StarShipSofa

Coming Up…Main Fiction: “Domine” by Rjurik DavidsonOriginally published in “The Time Traveller’s Almanac“, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeerRjurik Davidson is a freelance writer. He has written short stories, essays, reviews and screenplays. He has been short-listed for and won a number of awards. PS Publishing published his collection, The Library of Forgotten Books, in 2010. His novel, Unwrapped Sky, was published by Tor Books in April 2014. Sci Fi Now claims it can “go toe-to-toe with China Miéville’s best.” Kirkus Reviews calls it “Impressively imagined and densely detailed.” Newtown Review of Books says it’s “one volume you cannot ignore.” His novel, The Stars Askew will be out in October 2015 and his screenplay The Uncertainty Principle (co-written with Ben Chessell) is currently in development. Rjurik can be found at www.rjurik.com and tweets as...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Main Fiction: “Last Flight of the Acurus” by Robert J. McCarterOriginally published in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight MagazineRobert J. McCarter lives in the mountains of Arizona with his beautiful wife and his ridiculously adorable dog, pounding away at the keyboard producing software (to make a living) and stories (to fill his soul and hopefully yours). He has writ ten several ghost-oriented novels: Shuffled Off, Drawing the Dead , and To Be a Fool . He is currently working on the Neutrinoman and Lightningirl series. Fun, pulpy books that follow our heroes as they adjust to their new powers, fall in love, and try to save the world. His short stories have appeared in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine , Every Day Fiction , New Sun Rising: Stories for Japan and others. You can find out more about Robert and his work at RobertJMcCarter.comShort Fiction:...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Main Fiction: “12 and Tag” by Gregory BossertOriginally published in Asimov’s.I began writing fiction in 2009, at the age of 47, after artists Iain McCaig and Dermot Power dared me to write a screenplay. I wrote two, and then tried my hand at short stories, the second of which sold to Asimov’s Science Fiction. After that, I was hooked.My story “The Telling”, originally published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies, won the 2013 World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction. And my story “Bloom” from the December 2013 issue of Asimov’s was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award.My day job is in filmmaking; currently I wrangle spaceships and superheroes at the legendary Industrial Light & Magic in San Francisco. My film projects include Beowulf, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Lucy, and the upcoming Tomorrowland and Avengers: Age of Ultron.More information on my...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Short Fiction: Reinstalling Eden, by R. Scott Bakker and Eric SchwitzgebelOriginally published in Nature magazine.R. Scott Bakker has written eight novels translated into over dozen languages, including Neuropath, a dystopic meditation on the cultural impact of cognitive science, and the nihilistic epic fantasy series, The Prince of Nothing. He lives in London, Ontario with his wife and his daughter.Eric Schwitzgebel is a professor of philosophy at University of California, Riverside. His short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Nature, Weird Tales,...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Promo: Class Title: The Force of Star Wars: Examining the EpicMain Fiction: “Bethlemen” by Peter WattsPeter Watts is a (former) scientist, author, and convicted felon who spent the first two decades of his adult life as a marine biologist. After fleeing academia for science fiction he became known for the habit of appending extensive technical bibliographies onto his novels; this both confers a veneer of credibility and covers his ass against nitpickers. Described by the Globe & Mail as “one of the very best [hard-sf writers] alive”, the overall effect of his prose is perhaps best summed up by critic James Nicoll: “Whenever I find my will to live becoming too powerful, I read Peter Watts”.His debut novel (Starfish) was a NY Times...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Fact: Looking back in Genre History by Amy H. Sturgis.Interview with world-leading horror anthologist: Ellen Datlow, by Jeremy Szal Main Fiction: “Ticking” by Allen M. SteeleBefore becoming a science fiction author, Allen Steele was a journalist who’d worked for newspapers and magazines in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Missouri, and his home state of Tennessee. But SF was his first love, so he eventually ditched journalism and instead began producing that which made him decide to be a writer in the first place.Since then, Steele has published eighteen novels and nearly a hundred short stories. His work has received numerous awards, including three Hugos, and has...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Main Fiction: “Men of Greywater Station” by George R. R. Martin and Howard WaldropOriginally published Amazing Stories 1976 and Songs of Stars and ShadowsHugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award–winner George R. R. Martin, New York Times bestselling author of the landmark A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series, has been called “the American Tolkien.”Born in Bayonne, New Jersey, George R. R. Martin made his first sale in 1971, and soon established himself as one of the most popular SF writers of the seventies. He quickly became a mainstay of the Ben Bova Analog with stories such as “With Morning Comes Mistfall,” “And Seven Times Never Kill Man,” “The Second Kind of Loneliness,” “The...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Fact: Science News by J J CampanellaMain Fiction: “Persephone Descending” by Derek KunskenOriginally published in Analog MagazineDerek Künsken is a writer of science fiction and fantasy living in Gatineau, Québec. His fiction has appeared in Analog, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Black Gate, On Spec, the three Escape Artists podcasts, several anthologies, and multiple times in Asimov’s. In 2012, he was short-listed for the Aurora Award and in 2013 his novelette “Way of the Needle” won the Asimov’s Award. He has a masters degree in molecular biology and a bloodline that traces its way through seven generations of Québécois.Narrated by Mark KilfoilMark “the Encaffeinated ONE” Kilfoil loves fiction, so much so that he’s written some (such as the Parsec-nominated Tainted Roses), read quite a lot...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Main Fiction: “Green is for Silence, Blue is for Voice, Red is for Whole, Black is for Choice” by Damien Angelica Walters.Originally published at Daily Science FictionDamien Angelica Walters’ short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in various anthologies and magazines, including The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2015, Year’s Best Weird Fiction Volume One, Cassilda’s Song, Nightmare, Strange Horizons, and Apex. “The Floating Girls: A Documentary,” originally published in Jamais Vu, is on the 2014 Bram Stoker Award ballot for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction.Sing Me Your Scars, a collection of her short fiction, is out now from Apex Publications, and Paper Tigers, a novel, is forthcoming from Dark House Press. You can find her on Twitter @DamienAWalters or online at Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up… Fact: Looking Back at Genre History by Amy H. SturgisMain Fiction: “Stone to Stone, Blood to Blood” by Gwendolyn ClareOriginally published in Asimov’s.Gwendolyn Clare resides in North Carolina, where she tends a vegetable garden and a flock of backyard ducks and wonders why she ever lived in the frozen northlands. She has a PhD in mycology, which is useful for identifying wild mushrooms but not for much else. Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, Clarkesworld, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, among others. She can be found online at gwendolynclare.com.Narrated by Jonathan SharpI was born in southern New Mexico in the nexus between Area 51, Trinity Site, and Spaceport America. I attended culinary school in Portland Oregon and have managed a number of restaurants, cafés, and...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Interview with Editor-in-Chief/Publisher of Fantasy Scroll Magazine, Iulian Ionescu, by Jeremy SzalMain Fiction: “The Bomb Thing” by KJ KabzaOriginally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science-Fiction Nov/Dec 2014In addition to F&SF (which is where “The Bomb-Thing” first appeared), KJ Kabza’s work has been featured in Nature, Daily Science Fiction, Buzzy, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and others. His short fiction has made both the 2013 Locus and Tangent Recommended Reading Lists and has been reprinted in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2014 (from Prime Books) and The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Six (from Night Shade Books). His two self-published omnibus collections, “In Pieces” and “Under Stars,” are available now as ebooks through Smashwords.For updates on forthcoming releases and links to free fiction, you can follow him on Twitter...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Octagon TechnologyFact: Science News by J J CampanellaMain Fiction: “Our Land Abounds” by David McDonaldDavid McDonald is a mild mannered reporter and editor by day, and a wild eyed writer by night. Based in Melbourne, Australia, he is the editor of a fortnightly magazine for an international welfare organisation, and divides his spare time between helping run a local cricket club and writing.In 2013 he won the Ditmar Award for Best New Talent, and in 2014 won the William J. Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism or Review and was shortlisted for the WSFA Small Press Award. His short fiction has appeared in anthologies from publishers such as Moonstone Books, Satalyte Publishing, Crazy 8 Press and Fablecroft Publishing....Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Octagon TechnologyMain Fiction: Memories of Earth by Neal AsherNeal Asher lives sometimes in England, sometimes in Crete and mostly at a keyboard. Having over twenty books published he has been accused of overproduction (despite spending far too much time ranting on his blog, cycling off fat, and drinking too much wine) but doesn’t intend to slow down just yet.Narrator: Anne-Marie Czajkowski.Anne-Marie Czajkowski is a postgraduate of the Royal College of Music. She was a regular soloist at the Royal College with fellow student Alfie Boe and has sung on Channel 4 and Royal Gala performances on ITV. Her recently performed concert repertoire includes ‘Mild und Leise’ from Tristan and Isolde by Wagner on tour in Berlin...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Subscribe to my new YouTube ChannelOctagon TechnologyMain Fiction: “Discovering Life” by Kim Stanley RobinsonRobinson began publishing novels in 1984. His work has been described as “humanist science fiction” and “literary science fiction”. Robinson himself has been a proud defender and advocate of science fiction as a genre, which he regards as one of the most powerful of all literary forms.Narrator: Krista SirotaShort Fiction: “Purple Mars” by Kim Stanley RobinsonNarrator: Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Subscribe to my new YouTube ChannelOctagon TechnologyDr. Amy H. Sturgis Class:Class YouTube promo: https://youtu.be/bie18n5yv-0Class information site: http://www.mythgard.org/academics/summer-2015-courses/literary-copernicus/Literary Copernicus’: The Cosmic Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft by Amy H SturgisMain Fiction: A Forgone Conclusion, by Connor and Sylvia Spruck WrigleySylvia Spruck Wrigley writes hardcore aviation articles and soft science fiction stories (but never both at the same time). Born in Mannheim, she spent her formative years in Los Angeles and...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Fact: Science News by J J CampanellaMain Fiction: “The Line” by T.R. Napper.Originally published in Grimdark Magazine Issue #2.‘This is going to hurt.’George held the goateed man in an arm-bar, face down on the canvas. The man managed to turn his head to one side and gasp, ‘No.’George bent down, easing the strain on the arm for a moment. Sweat rolled down his brow, from the tip of his nose onto the man’s back. He whispered, ‘Yes.’‘BREAKER… BREAKER… BREAKER…’T. R. Napper is a 2014 Writers of the Future winner. He has had fiction published in Interzone #254, Interzone #256, AMOK: an Anthology of Asia Pacific Speculative Fiction, Grimdark Magazine #2, and others. T. R. Napper is an aid...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Interview with Editor/Publisher of Grimdark Magazine: Adrian Collins, by Jeremy SzalMain Fiction: “Neighbours” by Megan LindholmOriginally published in anthology Dangerous Women, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois.Megan Lindholm was born in Oakland California in 1952, and spent the first ten years of her life in California. She grew up in a house full of books, rich with lovely illustrated fairy tale volumes, the works of Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Dumas, Shakespeare and other classics in poetry as well as prose. When she was a preteen, her family moved from the California suburbs to a house on the rural...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up….Main Fiction: Ninety-Five Percent Safe, by Caroline M. YoachimOriginally published in Asimov’s.Nicole went to visit her best friend, Grant, the day before his family left for Opilio. She was jealous that he’d be part of the second wave — the first wave had already done the hardest work of establishing the colonies, but the floating cities would be nearly empty, an abundance of unclaimed living space.Caroline M. Yoachim lives in Seattle and loves cold cloudy weather. She is the author of dozens of short stories, appearing in markets such as Lightspeed, Asimov’s, and Clarkesworld. For more about Caroline, check out her website at http://carolineyoachim.comNarrated by: Marc LevinthalMarc Levinthal is a writer and musician who has lived and worked in the Los Angeles area for over thirty years. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, he moved to L.A. in the early eighties to...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Octagon TechnologyFact: Looking Back At Genre History by Amy H SturgisMain Fiction: “Mammals” by David D. LevineOriginally published at Analog MagazineDavid D. Levine is the author of over fifty published science fiction and fantasy stories. His work has appeared in markets including Asimov’s, Analog, F&SF, and Realms of Fantasy and has won or been nominated for awards including the Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, and Campbell. His “Regency interplanetary airship adventure” novel Arabella of Mars will be published by Tor in 2016, with two sequels to follow. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Kate Yule.Narrated by the AuthorSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Octagon TechnologyMain Fiction: “The Fitter” by Timons EsaiasTimons Esaias is a satirist, writer and poet living in Pittsburgh. His works, ranging from literary to genre, have been published in eighteen languages. He has over a hundred poems in print, in markets ranging from Asimov’s Science Fiction and 5AM to Elysian Fields Quarterly: The Literary Journal of Baseball. He has also been a finalist for the British Science Fiction Award, and won the Asimov’s Readers Award. His story “Norbert and the System” has appeared in a textbook, and in college curricula. Recent science fiction appearances include Asimov’s, Analog and Future Games.His News Nots satire column appeared in seven newspapers, and convinced many readers that the Vatican was relocating to St. Louis; that the Pittsburgh Sewer & Water Authority had decided to add Prozac to the water supply (along...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Main Fiction: “The Memory-Setter’s Apprentice” by Alvaro Zinos-AmaroOriginally published at: Fantasy Scroll MagThose who survive combat with the Sarakul return home with holes in their memories. As memory-setters, it’s our job to delve inside their skulls and repair the damage.Alvaro Zinos-Amaro is co-author, with Robert Silverberg, of When the Blue Shift Comes. Alvaro’s short fiction and Rhysling-nominated poetry have appeared in Analog, Nature, Galaxy’s Edge, Apex, Buzzy Mag, The Journal of Unlikely Entomology, and other venues. Alvaro has also published reviews, essays and interviews in The Los Angeles Review of Books, Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons and elsewhere, and currently edits the blog for Locus magazine. Narrated by: Ibba ArmancasIbba Armancas is a nomadic screenwriter/director based in Los Angeles and Seattle. Her first feature film is due for release in 2015, and she...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Short Fiction: “Potential” by Mark LawrenceInterview: Evo and Sheila Terra ShevoMain Fiction: “A Concert of Flowers” by Kate O’ConnorOriginally published at Daily Science Fiction, reprinted in Fantasy Scroll Mag.The packed concert hall was far from silent. People whispered to their neighbors, fancy clothing rustled, jewelry chimed. In the wings, William Reis waited, the sound of his rapidly thumping heart filling his ears.Kate O’Connor was born in Virginia in 1982. She graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott in 2009 and now lives in the New York area. She has been writing science fiction and fantasy since 2011. Her work has most recently appeared in Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, Daily Science Fiction, and Escape Pod. In between telling...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Short Fiction: “The Universe Reef” by Tobias S. BuckellJackson buckles his leathers tighter, and pulls on a fur. “The height causes that cold,” he shouts. “We’re like mountaineers!”I want to flee the bitter cold and escape the wind, which seems to pierce my skin and scrub my bones. But I don’t want to miss seeing the Stone Table with my own eyes.Tobias S. Buckell is a New York Times Bestselling author born in the Caribbean. He grew up in Grenada and spent time in the British and US Virgin Islands, which influence much of his work.His novels and over 50 stories have been translated into 17 different languages. His work has been nominated for awards like the Hugo, Nebula, Prometheus, and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Science Fiction Author.He currently lives in Bluffton, Ohio with his wife, twin daughters, and a pair of dogs. He can be found online at www.TobiasBuckell.com Narrated by: Nobilis...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Show Sponsor: Octagon TechnologyShort Fiction: The Piratical Sabbital, by Ian WhatesYou’re good, you know that? Well yes, I do realise that’s what you’re paid to be.No, really, I wasn’t being a smart-ass… sorry. I just never realised it was going to be this realistic.Ian Whates lives in a quiet Cambridgeshire village with his partner, Helen, Honey, a manic cocker spaniel, and Calvin, a tailless black cat. He currently has two published novel series: the Noise books (space opera with a twist) via Solaris, and the City of 100 Rows trilogy (urban fantasy with steampunk overtones and SF underpinning) via Angry Robot. Some 60 of his short stories have appeared in various venues, two of which were shortlisted for BSFA Awards, while his work has received honourable mentions in Years Best anthologies. Most recently his fiction featured in Galaxy’s Edge #10...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Show Sponsor: Octagon TechnologyMain Fiction: Lullaby, by Anna NorthOriginally published in Robot Uprisings, edited by John Joseph Adams and Daniel H. WilsonI never wanted to move to my grandfather’s house in the first place. He died before I was born, but Mom talked all the time about what a genius he was, and that year I hated everything Mom liked. I was sixteen, my dad had died the year before, and I didn’t see why I should act like anything would ever be all right.Anna North graduated from the Iowa Writers Workshop in 2009, having received a Teaching- Writing Fellowship and a Michener/Copernicus Society Fellowship. Her fiction has appeared in the Atlantic Monthly , Glimmer Train, Nautilus , and in the anthology Robot Uprisings. Her nonfiction has appeared in Jezebel , BuzzFeed , and Salon, and she is now a staff editor at the New York Times. Her first novel, America...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Show Sponsor: Octagon TechnologyFact: Ray Harryhausen by Marc Zicree Mr SciFi.Main Fiction: “Bots d’Armor” by Cat RamboCat Rambo lives, writes, and teaches by the shores of an eagle-haunted lake in the Pacific Northwest. Her 150+ fiction publications include stories in Asimov’s, Clarkesworld Magazine, and Tor.com. Her short story, “Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain,” from her story collection Near + Far (Hydra House Books), was a 2012 Nebula nominee. Her editorship of Fantasy Magazine earned her a World Fantasy Award nomination in 2012. She is the current vicepresident of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers or America. For more about her, as well as links to her fiction, see...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up….Interview: Andy Weir – The MartianFact: Science News by J J CampanellaMain Fiction: “Digital Rights” by Brent KnowlesThe Assistant responsible for the primary thruster arrangement killed itself just ten days after Izzy arrived on the solar station. The panicked chatter of the other Assistants prevented them from continuing with their own duties. Horror, speculation, and worse of all, wonder, flowed across the station’s network.Brent Knowles has been published in several magazines and anthologies including Perihelion, Abyss and Apex, Neo-Opsis, On Spec and Writers of the Future. A veteran of the videogame’s industry (where he spent ten years building hit role-playing games with BioWare) he now spends most of his time raising two young boys and writing. Online he can be found at Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Main Fiction: “Not Smart, Not Clever”, by E SaxeyE. Saxey is a queer Londoner and fan of floral-flavour chocolate, whose work has appeared in Apex, Holdfast, Daily Science Fiction and Spacewitch Moonshots, and anthologies including The Lowest Heaven and Pandemonium: The Rite of Spring.Narrated by Elizabeth ArmancasIbba Armancas is a nomadic screenwriter/director based in Los Angeles and Seattle. Her first feature film is due for release in 2015, and she is currently writing the pilot for a new show by Zombie Orpheus Entertainment (http://zombieorpheus.com/). She regularly makes terrible life choices in pursuit of stories, and is very bad at finding time to work on her website.You can follow her exploits on Twitter @IbbaArmancas.Short Fiction: Cycles, by Stephen V. RameyOriginally published at Every Day...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Main Fiction: Subduction, by Paul BergerPaul M. Berger has been a Japanese bureaucrat, an M.I.T. program administrator, an Internetentrepreneur, a butterfly wrangler, a museum tour guide and (God help him) a Wall Streetrecruiter, all of which, in the aggregate, may have prepared him for nothing except the cretionof speculative fiction. His work has appeared in publications including The Magazine of Fantasy& Science Fiction, Rich Horton’s Space Opera, Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fictionand Fantasy 2011, Strange Horizons, Interzone, Podcastle and Escape Pod. The story of hisbattle against giant Japanese spiders was the first true-life memoir published in Weird Tales.He is a graduate of the 2008 Clarion workshop, and is a founding member of the stunninglytalented New York-based writers’ group Altered Fluid. His next published story will appear...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Main Fiction: Unexpected Launch, by Alan Baxter(Originally published in Anywhere But Earth anthology by Coeur De Lion Publications)Gareth stared, open mouthed, at flames blooming massive and silent against a backdrop of stars. Bright, molten debris spun out from orange and black clouds, folding in on themselves without more oxygen to fuel them. Then the deep black of space, an ocean of dark, twisted debris and the sound of Dean vomiting.Alan Baxter is a British-Australian author who writes dark fantasy, horror and sci-fi, rides a motorcycle and loves his dog. He also teaches Kung Fu. He is the author of the dark urban fantasy trilogy, Bound, Obsidian and Abduction (The...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Fact: Mr SciFi talks Ray Bradbury 01Main Fiction: Schools of Clay, by Derek Kunksen 15:30Derek Künsken is a writer of science fiction and fantasy living in Gatineau, Québec. His fiction has appeared in Analog, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Black Gate, On Spec, the three Escape Artists podcasts, several anthologies, and multiple times in Asimov’s. In 2012, he was short-listed for the Aurora Award and in 2013 his novelette “Way of the Needle” won the Asimov’s Award. He has a masters degree in molecular biology and a bloodline that traces its way through seven generations of Québécois.The workers’ revolution began on the hive’s nine hundred and third day, when the Hero pulsar was above the horizon to the north. A pod of predatory shaghāl emerged from behind a small asteroid to the west. The...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Fact: News About Rosetta by Katherine Inskip 03:40Main Fiction: “Old Paint” by Megan Lindholm 26:30I was only nine when it happened, so I may not have the details absolutely right. But I know the heart of my story, and the heart is always what matters in a tale like mine.Megan Lindholm was born in Oakland California in 1952, and spent the first ten years of her life in California. She grew up in a house full of books, rich with lovely illustrated fairy tale volumes, the works of Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson, Dumas, Shakespeare and other classics in poetry as well as prose. When she was a preteen, her family moved from the California suburbs to a house on the rural outskirts of Fairbanks, Alaska. It was a huge change in lifestyle, from potato chips and avocado dip to growing potatoes and helping butcher moose. She loved the more rustic lifestyle, the...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up….Main Fiction: “I Love You Like Water” by Angela Slatter 02:00The desert laps at the edge of the city – what used to be a conurbation is now one city short. The place where two cities met is a sand trap. The inhabitants of the place that got swallowed, the hardy few who stayed, are referred to as “sand crabs”.Specialising in dark fantasy and horror, Angela Slatter is the author of the Aurealis Award-winning The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales, the World Fantasy Award finalist Sourdough and Other Stories, Aurealis finalist Midnight and Moonshine (with Lisa L. Hannett), as well as the 2014 releases Black-Winged Angels, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, and The Female Factory (again with Lisa L. Hannett). Her short stories have appeared in Fantasy, Nightmare and Lightspeed, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Fearie Tales, A Book of Horrors, and Australian, UK and US Best Of...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Interview: Assistant Editor for StarShipSofa Jeremy Szal 02:00Main Fiction: “The Mouse Ran Down” by Adrian Tchaikovsky 20:50Adrian Tchaikovsky is the author of the acclaimed Shadows of the Apt fantasy series, from the first volume, Empire In Black and Gold in 2008 to the final book, Seal of the Worm, in 2014, with a new series and a standalone science fiction novel scheduled for 2015. He has been nominated for the David Gemmell Legend Award and a British Fantasy Society Award. In civilian life he is a lawyer, gamer and amateur entolomogist.“Do you dream of mammoths?” a talk-show host once asked me. I knew not to give him my first choice of answer; that would have enlightened his audience over the course of three and a half hours — so long as they had the basic grounding in biosciences required to understand it. I...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Support the Kickstarter campaign for SofaCon 2015!Music: The Wreck of the Cassie Dee by David BradshawScience News by J J CampanellaMain Fiction: “Bulk Food” by Peter Watts and Laurie ChannerPeter Watts is a (former) scientist, author, and convicted felon who spent the first two decades of his adult life as a marine biologist. After fleeing academia for science fiction he became known for the habit of appending extensive technical bibliographies onto his novels; this both confers a veneer of credibility and covers his ass against nitpickers. Described by the Globe & Mail as “one of the very best [hard-sf writers] alive”, the...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…SofaCON 2 Fact: Looking Back At Genre History by Amy H. SturgisMain fiction: “A Long ‘Til Spring” by Dennis M. Lane(Narrated by the author)It had been a long day of walking through the auburn jungle for Billy Bob and the other young ‘uns. Dennis M. Lane is a South Africa based writer who has seen his work gaining more of an audience over 2013. His 2012 collection of stories and poems garnered two Rhysling nominations and a Dwarf Stars nomination. He had a short story published in Dark Beauty Magazine’s Annual Steampunk issue and had a flash fiction podcast on Tales To Terrify. His first novel, Talatu, reached the dizzying heights of number 4 in the Teen Science Fiction listings on...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming Up…Interview: Rajan Khanna talking about Falling Sky 01:00Main Fiction: “Ghost in the Machine” by Ralph RobertsMarcus Teague sat hunched over in the cramped confines of the 16 GB USB thumb drive. The muscles of his mighty arms rippled as he cleaned his wizard’s sword, running the polishing spell up and down the blade with precision. Ralph Roberts is a decorated Vietnam Veteran and worked with NASA during the Apollo moon program. He built his first personal computer in 1976 and has been writing about them and on them since his first published article “Down with Typewriters” in 1978. He has written over 100 books along with thousands of articles and short stories. His best sellers include the first U.S....Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming UpInterview: Eric BrownMain Fiction: Frozen Woman by Eric BrownNarrated by Leonie BissetSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Fact: Maven by Katherine InskipMain Fiction: “The Mistress of Fishes” by Octavia CadeOctavia Cade is a PhD candidate in science communication at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Her short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Cosmos Magazine, and Aurealis, amongst other places. “Trading Rosemary” is her first novella, published earlier this year by Masque Books and narrated here on StarShipSofa. She can be found at http://ojcade.com. “The dead man’s flat was sparsely furnished and silent with dust. Sina ran a finger across the table top, a clean ribbon of wood unfurling behind it. On the mantelpiece were photographs set in cheap frames, the only things in the room that had been kept carefully dusted. She picked one up, studying the woman in the photo, her old fashioned dress and cheerful grin, and the one careful string of pearls around her neck.” Narrator:...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming UpInterview: James MorrowMain Fiction: Iron Shroud by James Morrow “Jonathan Hobbwright cannot discourse upon the formic thoughts that flicker through the minds of ants, and he is similarly ignorant concerning the psyches of locusts, toads, moles, apes, and bishops, but he can tell you what it’s like to be in hell. The abyss has become his fixed abode. Perdition is now his permanent address. Although Jonathan’s eyes deliver only muddy and monochromatic images, his ears have acquired an uncommon acuity. Encapsulated head-to-toe in damnation’s carapace, he can hear the throbbing heart of a nearby rat, the caw of a proximate raven, the hiss of an immediate snake”.James Morrow’s loopy historical novel, Galápagos Regained will see the publication in January of 2015. In the spirit of The Last Witchfinder (which chronicled the coming of the Enlightenment), this epic dramatizes the birth of the...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Two shorts about love and loss by Kathryn CramerShort fiction 1: “Disextinction, Inc.” by Kathryn Cramer 01:00“For his biology project, Jason decided to resurrect the passenger pigeon.” Kathryn Cramer lives in Westport, NY. She is an editor of the Hieroglyph project, inspired by Neal Stephenson and sponsored by the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University.Her story, “Am I Free to Go?” was published by Tor.com in December 2012.She is a writer, critic, and anthologist who co-edited the Year’s Best Fantasy and Year’s Best SF series with Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Cover Art: Stephan MartiniereMain Fiction: “The Prelate’s Commission” by Jeffrey Ford 03:30“The new fresco that graced the inner dome of the Cathedral of St. Elovisus was a masterpiece of perspective and illusion—the fall of the rebel angels into hell. They hurtled downward through an aquamarine sky swirled with pale pink clouds, their feathers disintegrating in the descent, their features growing ever more monstrous. Some, just ejected from paradise, appeared small and vastly distant, while the progressively larger ones took on weight and velocity. The largest seemed just above the viewer, desperately clawing the sky, eyes wide with the discovery of gravity, about to slam into the marble floor, which was inlaid with a deep and spiraling scene of Hell. At the center of the inner dome above was an illuminated circle where...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Fact: Science News by J J Campanella 01:20Main Fiction: “The Dream Detective” by Lisa Tuttle 33:00Lisa Tuttle is an American-born science fiction, fantasy, and horror author. She has published more than a dozen novels, seven short story collections, and several non-fiction titles. She has also edited several anthologies and reviewed books for various publications. She has been living in the United Kingdom since 1981.Tuttle won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1974, the 1989 BSFA Award for Short Fiction for “In Translation” and the 2007 International Horror Guild Award for“Closet Dreams”. In the beginning, I was not attracted to her at all. Quite the opposite.I don’t know if it was intentional on her part, and honestly, I’m not the sort of dick who always judges women on how hot they are, but if there’s any situation in which a...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Main Fiction: “Predvestniki” by Greg Kurzawa 03:20Greg Kurzawa studied theology at a small university in Big Sandy, Texas before entering a career in Information Technology. He has lived in Texas, Colorado, and North Carolina, but currently resides in Omaha, Nebraska. His work can be found in Clarkesworld, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Interzone, and Gray’s Sporting Journal.Narrator: Nick CammSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Cover Art by Yohann SchepaczYohann Schepacz is a french concept artist in such sectors as video games, film, and traditional print media. A consummate consumer of the unknown and unknowable, his detailed paintings leave the viewer with a longing for the worlds that exist just, tantalizingly, beyond the confines of the screen. You can view more of his work at yohannschepacz dot tumblr dot com, or email him at oxan studio at gmail dot com to request a commission.Fact: Looking Back At Genre History by Amy H Sturgis. 04:20 Main Fiction: “Feral Moon” by Alex Jablokov 20:48The corpses fell from the interior of the moon like drops of water from an icicle. The body repatriation team that hung in the open space just outside the blast...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Two selections from “HELP ME FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! And Other Improbable Crowdfunding Projects” edited by John Joseph Adams Main Fiction 1: “Liberty: Seeking Support for a Writ of Habeas Corpus for a Non-Human Being” by Samuel PeraltaAcknowledgementI would like to acknowledge the law firm of Campbell Gatewood Adams for providing the use of a Weyman magnetic resonance facility to record, and a PeerSource account to upload, this message.Project GoalsWe are trying to fund an application, to be filed on my behalf, for an Order to Show Cause under Article 70 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules of the New York Sector Code, seeking a writ of habeas corpus for a...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’ve woke up this morning and my world has just fell away. My friend Lawrence Santoro has died. I thought of Larry as my brother. I will miss him so very very much. Tycelia my thoughts and prayers surround you and give you comfort at this time. Will miss you Larry – your friend TonySupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Main Fiction: “The Region of Jennifer” by Tony BallantyneThe region of Jennifer extended to about thirty kilometres. Out there, amongst thedecaying factory belt, daffodils pushed their heads through the tired earth of the canal banks. The Steam Barons may have lost their power, but the world still bore their scars. Even so, Jennifer was at work to make things beautiful. Tony Ballantyne is the author of Dream London, the Penrose series and the Recursion series. He has also written many Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up…Fact: Fiction Crawler No 15 by Matthew Sanborn Smith 01:35 Short Fiction: 2014 Hugo Nominee – “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love,” by Rachel Swirsky 10:20If you were a dinosaur, my love, then you would be a T-Rex. You’d be a small one, only five feet, ten inches, the same height as human-you. You’d be fragile-boned and you’d walk with as delicate and polite a gait as you could manage on massive talons. Your eyes would gaze gently from beneath your bony brow-ridge. This narration originally appeared on Apex Magazine and is used with permission. Rachel Swirsky holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers Workshop and attended Clarion West in 2005. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies...Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/starshipsofa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.