I was thrilled to be back at an in-person Balticon last month, the first since 2019. And though the con’s now over, here at Eating the Fantastic, it continues, at least for the next three episodes. I hope you’ll join me as I chat and chew with three writers who were gracious enough to join me at the table during Balticon, the first of which was Wen Spencer, one of this year’s Special Guests.

Wen Spencer is the author of more than a dozen science fiction and fantasy novels and is perhaps most known for her Elfhome series, which began with Tinker (2003), winner of the Sapphire Award.   She’s the 2003 winner of what was then known as the John W Campbell Award — now the Astounding Award — for Best New Writer — plus the 2002 winner of the Compton Crook Award for her novel Alien Taste, the first book in her Ukiah Oregon saga. The books which followed in that series are Tainted Trail (2002), Bitter Waters (2003), and Dog Warrior (2004). Her standalone novels include A Brother’s Price (2005), Endless Blue (2007), Eight Million Gods (2013), and The Black Wolves of Boston (2017). Her short fiction has appeared in such magazines and anthologies as Transhuman, World Breakers, Turn the Other Chick, and Chicks and Balances.

We discussed her origins as a writer of Pern fanfic, the similar faux pas we each made during our early days in fandom, how a friend inspired her professional career by lending her a stack of poorly written books, the dream which gave birth to her Compton Crook Award-winning first novel Alien Taste, the true reason the novel is her fiction form of choice, the impossibility of ever making something perfect, what her agent really means when he says “well, you could do that,” why it’s so important to be able to write more than one type of book, whether she knows how her series will end, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us —

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Here’s the sushi we nibbled from Kona Grill as we chatted (though alas, I failed to snap a photo of our edamame) —

Wen’s Crunchy Spicy Tuna

Scott’s Tuna and Salmon

Scott’s Eel

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Please join me two weeks from now to eavesdrop on my second of three Balticon guests — Gwendolyn Clare, author of the novel Ink, Iron, and Glass, its sequel Mist, Metal, and Ash, and many more.

Thanks for listening!