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Eating the Fantastic

I’ve been going to science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comic book conventions since I was 15, and Eating the Fantastic—a 2026 Hugo Awards finalist—attempts to replicate in podcast form one of my favorite parts of any convention—good conversation with good friends over good food. In fact, my love of tracking down that good food while traveling the world attending conventions has apparently become so well known one blogger even dubbed me "science fiction’s Anthony Bourdain." Chatting with my guests over over plates of food in restaurants relaxes them, and relaxes me as well. Food's been doing that for thousands of years, helping make conversations more intimate than they would otherwise be. Tongues are loosened, and through a strange magic, we’re no longer merely host and guest, but just a couple of friends having a meal. And though some ambient noise survives the processing, what remains in that "you are there" background is a small price for the much better picture you’ll get of my guests than otherwise. So consider it a feature, not a bug. During each episode, I'll share a meal with someone whose opinions I think you’ll want to hear, and we’ll talk science fiction, fantasy, horror, writing, comics, movies, fandom … whatever happens to come to mind. Now please pull up a chair to the table and dig in!
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Now displaying: July, 2017
Jul 21, 2017

Down drunken noodles with George R. R. Martin as we discuss why he was annoyed Marvel Comics printed his letters but DC never did, the reason Gardner Dozois was responsible for his first science fiction short story sale, how the rock 'n' roll novel <em>Armageddon Rag</em> got him a job on the rebooted <em>Twilight Zone</em>, what he learned from the arc of Stephen R. Donaldson's career, how losing the John W. Campbell Memorial Award got him his first editing gig, why he almost became a realtor, the time Harlan Ellison convinced him to apply to be the editor of <em>Analog</em>, and more. PLUS: Hear a snippet from an interview I did back in 1993 in which he makes an amusing admission about "a fantasy novel I've been working on off and on for awhile."

Jul 7, 2017

Chow down on chicken and waffles with five-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author Nancy Holder as we discuss her somewhat secret origin as a romance novelist, why her first horror convention made her burst into tears, how she got off on the wrong foot with acclaimed editor Charles L. Grant, what caused her Edgar Allan Poe obsession to begin, why she was a fan of DC Comics instead of Marvel as a kid, what Ed Bryant might have meant when he called her “the first splatterpunk to chew with her mouth closed,” and more.

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