When recording a podcast in a restaurant setting, sometimes you have to deal with the background chatter of other customers, and sometimes you have to deal with music pouring from overhead speakers … but I never expected I’d have to deal with a speeding locomotive!

That’s right—in an Eating the Fantastic first, my guest and I had to contend with a freight train. Actually, more than just a freight train—but many freight trains.

When it came time for dinner at Fiorella’s Jack Stack, we were given the choice of a table either in the main dining room or out on the patio, and because I was afraid the loud music combined with the conversation of other customers would create an ambient noise you’d find distracting, I decided we should eat al fresco … not realizing there were railroad tracks nearby, which meant an occasional locomotive would pass. But don’t worry—I think you’ll find the result more amusing than annoying, especially when (as you’ll hear) one overly loud engine caused my guest and me to break into song.

My guest this episode is Hugo, Nebula, and Stoker Award nominated writer Adam-Troy Castro. Adam has published more than 100 short stories, some of which I was privileged to buy back when I edited Science Fiction Age magazine, plus a story someone else had the honor of purchasing—my all-time favorite zombie story.

We talked about the epiphany caused by his first viewing of Night of the Living Dead, how he handled a heckler during his early days doing stand-up comedy, the history behind the novel he almost wrote spinning off from the classic TV show The Prisoner, and much more. We even, for reasons you will learn, had cause to sing a few bars of the Johnny Cash classic “Folsom Prison Blues.”

Here’s how you can share the BBQ—

And the desert, too!

1) Subscribe over at the iTunes store—where you can also download past episodes if you’re so inclined.

2) Use the show’s RSS feed of http://eatingthefantastic.libsyn.com/rss to listen via whatever device you choose.

3) Or just click the embed below.

As promised, here’s what Adam and I dove into for dinner.

Onion rings tower

Burnt ends and lamb ribs

Sausage, brisket, and a loaded baked potato

Carrot cake

What’s next for Eating the Fantastic?

In two weeks, I’ll bring you another Kansas City BBQ episode, this one with Alyssa Wong, winner of the Nebula Award for her short story “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers”—a tale which should not be read before bedtime. I hope you’ll be back to join us then.

And here’s an idea—why not subscribe now so the episode downloads automatically?