This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome R.S.A. Garcia, author of The Nightward. About The Nightward: For 500 years Gaiea’s Hand has stood as a ward against the Dark. The Age of Chaos is a faded memory. The Goddess has left Gailand and given her Blessing to the Queens to rule in her stead. Princess Viella of the court of Hamber is the Spirit of Gaiea, …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Mike Chen, author of Marvel: What If . . . Marc Spector Was Host to Venom? (A Moon Knight & Venom Story). About Marvel: What If . . . Marc Spector Was Host to Venom? (A Moon Knight & Venom Story): Marc Spector is used to voices in his head. He’s used to waking up disoriented, unsure what his alters, Jake and Ste…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Curtis C. Chen, author of TRUE BLUE KANGAROO. About TRUE BLUE KANGAROO: Welcome to the spacefaring future, where humanity travels between planets with ease and has abused that power to establish outposts in some questionable places. Take Venus, for example: a sister world to Mother Earth, similar in size and gra…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Two-Time Hugo Award winner Paul Weimer. About Paul Weimer: Paul Weimer is a Two-Time 2024 Hugo Award winner for Fan Writer and Fanzine (Editor). Not really a Prince of Amber, but rather, an ex-pat New Yorker living in Minnesota, Paul Weimer has been reading sci-fi and fantasy for over 40 years. An avid and enthu…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome John Jackson Miller, author of BATMAN: RESURRECTION. About BATMAN: RESURRECTION: The Joker is dead, but not forgotten. Gotham City is saved, but it is still not safe. By night, its new symbol of hope, Batman, continues his fight to protect the innocent and the powerless. By day, his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, wonde…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Luis Jaramillo, author of The Witches of El Paso. About The Witches of El Paso: 1943, El Paso, Texas: teenager Nena spends her days caring for the small children of her older sisters, while longing for a life of freedom and adventure. The premonitions and fainting spells she has endured since childhood are getti…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Martha Wells, author of the updated and revised version of Wheel of the Infinite. About the updated and revised version of Wheel of the Infinite: A traitor and a swordsman join forces to save the world from being rewritten into devastation. Every year the image of the Wheel of the Infinite must be painstakingly …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Peter F. Hamilton, author of Exodus: The Archimedes Engine. About Exodus: The Archimedes Engine: In a past age, humanity fled a dying Earth in massive ark ships. These searched the galaxy to find a new home. Then one fleet found Centauri, a dense cluster of stars teeming with habitable planets. Now, thousands of…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Stephanie Wrobel, author of THE HITCHCOCK HOTEL. About THE HITCHCOCK HOTEL: Alfred Smettle is not your average Hitchcock fan. He is the founder, owner, and manager of The Hitchcock Hotel, a sprawling Victorian house in the White Mountains dedicated to the Master of Suspense. There, Alfred offers his guests round…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Ken Liu, translator of Laozi’s Dao De Jing. About Laozi’s Dao De Jing: Laozi’s Dao De Jing was written around 400 BC by a compassionate soul in a world torn by hatred and ambition, dominated by those that yearned for apocalyptic confrontations and prized ideology over experience. By speaking out against the clev…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Unexploded Remnants, author of Elaine Gallagher. About Unexploded Remnants: Alice is the last human. Street-smart and bad-ass. After discovering what appears to be an A.I. personality in an antique data core, Alice decides to locate its home somewhere in the stargate network. At the very least, she wants to lay …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Hana Lee, author of ROAD TO RUIN. About ROAD TO RUIN: Jin-Lu has the most dangerous job in the wasteland. She’s a magebike courier, one of the few who venture outside the domed cities on motorcycles powered by magic. Every day, she braves the wasteland’s dangers—deadly storms, roving marauders, and territorial b…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Mary Robinette Kowal, author of Silent Spaces. About Silent Spaces: Silent Spaces: Tales from the Lady Astronauts is a collection of 9 short stories in the Lady Astronaut Series written by Mary Robinette Kowal, including one written just for this collection. With this campaign the book will be available in print…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Lynne and Michael Damian Thomas, Co-Publishers/Co-Editors-in-Chief of UNCANNY MAGAZINE. About Uncanny Magazine Year 11: This One Goes to ELEVEN: Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas have run Kickstarters for the seven-time Hugo Award-winning and 2024 Locus Award-winning Uncanny Magazine Years One, Two, Three,…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Audrey Burges, author of A House Like An Accordion. About A House Like An Accordion: Keryth Miller is disappearing. Between the growing distance from her husband, the demands of two teenage daughters, and an all-encompassing burnout, she sometimes feels herself fading away. Actual translucence, though—that’s new…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Josh Malerman, author of Incidents Around the House. About Incidents Around the House: To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s Mommy, Daddo, and Grandma Ruth. But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?” When horrifying incidents around…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Peng Shepherd, author of ALL THIS AND MORE. About ALL THIS AND MORE: Meek, play-it-safe Marsh has just turned forty-five, and her life is in shambles. Her career is stagnant, her marriage has imploded, and her teenage daughter grows more distant by the day. Marsh is convinced she’s missed her chance at everythin…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, author of GRIM ROOT. About GRIM ROOT: On the set of The Groom, a group of women must compete for the heart of Midwestern bachelor Tristan by spending a week in a haunted house. Divorcee Linda, resigned to her role as the show’s underdog, finds her resolve cracking when she begins to fall f…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Sarah Pinsker, author of Haunt Sweet Home. About Haunt Sweet Home: When aimless twenty-something Mara lands a job as the night-shift production assistant on her cousin’s ghost hunting/home makeover reality TV show Haunt Sweet Home, she quickly determines her new role will require a healthy attitude toward duplic…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Ari Marmell, author of Dust, Obelisks, Book One. About Dust, Obelisks, Book One: For Flight Engineer Cynthia Han and her fellow astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 81 has proved as mundane as space travel ever gets. Yes, this would be Cynthia’s final NASA mission, for reasons she’s so f…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Maurice Broaddus, author of Black Panther: T’Challa Declassified. About Black Panther: T’Challa Declassified: He’s a king, a hero, a loving brother and son, a husband to a goddess. The orphan king—the Haramu-Fal—and the Damisa-Sarki. And a man facing his doubts, his failures, and his destiny. Revisit the life of…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Tim Akers, author of The Eccentrics. About The Eccentrics: Led by the eighth incarnation of Nikola Tesla, the Society of Eccentric Geniuses protects the Mundane world from the horrors of the Gestalt, a timeline of the future that never was. Powered by SCIENCE and steam, the Eccentrics travel the world in their a…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Charlie Huston, author of CATCHPENNY. About CATCHPENNY: Sidney Catchpenny has had a bad run. Laid low by a years-long bout of debilitating depression, he’s all but squandered his reputation as one of the most uniquely talented thieves in LA. There aren’t many who can do what Sid does. He’s a sly, a special kind …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Madeleine Roux, author of What If…Loki Was Worthy?. About What If…Loki Was Worthy?: Thor—Son of Odin, God of Thunder, Wielder of Mjolnir—is dead. And Loki is responsible. It was meant to be only a joke—tampering with the Destroyer, changing Thor’s course to Midgard—a bit of mischief with a chance of maiming. But…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Chris Radcliff, who backed the Uncanny Magazine Year 10: A Decade of Delightful Defiance Kickstarter at the THIRD NERD level! About Chris Radcliff: Software engineer, space nerd, citizen scientist, geek dad, weird kid, and Uncanny Magazine Kickstarter backer! Mentioned in this episode: Upstart Crow SpaceUp Uncon…

This week, Patrick and Tracy are chatting about a Publisher’s Weekly article on Brandon Sanderson’s Audible announcement. This leads us down the path of talking royalty splits, agents and the publishing ecosystem, as well as the difference between a guild and a union, SFWA, RWA and more. This week’s picks: Tracy: GreenLight: Debit Card for Kids and…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome James Goodhand, author of The Day Tripper. About The Day Tripper: The right guy, the right place, the wrong time. It’s 1995, and Alex Dean has it all: a spot at Cambridge University next year, the love of an amazing woman named Holly and all the time in the world ahead of him. That is until a brutal encounter wi…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Moses Ose Utomi, author of The Truth of the Aleke. About The Truth of the Aleke: The Aleke is cruel. The Aleke is clever. The Aleke is coming. 500 years after the events of The Lies of the Ajungo, the City of Truth stands as the last remaining free city of the Forever Desert. A bastion of freedom and peace, the …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome James Enge, author of EVIL HONEY, a new Morlock Ambrosius short story. About Old Moon Quarterly: Issue 3, Winter 2023: Old Moon Quarterly is a small, independent online magazine devoted to publishing weird sword-and-sorcery fiction set in a historical paranormal setting or a secondary-world, with a focus on well…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome T.R. Napper, author of Aliens: Bishop. About Aliens: Bishop: The USCSS Patna has been found. Although the synthetic Bishop asked to be shut down forever, his creator has other plans. Michael Bishop seeks the Xenomorph knowledge stored in the android’s mind, and brings Bishop back to life—but for what reason? No …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Amanda Jayatissa, author of ISLAND WITCH. About ISLAND WITCH: Set in 19th century Sri Lanka and inspired by local folklore, the daughter of a traditional demon-priest—relentlessly bullied by peers and accused of witchcraft herself—tries to solve the mysterious attacks that have been terrorizing her coastal villa…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Ray Nayler, author of The Tusks of Extinction. About The Tusks of Extinction: Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out again. Dr. Damira Khismatullina, an expert in elephant behavior, was brutally murdered trying to defend the world’s last …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Wole Talabi, author of Convergence Problems. About Convergence Problems: From the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Nommo award nominated author of Shigidi and The Brass Head Of Obalufon comes a stunning new collection of stories that investigate the rapidly changing role of technology and belief in our lives as we search…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Shannon Lawrence, author of Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights. About Myth Stalker: Wendigo Nights: When Selina Moonstone, a Myth Stalker, gets a late night call from her mentor about a Wendigo problem, she arms up and heads to Canada, only to find out the Wendigo is someone close to her. Accustomed to facing off with…

This week, Patrick and Tracy ring in the new year by chatting with J.T. Evans, author of HIVE DREAMS. About HIVE DREAMS: Aell the bladesinger is a former gladiatorial slave. Stiles the lockwhisperer is a streetwise cat burglar. Trying their best to get by but always embroiled in trouble and chaos, they form a formidable duo with a strong bond of fr…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome GennaRose Nethercott, author of Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart (and other stories). About Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart (and other stories): The stories in Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart are about the abomination that resides within us all. That churning, clawing, ravenous yearning: the hunger to be held,…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Mur Lafferty, author of CHAOS TERMINAL. About CHAOS TERMINAL: Mallory Viridian would rather not be an amateur detective, thank you very much. But no matter what she does, people persist in dying around her—and only she seems to be able to solve the crime. After fleeing to an alien space station in hopes that the…

This week, Patrick and Tracy are sharing a list of holiday gifts the nerd – functional or otherwise – in your life might enjoy! And some they might not… The Great Holiday Gift List (2023 Edition): Tracy: Otamatone (Evil Santa gift) Tracy: Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker Tracy: Weighted Blanket Tracy: G-Shaft candy (Evil Santa Gift) Patrick:…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Michael Sims, editor of The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries. About The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries: For The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries, writer and anthologist Michael Sims did not summon the usual suspects. He sought the unfamiliar, the unjustly forgotten, and little-known gems by writers from outsid…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Alex Bledsoe, author of Give the People What They Want and Other Stories of Sharp Wit, Cunning Women, and Wild Magic. About Give the People What They Want and Other Stories of Sharp Wit, Cunning Women, and Wild Magic: Skyboat Media presents Give the People What They Want and Other Stories of Sharp Wit, Cunning W…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Kevin Hearne, author of A CURSE OF KRAKENS. About A CURSE OF KRAKENS: Seeker and Sower Pen Yas ben Min’s cousin was one of the legendary heroes of the wars against the giants until her untimely death. Pen has grown up in her famous cousin’s shadow, but when she’s given a quest to plant the seed of the magical Fo…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Stephen Aryan, author of THE JUDAS BLOSSOM. About THE JUDAS BLOSSOM: 1260, Persia: Due to the efforts of the great Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire covers a vast portion of the known world. In the shadow of his grandfather, Hulagu Khan, ruler of the Ilkhanate, is determined to create a single empire that covers t…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Alice Bell, author of GRAVE EXPECTATIONS. About GRAVE EXPECTATIONS: Almost-authentic medium Claire and her best friend, Sophie, agree to take on a seemingly simple job at a crumbling old manor in the English countryside: performing a seance for the family matriarch’s 80th birthday. The pair have been friends sin…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Max Bennett, author of A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains. About A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains: In the last decade, capabilities of artificial intelligence that had long been the realm o…

This week, Patrick and Tracy are talking about many things, including but not limited to: the rise of AI, students believing AI helps them, protecting creators, elastic principles, the excuses we make to support the bad thing that makes our lives easier, the convenience of the big box seller versus the mom and pop shop, moral justifications, game a…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Dan Moren, author of ALL SOULS LOST. About ALL SOULS LOST: After two years trying to run away from his past, Mike Lucifer’s back in his office less than ten minutes when a persistent young woman shows up asking for help: her boyfriend’s been possessed by a demon. That’s exactly the kind of mess that drove him fr…

On a very special Just Us episode, we’re talking about all sorts of things, including Catholic guilt, Santiago’s breakfast burritos, television, Star Wars, video games, Ahsoka, teenagers and wet towels, the care and maintenance of still gestating microhumans, old school network tv, episodic vs serial television, streaming, connective tissue between…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Howard Andrew Jones, author of Lord of a Shattered Land. About Lord of a Shattered Land: The Dervan Empire has at last triumphed over Volanus, putting the great city to the torch, its treasures looted, temples defiled, and fields sown with salt. What little remains of Volanus is scattered across the empire, its …

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome Jacqueline Carey, author of CASSIEL’S SERVANT. About CASSIEL’S SERVANT: Cassiel’s Servant is a retelling of cult favorite Kushiel’s Dart from the point of view of Joscelin, Cassiline warrior-priest and protector of Phèdre nó Delaunay. He’s sworn to celibacy and the blade as surely as she’s pledged to pleasure, b…

This week, Patrick and Tracy welcome James L. Sutter, author of DARKHEARTS. About DARKHEARTS: When David quit his band, he missed his shot at fame, trapped in an ordinary high school life while his ex–best friend, Chance, became the hottest teen pop star in America. Then tragedy throws David and Chance back into contact. As old wounds break open, t…