Interview: Stephen R. Donaldson and Steve Stirling were in Phoenix together for a signing at The Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale, along with Michael A. Stackpole, and we were able to get everyone in the studio together for a chat about their latest works, about their fans and their worlds.
"Cover to Cover" Episodes
The archives of the seminal book talk show, and one of the oldest podcasts on the internet.
Cover to Cover #283A: Brandon Sanderson
Interview: Brandon Sanderson joins us near the end of his book tour (with David Farland), to talk about his latest book, “The Well of Ascension”, the second book in the Mistborn series.
The Mistborn trilogy follows a band of thieves as they set out to take down the dark lord who beat the prophesied hero and subjected the land to oppression and darkness. “The Well of Ascension” deals with the aftermath, because there’s always unexpected fallout when you assume the bad guy is all bad.
Cover to Cover #282A: Edward M. Lerner
Interview: Edward M. Lerner joins us to talk about collaborating with Larry Niven on Fleet of Worlds, a story set in the “Ringworld” universe, but not a direct prequel to “Ringworld”, although in it, we get to learn more about a main character in “Ringworld”. We also learn more about the Puppeteers and their home world in this book, but it is a standalone book.
Cover to Cover #280A: Robert Jordan, RIP
Discussion: The lead topic is discussing the passing of Robert Jordan. For all our arguments and nitpicks about what transpired in the later novels in the series, there is no denying that he could deliver a range of stories that appeal to a wide range of readers.
Michael and Michael discuss, including the recent passings of Madeleine L’Engle and Fred Saberhagen as well.
Cover to Cover #279A: Tobias Buckell
Interview: Michael, Summer and Michael talk with Tobias Buckell about Ragamuffin, a sequel to Crystal Rain… sort of. It’s set in the same lush Caribbean flavored world he’s created, but not a direct follow-up of the original story. We get a history of Earth’s Caribbean history and political development, and we get a taste of the beginning of the third book in the series (still in progress).
Cover to Cover #278A: K. L. Nappier
Interview: Michael, Summer and Michael talk with K. L. Nappier about Bitten, a sequel to Full Wolf Moon. Yes, it’s about werewolves, but the first story is set in California iin 1942, in a Japanese internment camp. Bitten follows several characters through hunting werewolves in the early 1950s, just as the US is moving forward after the end of World War II. It’s a new way of looking at old terrors.
Cover to Cover #277A: Austin Grossman
Interview: Michael, Summer and Michael talk with Austin Grossman about Soon I Will Be Invincible, and he tells us how the book came about. Basically, mainstream literature would be far better if everyone in the stories had superpowers, and combining comic book stories and prose storytelling styles seems to be where more stories are waiting to be told.
Cover to Cover #276A: Tom Piccirilli
Interview: Michael, Summer and Michael talk with acclaimed and award-winning horror/suspense author Tom Piccirilli about his latest book, The Midnight Road, and he tells us about his awards and near-miss awards, what goes into writing scary stories, moving from writing straight horror stories into crime and suspense stories, and more.
Cover to Cover #275A: Amanda Hemingway
Interview: Michael, Brian and Lorrie talk with British author Amanda Hemingway about the final book in her Sangreal Trilogy, The Poisoned Crown, widely acclaimed as the best of the series. She’s also working on a new series based on an occassionally recurring character in some of her earlier works.
Amanda also writes under several different pseudonyms to cover the variety of story styles that she writes in, but not all of them are available in the US, so if her premises intrigue you, you’ll have to do a little digging to find some of the other books.
Cover to Cover #274A: Marianne de Pierres
Interview: Michael, Summer and Michael talk with Australian author Marianne de Pierres about her latest book, Dark Space, the first book in her new series “The Sentients of Orion”. She’s created a new universe, different from the world in her Parrish Plessis series, one where the races are in a technological race to talk with God, who was discovered in deep space after an ship on a mining exploration run suffers a navigational failure and drifts off course.
Cover to Cover #273: Gail Z. Martin / Phil Rossi
Interview: Michael and Michael talk with Gail Z. Martin about The Summoner, the first book in her new series “The Chronicles of The Necromancer”. It’s all about an orphaned prince who must learn how to master a rare magical ability, avenge his murdered family, and reclaim the kingdom that had been stolen from him.
Interview: Michael and Michael next talk with Phil Rossi about his podiobook “Crescent”, currently one of the fasting growing podcast novels out there. It’s based on a space station, and is a little bit ghost story, a little bit romantic action-adventure, and a little bit mystery all rolled into the same story.
Cover to Cover #272: Emma Bull and Will Shetterly
Interview: Michael and Summer talk with Emma Bull and Will Shetterly, husband and wife Tucson transplants as they drop by the studio at the beginning of their joint book tour for their respective new novels Territory and Gospel of the Knife.
Cover to Cover #271: Mike Carey / Lynda Williams
Interview #1: Michael and Brian talk with internationally acclaimed comic book author Mike Carey about his new novel The Devil You Know. It’s a supernatural thriller, and the first book of a planned six-book series about an exorcist who’s far more detective than priest, and the dangers in the line of work he’s chosen.
Interview #2: Next up, Michael and Michael talk with Canadian science fiction author Lynda Williams about Righteous Anger, the follow up to Courtesan Prince and the shared Okal Rel universe these stories and other works of hers and other writers inhabit.
Cover to Cover #270: Anne McCaffrey / David Anthony Durham
Interview #1: Michael, Summer, Brian and Michael talk with Anne McCaffrey about what it’s like to write in a universe that’s so well and widely known, the lengths she goes to to research her stories; and what it’s like to open up her Pern universe to new stories by her son, Todd. She also tells us about working with the Writers of the Future to help bring along the next next generation of writers and storytellers.
Interview #2: Next up, talk with award-winning historical novelist David Anthony Durham about Acacia, his first foray into epic fantasy with a multicultural story rich in mythology and history of a kingdom under siege, and the tale of exiled children determined to undo their father’s legacy of a tyrannical rule, and rebuild their kingdom into one based on freedom and dignity.
Cover to Cover #269: James Patrick Kelly / Seth Harwood
Interview #1: Michael, Summer, Brian and Michael talk with James Patrick Kelly, who tells us about the convoluted journey of BURN from print to podcast, back to print to Nebula Award. The podcast version was nominated, and won the award for the novella category.
Interview #2: Next up, Michael, Summer and Michael talk with Seth Harwood about his upcoming podcast “This is Life”, the sequel to the crime noir podcast, “Jack Wakes Up”.
