Episode 271: George Gene Gustines

Dish over dumplings with George Gene Gustines as we discuss the reason what he's pulled off would have been impossible a generation ago, why he calls himself "the Forrest Gump of the New York Times," how he determines which potential articles are right for the paper and which are too inside baseball, what moved him to write his first letter to a comics editor (and his secret to getting them published frequently), why he loves superhero team books, the grace of George Perez, what defines a fan, the story he regrets being the first to report, what he does when not writing about comics, who he wishes he could have interviewed before they passed, what it takes to get an idea approved by his editors, when he rather than another writer gets to write comic book obituaries, his upcoming autobiographical graphic novel about how comics changed his life, the voicemail Stan Lee left which matches what you'd imagine "The Man" might say, how he intends to reach his goal of 1,000 bylines, and much more.

Savor shrimp — and Steve Ditko — with comics writer/editor Jack C. Harris as we discuss why he decided to abandon his original plan of becoming an artist and chose writing instead, the chance comics shop encounter which led to him being offered a job at DC Comics, why he was astonished when he first saw the colors of Superman's costume, how his working relationship with Steve Ditko began, an intriguing comparison between Julie Schwartz and Stan Lee I'd never considered, the greatest compliment he ever received during his comics career, the idiosyncrasies of editor Murray Boltinoff, which comics pro was responsible for the flowering of comics fandom, how he felt about the Marvel/DC divide during the time we were both assistant editors, what it was like working with the legendary creators who preceded us, the legacy character he regrets never having gotten the chance to write, his Human Torch story which took 17 years to get published, the contrasting ways Marvel and DC treated their Golden Age characters at the beginning of the Silver Age, and much more.

Sample samsa with Naomi Kritzer as we discuss why a friend stepped up to start submitting stories for her, the question she asked Madeleine l'Engle when she was nine, why she spent years not reading reviews (even the good ones), her surprise at the way "Cat Pictures Please" went viral, what it's like when you're on "that" panel at a convention, why she wishes she'd told the early editors to whom she'd submitted how young she was, the many writers time has passed by (and how we hope neither of us will join them), what she was told by her mentor after confessing she wanted to be Ursula K. Le Guin, the story she sold to a market by deliberately writing the sort of story that magazine said it didn't want, the inability of writers to know which of their stories will resonate most with readers, whether the stories she's written in response to prompts might have existed in some other form without those prompts, how our writing has been affected by the times in which we live, and much more.

Settle in for an Ethiopian feast with Alaya Dawn Johnson as we discuss what led to her "life-defining obsession" with Mexican history, the allure of science fiction's cognitive estrangement, how the German edition of her vampire novel saved her life, the serendipitous discovery which inspired her first published fantasy story, why she no longer owns any of her rejection slips, which franchise inspired her first fan fiction novels, how a novella which didn't seem to be working turned into her award-winning novel Trouble the Saints, the way a pajama party led to a novel sale, what she means when she says she's a pantser while she plots, the way to determine which conflicting  critiques deserve your attention, how to prepare for uncomfortable conversations with editors, the importance of a single word or line to a story, the twin poles of ambiguity vs. explicitness, how Tanith Lee's The Silver Metal Lover inspired The Summer Prince, the importance of meeting the moment in which you're living, and much more.

Brunch on blueberry pancakes with Natalia Theodoridou as we discuss what it felt like attending Clarion the same year he was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, how Karen Joy Fowler's advice changed the texture of his descriptions, what he needs to know before beginning to write a short story, whether he's as confident in the writing process as his voice seems to me on the page, why the fact readers won't need to know anything about Bluebeard to enjoy his Bluebeard-inspired novel is a tragedy, the question to which that novel itself must stand as the only possible answer,  why it's so important for readers to be able to sit with ambiguity and uncertainty, the reason we've yet to see a short story collection from him, and much more.

Polish off pasta with Lara Elena Donnelly as we discuss the hot tub conversation which led to the sale of her first novel, why the contradictions of her Clarion experience were liberating, the reason her relationship to the writing process means she's primarily a novelist rather than a short story writer, her complicated emotions about the conclusion to her debut novel, why she got sick of the word "prescient," the gnarly origins of the perfumes we love (and the reasons she needed to learn about them), why she decided to start a service advising how to write better sex scenes, the novel she wrote without gendering a character (and the fun in following which readers assume which genders), how she and Sam J. Miller were able to collaborate without killing each other, and much more.

Tackle Texas BBQ with John Picacio as we discuss how he'd never have gotten where he is today without comics, why he initially turned down what ended up being his first science fiction book cover (and what made him change his mind), the reason he thinks of a book as a person he needs to introduce at a party, whether he pays attention to the artists who preceded him when updating the look of a book, why one of the most important skills for a cover artist is listening, the catalyst for his creator-owned, self-published projects, how his style and his skills have changed over the years, how his recent collaboration with Leigh Bardgo began, why he'd rather be a marathon runner than a sprinter, how to avoid getting caught up in the trope of the year when it comes to cover art, the reason he launched the Mexicanx Initiative, how stabilization isn't the same as stagnation, and much more.

Slurp soup dumplings with Eugenia Triantafyllou as we discuss the online prompt which caused her to write her first short story, why she ended up as a fantasy writer rather than a comic book creator, what it was like being nominated for two Nebula Awards the same year in the same category, the two types of naysayers who thought she'd never be able to write artfully in English, how she terrified Stephan Graham Jones with a tomato, why she never outlines, the reason voice is so important to her process, how a pantser handles world building, why she feels writing mysteries is easy, how her mother's memories helped teach her storytelling, why writers shouldn't steal ideas, but ambition,  and much more.

Tear into tacos with Richard Butner as we discuss the early influence of Harlan Ellison, the time he went through the same trapdoor as Harry Houdini, which creative career he decided at age nine he was already too old to pursue, the paragraph from his recent collection I adored the most, the ways in which setting can be a character, why he defines his writerly self as being neither gardener nor architect but explorer, how he's attracted to writing about the type of  characters Bruce Sterling once described as "criminally unemotional," what ambiguity truly means and why it matters, how meeting John Kessel changed his life, and much more.

Bite into Cheesy Pav Bhaji with Karen Heuler as we discuss how she found herself embraced far more by the science fiction community than the literary one, why she never consciously thought about craft until she had to teach it, the "dud" novels she wrote before she got to the good ones, the students in her writing classes who only wanted to learn how to write bestsellers, why Bartleby the Scrivener seems to have a superpower, the reason she ended up writing science fiction rather than any other genre, the way in which she considers her short stories to be kittens, which character took over control of her most recent novel, the influence of The Master and Margarita, our mutual dislike of writer branding, where we fall on shredding vs. saving our archives, and much more.