Episode 296: Thomas Ha

Chow down on Crunchy Pork Bao with Thomas Ha as we discuss why he's pro-ambiguity in his fiction (and how he decides when to use that tool), why there should never be only a single way to tell a story, how reading the fiction of Gene Wolfe changed his writing, why writers should resist the urge to educate those they feel misread their stories, how he knew he'd achieved critical mass with his short fiction and it was collection time, why a novel might not be in his future, the reason I thought his collection's foreword should have been an afterword (and what he thought about my logic), his secret formula for determining whether editorial suggestions make sense, the way where we read a story affects how we read it, the story of his which terrified me the most (and whether he could guess which one that was), plus much more.

Savor Shao Mai with Martha Wells as we discuss how Imposter Syndrome never truly goes away, the way Starlog introduced her to fandom, which novel allowed her to discover her own voice, why it took "hundred of drafts" to figure out where she was heading with the first book in her Rising World series, the surprising benefits of pantsing novels, her ease in bouncing back and forth between series, which Murderbot plot demanded the existence of a character who wasn't originally intended to be in the story, Bruce Sterling's workshop advice which helped her with descriptions, whether there's any difference between the audience reading her fantasy all along and those brought in by the recent success of her science fiction, the period her writing career stalled and she thought of becoming a personal trainer, how she decides which should be the next Murderbot tale to tell, why she was moved to write a story for the Tanith Lee tribute anthology, how COVID-19 affected her writing output, the advice she'd give her younger self (as well as those just starting out), plus much more.

Chow down on a chicken sandwich with John Wiswell as we discuss why his book tour's stop at the Strand was so meaningful, how publishing three novels has changed him, why he's "a character guy first" before world-building, theme, or plot, the importance of getting out of your own way, how monstrosity is nothing more than a social construct, why his writing process includes only the most skeletal of outlines, the most fun thing about writing secondary world fantasies, how our lives being finite is both terrifying and good, why the original title of The Dragon Has No Complaints only lasted three days, the techniques it took to convince readers to believe in the book's unique method of dragon flight, who he had to grow into to be able to pull off this novel, our shared love of ornate titles, how we felt about The Bear's final season, plus much more.

Treat yourself to Pad Thai with Barbara Krasnoff as we discuss how our Brooklyn childhoods molded us, which fantasy novel taught her about sex, why when she hit college her allegiance switched from poetry to science fiction, the writing workshop taught by Joanna Russ to which she was accepted (and why it never happened), how a quarter century's worth of short stories became a mosaic novel, the reason prepping her book for publication meant adding pigeons, how real-world family stories are transmuted into fantasy, why kind words from Jane Yolen were better than winning a Nebula Award, her encouraging encounter with Ben Bova on a first class flight to the UK, plus much more.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Worldcon donuts, where you'll hear Caitlin Rozakis share how hanging out in the halls is often the most fun of all, Cody Goodfellow on pretending to be H. P. Lovecraft at his first Worldcon in 20 years, Nick Mamatas on his jokes being misunderstood at the 2001 Millennium PhilCon, Rosemary Claire Smith about the infamous 1983 Hugo Awards banquet crab mallet incident, Jennifer Middleton on a life-changing meeting at the 2008 Denver Worldcon, Craig Engler on how wild Worldcons used to be in days gone by (or maybe just how people wanted us to think they were), Ursula K. Le Guin's reply when Neil Rest asked if she was an anarchist, why Kevin Anderson feels Worldcon is an intimate con, Bruce Robertson on watching the Star Wars trilogy until dawn, how dim sum was the cause of Catherine Green's discovery of Worldcon (and the night she sang Weird Al Yankovic songs with Lois McMaster Bujold), Jordan Hiatt's first timer experience learning his elevator pitch needed work, how selling and publishing his first novel to Del Rey a lifetime ago brought Lawrence Watt-Evans to his first Worldcon, and more.

Scarf Squid Bokkeum with Alexander Jablokov as we discuss how he came to publish a short story collection with the legendary Arkham House, what the ease with which he wrote some of his earlier stories led him to believe which he quickly learned was wrong, why writing workshops are good for surfacing rather than solving story problems, the one question every writer must ask themselves, plotters vs. pantsers (and whether one can turn into the other), the difficulty in getting writing done when life intervenes, what horseradish has to do with the publishing business, the story he believes he only sold because the editor liked spiders, the best way to believably write characters with whom you disagree, plus much more.

Share samosas with editor/publisher/poet Todd Sanders as we discuss how his love for French Surrealist poet Robert Desnos led to the creation of Air and Nothingness Press, why he's been able to survive for 30 years when so many other presses have failed, which poet he wanted to be when he grew up, the art objects he created from from the short stories of Mary Robinette Kowal and Benjamin Rosenbaum, the reason he decided to publish an anthology of stories with obnoxiously long titles, what he's learned from using Kickstarter to fund books,  a spam text I received which sparked his idea for a future anthology, plus much more.

Break away from StokerCon for BBQ with Jamal Hodge as we discuss how winning a Stoker Award the previous night altered his ambitions, why Linda Addison is his favorite collaborator, how most things we think of as choices aren't, why he prefers Batman to Spider-Man, the reason the environment in his stories is not your friend, the way the living are controlled by the dead, how he always starts a project thinking it's one thing only to discover it's something else, what Mega Man has to do with him becoming a better writer, his favorite short story of all time, how 1984 made him realize what writing could do, the way poetry healed him, plus much more.

It's time for an Italian lunch with Kate Maruyama, where we discuss the way her love for the Golden Age of Hollywood began, the bribes her mother paid her so she'd write (and the reason she stopped paying), why abandoned short stories make marvelous prompts, the most important thing to teach about writing, how to decide which of her two 2025 Hollywood novels you should read first, the beauty of the novella form, the reasons she cut 100 pages from one of her recent novels, the difficulties in writing for theme anthologies, the 350-page novel she turned into a short story (and what she learned from the process), plus much more.

Bite into General Tso's Bok Choy with Arley Sorg as we discuss the difficulty in getting the help you need as a beginning writer when you don't know what you don't know, the serendipity that got him a job at Locus, how to inhabit the community that is while envisioning the community that could be, why an agent might prefer in-person pitches over email, the importance of doing things without an agenda, the way we learned to deal with both rejecting and being rejected, how to make sense of the myths and rumors of science fiction publishing, why he feels comfortable in his role as an agent, plus much more.