Tales From The Trunk

In this, the spookiest month, I’m delighted to welcome back to the podcast, Caitlin Starling! Caitlin reads us an excerpt from her terrific forthcoming novel, Last to Leave the Room, coming out October 10th from St. Martin’s Press, which leads us into a great conversation about the potential gaps left in for fanfic authors, among other things.   Things we mention this episode   The Death of Jane Lawrence, The Luminous Dead, Yellow Jessamine, and The Oblivion Bride, by Caitlin Starling Neon Hemlock And What Can We Offer You Tonight, by Premee The Crawling Moon, edited by dave ring Dracula Daily Luminescent Machinations, edited by Rhihannon Rasmussen and dave ring Turks (Final Fantasy VII) Isaac Fellman A Dark Song Archival Quality, by Ivy Noelle Weir and Steenz The White Road, by Sarah Lotz Rotten dot com Third man syndrome Ernest Shackleton The Echo Wife, by Sarah Gailey Spiderman pointing “Caver Continue,” by Caitlin Starling The Queen’s Thief series, by Megan Whalen Turner Severance Shirley Jackson Caitlin’

We made it to the Biggest Number™ and Sarah Gailey is here today to help us celebrate with a retrospective on the last four and a half years of Tales from the Trunk! Show notes coming soon!

This time around, it’s my pleasure to welcome Sarah Hollowell back to the show! Sarah reads us an excerpt of her new book, What Stalks Among Us, which releases September 12th, and then we fall down a hole of absolute gremlinry.   Things we mention this episode:   Sarah’s first episode A Dark and Starless Forest, by Sarah Hollowell Fast and Furious series AEW All In Adam Cole and MJF Triple-H Roman Reigns RPF (Real Person Fic) “The Unreality of Pro Wrestling” The Shield (wrestling) Dean Ambrose/John Moxley Luchasaurus Mantaur Darkness Falls Just Like Home, by Sarah Gailey The Conjuring series The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal P-38 Lightning Apex The Poppy War trilogy, Babel, and Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night, by Samantha Shannon His Majesty’s Dragon, Spinning Silver, and Uprooted, by Naomi Novik Terry Pratchett Regular Show, “California King” and “Eggscellent” Labyrinth The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild Oxenfree and

This time around, I’m delighted to introduce you to Jessica Mary Best! Jess and I do something a little different and perform for your listening pleasure part of the pilot episode of her trunked audio drama, Third Wheel! That reading leads us into a great conversation about the different approaches between written prose and writing for audio.   Things we mention this episode:   Stars, Hide Your Fires, by Jessica Mary Best Chuck Tingle’s episode Oliver! Chekhov’s Gun Brandon, Iowa All Our Yesterdays, by Hilary B. Bisenieks Sufjan Stevens Fall Out Boy Panic! At the Disco Illinois, by Sufjan Stevens “They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh!” by Sufjan Stevens “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” by Panic! At The Disco “Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off,” by Panic! At The Disco “Of All The Gin Joints In All The World,” by Fall Out Boy “Stars, hide your fires” Tor dot com writeup The Strange Case of Starship Iris Tom Swifties Munch Squad F

This time around, it’s my delight to welcome back to the show Aimee Ogden (@Aimee_Ogden)! Aimee reads a delightful excerpt of her brand new book, Emergent Properties, available now wherever you buy books, which leads us into some great conversation about the things that made this book, whether or not those things ended up in the final draft.     Things we mention this episode:   “The Cold Calculations,” by Aimee Ogden The Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney Aimee’s Clarkesworld interview Wallace and Gromit Marie Kondo “A Half-Remembered World,” by Aimee Ogden Translunar Traveler’s Lounge Dropout CollegeHumor Sam Reich Game Changer Entertainment Community Fund Jeopardy! Wheel of Fortune Dungeons and Drag Queens Escape from the Bloodkeep Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien Matt Mercer Erika Ishii Robert Reich Breaking News (Dropout) Brennan Lee Mulligan Name That Bird Aimee’s website Spiders Georg   Stick around next time when my guest will be Jessica Mary Best

This episode’s reading carries content warnings for discussion of COVID, self harm, horror movie gore, and suicide and suicidal ideation. If you want to opt out of that, please skip forward 14 minutes from the start of the reading.   This time around, it’s my delight to continue our summer of screams with Lor Gislason (@lorelli_)! They read us a moving personal essay about how they got so dang goopy, which leads us into a great conversation about horror media, finding your people, and of course all things goopy.   Things we mention in this episode:    Chuck’s episode Camp Damascus, by Chuck Tingle Heel (wrestling) Lillian Boyd Hear Us Scream: The Voices of Horror Volume II, edited by Cathering Benstead American Psycho 2 Serial Killing 101 Hellraiser Clive Barker Neil Gaiman Turkey Shoot (film) Mandy (film) Dune (2021) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre House of 1000 Corpses The Devil’s Rejects Foz’s episode Zombie Lucio Fulci The Lion King Sisyphus Bound in Flesh, edited by Lor Gislason Dragon Ball Animorphs (series

It’s my absolute delight to welcome an absolute dream of a guest this time around: Chuck Tingle (@ChuckTingle)! We read from the first chapter of Chuck’s new horror novel, Camp Damascus, out July 11th from Tor Nightfire, which leads us into a great discussion on Chuck’s writing process, the things that changed between first draft and published book, and of course some of his and my favorite bits.   Things mentioned in this episode:   Game theory Straight and Bury Your Gays (2024), by Chuck Tingle A More Civilized Age Kelly Lonesome Get Out Multi-level marketing Grindcore Discord Friends at the Table In the Lives of Puppets, by Tj Klune Barry Ratboys Chuck’s BlueSky, Insta, Facebook, TikTok, Tumblr  

This episode’s reading carries content warnings for children in perilous situations and description of injuries. The reading is 10:30 long.   This time around, it’s my pleasure to welcome Foz Meadows (@fozmeadows)! Foz reads an excerpt from his trunked novella, “Blood Penance,” which leads us into a great conversation about idea magpies, internet purity culture, horror, and kink.   Things we mention in this episode:   A Strange And Stubborn Endurance, by Foz Meadows Captive Prince, by C.S. Pacat Halloween The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Scream series Allegory of the Cave, by Plato “Hotel California,” by The Eagles Lillian Boyd Rank & Vile Death of the author Watership Down, by Richard Adams Watership Down (movie) All the Hidden Paths, by Foz Meadows Finding Echoes, by Foz Meadows Luminescent Machinations, edited by Rhiannon Rasmussen and dave ring The Untamed Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu Heaven Official’s Blessing Beyond Evil KinnPorsche Stray Kids “Red Lights,” by Stray Kids “Veno

It’s my distinct pleasure, this time around, to welcome Emma Mieko Candon (@EmmaCandon) to the show to talk about their incredible new book, The Archive Undying, out June 27th, 2023, from Tor Dot Com! After a reading from the book’s opening, we descent almost immediately into gremlin mode about the inspirations for the book (our favorite podcast (you know the one)), Star Wars, and the intersection of cultures.   Things we mention this episode:   Friends at the Table Mike’s episode Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie Pacific Rim NieR:Automata Carl Engle-Laird Just Like Home, by Sarah Gailey The Genesis of Misery, by Neon Yang Lindsey Hall The Tensorate Series, by Neon Yang Docile, by K.M. Szpara The Kingston Cycle and Even Though I Knew the End, by C.L. Polk The Locked Tomb series, by Tamsyn Muir Margate Lock (Palisade character) (spoilers for Palisode 03) Star Wars COUNTER/Weight Castlevania Hellboy Cowboy Bebop Gundam Newtype Studio Ghibli Partizan Waypoint A More Civilized Age Lancer Bluff City Marielda Sangfi

This episode's reading carries a content warning for brief, non-graphic vomiting. You can skip forward 8:10 from the start of the reading to 0:13:00 to avoid this. This time around, it’s my pleasure to welcome Dee Holloway (@_deeholloway) to the show! Dee reads from her trunked YA novel, River’s End, which leads us into a great discussion of writing about place, what we did during the height of the pandemic, and Dee’s forthcoming novella, Little Nothing.   Things we mentioned this episode:   Stuart Dybek The Complete History of New Mexico, by Kevin McIlvoy Sabrina & Corina, by Kali Fajardo-Anstine Lady Bird Joan Didion California State Railroad Museum Sacramento History Museum QueryTracker Little Nothing, by Dee Holloway “The Highwayman,” by Alfred Noyes Devil’s Cup, by Dee Holloway The Craft Blue Crush Equus, edited by Rhonda Parrish Luna Station Quarterly “MONTERO (Call My By Your Name),” by Lil Nas X Tim Curry John Milton Paradise Lost, by John Milton The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson T

This time around, I’m delighted to welcome back to the show Megan E. O’Keefe (@MeganEOKeefe) to talk about her brand new book, The Blighted Stars, out May 23rd from Orbit Books! In between saying “spaceship books” a lot, we talk about some things that got left out for the betterment of the book, some beloved tropes, and what else you can look forward to from Megan!   Things we mention in this episode:   Megan’s previous episode Val’s last episode K.B. Wagers’ last episode Jaime Jones’ cover The Archive Undying, by Emma Mieko Candon Friends at the Table (of course) The Imperial Radch Trilogy, by Ann Leckie Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee Velocity Weapon, by Megan E. O’Keefe The Scorched Continent Trilogy, by Megan E. O’Keefe The First Omega, by Megan E. O’Keefe Cormac McCarthy Philip K. Dick Terry Pratchett Final Fantasy XIV The Bone Shard Daughter, by Andrea Stewart Megan’s website, insta, twitch, and github  State machines Pico air monitor Micropython Purple Air Dev Ludum Dare Johnny 5 Seek the Light, on Mega

This episode’s reading carries a content warning for discussion of online harassment. If you would like to skip the reading, fast forward to timestamp 0:17:25 from the start of the reading.   This time around, it’s my absolute delight to welcome to the show Brandon O’Briend (@therisingtithes)! Brandon reads from their story, “Content is Cuisine,” before we launch into a wonderful conversation about the intersection of poetry and game design, how recipes and poems are alike, and how H. P. Lovecraft was accidentally kinda hip-hop.   Things we mention in this episode:   Suzan’s episode Mike’s episode Speculate! Valerie Valdes Girl By Moonlight Iori Kusano Jeoi Gawain Lin FB moderation expose Sin-eater All Our Yesterdays The Moon Wants Me To Leave You Anteater tumblr post Can You Sign My Tentacle?, by Brandon O’Brien Interstellar Flight Press Uncanny Magazine Lovecraft’s cat (CW: racial slurs) Sarah Gailey’s Personal Canons Cookbook Shing Yin Khor “Trust the Process,” by Hilary B. Bisenieks Elgin Award Amelia Atw

This episode’s reading carries content warnings for implied child abuse and violence. If you would like to skip the reading, please skip forward to the 0:21:00 mark from the start of the reading.   This time around, it’s my pleasure to welcome Ladz (@LadzWriting) to the show! They join us to talk about their forthcoming debut novella, Ice Upon a Pier, releasing April 11th, 2023, from Robot Dinosaur Press!   Things we mention this episode:   Robot Dinosaur Press The Chipped Cup Collective Sarah Loch Rekka Merc Fenn Wolfmoor Andi C. Buchanan Just Like Home, by Sarah Gailey Dark Souls The Last Podcast on the Left - Richard Kuklinski Disney World Ryszard Kukliński Tales of Symphonia Natuto Greenpoint (NYC) Aleta Perez Last Call, by Elon Green The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer, by Philip Carlo Ladz’s blog Terry J. Benton-Walker on Ladz’s blog “Problem for Tomorrow’s You,” by Ladz on itch.io Better Call Saul Darkest Dungeon II Frostpunk Light novels Bakemonogatari Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust Vampi

This episode’s reading carries a content warning for ableist themes around deafness. If you would like to skip this, skip ahead to the 11-minute mark to bypass the reading.   This time around, it’s my pleasure to welcome fellow gremlin Suzan Palumbo (@sillysyntax) to talk about…something. Suzan reads their trunked story, “Fricatives,” which leads us into a discussion about walking away from stories we’ve written that aren’t ours to tell. And then bagged pickles. We do get things back on track, amazingly, and have some great conversation about the place of emotion versus professionalism in writing, the current discourse around so-called “artificial intelligence” (large language models), and the baseball of crying.   Things we mention this episode   “Every Day is Halloween,” by Ministry Joyce Carol Oates “Apolépisi: A De-Scaling,” by Suzan Palumbo Welcome to the Black Parade, by My Chemical Romance Give Up, by The Postal Service Plans, by Death Cab for Cutie Pickle tweets Shut the fuck up Friday Friends at the

Hello, and welcome to season five (5) of Tales from the Trunk, where it’s my distinct pleasure to welcome Dr. Malka Older to the show to talk about her brand new novel, The Mimicking of Known Successes, out in just a few days on March 7th, 2023 from Tor dot com publishing! Malka reads us a couple of excerpts from the book, and then we geek out about putting puns in books because we can!   Things mentioned in this episode:   Infomocracy, by Malka Older Tor.com Publishing Brent Lambert NaNoWriMo Juliet Kemp’s episode The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, by Malka Older The Archive Undying, by Emma Mieko Candon C.L. Polk’s recent book tour Even Though I Knew the End, by C.L. Polk Malka and Cee’s event, March 9th, 3:00 pm Pacific at Loyalty Bookstore “Narrative Disorder,” by Malka Older …and Other Disasters, by Malka Older Daniel Jose Older Meru, by S.B. Divya The Terraformers, by Annalee Newitz A Scatter of Light, by Melinda Lo Malka’s mastodon, insta, and tumblr   Join us again in two weeks, when I’ll be tal

This time around, to close out our fourth (4th!) season, it’s my pleasure to welcome Aimee Ogden (@aimeeogden@wandering.shop) to the show! Aimee reads from her delightful trunked YA novel, Starstruck, which leads us into a lovely conversation about lesbian radishes, the exhausting nature of submitting work, and short fiction magazines we love.   Things we mention this episode:   Aimee Kuzenski’s episode Network Effect, by Martha Wells Gregory A. Wilson Beauty heart (watermelon) radish Cat Valente Tamora Pierce The Wings of Fire series, by Tui T. Sutherland Redwall series, by Brian Jacques Diggers, Guards! Guards!, Hogfather, and The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett “The Cold Calculations,” by Aimee Ogden Be the Serpent Sarah Gailey’s Personal Canons Cookbook Skies of Wonder, Skies of Danger, edited by John Appel, Mary Agner, and Jo Miles Mary Robinette Kowal F&SF Clarkesworld Ann Leckie Analog Translunar Traveler’s Lounge Friends Journal QSFF issue Emergent Properties, by Aimee Ogden “A Love Letter Writ

This time around, it’s my joy to welcome back World Fantasy Award winner and fantastic human being C.L. Polk (@clpolk@wandering.shop) to talk about their newest novella, Even Though I Knew The End. After hearing an excerpt from the book’s first act, we get into its unexpected origin story, the things we write for our nine (9) goblin friends, and an introduction to Cee’s other books!   Things we mention in this episode:   The Kingston Cycle and The Midnight Bargain, by C.L. Polk Detroit Red Wings Chicago Blackhawks Supernatural AO3 Hardboiled fiction The Magicians Discord Guy Noir, Private Eye A Prairie Home Companion Phillip Marlowe Raymond Chandler An American Werewolf in London Hermie (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) The Witching Hour, by Anne Rice Masters of Magic Dragon Age Dragon Age: Absolution The Spare Man, by Mary Robinette Kowal The Lady Astronaut series, by Mary Robinette Kowal Cee’s website Groundhog Day   Join us again in two weeks, when my guest will be Aimee Ogden!

This time around, it’s my delight to welcome Juliet Kemp (twitter @julietk, mastodon @juliet@zirk.us) to the show! They read from their trunked sci-fi novel, Between Stars, Between Minds, which leads us into a discussion of messy first drafts, lived-in science fiction worlds, and finishing a four-book series.   Things we mentioned in this episode: Chipped Cup Collective Andor Friends at the Table Austin Walker A More Civilized Age “Blocking,” by Juliet Kemp in Strange Bedfellows Angry Robot Books The City Revealed, by Juliet Kemp Ocean’s series Alien Quadrilogy Lois McMaster Bujold Terry Pratchett Macey’s Murderboard method “Monday,” by Hilary B. Bisenieks LiveJournal Lockie Hunter A Starbound Solstice, by Juliet Kemp “At the Lighthouse Out by the Othersea,” by Juliet Kemp Our Flag Means Death Black Sails A League of Their Own The Hands of the Emperor and At the Feet of the Sun, by Victoria Goddard Flotsam, by R.J. Theodore Juliet’s website   Join us next month, when I’ll be talking to C.L. Polk and Aimee Ogd

It's awards time again! A full transcript of the show is included below.     Hello, and welcome to Tales from the Trunk: nominating the works that did make it! I’m Hilary B. Bisenieks.   Friends, it’s been another amazing year for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and beyond, and I’m here once more to let you know about some of the amazing works by my fantastic guests, which you can nominate for this year’s awards!   Andi C. Buchanan, who joined us in April of 2022, has a number of eligible works including their novel, Sanctuary, and the essay “Human not machine: how autistic writers are writing new space for themselves.”   A link to their eligibility post is included in the show notes. https://andicbuchanan.org/2022/12/18/2022-publications/    C.L. Clark, who just joined us in December, is eligible in most novelette categories for "Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home," published in Uncanny May/June 2022   Amanda Cook, who joined us in June of 2022, has

This time around, it’s my distinct pleasure to welcome a fellow podcaster, Annalee Newitz (@annaleen), to talk about their forthcoming novel, The Terraformers, out January 31st, 2023, from wherever fine books are sold! We get to hear an excerpt from the book that leads us into a great discussion about transit gays, flying moose romance, and robot trans culture, among other things.   Things we mention on this episode:   Tumblr Mastodon I-5 cattle ranches Dune, by Frank Herbert Friends at the Table Jeffrey Tumlin Plate tectonics Chuck Tingle Michael Hobbes Maintenance Phase If Books Could Kill Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari Charlie Jane Anders Our Opinions are Correct The myth of progress episode Brad DeLong  Four Lost Cities, by Annalee Newitz Annalee’s website and tiktok