, advice for how not to get caught up in social media controversies, and much more.

Eavesdrop on my lunch with L. Penelope as we discuss why The Neverending Story was her favorite childhood movie, which Octavia Butler quote inspired one of her tattoos, why she decided to go the self-publishing route (and how her indie success resulted in her first novel getting picked up by a traditional publisher), the catalytic scene which sparked her Earthsinger Chronicles series, how she manages to meet the expectations of both fantasy readers and paranormal romance readers, her advice for breaking out of writers block, and much more.

Chow down on cannoli with author Bob Proehl as we discuss how it really all began for him with poetry, the way giving a non-comics reader Watchmen for their first comic is like giving a non-novel reader Ulysses as their first novel, why discovering Sandman was a lifesaver, the reason the Flying Burrito Brothers 1968 debut album The Gilded Palace of Sin matters so much to him, why he had a case of Imposter Syndrome over his first book and how he survived it, the reasons he's so offended by The Big Bang Theory, what he meant when he said "I actually like boring books," his love for The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the X-Men, whether it's hard to get a beer in New York at six o'clock in the morning, why he wasn't disappointed in the Lost finale, and much more.

Join Elsa Sjunneson-Henry for lunch in Little Italy as we discuss her roller coaster of emotions the night she won a Hugo Award earlier this year during the Dublin Worldcon, how that editorial gig increased her empathy, the way writing roleplaying games and being a Sherlock Holmes nerd taught her about world-building and led to her first professional fiction sales, the dinosaur-themed Twitter feed that gave birth to her most recently published short story, the novel she's working on which she describes as The Conjuring meets The Stand, her expertise in obscenity law and fascination with the history of burlesque, why she felt the Bird Box novel handled blindness better than the movie, her background in competitive improv and the way that helped her within science fiction, advice on how not to let Internet trolls get you down, and much more.

Share scallops with comics legend Larry Lieber, co-creator of Thor, Iron Man, and Ant-Man, as we discuss the old-time radio shows which most influenced him, what he learned about humanity from reading Margaret Mead back in the '50s, how the only reason he became a writer was because he was too slow to make a living an artist, who told him at the start of his career that comics was a "dying industry," the tips Stan Lee gave to make him a better writer, why his attempts to work for DC Comics never worked out, the warning artist Syd Shores offered he wishes he hadn't heeded, how a quote he heard in a movie about Irish playwright Sean O'Casey helped him understand the arc of his own life, the three best-selling books he read before writing his own novel, his mixed feelings on winning the Bill Finger Award, how Jim Shooter helped him relearn how to be an artist, which comics assignment he enjoyed the most, what Stan Lee told him about the Rawhide Kid that made him decide to take it over from Jack Kirby, why he fee

Nibble naan with artist Paul Kirchner as we discuss how a chance encounter in art school led to him assisting cartoonist Tex Blaisdell on Little Orphan Annie, the life lessons he learned during his apprenticeship with EC Comics legend and Daredevil innovator Wally Wood, the ruse he used to convince the editor of Harpoon into commissioning more installments of his famed Dope Rider strip, how the office of Screw magazine was nothing like you thought it would be and the office of High Times was everything you thought it would be, where he learned "the only thing that'll kill you bigger than a flop is a hit," the techniques he uses to dream up new episodes of his surrealistic strip "the bus," his druggiest fan encounter, our joint memories of "Fabulous" Flo Steinberg, Marvel's "Gal Friday," the first person he ever met in comics. his graphic novel collaboration with famed writer of detective fiction Janwillem van de Wetering, and much more.

Devour Cthulhu with World Horror Grandmaster Ramsey Campbell as we discuss his early relationship with Arkham House editor and publisher August Derleth, who he might have been had he never discovered H. P. Lovecraft, how this master of unease is able to keep the sense of dread going for the length of a novel (hint: he's not entirely sure himself), why he loves The Blair Witch Project, what it was like writing novels in the Universal monsters universe, how he felt when The Times listed The Doll That Ate its Mother as one of the silliest titles of 1987, how Twilight Zone editor T. E. D. Klein changed his life, our shared memories of the 1979 World Fantasy Convention, why he feels his attempts to write science fiction have been "clumsy," the way he was made speechless on his first meeting with J. G. Ballard, why he admires Vladimir Nabokov, and much more.

Head to Dublin for brunch with Maura McHugh as we discuss how the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop sometimes makes people realize they shouldn't be writers (and why that can sometimes be a good thing), how having lived in both Ireland and the U.S. affected her life and her writing, whether her attraction to dark fiction was ever a choice, what it was like getting to create comics in the Judge Dredd universe, how she decides whether ideas that pop into her head get transformed into comics or prose, her recent art project inspired by the works of Simone de Beauvoir, why she doesn't speak much about works in progress on social media, what she learned pulling together the selections for her first short story collection, why Twin Peaks fascinated her so much she wrote a book about the show — and much more.

Share a walnut whip with Cheryl Morgan as we discuss the only science fiction she was allowed to read in school as a kid, why she preferred American Marvel Comics over the British comics of her youth (and how she considers Jean Grey her big sister), the way Dungeons & Dragons made 10 years of her life disappear, how helping out on a Worldcon bid led to her meeting one of the most important people in her life, the reason deciding to go digital infuriated fanzine fandom, the legacy of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness, how she hid behind the sofa while watching the first episode of Doctor Who (and which was her favorite Doctor), the unfortunate reason she stopped publishing her Hugo Award-winning fanzine, why I'm to blame (in part) for her first encounter with science fiction, whether the Retro Hugo awards do what they're intended to do, the pre-history of robotics before R.U.R., the difficulties in judging the best translated work — and so much more.

Join Lisa Tuttle for a Javanese dinner as we discuss the amusing series of mishaps which prevented her from learning she'd won the 1974 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best New Writer as early as she should have, the first thing Harlan Ellison ever said to her, how the all-male table of contents for a major horror anthology inspired her to edit her classic female horror anthology Skin of the Soul, the way emigrating from the U.S. to the UK affected her writing, why an editor said of one of her submitted novels, "I love this book, but I could no more publish it than I could jump out the window and fly," how she and George R. R. Martin were able to collaborate early in their careers without killing each other, what she'd do if she were just starting out now as a writer, the reasons contemporary acknowledgements sections of novels should be shortened — and so much more.

Chow down on chowder with the award-winning Jack Dann as we discuss the novel he and Gardner Dozois always planned to write but never did, how a botched appendectomy at age 20 which left him with only a 5% chance of survival inspired one of his most famous stories, why he quit law school the day after he sold a story to Damon Knight's Orbit series, the bad writing advice he gave Joe Haldeman early on we're glad got ignored, the secrets to successful collaborations, the time Ellen Datlow acted as referee on a story he wrote with Michael Swanwick, how it felt thanks to his novel The Man Who Melted to be a meme before we began living in a world of memes, why he's drawn to writing historical novels which require such a tremendous amount of research, the time he was asked to channel the erotica of Anaïs Nin, the gift he got from his father that taught him to take joy in every moment — and much more.

Join award-winning horror author Lucy A. Snyder for an Indian lunch as we discuss how Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time made her want to become a writer, the rare bad advice she got from one of her Clarion instructors, the way Hunter S. Thompson and Truman Capote taught her about consensual truth, how she learned to embrace her uneasy relationship with horror, the time Tim Powers said of one of her early stories that "this is an example of everything that's wrong with modern science fiction," why if you want to write flash fiction you should learn to write poetry, what you should consider if you're starting a new writing workshop, how best to prepare for public readings of emotionally difficult stories, the way she used Kickstarter to continue her Jessie Shimmer series (plus everything you need to know to start your own campaign), what it was like writing in the Doctor Who and X-Files universes, and much, much more.

Bite into a burger with P. Djèlí Clark as we discuss his upcoming first novel (the sale of which was announced only days before we spoke), the background which gave birth to his award-winning story "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington," the reason The Black God's Drums switched point-of-view character during his writing of it, what he learned about New Orleans due to an unfortunate encounter with the local police department, how he found success when he switched from writing multi-volume sagas to focusing on shorter forms, his complicated feelings about Ray Bradbury, how being a professional historian helps his writing, our favorite (and not so favorite) episodes of The Twilight Zone, and much, much more.