Have hot antipasto with Andy Duncan as we celebrate the publication of his new collection <em>An Agent of Utopia</em> and discuss why it took a quarter of a century to bring the book's lead story from title idea to completion, how he was influenced by the research regimen of the great Frederik Pohl, the way a short story is like an exploded toolshed, why he deliberately wrote a deal with the devil story after hearing he shouldn't write deal with the devil stories, the embarrassing marketing blurb he can't stop telling people about in bars, what caused a last-minute change to the title of one of the collection's new stories, how he feels about going viral after his recent J. R. R. Tolkien comments, what he learned about himself from completing this project and what it means for the future of his writing, what it is about his most reprinted story which made it so, and much more.
Slurp down Thai Beef Noodle Soup with Stephen Kozeniewski as we discuss how it took nearly 500 submissions before his first novel was finally accepted, why he has no interest in writing sequels, his advice for winning a Turkey Award for the worst possible opening to the worst possible science fiction or fantasy novel, why his output is split between horror and science fiction (but not mysteries), the reason Brian Keene was who he wanted to be when he grew up, why almost any story would be more interesting with zombies, when you should follow and when you should break the accepted rules of writing, where he falls on the fast vs. slow zombies debate, and much more.