Signal Boost #47 — Betsy Dornbusch (The Silver Scar) & Dax Murray (Birthing Orion)
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFSignalBoost47DornbuschMurray/Sandf–SignalBoost47–DornbuschMurray.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks to Betsy Dornbusch, author of the Seven Eyes series and much more, about her new novel, The Silver Scar. Betsy shares with us a little about the story, why she decided on a blending of genres to create the setting, the way in which the religious war is more about resources and power than it is religion, what compels her to write male protoganists, and why she included a queer relationship! Then Shaun hangs out with Dax Murray, author of several queer novels, to talk about feir brand new lesbian space goddess novel (in verse!), Birthing Orion. They discuss how Dax was inspired by astrophysics, why fey decided to tell this story in verse, and about the incredible artwork in the book, then Dax shares with us what feir next project is (hint: it involves unicorns!). We hope you enjoy the episode!
Signal Boost #46 — DC (Mutants in the Night) & Chinelo Onwualu (Omenana & Anathema)
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFSignalBoost46DCOnwualu/Sandf–SignalBoost46–DcOnwualu.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Shaun talks to DC, creator of the table-top role-playing game, Mutants in the Night. They discuss how Mutants in the Night utilizes the Forged in the Dark RPG system to explore marginalization, what inspired them to create RPGs in the first place, how RPGs allow us to create a space that isn’t plagued by problems of colonization, the way that language, ttrpgs, and jazz are connected, and their next project! Then our special guest host, Tonia Thompson, founder and executive producer of Nightlight Podcast, talks to Chinelo Onwualu, Nommo finalist short story writer of the phenomenal “Read Before Use” and co-founder and editor of Omenana magazine. Chinelo shares the history of her writing career, the themes of “Read Before Use” and how they were inspired by her home country of Nigeria, how living between two worlds influences her writing, her work on and the goals of both Omenana and Anathema magazines, and so much more! We hope you enjoy the episode!
Signal Boost #45 — Charlie J. Eskew (Tales of the Astonishing Black Spark) & Danny Lore (ed. The Wilds)
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFSignalBoost45EskewLore/Sandf–SignalBoost45-EskewLore.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Shaun talks to Charlie J. Eskew, author of the debut novel, Tales of the Astonishing Black Spark! Charlie tells us all about his new book, Black superheroes, dealing with contemporary issues through the superhero genre, tokenism, why he decided not to set his book in Metropolis, and so much more! Then Jen talks to Danny Lore, a queer writer of color with multiple published short stories, an acquiring editor at FIYAH Literary Magazine, a comic book editor, and more! Danny talks about how they use werewolves to tell stories about transformation, anxiety, and the Black experience, their work to bring Black stories to light through FIYAH, and all about their work editing The Wilds, a comic by Vita Ayala & Emily Pearson! We hope you enjoy the episode!
Signal Boost #44: C.L. Polk (Witchmark) and Tonia Thompson (Nightlight Podcast)
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFSignalBoost44PolkThompson/Sandf–SignalBoost44–PolkThompson.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks to C.L. Polk, author of the debut novel Witchmark from Tor.Com Publishing. We learn what inspired C.L. to set the novel in an allegorical post-WWI England, how she developed a complex governmental and class system around a simple magic system, what compels the m/m romance that is central to the plot, what we can look forward to in book two of the series, and more! Then Jen sits down with her boss over at Nightlight Podcast, Tonia Thompson. They discuss how Tonia’s work in horror has taken on a multi-media life, what makes the form of Twitter horror so compelling, why she started Nightlight Pod, what you can expect to find over there during the month of October and all year long, and much more! Plus, Tonia shares her favorite form of torture. We hope you enjoy the episode!
353. Rebecca Roanhorse (a.k.a. The Lightning Wielder), Trail of Lightning
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode353RebeccaRoanhorseTrailOfLightning/Sandf-Episode353-RebeccaRoanhorseTrailOfLightning.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSCoyote, road trips, and ghosts, oh my! We’re very excited to start out Black Speculative Fiction Month with a fantastic interview with the Hugo, Campbell, and Nebula award winning Afro-indigenous author, Rebecca Roanhorse. Jen and Becca figuratively sit down with Rebecca to discuss how the Navajo creation story inspired the world-building of her debut novel, Trail of Lightning, how she created a space that was wholly absent of whiteness, why representation of Indigenous people in pop culture is particularly crucial, what her version of Coyote looks like, how Trail of Lightning fits into indigenous futurism, and so much more! We hope you enjoy the episode!
Signal Boost #42: Rhonda Parrish & Greg Bechtel (co-ed. Tesseracts 21: Neverthless) & Peter Tieryas (Mecha Samurai Empire)
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFSignalBoost42ParrishBechtelTieryas/Sandf–SignalBoost42–ParrishBechtelTieryas.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSIn today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks to to Rhonda Parrish and Greg Bechtel, the co-editors of Edge Publishing’s anthology Tesseracts 21: Nevertheless. They discuss how each got involved with this collection of optimistic speculative fiction stories, how the theme was impacted by the 2016 US election, how persistence, specifically, became a dominant message, and a little bit about how an editor of anthology comes up with a title and an contents order (hint: it might involve beer). Then Paul speaks with Peter Tieryas about his new stand-alone novel in the United States of Japan universe, Mecha Samurai Empire. They discuss the influence that Philip K. Dick’s Man in the High Castle had on Peter’s books, delve into the main characters of Mecha Samurai Empire, explore how Kaiju play a roll in a surprising way, and hint at the connection to the Records of the Three Kingdoms from Chinese history. Also, Mecha!!! We hope you enjoy the episode!