N&T News – Nerd & Tie Podcast Network: Recent Episodes
N&T News – Nerd & Tie Podcast Network
Nerd & Tie is excited to announce that The Perfect Host, the fifth book in Trae Dorn’s Mia Graves Saga, is coming out on August 10th, 2026! Like the previous entries in the series, you can pre-order the eBook on Kindle or on Kobo. Pre-orders for the paperback can also be made from Amazon or any retailer with the ISBN 9798295897726 (like Bookshop.org or Barnes & Noble).
Sometimes the demons in your past are literal.
When Th’xi’niran tried to claim Mia Graves as his vessel, Sarah Masters lost half of her soul saving the young witch. Now it’s three years later, and Mia and Sarah have gone their separate ways, each doing their best to heal. Mia has taken a job managing a local witchy bookstore in the quaint college town of Parrish Mills, and has built a new life for herself. She has friends, stability, and almost everything she was missing back in Boston.
But no one can truly escape their past, especially not Mia Graves.
When Sarah arrives in town to tell Mia that a cult of Th’xi’niran worshipers has found her, Mia’s world falls into chaos. The demon’s followers intend to complete the act that failed in that dark warehouse. They plan on making Mia the demon’s permanent host in our world, and they’re going to do it soon. With the emotional and spiritual scars still fresh, Mia must gather what allies she can to stop the oncoming darkness before it’s too late.
Besides Kindle and Kobo, the eBook will be available through Trae’s Patreon store come August. We’re really excited for you guys to read this one, and we think you’ll enjoy it. And, of course, remember that you can catch up on the rest of the books in the meanwhile if you want to get started on the series.
The post Announcing ‘The Perfect Host,’ the Fifth Book in Trae Dorn’s Mia Graves Saga first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.
We’re excited to announce some upcoming book titles by the creators here at the Nerd & Tie Network!
To start with, on April 13th, the fifth book in Ask a Medievalist‘s E.H. Lupton’s “Wisconsin Gothic” series Renaissance will be released.
June, 1971. As the academic year draws to a close, Sam and Ulysses are looking forward to a quiet summer. But when Ulysses’s grandmother is hospitalized, it becomes clear that relaxation is not in the cards. Unable to accept that her fall was an accident, Ulysses begins to investigate whether it may be related to a cult from their past whose mysterious and powerful leader seems to be popping up all over town.
Sam’s doing his best to hold things together and be supportive, but it’s hard when his new husband is barely listening and keeping him at arm’s length every time family is concerned. And on top of everything else, the library has something urgent to tell Sam…
As they reunite with old friends and prepare to bid farewell to others, Sam and Ulysses will see their marriage tried, their lives threatened, and meet an old enemy they thought long dead.
You can pre-order Renaissance right now on Kindle and Kobo, and paperback versions will be available on the same release date. You can find the rest of the series with links to purchase on our E.H. Lupton author page.
Secondly, the first print collection of Peregrine Lake, written by Trae Dorn (BS-Free Witchcraft, Stormwood & Associates, The Meatgrinder) with art by Ethan Flanagan (The Meatgrinder), is coming on May 1st! Titled Welcome to Peregrine Lake, it collects the first volume of the comic along with the exclusive short comic “The Move.”
Bev Armstrong is having a hell of a time. She’s recently inherited her uncle’s house near a small town called Peregrine Lake. After losing her job and getting dumped by her boyfriend, it seemed like the perfect place to start her life over.
It probably isn’t.
The Village of Peregrine Lake is nestled in the western part of the Wisconsin Northwoods. Just another small town with small town problems, but in the cold and dark of Wisconsin winter, something may be watching you out there in the woods.
It may not be safe to be there on your own.
…and also, Pappy’s Sunset Bay Supper Club out on Highway P has the best french onion soup you’ll find for at least a two hour drive. You definitely have to try it.
You can pre-order the print collection on both Amazon and BookShop.org right now! And of course you can find the rest of Trae’s books on their author page.
The post Pre-Order New Books by E.H. Lupton, Trae Dorn, and Ethan Flanagan! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.
Nerd & Tie is excited to announce the beginning of the third campaign for Stormwood & Associates! Trae, Becca, Gen, and Celeste are back at the table for a new adventure, and starting Friday, January 16th episodes will release here weekly on Nerd & Tie. For the third adventure in this ongoing series, we now find ourselves in the Fae Wilds with aftermath of the second campaign.
Fifty years after Galfus has been overthrown (but only a few years later in “our” world), Eloise, the black sheep of her family, has made her way to the Wilds to open a new office of Stormwood & Associates in the neutral city of Denarsus, outside of the control of the Fae Courts. While she’s determined to prove herself, she may just be in over her head – as they call them “The Wilds” for a reason.
“Stormwood & Associates” uses the RPG system Super Awesome Action Heroes Second Edition with the optional Fantasy expansion and Advanced Combat Rules. View Archives and Subscription Options
The post A Stormwood & Associates Campaign 3 Trailer! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.
We’re excited to announce Ask a Medievalist is joining the family of Nerd & Tie Network shows!
Dr. Jesse Njus teaches graduate and undergraduate theatre history at Virginia Commonwealth University, and received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University. E.H. Lupton, besides being the author of the Wisconsin Gothic novels, has master’s degrees from the School of Library and Information Studies (now the iSchool) and the department of languages and cultures of Asia (now the Asian Languages and Cultures department) at UW-Madison. In every episode of Ask a Medievalist they do their best to answer everything you always wanted to know about the middle ages, but were unable to ask.
You can find more about Ask a Medievalist on their official website and on the Nerd & Tie page for the show.
The post Ask a Medievalist Joins the Nerd & Tie Network! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.
Here at Nerd & Tie we’re excited to announce that Buried Memories, the fourth book in Trae Dorn’s Mia Graves Saga, is coming out December 15th 2025! Like the previous entries in the series, you can pre-order the book on Kindle, as well as pre-order it on Kobo. Pre-orders for the paperback can also be made from Amazon or any retailer with the ISBN 9798349560958 (like, for example, Barnes & Noble).
In this installment, rather than focusing on Mia, we’re following Sarah instead. Here’s the basic rundown from the back of the book:
Sarah Masters is having a bad time.
After completing her first job as a courier of occult and magical objects, her car breaks down outside of the small mountain town of Halcyon, CO. What at first appears to be just another fading community turns out to be so much more sinister. Between Mysterious sigils, people disappearing without a trace, and dreams that seem to taunt her with memories from her past, Sarah wouldn’t even be able to escape even if the roads weren’t closed.
With nowhere to run, she has no choice but to confront the danger around her.
Besides Kindle and Kobo, the eBook will be available through Trae’s Patreon store come December. We’re really excited for you guys to read this one, and we think you’ll enjoy it. And, of course, remember that you can catch up on the rest of the books in the meanwhile if you want to get started on the series.
The post Pre-Order ‘Buried Memories,’ the Fourth Book in Trae Dorn’s Mia Graves Saga! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.
We’re excited to announce the release of the fifth season of our horror anthology actual play series The Meatgrinder! Like season 4, episodes will be released weekly this summer.
That’s right, we’re starting another summer of meat!
Starting June 20th, a new episode of The Meatgrinder will drop every Friday, going through mid-August. For this season Trae returns to the GM seat, and our cast includes fan favorite Gen Prock, and Celeste Startwin and Scott Logan make their return to the table. Amy Quinlan, whose first season was season 4, also joins the cast, as well as newcomer Ethan Flanagan!
In Season 5 we’re going back to the United States of Aremesia. Our players find themselves at the grand opening of the Great Eastern Mall — the largest mall in the world. The Great Eastern (located in scenic Jacksonville, FL) is so large it dwarfs even the massive Mall of Aremesia. But four hours in, something has gone horrifically wrong. Monsters emerge throughout the mall, and the doors to the outside world have sealed closed. The remaining survivors are just trying to find their way out, and some of them will do whatever it takes.
The Meatgrinder uses the “Super Awesome Action Heroes” role playing system. Episodes release every Tuesday from June 20th 2025 to August 15th 2025
The post Announcing The Meatgrinder Season 5 first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.
This weekend, Friday February 28th through Sunday March 2nd, Evercon 2025 is taking place at the Central Wisconsin Convention & Expo Center in Rothschild, WI (just outside Wausau), and a good chunk of your favorite Nerd & Tie creators are going to be there!
First off, you’ll be able to find Trae in the Vendor Room at the joint Nerd & Tie/Trae Dorn Productions table! There, they’ll have copies of their novel and comics, along with copies of Super Awesome Action Heroes, the roleplaying game system that powers Nerd & Tie shows Stormwood & Associates and The Meatgrinder.
But besides Trae in the vendor room, you can find a bunch of other Nerd & Tie creators in the Artist Alley!
First off, Celeste Startwin will be helping work their spouse Rena’s booth, Ineffective Carnivore (located at table 1). Gen Prock, of course, can be found at the Cryptid Arcade table (table 20). Finally Ethan Flanagan (a cast member of the upcoming Season 5 of The Meatgrinder and artist of the webcomic Peregrine Lake) can be found next to Gen too (table 21)!
It’s been a while since Nerd & Tie had this many creators at the same convention, and Evercon has always been one of our favorite events. We hope to see you this weekend, so come on down!
The post Find Nerd & Tie at Evercon 2025 this Weekend! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.
Like the last few years, two Nerd & Tie Network shows are up for “Best Podcast” in this year’s Volume One Best of the Chippewa Valley Reader Poll! Both Cool & Unusual Punishment and BS-Free Witchcraft qualify (as they’re both 100% produced in the Chippewa Valley), and we’re asking you to go out and vote for them.
You do need to register with the Volume One website, but after that all you need to do is go to the form and vote for both shows here. Make sure you do so before December 6th.
We’d really appreciate it.
Also, if both shows place in the top three, Trae might wrestle Tyler in the Tony Capony’s parking lot. No promises though.
The post Vote for Cool & Unusual Punishment and BS-Free Witchcraft in this Year’s Volume One Reader Poll! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.
So recent events have made it clear that we here at Nerd & Tie need to make some decisions about what social media we’re using as official feeds for this platform. Historically we have prioritized the platform most of us are still calling Twitter, but honestly? It’s not really giving the vibe we’re going for these days.
Because of that we have decided to de-prioritize that platform, and move our focus elsewhere. Starting today, we are officially launching a Nerd & Tie Bluesky account, and removing any links to our old Twitter profile on our materials.
Right now our Twitter/X account is remaining active (though automated), but we may not continue to maintain that in the long run. Hopefully you follow us over to the new platform.
The post Nerd & Tie Has Launched A Bluesky! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.
Trae Dorn’s Mia Graves series has received some pretty positive feedback so far, and we’re happy to announce that the third book in the series, Shadowcasting, is available for pre-order! You can pre-order on Amazon Kindle, or pre-order the paperback via Amazon or any retailer with the ISBN 9781088207031.
The book will be available December 15th, and continues the adventures of Mia and Riley in Parrish Mills, IN. We’re excited to share with you the next chapter in this saga.
Winter has clawed its way into the heart of Parrish Mills, and something far darker may have come with it. When Mia Graves, a witch with a habit of getting into trouble, and her best friend Riley Whittaker stumble across a grisly scene along the Wabash River, they find it reeks of dark, forbidden magic and has left at least one charred body in its wake.
With the help of young Bobbi Crawford, the further Mia and Riley dig into the events that took place on that cold Indiana morning, the more dire their circumstances reveal themselves to be. Between a stolen grimoire and a group of young witches who may not know how dangerous their actions are, shadows loom in the dark of winter.
And one of those shadows may be more dangerous than anyone imagined.
The post Pre-Order ‘Shadowcasting,’ the Third Book in Trae Dorn’s Mia Graves Series! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.
Big Trae Dorn book news today (and yes, part of that was a pun).
Trae’s comic UnCONventional has been in print for a long time – as the first print collection came out way back in 2010. The first four volumes of the book came out in 6″ x 9″ editions, while the rest of the series came out as larger 7″ x 10″ editions. The first volume was also pretty light on bonus features.
This always bothered us, so we decided to do something about it.
As of today, the original four volumes of UnCONventional have been removed from the market, and replaced with a single collected volume. It’s 7″ x 10″ like the rest of the series, has new additional commentary (along with the existing commentary and bonus materials updated for 2024), and it’s just nicer. Also, where it would have cost $75 to buy books one through four the old way, this collected volume is cheaper at $60 US.
Now if you just want the commentary and other bonus features and don’t care about having the book in print (or if you already have these comics in the original print version and just want the new stuff), there is a PDF version of the volume for sale in Trae’s Patreon shop for only $12 too.
So yeah, same comics as before, just a new print edition, and its available today. Not super exciting though. Not like the next bit.
(Was that a good transition?)
Super Awesome Action Heroes has been around in one form or another since 2006. The Second Edition went into print back in 2020, and we’ve been running Stormwood & Associates and The Meatgrinder on it pretty successfully for years. But we found a few flaws in the book that needed improving, and Trae rolled out an online appendix to correct those flaws. Well, earlier this year Trae decided they needed to update the print version to reflect those rule updates too.
So yeah, on September 17th Super Awesome Action Heroes Second Edition Revised comes out. The print edition will still cost $7 the way the old one did, and honestly if you already own the book? Just download the free expansion. It’s like 99% the same rule book, just with the information on that page sprinkled in.
But if you don’t own the book and want it? This is the version to get. That’s going to be the only version available from now on.
That’s the big news for today, and we hope you’re as excited as we are.
The post A Big UnCONventional Book Announcement (and Super Awesome Action Heroes News) first appeared on Nerd & Tie Network.
We’re excited to announce the release of the sequel to Trae Dorn’s The Witch and the Rose is here! Bloody Damn Rite continues Mia Grave’s story one year after the first book when new and darker challenges enter her world. The novel’s summary:
In the quaint college town of Parrish Mills, IN darkness may have found a foothold. Mia Graves, a young witch with a penchant for trouble, and her best friend Riley Whittaker, a charismatic professor at Garrity University, find themselves thrust into a chilling revelation when they stumble upon a corpse drained of blood. As the shadows lengthen, they have to seek out unlikely allies in the hopes of keeping the danger at bay. But the discovery is just the beginning, as a woman from Mia’s mysterious past arrives seeking the same prey — and Mia may not be ready for the complications she brings.
The reception to the first book in the series has been positive, and we think you’ll enjoy the story as it continues.
Bloody Damn Rite is available right now in both paperback and ebook formats.
The post ‘Bloody Damn Rite,’ the Sequel to ‘The Witch and the Rose’ Is Here! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Podcast Network.
We’re excited to announce the release of the fourth season of our horror anthology let’s play series The Meatgrinder! While past seasons were released monthly, we’re trying something new this time around — and that’s releasing the nine episodes weekly starting Tuesday June 4th! Every Tuesday after, a new episode will come out.
That’s right, we’re starting the summer of meat!
And this is probably our darkest season yet, as Gen Prock takes a turn in the GM seat (while Trae gets to finally be a player in the game). The cast is a little different this year too. Gen Prock, Trae Dorn, Crysta C, and Becca Johnson all return, while newcomer Amy Quinlan fills in for the players who couldn’t make it this time around.
Here’s your brief for season four:
Strangers awaken in a jungle complex with no memory of how they arrived, or what horrors lie in front of them. Someone has laid a series of deadly challenges in front of them, and there is no hope for escape. Will anyone survive this truly nightmarish meatgrinder?
We hope you enjoy this truly meatiest of Meatgrinders.
The post Announcing The Meatgrinder Season 4 first appeared on Nerd & Tie Podcast Network.
Let’s Be Legendary will be taking a break to let one of the crew finish finals. Listen to the audio for the full announcement.
Subscribe:
Apple PodcastsSpotifyAndroidRSSThe post Let’s Be Legendary Is Taking a Small Break first appeared on Nerd & Tie Podcast Network.
We’re excited to announce that Nerd & Tie’s very own Cool & Unusual Punishment has placed third in
Volume One’s annual reader poll! While we didn’t get first place (and only one of our shows made the top three this year), it’s still an incredibly honor. We want to thank everyone who voted for our shows in the poll this year.
We love our loyal listeners, and look forward to providing you with more quality shows in 2024 as well.
The post Cool & Unusual Punishment Places Third In Volume One’s Annual Reader Poll! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Podcast Network.
We’re excited to announce the release of Trae Dorn’s The Witch and the Rose. While it’s (obviously) not a podcast, what it is is a queer contemporary fantasy novel that is available this week on Kindle and trade paperback. From the novel’s summary:
The Rose House, a Victorian relic in the quaint college town of Parrish Mills, harbors a dark secret. A malevolent spirit haunts its halls, and seeks to claim the home’s newest owner, young professor Riley Whittaker. Riley seeks the aid of the enigmatic Mia Graves, a captivating witch with a mysterious past. Only Mia can stand against the vengeful spirit’s spectral grip and the lingering enigma of Lila Rose, another ethereal resident of the haunted mansion. In a dance between danger and desire, Mia must unravel her own darkness to save Riley from the clutches of the supernatural.
For those of you unfamiliar with Trae’s work (beyond the various podcasts they produce for Nerd & Tie), they previously wrote the comics UnCONventional and The Chronicles of Crosarth, and are writing the forthcoming comic Peregrine Lake. This is their first traditional novel.
The Witch and the Rose is currently available for sale in both paperback and Kindle formats.
The post Announcing “The Witch and the Rose,” A New Novel By Trae Dorn first appeared on Nerd & Tie Podcast Network.
One of the things we love about creating this weird family of podcasts is the community of listeners that has sprung up over the years. And while that community has been well served by our official Discord (which isn’t going anywhere), we decided it was time to build something that wasn’t controlled by an outside company. We want a place where our community can gather that really is ours.
So, today we’re excited to announce the public launch of NerdAndTie[dot]Social, the official forums of the Nerd & Tie Podcast Network. Does it seem strange to be launching a new forum in 2023? Maybe, but we think with how centralized the social spaces on the internet have become, it’s about time that someone start trying to decentralize them again.
You can create a fresh, new account on NerdAndTie[dot]Social, or you can create one with your existing Discord or Twitter credentials. We plan on adding other login options down the road, but those are the ones we’re starting with.
So jump on in, start chatting, and join the community with your fellow Nerd & Tie listeners! We promise it’ll be fun.
The post Announcing the Official Nerd & Tie Forums! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Podcast Network.
The Nerd & Tie Podcast is coming to No Brand Con 2023! That’s right, celebrate ten years of the Nerd
The post The Nerd & Tie Podcast Comes to No Brand Con 2023! first appeared on Nerd & Tie Podcast Network.
Nerd & Tie is excited to announce that the first episode of Season 3 of The Meatgrinder, our anthology role playing game Actual Play podcast, is coming to earbuds near you on February 15th 2023! Subsequent episodes will be released monthly following that.
The Meatgrinder is an anthology role playing game actual play series where no one survives for long. As characters die, new players cycle into the table, and the cycle continues until the story reaches its end. Every season promises new settings, new characters, and new horrors. But, like, in a fun way? In a fun way. It’s a funny show to listen to — trust us.
Season 3 of The Meatgrinder brings us to the future year of 2249, as the sentient races of earth have reach for the stars. The ISF Bellerophon with its count of 10,000 passengers is headed to the colony world of Praxion 7. Even at faster than light speed, the journey will take ten years, and with the exception of three crew at a time taking month long shifts to run the ship, the colonists all sleep in their stasis pods.
Unaware that five years into this journey something has gone very, very wrong.
Since 2016 Nerd & Tie, former Nerd & Tie contributor Pher Sturz, and I have been defending a defamation lawsuit
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