Tales from the Trunk

Show notes coming soon. If you have a few extra dollars, both Sarah and I would appreciate any donations you can make towards relief efforts in the areas of Appalachia affected by hurricane Helene. We highlighted the following organizations: BeLoved Asheville World Central Kitchen American Red Cross

We’re back, folks! And as promised, I’m joined this time around by none other than T. Kingfisher herself, who joins me to talk about her newest novel, A Sorceress Comes to Call , available right this very moment from fine booksellers everywhere.   Things mentioned in this episode:   DeviantArt “The Goose Girl” The Hamster Princess series, by Ursula Vernon Dracula , by Bram Stoker “Bluebeard” The L...

Hello, dear listeners!   I wanted to give you all an update about the show. To whit: I’m taking a bit of a break. The last five seasons have been incredible, and season six has been and will continue to be.   Tales from the Trunk is in no way ending. We will be back on September 20th, when I’ll be talking to T. Kingfisher.   In the mean time, here are some of the things that I have been enjoying f...

This time around, it’s my delight to welcome to the show Aliette de Bodard! Aliette joins me to talk about her new novella, Navigational Entanglements , available July 30th, 2024, from TorDotCom Books!   Things we mention in this episode:   C dramas Heaven’s Official Blessing , by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu Xianxia Camp Damascus , by Chuck Tingle “The Tutelary, the Assassin, and the Healer,” by Aliette de...

Hello, and welcome to Tales from the Trunk.   Listeners, it’s June, and ya boi is tired. I was going to try to scramble to get an interview scheduled, but then I remembered the name of a Shavuot workshop that a dear friend of the show attended last year: “What if we Rested?”   Life has been nonstop for me for more than half a year now, so what if I rested? What if we all rested? Goodness knows tha...

We’re kicking off Pride this year with none other than my good friend Jay Wolf! Jay reads a snippet about their best worst boys, Egan and Petrel before we get to talking about their newest book as M. Daniel McDowell, The Shepherd in Shadow , which releases June 28th!   Things we mention in this episode:   Valerie Valdes The Gormenghast series , by Mervyn Peake Inkfort Press Self-Publishing Derby B...

This time around, I’m thrilled to welcome to the show Meg Elison! Meg reads to us from the start of their trunked novel, Hemet, which leads us into a wonderful conversation about a whole host of topics, including her own artist’s statement on spooky stuff.

This time around, it’s my delight to welcome back to the show Victor Manibo! After a bit of catching up, we get into Victor’s new book, Escape Velocity , which releases later this month from Erewhon Books!   Things we mention in this episode:   The Sleepless , by Victor Manibo Victor’s first episode “ The Cask of Amontillado ,” by Edgar Allan Poe The Fall of the House of Usher (show) Gravity (2013...

In addition to the regular strong language, this episode carries content warnings for: reclaimed gay slurs; a non-graphic depiction and discussion of non-consensual sex; depictions of consensual violence; and discussions of attempted suicide, medical trauma, experiences of psyche wards, descriptions of psychosis, forcible medication, restraint, experiences of homelessness, alcoholism, and body hor...

This time around it is my absolute delight to welcome John Wiswell back to the show to talk about his debut novel, Someone You Can Build a Nest In , which just released this very week! We talk about John’s favorite bits both in and no longer in the book, along with conversation about language, games, and a surprise musical performance!   Things mentioned in this episode:   Premee Mohamed Sarah Gai...

This time around, it’s my pleasure to welcome longtime friend of the show Laura Blackwell! Laura reads to us from her very very trunked story, “Poor Prisoners,” which leads us into a wide-ranging discussion of things we wish we’d learned sooner, writers whose work we admire, and kindness to our past selves.   Things we mention in this episode:   Story Hour LiveJournal Dreamwidth Macey’s Murderboar...

To open this show’s sixth season, it is my total delight to welcome A.D. Sui to talk about her forthcoming novella, The Dragonfly Gambit , available later this year!   Things we mention in this episode:   Neon Hemlock Press dave ring :unhinged_vibrating: :shaking_eyes: Fix-it fic Fanfiction dot net Even Though I Knew the End book tour episode Supernatural Carl Engle-Laird 100th episode Jared can’t...

This time around, to close out season 5 of Tales from the Trunk, I’m thrilled to welcome Jo Miles to talk about the excellent conclusion to their Gifted of Brennex trilogy, Ravenous State !    Things we mention this episode: Worldcon 76 Ancillary Justice , by Ann Leckie Ninefox Gambit , by Yoon Ha Lee Game of Thrones , by George R.R. Martin Brandon Sanderson A Wizard of Earthsea , by Ursula K. Le...

Today, it’s my pleasure to welcome back to the show Premee Mohamed! We talk about her new novella, The Butcher of the Forest , out February 27th from Tor.com books, and then feed something new to the trunk.   Things we mention this episode:   The Fifth Season , by N.K. Jemisin Hansel & Gretel Annihilation , by Jeff Vandermeer Escape from LA The Faerie Queene , by Edmund Spenser Snake Plissken...

Once again, it’s time for an awards eligibility roundup! This episode’s transcript appears in full below:   Hello, and welcome to Tales from the Trunk: Nominating the works that did make it. I’m Hilary B. Bisenieks.   Listeners, it’s somehow that time of the year again, where awards nominations are upon us, and so I have once again reached out to all the wonderful guests who make this show what it...

This time around, I’m joined again by the delightful Juliet Kemp, who joins us to talk about their new novella, Song, Stone, Scale, Bone! After a great little reading, we talk about some of the things that are hard to get on page.   Things mentioned in this episode:   Josh’s episode The Enchanted Forest Chronicles , by Patricia C. Wrede A Wizard of Earthsea , by Ursula K. Le Guin The Marek series,...

Today it is my sincere pleasure to welcome to the show weird little guy and all around splendid human being Josh Storey! Josh reads to us from his trunked novel, The Wolf That Waits at the End of All Things, which leads us into a lively discussion of the novels we wrote a few pages of when we were young, the ways we reuse ideas until they find the right home, and semiotic bullshit.   Things we men...

Today it’s my great pleasure to welcome publisher of The Deadlands , Sean Markey, to the show! Sean talks us through the inception of the magazine, what it’s like being a publisher, and where both the magazine and his press, Psychopomp, is going next!   Things we mention in this episode:   Elise Catherine Tobler Laura Blackwell Story Hour Psychopomp Shimmer Beth Wodzinski Quaker Spec Fic issue “ R...

Today it is my absolute pleasure to welcome to the show none other than Martha Wells! Martha joins us to read from and talk about the newest entry in her Murderbot Diaries series, System Collapse , out November 14th from TorDotCom publishing!   A transcription of this episode by Kiri from the Murderbot discord is available here   Things we mention on this episode:   Hugo Awards Nebula Awards Locus...

Hey everyone, Hilary here. Due to a combination of life things and poor planning on my part, there’s no new interview this time around, but I’d like to take this spooky month to highlight a great episode from the backlog with our composer and true horror ghoul, Lillian Boyd. A few other things before we get to the episode: This show is now on Bluesky at trunkcast.bsky.social, and I’m on there at h...

In this, the spookiest month, I’m delighted to welcome back to the podcast, Caitlin Starling! Caitlin reads us an excerpt from her terrific forthcoming novel, Last to Leave the Room , coming out October 10th from St. Martin’s Press, which leads us into a great conversation about the potential gaps left in for fanfic authors, among other things.   Things we mention this episode   The Death of Jane...

We made it to the Biggest Number™ and Sarah Gailey is here today to help us celebrate with a retrospective on the last four and a half years of Tales from the Trunk! Show notes coming soon!

This time around, it’s my pleasure to welcome Sarah Hollowell back to the show! Sarah reads us an excerpt of her new book, What Stalks Among Us , which releases September 12th, and then we fall down a hole of absolute gremlinry.   Things we mention this episode:   Sarah’s first episode A Dark and Starless Forest , by Sarah Hollowell Fast and Furious series AEW All In Adam Cole and MJF Triple-H Rom...

This time around, I’m delighted to introduce you to Jessica Mary Best! Jess and I do something a little different and perform for your listening pleasure part of the pilot episode of her trunked audio drama, Third Wheel! That reading leads us into a great conversation about the different approaches between written prose and writing for audio.   Things we mention this episode:   Stars, Hide Your Fi...

This time around, it’s my delight to welcome back to the show Aimee Ogden (@ Aimee_Ogden )! Aimee reads a delightful excerpt of her brand new book, Emergent Properties, available now wherever you buy books, which leads us into some great conversation about the things that made this book, whether or not those things ended up in the final draft.     Things we mention this episode:   “ The Cold Calcu...