I’ve attended 31 of the annual World Science Fiction Conventions since my first back in 1974—Discon II, held in Washington, D.C.—and at this year’s Worldcon it proved as true as it was back at the beginning that the best part of attending any con is often stealing away for a meal with friends. The only thing that’s changed over the years is—now I’m sharing some of those meals with you.

The first of five meals recorded for my Eating the Fantastic podcast was a lunch with Pat Cadigan at Mizu Sushi Bar & Grill, which was a no-brainer when deciding where to host a writer who won the 2013 Hugo Award, as well as the Seiun Award, for her novelette “The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi.”

She also won the Arthur C. Clarke Award twice—for her novels Synners (in 1992) and Fools (in 1995). She’s a major fan of professional wrestling, and I’m pleased that when I was editing Rampage magazine during the ’90s, she wrote many articles for me on that subject … when her duties as the reigning Queen of Cyperpunk didn’t interfere. She’s also written tie-in novels for Friday the 13th and Lost in Space, and forthcoming, the official movie novelization of Alita: Battle Angel. She also won a World Fantasy Award in 1981 for editing the magazine Shayol.

We discussed what it was like being Robert A. Heinlein’s liaison at the 1976 Kansas City Worldcon, why John Brunner hated her when they first met and what she did to eventually win him over, her secret childhood life as a member of The Beatles, what she and Isaac Asimov had in common when it came to convincing parents to accept science fiction, her original plan to grow up and script Legion of Super-Heroes comics, what she learned about writing from her 10 years at Hallmark Cards, how editor Shawna McCarthy helped birth her first novel, what effect being dubbed the Queen of Cyberpunk had on her career, who’s Thelma and who’s Louise in her Thelma and Louise relationship with editor Ellen Datlow, our joint friendships with Gardner Dozois, how she came up with her stories in the Wild Cards universe, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us at the table—

1) Subscribe over at the iTunes store, where you’ll also be able to check out the 76 previous episodes.

2) Listen to the episode via the RSS feed of http://eatingthefantastic.libsyn.com/rss on the device of your choice.

3) Or listen by clicking on the embed below.

Here’s that boat of sushi we dove into—

If you enjoyed this episode and want to support my mission of breaking bread with creators of the fantastic while letting you eavesdrop, there are a few ways you can help bring this podcast to the attention of potential new listeners looking for science fiction, fantasy, and horror ear candy—

You could rate Eating the Fantastic on iTunes and like it on Facebook. Also—you could tell your friends about the show by sending them a link to your favorite episode and letting them know what I’m doing here.

If you’d like to become even more involved, there are three more substantial ways you can support this show. There are expenses such as equipment, bandwidth, gas, parking, shuttling guests between hotels and convention centers to and from restaurants, and, of course, the meals which relax my guests and loosen their tongues for you, so anything you feel up to sending my way to help cover those and other associated costs would be most appreciated.

You could make a small recurring monthly donation over at Patreon, where there are various perks involved depending on your level of support, such as access to a patrons-only blog, getting a shout-out on the show, stickers, postcards, and more.

Or if an ongoing level of commitment’s not for you, or if Patreon’s just not your thing, then consider tossing a couple of bucks in the tip jar instead and making a one-time donation of any size via Paypal.me.

Or you could head on over to https://ko-fi.com/eatingthefantastic and send me the funds to cover the cost of a cup of coffee.

I hope you’ll join me next episode to eavesdrop on an amazing Indian food dinner with K. Tempest Bradford, a wonderful writer who’s also one of the funniest people I know.

Thanks for listening!