Tales from the Trunk

This time around, it’s my pleasure to welcome Ruthanna Emrys (@ R_Emrys ), who joins us to talk about her new novel, A Half-Built Garden , which comes out on July 26th from Tor Dot Com publishing. We talk about ecological sci-fi, the things that got left on the cutting-room floor, and Ruthanna’s current reads.   Things we mention in this episode: Winter Tide , by Ruthanna Emrys David Bowie The Inn...

This time around, it’s my delight to be the first podcast out there to host up-and-coming author Amanda Cook (@ AmandaCook627 )! Amanda reads her trunked story, “Snow Day,” which leads us into a delightful conversation about cozy fiction, early-career writing, cosplay, and patience! This episode’s reading carries content notices for some brief mentions of guns and other weapons, along with a menti...

This episode carries content warnings for mentions of parental death, terminal illness, serial killers, and feelings of powerlessness. Additionally, the reading from this episode contains an overall sense of tension and dread. If you would like to skip the reading, you can skip forward 18 minutes from the beginning of the reading to bypass it. This time around, we’re joined once again by the incom...

Update: I've fixed some issues with the audio mixing for this episode that should make it easier to listen to now. This time around, it’s my absolute joy to welcome Michael R. Underwood (@ MikeRUnderwood ) to the show! Mike reads from his trunked novel, The Broken Summit before (and after) we have a conversation about the intersection of writing and tabletop roleplaying, the life of a content crea...

This time around, we're joined by author Marion Deeds (@ mariond_d ) to talk about her new novella, Comeuppance Served Cold, a wonderful alternate-history fantasy-noir out now from Tor.com publishing. Marion talks about baking versus cooking when working on books, and we muse on the current golden age of SFFH novellas.   Things we mention this episode: Story Hour Laura Blackwell Helen Crawford-Whi...

This time around, we're joined by Andi C. Buchanan! Andi reads from their trunked YA steampunk novel, which leads us into a great discussion about steampunk, accessibility, well-intentioned white people (like us), and their brand new book, Sanctuary, which came out earlier this week from Robot Dinosaur Press! Show notes coming soon!

This time around, it's my absolute delight to welcome Maya MacGregor (@ Maigheach ) to the show to talk about their brand new book, The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester , which releases this May!   Things we mention in this episode: Jennifer (Macey) Mace's appearance on this very show Look to the Sun , by Emmie Mears The Man in the High Castle , by Philip K. Dick The Shadow of the Wind , by...

It's my absolute delight, this time around, to welcome our very own composer, Lillian Boyd (@herelieslill), onto the show. Lillian reads her short-story-that-should-be-a-novella, "Inside Job" (cw: gore, skip forward 10:15 to avoid) before we just go off on an extended tangent about horror movies, noir, pulp, and being as thoroughly on our bullshit as is possible.   Things we mention in this episod...

Welcome to season 4! This time around, Hailey Piper (@ HaileyPiperSays ) is leading the way with an appearance in support of her forthcoming novella, Your Mind is a Terrible Thing , which comes out May 7th, 2022! Hailey brings us some fantastic words to live by as an artist, and I hope we can all hold on to this throughout the coming year and beyond: "be brave: let it be weird."   Things we mentio...

For the final episode of our third season (wild, right?), I had the absolute delight of having Ivy Noelle Weir (@ivynoelle) on to record one of the most chaotic episodes, energy-wise, possibly ever in the history of this show! Ivy reads from The Archivist, the original title of the novel that became her and Steenz's graphic novel, Archival Quality , which leads us into a great conversation about h...

This time around, we're joined once again by R. J. Theodore (@bittybittyzap) to talk about the second edition of Flotsam, the first book in their Peridot Shift series! After an exciting excerpt, full of wheeling and dealing, we get into the history of the book, what changed since its first printing, and what's next for the series!   Things we mention in this episode: Rekka's first appearance on th...

This time around, I'm joined by multi-award-nominated-and-winning author Sam J. Miller (@ sentencebender )! Sam reads from his trunked novel, Blue Matter, which leads us into a great conversation about YA, the ways that genre books are in conversation with each other, and why we're ultimately glad that our journeys as creators have been the shapes they are.   Things we mention in this episode: The...

Yeah buddy! It's awards season once again! And just like we have every year since the show started, we've got a roundup of eligible works from past guests! This episode's full transcript, with links, is below.   Hello, and welcome to Tales from the Trunk: nominating the stories (and other things) that did make it. I’m Hilary B. Bisenieks. Listeners, it’s that time of year again, where we’re all lo...

This time around, my guest is author and agent Jennie Goloboy (@ JennieGoloboy ), whose Obviously, Aliens released in November 2021 from Queen of Swords Press! After hearing the opening chapter of the book, we get into what made it and what didn't in the final draft, along with some great talk about the craft of humor writing and some excellent recommendations!    Things we mention in this episode...

This time around, I'm joined by the amazing Victor Manibo ( @VictorManibo ), author of The Sleepless , coming out in June of 2022 from Erewhon Books! Victor reads his trunked Poe retelling before we launch into a discussion of life after NaNoWriMo and how he went from never having heard of the event to getting his book onto store shelves.   Things we mention in this episode:   NaNoWriMo   " The Ca...

This is a spicy one, folks, so put those headphones in! This time around, it was my absolute delight to talk to Cassie Alexander (@ CassieY4 ), author of many fine, spicy books. This time around, we're talking about her newest, AITA? and the fugue-state that Cassie wrote this book in!   Things mentioned on this episode: AITA? (subreddit)   Schitt's Creek   Her Ex-boyfriend's Werewolf Lover , by Ca...

Show notes coming soon!

This time around, we're joined once again by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor (@Merc_Wolfmoor) to talk about their new novella, The Wolf Among the Wild Hunt! We talk about queernorm worlds, physical video game packaging, and some of the great things we've been reading.   Things mentioned on this episode: Grimdark (genre) Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Friends for Robots , by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor Neon Hemlock's novella...

This time around, I'm joined by multiply-Hugo-nominated podcaster and author of the forthcoming novel, A Marvellous Light , Freya Marske (@ freyamarske ), thus completing the prophecy. Freya reads an excerpt of her story, "One Version of Yourself, at the Speed of Light," which leads us into a great discussion about using our day-job-expertise in our writing, the end of Be the Serpent, a hot take a...

This time around, to open out our unintentional Oceana month, I'm joined by the delightful Rem Wigmore (@ faewriter ), whose novel, Foxhunt , is available now, wherever you get your books, from Queen of Swords Press . They read us a slightly-spoiler-y excerpt of the book (you can skip ahead 11:40 from the start of the reading if you'd rather not be spoiled) that leads us into some great conversati...

This time around, I had the pleasure of talking to Hugo-award-winning author and editor Elsa Sjunneson (@ snarkbat )! Elsa reads an excerpt from her terrific currently-trunked novel, The Livelong Night, which launches us into a conversation about representation, trunking (the bad kind), disability, and her forthcoming memoir, Being Seen , which releases this October!   Things we mentioned this epi...

This time around, we're joined once again by Sarah Hollowell (@ sarahhollowell ) whose debut, A Dark and Starless Forest comes out September 14th! Sarah reads an excerpt of her book that leads us into a fun conversation about the terrible faces that cats make, natural disasters, and probably some stuff about the book, too.   Things we mention in this episode: The Wee Free Men , by Terry Pratchett...

This time around we're joined by Leigh Harlen (@ leighharlen ) to talk about the new printing of their collection, Blood Like Garnets ! Leigh reads to us from their pissed off, queer response to that wizard series, which leads us into a discussion on new and exciting forms of self-rejection, and why community is so important to us as writers.   Things we mention in this episode: Studio Ghibli   Ur...

This time around, I'm rejoined by Premee Mohamed (@ premeesaurus ) to talk about her amazing new novella, And What Can We Offer You Tonight , out now from Neon Hemlock! After hearing the first chapter of the book, straight from the mouth of the author, we get into all the stories that Premee still wants to tell in the world of the book, and we talk fondly of a viscerally-uncomfortable scene from t...

After some trials and tribulations with our audio, L. D. Lewis ( @Ellethevillain ) joins us on this episode with her amazing climatepunk story, "The Last Stand of the E 12th St Pirates." Following the reading, we talk about how that story came about before taking some time to talk about Fiyah Literary Magazine and Fiyahcon (September 16-19, 2021).   Things we mention in this episode: Cyberpunk   A...