This episode of Eating the Fantastic almost didn’t happen, and not just because it was recorded somewhat spontaneously. No, the reason this episode almost didn’t happen was because instead of digging into dessert, we were afraid we might be spending the night being interrogated by the Secret Service. And if that had occurred, the blame would be entirely on Parvus Press publisher Colin Coyle.

It was all due to his afternoon mission to visit the White House and fulfill Kickstarter rewards relating to his recently released anthology If This Goes On, edited by Cat Rambo. And because that title contains my short story “The Stranded Time Traveler Embraces the Inevitable,” I decided to tag along. We had an off-the-record lunch at Jaleo, but once we we’d completed our mission, we debriefed what we’d just done over dessert at Art and Soul.

We discussed the reason we were glad we got to record the episode rather than spend the night in jail, how the tragic events of Charlottesville inspired him to hire Cat Rambo to assemble the If This Goes On anthology, why he switched over to the Kickstarter model for this book and what surprises he discovered during the process, the reason his company isn’t publishing horror even though he’d like to, the surprising shared plot point slush pile writers used to indicate future American culture was failing, what an episode of West Wing taught him about launching Parvus Press, what he isn’t seeing enough of in the slush pile, the acting role of which he’s proudest from back in his theater days (hint: you’ve probably seen Danny DeVito do it), the advice he wishes he could have given himself when he started out as a publisher, and much more.

Here’s how you can eavesdrop on our conversation over dessert at Art and Soul —

1) Subscribe at the iTunes store — where I hope you’ll be tempted to download some of the 90 previous episodes.

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

3) Or check it out via the embed below.

Here are the messages the anthology’s Kickstarter backers requested Colin hold up by the White House, about which you’ll find out more in the episode itself.

Plus we also made a stop at a certain now infamous hotel …

Here’s what we ate as we chatted —

Pecan Sticky Bun Bread Pudding
maple-bourbon creme crème anglaise

Salted Caramel Cheesecake
graham cracker crust, chocolate ganache

Mine Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

If you enjoyed this episode and want to support my mission of breaking bread with creators of the fantastic while letting you listen in, there are a few ways you can help bring this podcast to the attention of potential new listeners looking for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comics ear candy —

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Finally — because of Eating the Fantastic’s unique niche — that is, on-the-road restaurant interviews — there are expenses beyond the usual ones for studio-based podcasts. I sometimes use ride-sharing services to carry me and my guests from convention centers to restaurants and back, or I gas up to drive them myself — and then there’s that food I used to entice those guests to wander off and share of themselves with you, food which loosens their tongues, relaxes them, and — counterintuitively, because we are after all out in public surrounded by other diners — results a much more intimate environment than if we were alone together in a sterile studio.

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Please join me again in two weeks when my guest will be Malka Older, author of the Centenal Cycle of novels — which includes Infomocracy, Null States, and State Tectonics — and a finalist for the 2017 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.