The Fantasy Inn Podcast: Recent Episodes
LiveWriters
A podcast about fantasy, science fiction, and the broader speculative fiction industry. Episodes air twice a month and include discussions about trending topics in the industry; interviews with authors, editors, podcasters, and more; and the occasional raving about the books we love.
Past episodes and other articles can be found at thefantasyinn.com.
Travis interviews author TJ Klune about Heartsong, his latest book from Tor Books, and Somewhere Beyond the Sea, his upcoming book in September 2024. This episode is spoiler free! TJ and Travis discuss writing romance, managing expectations of different audiences, and the importance of books as escapism and refuge. Want your message featured on the...
Travis interviews fantasy author Brian McClellan about In The Shadow Of Lightning, the first book of his new epic fantasy series from Tor Books. From the author of the acclaimed Powder Mage series comes an epic fantasy where magic is a finite resource—and it’s running out.
This episode is spoiler free!
Brian and Travis discuss the business lessons he learned through self-publishing, the sheer work that goes into complex epic fantasy, and how incredibly cool we both were in high school marching band.
Want your message featured on the podcast? Find out more here.
About Brian McClellan:
Brian McClellan is an American epic fantasy author from Cleveland, Ohio. He is known for his acclaimed Powder Mage Universe and essays on the life and business of being a writer.
Brian now lives on the side of a mountain in Utah with his wife, Michele, where he writes books and nurses a crippling video game addiction.
Brian's novels include the Powder Mage Trilogy (Promise of Blood, The Crimson Campaign, and The Autumn Republic), Gods of Blood and Powder (Sins of Empire, Wrath of Empire, and Blood of Empire), and the Valkyrie Collections (Uncanny Collateral and Blood Tally).
Things Mentioned:
- Page Break Podcast by Brian McClellan
- Valheim Game
Find Us Online:
- Blog
- Discord
Support Us:
- Become a Patron
- Buy Us a Coffee
Music:
- Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no
- Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no
This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples.
Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores!
The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
Travis interviews science fiction author John Scalzi about The Kaiju Preservation Society, a standalone novel from Tor Books. It's a fast-paced, fun adventure full of giant monsters and a great way to escape from the world for a while.
This episode is spoiler free!
John and Travis discuss the difficulty of writing during lockdown, the historical context for kaiju films, and the value of books as entertainment.
Want your message featured on the podcast? Find out more here.
About John Scalzi:
JOHN SCALZI is one of the most popular SF authors of his generation. His debut Old Man's War won him the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony, Fuzzy Nation, and Redshirts (which won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel), and 2020's The Last Emperox. Material from his blog, Whatever, has also earned him two other Hugo Awards. The Kaiju Preservation Society is his latest standalone novel from Tor Books. He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter.
Things Mentioned:
- Travel by Bullet by John Scalzi - Audiobook
- The Actual Star by Monica Byrne
- Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
- Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi
Find Us Online:
- Blog
- Discord
Support Us:
- Become a Patron
- Buy Us a Coffee
Music:
- Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no
- Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no
This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples.
Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores!
The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
Travis interviews Vanessa Len, author of Only a Monster.
Want your message featured on the podcast? Find out more here.
Find Us Online:
- Blog
- Discord
Support Us:
- Become a Patron
- Buy Us a Coffee
Music:
- Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no
- Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no
This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples.
Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores!
The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
Want your message featured on the podcast? Find out more here.
Find Us Online:
- Blog
- Discord
Support Us:
- Become a Patron
- Buy Us a Coffee
Music:
- Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no
- Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no
This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples.
Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores!
The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
Travis interviews Lauren Panepinto, Creative Director of Orbit Books, about book design and more. Lauren and Travis discuss how a book cover gets made, how fonts and color theory attract a reader's eye, and the origin of the cloaked figure on so many fantasy covers.
Want your message featured on the podcast? Find out more here.
About Lauren Panepinto:
After 15 years designing and art directing book covers, Lauren Panepinto has worked in every publishing genre and collaborated with artists of all disciplines. As the Creative Director of the Orbit Books division of the Hachette Book Group, she has been developing covers for commercial fiction, genre fiction, and graphic novels, as well as overseeing the advertising and promotion visuals of the imprint brands overall. She has designed bestselling covers for Iain Banks, Mira Grant, James S. A. Corey, Brent Weeks, and Gail Carriger, among many others.
Not content to just design covers, Lauren has written about science fiction and fantasy art for ImagineFX magazine, io9.com, Orbitbooks.net, and as a columnist at Muddy Colors. Lauren has been very active in the role of art business education, not only at a panelist, presenter, and portfolio reviewer at San Diego ComicCon, New York ComicCon, Spectrum, and Illuxcon, but also as an adjunct professor in the graduate level Center for Publishing at NYU, as well as a frequent guest lecturer at numerous art schools. Lauren has curated gallery shows for the Society of Illustrators in New York City and Krab Jab in Seattle. She is a frequent art competition judge, most recently for the Society of Illustrators in New York and Los Angeles, Infected by Art, and ImagineFX’s Rising Stars issue.
Lauren graduated from The School of Visual Arts with a degree in Graphic Design and Advertising. She has worked in fashion (Perry Ellis), television (MTV), and for boutique design firms, but found her true calling in book publishing. She has worked at three of the "Big Five" publishing companies: St. Martin's Press/Picador Books, then Doubleday/Random House, and now Hachette Book Group.
Things Mentioned:
- Brian McClellan's Page Break podcast
Find Us Online:
- Blog
- Discord
Support Us:
- Become a Patron
- Buy Us a Coffee
Music:
- Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no
- Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no
This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples.
Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores!
The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
Let's talk about problematic books and our problematic reading habits. What could go wrong?
Want your message featured on the podcast? Find out more here.
Find Us Online:
- Blog
- Discord
Support Us:
- Become a Patron
- Buy Us a Coffee
Music:
- Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no
- Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no
This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples.
Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores!
The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
Travis interviews author Fonda Lee about Jade Legacy, the third and final book in the award-winning Green Bone Saga trilogy from Orbit Books. The epic family saga of the Kaul siblings takes an intergenerational turn in this stunning conclusion to the series.
This episode is spoiler free!
Fonda and Travis discuss the nitty gritty of her worldbuilding process, how to craft an impactful action scene, and how in invest readers in morally grey characters.
Want your message featured on the podcast? Find out more here.
About Fonda Lee:
Fonda Lee is the author of the epic urban fantasy Green Bone Saga (beginning with Jade City and continuing in Jade War and the forthcoming Jade Legacy) _and the science fiction novels _Zeroboxer, Exo and Cross Fire.
Fonda is a winner of the World Fantasy Award, as well as a three-time winner of the Aurora Award (Canada’s national science fiction and fantasy award), and a multiple finalist for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Oregon Book Award. Her novels have garnered multiple starred reviews, been included on numerous state reading lists, named Junior Library Guild selections, and appeared on Best of Year lists from NPR, Barnes & Noble, Syfy Wire, and others. Jade City has been translated in multiple languages and optioned for television development.
In addition, she has written acclaimed short fiction and comic books for Marvel. She is a frequent speaker and instructor at writing workshops including Viable Paradise and Clarion West.
Fonda is a former corporate strategist and black belt martial artist who loves action movies and Eggs Benedict. Born and raised in Canada, she currently resides in Portland, Oregon.
Find Fonda Lee on Twitter, Patreon, or her website fondalee.com.
Find Us Online:
- Blog
- Discord
Support Us:
- Become a Patron
- Buy Us a Coffee
Music:
- Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no
- Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no
This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples.
Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores!
The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
Want your message featured on the podcast? Find out more here.
Find Us Online:
- Blog
- Discord
Support Us:
- Become a Patron
- Buy Us a Coffee
Music:
- Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no
- Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no
This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples.
Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores!
The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
Travis interviews author Freya Marske about her debut fantasy novel, A Marvellous Light, which is available now from Tordotcom. Red White & Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in debut author Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light, featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies.
Freya and Travis discuss the best gins, building books around an emotional spine, and the highlights of her unofficial Smut Writing Course.
Want your message featured on the podcast? Find out more here.
About Freya Marske:
Freya Marske lives in Australia, where she is yet to be killed by any form of wildlife. She writes stories full of magic, blood, and as much kissing as she can get away with. Her hobbies include figure skating and discovering new art galleries, and she is on a quest to try all the gin in the world. Her short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Andromeda Spaceways, and several anthologies. In 2020 she was awarded the Australian National SF (Ditmar) Award for Best New Talent.
Find Freya on Twitter, the Be the Serpent podcast, or at her website, freyamarkse.com.
Find Us Online:
- Blog
- Discord
Support Us:
- Become a Patron
- Buy Us a Coffee
Music:
- Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no
- Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no
This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples.
Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores!
The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
Travis interviews author Melissa Caruso about the second book in her Rooks and Ruin trilogy, The Quicksilver Court, which is available now from Orbit Books. Loyalties are tested and nations clash in this fresh epic fantasy book bursting with adventure, intrigue, ambition, and deadly magic.
Melissa and Travis discuss the battle tactics of LARPing, writing settings as a character, and her tried and true Oh Shit Chain method of writing.
Want your message featured on the podcast? Find out more here.
Melissa Caruso Recommends:
- The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick
- The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter
- Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
About Melissa Caruso:
Melissa Caruso was born on the summer solstice and went to school in an old mansion with a secret door, but despite this auspicious beginning has yet to develop any known superpowers. Melissa has spent her whole life creating imaginary worlds, and in addition to writing is also an avid LARPer and tabletop gamer. She graduated with honors in Creative Writing from Brown University and has an MFA in Fiction from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Melissa's first novel, The Tethered Mage, was shortlisted for a Gemmell Morningstar Award for best fantasy debut.
Find Melissa on Twitter or at her website, melissacaruso.net.
Find Us Online:
- Blog
- Discord
Support Us:
- Become a Patron
- Buy Us a Coffee
Music:
- Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no
- Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no
This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples.
Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores!
The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.
Travis interviews author John Gwynne about the first entry in his new Bloodsworn Saga from Orbit Books, The Shadow of the Gods. In a Norse-inspired world where the gods destroyed each other in a cataclysmic war, three warriors seek to shape the fate of the world.
John and Travis discuss Viking reenactment, the pros and cons of various melee weapons, and the best way to escape from a suit of mail.
About John Gwynne:
John Gwynne studied and lectured at Brighton University. He’s played double bass in a rock ’n’ roll band and traveled the USA and Canada. He is married with four children and lives in Eastbourne, where he is part of a Viking reenactment group. When not writing, he can often be found standing in a shield wall with his three sons about him. His dogs think he is their slave.
Find John on Twitter, Instagram, or at his website john-gwynne.com.
Find Us Online:
- Blog
- Discord
Support Us:
- Become a Patron
- Buy Us a Coffee
Music:
- Intro: "The Legend of Iya" courtesy of https://philter.no
- Outro: "A Quest Unfolds" courtesy of https://philter.no
This episode of The Fantasy Inn podcast was recorded in the unceded territory of the S’atsoyaha (Yuchi) and ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Eastern Cherokee Band) peoples.
Some of the links included in these show notes are affiliate links and support the podcast at no additional cost to you. If it's an option for you, we encourage you to support your local bookstores!
The blog post accompanying this episode can be found at https://thefantasyinn.com, along with fantasy book reviews, author interviews, and more fantasy content.