Tales from the Trunk

It’s my distinct pleasure, for this, our post-NaNo episode, to welcome C.L. Clark (@C_L_Clark) to the show! Cherae reads a pair of excerpts from their trunked novel, The Bitch of Maradon, which leads us into a great conversation about formal and informal writing education, interrogating our biases, and how awkward it can be to revisit our old writing in the context of actually reading it out loud. Cherae also shares the story of her journey from NaNoWriMo to publication for their amazing novel, The Unbroken.   Things we mention this episode:   The Unbroken, by C.L. Clark Héctor’s episode My episode with Sharon Hsu George Carlin NaNoWriMo Brandon Sanderson Scrivener Podcastle Frodo it is done dot gif #DVPit Just Like Home episode The Faithless, by C.L. Clark Writers of the Future Tor.com “Sisyphus,” by C.L. Clark Queers Destroy SF Seanan McGuire Lockie Hunter Steering the Craft, by Ursula K. Le Guin Wonderbook, by Jeff Vandermeer The Expanse, by James S.A. Corey The Godkiller, by Hannah Kaner Small Gods and Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett Cherae’s website and insta Maslowe’s Hierarchy of Needs The Skeleton War “SFF’s Big Fat Problem,” by R.K. Duncan   Join us next month, when I’ll be talking to Annalee Newitz and Juliet Kemp, plus our annual awards roundup!

Happy NaNoWriMo, for all of you who observe! This time around, we’re joined once again by R.J. Theodore (@bittybittyzap) to talk about the crazy act of writing a novel in a single month and the freedom that comes with actually deciding to finish a thing. Rekka brings us a compare and contrast reading of two different beginnings of their novel, Flotsam, first from the NaNo when she first finished the book and the second from the version you can go and buy for yourself!   Things we mention in this episode:   NaNoWriMo ML Rekka’s book tour We Make Books The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Pumpkin Landing xkcd 483 Neal Stephenson The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins Rekka’s first episode The Peridot Shift series, by R.J.Theodore Murderboard podcast episode Writing book three of a duology with Premee podcast episode Stephen King Sarah Gailey Coffee shop AU Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldree Our Flag Means Death John Wiswell Just Like Home, by Sarah Gailey Bridge to Elsewhere, edited by Alana Joli Abbott & Julia Rios Neon Hemlock Press Quick Sip Reviews Robot Dinosaur Press Chipped Cup Collective Merc Fenn Wolfmoor Sarah Loch Andi C. Buchanan Novae Caelum Nia Quinn Carlie St. George Juliet Kemp Rekka’s website, insta, and patreon   Join us next month, when I’ll be talking to C.L. Clark!

This time around, it’s my distinct pleasure to welcome back to the show Jordan Kurella (@kurellian) to talk about his new collection, When I Was Lost, available now wherever fine books are sold! He reads a previously-unpublished story, “The Hero and the Leviathan,” out of the collection, which leads us to ponder the question: what if a spaceship had PTSD?   Things we mention in this episode:   Trepidatio Press Mikio Murakami “Jewel of the Vashwa,” by Jordan Kurella in Apex Magazin Keanu Reeves Apex Magazine Jason Sizemore Friends at the Table - HOUNDS Farscape PTSD Aaron Rosenberg Gen Con The Imperial Radch trilogy, by Ann Leckie “How the Carrion Crew Stopped Courting Death and Other Methods of Lost Hope,” by Jordan Kurella in Fusion Fragment #6 “A Promise of Dying Embers,” by Jordan Kurella in Diabolical Plots King’s Quest III  “The Warsong of Berra and Irrit,” by Jordan Kurella in Lamplight Magazine Lamplight Magazine E Catherine Tobler Shimmer Magazine The Deadlands “The Air Gap,” by Hilary B. Bisenieks in Lamplight Magazine Jacob Haddon Mary Shelley I Never Liked You Anyway, by Jordan Kurella Orpheus and Euridice Am I the Asshole? Dead Collections, by Isaac Fellman Archive Of Our Own Final Fantasy XIV MMO World of Warcraft Clue The Sandman (Netflix) Mythic Quest Siren Queen, by Nghi Vho Jordan’s first episode Jordan’s website   Join us again in two weeks, when my guest will be R.J. Theodore!

This time around, it’s my distinct pleasure to welcome Héctor González (@Mexicanity) to the show! Héctor reads a pair of spooky, voidy stories from the latest issue of v o i d j u n k , which leads us into a wide-ranging conversation about kindness, viscera, technology, chairs, and fandom.   This episode’s readings carry content warnings for descriptions of viscera, possession, and transformation, and for sexual themes. If you would like to skip them, the two readings are from 3:50 to 8:05 and 15:15 to 19:31.   Things we mention in this episode: v o i d j u n k dave’s episode Sarah Loch Héctor’s linktree “Gracias, Orlando: A Genre Film and a Queer Body Awakening,” by Héctor González Hector of Troy Spider-Man Batman Superman Bachan Frank Miller Xanga John Picacio Worldcon 76 Mexicanx Initiative John Scalzi Alejandro Jodorowski George R.R. Martin Isaac Asimov Robert Heinlein Arthur C. Clarke Hugo Loser’s Party Aidan Moher Sarahs Gailey and Hollowell The Dot-Com Bubble Sarah Gailey’s Personal Canons Héctor’s essay Momo challenge Momo and The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende Terry Pratchett The Dispossessed, by Ursula K Le Guin River of Teeth and Taste of Marrow, by Sarah Gailey Unmasking Autism and Laziness Does Not Exist, by Devon Price We’re Here 2020, edited by C.L. Clark and Charles Peyseur Charles Peyseur C.L. Clark “The Captain and the Quartermaster,” by C.L. Clarke Babel, by R.F. Kuang Superliminal (game) Portal Key & Peele Nope Dave Chapelle (fuck that guy) Reboot Buster Keaton Paul Rudd Héctor’s insta   Tune in next month, when my guests will be Jordan Kurella and R.J. Theodore!

This time around, it’s my delight to welcome (finally) Hugo-winning fan writer, Aidan (@adribbleofink) Moher to the show! We’re talking about his new book, Fight, Magic, Items, which just released October 4th! Aidan reads from the introduction to the book, which leads us into a deep discussion of the games that shaped our childhoods.   Things we mention in this episode:   A Dribble of Ink Final Fantasy Dragon Quest The Offspring NOFX Warcraft II LAN Party Doom II Final Fantasy VI Xenogears Hironobu Sakaguchi Yuji Horii Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan Game Boy Final Fantasy Legend II The Legend of Zelda Akitoshi Kawazu Doom Final Fantasy III Game Players Electronic Gaming Monthly Nintendo Power Chrono Trigger The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks Magic: the Gathering Dragon Ball Z Shōnen Super NES Playstation 1 Final Fantasy XV Final Fantasy XIII Final Fantasy VIII Final Fantasy IX Final Fantasy X Grandia Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete Tales of Destiny Visual Novels The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Final Fantasy Adventure Mana series Kirby’s Dream Land 2 Pokemon Red Final Fantasy VII The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan Tetris Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (Game Boy game) Carl Jung Gnosticism K’Nex Metal Gear Solid Suikoden III Hideo Kojima Sega Saturn Panzer Dragoon Saga Grandia (Sega Saturn) Vagrant Story Aidan’s localization piece (not published yet, link TK) Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection Power-Up, by Chris Kohler Final Fantasy V, by Chris Kohler Press Reset and Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, by Jason Schreier Pure Invention, by Matt Alt Sailor Moon Aidan’s website fighmagicitems.rocks Astrolabe Patrick Klepek Less Than Jake   Join us again in two weeks, when my guest will be Héctor González! 

In case you missed the announcement at the start of our last episode, with Neon Yang, my new game, All Our Yesterdays, is available now for pay-what-you-want on my itch!  This time around, it’s my absolute pleasure to welcome to the show Aimee Kuzenski (@aimeekuzenski)! Aimee reads to us from her novel, Tilted, which leads us into a great discussion on the interiority of writing, thoughts about reading aloud, and how important a good fight scene is.   Things we mention in this episode: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Viable Paradise John Appel Karen Osborne Valerie Valdes Scrivener Third person omniscient The Earthsea Cycle, by Ursula K. Le Guin The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien Jane Austen Karen’s twitch “Fractured,” by Aimee Kuzenski The Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells The Locked Tomb series, by Tamsyn Muir The Broken Earth series, by N.K. Jemisin The Raven Tower, by Ann Leckie Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie Blade Runner Wow, cool robot Hayao Miyazaki The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien “The Shadow out of Time”, by racist uncle Howard Beneath the Rising series, by Premee Mohamed The Innsmouth Legacy series, by Ruthanna Emrys Ruthanna’s episode Dune, by Frank Herbert “How I Became Coruscating Queen of All the Realms, Pierced the Obsidian Night, Destroyed a Legendary Sword, and Saved My Heart’s True Love,” by Baker and Dovey No Shit, There I Was, edited by Alex Acks Story Hour Skies of Wonder, Skies of Danger, edited by Agner, Appel, and Miles “The Raven,” by Edgar Allan Poe Castle Fix My Fight Scene on Twitch and Youtube K.B. Wagers Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility Emma Thompson Kate Winslet Persuasion  Clueless What Moves the Dead, by T. Kingfisher The Fall of the House of Usher, by Edgar Allan Poe Just Like Home, by Sarah Gailey

As mentioned at the top of the show, I have a game out, All Our Yesterdays, which you can find on my Itch.io!   It’s my absolute pleasure, this time around, to welcome Neon Yang to the show to talk about their brand new book, The Genesis of Misery, out September 27th, 2022, from Tor books! Neon reads to us from the start of the book, which leads us into some great discussion about why doing multiple rewrites can be good, actually.   Things we mention in this episode:   Neon’s Tensorate series Joan of Arc Gundam Sarah Gailey’s latest book tour Just Like Home, by Sarah Gailey Dongwon Song Friends at the Table PARTIZAN Monster Hunter Rise Devil May Cry Elden Ring Neon’s insta   Join us next time, when my guest will be Aimee Kuzenski!

This time around, we’re joined once again by Rem Wigmore (@faewriter), who brings us a delicious excerpt from their trunked novella, Considine’s Counsel, which leads us into a great conversation about the study of story forms, actual play podcasts, and an opportunity, as if we needed one, to just be 110% on our bullshit.   Things we mention in this episode:   Foxhunt and Wolfpack, by Rem Wigmore Lake Taupō The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien Friends at the Table The Tiffany problem Dungeons & Dragons Miri’s episode The Witcher (TV Series) Newgrange Passage tombs CoNZealand Codex writers group  C.L. Polk Neon Hemlock Kai Ashante Wilson’s novellas F&SF “Time Bomb Time,” by C.C. Finlay Villanelle (poetry) And What Can We Offer You Tonight By Premee Mohamed Premee’s book tour episode Tor.com publishing River of Teeth, Taste of Marrow, and Upright Women Wanted, by Sarah Gailey The Tensorate series, by Neon Yang Emily Tesh The Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells The Blacktongue Thief, by Christopher Buehlman K.J. Charles’ Will Darling Adventures Kurangaituku, by Whiti Hereaka Eat the Rich, by Sarah Gailey Squad, by Maggie Tokuda-Hall The Girl and the Sea, by Molly Knox Ostertag The Witch Boy, by Molly Knox Ostertag Brennan Lee Mulligan Escape from the Blood Keep Critical Role Matt Mercer Ify Nwadiwe Exandria Unlimited Erika Ishii Last Shooting  Doctor Who Queen of Swords Press Rem’s previous episode Rem’s website   Stick around next month, when my guests will be Neon Yang and Aimee Kuzenski!

This time around, I’m very pleased to welcome back one of my guests from this show’s very first season, Valerie Valdes (@valerievaldes), to talk about the conclusion of her Chilling Effect trilogy, Fault Tolerance, which just released this Tuesday, August 2nd, 2022! Val reads to us from the opening chapter, which leads us into a lively discussion of video game tropes, fanfic, screenwriting, and who Val mains in Super Smash Bros.   Things we mention in this episode:   Val’s first-season episode Chilling Effect, by Valerie Valdes Garrus Mass Effect Fix-it fic Thane Chekhov’s gun Mario Kart Mad Max: Fury Road Portal Super Smash Bros Pokémon Transformers Assassin’s Orbit, by John Appel The Memory War series, by Karen Osborne Megan E. O’Keefe K.B. Wagers The NeoG series, by K.B. Wagers Annihilation Aria, by Mike Underwood Imperial Radch trilogy, by Ann Leckie The Machineries of Empire, by Yoon Ha Lee D.J. Older Mike Chen Rebecca Roanhorse Doctor Aphra, by Alyssa Wong Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) Rarepair Austin Walker Five plus one fic Harold (improv) Conrad Verner Tekken 2 Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Jigglypuff Link Zelda/Sheik Samus Kirby Shang Tsung Tron Bonne Servbot Roll Jill Marth Mr. Game & Watch Horizon Zero Dawn Hades Val’s twitch Guardians of the Galaxy (2021) Girl by Moonlight Blades in the Dark Magical girl genre Persona series Serial Experiments Lain Brandon O’Brien Mike Underwood Iori Kusano Jeoi Gawain Lin ArvanEleron on twitch Arvan Eleron’s Youtube channel Stone the Crows, by Grant Howitt Friends at the Table Partizan Beam Saber, by Austin Ramsay Scum and Villainy Ms Marvel Our Flag Means Death Moon Knight Knights and Bikes   Join us again next time, when Rem Wigmore will be returning to the show!

This time around, we’re joined by the one and only Miri Baker (@MiriBaker). Miri brings us a trunked story from ye olden days, all the way back in 2011, plus a lot of great conversation about the load-bearing parts of our personalities, cosplay, and how genuinely liking the things we like is good, actually. This episode’s reading carries content warnings for blood, extremely unsafe handling of swords, and extremely incorrect understanding of swords. It is just under 20 minutes long.   Things we mention on this episode: Blue at War, the cape Miri made for Amal El-Mohtar for the 2020 Hugos Lillian Boyd Machine of Death and This Is How You Die, edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, and David Malki The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde Duotrope’s Digest The Submission Grinder Wondermark! By David Malki Steampunk Fence, by C.S. Pacat Sarah Rees Brennan The Demon’s Lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan In Other Lands, by Sarah Rees Brennan Monstrous Affections, edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant Be the Serpent Worldcon 76 Fullmetal Alchemist Himoru Arakawa Neil Gaiman’s Journal Tumblr Arthur, season 14, episode 4, ­“Falafelosophy” Miss Snark’s Blog Query Shark George Clponey John Scalzi’s Whatever Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds Mary Robinette Kowal’s My Favorite Bit Sarah Gailey’s Stone Soup Writing Excuses Schlock Mercenary, by Howard Tayler LiveJournal Fantasy Rants Gaia Online NaNoWriMo Uncanny Magazine Viable Paradise Sarah Gailey River of Teeth, by Sarah Gailey Sarah’s Star Wars tweets Amanda Cook’s episode The Hugo Awards Yaya Han’s ultimate bodysuit pattern SFWA Annalee Flower Horne Anime Weekend Atlanta Friends at the Table Gravity Falls Steven Universe She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Archive of our Own Fanfiction dot net Arcane Riot Games League of Legends RWBY Rooster Teeth Red vs. Blue Halo Persona 5 Royal Steam The Locked Tomb series, by Tamsyn Muir Nona the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir Cybergoth freeway rave Miri’s portfolio Rekka Jay This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone   Stick around next month for the return of Valeria Valdes and Rem Wigmore!