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Laura Anne Gilman, Thomas S. Roche, Danel
Paul Olson (moderator), Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
11-06-09: 2009 World Fantasy Convention Panel Podcast

"We Now Bring You This Discussion, Already in Progress"

The first panel I podcast will not be the first panel I recorded, or attended. We're going to start with the Friday 10 AM Panel from the world fantasy convention. I was still getting my routine in place, and thus you're going to hear it a bit after it began. Not to worry, there's a lot of meat in this one about a great theme—how mystery works in speculative fiction, because in any speculative work you've just got to wonder — why is this not the world we know?

Here's what the WFC flyer had to say ... In both the ghost story and in modern urban fantasy there is the potential for a central mystery that must be solved and the denouement of which is the climax of the story. Is this element critical for a successful work or is merely the icing on the cake? What are some of the outstanding examples of this and what are some examples of works that were not successful because they missed this mark? Daniel Paul Olson (moderator), J. Kathleen Cheney, Laura Anne Gilman, Thomas S. Roche, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro I'll add that Daniel Paul Olson was an outstanding, even eloquent moderator. The participants were all up to his level, and the subject is of core interest to readers in the genre and a decent way for readers out of the genre to get a feel for what the genre has to offer. You can find out what the panel had to offer by following this link to the MP3 audio file.



11-05-09: Kim Stanley Robinson Interviewed at SF in SF on October 17, 2009

"Even knowing how the ending comes out, at least in our temporality..."
  Kim Stanley Robinson

It is always pleasure to talk to Kim Stanley Robinson — he's so full of great ideas and has such an enjoyable hold on the world that you just can't go wrong. But when he's got a nice reprint of a time-altering story from more than 20 years ago to pair up with his latest fat novel of time travel, it's more fun than a house of mirrors.

Robinson's an authority at creating literary mirrors, and one of the things he says in this interview struck me as being a fabulous truth that can go along with his now famous quote — "We're living in a bad science fiction novel." As we talked about time travel and alternate history novels and the bloom of them in the 1940's and 1950's, he said that these novels of time travel were a metaphor for, a means of commenting on, the writing and revision of actual history. I'd never twigged to that, more fool me, but Robinson's always good for some utterly insightful remark, generally thrown away as an aside. There are more in the alas-brief interview you can find via this link to the MP3 audio file.



11-04-09: Eric Simons Interviewed at SF in SF

"It is chaotic and wild and crazy."
  Eric Simons

Readers will know by now that I was quite impressed with Eric Simons even before I talked to him. He'd read one hell of great bit out of a book that sounded quite entertaining. It should have been an easy interview.

In point of fact, I could not have anticipated how easy and entertaining the interview would be. Simons has a great shtick, and he speaks amazingly well off-the-cuff. We talked about how and why he came to write 'Darwin Slept Here' and about his experiences in South American, following in the footsteps of Darwin. It was the kind of interview that made me hope that he'd take another trip and pronto. It was the kind of interview that absolutely sold me a book that has proved to be as entertaining as the writer. And here's a link to the MP3 audio file so that in a mere nine minutes, you can figure out just why you want to read about how bored Darwin was in Patagonia — and why.



11-03-09: : SF in SF Panel Discussion Featuring Eric Simons, Kim Stanley Robinson and Terry Bisson on October 17, 2009

"That seems to me, totally wrong."
  Terry Bisson to Eric Simons

Yes, I have a lot of catching up to do. And so we forge forward, with this podcast of a fabulous panel from October's SF in SF, featuring Eric Simons, Kim Stanley Robinson and Terry Bisson. This was SF in SF's first experiment that I know featuring a non-fiction writer, and it is one I hope that they shall repeat.

You know that you’re going to have a lot of fun when you put Kim Stanley Robinson on a panel, because, he's well — known to be witty and funny and very insightful. Eric Simons was an unknown, until her read, at which point he was revealed to be a perfect match for Robinson. Add in the ever-sharp Terry Bisson, a smattering of house commenters and a great, controversial subject, that being Evolution and Charles "Changed the World" Darwin — and you are guaranteed a good time whether you're there (which is always better because you can sip fine whiskey while participating) or whether you’re listening on your way into work via this linked MP3 audio file.



11-02-09: A 2009 Interview With David Lubar

"I started out knowing one thing: my main character was somehow going to become a zombie."
        David Lubar

OK, I was horrified. Or at least, a little shocked. As well, as, admittedly, charmed by the result. When I first saw 'My Rotten Life' by David Lubar, I thought, "Oh my...zombies for eight year-olds? What sort of fellow writes that?"

The same sort of fellow, it happens, who writes the many "Weenies" books. David Lubar is smart, a pragmatic, and a skilled, dedicated writer who knows his audience and knows how to write the right zombie books for pre-teens. I really didn't know what to expect when I talked to Lubar. After all, I saw the Weenies books and, uh ... I thought they were about like, little hot dogs with legs, kinda like, I don’t know, Garbage Patch Kids? Well, turns out they're about the people who are so obsessed with something — say their lawn — that we call them lawn weenies — or Lubar does at least.


You want to hear a consummate craftsman speak, listen to Lubar. He's a guy who will spend hours laboring over a single word, and lots of time reading at schools and talking to kids who may one day supplant him. But I don’t think that's going to happen any time soon. When I talked to him, all I had was an ARC of 'My Rotten Life,' but he was talking about how the series (yes, it’s a series) started out as a trilogy and is now five books. I think he's already on book four. You can hear what a leading and entertaining writer of children's fiction has to about the craft and the biz of writing by following this link to the MP3 audio file.



New to the Agony Column

04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 202: Kazuo Ishiguro : The Buried Giant

04-17-15: Commentary : Erik Larson Follows a 'Dead Wake' : Countdown to Destiny

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Erik Larson : " "...said to have been found in the arms of a dead German sailor..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 201: Erik Larson : Dead Wake

04-15-15: Commentary : Peter Bell Reflects 'A Certain Slant of Light' : Strange Stories of Modern Scholars

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Peter Bell : "...I looked up some of the old books..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 200: Peter Bell : Strange Epiphanies and A Certain Slant of Light

03-14-15: Commentary : Marc Goodman Foresees 'Future Crimes' : Exponential Potential

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It

03-01-15: Commentary : William Ury on Getting to Yes with Yourself: And Other Worthy Opponents : To the BATNA, Robin!

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with William Ury : ...he proceeded to shout at me for approximately 30 minutes..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 198: William Ury : Getting to Yes with Yourself: And Other Worthy Opponents

02-22-15: Commentary : Jennifer Senior Experiences 'All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood' : Reading Fun for the Whole Fambly!

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Jennifer Senior : "...it becomes a source of enormous tension once a baby comes along..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 197: Jennifer Senior : All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood

02-09-15: Commentary : Stewart O'Nan Looks 'West of Sunset' : Twilight of the Great

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Stewart O'Nan : "...we see him as a tragedian because is life is a tragedy..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 196: Stewart O'Nan : West of Sunset

02-04-15: Commentary : Armistead Maupin Maps 'The Days of Anna Madrigal' : Swiftly Flow the Years

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Armistead Maupin : "I could see what silliness was going on while it was happening..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 195: Armistead Maupin : The Days of Anna Madrigal

01-31-15: Commentary : Christine Carter's Path to 'The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and Work' : Neurohabits

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Christine Carter, Ph.D. : "...a real tipping point..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 194: Christine Carter, Ph.D. : The Sweet Spot: How to Find Your Groove at Home and Work

01-23-15: Commentary : Jake Halpern Pushes 'Bad Paper: Chasing Debt from Wall Street to the Underworld' : Non-Fiction 21st Century Noir

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Jake Halpern : "...he goes to Las Vegas to this debt-buyers' convention..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 193: Jake Halpern : Bad Paper: Chasing Debt from Wall Street to the Underworld

01-19-15: Commentary : David Shields and Caleb Powell Assert 'I Think You're Totally Wrong' : The Power to Bicker

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with David Shields and Caleb Powell : "I read no book reviews any more; the level of discussion is really pedestrian." David Shields "I'm just saying it's a conflict of interest!" Caleb Powell

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 192: David Shields and Caleb Powell : I Think You're Totally Wrong

01-17-15: Commentary : Charles Todd Expects 'A Fine Summer's Day' : We Interrupt This Program...

Commentary : Charles Todd Engages In 'A Test of Wills' : The Politics of Passion and Policing

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Charles and Caroline Todd : "...let them be themselves and sort it out..." Caroline Todd "...it's more on a personal level..." Charles Todd

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 191: Charles Todd : A Fine Summer's Day

01-13-15: Commentary : Rosalie Parker Unearths 'The Old Knowledge' : The New Old World

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Ray Russell and Rosalie Parker : "I thought I'd write something for fun.." Ray Russell "..there was a side of me of that was interested in the strangeness..." Ros Parker

01-12-15: Commentary : Richard Ford 'Let Me Be Frank with You' : The Default Years

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Richard Ford : "...most of our politicians are morons..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 190: Richard Ford : Let Me Be Frank with You

01-06-15: Commentary : Bessel van der Kolk 'The Body Keeps the Score' : Human Trauma

Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2014 Interview with Bessel van der Kolk : "...being able to see what happens in the brain really helps us to understand certain things..."

Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 189: Bessel van der Kolk : The Body Keeps the Score

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