My guest for the first Eating the Fantastic episode of 2020 is Leslye Penelope — who publishes as L. Penelope. She started out as a self-published author, and her debut fantasy novel Song of Blood & Stone was so successful it was later picked up by St. Martin’s Press. That book earned (among other things) the 2016 Self-Publishing EBook Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, and after being republished and brought to a wider audience, named as one of TIME magazine’s top fantasy books of 2018. She has since published two sequels, Breath of Dust & Dawn and Whispers of Shadow & Flame. Additional installments in the series are forthcoming.

We got together for lunch in Columbia, Maryland at The Turn House — because I’d heard about chef Thomas Zippelli, who has put in time at both the French Laundry and Eleven Madison Park, and wanted to check the place out. It turned out to be worth the visit for the porchetta alone.

We discussed why The Neverending Story was her favorite childhood movie, which Octavia Butler quote inspired one of her tattoos, why she decided to go the self-publishing route — and how her indie success resulted in her first novel getting picked up by a traditional publisher, the catalytic scene which sparked her Earthsinger Chronicles series, how she manages to meet the expectations of both fantasy readers and paranormal romance readers, her advice for breaking out of writers block, and much more.

Here’s how you can eavesdrop on our conversation —

1) Subscribe at Apple Podcasts — where I hope you’ll be tempted to download a few of the 112 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’s what we ate during our meal at The Turn House —

House-made Sourdough Bread
migrash farms flour, cultured butter from vermont creamery

Lamb Meatballs
butternut squash puree, mint, pickled onion, pine nuts, feta cheese

Porchetta
heritage breed roasted pork, crispy skin, anchovy aioli, arugula, capers, shallots

Hazelnut Torte
chocolate, hazelnut, pistachio gelato

Mango Sorbet

Alas, our conversation was so engrossing I forgot to snap Leslye’s grilled chicken sandwich.

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I’m not sure which of two possible guests you’ll be dining with next episode, but I hope you’ll join us.