Have you digested last episode’s Nebula Awards Donut Jamboree yet? I hope so, because following up on that lightning-round event, it’s time for the first of five one-on-one interviews over meals with writers recorded during this year’s Nebula Awards weekend in Pittsburgh—starting with nominee Kelly Robson, who 48 hours after we dined at Union Standard, became a winner!

Before winning this year’s Best Novelette Nebula for “A Human Stain,” she was also a finalist for the 2017 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her novella “Waters of Versailles” won the 2016 Aurora Award and was also a finalist for the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards. Her short story “The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill” was a finalist for the Theodore Sturgeon Award, and her short story “Two-Year Man” was a finalist for the Sunburst Award. Her most recent publication is the time travel adventure Gods, Monsters and the Lucky Peach.

I’d hoped to visit Union Standard shortly after they opened for one of last year’s batch of Nebula Awards weekend episodes, but sadly, it wasn’t to be, so I’m thrilled I was able to host Kelly there. As for the reason why I was so anxious to eat at that restaurant—Chef Derek Stevens has been called one of the foundational figures of Pittsburgh’s culinary boom. In fact, Pittsburgh magazine has written of him—”If you like dining out in Pittsburgh, you should thank Derek Stevens.” If nothing else, I’ve got to thank him for the Jamison Farm Lamb Sirloin with Anson Mills polenta and grilled asparagus—of which Kelly kindly allowed me a nibble.

We discussed how the first Connie Willis story she read changed her brain, the way a provocative photo got her a gig as a wine reviewer at a top national magazine, what she learned from the initial Taos Toolbox writers workshop, why completing Gods, Monsters and the Lucky Peach was like giving birth to a watermelon, how reading a Battlestar Galactica tie-in novel helped teach her how to write, where she would head if time travel were real, why she’s contemplating writing a “frivolous” trilogy (and what that really means), the reason the story of hers she most likes to reread is professionally published James Bond fanfic, and much, much more.

Here’s how you can have a little lamb with us—

1) Subscribe over at the iTunes store, where you’ll also find all 67 previous episodes.

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

3) Or check it out using the embed below.

Here’s what Kelly and I devoured that first night in Pittsburgh during the Nebula Awards weekend—

Warm Potato Bread
with Trickling Springs Farm butter and pearl onion & apricot jam

Wood-Roasted Pennsylvania Asparagus
with grilled farm bread, slow-cooked egg, schmaltz vinaigrette,
white anchovy, crispy chicken skin

Kelly’s Jamison Farm Lamb Sirloin
Anson Mills polenta, grilled asparagus, orange, parlsey, pistachio

My Laurel Hill Trout
cornmeal crusted, smoked jalapeño, fingerling potatoes,
bacon, parsley, chow, chow

Walnut Dulce de Leche Pie
espresso streusel, vanilla ice cream, cranberries

Chocolate Cake
coffee ice cream, orange, birch beer chantilly

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 several 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.

But 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 (it was a 360-mile round trip to capture these Nebula episodes for you), parking, the shuttling of guests between hotels and convention centers to and from restaurants, and, of course, the meals which loosen the tongues of those guests, 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—because every little bit helps.

I hope you’ll join me next episode, when my guest will be A. M. Dellamonica, whose first novel, Indigo Springs, won the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, and whose fourth, A Daughter of No Nation, won the 2016 Prix Aurora.

Thanks for listening!