Eating The Fantastic

Feast on a Full English breakfast with Farah Mendlesohn as we discuss whether their Hugo-nominated Heinlein book changed the conversation about that author, if there's such a thing as an inverse of The Suck Fairy, why it might be wrong to chat about The Female Man while nibbling on toast, the reason Russ's novel took so long to get published, the probable purpose of the self-critique within the book, the difficulties in communicating with cross-cultural metaphors, why The Female Man is a version of The Christmas Carol, the reason the book isn't Postmodernist but Modernist, why I failed to pick up on the novel's Jewishness, what surprised them most during their rereading of the novel, the reason Considering The Female Man by Joanna Russ was so painfully hard to write, and much more.

Tear into tacos with Alan Smale as we discuss the three projects he'd told me in 2019 he was going to write next (and what became of them), how what was originally intended to be a standalone novel turned into his latest trilogy, the synergy of writing an alternate history about the Apollo space program while working at NASA, how the constraints imposed by science helped improve his plot arc, the way astronaut personalities have changed across the decades, how to write alternate history to be entertaining both for those who know actual history and those who don't, the advice he wishes he could give his younger self, how we don't really dislike info dumps (only the ones which aren't done well), and much more.

Lunch on lamb with Steven H Silver as we discuss our shared status as record-breaking losers, my morbid suggestion about what he'll need to do upon my death, the reason he found The Silmarillion more interesting than The Lord of the Rings, how meeting Mel Brooks and other luminaries made him more at ease once he began attending science fiction conventions, the way a cancelled contest resulted in his first short fiction sale, what it was like to be in a writing workshop taught by Gene Wolfe, the allure of the alternate history subgenre (and how it differs from secret histories), what he learned publishing a novel in the middle of a global pandemic, the Easter eggs he scattered through After Hastings, and much more.

Dig into Bangkok street duck with Salinee Goldenberg as we discuss what it was like having to deliver her second published novel on a deadline after having had her entire life to write the first, the Final Fantasy fanfic she wrote as a kid, why she's attracted more to novels than short stories, how getting critiqued in the gaming industry prepared her to deal with writing workshops, why she considers herself a recovering pantser, how writing the ending of her new novel was almost like being in a fever dream, why she likes reading bad reviews, how to know when it's necessary to kill your darlings, the way to write battle scenes so readers can follow the fight choreography, how being a guitarist in a punk rock band impacts her writing, and much more.

Savor sweet and sour beets with Liz Gorinsky as we discuss whether either of us would have turned out as you know us without having grown up in New York, the early ambitions to be a comic book editor, the legendary comic book couple who were her childhood neighbors, whether or not there's any difference between editing fiction and non-fiction, how to gracefully navigate the convention community, the first edit letter which made Liz nervous, what makes Liz realize a manuscript shows potential, how to cleanse your palate when reading slush to be sure what you think is good really is good, self-defining success as a writer, what told Liz it was time to take on the publisher role, the appeal of immersive theater, why LARPing isn't acting, what we might have told James Joyce if we were editing Ulysses, the many reasons whatever you're doing you should be doing for love, and much more.

Polish off pierogi with Chris Kalb as we discuss the comic book company and superheroes he and his brother created when they were just kids, why he once thought Chris Ware was his nemesis, the Batman comic which influenced him the most, how his father caused him to fall in love with Doc Savage, the secret origin of his romantic advice superheroine Breakup Girl, the sophistication  of pulp era writing, one theory as to why Doc Savage never made it as a successful comic book series, the college comic strip which won him a Charles M. Schulz Award, the problem the slabbing of pulps has caused within the collecting community, the pulp premium so rare none may have survived, and much more.

Share green tea leaf salad with Emily Mitchell as we discuss why she felt the need to flip the first and last stories of her recent collection, the gaps which can sometimes occur between a writer's intentions and a reader's perceptions, the appeal of the ambiguity which comes with open-ended closure, how a writer's career is defined as much by who chooses to publish them as by what they choose to write, why she loves working in the present tense (and why one of her stories originally published that way shifted to the past tense in her collection), what she learned about writing by being an editor, why leaving out much of what writers know about their characters improves what they choose to put in, her story which required the most drafts (and why), how writing longhand has gotten her unstuck, why it's important to have many writing projects going at once, and much more.

Chat over calamari with Megaton Man creator Don Simpson as we discuss why he splurged on a special issue of Captain Marvel at the Baltimore Comic-Con, how the business practices of comics affect the artistic side, the way two early visits with artist Keith Pollard taught him he didn't want to be a Marvel Comics penciller after all, where he feels the Silver Age ended and the Bronze Age truly began, how classic cinema and the auteur theory influenced his creative choices, the lessons he learned from the first few issues of Love & Rockets vs. the unfortunate expectations set up by the first few issues of Megaton Man, how working on DC's anthology title Wasteland caused him to reinvent himself, what path his publishing life would have taken had Megaton Man been only a one-shot as originally planned, the career differences between Basil Wolverton and Will Eisner, why he's able to let others play with his characters without feeling proprietary, the alternate universe in which he would have been a Crusty Bunker

Polish off cryptid pizza with Andy Duncan as we discuss how his titles are often born decades before the stories to which they're eventually attached, how his research into Criswell's predictions "ethically stymied" him, why the way he creates stories isn't a way he'd encourage anyone else to follow, the epiphany which caused him to realize a perceived bug in his story was actually a feature, what he hoped sending his story through the Sycamore Hill Writing Workshop would unlock, why he's willing to publicly read aloud sections of stories he hasn't completed, the essential exclamation point suggested by John Kessel, at what stage in the revision process specific details of setting get added, whether the story would have taken even longer to complete without the eventual pressure of a deadline, what about the story made it fitting for a Tanith Lee tribute anthology, the editorial acumen of Gardner Dozois, and much more.

Dish over dumplings with George Gene Gustines as we discuss the reason what he's pulled off would have been impossible a generation ago, why he calls himself "the Forrest Gump of the New York Times," how he determines which potential articles are right for the paper and which are too inside baseball, what moved him to write his first letter to a comics editor (and his secret to getting them published frequently), why he loves superhero team books, the grace of George Perez, what defines a fan, the story he regrets being the first to report, what he does when not writing about comics, who he wishes he could have interviewed before they passed, what it takes to get an idea approved by his editors, when he rather than another writer gets to write comic book obituaries, his upcoming autobiographical graphic novel about how comics changed his life, the voicemail Stan Lee left which matches what you'd imagine "The Man" might say, how he intends to reach his goal of 1,000 bylines, and much more.

Savor shrimp — and Steve Ditko — with comics writer/editor Jack C. Harris as we discuss why he decided to abandon his original plan of becoming an artist and chose writing instead, the chance comics shop encounter which led to him being offered a job at DC Comics, why he was astonished when he first saw the colors of Superman's costume, how his working relationship with Steve Ditko began, an intriguing comparison between Julie Schwartz and Stan Lee I'd never considered, the greatest compliment he ever received during his comics career, the idiosyncrasies of editor Murray Boltinoff, which comics pro was responsible for the flowering of comics fandom, how he felt about the Marvel/DC divide during the time we were both assistant editors, what it was like working with the legendary creators who preceded us, the legacy character he regrets never having gotten the chance to write, his Human Torch story which took 17 years to get published, the contrasting ways Marvel and DC treated their Golden Age characters at th

Sample samsa with Naomi Kritzer as we discuss why a friend stepped up to start submitting stories for her, the question she asked Madeleine l'Engle when she was nine, why she spent years not reading reviews (even the good ones), her surprise at the way "Cat Pictures Please" went viral, what it's like when you're on "that" panel at a convention, why she wishes she'd told the early editors to whom she'd submitted how young she was, the many writers time has passed by (and how we hope neither of us will join them), what she was told by her mentor after confessing she wanted to be Ursula K. Le Guin, the story she sold to a market by deliberately writing the sort of story that magazine said it didn't want, the inability of writers to know which of their stories will resonate most with readers, whether the stories she's written in response to prompts might have existed in some other form without those prompts, how our writing has been affected by the times in which we live, and much more.

Settle in for an Ethiopian feast with Alaya Dawn Johnson as we discuss what led to her "life-defining obsession" with Mexican history, the allure of science fiction's cognitive estrangement, how the German edition of her vampire novel saved her life, the serendipitous discovery which inspired her first published fantasy story, why she no longer owns any of her rejection slips, which franchise inspired her first fan fiction novels, how a novella which didn't seem to be working turned into her award-winning novel Trouble the Saints, the way a pajama party led to a novel sale, what she means when she says she's a pantser while she plots, the way to determine which conflicting  critiques deserve your attention, how to prepare for uncomfortable conversations with editors, the importance of a single word or line to a story, the twin poles of ambiguity vs. explicitness, how Tanith Lee's The Silver Metal Lover inspired The Summer Prince, the importance of meeting the moment in which you're living, and much more.

Brunch on blueberry pancakes with Natalia Theodoridou as we discuss what it felt like attending Clarion the same year he was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, how Karen Joy Fowler's advice changed the texture of his descriptions, what he needs to know before beginning to write a short story, whether he's as confident in the writing process as his voice seems to me on the page, why the fact readers won't need to know anything about Bluebeard to enjoy his Bluebeard-inspired novel is a tragedy, the question to which that novel itself must stand as the only possible answer,  why it's so important for readers to be able to sit with ambiguity and uncertainty, the reason we've yet to see a short story collection from him, and much more.

Polish off pasta with Lara Elena Donnelly as we discuss the hot tub conversation which led to the sale of her first novel, why the contradictions of her Clarion experience were liberating, the reason her relationship to the writing process means she's primarily a novelist rather than a short story writer, her complicated emotions about the conclusion to her debut novel, why she got sick of the word "prescient," the gnarly origins of the perfumes we love (and the reasons she needed to learn about them), why she decided to start a service advising how to write better sex scenes, the novel she wrote without gendering a character (and the fun in following which readers assume which genders), how she and Sam J. Miller were able to collaborate without killing each other, and much more.

Tackle Texas BBQ with John Picacio as we discuss how he'd never have gotten where he is today without comics, why he initially turned down what ended up being his first science fiction book cover (and what made him change his mind), the reason he thinks of a book as a person he needs to introduce at a party, whether he pays attention to the artists who preceded him when updating the look of a book, why one of the most important skills for a cover artist is listening, the catalyst for his creator-owned, self-published projects, how his style and his skills have changed over the years, how his recent collaboration with Leigh Bardgo began, why he'd rather be a marathon runner than a sprinter, how to avoid getting caught up in the trope of the year when it comes to cover art, the reason he launched the Mexicanx Initiative, how stabilization isn't the same as stagnation, and much more.

Slurp soup dumplings with Eugenia Triantafyllou as we discuss the online prompt which caused her to write her first short story, why she ended up as a fantasy writer rather than a comic book creator, what it was like being nominated for two Nebula Awards the same year in the same category, the two types of naysayers who thought she'd never be able to write artfully in English, how she terrified Stephan Graham Jones with a tomato, why she never outlines, the reason voice is so important to her process, how a pantser handles world building, why she feels writing mysteries is easy, how her mother's memories helped teach her storytelling, why writers shouldn't steal ideas, but ambition,  and much more.

Tear into tacos with Richard Butner as we discuss the early influence of Harlan Ellison, the time he went through the same trapdoor as Harry Houdini, which creative career he decided at age nine he was already too old to pursue, the paragraph from his recent collection I adored the most, the ways in which setting can be a character, why he defines his writerly self as being neither gardener nor architect but explorer, how he's attracted to writing about the type of  characters Bruce Sterling once described as "criminally unemotional," what ambiguity truly means and why it matters, how meeting John Kessel changed his life, and much more.

Bite into Cheesy Pav Bhaji with Karen Heuler as we discuss how she found herself embraced far more by the science fiction community than the literary one, why she never consciously thought about craft until she had to teach it, the "dud" novels she wrote before she got to the good ones, the students in her writing classes who only wanted to learn how to write bestsellers, why Bartleby the Scrivener seems to have a superpower, the reason she ended up writing science fiction rather than any other genre, the way in which she considers her short stories to be kittens, which character took over control of her most recent novel, the influence of The Master and Margarita, our mutual dislike of writer branding, where we fall on shredding vs. saving our archives, and much more.

Slurp ramen with Mur Lafferty as we discuss the problems which come from being a discovery writer who sells a novel via a pitch,  how to play fair with readers of science fiction mysteries, the reason everyone's worried she wants to kill her agent, one major difference between Hollywood and publishing, why the character she often thinks will end up being the murderer doesn't end up being the murderer, how to deftly recap previous books in a series, whether going too weird might alienate a writer's audience, what keeps her continuing to podcast after 21 years, the importance of shrugging off rejections, and much more.