Caitlin Starling, LAST TO LEAVE THE ROOM author
Fictitious
Caitlin Starling returns to Fictitious to talk about her new horror-tinged, sci-fi thriller, LAST TO LEAVE THE ROOM. We talk writing surreal scenes, and using a "load-bearing cat". About Last to Leave the Room The city of San Siroco is sinking. The basement of Dr. Tamsin Rivers, the arrogant, selfish head of the research team assigned to find the source of the subsidence, is sinking faster. As Tamsin grows obsessed with the distorting dimensions of the room at the bottom of the stairs, she finds a door that didn’t exist before – and one night, it opens to reveal an exact...
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Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey, THE DEAD TAKE THE A TRAIN co-authors
Fictitious
Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey are both powerhouse bestselling authors in their own rights. Now, they’ve merged their considerable talents in cosmic horror and urban fantasy to create the new novel, THE DEAD TAKE THE A TRAIN. In a New York City absolutely filthy with magic—monsters and the mundane intermingle. When that cohabitation breeds horrific problems—and it always does—you need people like Julie Crews to clean up the mess. But being a coked-out, broke ass, pig-pen disaster of a magician like Julie creates as many issues as it solves. Struggling to make rent and constantly...
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James L. Sutter, rpg co-creator of PATHFINDER and STARFINDER; author of DARKHEARTS
Fictitious
In this episode we’re going to deviate a bit from the usual focus on fiction to talk about writing for tabletop roleplaying games and related media. RPGs have always been deeply interconnected with fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, and right now they are more popular and prevalent than ever before. James L. Sutter co-created the lore and story-rich fantasy RPG PATHFINDER for Paizo Publishing, which has become one of the most popular roleplaying games in the world. He then took the role of Creative Director on STARFINDER, a science-fantasy RPG that reimagined the world of Pathfinder in a...
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Greta Kelly, THE QUEEN OF DAYS author
Fictitious
Greta Kelly returns to Fictitious to talk about her new fantasy novel, THE QUEEN OF DAYS. We discuss its origin as a NaNoWriMo project, developing a tightly-contained fantasy setting, and maintaining emotional drama in a fast-paced heist story. THE QUEEN OF DAYS is breakneck-paced fantasy adventure coming October 24th from Harper Voyager. Order it now at: » » » Some of the links above are affiliate links. Using them helps support this site and its writers. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will...
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Matt Wallace, SAVAGE CROWNS author
Fictitious
Matt Wallace talks about his epic fantasy trilogy, THE SAVAGE REBELLION — which includes SAVAGE NATION, SAVAGE BOUNTY, and SAVAGE CROWNS, all available now from Saga Press. We discuss the series's examination of empire, historical influences, impact of sensitivity readers, and challenging editorial process. Savage Legion » Savage Bounty » » Savage Crowns » » » Some of these are affiliate links. Using them supports the channel, at no additional cost to you! Whenever possible, though, I encourage you to purchase from your local bookstores. About...
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Fictitious Returns from Hiatus!
Fictitious
After a two-year hiatus, Fictitious returns to your podcast feeds. Host Adron Buske explains the reason for the break, and the return, and how the show will evolve going forward. For all my interviews, show info, and more, visit: Right now, the best social media platform for Fictitious is Instagram:
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Zen Cho, BLACK WATER SISTER author
Fictitious
Zen Cho discusses her latest book, BLACK WATER SISTER, an urban fantasy of ghosts, grandmas, and gangsters set in Malaysia. We talk about crafting authentic regional dialects, writing "fantasy" using real world religious lore, and exploring cultural idiom in world-building. BLACK WATER SISTER is out now from ACE Books.
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Josh Malerman, GOBLIN author
Fictitious
Josh Malerman (author of BIRD BOX) talks about his book GOBLIN, a dark fantasy novel comprised of 6 individual but connected novellas. We discuss his prolific writing process, finding the rhythm for a story, exploring themes of obsession, and making a city the main character of his novel. GOBLIN is available in hardcover now from Del Rey Books.
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Marissa Levien, THE WORLD GIVES WAY author
Fictitious
Marissa Levien, author of THE WORLD GIVES WAY, talks about her dystopian apocalypse story set on an interstellar generation ship. We discuss the cat-and-mouse chase plot, exploring character's perception of their 'world', and how to use different POVs to set tone and audience expectation. THE WORLD GIVES WAY arrives June 1st from Red Hook.
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Marina Lostetter, THE HELM OF MIDNIGHT author
Fictitious
THE HELM OF MIDNIGHT author Marina Lostetter discusses her mystery-infused dark fantasy novel. We dig deep into her elaborate world-building and object-based magic system, how she discovered the story's themes, and her messy, start-at-the-end plotting methodology.
info_outlineGreta Kelly returns to Fictitious to talk about her new fantasy novel, THE QUEEN OF DAYS. We discuss its origin as a NaNoWriMo project, developing a tightly-contained fantasy setting, and maintaining emotional drama in a fast-paced heist story.
THE QUEEN OF DAYS is breakneck-paced fantasy adventure coming October 24th from Harper Voyager. Order it now at:
» Some of the links above are affiliate links. Using them helps support this site and its writers. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
About Greta Kelly
Greta K. Kelly is (probably) not a witch, death or otherwise, but she can still be summoned with offerings of too-beautiful-to-use journals and Butterfingers candy. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her husband EJ, daughters Lorelei and Nadia who are doing their level-best to take over the world.
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About THE QUEEN OF DAYS
From Greta Kelly, the author of the Warrior Witch duology, comes The Queen of Days, an epic adventure that weaves together a flawed-but-lovable family of thieves, a battle between fallen gods, and stakes high enough to cause vertigo—perfect for fans of The Lies of Locke Lamora and Six of Crows.
For Balthazar and his family of thieves, stealing a statue during the annual celebration of the god Karanis was just a good bit of fun…or a way to stick it to the governor who murdered his parents. And yeah, the small fortune in reward doesn’t hurt—even if his boss also hired the mysterious Queen of Days to join the crew as “the weapon of last resort…”
Whatever that means.
But Bal doesn’t know the ceremony isn’t simply empty words and dusty tradition; it’s true magic. The kind of magic that rips open a portal for the god himself. Only the idol that Karanis planned on using for a body now lies broken at the Queen of Days’ feet. And half of it is missing.
With the aid of a lovable brawler, a society lady turned bomb maker, a disgraced soldier, and a time-eating demon, Bal must hunt down the missing half of the statue if he has any hope of earning his money, keeping his crew alive…and perhaps even saving all of humanity. But as his journey sends him racing through the city—and across realities—he discovers that doing all this might just doom the city.
The city be damned. It’s time to kill a god.