Speculate!

Welcome back for Episode 48 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we conclude our series of shows on the work of Ian McDonald with a look at a few of the specific writing techniques used in The Dervish House, particularly his approach to cinematic writing, evoking all the senses, worldbuilding and atmosphere, using contrasting characters and points of view to establish a (reasonably) objective truth, and not being afraid of science–or even educated guesses about what science might reveal in the future–in writing science fiction.  If you enjoy what you hear, don’t forget to check back next week for our series of short interviews from Origins 2012.  Until then, thanks as always for listening, and please continue to spread the word about the show!

(Side note:  During the show Brad refers to a roundtable he recently participated in over at SF Signal with a host of SFF luminaries including Elizabeth Bear, Charles Stross and recent Speculate! guest Rob Ziegler, moderated by Jeremy Lassen.  There are a lot of interesting insights to be gleaned from the discussion, and if you find today’s episode interesting we recommend you head here for more.)

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Welcome back for Episode 44 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we conclude our series of shows on the work of Rob Ziegler with a discussion of some of the specific writing techniques used in his book Seed, looking at how gutsy writing with an attention to narrative voice and tone, muscular prose laced with moments of grace, and unity of message and theme makes Seed as good as it is–and how you might be able to use such techniques in your own work.  If you enjoy what you hear, don’t forget to check back next week for our interview with Brent Weeks, author of the Night Angel trilogy and other books.  Until then, thanks as always for listening, and please continue to spread the word about the show!

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Welcome back for Episode 43 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our series of shows on the ecopunk novel Seed, interviewing author Rob Ziegler about his interest in the subject of climate change, his thoughts about grace within savagery, and why he’s glad he doesn’t always have to think about things like nano-toilet paper (it makes sense in the interview…trust us).  Rob is as thoughtful a speaker as he is a writer, and we hope you enjoy what he has to say; if you do, we also hope you’ll check back next week, when we’ll release our concluding show of this triptych (on some of the writing techniques demonstrated in Seed).  Until then, thanks as always for listening, and please continue to spread the word about the show!

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Welcome back for Episode 42 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we start a new sequence of shows on the work of speculative fiction author Rob Ziegler, giving our reaction to and review of his book Seed, a new ecopunk novel from Night Shade Books which punches you in the solar plexus…and that’s just the beginning for this stunning vision of a bleak future.  If you enjoy the discussion, don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll interview Rob about his book and his thoughts about what our actual future might look like. Until then, thanks as always for listening, and please continue to spread the word about the show!

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Welcome back for Episode 32 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we interview mountain climber, figure skater and (of course) fantasy author Courtney Schafer, who somehow finds time between climbing sheer rock faces, landing triple jumps, working a day job in electrical engineering and raising a son to write epic fantasy–including her debut from Night Shade Books, The Whitefire Crossing.  We cover at least some of these bases during this interview, and even get a chance to talk about The Night Bazaar, a group blog conceived of and directed by Courtney (with website designed by Brad).  If you like what you hear, make sure you check back next week for our 2011 Year in Review show.  Until then, thanks as always for listening to the show, and please continue to spread the word!

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Welcome back for Episode 29 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  This week we conclude our series of shows on Night Shade Books‘ anthology The Book of Cthulhu with a discussion about some of the writing techniques used in the stories we focused on during this sequence.  We enjoyed reading this anthology a great deal, and if you have even a faint interest in cosmic horror (or, you know, just don’t feel like getting on the wrong side of the Elder Gods) we highly recommend you check it out.  If you enjoy the discussion, make sure to check back next episode as we conduct a couple of short interviews while we gear up for our next book sequence on Mark Hodder’s The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack.  Until next time, thanks as always for listening to the show, and please continue to spread the word!

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Welcome back for Episode 28 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our sequence of shows on Night Shade Books‘ anthology The Book of Cthulhu with an interview of two contributors to the volume, Laird Barron and John Hornor Jacobs.  Like our interview with editor Ross Lockhart, this was a fun and entertaining discussion which covered a lot of ground…and some of it is of the distinctly not safe for work variety (for which John takes the blame!), so be warned!  If you like what you hear, make sure to check out each author’s home page for more of what they have coming next, and remember to check back here next week when we’ll talk about some of the writing techniques used in the stories.  Until then, thanks as always for listening to the show, and please continue to spread the word!

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Welcome back for Episode 27 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we continue our sequence of shows on Night Shade Books‘ new anthology, The Book of Cthulhu, with a discussion with its editor Ross Lockhart.  But as Ross proves in this wide-ranging interview, he knows a lot more about literature than just H.P. Lovecraft, and we enjoyed his insights on writers from J.R.R. Tolkien to William Hope Hodgson–we hope you do too.  If you like what you hear, remember to check back next week when we’ll interview two contributors to the anthology, John Hornor Jacobs and Laird Barron.  Until then, thanks as always for listening to (and telling others about) the show!

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Welcome back for Episode 26 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  In this episode we start a new sequence of shows on the new anthology from publisher Night Shade Books and editor Ross Lockhart, The Book of Cthulhu, investigating (gulp!) the Elder Gods with our reaction to stories by Laird Barron, Elizabeth Bear, John Hornor Jacobs and Bruce Sterling.  If you enjoy the discussion, don’t forget to check back next week when we’ll interview Mr. Lockhart and several of the authors for their takes on the anthology.  Until then, thanks as always for listening, and thanks for continuing to spread the word about the show!

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Welcome to Episode 25 of Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans.  We’re just about ready to start posting our next sequence of shows on The Book of Cthulhu, but we didn’t want to leave our loyal listeners content free for another week–so this week we’re happy to present a talk Greg did at this past Readercon in Boston on the subject of using one’s personal and professional background to further a writing career.  The talk took place on a Saturday night at 9 p.m., but despite the late hour and the other items scheduled at the same time, the turnout was solid and the audience pretty enthusiastic.  Greg covers a lot of ground during the talk, discussing aspects of how his own personal background has helped him in his efforts to build a career in speculative fiction, and we hope you’ll find the conversation instructive (one note: Greg had thought the talk was scheduled for thirty minutes, but it turned out to be slotted for a full hour, so the question and answer period was longer than might normally be the case).  If you like what you hear, please check back next week when, as promised, we’ll return to our standard show arrangement as we discuss The Book of Cthulhu.  Until then, thanks as always for listening, and thanks for continuing to spread the word about the show!

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