We’re back!!! Welcome back to the space castle, everybody! HUGE thanks to our Kickstarter supporters for making this possible. In our first episode of Season 2, we talk to Wool Omnibus author Hugh Howey. Find out how not to get shoved outside, how George R. R. Martin motivated Hugh’s career, and his number one editing tip.
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Hugh Howey caused quite a stir with his findings about independent authors, but what does it mean for us readers? We also talk about the Wizard of Earthsea feminism implications and have an exciting election for the March book pick! There is a gavel involved.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale
Veronica: Vina Robles Red Blend
VIDEO SHOW COMING THURSDAY OMG!!!!!
QUICK BURNS
Self-published ebooks: the surprising data from Amazon
Most Amazon bestselling authors aren’t making minimum wage
WH Auden told JRR Tolkien to cut the love story from Lord of the Rings
Daemon And Influx Author Daniel Suarez On Why Innovation Has Stalled
TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES
Read Them Now, Watch Them Later: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Adaptation Watch
More on the Redshirts TV Series
What was cut to make the “unfilmable” book Winter’s Tale into a movie
BOOK CHECK-IN
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Leguin
BARE YOUR SWORD
Looking for more firearms in “High” Fantasy
Hi Tom & Veronica,
Listening to Gregory A Wilson talk about his daughter’s name made me think of my own family. I was named after Jessica Atreides (Dune), putting me in the odd position of being named for a sci-fi character AND having one of the most common girls names of my generation.
I passed the nerd legacy onto my own children as well – my son’s middle name is Zaphod (as in Beeblebrox) and my daughter is named Aeryn (after Aeryn Sun from Farscape). Hopefully she won’t resent me for it the millionth time she has to spell it out loud for someone.
Love the show,
Jessica
We chat with Gregory A. Wilson, author of The Third Sign, about his newest novel Icarus and the graphic novel based on it that he and artist Matt Slay are working on. It’s about a being who falls from the sky to save a world from tyranny. We also find out if he named his daughter after one of his own fictional characters.
Hey all, Moth and Spark by Anne Leonard is coming out Feb. 20 so Viking press gave us 5 copies to giveaway! The book comes out Feb. 20, so we’ll pick that day to announce a winner drawn at random from respondents to this thread.
To enter, head over to our Goodreads thread entitled “If you were a recently freed dragon, what’s the first thing you’d do?“
Listen to the show or check back in the thread on the 20th to find out who wins!
This time around we’re kicking off our February book pick, A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin. If you’re looking for the first tale a of a boy who attends a school of wizardry, we’ve got the goods, as well as what Ms. Le Guin, who wrote her book in 1968, thinks of Ms. Rowling. Plus The Clarion Workshop deadline is looming and USC and Intel make one author’s world come alive.
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
Tom: Bikini Blonde Lager
Veronica: 2011 Plantagenet Shiraz Omrah
QUICK BURNS
Announcing the instructors for the 2014 Clarion Writers’ Workshop
SF writing competition: a world without the Normal Curve!
British science fiction book awards lurch towards gender parity
Intel Leviathan Project
This interactive chart maps out all the storylines in The Hobbit
CALENDAR
TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES
Neil Gaiman’s American Gods gets a brand new TV deal
BOOK KICK-OFF
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Wikipedia entry for ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’
Ursula K. Le Guin’s website
March Poll launched, vote on what our book should be!
April will be a book picked by our Kickstarter backer Bryan Benson!
BARE YOUR SWORD
What fictional items would you decorate a room with?
Adding “lem” to the dictionary
EMAIL
Hi Guys,
I listened to TNT for a long time and really enjoyed Tom’s narrative about tech and the tech industry. I just returned to TNT from a short hiatus to discover that Tom is no longer there. It’s only been a couple of episodes but it doesn’t feel the same. I don’t think TNT will be the same without Tom.
Anyway…. I remembered Tom use to mention S&L from time to time on TNT and figured I’d give it a try. I downloaded and listened to my first S&L episode (#160) today and liked what I heard.
I use to submit articles in the TNT’s sub reddit from time to time. Not sure what the official way is to submit for this show but I just read a book I thought was very relevant to discuss you guys had about how Fantasy and Scifi are so tied together and how (as Tom mentioned) it even mixes into Horror sometimes.
I thought this book was really cool for just that reason. It’s got pirates it’s got sudo time travel it’s got monsters. Take a look!
Mike E.
Kevin Singer – The Last Conquistador
My dog didn’t RSVP…
We had a fantastic time at the meet-up at Borderlands Books in San Francisco! Luke Pebler read his Anthology story, The Same International Orange, in front of the live audience, and we had a fantastic live song from Sky Corbelli! You can listen to it below. It’s about the Dresden Files!
We all had a blast, and we hope to do more meet-ups in the future (and not just in San Francisco). Thanks again for coming!
We’ve got some awesome news about new books from Peter F. Hamilton, Richard Morgan, Joe Abercrombie and Gillian Anderson. Plus we wrap up our January book, The Einstein Intersection.
QUICK BURNS
Cover art for HALF A KING by Joe Abercrombie
Richard Morgan completes THE DARK DEFILES
X-Files’ star Gillian Anderson writing sci-fi book series
FINALISTS: 2013 Philip K. Dick Award
CALENDAR
TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES
The first Outlander trailer is all epic battles (with a hint of sex)
First Game of Thrones season 4 trailer shows why Westeros is hell
READ THEM NOW, WATCH THEM LATER: SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY AND HORROR ADAPTATION WATCH
BOOK CHECK-IN
Best websites that explain the Einstein Intersection
The role of music in Einstein Intersection
February Pick
Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Leguin
BARE YOUR SWORD
The “Party Scene” in classic Sci-FI
—
On your last podcast you talked about the “controversy” of picking a weirder, lesser known title like “The Einstein Intersection” over something more well known, like “Nova.” But those weird picks, informed by the personal tastes of you two, are so much more interesting than standard picks that I might come across just by googling “top Delaney novels.” The weirder picks you guys do don’t always sync up exactly with my tastes, but they’re always interesting, and they’re often something I never would have had the pleasure of coming across on my own.
I personally am loving the weird beauty of The Einstein intersection, and I thought it a good idea to let you guys know that not everyone hates the decision to sometimes go off the beaten path.
-Rob
ADDENDUMS
Audible is offering Sword & Laser listeners a FREE audiobook , along with a 30day trial. Go to audiblepodcast.com/swordlaser to take advantage of this special offer!!
We are wrapped on Season 2! We shot twelve episodes over three days, so needless to say…. we are pooped. But the important thing is that we have twelve amazing Author Spotlights in the can, and we can’t wait to share them with you!
So stay tuned! Edits are going to start this week, and we should have the first episode rolling out in Feb. Remember, it’s all thanks to you wonderful Kickstarter fans, and we are eternally grateful!
We have a chance to chat with the fabulous Ian Tregillis, author of the Milkweed Triptych and Something More Than Night. He alludes to his secret ‘Clakkers” project, explains how to make an angel talk like a shamus, and reveals Gretel’s secret Reagan baby.
Ian Tregillis entry at Wikipedia
This video is part of our re-release of the first season of Sword and Laser videos as they exit exclusivity. This episode originally posted January 4, 2013.
Download the episode here.
Subscribe to the video encores as a podcast, and in iTunes!
And of course get all the show notes at the original post from last year.