Now that Eating the Fantastic is finished with StokerCon, it’s time to move on to my first meal of Readercon — my first which you can join, that is — lunch with Alex Jablokov, who I feel I’ve been seeing at Readercons as long as I’ve been attending — and my first was its first, way back in 1987.

Since Alex’s fiction debut in 1985, he’s had more than 50 short stories appear in Analog, Asimov’s, Amazing Stories, and Aboriginal SF, plus some venues with titles further down the alphabet, such as Fantasy and Science Fiction, Far Frontiers, Future Boston: The History of a City 1990-2100, Interzone, and  Intersections: The Sycamore Hill Anthology. Some of that earliest work was gathered in the collection The Breath of Suspension, published by the legendary Arkham House in 1994, an achievement of which I am so, so envious.

His first novel, Carve the Sky, was released in 1991, and was followed by A Deeper Sea, Nimbus, River of Dust, Deepdrive, and most recently, Brain Thief. 

We discussed how he came to publish a short story collection with the legendary Arkham House, what the ease with which he wrote some of his earlier stories led him to believe which he quickly learned was wrong, why writing workshops are good for surfacing rather than solving story problems, the one question every writer must ask themselves, plotters vs. pantsers (and whether one can turn into the other), the difficulty in getting writing done when life intervenes, what horseradish has to do with the publishing business, the story he believes he only sold because the editor liked spiders, the best way to believably write characters with whom you disagree, plus much more.

Here’s how you can join us at Woojeon Korean Cuisine —

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 290 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.

Here’s what you would have seen us nibbling had you been with us at Woojeon Korean Cuisine —

Alex’s Squid Bokkeum

Scott’s Bulgogi

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, horror, and comics ear candy —

One is to rate Eating the Fantastic on Apple Podcasts 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.

Finally — I hope you’ll consider becoming a supporter of Eating the Fantastic, and help this podcast continue.

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.

Coming up next on the podcast, I will break the space-time continuum by leaping ahead of my second Readercon episode — with the Nebula-nominated writer Barbara Krasnoff — to share a lightning-round donut episode — my first since 2023 — recorded last weekend at Worldcon.