Writers, After Dark

Fantasy & Steampunk author P. Djèlí Clark stops by to talk about his first novel, A Master of Djinn Source

Epic fantasy author John Gwynne stops by to talk about The Shadow of the Gods , the first in his new series, "The Bloodsworn Trilogy". Source

Science Fiction author Christian Cantrell stops by to talk about his newest novel Scorpion . Source

New York Times Best-selling Horror author Josh Malerman stops by to chat about the stories and the mysteries of the town of Goblin told in his new novella collection "Goblin". He talks about how each story's main character comes from a different place, how they all tie back to Goblin and all of the feelings and secrets that Goblin encompasses, and how that affects all of the people we come across....

Epic fantasy author Steven Erikson stops by to talk about the latest novella set in the Malazan world, "Fiends of Nightmaria". Steven talks about how the series of novellas fits in with the rest of the Malazan novels, and what appeals to him about writing in fantasy settings, and thanking (blaming?) Peter Crowther of PS Publishing for jumpstarting the novellas series, and about how his academic tr...

Filmmaker and science fiction author J. S. Dewes stops by to talk about her space opera debut, "The Last Watch". Jen started out as a freelancer in the independent film industry before the volatility led her to choose different paths, which also included writing fan fiction for "Dragon Age 2" and "Fallout 4" before diving into writing her own stories. She considers "The Last Watch" mostly as "Nigh...

Dark fantasy and Horror author Christina Henry stops by to talk about her newest book "Near the Bone", a story about the dark secrets a girl kept in isolation on a mountain by her abusive husband, and how her understanding of her life begins to unravel when another monster invades the carefully constructed bubble of her world on the mountain. Christina talks about getting a handle on how the long-...

Journalist and YA author Kate M. Williams stops by to talk about her debut fantasy trilogy, "The Babysitter's Coven", and the recently released second novel, "For Better or Cursed". Kate talks about where the ideas for the series came from, and the types of relationships between the babysitters and the groups of adults in their lives, along with dealing with the supernatural elements they have to...

Fantasy author Kim Neville stops by to talk about her debut novel, "The Memory Collectors". Kim describes how the story is a mashup of several genres added to fantasy, how the story grew from a previous short story and some work at Clarion West, and how she wanted to explore her protagonists' magic around the energy of memories. Web: kimneville.com Twitter: @kaneville13 Instagram: @neville_kim Wha...

Fantasy author Sarah Beth Durst stops by to talk about her latest stand-alone novel, "The Bone Maker". Wondering what happens long after the heroes won the day, then finding out the evil threatening the land really isn't gone, and those older heroes need to step up again is what led Sarah led to her ideas for this story, and she talks about what appeals to her most about reading and writing fantas...

Acclaimed fantasy author Jennifer Roberson stops by to talk about "Sinners and Saints", the latest in her new "Blood and Bone" series. She used this series to take her first venture into writing contemporary fantasy, inspired by so much of the television shows she'd been watching over the years (cue Supernatural, Charmed, Grimm, Once Upon A Time and Sleepy Hollow), because pop culture is a fun pla...

Science fiction authors David Weber and Chris Kennedy stop by to talk about "Into the Light", the sequel to the best-selling "Out of the Dark". David talks about expanding the original short story into the first novel, and collaborating with Chris to expand the original novel even further. David also talks about the storytellers who mentored and encouraged him, and how he looks at doing these coll...

Science fiction author and writing instructor (and limnologist!) Nina Munteanu stops by to talk about her newest novel, "A Diary in the Age of Water", a dystopian tale about water and its role in a generational battle against ecological and environmental collapse. She talks about how the pandemic lockdown affected the planned July 2020 release of the novel, and how the story reflects on the chaoti...

Science fiction author Karen Osborne stops by to talk about "Architects of Memory" and "Engines of Oblivion", the novels in her duology "The Memory War". Karen talks about where her protagonists emerged from, and the medical circumstances that laid her up long enough to sit and work on a story for them to live in, and hopefully answer some of the questions about what our life on Mars may look like...

Fantasy and middle grade author Kacen Callender stops by to talk about their Caribbean fantasy duology, "Islands of Blood and Storm", how the stories came about, examining privilege and the harms that can be caused by it, looking at consequences from actions without real character growth being part of the end game, changing their writing approach for YA versus adult audiences, and more. Book 1 is...

Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms (collaborating as M. A. Carrick) stop by to talk about "The Mask of Mirrors", the first in the new political intrigue caper fantasy trilogy, "Rook & Rose". Yes, this story collaboration started out as a role-playing game fanfic side hustle quest. Marie & Alyc talk about how they shared the writing duties, continuing to expand the plot and the characters, and much more....

Science fiction author Gerald Brandt stops by to talk about "Threader Origins", the first in a new series that explores travel across alternate worlds using quantum physics and string theory reimagined as a magic system. Gerald talks about how he built this world by reinventing his magic system as a science-based energy system, and using this science in a current and near-future setting, and havin...

Best-selling fantasy author Terry Brooks talks about "The Last Druid", ending The Shannara Cycle and starting a new tale in a new world. Terry talks about writing longevity and knowing when to stop writing, keeping storytelling fresh and exciting, about working with Lester Del Rey at the beginning of his career, about embracing the growth and process of writing, the successes and troubles of the t...

YA author Emily Barr adopts a pen name to venture into writing horror, and she stops by to talk about Evie Green and her first novel "We Hear Voices". She talks about the evolution of the story from a small idea into a horror-science fiction mystery (including an unfathomable pandemic), and the investigation into the medical mystery at the core of the story. She also notes the unintended parallels...

Mystery author Craig Johnson stops by to talk about Sheriff Walt Longmire's latest investigation, "Next to Last Stand", and how he landed on The Budweiser Painting mystery to use in the story. He tells the story about how the painting became so prevalent and so popular, and about the mystery of what may or may not have happened to the original painting, and weaves that story into something Walt ne...

Otto Penzler, proprietor of Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, is also the editor of a large number of mystery-themed collections, with the newest one being "The Big Book of Espionage". Otto talks about putting together hard-to-find short stories in the espionage genre when the best authors in that field haven't written short fiction, and having the knowledge to collect stories for these variou...

Horror author Craig DiLouie stops by to talk about his newest novel, "The Children of Red Peak", and building horror from the terror, in this instance following the downward spiral of the members of a cult. Craig talks about the important elements needed in building a tense psychological horror and how each character may react will influence the story, his research into the psychology of belief an...

Fantasy author Evan Winter returns to talk about "The Fires of Vengeance", the second volume in his series "The Burning". Evan talks about approaching his writing as a reader and connecting with the stories in their own right, any keeping those stories true to his vision, for the world and characters, and bringing realistic levels of humanity to those characters for the readers, making the entire...

Science fiction & fantasy author (and podcaster) Edward Willet drops by to talk about his newest anthology Shapers of Worlds , a collection of fiction from authors he had talked with on the first year of his podcast, The Worldshapers . Edward also talks about The Moonlit World , the new third book of his fantasy series "Worldshapers", starting up Shadowpaw Press , and more. "Shapers of Worlds" fea...

Actor & Producer Lou Diamond Phillips and his wife, illustrator Yvonne Phillips, stop by to talk about Lou's debut science fantasy novel, "The Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira", which Yvonne illustrated. Both Lou and Yvonne talk about how the idea came about to write this story as a novel rather than as a screenplay and to use Yvonne's drawings inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fable "The Tinderbo...