Tales from the Trunk

This time around, I’m delighted to welcome back to the show Megan E. O’Keefe (@MeganEOKeefe) to talk about her brand new book, The Blighted Stars, out May 23rd from Orbit Books! In between saying “spaceship books” a lot, we talk about some things that got left out for the betterment of the book, some beloved tropes, and what else you can look forward to from Megan!   Things we mention in this episode:   Megan’s previous episode Val’s last episode K.B. Wagers’ last episode Jaime Jones’ cover The Archive Undying, by Emma Mieko Candon Friends at the Table (of course) The Imperial Radch Trilogy, by Ann Leckie Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee Velocity Weapon, by Megan E. O’Keefe The Scorched Continent Trilogy, by Megan E. O’Keefe The First Omega, by Megan E. O’Keefe Cormac McCarthy Philip K. Dick Terry Pratchett Final Fantasy XIV The Bone Shard Daughter, by Andrea Stewart Megan’s website, insta, twitch, and github  State machines Pico air monitor Micropython Purple Air Dev Ludum Dare Johnny 5 Seek the Light, on Megan’s itch  

This episode’s reading carries a content warning for discussion of online harassment. If you would like to skip the reading, fast forward to timestamp 0:17:25 from the start of the reading.   This time around, it’s my absolute delight to welcome to the show Brandon O’Briend (@therisingtithes)! Brandon reads from their story, “Content is Cuisine,” before we launch into a wonderful conversation about the intersection of poetry and game design, how recipes and poems are alike, and how H. P. Lovecraft was accidentally kinda hip-hop.   Things we mention in this episode:   Suzan’s episode Mike’s episode Speculate! Valerie Valdes Girl By Moonlight Iori Kusano Jeoi Gawain Lin FB moderation expose Sin-eater All Our Yesterdays The Moon Wants Me To Leave You Anteater tumblr post Can You Sign My Tentacle?, by Brandon O’Brien Interstellar Flight Press Uncanny Magazine Lovecraft’s cat (CW: racial slurs) Sarah Gailey’s Personal Canons Cookbook Shing Yin Khor “Trust the Process,” by Hilary B. Bisenieks Elgin Award Amelia Atwater-Rhodes Gregory A. Wilson Blades in the Dark Slugblaster Lasers & Feelings Evil Hat Productions Friends at the Table (of course) The Rookie “Call ACab,” by Sam Stone Sam Waterston Aaron Sorkin The Newsroom Nickel Creek Pavement “Spit on a Stranger,” by Nickel Creek Brandon’s insta and newsletter and website Fiyah

This episode’s reading carries content warnings for implied child abuse and violence. If you would like to skip the reading, please skip forward to the 0:21:00 mark from the start of the reading.   This time around, it’s my pleasure to welcome Ladz (@LadzWriting) to the show! They join us to talk about their forthcoming debut novella, Ice Upon a Pier, releasing April 11th, 2023, from Robot Dinosaur Press!   Things we mention this episode:   Robot Dinosaur Press The Chipped Cup Collective Sarah Loch Rekka Merc Fenn Wolfmoor Andi C. Buchanan Just Like Home, by Sarah Gailey Dark Souls The Last Podcast on the Left - Richard Kuklinski Disney World Ryszard Kukliński Tales of Symphonia Natuto Greenpoint (NYC) Aleta Perez Last Call, by Elon Green The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer, by Philip Carlo Ladz’s blog Terry J. Benton-Walker on Ladz’s blog “Problem for Tomorrow’s You,” by Ladz on itch.io Better Call Saul Darkest Dungeon II Frostpunk Light novels Bakemonogatari Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust Vampire Hunter D (light novels) Poppy Z. Brite Gormenghast trilogy, by Mervin Peake Leech, by Hiron Ennes Edward Gorey The Hobbit cover Smaug Sarah Gailey’s original River of Teeth map Ice Upon a Pier cover reveal on Sarah Gailey’s Stone Soup The Balde Between, by Sam J Miller The Sleepless, by Victor Manibo The Bruising of Qilwa, by Naseem Jamnia Ladz’s insta, blog, and newsletter   Join me again in two weeks, when my guest will be Brandon O'Brien!

This episode’s reading carries a content warning for ableist themes around deafness. If you would like to skip this, skip ahead to the 11-minute mark to bypass the reading.   This time around, it’s my pleasure to welcome fellow gremlin Suzan Palumbo (@sillysyntax) to talk about…something. Suzan reads their trunked story, “Fricatives,” which leads us into a discussion about walking away from stories we’ve written that aren’t ours to tell. And then bagged pickles. We do get things back on track, amazingly, and have some great conversation about the place of emotion versus professionalism in writing, the current discourse around so-called “artificial intelligence” (large language models), and the baseball of crying.   Things we mention this episode   “Every Day is Halloween,” by Ministry Joyce Carol Oates “Apolépisi: A De-Scaling,” by Suzan Palumbo Welcome to the Black Parade, by My Chemical Romance Give Up, by The Postal Service Plans, by Death Cab for Cutie Pickle tweets Shut the fuck up Friday Friends at the Table “Bloody Therapy,” by Suzan Palumbo Shimmer Elise Tobler John Wiswell Personal Canons Cookbook Miri’s episode Clarkesworld AI submissions D. Perry’s Resident Evil novels Harley Quinn Poison Ivy “Soup Boys” and “NYC Cops” by Heems “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell,” by Das Racist “Douen,” by Suzan Palumbo Skin Thief: Stories, by Suzan Palumbo dave ring Cult of the Lamb “Temple,” by River Boy Interview with the Vampire Tell me I’m Worthless, by Alison Rumfitt Sergei Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet Suite, by Sergei Prokofiev “The Death of Tybalt,” by Sergei Prokofiev Suzan’s insta, mastodon, and website   Join us next month, when my guests will be Ladz and Brandon O’Brien!

Hello, and welcome to season five (5) of Tales from the Trunk, where it’s my distinct pleasure to welcome Dr. Malka Older to the show to talk about her brand new novel, The Mimicking of Known Successes, out in just a few days on March 7th, 2023 from Tor dot com publishing! Malka reads us a couple of excerpts from the book, and then we geek out about putting puns in books because we can!   Things mentioned in this episode:   Infomocracy, by Malka Older Tor.com Publishing Brent Lambert NaNoWriMo Juliet Kemp’s episode The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, by Malka Older The Archive Undying, by Emma Mieko Candon C.L. Polk’s recent book tour Even Though I Knew the End, by C.L. Polk Malka and Cee’s event, March 9th, 3:00 pm Pacific at Loyalty Bookstore “Narrative Disorder,” by Malka Older …and Other Disasters, by Malka Older Daniel Jose Older Meru, by S.B. Divya The Terraformers, by Annalee Newitz A Scatter of Light, by Melinda Lo Malka’s mastodon, insta, and tumblr   Join us again in two weeks, when I’ll be talking with Suzan Palumbo!

This time around, to close out our fourth (4th!) season, it’s my pleasure to welcome Aimee Ogden (@aimeeogden@wandering.shop) to the show! Aimee reads from her delightful trunked YA novel, Starstruck, which leads us into a lovely conversation about lesbian radishes, the exhausting nature of submitting work, and short fiction magazines we love.   Things we mention this episode:   Aimee Kuzenski’s episode Network Effect, by Martha Wells Gregory A. Wilson Beauty heart (watermelon) radish Cat Valente Tamora Pierce The Wings of Fire series, by Tui T. Sutherland Redwall series, by Brian Jacques Diggers, Guards! Guards!, Hogfather, and The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett “The Cold Calculations,” by Aimee Ogden Be the Serpent Sarah Gailey’s Personal Canons Cookbook Skies of Wonder, Skies of Danger, edited by John Appel, Mary Agner, and Jo Miles Mary Robinette Kowal F&SF Clarkesworld Ann Leckie Analog Translunar Traveler’s Lounge Friends Journal QSFF issue Emergent Properties, by Aimee Ogden “A Love Letter Written at the Heat Death of the Universe,” by Aimee Ogden The Deadlands Shimmer Fireside Augur Local Star, by Aimee Ogden “Flower Daughter, Soil Seed,” by Eugenia Triantafyllou “Sturgeon Moon Jam,” by Jennifer Hudak The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, by Stephanie Burgis Everything Everywhere All At Once My Neighbor Totoro Aimee’s website   Join us again next month, when our guests for the start of season 5 will be Malka Older and Suzan Palumbo!  

This time around, it’s my joy to welcome back World Fantasy Award winner and fantastic human being C.L. Polk (@clpolk@wandering.shop) to talk about their newest novella, Even Though I Knew The End. After hearing an excerpt from the book’s first act, we get into its unexpected origin story, the things we write for our nine (9) goblin friends, and an introduction to Cee’s other books!   Things we mention in this episode:   The Kingston Cycle and The Midnight Bargain, by C.L. Polk Detroit Red Wings Chicago Blackhawks Supernatural AO3 Hardboiled fiction The Magicians Discord Guy Noir, Private Eye A Prairie Home Companion Phillip Marlowe Raymond Chandler An American Werewolf in London Hermie (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) The Witching Hour, by Anne Rice Masters of Magic Dragon Age Dragon Age: Absolution The Spare Man, by Mary Robinette Kowal The Lady Astronaut series, by Mary Robinette Kowal Cee’s website Groundhog Day   Join us again in two weeks, when my guest will be Aimee Ogden!

This time around, it’s my delight to welcome Juliet Kemp (twitter @julietk, mastodon @juliet@zirk.us) to the show! They read from their trunked sci-fi novel, Between Stars, Between Minds, which leads us into a discussion of messy first drafts, lived-in science fiction worlds, and finishing a four-book series.   Things we mentioned in this episode: Chipped Cup Collective Andor Friends at the Table Austin Walker A More Civilized Age “Blocking,” by Juliet Kemp in Strange Bedfellows Angry Robot Books The City Revealed, by Juliet Kemp Ocean’s series Alien Quadrilogy Lois McMaster Bujold Terry Pratchett Macey’s Murderboard method “Monday,” by Hilary B. Bisenieks LiveJournal Lockie Hunter A Starbound Solstice, by Juliet Kemp “At the Lighthouse Out by the Othersea,” by Juliet Kemp Our Flag Means Death Black Sails A League of Their Own The Hands of the Emperor and At the Feet of the Sun, by Victoria Goddard Flotsam, by R.J. Theodore Juliet’s website   Join us next month, when I’ll be talking to C.L. Polk and Aimee Ogden!

It's awards time again! A full transcript of the show is included below.     Hello, and welcome to Tales from the Trunk: nominating the works that did make it! I’m Hilary B. Bisenieks.   Friends, it’s been another amazing year for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and beyond, and I’m here once more to let you know about some of the amazing works by my fantastic guests, which you can nominate for this year’s awards!   Andi C. Buchanan, who joined us in April of 2022, has a number of eligible works including their novel, Sanctuary, and the essay “Human not machine: how autistic writers are writing new space for themselves.”   A link to their eligibility post is included in the show notes. https://andicbuchanan.org/2022/12/18/2022-publications/    C.L. Clark, who just joined us in December, is eligible in most novelette categories for "Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home," published in Uncanny May/June 2022   Amanda Cook, who joined us in June of 2022, has six stories eligible for short story categories: “The Impossible Task of Bringing Water,” “Germinating Everyday Magic,” “Weaving Serenity,” “Lily and Ink,” “Print a Soul in Six Easy Steps, a Primer by Clover Silverbrook,” and “When Dreams Do Show Me Thee.”    A link to her eligibility post is included in the show notes. https://acooksbooks.com/2022/11/28/babys-first-awards-eligibility-post/   Marion Deeds, who made her debut on this show in May of 2022, has an eligible novella, Comeuppance Served Cold, which you can hear an excerpt of on that episode, along with an eligible novel, Golden Rifts.   Ruthana Emrys, who appeared on the show in July of last year, has an eligible novel, A Half-Built Garden, and her column, Reading the Weird, is eligible for Best Related Work.   A link to her eligibility post is included in the show notes. https://twitter.com/R_Emrys/status/1592598551364005888   Sarah Gailey, this show’s patron saint, joined us again last year in support of their eligible novel, Just Like Home. Among their other eligible works are their newsletter, Stone Soup, and their original comic miniseries, Know Your Station.   A link to their eligibility post is included in the show notes. https://sarahgailey.com/awards-eligibility-2022  Victor Manibo, who joined us in December of 2021, is eligible for his debut novel, The Sleepless.   Freya Marske, who joined us in October of 2021, is eligible in the various novel categories for A Restless Truth, the excellent sequel to her 2021 debut, A Marvellous Light.   Sam J. Miller, who joined us last January, has an eligible novella, Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy, as well as a collection, for such awards as have categories for collections, Boys, Beasts & Men.   Scientist, and definitely not a multi-colored beetle, Premee Mohamed, who last joined us in August of 2021, is eligible for Best Series for the first time for her Beneath the Rising series, which concluded with eligible novel The Void Ascendant. She also has several eligible short stories, including “All That Burns Unseen.”   Her eligibility post is included in the show notes. https://www.premeemohamed.com/post/2022-eligibility-post   Aidan Moher, who joined us back in October after far, far too long, is eligible with Fight, Magic, Items for Best Related work. He’s also eligible for Best Fanzine for Astrolabe, and for Best Fan Writer for his work all over the place.   Aidan’s eligibility post is included in the show notes. https://astrolabe.aidanmoher.com/p/2022-award-eligibility-hugos-nebulas   Hailey Piper, who joined us to open season four of the show back in March, has an eligible short story, “We Frolic Within the Leviathan’s Heart,” a novella, Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing, and a novel, No Gods for Drowning. C.L. Polk, who will be returning to the show next month, has an excellent eligible novella, Even Though I Knew The End.   dave ring, patron saint of queer small-press publishing, is eligible for Best Editor, short form, for his work on Baffling Magazine as well as many other fine publications. His work with Marianne Kirby on Neon Hemlock Live is also eligible for Best Related Work.   A link to dave’s eligibility post is included in the show notes. https://www.dave-ring.com/news/2022/11/18/2022-eligibility-post   Valerie Valdes, who joined us again this past August, is eligible for Best Novel (Science Fiction, where applicable) for Fault Tolerance, for Best Series for Chilling Effect, for Best Short Story for both “Team Building Exercise” and “Working from Home,” and for Best Semiprozine for Escape Pod, which she edits with Mur Lafferty.   Val’s eligibility post is linked in the show notes. http://candleinsunshine.com/news/awards-eligibility-for-2022/    Fellow Warren Wilson alumnus Fran Wilde has various short stories eligible but is most excited to be eligible, for the first time this year, for Best Editor, Short Form, for her work at The Sunday Morning Transport!   John Wiswell, excellent human being, has many, many eligible short stories, including “D.I.Y.” and “Demonic Invasion or Placebo Effect?”   John’s full eligibility post is linked in the show notes. https://johnwiswell.substack.com/p/all-the-short-stories-i-published   Finally, I have 100% more eligible work this year than last! In addition to this very show, Tales from the Trunk, which is eligible for Best Fancast and other podcast and audio categories, I also published a game, All Our Yesterdays, which is eligible for the Nebula Award for Best Game Writing.   Thanks so much for tuning in, and thank you to everyone who nominates and votes in any of our genre’s awards! That’s very cool of you.   Join us again next week, when my guest will be Juliet Kemp!   Tales from the Trunk is mixed and produced in beautiful Oakland, California.   Our theme music is “Paper Wings,” by Lillian Boyd.   You can support the show on patreon at patreon dot com slash trunkcast. All patrons of the show now get a sticker and logo button, along with show outtakes and other content that can't be found anywhere else.   You can find the show on Twitter and Tumblr at trunkcast, and I tweet and tumbl at hbbisenieks.   If you like the show, consider taking a moment to rate and review us on your preferred podcast platform.   And remember: don't self-reject.  

This time around, it’s my distinct pleasure to welcome a fellow podcaster, Annalee Newitz (@annaleen), to talk about their forthcoming novel, The Terraformers, out January 31st, 2023, from wherever fine books are sold! We get to hear an excerpt from the book that leads us into a great discussion about transit gays, flying moose romance, and robot trans culture, among other things.   Things we mention on this episode:   Tumblr Mastodon I-5 cattle ranches Dune, by Frank Herbert Friends at the Table Jeffrey Tumlin Plate tectonics Chuck Tingle Michael Hobbes Maintenance Phase If Books Could Kill Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari Charlie Jane Anders Our Opinions are Correct The myth of progress episode Brad DeLong  Four Lost Cities, by Annalee Newitz Annalee’s website and tiktok