Last Chance Salon Podcast

This week, Luke and Shiri take a ride in the Midnight Taxi Tango. Next, we journey into the television version of The Expanse. We conclude, as always, with the Grrrrr and the Arrrrrgh.

57: Altered Procedurals This week, Luke and Shiri talk Vertigo’s Sheriff of Babylon. Next, we talk the new X-Files and Lucifer. We conclude, as always, with the Grrrrrr and Arrrrrrgh.

This week, Luke and Shiri bid farewell to two legends, David Bowie and Alan Rickman. Next, we talk Quentin Tarantino’s Hateful Eight and Inglorious Basterds. We conclude, as always, with the Grrrrr and the Arrrrgh.

This week, Luke and Shiri talk Conan Doyle’s original procedural superstar Sherlock Holmes. Next we enter the mind palace of The Abominable Bride. We conclude, as always, with the Grrrrrr and the Arrrrrgh.

Episode 54: Staaaaaar Waaaaaars! (prepare for spoilers) This week, Luke and Shiri talk The Force Awakens. That is all. Lot’s to talk about. We conclude, as always, with the Grrrrrrr and the Arrrrrrrrrrrgh.

53: Us and Ms. Jones We had a whole fancy episode planned, but we end up mostly just talking about Jessica Jones and then end, as always, with the Grrrrr and the Arrrrrgggghhhhh.

52: The Expanse and Flipside of Fairyland After a “What We’re Excited About” Lightening round, Luke and Shiri leap out into The Expanse to discuss Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey. Next, we splat into Scottie Young’s I Hate Fairyland. We end, as always, with the Grrrrrr and the Argggghhhhh.

Episode 51: The Best and the Word Barf After a lightening round of “What’s New in Our Pull Lists” delved into The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy (eds: LCSP favorites John Joseph Adams and Joe Hill). Next we spill our guts about NaNoWriMo 2015 (yes, we’ve both changed our positions since that show two years ago when we talked about why we DON’T do it) . We end, as always, with the Grrrrr and the Arrrrrrrgh.

Episode 50: Ancillaries vs Mirrors After a spooky Halloween lightening round of: what’s the scariest thing you’ve ever read, Luke and Shiri bring their two most anticipated releases of the fall, Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie and Empire Ascendant by Kameron Hurley, into the DEBATE YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. We end, as always, with the Grrrr and the Arrrrrrrrgh.

49: Revenge is a Dish Best Served Decades LaterAfter a lightening round of “What’s the Geekiest Thing You’ve Ever Done,” Luke and Shiri discuss The redemption of the Sith by Matthew Stover. Next, we take serious joy in the revenge filled world of Killjoys. We end, as always with the Grrrrr and the Arrrrrgh.

48: Even the past is new again… After a quick lightning round, we look at the past. Or at least alternative pasts. First, we discuss Nixon and Crooked by AUSTIN GROSSMAN. (We might even have a political discussion!) Then, we follow Peter Pan to World War II with Peter Panzerfaust written by KURTIS J WIEBE. Finally, we end with the Grrr and the Arrrgh.

47: An Hour With Mike Underwood An Hour With Michael R. Underwood.  He has two new books coming out this fall: Hexomancy, the third novel, and fourth entry, in the Ree Reyes Series (Sept 14th) and the first episode of Genrenauts (Nov 17th).  That is all.   Michael R. Underwood is the author of the Ree Reyes series (starting with Geekomancy) as well as superhero fantasy Shield and Crocus, supernatural thriller The Younger Gods, and Genrenauts, a forthcoming science fiction series in novellas. By day, he’s the North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Angry Robot Books.   Mike lives in Baltimore with his fiance and an ever-growing library. In his rapidly-vanishing free time, he plays games of all types and makes pizzas from scratch. He is also a co-host on the Hugo-nominated Skiffy and Fanty Show.

Episode 46: What the Hero? Luke and Shiri dig into the indie comics world to explore Black Mask’s We Can Never Go Home Again.  Next, finally, we chat about Shiri’s Hero Handlers.  We conclude, as always, with the Grrrrrrr and the Arrrrrgggghhhh.   

Episode 45: Goblins and Rat Queens Like and Shiri gets lost in the intrigue and passageways of Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor.   Next we strap in and jump into the roller coaster heist quest that is Rat Queens.  We conclude, as always, with the Grrrr and the Arrrgh.  

44: Gods and Monsters   Luke and Shiri toy with wildfire and revel in Chaos as they discuss Joanne Harris’ Gospel of Loki.  Next, we bow down to the concept, if not the execution, of Kieran Gillen’s The Wicked + The Divine.  We conclude, as always, with the Grrrr and the Arggggh.  Also, we ramble and wander.  Because it’s us.   

43: Aw, Yeah, Bitches. Luke and Shiri reenter the Radach Dyson sphere with Breq to discuss Ann Lecke’s (legit) Hugo-nominated Ancillary Sword.  Next, we pulp it up and, contrary to the spirit of Bitch Planet conform in our love of Kelly Sue Deconnick’s latest opus.  We conclude, as always, with the Grrrr and the Arrrrrrgh.

Luke and Shiri dive in to Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London Series with Midnight Riot which proves, once again, that the Brits are Superior at all things literary.  Next, we do a flyby of flash fiction (writing topic, WHAT?!).  We conclude, as always, with the GRRRRRR and the ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH.

41: People who eat people are the luckiest people in the world… maybe?  Liv Morgan of iZombie fame would likely disagree, but Dr. Hannibal Lecter, well.  He’s been planning it all for years now, hasn’t he?  We’ll never look at oysters and acorns, or pizza, for that matter, the same way again. And the snails.  Ye GODS the snails. We conclude, as always, with the GRRRRRR and the ARRRRRRGH.

Luke and Shiri attempt to dive into Lightspeed: Queers Destroy Science Fiction and end up toes only because the water is just too cold. Next, we discuss Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear, which does well that which Lightspeed attempted and strove very hard to achieve. Our joint GRRR this week involves much raving vis a vis the first official trailer for The Martian. ARRRGH: Constantine is dead and some other crap.   

We visit the original matrix and talk cyberpunk with Neuromancer (and a bit about Snow Crash). Then we discuss the Netflix Original Daredevil (spoilers: we loved it.) And finally, as we always do, we have the Grrr and the Arrrgh.

Luke and Shiri explore the depths of Lovecraftian Americana and are disappointed by the results vis a vis David Nickle’s: Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism.  Next, we face down the juggernaut that is Avengers: Age of Ultron.  We end, as always, with the Grrrrrr and the Arrrrrrrgh.

Episode 37: The Sequel Episode!  Luke and Shiri talk about the morning… er… version after in the forms of Kameron Hurley’s Infidel (Book 2 of the Bel Dame Apocrypha and follow up to the recently podcasted upon God’s War) and Despicable Me 2 (yep, we’re boldly going into the world of animation for the first time, kids.  They discuss how to go about writing a sequel which is as good, or perhaps even better, than the first.  We conclude, as always, with THE GRRR and THE ARRGH.  Hopefully more of the former than the later.  

Shiri and Luke delve into the award winning short fiction of Harlan Ellison with our review of Top of the Volcano. And then we approach the subject of this year's Hugo awards and the shenanigans surrounding the voting, so far. And of course, we end with the Grrr and the Arrrgh.

We could probably go with PIRATES! and get out point quite well but, just in case you’d like more details: Luke and Shiri discuss their first communal ingestion of non-fiction, The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard.  Crossbones is a travesty and neither of us is happy about it, though it does segue into the complex and limitless possibilities one has when Writing Rogues.  As always, there is Good and there is Bad.  And then there are those freakin’ contractors…

Luke and Shiri continue their hike through the “canon”, stopping for a Roadside Picnic.  Next, we bust the shit out of a bunch of refrigerators and finally take on the issue of some assholes vs the “vocal minority.”  We end, as always, with the Grrr and the Arrrgh.    

Luke and Shiri reminisce about (as John Scalzi put it) Leonard Nimoy, every Geek’s favorite grandparent. Then, we dance through Daniel Jose Older’s Salsa Nocturna. Next, we discuss short story collection and successful/not so much ways to put them together. We finish, as always, with the Grrrrr and the Arrrrgh.    

Reporting from Hoth and and the word outside the Snowpiercer respectively, Luke and Shiri examine the concept of narrative non-fiction through the lens of David Simon’s Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.   Our next stops are, appropriately, a post-mortem on Constantine season 1 (#SaveConstantine) and an examination of our open case file on Gotham.       We end, as always with the Grrrrr and the Arrrrrrrrrgh.

Luke and Shiri crawl up from under piles of snow to explore Revival by Tim Seely and Matt Norton.  Next, in honor of Oliver Queen’s return, we talk Coming Back from the Dead and its impact on comic and fantasy story telling.  We conclude, as always, the The Grrrr and the Arrrrgh.      

Episode 30: It’s the Joe Hill appreciation half hour when Luke and Shiri open the Heart Shaped Box, sell you all a ghost, and run for cover. Next, we appreciate Agent Carter is all her glory. Shiri coins and explains the term 'the Firefly Effect', then proceeds to use it a lot. We end, as always, with the Grrr and the Arrrgh.

29: Love it, Hate it Here at the Last Chance Salon, we're chock full of surprises and this week, we're sharing them with you fine folks!  Luke and Shiri expected to love the film adaptation of Joe Hill's Horns, for example, but herein proceed to enumerate the many, many reasons we, in fact, thought it should be consigned to a tree house of abject terror.  They move on to Beth Cato's The Clockwork Dagger, which both opened with great trepidation and long standing Steampunk-disappointment syndrome finding, against genre based expectations, an absolute gem of a book.  After a brief digression into why 2015 will be the year of phenomenal sequels in the book world, and generally fucking awesome in that of comics, Luke and Shiri Grrr and Arrrgh.   

28. Mythology This week, Luke and Shiri delve into the mystery and magic of G. Willow Wilson’s Cairo, then spin off into the larger world of mythology and the writer’s responsibility not to be a dick as regards said.  We make public (gah!) our goals for next year and GRRRRRRRR with a bare minimum of Arrrrrgh.   Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, ya’ll!

27: Happy 1st Birthday, LCSP Exactly one year ago yesterday, Luke and Shiri first posted the first episode of LCSP, replete with complete and utter bullshit they babbled at one another.  A year older, and, if at all possible less wise, we blather on about the fantabulous John Sclazi’s newest, Lock-In.  And by blather, I mean praise.  Tout.  Otherwise say mostly complimentary things about.  Changing it up a bit, we move into our best-of lists for the year (books, comics, media… thingys, and how happy we are that we’re either old enough, or art has gotten cheap enough, that we can have it on our walls).  Happy birthday, LCSP, and non-denomination specific winter gift giving festivities to all!

Episode 26: The DIY Episode! The Martian by Andy Weir (it started as DIY.  Honest!) Welcome to Nighvale and translating success from the other side.  Our writing topic: Self-Publishing: why it’s good, why isn’t not, why one should, why one shouldn’t… We conclude, as always, with the Grrr and the Arrrgh.  

Episode 25: Greatcoats and Great TV This week, Luke and Shiri wander through the worlds of heroes and superheroes. First off, The Traitor's Blade, takes us to world of swords, sorcery, and coats. Then, we get lost in the noise of Fall TV, again. Covering, Constantine, Arrow, Flash and more on Gotham. We skip writing subjects, but end, as always, with The Grrr and The Arrrgh.

Episode 24: The Time Travel Episode This week, Luke and Shiri wander through time wander through time wander through time … sorry, got caught in a loop…  with Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need is Kill.  We both break the no Tom Cruise rule and survive Edge of Tomorrow: Live, Die, Repeat.  Our writing topic is Time Travel.  We end, as always with The Grrrrrrrrrr and the Arrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh.  

23: Vanishing, Reappearing, and Why We Give a Crap This week, Luke and Shiri wander through the maze (or morass, depending on which one of us you’re talking to) of All The Vanished Engines by Paul Park.  Next, we welcome Gotham to our small screens and welcome back Ichabod, Abby, the utterly wonderful bugfuckery that is Sleepy Hollow.  Last, we talk Character Driven Writing.  We end as always with The Grrrrrrr and the Arrrrrrrrrgh.  

This week, Luke and Shiri watch the end of the world of the approaching and figure out if we should still give crap with The Last Policeman.  Next, buckle up, bitches, ‘cause we’re taking a ride on the Snowpiercer.  Last, how to keep the end the world fresh when a bunch of people have already ended it a bunch of times in pretty much every conceivable way.  We close, as always, with “The Grrrrrrrrrr” and “The Arrrrrrrggggghhhhh.”

Episode 21: Don’t Blink in the Mirror This week, Luke and Shiri fall through the alternate reality mirror and into The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley.  Next, we snap our fingers and head into the blue box with the new Doctor, his new bookshelves, Robin Hood, and a collection of spoons.  Last, we talk the how to of alternate realities.  We close, as always, with “The Grrr” and the “Arrrgh.”  

Episode 20: YA, Why not? This week, Luke and Shiri open with some notes from the Last Chance Salon itself. Then, they discuss Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Next they fly through the world of the movies How To Train Your Dragon 1 & 2. The writing topic ends up being a discussion of how to write YA (or how not to write YA). The podcast closes, as always, with “The Grrrr” and “The Arrrrgh.”

Episode 19: THE BIG ASS SPACE SHIP SHOW This week, Luke and Shiri discuss the Arthur C. Clarke, Nebula, and Hugo Awards winning novel Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.  Next, we jump on board with the Guardians of the Galaxy (holy crap, we’re relatively timely) and Luke recommends that “you always go with the lutes”.  Our writing topic is spaceships and how to use them.  We close, as always, with “The Grrrrr” and “The Arrrrrgh.”    

Episode 18: Mayhem, Musketeers, and Machination This week, Luke and Shiri delve in to the mystery of Mayhem by Sarah Pinborough.  Next, we mill about BBC’s The Musketeers and it’s fulfillment of our need for some summer TV fun.  Last, we talk steampunk in general and the ways in which it could, in our humble opinions, be improved upon as g-word (genre, kids, genre).  We close, as always, with the “Grrrr” and the “Argh.”

17: Redshirts, Retreads, and Reboots Luke and Shiri talk Redshirts by John Scalzi.  Next, we examine the Star Trek reboot and where it goes from here. Last, Remakes (and the fultility therof) vs Reboots (sometimes not so futile).  And of course, the good and the suck of the week.

Episode 16: Luke and Shiri feel the cold touch of the Dead Man’s Hand.  In a good way.  We go back and forth about X-Men: Days of Future Past.  Our writing topic is Short Stories.      Dead Man’s Hand Hardwired Days of Future Past (Movie) Days of Future Past (Collected Comics) Short Story Length (Word Count)

Episode 15: Corpse Brides, Horny Mermaids, and Culture Get ready to rumble, folks, it’s our first real co-host smackdown over The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgodoroff.  Black is the Color by Julia Gforer doesn’t raise quite as many hackles.  Being bummed out by the movie version of Persepolis unites Luke and Shiri once again.  There’s a discussion of manifestations of culturein writing, followed, as always by The Good, The Bad, and the Blah.  

Episode 18: Glamour, Ghouls, and Getting There Luke and Shiri glamour up a chat about Mary Robinette Kowal’s Shades of Milk and Honey.  Next, appropriately, we swoon over the second season of Hannibal.  Last, those we wish we could be and how we strive to Get There.  Good, Bad, and Ugly.  

  Episode 13: The Gotham Epsiode! Gotham Central!  Gotham: The TV Show (essentially an extended PREDICTION!) Our writing topic: how we would work in a world someone else has built! Good Things! SUCK THINGS!  THINGS!     This is the 13th episode of the Last Chance Salon Podcast a podcast about writing, reading and consuming Science Fiction, Fantasy, Comic Books and all that is good. Hosted by Shiri Sondheimer and Luke McCullough.

In which we dissect the monstrosities that are Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheusby Mary Shelly and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson; and by dissect, we mean both get… emphatic in our analysis.  There may be some yelling.  We pick apart Agents of Shieldand make suggestions on how to put the Humpty Helicarrier back together again.  Our writing topic this week is when to give it a rest, whatever it may be.  We end, as always, with That Which Sucks and Good Things.

For the second in our … (denomination) IN SPACE series, we crawl around with the bugs in God’s War by Kameron Hurley.  Next, we bitch and moan about The Wolverine, bemoaning the sad fall of an impeccably cast but now lame-ass teenage role model.  Our writing topic is Trust in the Reader and, as always, we end with That Which Sucks and  Good Things.     The Belle Dame Apocrypha(including God’s War)   Kameron Hurley   The Wolverine

Episode 10: We search for the “super” in Adam Christopher’s Empire State in more ways than one.  Next, we take a bite out of NBC’s killer drama Hannibal (see what I did there?  Damn, I’m punny today).  Our writing topic this week is “worldbuilding,” including what the hell it means and how we do it.  We wrap up, as always, with That Which Sucks and Good Stuff.   Empire State: http://angryrobotbooks.com/books/empire-state-by-adam-christopher/   Hannibal: http://www.nbc.com/hannibal

  Episode 9: Jesuits in space!  No, we’re not being smart-asses, we’re discussing The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.     Our writing topic is Villians: best, worst, what not to, what to, how we…   As always, we wrap up with That Which Sucks and Good Stuff.  If you like the episode, and/or us, leave us a review on iTunes or drop us a line at http://lastchancepod.com.  If you don’t, let us know that too; we’re writers, we know how to take an ego beating.  

Episode 8: Shiri and Luke freak themselves out with The Shining: both the glory that is the book and the compilation of boredom and giant teeth that is Stanley Kubrik’s film.  The fact Stephen King disliked the movie stokes the boiler of the conversation about the author’s relationship to other-media translations of their work.  There is Suck and there is Goodand then we traipse off into our respective arctic wastelands.     The Shining (book): http://www.amazon.com/Shining-Stephen-King-ebook/dp/B001BANK32/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395505091&sr=8-1&keywords=the+shining   The Shining (movie):  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/?ref_=nv_sr_1   Room 237 (documentary): http://www.room237movie.com/   The Shining (miniseries): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118460/?ref_=nv_sr_2 (which we have not watched and therefore cannot recommend or bash)   Stephen King and the Shining: http://www.salon.com/2013/10/01/what_stanley_kubrick_got_wrong_about_the_shining/