Kathrin Hutson In 2020 we thought the world was strangely similar to the first book in the Blue Helix saga, Sleepwater Beat, like we had seen this before? Well welcome to 2031 where everything old is old yet again but not. It is a confusing dystopian future, which we were left off in at the end of book one (see Talkcast 441) . Unfortunately, when book 2 , Sweetwater Static begins, the reader is not where they think they should be.They are left with the feeling they have been tossed around in tim...
Jul 12, 2020
V.S. Holmes So. here’s what happens when you assume……99.99999995% of the time, you’re wrong. Welcome to the continuing saga of Nel Bently as told by the incomparable VS Holmes as we explore the third novel in the Nel Bently series Strangers, a series that takes place simultaneously on Earth, in space and on some other places yet to be explained. Because of the complexity of the universes we need the guide that V/Nel provides us in her own inimitable fashion. V’s writing style , along with Nerls ...
Jul 05, 2020
Autumn Grey In 2014 the comic world was introduced to T he Twisted World of Jay Mooers ’ Autumn Grey. At that point it was the beginnings of an interesting story about a place, kinda like here but kinda not…an in-between world that existed somewhere in the periphery of your vision…just when you think you see it, it blinks away. Over the intervening years, as the story grew the glimpses became more solid, the characters more real, the stories more substantive, as did Jay’s work in general. In thi...
Jun 27, 2020
Jeremy Whitley The good news is, It’s a great day here in area 51 when we get to visit again with someone we really like and they have a new project to talk about. The better news is we are for some unknown reason STILL talking about aliens on earth and the agencies that support them. Our old friend Jeremy Whitley returns. You might, that is should remember him from his Princeless series and The Unstoppable Wasp. His newest graphic novel is something that John Cleese might call “completely diffe...
Jun 10, 2020
D. M. Kirtaime The fun thing about this podcast is that we never know where we are going to be introduced to our next guest. This includes social media platforms we would not associate with science fiction or fantasy. I am looking at you LinkedIn. But that is where we met Dominik M Kirtaime and learned about his first book, The Perennial Migration . The Perennial Migration is an interesting merging of fantasy and science fiction that might remind readers of the TV Series V, and Logan’s Run. In t...
May 24, 2020
And, yes the podcast titles are becoming more obscure. In this case it is very appropriate. We get to talk with Kathrin Hutson about her new series of books set in a near dystopian future. The first book in her Blue Helix Series is called Sleepwater Beat . This book is killer in every sense of the word, from the characters to the plot and world building based on a perfectly plausible future Kathrin gives a solid performance at virtually every level. The “worst” part of the interview was her enga...
May 16, 2020
Richard Paolinelli In this episode we get to, once again, touch base with multi-talented friend of the show Richard Paolinelli . As is usual when Richard comes on, whatever main topic we were planning to discuss becomes part of an auditory omelet , whereby we know where we want to end up but actually have no idea what’s inside until we’re done. Never one to disappoint, the topics ranged from the output from his new NEWSLETTER, his “ 1K Weekly Serial Series ” and trust me when I tell you that the...
May 09, 2020
Dr. Bruce Olav Solheim Some interviews just happen all by themselves. No matter how much you plan and research, the conversation does what the hell it pleases and meanders wherever it wants. Thus was this episode with Bruce Olav Solheim ; Radio Talk Show Host , Playwright , History Professor , member of MUFON , author of 8+ books on a wide range of subjects… and then there is his new comic endeavor, Snarc . Snarc is the beginning of the misadventures of an Alien and his sentient talking staff as...
May 02, 2020
Curtis M Lawson Can music be evil, in and of itself? We explore this concept using a piece of fictional classical music called The Madrigal of the World’s End. In this episode, we get to once again talk with horror novelist Curtis M. Lawson (and yes, I do goof his name, but this time in an entirely unexpected way). He came on to talk about his newest novel, Black Heart Boys Choir . This is an excruciatingly beautiful work combining classical music, mysticism, demonology, teen angst, class dispar...
Apr 25, 2020
Kristina Rienzi Hey and hi, everyone. Welcome to the new normal of the pared down interview where, because of the current “world wide crisis”, bandwidth is limited 24/7 which makes using the internet a problem for us to work in. That being said, we will continue on as best we can with whatever limited resources are available. Our first attempt at normalcy begins with an interview with author Kristina Rienzi . If she isn’t in your science fiction reading lexicon, she should be and here’s why. Kri...
Apr 18, 2020
Ryan Lessard Welcome, my friends to this edition where we get to talk with fellow broadcaster, journalist and comic creator Ryan Lessard about his 20 year old new project. What does he mean by that? We spend a good portion of the discussion talking about just how long this went from seed of a concept in a notebook and how he kept returning to it over and over as life intervened until his work became Sentinel, Volume One, with many more issues to come in the next few years. As a side note, Lawren...
Mar 28, 2020
Not Joseph J. Madden At All! We need more fun. A statement; direct, simple and to the point. At the time of this podcast, we Actually Joseph J. Madden need more fun. Due to ecological circumstance our daily lives are becoming more like “ The Caves of Steel ”, so DAMN IT, WE NEED MORE FUN!!! What has that got to do with the deadly, vicious Australian Quokka? Of paramount importance, what has that got to do with Joseph J. Madden ? All very good questions, dear listeners, and as someone who inherit...
Mar 21, 2020
Jeffrey A, Carver On this show we welcome Boston “semi-native” Jeffrey A.Carver . His work ranges from hard SF to space opera with a healthy sense of wonder. He has taught writing in many settings, from educational television to Odyssey to MIT to his own workshops He is the author of eighteen science fiction novels, including the recently published “Time Out Of Sequence” duology, The Reefs of Time and Crucible of Time ).With this two-part novel, Carver returns to his signature series, The Chaos ...
Mar 14, 2020
The Mighty Mascots What do Heckle and Jeckle, Huckleberry Hound and Diver Dan have to do with this episode? Honestly, nothing….and EVERYTHING. Join us on an old timey/futuristic voyage with the adventures of The Mighty Mascots , a unique comic from the interesting mind of Keith Gleason, and their collective future. Plastic City Comic Con Then we got to spend some time talking about this year’s Plastic City Comic Con . Keith announced this years Guest of Honor, the Incredible Marvel Legend Roy Th...
Mar 07, 2020
On this episode we have our yearly chat with Daniel Abella, the man in charge of The Philip K Dick Sci Fi Film Festival. In its 8th. Season, this year is a five-day event. We got the chance to talks about how the films are curated, the myriad of geographic locations they come from and all the different ways the conceptualization of the Philip K Dick themeography is expressed, including ethical morality, genetic manipulation to technological implications to humanity. A myriad of established and n...
Feb 29, 2020
Liz Butcher In this episode, we talk with Australian author Liz Butcher about Fates’ Fury , her debut novel. As the interview begins, we briefly touched on the wildfire catastrophe that has enveloped her country. Her first hand account of the devastation there is chilling. Then we talked about how her ideas became this novel . The discussion centered on her background and interests, how her characters write the story for her, why the three main characters are so well and deeply developed, how he...
Jan 18, 2020
Life’s a bitch. She deals off the bottom of the deck. But you play the hands you’re given. O.E,Tearmann In this episode we talk with the writing team collectively known as O.E.Tearmann about their Aces High Jokers Wild series and specifically the first book in the series, The Hands We’re Given. The series is set in an America divided into heavily guarded, high-tech corporate zones known as the Grid, and Force-controlled military installations known as the Dust. We are in a world where climate ch...
Jan 12, 2020
Dreamforge Magazine Issue #4 In this episode we get to touch base with Scot and Jane Noel, the founders of the grand experiment called Dreamforge Magazine and get the chance to both look back over the past year as well as look forward to what we can expect in the next “season of positivity” that Dreamforge brings us with each new volume. For the uninitiated, Dreamforge is a print/e magazine which combines the best qualities of both thanks to the passion and care Scot and Jane bring to each issue...
Dec 21, 2019
Tosca Lee Our guest in this show is a New York Times Best Selling Author Tosca Lee who comes by to talk about her new book A Single Light , sequel to the hit book The Line Between . We get to talk about the wonderful characters, the not quite fictional ecological disaster all intertwined with the bleak scenarios of a far too believable all too near future. As impressive as her tensely disturbing plot line, ithe reader is almost overwhelmed by her characters depth and diversity. The roles of Wynt...
Dec 15, 2019
Or, Yoga, Meditation and Blue Cows. Or, 110 People CAN Be Wrong! What do the following people have in common: Bob Hoskins Steven Spielberg Roy Disney Kathleen Turner Amy Irving Gary K Wolf In not too simple terms the correct answer is Gary K. Wolf , author and creator of Roger Rabbit. In this episode we literally fall down the rabbit hole of Gary’s inventive mind to talk about the stories behind the inception of Toontown, the Roger Rabbit movie and almost everything else in the wonderful mind of...
Nov 30, 2019
C.T. Phipps In this edition, we get to reconnect with CT Phipps , who discerning listeners might remember from his series, “ The Rules of Supervillany ”. He comes by to talk about another of his amazing passions, the Space Opera, a segment of Science Fiction that requires the writer to figuratively AND literally build almost everything from the ground up. His newest series with protagonist Cassius Mass, who is “royalty” and heroic starfighter pilot within the Crius Archduchy, who finds out that ...
Nov 24, 2019
Peter Vinton Jr. It was Ben Bova who said that “Science Fiction is simply history that hasn’t happened yet”. In this edition, we get a true glimpse of that as we talk with our old friend Peter Vinton Jr . Artist, writer, historian and bibliophile, Peter joins the ‘Cast to talk about Volume two of his social allegory passion project, The Monitor’s Guild – Book Two:The Signing of the Declaration of Independence . Part history, part science fiction part urban fantasy, part spy thriller and part pol...
Nov 09, 2019
Scot Noel In this episode we get another look behind the curtain of Dreamforge – A Magazine of Science and Fantasy Fiction . Once again wed get to speak with Scott Noel about how this project has evolved as Issue #3 comes out this month and work begins on Issue 4 in the never-ending cycle of publishing a quarterly magazine. The passion project begun by Scot and his wife Jane grows more involved with each issue: with a myriad of new story’s, exquisite artwork and glimpses in the mirror world of w...
Sep 14, 2019
GraniteCon 2019 In this episode we get a chance to have a quick conversation with Chris Proulx, mastermind extraordinaire behind Granite State Comic Con . With less than a week to go, he took a few moments from his busy schedule to sit down with us at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester, NH (where all good Granite Cons come from) and get the word on what’s new and different this year. Then we got to speak with another long time friend of the show (with yet another unpronounceable name), Richard...
Sep 07, 2019
Adam Wilson In part one of this episode we get to speak with Adam Wilson who runs an organization aptly called CalmPassion Calm Passion . The purpose of CalmPassion is to allow helps make events sensory friendly to support Autism and Neurodiverse families. I got the chance to meet Adam at Plastic City Comic Con and we spent some time talking about what his mission statement was and I must admit, I was more than a little intrigued by the idea. Adam and the cast got the chance to sit down and talk...
Aug 17, 2019
Colby Elliot My real purpose of going to conventions is networking (actually, the real REAL purpose is to find cool stuff to buy but more about that another time). Plastic City Comic Con is one of those one day Micro-Cons where networking is easy, fun and enjoyable, getting to see old friends and meeting new ones as well. So, Imagine my surprise when my friend Colby Elliot of Last Word Audio Studios sauntered by the booth and we gabbed liked we hadn’t seen each other in months (actually, we hadn...
Aug 03, 2019
Welcomed to TalkCast 410. This episode is a “ clip show “. What, you may ask, is a “ clip show “? Well, to put it in non-podcasters terms , a “ clip show ” is a show with a bunch of clips, in this case audio, that we haven’t used before (seems kind of obvious now the I explained it, huh?). Just how did this “ clip show ” come about, you ask (my, you do ask a lot of questions, don’t you?)? This came about because of two things. Barbara Friedlander First, at Plastic City Comic Con we had a perfect...
Jul 27, 2019
Karen Gosselin In this episode we get to visit with one of the shows oldest friends, artist, writer and astonishing creative talent Karen Gosselin . We get to talk with her about her second year attending the Illustrators Master Class . Based on her description of the week, it would seem as if she has both a wonderfully creative time. If you want to see some of the end result of what she accomplished there be sure to check out the SFSN Table at Plastic City Comic Con on July 13th. and say hello ...
Jul 11, 2019
Joseph Paradis When you go to Author Expo’s or conventions you can meet tons of diverse people and if you’re foolish enough to “judge a book by its cover” or in this case “an author by his looks”, you may sometimes ‘have gravely misjudged the situation’. Meet Joseph Paradis . We spoke at a meeting a few months back and I’m not sure what it was that I expected when I received his book but what ever my expectations were it was most certainly NOT Saving The Dark Side – The Devotion . To explain, wh...
Jul 07, 2019
Artemis Crow In this episode we get to talk with writer Artemis Crow about the beginning or her grand adventure omnibus of novels ‘The Zodiac Assassins’. This series of books will encompass 12 novels and 12 novellas in a sweeping arc of the universe that has a world much like the one we all know called The OverWorld and a place of magic, mystery, mayhem and violence called InBetween. The series explains how one world became two and brings the reader back and forth between interactions between th...
Jun 09, 2019
