Welcome to the New Books Network

My inaugural podcast as host of New Books in Science Fiction and Fantasy is now available on the New Books Network.

I supposed I�m biased, but I think the New Books Network is amazing. It�s concise description as �a consortium of podcasts dedicated to raising the level of public discourse by introducing serious authors to serious audiences� belies its vast depth and reach.

It has over 100 channels dedicated to topics as varied as comics, mathematics, food, global conflict, theater, digital culture, archeology and on and on. And this oasis of enlightened conversation is run entirely by volunteers and overseen by Marshall Poe, its editor-in-chief, founder, and all-around workhorse.

I was honored that Marshall asked me to host the channel although nervous at first about the time it would take away from my own writing. Then I realized what a wonderful and fun opportunity it was. I�d assiduously avoided reading too much science fiction and fantasy so as not to unconsciously steal ideas for my own writing. But hosting has given me a chance to test an entirely new approach: spark my imagination by immersing myself deeply in new works of science fiction and fantasy.

My plan is to produce a new podcast every two weeks. My first interview is with Greg van Eekhout, author of California Bones (Tor, 2014), which came out in June. In this first of a trilogy, van Eekhout creates a completely new, internally consistent world. The primary premise of this world is that magic is real, and the rulers of the Kingdom of Southern California draw power and wealth from potions derived from the bones of magical creatures. Interestingly, I�ve scheduled an interview with James Cambias, author of A Darkling Sea, who recently wrote an interesting blog post about fictional magic and the great lengths authors will go to in order to create their own internally consistent set of magical mechanics.

To give you a preview of what�s to come, I�m also planning interviews with Emmi It�ranta about her Memory of Water (Harper Voyager, 2014), Shelbi Wescott about her Virulent series (Amazon Digital Services, 2013) and Robert K. Silverberg about his Science Fiction: 101: Exploring the Craft of Science Fiction (Roc, 2014).

If anyone has suggestions for other authors to interview, please send them my way.