The Functional Nerds Podcast

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 of crook with the uncanny ability to move throu...

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 Loki’s harmless prank spiraled out...

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 Unconference About Uncanny Magazine Year 10: A Decad...

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 Teens (App) Patrick: The Greatest Nig...

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 with a ghost from his past sees him beaten, batte...

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 city has successfully weathered near-constant a...

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-rounded characters driving strange action. Abo...

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 longer an employee of the Weyland-Yutani Corpor...

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Amanda Jayatissa , author of ISLAND WITCH . About ISLAND WITCH : Set in 19th century Sri Lanka and inspired by local folklore, the daughter of a traditional demon-priest—relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself—tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal village. Being the daughter of the village Capuwa, o...

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Ray Nayler , author of The Tusks of Extinction . About The Tusks of Extinction : Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out again. Dr. Damira Khismatullina, an expert in elephant behavior, was brutally murdered trying to defend the world’s last elephants from the brutal ivory trade. No...

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Wole Talabi , author of Convergence Problems . About Convergence Problems : From the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Nommo award nominated author of Shigidi and The Brass Head Of Obalufon comes a stunning new collection of stories that investigate the rapidly changing role of technology and belief in our lives as we search for meaning, for knowledge, for justice; const...

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Shannon Lawrence , author of Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights . About Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights : When Selina Moonstone, a Myth Stalker, gets a late night call from her mentor about a Wendigo problem, she arms up and heads to Canada, only to find out the Wendigo is someone close to her. Accustomed to facing off with the all too real creatures of Native American...