Episode 101: Sarah A. Hoyt

An hour-and-a-half interview with Sarah A. Hoyt, Prometheus- and Dragon Award-winning author of more than 30 novels of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and historical fiction.

Websites
sarahahoyt.com
accordingtohoyt.com

Facebook
@sarah.a.hoyt

Twitter
@SarahAHoyt

Sarah A. Hoyt’s Amazon Page

The Introduction

Sarah A. Hoyt was born in Portugal and raised her family in Colorado.  In between, she has held some improbable jobs – she thought it was a requirement to write science fiction – ranging from dishwasher to multilingual scientific translator, and she’s published more than thirty novels in science fiction, fantasy, mystery and historical fiction.

Her first published novel, Ill Met By Moonlight was a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award. Her first space opera, Darkship Thieves won the Prometheus. She also won a Dragon for Uncharted, an alternate Lewis and Clark expedition (Now with magic, and oh, yeah, Coyote) co-written with Kevin J. Anderson.

Arguably her best-selling book is Guardian, co-written with Larry Correia.

She’s currently writing the script for the latest comic book iteration of Barbarella.

Her plans for the next thirty years consist of writing a lot more.

Episode 100: Michaelbrent Collings

An hour-long chat with Michaelbrent Collings, internationally bestselling author of thriller, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, romance, humor, young adult, and middle grade works.

Website
writteninsomnia.com

Facebook
@MichaelbrentCollings

Twitter
@mbcollings

YouTube
@michaelbrentcollingsauthor

Michaelbrent Collings’s Amazon Page

The Introduction

While he is best known for horror (and is one of the most successful indie horror authors in the world), Michaelbrent Collings has also written internationally-bestselling thriller, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, humor, young adult, and middle grade works, and romance.

In addition to being a bestselling novelist, Michaelbrent has also received critical acclaim: he is the only person who has ever been a finalist for a Bram Stoker Award, a Dragon Award, and a RONE Award, and he and his work have been reviewed and/or featured on everything from Publishers Weekly to Scream Magazine to NPR. An engaging and entertaining speaker, he is also a frequent guest at comic cons and on writing podcasts like Six Figure Authors, The Creative Penn, Writing Excuses, and others.

Episode 99: Mark Leslie Lefebvre

An hour-long chat with Mark Leslie Lefebvre, author of the Canadian Werewolf Series as well as many non-fiction books drawing on his quarter century of experience in writing, publishing, and bookselling.

Website
markleslie.ca

Twitter
@MarkLeslie

Facebook
@MarkLeslieAuthor

Instagram
@markleslielefebvre

YouTube
@markleslielefebvre

Mark Leslie Lafebvre’s Amazon Page

The Introduction

Although he is still afraid of the monster under the bed, Mark Leslie (Lefebvre) regularly writes about ghosts, monsters, and other things that go bump in the night with speculative fiction that has been described as fitting on an episode of The Twilight Zone. He has been writing since the mid 1980s and had his first short story published in 1992, the same year he graduated from university and started working in the book industry.

His first published horror story, “Phantom Mitch” received Honorable Mention in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror and his first non-fiction paranormal exploration, Haunted Hamilton earned him a nomination for a Hamilton Literary Award.

Mark is the author of more than thirty books, the editor of a number of anthologies, a series of books about the business of writing and publishing, and, most recently, the “Canadian Werewolf” series of novels. He lives in Waterloo, Ontario where he splits his time between writing and as a book industry representative and consultant.

Episode 98: James Kennedy

An hour-plus chat with James Kennedy, author of the speculative thriller Dare to Know and the YA fantasy The Order of Odd-Fish, and founder of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival.

Website
www.jameskennedy.com

Twitter
@iamjameskennedy

Facebook
@james.kennedy.942

Instagram
@theonlyjameskennedy

James Kennedy’s Amazon Page

James Kennedy is the author of the speculative thriller Dare to Know, which the Guardian praised as “a fascinating, compulsively readable thriller” and SFX Magazine called a “superb piece of storytelling: vivid, thought-provoking and unsettling.”

James is also the author of the young-adult fantasy The Order of Odd-Fish and the founder of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival, in which kid filmmakers create short movies that tell the entire stories of Newbery-winning books in about 90 seconds, which screens annually in a dozen cities nationwide. He also co-hosts the Secrets of Story podcast with Matt Bird. James lives in Chicago with his wife and two daughters.

Episode 97: Mercedes Lackey

An interview with Mercedes Lackey, prolific author of science fiction and fantasy, recently named the 38th Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

Website
www.mercedeslackey.com

Twitter
@mercedeslackey

Facebook
@mercedeslackey

Mercedes Lackey’s Amazon Page

The Introduction

Mercedes Lackey, recently named the 38th Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), was born in Chicago Illinois on June 24, 1950.  The very next day, the Korean War was declared.  It is hoped that there is no connection between the two events.

She was raised mostly in the northwestern corner of Indiana, attending grade school and high school in Highland Indiana.  She graduated from Purdue University in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology.  This, she soon learned, along with a paper hat and a nametag will qualify you to ask “would you like fries with that?” at a variety of fast-food locations.

After spending time in jobs ranging from artist’s model to lab technician at the Mosquito Genetics Project to short-order cook, she took training and became a computer programmer.  About this time she discovered science fiction conventions and the Society for Creative Anachronism, and began attending functions of both, more often in costume than not.

She had always written from her early teens, and developed this hobby by writing fan-fiction for various amateur magazines.  In the 1980s she took a job programming computers for a major airline and as a consequence moved to Oklahoma, where she continued to write.  At this time she met both Marion Zimmer Bradley (author of The Mists of Avalon, and .C J Cherryh, both of whom helped mentor her from the ranks of the amateur into those of the professional writers.  

In 1985 her first book was published.  In 1990 she met artist Larry Dixon at a small dcience giction convention in Meridian. Mississippi, on a television interview organized by the convention.  They began working together from that time on, and were married in Las Vegas at the Excalibur chapel by Merlin the Magician (aka the Reverend Duckworth) in 1992.

They moved to their current home, the “second weirdest house in Oklahoma” also in 1992.  She has many pet parrots and “the house is never quiet.”  She has 144 books in print, and publishes between five and six books a year, alone or in collaboration.  Some of her foreign editions can be found in Russian, German, Czech, Polish, French, Italian, Turkish, and Japanese.  She is the author, alone or in collaboration, of the Hunter, Heralds of Valdemar, Elemental Masters, Secret World Chronicles, 500 Kingdoms, Diana Tregarde, Heirs of Alexandria, Obsidian Mountain, Dragon Jouster, Bedlam Bards, Shadow Grail, and other series and standalone books. In November 2021 she was named the

She has continued her hobby of costuming. She also does art-needlework and beadwork, sometimes combining these hobbies with her doll-making, usually sending these as gifts or to charity auctions as well.  She always has several of these projects going at any one time, because they give her the opportunity to think about her stories while her hands are busy.  Occasionally she costumes porcelain dolls as one of her characters to be sent as charity auction pieces. Her current project is a set of Secret World Chronicle dolls.

A night owl by nature, she is generally found at the keyboard between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. 

Episode 96: Brendan Wilson

An hour-long interview with Brendan Wilson, former Army ranger and paratrooper and NATO defense planner and diplomat, master martial artist, and author of The Achilles Battle Fleet, Book 1 in the Mei Ling Lee Trilogy.

Website
www.brendanwilsonwrites.com

Facebook
@brendanwilsonwrites

Instagram
@brendanwilsonwrites

Brendan Wilson’s Amazon Page

The Introduction

Following 25 years of military service as a US Army ranger and paratrooper, Brendan Wilson retired as a lieutenant colonel and then joined NATO where he served as a defense planner and diplomat for the next 15 years. During the course of his 40 years of work as a soldier and diplomat, he saw service in war-torn Libya, Ukraine, Kosovo, Bosnia, and Iraq.  A former coach and team captain for a military martial arts competition team, he holds master ranking (8th Dan) in three different martial arts, and won the silver medal in the 2009 US Open for Taekwondo.

In retirement Wilson turned his efforts to filmmaking. He wrote and produced two award-winning short films (Doug’s ChristmasA Child Lies Here) and served as executive producer for ten episodes of the award-winning web series, Greetings! From Prison starring SNL’s Chris Redd.  Moved by seeing human lives upended in war-torn areas, Wilson is earning his law degree and, once qualified as an attorney, plans to volunteer to help refugees.  A former assistant professor who taught military history and the Univerity of Colorado, Wilson holds a Ph.D. in international relations and has about a dozen publications on defense-related topics. He is the father of two adult children. 

Wilson lives a quiet life in Sycamore, Illinois. He spends his days writing, hiking, studying law and practicing his martial arts. The Achilles Battle Fleet, the first book in the Mei-Ling Lee Trilogy, is his first novel.

The First Novel of the Mei-Ling Lee Trilogy

Naval Academy martial arts champion Lieutenant Mei-Ling Lee serves in a backwater assignment as an aide to the inspector general of a rag-tag group of starships thrown together as a convoy evacuating civilians from a contested area of the galaxy. When the convoy is attacked, she finds herself thrust into the center of a galactic struggle as the chief of staff for the newly formed Achilles Battle Fleet. As the conflict continues, Lee is forced to draw upon her martial arts skill and her inner strength as she fights alongside the Fleet’s marine commando unit. Struggling with budding romance, new friendships and startling betrayals, Lee becomes the warrior she was meant to be.

Episode 95: Noah Lemelson

A long conversation with Noah Lemelson, author of the dieselpunk fantasy novel The Sightless City (Tiny Fox Press) and assorted short stories of the weird and fantastic.

Twitter
@NoahLemelson

Website
www.noahlemelson.com

Facebook
@NoahLemlesonAuthor

Noah Lemelson’s Amazon Page

The Introduction

​A short-story writer and novelist based in Los Angeles, Noah Lemelson writes science fiction, fantasy, surreal horror, “insert-adjective-here”-punk and “all sorts of weird nonsense.” After receiving his B.A. in Biology from the University of Chicago in 2014, he made a hard pivot into the world of fiction, and in 2019 completed his MFA in Creative Writing at CalArts.

Noah’s debut dieselpunk fantasy novel, The Sightless City was released in July 2021, from Tiny Fox Press. He has also published short fiction in online magazines such as Space Squid, Literally Stories, Silver Blade, and Allegory.

Episode 94: Garon Whited

An hour-long conversation with Garon Whited, author of (among many other things) the popular Nightlord series, about his creative process.

Website
www.garonwhited.com

Twitter
@garonwhited

Facebook
@author.garon.whited

Instagram
@garonwhited

Garon Whited’s Amazon Page

The Introduction:

Garon Whited was born in Kansas in 1969 or 1970; the original birth certificate is suspiciously unavailable and other records do not agree. After following his parents around the South for several years, he finally caught up to them and settled somewhere between Texas and Arkansas.

Garon attended several universities whether he was a student or not. While he was in college, he studied many subjects, none of which were helpful in earning a living. At present, he writes stories in the hope people will feed him. He has written several novels and various short stories and shows no signs of stopping. Having fought drunken dragons, sleepy medusae, snarky boojums, and quite a few loons, he is uniquely qualified to write fantastic fiction. His work tends toward the optimistic: Even his apocalyptic sci-fi novel has a surprisingly feel-good attitude.

When he’s not writing stories, Garon is still telling them. Garon is a fan of Role-Playing Games and started playing many years and many editions ago. It may have encouraged him to write by providing material.  Garon loves to read, usually science fiction and fantasy. Strangely–perhaps ironically–he is not usually a fan of vampire novels.

Episode 93: Lavie Tidhar

An hour-long conversation with Lavie Tidhar, World Fantasy Award, Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize, Campbell Award, and Neukom Prize-winning author, speaker, and book columnist for the Washington Post, about his creative process, with a focus on his new novel The Escapement (Tachyon Publications).

Website
lavietidhar.wordpress.com

Twitter
@LavieTidhar

Facebook
@lavietidhar

Lavie Tidhar’s Amazon Page

The Introduction

Photo by Kevin Nixon. (c) Future Publishing 2013.

Lavie Tidhar is the World Fantasy Award-winning author of Osama (2011), Seiun-nominated The Violent Century (2013), the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize-winning A Man Lies Dreaming (2014), and the Campbell Award and Neukom Prize-winning Central Station (2016), and Locus and Campbell award-nominated Unholy Land (2018), in addition to many other works and several other awards. His latest novel is The Escapement (Tachyon Publications). Other recent novels include By Force Alone (2020) and debut children’s novel Candy (2018 UK; as The Candy Mafia 2020 US). He is also the author of the comics mini-series Adler..

Lavie works across genres, combining detective and thriller modes with poetry, science fiction, and historical and autobiographical material. His work has been compared to that of Philip K. Dick by the Guardian and the Financial Times, and to Kurt Vonnegut’s by Locus.

Lavie’s media appearances have included Channel 4 News, BBC Radio London and others. His speaking engagements have included a wide range of events, including for the Ministry of Defence, Cambridge University, English PEN, the Singapore Writers Festival and various Guest of Honour appearances in Japan, Poland, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, China and elsewhere. Occasional commissions include work for Conde Nast, Braingle/Puzzle Tales, I Speak Machine/Penguin Random House, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum Berlin and New Scientist.

Lavie is currently a book columnist for the Washington Post, and a Visiting Professor and Writer in Residence at Richmond, The American International University in London.

Episode 92: Laurell K. Hamilton

An hour-long conversation with Laurell K. Hamilton, bestselling author of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter and Merry Gentry series, with a special focus on her new Zaniel Havelock series.

Website
www.laurellkhamilton.com

Twitter
@LKHamilton

Facebook
@LaurellKHamiltonOfficial

Instagram:
@official_lkhamilton

Laurell K. Hamilton’s Amazon page

The Introduction

Laurell Kaye Hamilton is an American multi-genre writer. She is best known as the author of two series of stories, Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter and Merry Gentry.

Her New York Times-bestselling Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series centers on Anita Blake, a professional zombie raiser, vampire executioner and supernatural consultant for the police, which includes novels, short story collections, and comic books. Six million copies of Anita Blake novels are in print. Her New York Times-bestselling Merry Gentry series centers on Meredith Gentry, Princess of the Unseelie court of Faerie, a private detective facing repeated assassination attempts.

Both fantasy series follow their protagonists as they gain in power and deal with the dangerous “realities” of worlds in which creatures of legend live.

Laurell was born in rural Arkansas but grew up in northern Indiana with her grandmother. Her education includes degrees in English and biology from Marion College (now called Indiana Wesleyan University). She lives in St. Louis with her family. In her free time, Laurell trains in Filipino martial arts with a specialization in blade work.