Writers of the Future Podcast

Douglas Richards was a guest earlier in episode 211. In it, we discuss the blur between science and science fiction and the theme will continue in this episode. His most recent book, “The Breakthrough Effect,” was written as ChatGPT made its official appearance and so is very relevant.

David Hankins was a “Writers of the Future Volume 39” winner in 2023 with his short story “Death and the Taxman.” In this interview, we discuss science fiction comedy vs. satire and its value to the overall genre. He has since gone on to create a series based on his short story. The first was appropriately titled “Death and the Taxman,” and the second, now releasing, “Death and the Dragon.” He was...

Victoria Sutherland created Foreword Reviews Magazine in 1998. Since its inception, Foreword Reviews has never strayed from its mission to help booksellers and librarians discover great books from indie presses. Authors may not know that librarians need a trade review to order books, which is what Foreword Reviews is. They include 100–125 reviews per bi-monthly issue. Anyone listening to this podc...

Steve Smith is the President and Publisher of Sky Turtle Press/Oasis Family Media. He began his publishing career in 1984. Throughout the 1990s, he was active in licensing entertainment industry properties for publishing projects, working with Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, and Sony Pictures. This interview discusses the importance of family-friendly content and the evolution of print books to audio...

Adam Schomer is a filmmaker who created “Selling Superman,” which is the basis of this podcast interview. He is president of i2i Productions and goes to extreme lengths to follow stories that empower. His documentaries include award winners: “The Highest Pass,” “The Polygon,” “One Little Pill,” “Women of the White Buffalo,” and the documentary I watched, “Selling Superman,” about a family whose fa...

Andrea Fleck-Nisbet is the CEO of IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Assn), which is growing rapidly. After this interview with Andrea, it is no wonder why. She is a significant force of nature and, from my perspective, a major reason for this growth. In this interview, we discuss Indie publishing as well as author publishing. (She corrected me when I used the term self-publishing.) We discuss IBPA...

Elise Stephens credits much of her storytelling influence to a lifelong love of theater and childhood globetrotting. Her work focuses on themes of family, memory, and finding hope after a devastating loss. I originally met her when she won the Writers of the Future competition in 2018 with her short story “Untrained Luck” appearing in Writers of the Future Vol 35. When I learned of her book, “Fore...

Myke was a Writers of the Future Contest winner in volume 19 with his story “Blood and Horses.” He is an American author of fantasy, science fiction, and nonfiction. His series includes the Shadow Ops, Reawakening, and Sacred Throne. His career also involves television, and he has appeared on the CBS reality show Hunted and the Discovery Channel series Contact. Myke Cole is a fire/rescue responder...

Sean is the President of Dreamscape Media. He is also the President of the Audio Publishers Association. We met in Frankfurt recently at the Book Fair and finalized this interview. Audiobook growth kept the publishing industry growing during the pandemic, so I am very excited to speak with Sean about the growth of audiobooks as an industry. We also discuss the growth of AI generated audiobooks in...

Scott won the Writers of the Future Contest in volume 28 with his story “Insect Sculptor.” He is the Founder of NewMyths eZine, one of only a few online magazines that continue to pay writers, poets, and artists for their contributions. He was a guest on this podcast on episode 57 in early 2020, just before the pandemic hit. In this interview, we discuss writing with multiple first-person points o...

Jason Kelly, the CEO of Sounded, an audiobook company, was interviewed at the Frankfurt Bookfair. We addressed the fact that AI audiobooks are now a reality. In fact, Audible created 40,000 AI audiobooks last year using synthetic voices. We discuss how AI (synthetic voices) can be set up to not violate narrator rights and how it works. We also discuss how companies violate copyright laws by using...

This interview was recorded at the Frankfurt Bookfair in Frankfurt, Germany. Cory Verner created Christian Audio as a solution to having something good to listen to on his daily 3-hour commute from San Diego to Orange County in California. He grew his company to the point where he was ready to move on and sold it to Recorded Books, at which point he decided to create his new company, ONE Audiobook...

Dennys Ilic is a genuinely beautiful person who has, for the past 18 years, pursued his passion as a professional photographer. He is also a celebrated Leica photographer. He has become internationally renowned as an editorial portrait photographer, best known for his edgy and soulful images. He has worked with clients including A-list actors Daniel Radcliffe, Jason Momoa, Halle Berry, Charlie Hun...

Angelique Fawns has published multiple short stories in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and DreamForge Anvil. She has also published several dark fantasy compendiums titled MYTHICAL MONSTERS. I read several of her short stories in BOOK 3 OF THE HORROR LIGHT SERIES and found them perfect for entertaining Halloween reads. She also compiled a publication listing all short story markets titled THE GUIDE...

Joe Davis competed for the US in the winter sliding sport of Skeleton at the Olympic Park (1999-2003). For the last few years, he has enjoyed sharing the stories and history of Park City and Utah in general as an Anchor and Reporter for the NBC affiliate KSL and as the former Host of the Mountain Morning Show on PCTV (Park City Television). In addition, he proudly continues serving as a Public Aff...

We recorded this podcast at the Writers of the Future panel at FanX Salt Lake 2024 with an amazing list of panelists. Beginning with me as the moderator, it included S.M. Stirling, Larry Niven, Rebecca Moesta, Kevin J. Anderson, Darci Stone, and Eric James Stone. And as promised in the promotion for the panel, a recently discovered video interview with Ray Bradbury from the very first Writers of t...

Ian Randal Strock was assistant editor at Analog and Asimov for half a dozen years in between a long career as an editor, author, and publisher. He is now the owner, publisher, and editor-in-chief of Gray Rabbit Publications, LLC, and its speculative fiction imprint, Fantastic Books. In this interview, we discuss the history of short fiction magazines, going back to the Golden Age of Science Ficti...

Jessica Brawner is an author of fiction and nonfiction, spanning topics from topical books on improving social interactions to urban fantasy and steampunk tales. She has experience in both traditional publishing and self-publishing but prefers the latter. We met through a common friend, now her husband, Steven L. Sears, who has been a guest on this podcast. She recently released her latest novel,...

Marc Scott Zicree has written for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sliders, Babylon 5, Smurfs, He-Man, Real Ghostbusters, and much more. But the reason I invited him to this podcast is that Marc Scott Zicree is the author of the most comprehensive book on the original series, "The Twilight Zone Companion." A TV series I enjoyed as a child but had no idea of what went int...

S.M. Stirling writes in multiple genres and has over 10 NYT bestsellers. In this interview, we discuss writing alternate history, the need for research, and how to do this research. His latest novel, "To Turn the Tide" addresses the last successful period of the Roman Empire before the Germanic tribes invaded and sacked it. We discuss Type A invention and Type B invention which plays a key part of...

I am here at the Tampa Convention Center attending the 2024 Tampa Comic Con with this week’s guest, James Rosone. We met up here last year at this convention and recorded a podcast interview which you can find as interview 247. James Rosone is the Amazon Top 100 bestselling author of military thriller and science fiction. He's an Iraq War veteran who served 3.5 years in a combat zone as a military...

Elliott Haimoff, is a biologist, primatologist and documentary filmmaker. In 1990 he founded Global Science Productions to develop and distribute educational television programs and news segments about space, biology, health, sports and nature. And now, over 200 documentaries with dozens of awards later, I am now interviewing him on one of several books he was written: SPACE PIONEERS: CONVERSATION...

Anthony Goff is the President of Blackstone Publishing. I met Anthony when we shared spots on the Audio Publishers Assn Board of Directors in the early 2010s when he was the audio publisher at Hachette. He has been involved in publishing and the growth of the audiobook industry for three decades and is very knowledgeable about its history and growth and what's in store in the future. We also discu...

Meghna Pant is recognized as one of India’s best writers by several international and national publications. And she is the first female to ever write a war novel in India. She is an author, feminist, journalist and speaker and has won a variety of awards for her contribution to literature, gender issues, and journalism. In 2012, she won the Muse India National Literary Awards' Young Writer Award...

Jim, Tamra, and Taylor Meskimen along with British actor Victoria Summer, recorded the "L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 40" audiobook. Listen as they discuss how they create the voices that bring these stories to life. We also discuss the value of art in creating a safe space to experience life outside our comfort zone.