All aboard!

Welcome to the permanently moored Queen Mary, which sailed the seas from 1936 to 1967, but which is now a retired ocean liner turned hotel in Long Beach, California—and last month the home of the second annual StokerCon. My guest for this episode snuck away with me from the con for some peace and quiet in my room—and to share take-out food delivered from nearby Thai Silk.

The first of five episodes I captured for you while out West is with the legendary William F. Nolan, who’s written more than 2,000 pieces of fiction and non-fiction, co-wrote with George Clayton Johnson the novel Logan’s Run, co-wrote with Richard Matheson the screenplay to the movie Trilogy of Terror (which contains perhaps the scariest doll ever seen on film), plus—he’s received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association and was named a World Horror Society Grand Master. His most recent short story collection is Like a Dead Man Walking.

We discussed how Ray Bradbury helped him sell his first short story in 1954, the way a slush pile sale to Playboy convinced him to abandon a successful career as a commercial artist, why his Twilight Zone episode was never filmed, the difference between the real truth and Charles Beaumont’s “greater truth,” why he only ever acted in one movie (and got punched by William Shatner), how Stan Freberg pranked diners aboard the Queen Mary and made them think the ship was sinking, which novel he thinks is his best (and it’s not Logan’s Run), and more.

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And now—here’s how you can dig into some of that Pad-Se-Ew with us—

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Here’s a look at what we ate during our chat—

Vegetable Egg Rolls

Vegetable Tempura
(Broccoli, onion, bell pepper, green bean)

Pad-Se-Ew with Tofu

Thai Fried Rice
(with peas, carrot, egg, onions)

Stir Fried Glass Noodle
(with egg, cabbage, tomato, corn)

If listening and looking has left you hungry for more, remember to come back in two weeks when my guest will be Elizabeth Hand, a brilliant writer who’s won four World Fantasy Awards, two Nebula Awards, three Shirley Jackson Award Awards and … I could go on. And after that, three additional episodes recorded during the recent StokerCon—with Dennis Etchison, Nancy Holder, and George R. R. Martin.

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See you next time!