Podcasts about jy yang

little red book hosts Ceskykure and Starkast to discuss our May 2022 experiment in short stories. They discuss the virtues of short stories and their draw backs. Each of them picked a short story to discuss. This episode contains all the spoilers, so time stamps are provided for the beginning of each discussion. (6:10) Ceskykure chose "Bridge of Crows" by Jy Yang from The Mythic Dream (24:15) Starkast chose "A Tale of Ash in Seven Birds" by Amal El-Mahtar from The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories (41:30) little red book chose "A Study in Emerald" by Neil Gaiman from Fragile Things Music is Galactic Damages by Jingle Punks. Consider supporting The Legendarium on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/legendarium All three of us are can be found The Legendarium Discord: https://discord.gg/FNcpuuA Follow us on Twitter: @GreenteamPod Cesky can also be found on his personal podcast Libromancy. little red book can also be found on her personal podcast Word Less

Taking another break from revisiting the books that he has been given by guests on the podcast, Charles Adrian revisits instead what he said in the previous episode about Scottish Country Dancing and talks about three books that he has very much enjoyed.   More information and a transcript of this episode is at http://www.pageonepodcast.com/   Correction 1: This episode was recorded on the 15th December, 2020, and not the 14th December as Charles Adrian says.   Correction 2: Charles Adrian mistakenly pronounces Ivanhoe as Ivinghoe. The first is a novel by Sir Walter Scott; the second is a village in Buckinghamshire.   Correction 3: The novelist Charles Adrian refers to as JY Yang in this episode has been called Neon Yang since September 2020. You can read the announcement on their Twitter here: https://twitter.com/itsneonyang/status/1300790160301461507   The podcast will also be taking a break over festive season and will return with new episodes at some point in the new year.   Also mentioned in this episode are Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, which is discussed in Page One 49 (http://www.pageonepodcast.com/season-1#/49-page-one-49/), Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, which is discussed in Page One 16 (http://www.pageonepodcast.com/season-1#/16-cat-james/) and Page One 159 (http://www.pageonepodcast.com/season-6#/159-poir-3/), and Scottish Fiddlers And Their Music by Mary Anne Alburger, which is discussed in Page One 126 (http://www.pageonepodcast.com/season4#/126-ms-samantha-mann/) and Page One 191 (http://www.pageonepodcast.com/season-6#/191-poir-33/).   Cameryn Moore, who is mentioned here, is featured in Page One 98 (http://www.pageonepodcast.com/season-3#/98-cameryn-moore/).   You can find some information on the Prison Industrial Complex and prison abolition in the UK from the Empty Cages Collective here: http://www.prisonabolition.org/what-is-the-prison-industrial-complex/   Diane di Prima, also mentioned here, is discussed in more depth in Page One 122 (http://www.pageonepodcast.com/season4#/122-chris-goode/) and Page One 190 (http://www.pageonepodcast.com/season-6#/190-poir-32/).   The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk is a standalone novel but The Black Tides Of Heaven by Neon Yang is at the beginning of the Tensorate series and A Hero Born by Jin Yong is the first part of The Condor Trilogy. You can read more about The Condor Trilogy on Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condor_Trilogy.   Episode image is a detail from the cover of The Black Tides Of Heaven by Neon Yang, published by tor.com in 2017; cover art by Yuko Shimizu; cover design by Christine Foltzer.   Episode recorded: 15th December, 2020.     Book listing:   The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk The Black Tides Of Heaven by Neon Yang A Hero Born by Jin Yong

In this episode, we're chillin' con Connie Chang (they, he, she) from Transplanar RPG! Join us as we discuss race, gender, and disabilities within both tabletop RPGs and the media, and how to be conscious with your own portrayals within these spaces. CW: Discussion of racism, misogyny, and sexual assault; some use of profanity. For more information, please check out our website. Email: acoupleofcharacterspod at gmail dot com. Twitter, Instagram, Patreon: ACoCPodcast. Transcript. Dyslexia friendly transcript. Transplanar Links: Twitch. Twitter. Tumblr. Instagram. YouTube. Merch Store. Donate. Linktree (ALL links). Sara Thompson, creator of the Combat Wheelchair. Article about disabilities within the D&D community. Neal Shusterman's Arc of a Scythe series. JY Yang's The Black Tides of Heaven (Book 1 of Tensorate Series). New Oscars' Representation and Inclusion Standards. The Wagadu Chronicles. The Wagadu Chronicles Kickstarter, which is live until Friday October 30, 2020 5:30 PM EDT. Three Black Halflings podcast: Website. Twitter. Instagram. Cover art: Copyright Chandra Reyer 2019.

The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang Magic, machines, and two twins trying to understand their place in the world. The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang is a modern story that feels like an old myth. Set in the Tensorate world, where a magic of slackcraft taps into the energy that surrounds … Continue reading Ep034 Black Tides of Heaven →

Auspicium Melioris Aevi, by JY Yang. In a future where famous historical leaders are cloned and trained in a mysterious Academy to become advisors to the world’s nations, the fiftieth copy of Harry Lee Kuan Yew tries to buck the system. (This story first appeared in Issue 15 of Uncanny Magazine.) Bonus Interview: Subscribers to the Likewise Media Patreon campaign can hear an interview with author JY Yang. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | RadioPublic | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS Support: Support our Patreon | Donate via PayPal | Leave a review Share: Tweet this episode | Share to Facebook Connect: Email | Newsletter | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Have you ever wanted to ask your local forest witch a question? Enter “Ask Baba Yaga” and Taisia Kitaiskaia. We talk with the wonderful author about her process of channeling the Slavic folklore character, how she grew up with the story, AND one lucky Conspiriter gets their question answered by Baba Yaga! This week, Julia recommends The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang.  Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about heavy subjects like existentialism, abuse, Soviet Russia, loneliness, and death.    Guest - Taisia Kitaiskaia is the author of Ask Baba Yaga: Otherworldly Advice for Everyday Troubles and its forthcoming follow-up, Ask Baba Yaga: Otherworldly Advice for Troubled Times; Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers , a collaboration with artist Katy Horan, and the accompanying The Literary Witches Oracle; and a forthcoming book of poetry, The Nightgown and Other Poems (Deep Vellum). She posts a new "Ask Baba Yaga" piece weekly on Instagram.  Sponsors - Honeybook: A purpose-built business management platform for creative small businesses. Get 50% off your first year on HoneyBook.com/SPIRITS. - Skillshare is an online learning community where you can learn—and teach—just about anything. Visit skillshare.com/spirits2 to get two months of Skillshare Premium for free! This week Amanda recommends “Happy Houseplants: Caring For Your Plants.” - Doordash is a fast, convenient food delivery app. Get $5 off your first order of $15 or more when you download the DoorDash app and enter promo code Spirits at checkout.   Find Us Online If you like Spirits, help us grow by spreading the word! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Goodreads. You can support us on Patreon to unlock bonus Your Urban Legends episodes, director’s commentaries, custom recipe cards, and so much more.  Transcripts are available at spiritspodcast.com/episodes. To buy merch, hear us on other podcasts, contact us, find our mailing address, or download our press kit, head on over to SpiritsPodcast.com.   About Us Spirits was created by Julia Schifini, Amanda McLoughlin and Eric Schneider. We are founding members of Multitude, a production collective of indie audio professionals. Our music is "Danger Storm" by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

I have been thoroughly enjoying JY Yang’s Tensorate series of novellas so wanted to chat to them about blending science fiction and fantasy, non-binary representation in SFF, and using different structures and forms across a series!  Fair warning – there is a lot of giggling in this episode. But hey, it’s nice when interviewer and […]

A woman is haunted by her dreams of being a tiger.  This episode is sponsored by Betterhelp (www.betterhelp.com/levar code: LEVAR) and The Great Courses (www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/LEVAR).

"I woke with my lungs burning and a wall of green murk crushing me. I thought I was going to die, until I saw that there was a boy in the water." Praise Leviathan! Grab a bucket of squid ink and brave the murky depths for book club to talk about "Circus Girl, The Hunter, and Mirror Boy", a spooky, ghostly, magical short story by JY Yang. We dive deep into mirror symbolism and marvel at the moody atmosphere, dystopian drowned future worldbuilding, and endless clever easter eggs packed into this evocative short. Stay dry, squiddies. Cover art by Ashley Mackenzie. Read the story on Tor.com: https://www.tor.com/2019/01/30/circus-girl-the-hunter-and-mirror-boy/ * Theme: Magical Transition by Kevin McLeod * Additional music and sound effects from zapsplat.com

Hi everyone, and thank you for tuning in to another episode of the We Make Books Podcast - A podcast about writing, publishing, and everything in between! Week Three of Submissions September and the final episode of Agents Week!  For Part Three we got we spoke with three more agented authors to hear about their journey and experience in signing with their literary agent.  This time we’re chatting with AJ Hackwith, Jennifer Mace, and Nino Cipri who share stories, wisdom, and anecdotes about their paths to signing with a Literary Agent. You can (and should!) check them all out on Twitter, Instagram, and their website, all of which are linked below! In case you’re just joining us, this month is Submissions September on the We Make Books Podcast, we’re doing seven (7!) episodes this month all about the process of submitting your novel.  We have a lot of awesome discussions lined up and even some special guests.  Here’s what will be coming your way for the month: Week 1 (9/3/2019): Is This Ready For Other People to See?- Submitting Your Manuscript Week 2 (9/10/2019): My Entire Novel in Three Hundred Words - The Dreaded Query Letter Week 3 (9/17/2019): Agents of Literature, Part 1: An Interview with Literary Agent Caitlin McDonald               (9/18/2019): Agents of Literature, Part 2: Interviews with Agented Authors               (9/19/2019): Agents of Literature Part 3: Interviews with Agented Authors Week 4 (9/24/2019): What is Going On Over There? - The Other Side of the Submissions Process Week 5 (9/30/2019): Now I’m Even More Confused – Submissions September Q&A Episode We Make Books is hosted by Rekka Jay and Kaelyn Considine; Rekka is a published author and Kaelyn is an editor and together they are going to take you through what goes into getting a book out of your head, on to paper, in to the hands of a publisher, and finally on to book store shelves. We Make Books is a podcast for writer and publishers, by writers and publishers and we want to hear from our listeners! Hit us up on our social media, linked below, and send us your questions, comments, concerns, and everyone, let’s be real, we’re two games into it and the Giants’ season is over.  Kaelyn would appreciate your support while she waits for hockey season to start. We hope you enjoy We Make Books! Twitter: @WMBCast  |  @KindofKaelyn  |  @BittyBittyZap Instagram: @WMBCast  Patreon.com/WMBCast And check out this episode’s interviewees! J. Hackwith   Represented by Caitlin McDonald https://literallycait.tumblr.com/ of DMLA http://maassagency.com/   https://www.amandahackwith.com https://twitter.com/ajhackwith   The Library of the Unwritten https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/608277/the-library-of-the-unwritten-by-a-j-hackwith/9781984806376/   ===     Jennifer Mace   Represented by Kurestin Armada https://twitter.com/kurestinarmada of PS Literary https://www.psliterary.com/   https://www.englishmace.com http://twitter.com/englishmace   https://www.englishmace.com/fiction/ http://betheserpent.podbean.com/   ===   Nino Cipri   Represented by DongWon Song http://www.dongwonsong.com/ of HMLA http://www.morhaimliterary.com/   https://ninocipri.com/ https://twitter.com/ninocipri   Homesick: https://www.dzancbooks.org/our-books/homesick   Finna: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250245724     Kaelyn:00:00   Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the, We Make Books Podcast, a show about writing, publishing, and everything in between. And when I say another, it's because this is the third one this week. Rekka:00:10   And I'm Rekka, I write science fiction and fantasy as RJ Theodore. Kaelyn:00:13   I think my name is just third episode. No, I am Kaelyn. I'm the acquisitions editor, Parvus Press. Why did we do this? Rekka:00:21   Hey, you know what? We're going to be so glad when it's done. Kaelyn:00:24   It is good because these were, these were great interviews. So this is the second episode, um, of interviews with. Rekka:00:29   Interviews with authors - Kaelyn:00:29   Interviews with agented authors. So, you know, first episode, if you missed that one, go back and take a listen to that. The, uh, September, Rekka:00:39   How should we even know? Kaelyn:00:39   [laughs] What day is it? Rekka:00:41   Is it September? Kaelyn:00:42   The September 17th episode. Rekka:00:43   Which was with Caitlin McDonald, the Agent. Kaelyn:00:46   Yes. Rekka:00:47   And then on the 18th, yesterday we spoke with Sam Hawk, Tyler Hayes, and Caitlin Starling. And today we are speaking with AJ Hackwith, Jennifer Mace, and Nino Cipri. Kaelyn:00:57   Yes. So, um, second episode of agented author interviews. Uh, you know, how they got them, what, Rekka:01:03   Yeah. Rounding out the experiences that we gathered of people who found agents and then those agents are helping them or have helped them find a home for their manuscript. Kaelyn:01:13   Yeah. And um, some good insights here. Yeah. I think in this set of interviews. So, um, we'll stop talking now because I don't know - Rekka:01:21   To talk. Kaelyn:01:23   Words. Um, so everyone, uh, we hope you enjoy and um, so next week will be the last episode of Submissions September and uh, we're going to be doing what is going on, on the other side of things. Rekka:01:35   Kaelyn's side. Kaelyn:01:35   My side. Rekka:01:36   Yes. Kaelyn:01:36   [laughs evily] You are in my realm now. Rekka:01:41   Well not now. Next week. Kaelyn:01:42   Next week. Yeah. Fair. All right. Well thanks everyone so much for listening and bearing with us through all of this. Enjoy the episode. Music:01:57   [music] AJ:       02:04   I'm Amanda. I write as AJ Hackworth. I have a contemporary fantasy coming out October 1st with Ace called The Library of the Unwritten, I tend to write about mythical stuff and gods and sarcastic and families and all that good kind of good staff. I also have two Scifi romances out as Ada Harper. Um, they both came out last year and the first one is a Conspiracy of Whispers. Rekka:02:29   Cool. And you are represented by an agent. Um, you want to say who and tell us, uh, how you found this agent and why you chose them. AJ:       02:40   Sure. I represented by Caitlin McDonald at the Donald Mass literary agency. I, I found Caitlin via tumbler. That's really what made me, made me reach out with her because she seemed to have a lot of the same interests in likes and fandom interests that I did. I so I thought that she would jive on my writing style and so I reached out to her, um, through the slush pile. Basically I just like queried her and was coming up through the slush. It kind of funny because she had my, full of my book, for 10 months, 11 months. It was a long process. I had actually like had like given up and thrown in the towel and it's never going to happen. And I had pitched the most ridiculous romance I could think of to a Karina Press. And then an offer from them came first, uh, just about the same. It's just about the same time that Caitlin was getting back to me about the full, I'm making an offer. So, uh, it was kind of a weird deal that the book that I queried her with, with not actually the first book that came out, but it's been fantastic. Rekka:03:44   Awesome. Very cool. Okay. When you interact with your agent versus, um, when you interact directly with the editor, with your publisher, um, how would you describe one versus the other and when do you go through Caitlin and when do you go through your editor? AJ:       04:02   I tend to go through Cait, went through Caitlin, whenever there's a disagreement, especially if it's one that's a delicate negotiations, delicate to navigate. Um, I like my relationship with the editor should, uh, is, should usually be in the positive and I cc Caitlin on everything. But if there's something that actually needs to be pushed back on or negotiated with, I definitely sometimes let Caitlin trace the language of that just so she has control of that navigation and I can just be the fun one. Rekka:04:35   She's the bad cop. That was one thing she said. So that's, it's good that you're, um, you're using all the tools you have correctly. It sounds like. AJ:       04:43   Well, you know that takes, that's something you have to learn too. Cause like when I first signed, when we were going through the first uh romances, I was more hesitant. I didn't want to bug my agent. Um, which is a common thing that new writers feel like, you know, you, it's a, it's a change in relationship. Cause when you're querying, you feel like you're trying to impress them and get them to like you and stuff. But then when you are, have signed with them, your business partners and that sometimes is a switch for a lot of writers that they are too hesitant to contact their agent when things come up. Um, and so it took a few times of Caitlin gently say, I should cc me on this. Let me, let me handle this. Um, before I understood, um, how before you look at her communication style and how to make that a real partnership. Rekka:05:28   Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Now. What about before, um, you had the book on contract to a publisher, um, editing, um, pitching, like getting the, the submissions ready. What was the process with your agent in that regard? AJ:       05:45   Um Caitlin's very nice editorial level. Um, for my, for my tastes, we did line edit, we did developmental edit and then a line edit, um, before we put it on submission. Um, and that was just about the right level for me. I think we got it in a really good place and she had, she, she had her, her touches on enough that I felt like, um, it was strong going out into submission. Um, and then when we'er on submission, you know, it's so important to know your communication style with the mission cause it's a nerve wracking process. And I like, you know, when we went on submission I asked Caitlin at the beginning of it is like, whether it's good news or bad news, I just want to update at least once a month. And it can just be a summary. I don't need the specifics because I wanted those people that the rejection language will stick in your brain forever. And you of course, you forget the good stuff people say. So that worked out really well as soon as she just, you know, gave me a monthly summary of where we were at in the process. Rekka:06:42   Okay, cool. So did you work together on um, putting the submission package together? Um, in terms of coming up with the language that you use to pitch the book to the editors? AJ:       06:54   It was pretty hands off. Caitlin came up with all of that. Um, we discussed just basically, um, she gave me a list of which houses she was going to approach in this round. Um, and and kind of the vague genre of how we're pitching this book. Um, you know, like, you know, contemporary, literary, smart commercial, all those different types. So we really had a basic discussion, but Caitlin really ran with it past that point, which is great. [laughs] This whole, you already had to query the book once.   Rekka:07:25   Right. You don't want to do it again. AJ:       07:26   Well, magic in itself, the whole submission process. So I'm glad to let an expert have the final say of those things. Rekka:07:33   Okay, great. So it sounds like you feel like you're in good hands. AJ:                   Yeah, it's been good. Rekka:07:38   Awesome. So if you were talking to, uh, an author who was looking for an agent, what are some tips that you would give that author as far as, uh, whatever part you feel like maybe people have misconceptions with before they get into it? Um, either with the querying, with finding the agent, with negotiating, et cetera. AJ:       08:01   I think querying, um, you just, you gotta be patient, it's a long, long process and um, there's some great guides out there. I think I found, you know, after I signed as agent was the area where there's not as much information and, and resources for people for how this should go and go. I think the biggest advice I would give is to start as you intend to go on, which you know, how you want to communicate and establish that early on with an agent. And if you're wondering whether you should email your agent about something or whether, whether it's okay to email them about something, the answer is yes. Rekka:08:37   Fantastic. There's that power balance. It must be difficult to say like, okay, now, like that power balance is more like we're partners in this now and the power struggle and that you feel when you're querying doesn't evaporate inside your head. AJ:       08:56   Yeah. And it was, it was really, it was, it was a, a tough transition, especially for me because we went right from signing her representation and to negotiating a contract for the romances. Um, so we didn't have that like getting to know you build up of, of um, the editorial process. I joke with Caitlin that I knew we, we broke the ice right away when like my second email to her was, uh, talking about fanfic tropes and how my book shouldn't like have any ref- You know, my joke is like when they're in my email included en-preg in the second email, you knew it was a [laughs] Rekka:09:32   Well that's awesome because I mean, so everyone knows the Caitlin is human now, but she promises us that all agents are, and it does sound like once you get past this strange like, um, professional dance that there is a chance to just like relax and get into the relationship and get to work. AJ:       09:51   Yeah, and I, and I think also one of the things I've seen with a bunch of my friends uh getting agents as well is that your relationship is going to be unique to that agent if you're not best buddies. And tweeting memes at your agent all day, that's okay too. Like, you know, I have a pretty, I mean Caitlin and I have a great relationship but we just keep it pretty professional. You know, I'm not tweeting her about, you know, whatever the Internet's on about current time. Um, whereas other other agents I know like our, our, like our, our much more, much more of a friendship relationship with their, their clients. And so it just depends on the agent and depends on the author. And there's no wrong way to have a relationship we've had with an agent as long as it's the right way for you, Rekka:10:36   For both sides to, yeah, definitely. Awesome. Well thank you so much. I really appreciate your time. And um, why don't you give us your pitch for The Library. AJ:       10:44   Sure. The Library of the Unwritten is the story of the Librarian of the Unwritten Wing, which is the library of all the books that were never quite written. All the stories that were never quite told and it happened to be located in hell Rekka:10:57   Exactly where they go when I failed to write that book. Right? AJ:       11:02   It can feel that way for the author that it's definitely a fantasy about, um, books and writers and readers and also about regret and what happens when your story fails to start. Rekka:11:14   Awesome. So everyone get out there and grab a copy. Thank you, Amanda for joining us today. And um, good luck with everything that you're working on. AJ:       11:24   Thank you very much. It's been great to be here. Macey:11:29   I'm Jennifer Maca. I go by Macy and I am a fantasy author, short story writer, poet and podcaster based out of the Pacific northwest. Despite my accent. Kaelyn:11:42   Wait, that's not what everyone sounds like up there? Macey:11:44   It absolutely is. This is what happens when you move to Seattle. This is the secret. They don't want you to know. Kaelyn:11:49   It's because of the coffee. Macey:11:49   And the rain, I feel. I feel like the rain, helps like really get you in character. Kaelyn:11:55   Gotcha. Well thank you so much for uh, taking some time to talk to us. Macey:12:01   So I'm represented by Kurestin Armada of PA Literary and I guess I have a somewhat normal journey to getting an agent. You know, I did actually query uh, I didn't have an agent descend from the sky and pluck me from Twitter, but I guess it kind of starts with, I went to a workshop called Viable Paradise in 2016 and that was kinda my first step along the road to trying to become a professional author. Right? I had all of these books that I'd been writing for years, but I didn't really know what to do with them. And so this is a workshop that's taught by a bunch of professional authors and editors. And while I was there, they talked about, you know, the query process and that really helped me get together what I wanted to say about my book. And so I actually decided to go out querying with the book that wasn't the one I brought to Viable Paradise because I had two books in my back pocket. And you know, who doesn't? Umm - Kaelyn:13:06   It's, it's very true. I, Macey:13:10   I accidentally did NaNoWriMo every year for eight years running before I decided to try to get published. Kaelyn:13:17   Wait, how does this one accidentally do NaNoWriMo? Macey:13:20   I mean, I kind of describe what I was writing. Like back then as I wasn't trying to write books, I was kind of just like textually role-playing. Kaelyn:13:28   Okay. Macey:13:29   Just I wanted to have adventures and makeup adventures to go on, you know? Kaelyn:13:34   Okay, Gotcha. So, okay. So you were actually just consistently doing this and then certain months you were accidentally falling - okay. All right. Macey::           13:43   Yeah, yeah. Kaelyn:13:44   That's, that's wonderful. I love it. Macey:13:47   I decided that I was going to start querying in sort of March, 2017 and I had won in an auction, a query critique with someone who used to be an agent. Yeah. It was super great. It was a Amy Boggs and she did really great work for me. But while I was waiting to hear back from her, it was actually Pit Mad. The Twitter contest. Kaelyn:14:09   Yes. Yes. I really love PitMad. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. Macey:14:14   I have so many friends who got their agents that way or at least got one of their offers that way. PitMad is a Twitter like pitch contest where you tweet a very short summary of your book and kind of some hashtags about what genre it is an agents can go through and like the tweets that they want to hear more about. Kaelyn:14:34   Yeah. So it's just, yeah, it's great because it's, it's kind of, I always think of maybe a little bit of a more low pressure situation. It's kind of like, it's like a market almost where it's just like, Hey, I'm here. I got this thing. Macey:14:46   Right. Exactly. And, uh, one of my first was actually from Kursten. Kaelyn:14:53   Oh, okay. Macey:14:54   And she'd actually already been on my list of agents to query because I am an over researcher. And so I had a very detailed list of agents Kaelyn:15:03   Listen, as an acquisitions editor, I appreciate the over researchers. I love hearing like, Hey, I looked you guys up online and I saw you're interested in this. And I'm like, yes, yes. Somebody who who's paying attention, you know? Macey:15:15   And one of the things that I did end up doing, I queried 12 different agents after Kurestin had asked for my manuscript. Um, because you, you keep trying, right? You never know. These things take time. And every one of them I would look through their manuscript wishlist or look through their profile on their agency and make sure to tweak either, you know, which comp titles did I pick or what parts of my book did I highlight? Not In the plot pitch section, but in the like little blurbs section below that in your query letter. And that's where you can kind of do really subtle, um, personalizations Kaelyn:15:51   I don't know if it helped, but it sounds like it did. And if nothing else, it sounds like it didn't hurt. Macey:15:58   Right. So that was in March, Kurestin asked for the first 50 pages from PitMad and then a month later she asked for the full manuscript. And then I think in late July it was, she reached out and said, you know, let's talk, which is the email you are waiting for. And so we had a really great conversation and I followed up with all of the other agents who had had my full and I decided that no, Kurestin is really the one for me. Kaelyn:16:26   So what made you think that Kurestin was really the one for you? This is another thing that we're seeing when we're talking to everyone that they're like, and I just knew I - Macey:16:37   I'm a very analytical person. Um, so I can probably break it down. Kaelyn:16:42   Um, which by the way, you're going to see, you're one of the only authors I know is like, I have some statistics on this. I've given a lot of thought. There's a spreadsheet with a pivot table. And if you look at the corresponding data here. Macey:16:57   Yeah, no like seriously, um, I have so many spreadsheets with so many like cell formulas. I have an entire automated poetry tracking spreadsheet that moves things in and out of the available to sub column based on where they're submitted to and where they're not. Kaelyn:17:13   That's amazing. And I love it as a, as a big fan of excel myself. That is, Yup, that's phenomenal. Macey:17:21   But um for Kurestin, so one of the things for me, I sent out a total of 12 queries over six months and that's a little bit of a low number for some people. I was being very specific when I was researching about who I wanted to query and I was only querying people who represented fantasy and YA and both adult and why a fantasy and who specifically mentioned LGBTQ or queer or gay somewhere in their profile or their manuscript wishlist and that plus, you know, targeting agencies that had a reputation for selling books kind of cut my choices down a lot. But it meant that I was already kind of confident. So I had a fairly short list of agents and so all of them would be really great choices. But for me, Kurestin had a lot of really great editorial things to say about the particular book that I'd sent to her and really understood what I, where it was going. And we also had a conversation about like longer career plans. Did we want to be in this as business partners for the long term because it's not just about will they sign this one book, but do they want to be your career partner? Kaelyn:18:30   Right. Yeah. And that's, that's really important. And I think that's something that not everyone thinks about going into this is this is a business partner. This is a business relationship. And like you both have to be on the same page about what you're expecting out of it. Macey:18:45   Absolutely. And especially since the project that she signed me for, which was a queer, silky, YA novel, it didn't sell. And so now we're moving onto the next project, which I'm super excited about. But like I asked her on the call, what do we do if it doesn't sell? And she says, you know, we keep working and we try the next thing together. And so that was really great to find or have knowledge of an advance and then not be so scared that I was going to disappoint her. Kaelyn:19:14   Do you actually, I just kind of brought up an interesting, uh, the angle that I think author, you know, authors, you guys are so in your own head. Macey:19:23   Yup. Kaelyn:19:23   So some of the most lovely but some of the most anxious people. Macey:19:30   You are not wrong. Kaelyn:19:32   I have ever met, and um, one of the things that you know is the I the self rejection and I the the not good enough. And um, so yeah, disappointing your agent. That's a whole nother level of scary now. Macey:19:46   Isn't it? Kaelyn:19:48   Sp how'd you work through that? Where you've said like? Macey:19:51   Well, so, well one of the things that really great being with Kurestin is we built this kind of community amongst all of her clients called Kurestin's Armada because her last name is Amato and we are dweebs fantastic. And so I have this community of really supportive, amazing fellow clients and we have a little Alack together. And you know, once or twice a week, one of us will go in and be like, I fucked up. She's gonna hate me. And then we're like literally never going to happen. The rest of us know that Kurestin will never hate you, will never hate any of us and we'll fix it. Kurestin still not be mad. You should talk to her and she will help you. And just having someone else who actually knows her be like, no, no, it's fine. Really fix it. Kurestin fixes everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm uh, she, she has done nothing to deserve being saddled with us. Kaelyn:20:57   Well, it sounds like a lovely supportive community and an army nay an armada and the rest, as they say is history. You guys are still working on upcoming projects and you know, that's, that's great. Uh, you know, the ongoing relationship with an agent is so important. Macey:21:20   Right. Kaelyn:21:20   And I think a lot of people when they sign with one are just so excited right off the bat to have their literary agent. It's like, oh, right, I'm going to be with this person for a while. Probably. Macey:21:30   I think it's really hard to get past that initial kind of gut reaction that this is just a stamp of approval. You know, you have gained this status. Kaelyn:21:40   Yeah, it is. It's like, you know, you've completed this quest, here is your - Macey:21:46   Tada. Kaelyn:21:46   Yeah. Um, here is your agent badge to add to your, your book. Um, it's, it's Mewtwo at the end of Pokemon and, but no, because then it's like no, but then you actually have Mewtwo. Macey:22:00   Yeah. You've got to have a relationship with this person who is a human with styles of working with opinions and you need to understand that and not just jump at the first opportunity because it could be a bad one. Kaelyn:22:17   You know, that's so hard. If you're really wanting to get an agent to have to walk away from something and there's no good answer to it, you just kind of have to be aware is really, I think the only way to approach that. Macey:22:34   And I think for me, one of the things that I didn't realize at the time and so kind of lucked into, um, is we were talking a little earlier about how inside our heads authors get and how anxious and I think that in order to stick it out as a writer, you really need to get to know yourself and understand the things that make you more anxious and the things that sues you. And one of the things that's super important is that the communication style of your agent works for you, not against you. I have friends who have, uh, agents that they really, really love, who don't always answer emails and have to be poked with followup things to answer the email. And I'm like, it's great that that works for you. I would have a panic attack, but I would just need curled up in a ball. Like they hate me now Kaelyn:23:27   They're figuring out how to drop contract all together. This is it. Macey:23:34   And that's fine. It's, um, there is no one perfect agent. They're puzzle pieces. Right. Kaelyn:23:41   That's, that's a really good way to describe it. Yeah. And, um, you know, agents that I know and I talked to. I know even just like in my capacity as an editor, I always kind of go to the author and go, what works best for you? If you want to text me questions, that's, that's fine. If you prefer to have like, you know, regular scheduled meetings where we talk about that all at once and that's the only time you hear from me, that's, that's great too. Like I can be flexible. So let me know what works for you because if you're unhappy it's not, this isn't going to work well for anybody. Right. Um, you know, I, the last thing I want to do is be a source of anxiety in your life, right? Yeah, exactly. Macey:24:26   Righ, I have enough of those. Kaelyn:24:27   Exactly. So tell us something, either you wish you had known, you wish other people knew, something you're surprised by about either the process or once you have an agent. Macey:24:37   Hmm. I mean, I think the big one is the communication styles. I have seen agent breakups that have been in large part caused or worsened by that by just a mismatch and just how important it is to understand your own needs before you try to make the sort of commitment. I mean it's not a marriage, but it's a longterm partnership contract. You know what I mean? Kaelyn:25:03   In some cases it's harder to get out of than a marriage. Macey:25:07   Yeah. I mean things get really tangled up once you've sold your money will be coming through that agent forever for that book. Yep. Um, it doesn't have to go away. Kaelyn:25:16   You know what, that's a good point that, uh, I think maybe again, something you don't think about. If you signed a contract for selling your book through an agent and then you and that agent go there, set your separate ways, your money still goes through that agent. Yeah. Does forever. Yup. Because even though you're no longer working with that person, they are technically still your business partner for that particular deal. Yeah. Macey:25:42   They are 15% or whatever their fee is. Kaelyn:25:46   Exactly. Yeah. That's, that's a very good thing to mention. Um, communication style. Yeah. Is very, very important for so many people. And again, I think like you just, when you get the call and you're like, oh my gosh, somebody wants me. Um, Macey:26:04   And I think the other thing is when you're getting those calls and making your decisions, you are setting a pattern for yourself in how you work with that person. And you need to think about setting up a pattern that's going to keep working for you. You need to not be scared to email your agent, right? And that can start early, you know? Um, I pester my agent on Twitter sometimes and gently troll her by suggesting I'm going to write a new book where the entire plot is one Flovence and the Machine's song. Kaelyn:26:37   Um, I mean, you're going to do that though, right? Macey:26:40   Maybe. But then she's like, Macy, that's not what plot means. I'm like, I, I'll fix it later. Kaelyn:26:45   You have some stuff you have to tell us about coming up with you and your life. You're headed to Ireland. Macey:26:52   Yes. My podcast is a finalist for Best Fan Cast at the Hugo's Be The Serpent. And so that's exciting and scary and awesome. Kaelyn:27:01   That's amazing and wonderful and just the greatest thing. Macey:27:05   Yeah, I'm honestly like we, you were completely gobsmacked and amazed just to be on the list and I'm so happy with how many new people have been brought in just to hear a few episodes of the podcast and hopefully stick with us cause I'm really fond of what we do. Kaelyn:27:21   Yeah. So do you want to tell everyone a little bit about like what the podcast is? Macey:27:24   Sure. Kaelyn:27:25   Why it's so awesome. Macey:27:27   It's called Be The Serpent and it is a podcast where three redheaded fantasy authors dissect tropes and patterns and themes in media, in literature, and in fan fiction. Kaelyn:27:40   Do you want to hear three people that just genuinely love and enjoy each other's company. Macey:27:46   And make a lot of dick jokes together. Kaelyn:27:48   And that absolutely that. Come for the friendship - . Macey:27:55   And there's one other thing that's coming up. Myself, Janeen Southard and Danielle Wexler are putting together a Kickstarter, which hopefully should be out in October sometime to fund an anthology of queer ff stories about swords, women and their princess lieges. Kaelyn:28:14   It's going to be amazing. I'm so excited when it was funny because of Rekka had mentioned like, oh, and you have to make sure to remind Macy about the Kickstarter. And so I was like, and hey, tell me about this Kickstarter. Like, oh well it's a ways off still, but here's what it is. And I was like, this is going to be awesome. Macey:28:33   It's going to be so cool. We have so much awesome artwork lined up for people as rewards and stretch goals. And one of our first stretch goals is to hopefully open slush so we can have open call and lots of people can send us their amazing weapons sapphic stories and I can't wait to read all of them Kaelyn:28:54   It's going to be fantastic. A project doesn't, doesn't have a title yet. Macey:28:58   Nope, but we've got some really cool people attached. Um, like Alliette Bardard, Kelly Robson, JY Yang. Kaelyn:29:04   Oh, awesome. That's, that's so great. So, um, yeah, where the Kickstarter is not up yet. There isn't a title yet, but when there is, we'll be sure to put in the show notes and uh, you know, hopefully, you know, you'll have something, you know, we can have put out on Twitter to the masses because that just, it sounds like it's going to be amazing. So, um, okay, well thank you so much for taking the time. Talk to us. Where can people find you? Macey:29:28   I have a website which is EnglishMace.com and I'm on Twitter @EnglishMace and the podcast is Be The Serpent on Podbean, on iTunes, on Google play or wherever you get podcasts. Thank you so much for bringing me. Nino:   29:43   I'm Nino Cipri. Um, I'm a queer and Trans Writer. I've written all kinds of different things, mostly focusing on fiction. Um, I have written screenplays, essays, um, so many angry emails, so many, uh, I have two books that are coming out in the next year. Um, my first collection of short stories is coming out in October. It's called homesick. I'm very excited about that. And then in February, I have haven't developed coming out with Tor.com that's called Finna. I write in a bunch of different genres. The like kind of main main through line is that a lot of my stories have like, they're kind of funny. They have a lot of feelings and they're pretty queer. Um, but I've written like horror, I've written science fiction, I've written like fantasy. I actually wrote a story that's like almost entirely like non genre. There's no spec- the only speculative is that there's like 3 million old or 3 million year old fossils of like intelligent weasels and that's it. Rekka:30:47   That's all you need. Nino:   30:48   That's all I needed. Rekka:30:50   Okay. So with that list of, um, of writing styles and subject matter and genre, um, who was in charge of wrangling your writing career? Nino:   30:59   Uh, I like that wrangling. Um, I am represented by DongWon Song of the Howard Morhaim Agency. Rekka:31:06   And how did you come to choose DongWon? So I actually had kind of a weird journey towards that. I wasn't planning on getting an agent until I had a novel finished, um, which I didn't actually. Um, but in sometime early in the fall, I decided kind of on a whim to enter a contest, uh, like, um, uh, what was it? It was like a short story collection contest with a small press called Dezink. Um, and I had no, like thought that I would win it and then I did and I was shocked and like appalled and I was like, what do you need? Nino:   31:40   Um, but then I had a book deal and then I needed an agent. Um, so I turned as so many millennials do to my friends. Um, and I called a bunch of different people that I knew that all had different agents that I was like, I had been kind of eyeballing them for like, okay, when I start going out and query, I'm going to, I'm going to contact these people. Um, but the fact that I had a book deal like in hand and I needed to sign a contract at some point very soon or reject it, um, kind of sped the process up a lot. So I think I ended up, I talked to a bunch of different friends. I came up with a list of I think like four people who all represented like other writers that I knew pretty well. Um, I asked those friends a lot of questions about like, what the like relationship was like, kind of like exactly like what you're doing. Nino:   32:31   Um, and then ask those friends if they would be willing to, you know, with their agent's permission, like write me a letter of introduction. Um, and I think three of the people, like three of the agents were like, yeah, sure, just like have them email me. Um, and I, one was one of them. I talked to JY Young, um, who is fabulous and awesome and I don't, I don't really know their faces right now because I'm sure everybody knows. Rekka:32:59   Yeah. Nino:   32:59   So it actually ended up coming down to, cause I was talking with a couple of other agents, um, I had to, I got two offers and then ended up going with DongWon. Um, and then almost immediately after like got another book deals. So I feel like I kind of like prove my worth, like, technically? Rekka:33:15   Well no regrets. Right? Nino:   33:18   Yeah. Rekka:33:20   So, um, that's an interesting way to come about having an agent is having the contract first. Um, yeah, which is funny because we think about like the, the power dynamic between the author who is querying and the agent who must, you know, judge and, and accept or, or you know, there's several stages of acceptance with the agent and um, it feels like you kind of get to skip ahead in line a little bit because like, um, not only do you have a book deal, but you also have a little bit of a time pressure that you can leverage to say like, Hey, um, there's a bit of a of a time crunch on this. Could you just let me know real quick? So did, um, so normally when an agent replies to a query, they are requesting a full or a partial or, or some, um, step forward from whatever has been queried. So what were you querying with and what was the next step from there? Nino:   34:15   Like what I sent to DongWon, like the other agents that I was talking to, I sent them like the manuscript for the, um, for the short story collection. Okay. And just be like, this is what is getting published. I think I sent them the contract that was on offer as well. Um, and then I also sent them like, I think the first 10 pages of the novel in progress that I had, which was a young adult horror novel. Um, and it was just like, this is not finished. Just so you know, like just when I tried to be like very, very transparent with that. Like, here's what I've got, here's the first chapter of it, or like the first half of the first chapter. Um, so you can get like an idea of like what I'm, what I'm working on next. Okay. And then I am working on something. Rekka:34:59   And so the contract was an offer for that future novel? Is that what it was or is it the contract for the short story? Nino:   35:05   The contract was for the short story. Rekka:35:06   Okay. Gotcha. Okay. So now you have an agent, you already have a contract, you've already sold a short story. Um, so the agent and you, I'm sorry DongWon and you began to work on that novel together. Is that what the next step is? Nino:   35:22   I should mentioned that all of this was happening when I was in my last year of an MFA program. Yeah. This was, it was like the last six months of it. Rekka:35:30   Okay. Nino:   35:32   So there was like a bunch of different things going on. Um, so on the heels of this offer for the short story collection, um, the novella that was in there was originally in that short story collection. Um, I had also submitted to Tor and Tor.com like novella submission window. Rekka:35:49   Right. Nino:   35:49   Um, and which was like, I double check to make sure that I could do simultaneous submissions and I did. Um, but the thing that people say might happen but never ever will actually happen, happened to me where like I had the offer and I had withdrawn it, um, from Tor immediately. And then like Carl Anglay was just like, I want that. Nino:   36:14   Yeah. So he ended up calling DongWon, DongWon called me. We both called my publisher at the, at Dezink. Just be like, um, so this awkward thing is happening. Yeah. Um, so that was the next thing we actually started working on was something else that like was already the kind of like fell into our lap. Um, which was really nice. And so now, um, like all of that had to be kind of like taken care of. I edited, finished up. Um, so now I'm trying to finish up like revisions on my novel. Um, I finished the first draft. I think this was also my like masters thesis. So I finished the first draft sometime in April I think, and then sends it on to him and like we made a revision plan and yeah, that's what we're working on now. Rekka:37:01   Okay. Alright. So the novels that you have, the books, um, I didn't catch the length that you have coming out in the future. Are these different? Nino:   37:11   Yeah, the short story collection, one novella. And I'm trying to work on a novel and like also there's like a screenplay that's like way over there that I think I was just going to be like, can you just make it fiction? Rekka:37:23   So, um, how is working with DongWon on your novel versus working on the contracts and all the business like communications. Nino:   37:32   So with the other two manuscripts, he was fairly hands off. Um, when we were talking about like, uh, trying to like maneuver one Novella into Tor's hands and then like another novella to this to, to Dezank. Um, he read the like replacement novella cause I was like, you know, this is a pretty rough draft. I didn't, you know, it needs another couple of revisions for sure. Do you want to read it and let me know what you think of it? Like here's my thoughts about it. Um, so he gave me like, he was mostly just like, yeah, I think I agree with basically everything that you, you know, all of your instincts on what through revise are good in my opinion. Um, but he also knew that like, uh, the editor at design would have like a lot more, um, specific feedback. Nino:   38:19   So he was like, here's like the kind of like big picture stuff that I think too you need to work on. Um, the novella, like, because it was already thought, like he was just like, you know, didn't really have any, anything to really say about that one I don't think cause you knew like Carl would be Carl Anglered at Tor would have, you know, his own feedback that he would want implemented. Um, with the novel. He read it and he like, we met for drinks and he was like, okay, we've got like basically one of four ways that you can revise this. Like, and was really good at just trying to figure out first like, what was my vision of this book? Like what did I actually think this was about? And ones that I want it to be. Um, you know, he's like, is this an adult horror novel? Is this young adult or is this about trauma? Um, and it was like we figured out there's like, we like what it was and then how to get it closer to that. Rekka:39:11   Okay, great. So that was all over drinks. You just like hashed it out in person? Nino:   39:15   Pretty much. Yeah. I mean, I, and he said that because he said he wanted to do that because he could tell like there was different directions that it could be, it could go, um, like, and that is easier to figure out in person rather than like over email. Sure. And you don't really appreciate cause yeah, yeah. Email him that. Rekka:39:35   Well plus the back and forth, the time lag and then trying to phrase things correctly without the context of facial expression and volume and enthusiasm is, is different. Okay. Nino:   39:47   When I first signed with him, I was living in Kansas. I'm attempting to move to New York. I have, I'm trying to find a job here. Rekka:39:54   Oh, okay. Nino:   39:55   - permanently, but yeah. Um, even before my partner Nibs lives here, so I was here pretty regularly, like every, I've maybe every other month. Rekka:40:04   Okay. So it wasn't, it wasn't out of your way. It wasn't like come to this expensive conference and then we'll meet and have this, have this meeting. So that's good. Awesome. How often would you say you check in with DongWon? Nino:   40:17   Hmm. He's good at like telling me the things that I need to know. But he also, I think respects the fact that I'm like, you know, we're both very busy people. I'm trying to find a job. He has a bunch of, he's got like several other clients and travels a lot. Yeah. Um, we check in like fairly regularly. I would say like maybe once a month, twice a month, something like that. And he'll send me updates on things like, you know, oh, there was film interest in this thing. Um, I'm just going to let you know. And also here's what you should maybe expect out of that. Which of course was not much, but it's nice. Consider it a complement. Rekka:40:54   Yeah, definitely. Definitely. So if someone you knew was in your position where you were after you won this contest or, um, in the position of somebody who hadn't won anything for, um, their writing yet, but was looking for an agent to represent their work, would you have any tips for that person, what they could expect or what, what you would recommend they do? Nino:   41:15   So in this, I would say like definitely if you have a community like if you know other writers like talk to them about their agents, talk to them about, um, like what are the reasons like that I signed with them. Like what were their expectations going in versus what, um, you, they've learned since then. Like what the reality actually is. Um, and like I and I, I actually have like talked to some people like who are going out, like starting to query it and I'm just like, you should absolutely do what I did. Absolutely. Get your friends for at you like introduction. Rekka:41:49   Yeah. Nino:   41:50   Your friends are willing to and their agents are okay with it. Like right there. Right. Get them to write you introductions. Like, I feel like anything that can kind of like put you a little bit ahead is helpful. Um, and I don't think it's like breaking the rules at least as far as I know. Maybe there are rules, but like, like nobody told me that when I was starting. Rekka:42:10   So, so your tip is, um, no, no rules and just go forward. Nino:   42:15   Well, and I think too, like agents, especially ones that are trying to find like build their client base are really good at like trying to make themselves accessible in various ways with DongWon, like I know that he's really active and like going to cons and like, um, talking to new writers and doing all of these things. So if that opportunity presents itself to like talk to an agent, then yeah, absolutely. Do that. Like go to go to a conference or a convention if that's something that's available to you. Rekka:42:43   Awesome. All right, cool. So community basically is, is the center of the universe for making this happen? Nino:   42:49   That is absolutely, yeah. That's like the, all the advice I ever have about writing comes down to just like just to build, build better in larger communities. Rekka:42:57   Awesome. Nino:   42:58   Yeah. Hunger communities. Rekka:42:59   Yes. 100%. All right. So um, you'll give us the names of the two books before. Just remind us before we let you go. Nino:   43:08   Okay. Yeah, so in October the my short story collection Homesick is going to be released from Dzanc Books. You can preorder it now. Yes, you can absolutely preorder it now. Um, and then Finna, which is a novella is going to be up from tour.com in February. Rekka:43:25   Okay, great. And we will include links to that in our show notes and thank you so much for your time and we really appreciate you coming on and sharing your experience. Cause like you said, learning from your friends, learning from others in the writing community is, is like such a great resource. Nino:   43:38   It is. It is. Oh God. Yeah. I would not be anywhere without my friends. Rekka:43:42   Absolutely. Awesome. Well thank you so much. I really appreciate your time. Nino:   43:46   Thanks you too. Rekka:44:04   Thanks everyone for joining us for another episode of we make books. If you have any questions that you want answered in future episodes or just have questions in general, remember you can find us on Twitter @wmbcast, same for Instagram or WMB cast.com if you find value in the content that we provide, we would really appreciate your support@patreon.com/WMBcast. If you can't provide financial support, we totally understand and what you could really do to help us is spread the word about this podcast. You can do that by sharing a particular episode with a friend who can find it useful. Or if you leave a rating and review at iTunes, it will feed that algorithm and help other people find our podcast too. Of course, you can always retweet our episodes on Twitter. Thank you so much for listening and we will talk to you soon.    

Brea and Mallory talk about book series and interview writer JY Yang. Use the hashtag #ReadingGlassesPodcast to participate in online discussion! Email us at readingglassespodcast at gmail dot com! Reading Glasses Merch Links - Reading Glasses Facebook Group Reading Glasses Goodreads Group Amazon Wish List   Newsletter    Book Buddy   JY Yang   https://twitter.com/halleluyang https://www.patreon.com/jyyang The Ascent to Godhood by JY Yang   Books Mentioned -  This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett The Guin Saga Manga by Kazuaki Yanagisawa Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older In The Woods by Tana French Homeland by R.A. Salvatore Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Blue Bear by Walter Moers Storm Front (Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher The Rosewater Insurrection by Tade Thompson Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Fantasy writer JY Yang joins us on the pod to discuss their Tensorate series of silkpunk novels. JY was our writer in residence at Dragon Hall in June and it was the perfect opportunity to explore their approach to world building, the origins of the series and what is coming next. Hosted by Simon Jones and Steph McKenna. Find out more about our work at https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk Music by Bennet Maples.

Top 500, Batman Who Laughs: Grim Knight, Superman 9, Age of Conan: Belit, Age of X-Man: Apocalypse and the X-Tracts, Magnificent Ms. Marvel, Age of Republic: General Grievous, Uncanny X-Men: Winter’s End, Calamity Kate, Zootopia: Family Night, Radio Deli (OGN), Assassin Nation, Little Bird, Riverdale s3, Steven Universe: Fusion Frenzy   Reviews: Captain Marvel   News: Katy Keene cast, Nancy Drew movie/TV pilot, Supercrooks anime from Netflix, Animated What If, New DC Zoom books, Black Hammer/Justice League, Shang Chi director, return of Grendel, new Silver Surfer book by Donny Cates, rewritten Flash script, Archie creative shift, Hickman returns to Marvel, Toy Story 4 trailer, James Gunn   Comics Details: Batman Who Laughs: Grim Knight by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Eduardo Risso, Dave Stewart Age of Conan: Belit 1 by Tini Howard, Kate Niemczyk, Jason Keith Age of X-Man: Apocalypse and the X-Tracts 1 by Tim Seeley, Salva Espin, Israel Silva    Age of Republic: General Grievous by Jody Houser, Luke Ross, Java Tartaglia Magnificent Ms. Marvel 1 by Saladin Ahmed, Minky Jung, Juan Vlasco, Ian Herring Uncanny X-Men: Winter’s End by Sina Grace, Nathan Stockman, Federico Blee Calamity Kate 1 by Mags Visaggio, Corin Howell, Valentina Pinto Assassin Nation 1 by Kyle Starks, Erica Henderson Little Bird 1 by Darcy Van Poelgeest, Ian Bertram, Matt Hollingsworth Steven Universe: Fusion Frenzy by Sarah Gailey, Maurizia Rubino, JY Yang, Doki Rosi, Steve Foxe, Xiao Tong Kong, Cristina Rose Chua, Nicole Andelfinger, Mollie Rose, Jamie Loughran, Anthony Oliveira, Ver   Comics Countdown: Cover 6 by Brian Michael Bendis, David Mack Runaways 19 by Rainbow Rowell, Andres Genolet, Triona Farrell Oblivion Song 13 by Robert Kirkman, Lorenzo De Felici Justice League Dark 9 by James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez, Miguel Mendonca, Brad Anderson, Raul Fernandez Wonder Woman 66 by G. Willow Wilson, Cary Nord, Mick Gray, Romulo Fajardo Jr Batman Who Laughs: Grim Knight by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Eduardo Risso, Dave Stewart Murder Falcon 6 by Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer By Night 9 by John Allison, Christine Larsen, Sarah Stern Tony Stark: Iron Man 9 by Dan Slott, Jim Zub, Paolo Rivera, Valerio Schiti, Edgar Delgado Outer Darkness 5 by John Layman, Afu Chan  

On this episode of Be the Serpent, we're talking about gender, relationships, and the worldbuilding thereof! The tentpoles this week are a selection of Steven Universe episodes, The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang, and “An Ever Fixed Mark” by imperfectcircle.What We’ve Been Reading Heroine Complex series by Sarah KuhnA Perfect Spy by John le CarreEmpresses in the PalaceSea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the WorldNirvana in FireLe Guin short storiesThe Royal TailorThe Grand HeistThugs of Hindostan Other Stuff We Mentioned Mad Max: Fury Road“The Answer” (the episode of Steven Universe with Garnet’s origin story)“Now We’re Only Falling Apart” (the episode where Garnet unfuses)“Jail Break” (the episode with Lapis Lazuli/Jasper fusion)The Tensorate series by J.Y. Yang“An Ever Fixed Mark” by imperfectcircleMerlin“A Fisherman of the Inland Sea” by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster BujoldCity of Lies by Sam HawkeHomestuck by Andrew HussieBaahubaliMagic Mike XXLThe Harwood Spellbook  series by Stephanie BurgisThe Underwater Ballroom Society edited by Stephanie BurgisHark! A Vagrant comics by Kate BeatonDragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffreyTemeraire series by Naomi NovikThe Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le GuinAncillary Justice by Anne Leckie   For Next Time Ulysses by girlbookwrm   Transcription: The transcript for this episode can be found here! Thank you to our darling scribes, Sara, Neharika, Kelly, and Millie!!

Eavesdrop on a Sunday brunch with JY Yang as we discuss why they consider themselves "a master of hermitry,” the catalyst that gave birth to their award-nominated Tensorate Universe, why they think of themselves as terrible at world-building, how their dislike of the Matt Damon movie The Great Wall gave them an idea for a novel, the surprising results after they polled fans on which of their works was most award-worthy, their beginnings writing Star Trek and Star Wars fan fiction, why they never played video games until their 30s, the Samuel R. Delany writing advice they hesitated to share, and much more.

Amanda and Jenn discuss naturey spec-fic, New England novels, escapist reads, and more in this week's episode of Get Booked. This episode is sponsored by Book Riot's gift card giveaway and Book Riot Insiders.   Questions   1. I have been listening to your podcast for a long time now and I absolutely love it! I have a request for you. I love Fantasy genre and Sci-Fi (maybe even some post-apocalyptic). My favourite books have been Harry Potter, Lord of the rings, Sword of Truth and The Dresden Files. I am looking for something fresh to read in this genre, with a unique universe, new ideas and nice characters. I know it may sound a bit challenging but I would love to find something to read that is outside the mainstream Fantasy guidelines. Thank you and keep up the good work! --John   2. Hello! Thanks for all the work you put into your great podcast, my booklist has been growing exponentially every since I started following you! I am looking for book suggestions to help me further cope with and accept all the destruction and damage to the natural world that is rampant in human society. I love fiction but also appreciate non fiction. One of my favorite books is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer so anything like that would be appreciated. I'm also looking for comforting nature focused novels like those by Barbara Kingsolver, and thought provoking dystopia-style books where the natural world is a speculative character of its own like in Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach Trilogy. Any suggestions you have would be much appreciated! --Rhiannon   3. Looking for books by June 21. Hello, I'm headed to New England for 2 weeks in June. Would love some books to read while up there on vacation that are set in any of the New England States or about New England and its History. I do love books that give me all the feels and give me an emotional reaction. But I'm open to anything. I love literary fiction, historical fiction, women's lit and narrative non fiction. Some of my favorite books have been Unbroken by Laura Hildebrand, anything by Kristin Hannah, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, Trail of Broken Wings (the author escapes me ...but if you haven't go read it)., When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin, and this oldy but Goody The Story of a Bad Boy by Thomas Aldridge (I'm pretty sure the character Sailor Sam is my all time literary character), Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Thanks --Shona   4. Hi! I just blazed through Circe and am about half way through Song of Achilles. I have discovered I have a love of Greek mythology retelling. What book / series can you recommend to help me dive into Greek mythology? I prefer longer books so please no short stories (unless it’s a big collection) or graphic novels. Thanks so much! --Jessica   5. Hello! Request date of early September for my cousin's birthday. My cousin is a trans-man currently going through the physical transition. Recently, while discussing books, he lamented the lack of representation he is able to find in books (and other media). When he is able to find it, the stories always end poorly for the character (suicide, violence/abuse, drugs, etc.). He has read a few memoirs, but would really love a novel. Do you know of any that have a trans-man as the main character and a happy ending? Own-voices would be amazing. Thanks! --April   6. Hi! I just joined the insiders and have been hooked on this podcast for months now. I read anything and have been known to choose books by the covers. Something I haven’t really found is a book that includes Foster Families. I don’t shy away from anything. I have been a foster mom for just over a year now, I have two step children and one foster baby right now. So, good and bad are welcome. I would like one of each if possible. I love listening to you, keep up the great work you both are doing! Thank you, --Sherri   7. Hello, lovely ladies! I am graduating THIS WEEK with a Masters in Social Work, and loved (almost) every moment of it, but am ready for some serious escape-from-reality reading now. Based on your podcast I listened to the audio version of Seanan McGuire’s Every Heart a Doorway and LOVED the unique complexity of worlds with differing levels of logic, nonsense, wickedness and virtue as well as the absolute normalization of the whole queer spectrum, dead bodies, and that indescribable feeling of missing a place so badly you can’t go on with your life. I’m utterly, embarrassingly new to the fantasy genre and would love more recs for stories that are dark but in that “it’ll never happen to me or the people I’ll be working with as a social worker” kind of way :). Thank you!! --Melissa     Books Discussed Hunger Makes the Wolf by Alex Wells Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler Roses and Rot by Kat Howard (tw: child abuse) Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara (tw: harm to children) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood Queens of Renthia series by Sarah Beth Durst Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead On Beauty by Zadie Smith All Our Pretty Songs by Sarah McCarry Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin Burnt Toast B&B by Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz Holding Still for as Long as Possible by Zoe Whitall Some Assembly Required by Arin Andrews, rec’d by Jackson Bird Resources: trans recs on Goodreads, Transmission Podcast To The End of June by Cris Beam Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang

WHAT’S NEW ON THE INTERNET/WHAT DO WE CARE ABOUT THIS WEEK? Locus Awards finalists: https://locusmag.com/2018/04/2018-locus-awards-finalists/ The Norma: https://normakhemmingaward.org Tansy on Acts of Kitchen: https://actsofkitchen.com/2018/04/29/acts-of-kitchen-tansy-rayner-roberts-2/ CULTURE CONSUMED:   Alisa: iZombie, Champagne and Socks, Epiphany   Alex: Descent of Monsters (and The Black Tides of Heaven, The Red Threads of Fortune), JY Yang; Artificial Condition, Martha Wells; Underwater Ballroom Society, ed Stephanie Burgis and Tiffany Trent; October, China Mieville. Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook, support us at Patreon - which now includes access to the ever so exclusive GS Slack - and don't forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!

This week, on Bookmark, Uma speaks to JY Yang, the Singaporean author of the brand new series of silkpunk fantasy novellas: The Red Threads of Fortune and The Black Tides of Heaven. *You can catch JY at the 2017 edition of the Singapore Writers Festival. You can find more information about that here.

This week, on Bookmark, Uma speaks to JY Yang, the Singaporean author of the brand new series of silkpunk fantasy novellas: The Red Threads of Fortune and The Black Tides of Heaven. *You can catch JY at the 2017 edition of the Singapore Writers Festival. You can find more information about that here.

Curiosity Fruit Machine by S. Qiouyi Lu "What is it?" Alliq says. Jalzy runs eir hands over the object. It's a box of some sort, made from metal with organic paneling; a narrow lever sticks out from one side. Ey finds emself reaching out to the lever, eir fingers grasping the pockmarked knob at the end as if working from unearthed muscle memory. "I have no clue," Jalzy says. "But... I kinda wanna pull this and see what happens."   CURIOSITY FRUIT MACHINE and THE SLOW ONES are both GlitterShip Originals. [Full transcript after the cut]  ----more---- Hello! Welcome to GlitterShip, episode 33 for February 14, 2017. This is your host, Keffy, and I’m super excited to be sharing these stories with you. We have two stories this week, "Curiosity Fruit Machine" by S. Qiouyi Lu and "The Slow Ones" by JY Yang. Even better, S. narrated both stories for us! S. Qiouyi Lu is a writer, artist, narrator, and translator; their stories have appeared in Strange Horizons and Daily Science Fiction, and their poetry has appeared in Liminality and Uncanny. They are a 2016 graduate of the Clarion West writers workshop and a dread member of the Queer Asian SFFH Illuminati. Find them online at s.qiouyi.lu or follow them on Twitter at @sqiouyilu. JY Yang is a queer, non-binary writer and editor who has short fiction published or forthcoming in places like Uncanny, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons and Tor.com. Their debut novellas, THE RED THREADS OF FORTUNE and THE BLACK TIDES OF HEAVEN, will be out from Tor.com Publishing in Fall 2017. They live in Singapore, edit fiction at Epigram Books, and swan about Twitter as @halleluyang.     Curiosity Fruit Machine by S. Qiouyi Lu   "What is it?" Alliq says. Jalzy runs eir hands over the object. It's a box of some sort, made from metal with organic paneling; a narrow lever sticks out from one side. Ey finds emself reaching out to the lever, eir fingers grasping the pockmarked knob at the end as if working from unearthed muscle memory. "I have no clue," Jalzy says. "But... I kinda wanna pull this and see what happens." Alliq frowns. "Don't. For all we know, that thing could be some sort of weapon. We should probably wait for the others to catch up so we can get the engineering team to take a proper look." Alliq's voice fades into a mumble. Jalzy presses eir nose to the glass front of the object and brushes a tight curl of hair out of eir face. Ey can just barely make out some lettering—PAY. Eir grasp of 21st-century English is weak, but this seems to be a money machine of some sort. Surely, ey thinks, bringing eir arm down, a money machine can't hurt em... "Don't—!" The object whirs to life, three wheels inside the glass case spinning; a few of the bulbs lining the edge buzz and spark. Jalzy jumps back. Oh crap. Ccccccclackkkclackkclackkk—didn't old-timey explosives make that sound? Or were explosives more of a tick-tock sound? One of the wheels clicks as it stops—Jalzy grabs Alliq by the wrist, drags xem to a safe spot behind a wall of heavy crates—then another click—they brace themselves—and—click! Alliq flinches. Jalzy waits a moment—a dud, perhaps?—before peeking past the edge of the crates. The object's face shows one symbol, then two of the same symbol. The first is an oblong, yellow shape, and the next two are round, red orbs connected by an inverted green V. "I think we're safe," Jalzy whispers. Alliq comes up from xyr braced position. "Goddammit, don't do this to me," Alliq hisses. Xe's sweating a little, xyr forehead shining, and Jalzy has to suppress a giggle. "Hey, we're fine, right?" Ey steps out from behind the crates and goes back to the object. Ey crouches down. There's a metal trough underneath the symbols, but it's empty. Do they need to put something in there? "Jalzy," Alliq says from over eir shoulder, "those are—those are pictures of fruit." "What's a fruit?" "Seriously?" Alliq says, voice laden with exasperation. When Jalzy gives xem a blank stare, Alliq points at the oblong symbol and says, "Look, the first one is a lemon. Those two on the right, those are cherries." Jalzy squints. "I thought 'cherry' and 'lemon' were just colors. You know, like how we also have orange nutriblocks in our sustenance packs." Alliq snorts. "You know there used to be a fruit called 'orange', right? It wasn't just a color. Those are actually flavors. They came from these." Jalzy straightens up and paces around the object. "So what is this, a fruit-making machine?" "Did you never take terrabiology?" Alliq says. "History of Earth? Anything?" "Look, I took astrophysics so I wouldn't have to deal with so much reading, okay," Jalzy says, flipping eir crown of curls over eir shoulder. "So just educate me already, O All-Knowing Alliq." Alliq crosses xyr arms over xyr chest in a huff. "Fruit comes from seeds, not machines. I mean, we perfected the science to duplicate the flavors all the way back in the 21st century, but we never really got down how to duplicate the organic material. So the best we've got now is our nutriblocks." Xe unfolds xyr arms and circles around the object. "This—this is something else entirely. I don't think it actually has anything to do with food." "So, if it doesn't seem to be a weapon, and it doesn't produce anything... wanna pull the lever again and see what happens?" Jalzy grins slyly at Alliq, who raises xyr hands in surrender. "I'm going to check out the other room. If I were you, I'd just keep doing inventory until engineering gets here and can confirm what kind of object that is." Jalzy sticks out eir tongue. "Good thing you're not me," ey says. And ey pulls the lever again.   END       The Slow Ones by JY Yang   "The grass is dying." Kira looked up from squeezing a sachet of turkey-flavored sludge into the cat's bowl. Thom was standing by the living room window in his bathrobe still, holding a chipped mug of coffee and gazing out. "What?" she asked. "The grass. In the garden. It's gone all brown." She dumped the sachet in the trash and almost rinsed her sticky fingers under the kitchen faucet. But she remembered in time, and instead wiped them on the dishtowel she'd hung up. She hurried into the living room. "There," Thom said, "see?" In the small rectangle of dirt they called a garden the sparse tufts of grass had shriveled and turned colorless like the hair on an old man's head. A flap of crisp packet gleamed in the far corner, silver-underside-up, chicken bones scattered around it. The neighborhood kids. Kira wondered how long they had been there. Maybe forever. Everything seemed stuck in stasis these days. The grass had been in decline for a long time, months before the invasion began. Once upon a time Kira had plans for that patch. She had imagined cultivating flowers: Tulips, daffodils, rosebushes. Climbing ivies for the trellis. Maybe even one of those outdoor water features. But there hadn't been any time, had there? "Hasn't rained in weeks," Thom said. "Might never rain again." Kira exhaled and stormed back to the kitchen. The clock said five to three and she wished it didn't. She took a box of porkloin out of the freezer and popped it into the fridge. "Might as well dig it all up," Thom said from the living room. "Yeah, why don't you do it?" she said, louder than she'd intended. The cat had cleaned out her bowl and now stood staring at Kira, tail stiff in expectation. Kira snatched the water dish off the floor, then gingerly ran a centimeter of water into it. "Don't waste it," she told the cat as she sat it down again. In the living room Thom had settled into the armchair, knees apart, eyes blank. "What would be the point?" "What?" He turned to look at her, framed in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, and shrugged. "There's no point." "Whatever," she said, and went to put her boots on. The cat had followed her out of the kitchen. "Come here, girl," she heard Thom say, his voice soft and charming, like it always used to be. Kira shoved her feet into the narrow confines of her boots. "I've left pork chops in the fridge to defrost," she said. "If you have time, you could make dinner." She knew he wouldn't. The cat settled on the windowsill to watch her as she stepped outside and locked the front door. Kira pulled her coat around herself, and then, because she had to, like pulling a plaster off, to get it over with; because she couldn't just ignore it, she looked up at the sky. From horizon to horizon, the sky above their street was filled with aliens. A thick layer of massive silver bodies, like cumulus rolls made of mercury, slid by over the tops of the streetlamps, the roofs, the twisted fingers of bare trees. Sunlight sometimes leaked through their bulk, but not often; the world had been in a state of weak thunderstorm dusk for weeks. The president of the United States had called them the Slow Ones, and the name stuck. Their enormous smooth bodies slipped against one another in a never-ending parade. There were scales and faint markings on each one whose purpose was impossible to discern. Concentric discs in alternating light and dark colors, larger across than a commercial jetliner, were assumed by observers to be eyes. But the gaping maw in front of each one, leading into unfathomable darkness: That one everyone could agree on. It was a mouth. A permanently open mouth. They were sucking up all the water vapor in the atmosphere. That was what the scientists on the proper news channels—BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera—were all saying. But even the so-called experts knew so little about what was going on that people were no worse off reading crackpot theories on the Internet. Those had sprung up like mushrooms in the wake of rain, or perhaps, in the absence of it. They offered up all kinds of explanations as to what was happening: Act of God, benign migration, hostile invasion, collective hallucination. The first few days after the Slow Ones arrived, pouring into the sky above Alaska like reflective pancake batter until they blanketed the Earth, Thom had spent hours scrolling through theory after theory after theory, the most promising of which he served up to Kira over dinner, or texted to her while he was at work. That was when he still had work. The Slow Ones were aliens. This was something almost everyone—the scientist, the conspiracy theorist, the person on the street—agreed on. They were not of this world. The prevailing theory was that these were migratory creatures and they would leave for unknown pastures in good time. And then sunlight and blue skies and rain would return to the world. Wind and weather and water evaporation, all those good things. It was unlikely a theory as anything, but it allowed people to hold on to hope. Kira put her hood up and hurried down the street. If she walked fast enough, she might catch the three-fifteen bus to the city center. She missed the bus. When Kira finally arrived at the city center, the air under the Slow Ones was still. Not a wing stirred in it, not a guttural call rang out. Gulls were a year-round phenomenon in Norwich, sailing from spire to spire and filling public spaces with their noises regardless of the season. But their numbers in the market square had been dwindling since the Slow Ones arrived, and today was the day, it seemed, they passed the point of no return. Kira noted this with an odd trill in her belly. She, like everyone else, had grown numb to the clipped tones of a Dr. Somebody explaining to a presenter, in clinical terms, how the disruption to the Earth's water cycle was killing all the fish in the ocean. But it was another thing entirely to watch all the seabirds vanish before her eyes, relegated to an unknown fate. She hurried through the semi-sparse mid-afternoon crowd. When Thom's agency had moved him here a few years ago, she had been struck by how many retirees she saw on the streets. It felt like a different kind of fabric had been sewn in place compared to London which she had just gotten used to, and Kuala Lumpur where she had grown up. It was a good move for them, Thom being promoted to Norfolk branch manager, but Kira had wondered about all the people here, aging in place. It put in her mind an image of people sinking to the bottom of a lake, like sediment. Of course, at that time tourism was still a booming industry, and Thom had glowing images in his sights, futures full of holiday cottages and ski trips to the Alps. Neither of them knew what lay on the horizon: the shrinkings and the layoffs and the final collapse that awaited them. The arrival of the Slow Ones had only been a final straw. As she walked past the market square Charles, who ran one of the fruit stalls, waved at her. "All right?" he asked. An impulse seized her then, a screaming impulse, one which wanted to ask him how could he be so calm, couldn't he see what was happening? She wanted to grab him and shake him, point him to the sky and the shuttered fish stall next to him and the sad twisted things that were left of his wares, she wanted to do that and ask, Can't you see? Can't you see? She wanted to run at all the white-haired folk shuffling down the street getting on with their business as usual and shout it at them, shout it into their hairy wrinkled ears. She smiled at Charles. "Yeah, I'm alright." By the time she had gone down all the little streets that led her to the Pushcart she was half an hour late for work. As she came through the eatery's glass-paneled wooden door she caught a glimpse of Melanie's splendid silhouette at the till and her heart did that weird flutter it always did when Melanie was around. She shoved that sensation deep inside herself, where it belonged, and put on her shop-girl smile. In the afternoons the Pushcart sold tea and scones and crepes with bacon and maple syrup. Come evenings and the menu switched to alcohol and deep-fried things served in small silver buckets. Today the sign said no tea, they were under rations, bottled drinks only please. The warm brown interior of the cafe held a handful of lethargic patrons in various states of apathy, chewing fitfully or reading the news. Some of them were watching the TV nailed to the far wall, framed by old ship ropes and seashells. They usually kept it off unless there was footy going on, but since the Slow Ones came it had been permanently fixed to BBC News. The prevailing graphic, set to an indistinct voiceover, said WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR. (Nothing. They knew nothing. When governments and scientists sent drones and instruments up to the Slow Ones they stopped working, some kind of electromagnetic interference, they said. NASA was stumped. Everybody was stumped, grasping at straws.) Melanie didn't turn around as Kira stashed her things under the counter. That was an anomaly: For the past six months Kira's work routine had always begun with her warm and buttery smile. She studied her coworker's broad back, hunched over the till, noting the crooked way the apron was fastened around her waist. "You alright?" Melanie straightened up with a speed that suggested she hadn't heard Kira come in. "Hey. How's it going?" She looked tired, a collection of messy lines and dark smudges, as though the weekend had worn her face thin somehow. "You alright?" she repeated. "Yeah, I suppose. The sky hasn't fallen in, has it?" She gave Kira a laugh, and it was the kind that spoke less of mirth than it did of defeat. "How's life at home?" Kira's fingers fumbled with her apron strings. Melanie noticed her struggling and said, "Let me get that." With her back turned Kira said, "Life goes on. Thom's still moping." A firm tug at her waist. "He'll recover. Have faith." "I'm an atheist for a reason." She turned around. "How's Angie?" "Ha. Funny you should ask." Melanie sucked in a breath. "She's gone back to Sheffield." "What, you mean—" "Yeah. Permanently. She spent the weekend packing." Melanie was staring at her knuckles, which she kept lightly punching against the counter. "I'm sorry. What happened?" "Can't quite say, really. Just th— I don't know. She'd been planning it for a while, I think. She got back with her ex without telling me." She looked at Kira suddenly, eyes bright and shining. "Might as well, eh? End of the world and all that." "I'm sorry." She reached out and touched Melanie's forearm for a brief, hot moment. "I'm surprised, honestly." "Are you." "I mean, I—" She wanted to say, I always thought you two had the perfect relationship. "You two seemed so happy." "We did, didn't we?" She laughed again, and one corner of her mouth quirked upwards. In the slant of those lips Kira suddenly saw the cracking of facade and glimpsed familiar shores: the simmering irritations, the long silent nights, the cold stretches of not-arguments that thawed slowly into not-forgiveness. "Come help me with this till," Melanie said. "Something's wrong." They fought with the till. It was an old-fashioned one, just buttons and a drawer that popped out. It was jammed. They figured out the problem—a coin had gotten stuck, down the side of the drawer, and they fished it out with a flat screwdriver. "There you are, you little bastard," Melanie said, shaking the coin like a misbehaving puppy. She put it on top of the till, a tiny victory. At six a man barged into the Pushcart and slammed into the counter as Kira was ringing up an old lady's tea. "Turn your TV on," he rasped. "It's on," Kira said, pointing. The President of the United States, looking like he had aged ten years in as many days, was speaking inaudibly. In one corner a red block declared “LIVE.” The man was youngish, clean-shaven, dressed in clothes that were well looked-after. "Turn it up. Turn it up." Kira looked around, but she had no idea where Melanie was. The woman by the TV stepped up and reached for the volume dial. The voice of the US president, clipped and nasal, rose up and filled the room. "... THAT I AUTHORIZE THE USE OF THERMONUCLEAR WEAPONS AGAINST THE PHENOMENON KNOWN AS THE SLOW ONES..." "He's going to nuke them," the man who'd burst in said. "It's mental." Titters of conversation filled the room. What could that mean? Kira felt like the ground under her was vanishing, but she couldn't tell if it was her or the planet that was evaporating. The US president said: The missiles would be released over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, far from any centers of civilization. The US president said: America could no longer wait for world powers to deliberate on a unified course of action. The US president said: America must take steps necessary to safeguard our future. A young man near the front of house was telling his girlfriend, in loud tones, how the radiation was going to get seeded in the atmosphere and kill them all. He was a physicist, he knew. The hawks running America, drunk on their Hollywood apocalypse dreams, were going to destroy life on the planet as we knew it. "It's war, you know," the old lady at the till said to Kira. "The Russians aren't going to like it. They're going to do something, you'll see." She declared it matter-of-factly, with utter conviction, and Kira saw the young girl she had been, bent over the radio, listening for news from the frontlines. On impulse she said, "It's on the house," and closed the till. "Go on, everything's free today." The man who had run in said, "Could I get—" "No, no, we're closing." Kira walked out from behind the counter, her legs shaky but still functional, and went to the glass-paneled door. The US president was still talking. She refused to look at the sky as she flipped the “OPEN” sign over. "I'm sorry. Please, everyone, could you just leave. We're closed. Everything's on the house." The scattered handfuls looked at her and each other, uncertain. "Go home," Kira said. "Call your mother, hug your children. Go home." She watched them file out onto the dark streets. When it was just her in the Pushcart she abandoned the unwashed, undressed tables and turned the lights out. Craig, the owner, only came in on Thursdays and weekends. She'd sort it out later. She found Melanie behind the storeroom door, chest still slowly heaving in the wake of a long fit of crying. She stood up, looking embarrassed, as Kira came in. "Sorry. I—still a bit of a mess—did something happen?" Kira ghosted towards her, fixed on her red-rimmed eyes, her lips. "The world's going to end." "What?" "The Americans are going to nuke the Slow Ones. They're doing it tomorrow." Melanie exhaled. "Madness." Madness, chaos, centers not holding. Just what was she clinging on to, anyway? Kira reached up and kissed her. Melanie's body reacted with surprise at first, then hunger. She had strong arms that could lift a double carton of coffee beans over her head, and they trembled around Kira's waist. As Kira sublimed into liquid Melanie closed the door behind them, so that nobody would hear. Later, as they sat together on the floor, sticky skin to sticky skin, Melanie asked, "Why?" No modifiers, no clauses. Just ”why.” Kira remained quiet for a while, pinching her toes inside the lingering damp heat of her boots. "Thom once told me about a theory he read. You know how they said the Slow Ones might be like migratory birds?" "I've heard that one. Sounds like tosh. But pretty much everything does these days." "Well, migratory birds come back every year. So why haven't we seen the Slow Ones before? Why has no-one, out of all of human history, ever mentioned them?" "So they're not migratory." Kira could still picture Thom's face as he had grilled her over this theory at the dinner table. How his freckled face had lit up with schoolboy excitement at the prospect of humanity's destruction, something interesting happening at last. "Well, the universe operates on a different scale, doesn't it? Billions and billions. What if the Slow Ones do come back, but so long that they only appear once every geologic age?" Melanie made a grunting noise. Kira settled her soft hip against Melanie's bony one. "It's the extinction events," she said. "What are those?" "Big die-offs." She curled her fingers around one of Melanie's nipples. "Like the dinosaurs. The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. That's the one everyone knows, but it wasn't the only one. The fossil record is full of mass extinctions. Late Devonian, Permian-Triassic, Triassic-Jurassic... Once every thirty million years, like clockwork. Scientists don't know why." Melanie turned her head, her attention caught. "The Slow Ones?" "The oceans are already all dead. That's how it usually starts." "So we're going extinct." "Probably. I don't know. It's just a theory, anyway." Melanie blew air through wet lips. "It's not like we can get off this planet, is it?" Kira laid her head against Melanie's shoulder and listened to the sound of her breathing for a while. "You know," she said, "some scientists think extinction events are like planetary do-overs. Evolution speeds up after each extinction event. New forms of life start to flourish." "Like when you get left for a younger woman." Kira snorted. Melanie caught the edge of her hand and caressed the tip of her little finger, gently feeling around the shape of knuckle. How small our bones are, Kira thought, how fragile. What if whoever comes after us never finds them? It would be as if we never existed. A blank in the fossil record. "Are you going to tell Thom?" Melanie asked. Kira thought of what Thom's reaction might be. The things he would say, and the things he wouldn't. The look on his face, both accusatory and triumphant. She felt tired. "No," she said finally. "He's got enough on his mind." She could see him now, in his bathrobe still, standing at the window, watching grass die in their garden as the sky grew darker and darker. In the fridge, untouched, a pair of pork chops slowly defrosted, waiting and waiting and waiting. END     “Curiosity Fruit Machine” is copyright S. Qiouyi Lu, 2017. "The Slow Ones" is copyright JY Yang, 2017. This recording is a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license which means you can share it with anyone you’d like, but please don’t change or sell it. Our theme is “Aurora Borealis” by Bird Creek, available through the Google Audio Library. You can support GlitterShip by checking out our Patreon at patreon.com/keffy, subscribing to our feed, or by leaving reviews on iTunes. Thanks for listening, and I’ll be back on February 28 with a reprint of “for she is the stars, and the sun revolves around her” by Agatha Tan. [Music plays out]

The Subtler Art by Cat Rambo Anything can happen in Serendib, the city built of dimensions intersecting, and this is what happened there once. The noodle shop that lies on the border between the neighborhood of Yddle, which is really a forest, houses strapped to the wide trunks, and Eclect, an industrial quarter, is claimed by both, with equally little reason. The shop was its own Territory, with laws differing from either area, although the same can be said of many eating establishments in the City of a Thousand Parts. But the noodles were hand shaved, and the sauce was made of minced ginger and chopped green onions with a little soy sauce and a dash of enlightenment, and they were unequaled in Serendib.   Full transcript after the cut. ----more---- [Intro music plays] Hello! Welcome to GlitterShip, episode 32 for January 24, 2017. This is your host, Keffy, and I'm super excited to be sharing this story with you. For some GlitterShip news: coming on February 1st, we will be open to poetry submissions. For more information, check the submissions guidelines page on our website, GlitterShip.com. Also, starting with our Winter 2017 issue, GlitterShip also has seasonal issues available via our Patreon (patreon.com/keffy) or at glittership.com/buy, for those of you who would like to read the stories before anyone else. Our story this week is "The Subtler Art" by Cat Rambo. Cat's fiction has appeared on GlitterShip before. Episode 13 featured her story "Sugar" , way back in September 2015. Cat lives, writes, and teaches atop a hill in the Pacific Northwest. Her 200+ fiction publications include stories in Asimov’s, Clarkesworld Magazine, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. She is an Endeavour, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award nominee. 2017 sees the publication of her second novel, Hearts of Tabat.  For more about her, as well as links to her fiction and online classes, see http://www.kittywumpus.net We also have a guest reader this week! Sunny Moraine’s short fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Nightmare, Lightspeed, and multiple Year’s Best anthologies, among other places. Their debut short fiction collection Singing With All My Skin and Bone is available from Undertow Publications. They unfortunately live just outside Washington, DC, in a creepy house with two cats and a very long-suffering husband.   The Subtler Art by Cat Rambo   Anything can happen in Serendib, the city built of dimensions intersecting, and this is what happened there once. The noodle shop that lies on the border between the neighborhood of Yddle, which is really a forest, houses strapped to the wide trunks, and Eclect, an industrial quarter, is claimed by both, with equally little reason. The shop was its own Territory, with laws differing from either area, although the same can be said of many eating establishments in the City of a Thousand Parts. But the noodles were hand shaved, and the sauce was made of minced ginger and chopped green onions with a little soy sauce and a dash of enlightenment, and they were unequaled in Serendib. It was the Dark’s favorite place to eat, and since she and Tericatus were haphazard cooks at best and capable of (usually accidentally) killing someone at worst, they often ate their meals out. And because the city is so full of notorious people, very few noted that the woman once known as the best assassin on five continents on a world that only held four and her lover, a wizard who’d in his time achieved wonders and miracles and once even a rebirthed God, were slurping noodles only an elbow length’s away at the same chipped beige stone counter. Though indifferent cooks, both were fond enough of food to argue its nuances in detail, and this day they were arguing over the use of white pepper or golden when eating the silvery little fish that swarm every seventh Spring in Serendib. “Yellow pepper has a flatness to it,” Dark argued. Since retirement, she had let herself accumulate a little extra fat over her wiry muscles, and a few white strands traced themselves through her midnight hair, but she remained the one of the pair who drew most eyes. Her lover was a lean man, sparse in flesh and hair, gangly, with long capable hands spotted with unnatural colors and burns from alchemical experiments. “Cooking,” said the person on the other side of her, “is an exceedingly subtle art.” “Cathay,” the Dark said, recognizing the stranger. Her tone was cool. The newcomer was both acquaintance and former lover for both of them, but more than that, Cathay was a Trickster mage, and you never knew what she might be getting into. Tericatus grunted his own acknowledgment and greeting, rolling an eye sideways at the Dark in warning. He knew she was prone to impatience and while Tricksters can play with many things, impatience is a favorite point to press on. But the conversation that the Trickster made was slight, as though Cathay’s mind were elsewhere, and by the time the other had tapped coin to counter in order to pay, most of what she’d said had vanished, except for those few words. “A subtle art,” the Dark repeated to Tericatus, letting the words linger like pepper on her tongue. “It describes what I do as well. The most subtle art of all, assassination.” Tericatus slouched back in his chair with a smile on his lips and a challenging quirk to his eyebrow. “A subtle art, but surely not the most subtle. That would be magery, which is subtlety embodied.” The Dark looked hard at her mate. While she loved him above almost all things, she had been——and remained——very proud of her skill at her profession. The argument hung in the air between them. They both considered it. So many words could go in defense of either side. But actions speak stronger than words. And so they both stood and slid a token beneath their empty bowls and nodded at each other in total agreement. “Who first?” the Dark asked. “I have one in mind already, if you don’t care,” Tericatus murmured. “Very well.”   Serendib has no center—or at least the legend goes that if anyone ever finds it, the city will fall—but surely wherever its heart is, it must lie close to the gardens of Caran Sul. Their gates are built of white moon-metal, which grows darker whenever the moon is shadowed, and their grounds are overgrown with shanks of dry green leaves and withered purple blossoms that smell sweet and salty, like the very edges of the sea. In the center, five towers start to reach to the sky, only to tangle into the form of Castle Knot, where the Angry Daughters, descended from the prophet who once lived there, swarm, and occasionally pull passersby into their skyborne nests, never to be seen again. Tericatus and the Dark paid their admittance coin to the sleepy attendant at the entrance stile outside the gate and entered through the pathway hacked into the vegetation. Tericatus paused halfway down the tunnel to lean down and pick up a caterpillar from the dusty path, transferring it to the dry leaves on the opposite side. The Dark kept a wary eye on the sky as they emerged into sunlight. While she did not fear an encounter with a few of the Daughters, a crowd of them would be an entirely different thing. But nothing stirred in the stony coils and twists so far above. “This reminds me,” she ventured, “of the time we infiltrated the demon city of S’keral pretending to be visiting scholars and wrestled that purple stone free from that idol.” “Indeed,” Tericatus said, “this is nothing like that.” “Ah. Perhaps it is more like the time we entered the village of shapeshifters and killed their leaders before anyone had time enough to react.” “It is not like that either,” Tericatus said, a little irritably. “Remind me,” she said, “exactly what we are doing here.” Tericatus stopped and crossed his arms. “I’m demonstrating the subtlety with which magic can work.” “And how exactly will it work? she inquired. He unfolded an arm and pointed upward towards the dark shapes flapping their way down from the heights, clacking the brazen, razor-sharp bills on the masks they wore. “I presume you don’t need me to do anything.” Tericatus did not deign to answer. The shapes continued to descend. The Dark could see the brass claws tipping their gloves, each stained with ominous rust. “You're quite sure you don’t need me?” A butterfly fluttered across the sky from behind them. Dodging to catch it in her talons, one Daughter collided with another, and the pair tumbled into the path of a third, then a fourth... The Dark blinked as the long grass around them filled with fallen bodies. “Very nice,” she said with genuine appreciation. “And the tipping point?” Tericatus smirked slightly. “The caterpillar. You may have noticed that I moved it from one kind of plant to another -” “Of course.” “And when it eats jilla leaves, its scent changes, attracting adults of its species to come lay more eggs there.” “Well done,” she said. “A valiant try indeed.”   The Home for Dictators is, despite its name, a retirement home, though it is true that it holds plenty of past leaders of all sorts of stripes, and many of them are not particularly benign. “Why here?” Tericatus said as they came up Fume and Spray and Rant Street, changing elevations as they went till the air grew chill and dry. “It grates on me to perform a hit without getting paid for it,” the Dark said, a little apologetically. “It feels unprofessional.” “You’re retired. Why should you worry about feeling unprofessional?” “You’re retired too. Why should you worry about who’s more subtle?” “Technically, wizards never retire.” “Assassins do,” the Dark said. “It’s just that we don’t usually get the chance.” “Get the chance or lose the itch?” She shrugged. “A little of both?” Tericatus expected the Dark to go in through the back in the way she’d been famous for: unseen, unannounced. Or failing that, to disguise herself in one of her many cunning alterations: an elderly inmate to be admitted, a child come to visit a grandparent, a dignitary there to honor some old politician. But instead she marched up the steps and signed her name in bold letters on the guestbook. “The Dark.” The receptionist/nurse, a young newtling with damp, pallid skin and limpid eyes, spun it around to read the name, which clearly meant little to him. “And you’ve come to see...” he said, letting the sentence trail upward in question as his head tilted. The Dark eyed him. It was a look Tericatus knew well, a look that started mild and reasonable but which, as time progressed, would swell into menace, darken like clouds gathering on the edge of the horizon. The newt paled, cheeks twitching convulsively as it swallowed. “Simply announce me to the populace at large,” the Dark said. Without taking his eyes from her, the newt fumbled for the intercom, a device clearly borrowed from some slightly more but not too advanced dimension, laden with black-iron cogs and the faint green glow of phlogiston. He said hesitantly into the bell-like speaking cup, “The, uh, Dark is here to see, uh, someone.” The Dark smiled faintly and turned back to the waiting room. After a few moments, Tericatus said, “Are we expecting someone?” “Not really,” the Dark replied. “Some thing?” “Closer, but not quite,” she said. They glanced around as a bustle of doctors went through a doorway. “There we go,” the Dark said. She tugged her lover in their wake. Up a set of stairs and then they saw the doctors gathered in a room at the head where an elderly woman lay motionless in her bed. “The Witch of the Southeast,” Dark murmured. “She’s always feared me, and her heart was frail as tissue paper. Come on.” They drifted further along the corridor. Dark paused in a doorway. The man in the wheelchair wore an admiral’s uniform, but his eyes were unseeing, his lips drawn up in a rictus that exposed purple gums. “Diploberry,” Dark said. “It keeps well, and just a little has the effect one wants. It is a relatively painless means of suicide.” Tericatus looked at the admiral. “Because he heard you were coming.” The Dark spread her hands in a helpless shrug, her grin fox sly. “And you’re getting paid for all of them? How long ago did you plant some of the seeds you’ve harvested here?” “The longest would be a decade and a half,” she mused. “How many others have died?” “Three. All dictators whose former victims were more than willing to see their old oppressors gone.” Tericatus protested, “You can’t predict that with such finesse.” “Can I not?” she asked, and pointed at the door where three stretchers were exiting, carried by orderlies in the costume of the place, gold braids and silver sharkskin suits. She smiled smugly. “Subtle, no?” Tericatus nodded, frowning. “Come now,” she said. “Is it that hard to admit defeat?” “Not so hard, my love,” he said. “But isn’t that Cathay?” Dark felt another touch of unease. You never know what a Trickster Mage is getting you into. And there indeed stood Cathay at the front desk, speaking sweetly to someone, a bouquet of withered purple blossom in her hand, more of it in her hair, a smell like longing and regret and the endless sea. Dark murmured, “She always loved those flowers and yet did not like contending with the Daughters.” Tericatus said, “She had lovers here, I know that. No doubt she has five inheritances coming.” Cathay turned and smiled at them. The Dark bowed slightly, and Tericatus inclined his head. # “But,” the Dark finally said into the silence as they walked away, headed by mutual accord to the bar closest to the noodle shop, “we can still argue over which of us exercises the second most subtle art.” END   "The Subtler Art" was originally published in Blackguards: tales of Assassins, Mercenaries, and Rogues edited by J.M. Martin in 2015. This recording is a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license which means you can share it with anyone you’d like, but please don’t change or sell it. Our theme is “Aurora Borealis” by Bird Creek, available through the Google Audio Library. You can support GlitterShip by checking out our Patreon at patreon.com/keffy, subscribing to our feed, leaving reviews on iTunes, or just telling a friend. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back on February 13th with two original stories: "Curiosity Fruit Machine" by S. Qiouyi Lu and "The Slow Ones" by JY Yang. [Music plays out]

Our sixth podcast for October is “Old Domes” written by JY Yang and read by Kate Baker. Originally published in We See a Different Frontier, edited by Fabio Fernandes and Djibril al-Ayad, 2013.

Our sixth podcast for October is “Old Domes” written by JY Yang and read by Kate Baker.   Originally published in We See a Different Frontier, edited by Fabio Fernandes and Djibril al-Ayad, 2013. Subscribe to our podcast.

“Admit it, the only option left for that body is getting rid of it.” Cousin Aloysius says this as he sprawls uninvited along the length of my bed, and I hate him for that. | Copyright 2016 by JY Yang. Narrated by Gabrielle de Cuir.

"A Sister's Weight In Stone" by JY Yang -- published in Apex Magazine issue 72, May 2015. JY Yang has held seven jobs in four industries in under a decade. The one thing enduring this mess has been her endeavours as a speculative fiction writer. She has had short stories published in markets both Singaporean (Ceriph, Fish Eats Lion, From The Belly Of The Cat) and international (Clarkesworld, Crossed Genres, Strange Horizons). A graduate of the Clarion West workshop, J lives in Singapore in a bubble populated by her imagination and an indeterminate number of succulent plants named Lars. Find J on Twitter at @halleluyang. This Apex Magazine Podcast was performed and produced by Lisa Shininger. Music used with kind permission of Oh, Alchemy! Apex Magazine Podcast, Copyright Apex Publications.

Our second piece of audio fiction for September is “Patterns of a Murmuration, in Billions of Data Points” written by JY Yang and read by Kate Baker. Subscribe to our podcast.

In this episode of the Strange Horizons podcast, editor Anaea Lay presents JY Yang's "Storytelling for the Night Clerk." You can read the full text of the story, and more about JY, here.

Adventures of a Bookonaut – Episode 1 Shownotes In Episode 1 Sean interviews Luke Preston author of Dark City Blue, Joelyn Alexandra, Singaporean crime writer and academic and author of The Secret Feminist Cabal Dr Helen Merrick. Luke Preston has recently released his crime thriller through Momentum books. In the interview they discuss the process of being published through a digital first publisher, the impact film and the study of scriptwriting has had on Luke’s noel writing and what the near future holds for Bishop, Preston’s hard as nails hero with a heart. You can purchase Dark City Blue through all good digital retailers with the added benefit of no DRM. Joelyn Alexandra flew all the way from Singapore just for this interview (no not really). Sean and Joelyn talk about her writing, the Speculative fiction scene in Singapore and dispel some misconceptions about Singaporean writers. The interview was recorded live so apologies for the sound quality. Joelyn mentions some fine folks in the interview some links to their writing are given below: Wena Poon - http://www.wenapoon.com Joyce Chng - http://awolfstale.wordpress.com Dave Chua - http://davechua.wordpress.com People in Happy Smiley Writers Group Projects Sarah Coldheart - http://www.seriouslysarah.com/blog Raven Silvers - http://www.ravensilvers.com/blog Lina Salleh - http://lookykrill.wordpress.com JY Yang - http://www.misshallelujah.net Yuen Xiang Hao - http://www.opendiary.com/notkieran Rosemary Lim - http://www.twotrees.com.sg Graphic Novelists/ Artists: Cheeming Boey - http://www.iamboey.com Max Loh - http://paperperil.tumblr.com   Dr Helen Merrick is senior lecturer in the Department of Internet Studies at Curtain University, she’s taught cyberculture, women's studies and history. In addition to teaching in the Department of Internet Studies, Dr Merrick supervises PhD students, and researches feminist theory, science fiction, feminist science studies, sustainability and online cultures. In this interview Sean and Helen discuss her book, the current state of Feminist SF and consider what men in the genre, might be able to do help cultivate a healthy respect for female writers and feminist science fiction history. Thankyou for listening, you may leave audio feedback at https://www.speakpipe.com/Bookonaut, or you may leave written feedback on Facebook, the Podomatic page, or at my blog. Music: Music featured in this podcast is from the song Voodoo Machine by Lavoura downloaded from the Free Music Archive and Licenced under these conditions Voodoo Machine (Lavoura) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0