The final Eating the Fantastic guest you get to join at the table during the Glasgow Worldcon — following Jenny Rowe, Wole Talabi, Paul Cornell, and Gareth L. Powell — is R. S. A. Garcia.

Garcia won both the Nebula Award and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for her short story “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200,” published in Uncanny , and was a Nebula finalist the previous year as well for her novella  “Bishop’s Opening,” which appeared in Clarkesworld. She is also the winner of the MIFRE Media Award, and a Sturgeon, Locus, Ignyte and Eugie Foster Award finalist. Her short fiction has appeared in venues such as Escape Pod, Strange Horizons, and Internazionale Magazine, as well as a number of anthologies, including the The Best of World SF, The Best Science Fiction of the Year, and The Apex Book of World SF. 

Her Amazon bestselling science fiction mystery, Lex Talionis, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and the Silver Medal for Best Scifi/Fantasy/Horror Ebook from the Independent Publishers Awards. Her sci-fantasy duology, beginning with The Nightward, was published by Harper Voyager US in October, plus The Unbearable Taste of Fruit and Wine will be out next Valentine’s Day from Android Press.

We discussed how the idea for her Nebula-winning short story caused her to leap up and walk out of a writing workshop, how editor Ellen Datlow’s advice changed her life, why writing is a verb, not an adjective, the way she decides whether or not to rise to the occasion of a themed anthology invite, her convoluted journey in finding an agent to negotiate her first novel sale even though there was already an offer on the table, why there are some rejections you should be grateful for, how Sigourney Weaver’s role in Alien inspired the sorts of stories she wanted to tell, the Easter eggs in her fiction only a Trinidadian would get, how and why she’s a complete pantser, the importance of community as well as the danger of it disappearing, her hope that readers get even more from her fiction upon rereading,  and much more.

Here’s how you can join us for lunch at Two Fat Ladies at The Buttery —

1) Subscribe at Apple Podcasts — or wherever you choose to consume your podcasts — where I hope you’ll be tempted to sample a few of the 241 previous episodes.

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

3) Or simply use the embed below.

And here’s what you would have seen us nibbling had you been with us at Two Fat Ladies at The Buttery —

Bread Service
british soda bread with raisin and apple

My Duck and Black Pudding Appetizer
with a potato scone

Her Scallops and Cauliflower Appetizer

My Chicken and Haggis Entree

Her Highland Venison Entree

Mignardises

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Coming up two weeks from now — my steak dinner with Tom Brevoort, who holds the record for being the longest running editor ever at Marvel Comics, having been hired there in 1989 right out of college. He’s an Eisner Award-winner for Best Editor, and currently Group Editor of the X-Men.

Thanks for listening!