Breaking the Glass Slipper

Lucy and Charlotte talk to horror writer Catriona Ward about the art of the horror novel and her books Rawblood and Little Eve. For full episode notes, visit www.breakingtheglassslipper.com The post S03, E18: Catriona Ward & ‘the liminal space between certainties’ first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper .

A Lucy and Charlotte Special! After the success of our Labyrinth episode, we thought we’d have a bit of fun and take another look at one of our favourite films: The Dark Crystal. If you haven’t seen this cult Henson classic, The Dark Crystal tells the story of Jen, the last – or so he […] The post Revisiting The Dark Crystal first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper .

A Charlotte and Lucy special! After the success of our Labyrinth episode, we thought we’d have a bit of fun and take another look at one of our favourite films: The Dark Crystal. How does it hold up after 36 years? The post S03, E17: Revisiting The Dark Crystal first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper .

Today, the blunt reality of inequality and unequal distribution of wealth is more prevalent than ever. Our society is split into the haves and the have nots – the 1% and the 99%. A few individuals tend whole orchards of magic money trees; their extreme wealth is itself a form of magic. In her Dark […] The post Magic, Wealth and Power with Vic James first appeared on Breaking the Glass...

Social inequality and the unequal distribution of wealth is more prevalent than ever and it’s a subject that sits at the heart of Dr Vic James’ fantasy trilogy. We talk to her about power plays and politics, female ambition, naughty aristocrats, class division, reclaiming the bitch and our fascination with family drama. Full episode notes […] The post S03, E16: Magic, Wealth and...

While Charlotte and Megan geeked out about Star Trek (sparing poor Lucy who puts up with enough of that) when discussing women’s jobs in science fiction, in this episode, all three of us shine a light on female careers in fantasy. We have found that few women in fantasy novels have professions before the story begins. Instead, […] The post Women’s jobs in fantasy first appeared on Brea...

Having already looked at women’s jobs in science fiction, we decided to turn our critical gaze to fantasy. Fantasy fiction tends to mimic the world that we know, whether historical or contemporary, but alters it in ways that can either be subtle or all-consuming. If you can believe that dragons exist in an alternative world, […] The post S03, E15: Women’s jobs in fantasy first appeared...

Sometimes the sheer number of sub-genres and niche areas within the SFF world can feel completely overwhelming. What do they all mean? Where does one thing become another? One of the most confusing – and most commonly talked about – sub-genres is Grimdark. Other than it being grim and dark, what defines it as a […] The post Grimdark with Anna Smith Spark first appeared on Breaking the Glass...

We spoke with author Anna Smith Spark, Queen of Grimdark, to try and get to the bottom of what exactly Grimdark is. “In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.” Full episode notes, including texts mentioned in the episode, can be found at www.breakingtheglassslipper.com The post S03, E14: Grimdark with Anna Smith Spark first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper .

With equality of pay and the drive to get more women in top executive jobs reaching the headlines in our current era, does the world of the future have women in the same roles they occupy now, or do they have them in traditionally male-dominated jobs? #SorryNotSorry for the ten minutes plus of Star Trek talk. This […] The post Women’s jobs in science fiction first appeared on Breaking the Gl...

With equality of pay and the drive to get more women in top executive jobs reaching the headlines in our current era, does the world of the future have women in the same roles they occupy now, or do they have them in traditionally male-dominated jobs? We celebrate the wonderful women who are shattering the […] The post S03, E13: Women’s jobs in science fiction first appeared on Breaking the...

We started this podcast to highlight the issues around the representation of women in genre fiction. But women aren’t the only ones who suffer at the hands of harmful tropes, poor characterisation, and limiting traditional gender roles. In this episode, we discuss the men-folk. While they may tend to get the majority of ‘screen time’ […] The post Toxic masculinity first appeared...

We started this podcast to highlight the issues around the representation of women in genre fiction. But women aren’t the only ones who suffer at the hands of harmful tropes, poor characterisation, and limiting traditional gender roles. In this episode, we discuss the men-folk. While they may tend to get the majority of ‘screen time’ […] The post S03, E12: Toxic Masculinity first...

Ghost literature written by women in the 19th century was more about social commentary than pure entertainment, argues academic Melissa Edmundson Makala. Charlotte positively geeks out with Melissa about her book, Women’s Ghost Literature in Nineteenth-Century Britain (Gothic Literary Studies).  Many of us will know the big names in women’s gothic literature, writers like Mary Shelley...

Ghost literature written by women in the 19th century was more about social commentary than pure entertainment, argues academic Melissa Edmundson Makala. Charlotte positively geeks out with Melissa about her book, Women’s Ghost Literature in Nineteenth-Century Britain (Gothic Literary Studies).  Full episode notes are available at www.breakingtheglassslipper.com The post S03, E11: Women’s gh...

We’ve all encountered them – characters who can do anything. They have physical and mental abilities beyond every other character in that world, perhaps even abilities that no one else in the world has in any capacity. They are so good-looking there are no words to properly capture their beauty. Everyone one they meet instantly […] The post Idealised characters and Mary Sues first appe...

Mary Sues are idealised characters with no real flaws. They are dull, irritating, and strangely prevalent. We look at what it means to be a Mary Sue, why they can be problematic, and whether they might actually work… sometimes. Full episode notes available at www.breakingtheglassslipper.com The post S03, E10: Idealised characters and Mary Sues first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper .

Last year, Lucy was lucky enough to read an author review copy of Paige L Christie’s debut novel, Draigon Weather. She immediately fell in love with the story and what Paige was trying to achieve. We have previously had Paige on the blog answering our ‘five questions‘ but we wanted to talk to her more extensively […] The post Fighting oppression with Paige L Christie first...

We ask Paige L Christie about sacrificial tropes, using education as a kind of rebellion, and how cultural myths are used to oppress and establish social order. Full episode notes are available at www.breakingtheglassslipper.com If you enjoy what we do, please leave a review! The post S03, E09: Fighting oppression with Paige L Christie first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper .

YA author Gwen C. Katz came across a forum thread about men’s ability to write female characters. There was the usual toxicity there – brushing off any criticism as more ‘SJW bullshit’. She wanted to speak out, but she had no idea her comments would strike such a chord. Her twitter comments were retweeted over 20,000 […] The post Describing women with Gwen C. Katz first app...

Why is it such a problem that men write poor descriptions of women? And what makes them bad descriptions in the first place? Breaking the Glass Slipper speak to YA author Gwen C. Katz about the pervasiveness of poor descriptions of women across genres and what we can do to address the problem. Full episode […] The post S03, E08: Describing women with Gwen C Katz first appeared on Breaking th...

Every few years I see articles pop up in my news feed debating the merits of creative writing courses. Can you teach writing, they ask. Writing is a skill just like any other – you might not be able to imbue someone with a sense of imagination, but you can show them how to write […] The post Jeanne Cavelos on teaching genre writing first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper .

Can writing be taught? Why go to a genre-specific writing course? What do students learn at such workshops? Charlotte and Megan talk to writer and founder of Odyssey Writing Workshops, Jeanne Cavelos, about teaching creative writing in a genre-specific context. http://www.odysseyworkshop.org Full episode notes available at www.breakingtheglassslipper.com The post S03, E07: Jeanne Cavelos on teachi...

It is very rare for Charlotte and I to agree. When we do, there’s great celebration over at BtGS headquarters. David Tallerman’s trope-inverting, Dungeons and Dragons inspired series The Black River Chronicles, is one of these rare gems (you can read my review here). So we wanted to get him on the show! Charlotte asks David about […] The post Fantasy, nostalgia, and working for h...

Charlotte interviews writer David Tallerman about writing fantasy and crime, writing-for-hire, Dungeons and Dragons, and the current trend for nostalgia in a lot of genre fiction. David Tallerman has written novels, novellas, short stories, and comics. You can find him online at www.davidtallerman.co.uk Full episode notes are available at www.breakingtheglassslipper.com The post S03, E06: Fantasy,...