This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Victoria Helen Stone, author of Bald-Faced Liar. About Bald-Faced Liar: Traveling nurse Elizabeth May has a promising new home in Santa Cruz. And another new identity. It’s a pattern of reinvention for a woman escaping her traumatic childhood?and hiding from the decades of notoriety and destructio…

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome S.A. Barnes, author of Cold Eternity. About Cold Eternity: Halley is on the run from an interplanetary political scandal that has put a huge target on her back. She heads for what seems like the perfect place to lay low: a gigantic space barge storing the cryogenically frozen bodies of Earth’s mos…

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Maura Jortner, author of Keepers of the Marsh. About Keepers of the Marsh: Twelve-year-old Lana isn’t looking for trouble when she ventures into the swampy marsh behind her family’s home in Galveston Bay. She’s just sweaty and bored and lonely, sick of sitting around doing nothing. Her family neve…

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Chuck Wendig, author of The Staircase in the Woods. About The Staircase in the Woods: Five high school friends are bonded by an oath to protect one another no matter what. Then, on a camping trip in the middle of the forest, they find something extraordinary: a mysterious staircase to nowhere. One…

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Mary Robinette Kowal, author of The Martian Contingency. About The Martian Contingency: Years after a meteorite strike obliterated Washington, D.C.?triggering an extinction-level global warming event?Earth’s survivors have started an international effort to establish homes on space stations and th…

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Brandon Crilly, author of Serpentine Scenarios: Five New Adventures for B.O.A.. About Serpentine Scenarios: Five New Adventures for B.O.A.: The Bureau of Agents (B.O.A.) follows a simple mandate: Priority One: Remain unseen. Or, at minimum, don’t get caught. Priority Two: Accomplish the mission. P…

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Jim C. Hines, author of Kitemaster. About Kitemaster: Nial Sarnin is twenty-one years old, far too young to have lost her beloved husband Jika. One year after Jika’s death, Nial is preparing to fly a kite sewn from the shirt Jika wore at their wedding, to carry his spirit to the stars and beyond. …

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome James J. Butcher, author of Cold Iron Task. About Cold Iron Task: Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby may have one case under his belt, but he’s still a novice Auditor in Boston’s Department of Unorthodox Affairs. And he’s already made mistakes. Desperate to repair his fraying friendships, he doesn’t ask to…

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Tochi Onyebuchi, author of Harmattan Season. About Harmattan Season: Veteran and private eye Boubacar doesn’t need much?least of all trouble?but trouble always seems to find him. Work has dried up, and he’d rather be left alone to deal with his bills as the Harmattan rolls in to coat the city in d…

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Catriona Silvey, author of LOVE AND OTHER PARADOXES. About LOVE AND OTHER PARADOXES: Cambridge University, 2005: Student Joe Greene scribbles verses in the margins of his notebook, dreaming of a future where his words will echo through the ages, all while doubting it could ever happen. Then, the f…

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Allison Epstein, author of Fagin the Thief. About Fagin the Thief: Long before Oliver Twist stumbled onto the scene, Jacob Fagin was scratching out a life for himself in the dark alleys of nineteenth-century London. Born in the Jewish enclave of Stepney shortly after his father was executed as a t…

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome John Scalzi, author of WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE. About WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE: The moon has turned into cheese. Now humanity has to deal with it. For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the …

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome L.J. Cohen, author of Litany for a Broken World. About Litany for a Broken World: A young girl’s disastrous first foray through the multiverse cleaves her from her family and abandons her in a homeless encampment, adrift in a world and a body not her own. A doctor struggling with grief volunteers …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Michael Nayak, author of SYMBIOTE. About SYMBIOTE: As World War III rages, the scientists in Antarctica are thankful for the isolation – until a group of Chinese scientists arrive at the American research base. In their truck is a dead body, the first murder in Antarctica. The potential for a geopolitical firest…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Kat Kourbeti and Michael Ireland from Strange Horizons to talk about the new podcast project celebrating 25 years of the magazine: S.H.@25. S.H.@25 Links: Arkady Martine’s SH@25 episode, featuring her soundscaped poem The John Scalzi interview Ootheca by Mário Coelho (with the cockroaches for teeth) Alhaji Jerry…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Jack Campbell, author of Destiny’s Way Book 2 of The Doomed Earth Duology. About Destiny’s Way: Lieutenant Selene Genji is hurled into the past to try and save a world that doesn’t want her in this action-packed adventure from New York Times bestselling author Jack Campbell. Earth was destroyed on June 12, 2180.…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Lauren J. A. Bear, author of MOTHER OF ROME. About MOTHER OF ROME: The names Romulus and Remus may be immortalized in map and stone and chronicle, but their mother exists only as a preface to her sons’ journey, the princess turned oath-breaking priestess, condemned to death alongside her children. But she did no…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Katherine Villyard, author of IMMORTAL GIFTS. About IMMORTAL GIFTS: Prussia, 1841. Abraham only ever wanted to play violin. Hiding his Jewish status so he can study at the prestigious Berlin Academy of Music, the eager young man is delighted to find a patron who believes in him. But he’s mortified when his new f…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Cerece Rennie Murphy, author of In the Garden of Light and Shadow. About In the Garden of Light and Shadow: 4000 years ago, a rebellion in the Ever brought angels to live among us. At first, they were worshiped as gods. But that was not enough. And in their hunger for power, Evil claimed their hearts and made th…

In a very special JUST US episode of the podcast this week, Patrick and Tracy are talking about cats, Dungeons & Dragons, Patreon, coffee, Star Wars coffee mugs, working out, black Friday, smart tvs, peopling, weddings, San Diego ComiCon, conventions, Denver’s Pop Culture Con, the holidays and gift giving, kids, family, spreadsheets, pivot tables, …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome R.S.A. Garcia, author of The Nightward. About The Nightward: For 500 years Gaiea’s Hand has stood as a ward against the Dark. The Age of Chaos is a faded memory. The Goddess has left Gailand and given her Blessing to the Queens to rule in her stead. Princess Viella of the court of Hamber is the Spirit of Gaiea, …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Mike Chen, author of Marvel: What If . . . Marc Spector Was Host to Venom? (A Moon Knight & Venom Story). About Marvel: What If . . . Marc Spector Was Host to Venom? (A Moon Knight & Venom Story): Marc Spector is used to voices in his head. He’s used to waking up disoriented, unsure what his alters, Jake and Ste…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Curtis C. Chen, author of TRUE BLUE KANGAROO. About TRUE BLUE KANGAROO: Welcome to the spacefaring future, where humanity travels between planets with ease and has abused that power to establish outposts in some questionable places. Take Venus, for example: a sister world to Mother Earth, similar in size and gra…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Two-Time Hugo Award winner Paul Weimer. About Paul Weimer: Paul Weimer is a Two-Time 2024 Hugo Award winner for Fan Writer and Fanzine (Editor). Not really a Prince of Amber, but rather, an ex-pat New Yorker living in Minnesota, Paul Weimer has been reading sci-fi and fantasy for over 40 years. An avid and enthu…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome John Jackson Miller, author of BATMAN: RESURRECTION. About BATMAN: RESURRECTION: The Joker is dead, but not forgotten. Gotham City is saved, but it is still not safe. By night, its new symbol of hope, Batman, continues his fight to protect the innocent and the powerless. By day, his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, wonde…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Luis Jaramillo, author of The Witches of El Paso. About The Witches of El Paso: 1943, El Paso, Texas: teenager Nena spends her days caring for the small children of her older sisters, while longing for a life of freedom and adventure. The premonitions and fainting spells she has endured since childhood are getti…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Martha Wells, author of the updated and revised version of Wheel of the Infinite. About the updated and revised version of Wheel of the Infinite: A traitor and a swordsman join forces to save the world from being rewritten into devastation. Every year the image of the Wheel of the Infinite must be painstakingly …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Peter F. Hamilton, author of Exodus: The Archimedes Engine. About Exodus: The Archimedes Engine: In a past age, humanity fled a dying Earth in massive ark ships. These searched the galaxy to find a new home. Then one fleet found Centauri, a dense cluster of stars teeming with habitable planets. Now, thousands of…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Stephanie Wrobel, author of THE HITCHCOCK HOTEL. About THE HITCHCOCK HOTEL: Alfred Smettle is not your average Hitchcock fan. He is the founder, owner, and manager of The Hitchcock Hotel, a sprawling Victorian house in the White Mountains dedicated to the Master of Suspense. There, Alfred offers his guests round…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Ken Liu, translator of Laozi’s Dao De Jing. About Laozi’s Dao De Jing: Laozi’s Dao De Jing was written around 400 BC by a compassionate soul in a world torn by hatred and ambition, dominated by those that yearned for apocalyptic confrontations and prized ideology over experience. By speaking out against the clev…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Unexploded Remnants, author of Elaine Gallagher. About Unexploded Remnants: Alice is the last human. Street-smart and bad-ass. After discovering what appears to be an A.I. personality in an antique data core, Alice decides to locate its home somewhere in the stargate network. At the very least, she wants to lay …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Hana Lee, author of ROAD TO RUIN. About ROAD TO RUIN: Jin-Lu has the most dangerous job in the wasteland. She’s a magebike courier, one of the few who venture outside the domed cities on motorcycles powered by magic. Every day, she braves the wasteland’s dangers—deadly storms, roving marauders, and territorial b…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Mary Robinette Kowal, author of Silent Spaces. About Silent Spaces: Silent Spaces: Tales from the Lady Astronauts is a collection of 9 short stories in the Lady Astronaut Series written by Mary Robinette Kowal, including one written just for this collection. With this campaign the book will be available in print…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Lynne and Michael Damian Thomas, Co-Publishers/Co-Editors-in-Chief of UNCANNY MAGAZINE. About Uncanny Magazine Year 11: This One Goes to ELEVEN: Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas have run Kickstarters for the seven-time Hugo Award-winning and 2024 Locus Award-winning Uncanny Magazine Years One, Two, Three,…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Audrey Burges, author of A House Like An Accordion. About A House Like An Accordion: Keryth Miller is disappearing. Between the growing distance from her husband, the demands of two teenage daughters, and an all-encompassing burnout, she sometimes feels herself fading away. Actual translucence, though—that’s new…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Josh Malerman, author of Incidents Around the House. About Incidents Around the House: To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?” When horrifying incidents around…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Peng Shepherd, author of ALL THIS AND MORE. About ALL THIS AND MORE: Meek, play-it-safe Marsh has just turned forty-five, and her life is in shambles. Her career is stagnant, her marriage has imploded, and her teenage daughter grows more distant by the day. Marsh is convinced she’s missed her chance at everythin…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, author of GRIM ROOT. About GRIM ROOT: On the set of The Groom, a group of women must compete for the heart of Midwestern bachelor Tristan by spending a week in a haunted house. Divorcee Linda, resigned to her role as the show’s underdog, finds her resolve cracking when she begins to fall f…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Sarah Pinsker, author of Haunt Sweet Home. About Haunt Sweet Home: When aimless twenty-something Mara lands a job as the night-shift production assistant on her cousin’s ghost hunting/home makeover reality TV show Haunt Sweet Home, she quickly determines her new role will require a healthy attitude toward duplic…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Ari Marmell, author of Dust, Obelisks, Book One. About Dust, Obelisks, Book One: For Flight Engineer Cynthia Han and her fellow astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 81 has proved as mundane as space travel ever gets. Yes, this would be Cynthia’s final NASA mission, for reasons she’s so f…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Maurice Broaddus, author of Black Panther: T’Challa Declassified. About Black Panther: T’Challa Declassified: He’s a king, a hero, a loving brother and son, a husband to a goddess. The orphan king—the Haramu-Fal—and the Damisa-Sarki. And a man facing his doubts, his failures, and his destiny. Revisit the life of…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Tim Akers, author of The Eccentrics. About The Eccentrics: Led by the eighth incarnation of Nikola Tesla, the Society of Eccentric Geniuses protects the Mundane world from the horrors of the Gestalt, a timeline of the future that never was. Powered by SCIENCE and steam, the Eccentrics travel the world in their a…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Charlie Huston, author of CATCHPENNY. About CATCHPENNY: Sidney Catchpenny has had a bad run. Laid low by a years-long bout of debilitating depression, he’s all but squandered his reputation as one of the most uniquely talented thieves in LA. There aren’t many who can do what Sid does. He’s a sly, a special kind …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Madeleine Roux, author of What If…Loki Was Worthy?. About What If…Loki Was Worthy?: Thor—Son of Odin, God of Thunder, Wielder of Mjolnir—is dead. And Loki is responsible. It was meant to be only a joke—tampering with the Destroyer, changing Thor’s course to Midgard—a bit of mischief with a chance of maiming. But…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Chris Radcliff, who backed the Uncanny Magazine Year 10: A Decade of Delightful Defiance Kickstarter at the THIRD NERD level! About Chris Radcliff: Software engineer, space nerd, citizen scientist, geek dad, weird kid, and Uncanny Magazine Kickstarter backer! Mentioned in this episode: Upstart Crow SpaceUp Uncon…

This week, Patrick and Tracy are chatting about a Publisher’s Weekly article on Brandon Sanderson’s Audible announcement. This leads us down the path of talking royalty splits, agents and the publishing ecosystem, as well as the difference between a guild and a union, SFWA, RWA and more. This week’s picks: Tracy: GreenLight: Debit Card for Kids and…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome James Goodhand, author of The Day Tripper. About The Day Tripper: The right guy, the right place, the wrong time. It’s 1995, and Alex Dean has it all: a spot at Cambridge University next year, the love of an amazing woman named Holly and all the time in the world ahead of him. That is until a brutal encounter wi…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Moses Ose Utomi, author of The Truth of the Aleke. About The Truth of the Aleke: The Aleke is cruel. The Aleke is clever. The Aleke is coming. 500 years after the events of The Lies of the Ajungo, the City of Truth stands as the last remaining free city of the Forever Desert. A bastion of freedom and peace, the …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome James Enge, author of EVIL HONEY, a new Morlock Ambrosius short story. About Old Moon Quarterly: Issue 3, Winter 2023: Old Moon Quarterly is a small, independent online magazine devoted to publishing weird sword-and-sorcery fiction set in a historical paranormal setting or a secondary-world, with a focus on well…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome T.R. Napper, author of Aliens: Bishop. About Aliens: Bishop: The USCSS Patna has been found. Although the synthetic Bishop asked to be shut down forever, his creator has other plans. Michael Bishop seeks the Xenomorph knowledge stored in the android’s mind, and brings Bishop back to life—but for what reason? No …