Seven years, one month, and 15 days before the meal on which you’re about to eavesdrop, Alan Smale and I got together to chat about his Clash of Eagles trilogy. Now that he’s completed yet another trilogy, we decided to grab lunch during Awesome Con to discuss how his Apollo Rising books came to be.

Smale writes alternate history and hard SF. His novella of a Roman invasion of ancient America, “A Clash of Eagles”, won the 2010 Sidewise Award for Alternate History, and his series of novels set in the same universe, Clash of Eagles (2015), Eagle in Exile (2016), and Eagle and Empire (2017), are available from Del Rey (US) and Titan Books (UK and Europe). His Roman baseball collaboration with Rick Wilber, The Wandering Warriors, came out from WordFire Press (2020), and Hot Moon, his alternate-Apollo “technothriller with heart,” set entirely on and around the Moon, was launched by CAEZIK SF & Fantasy in July 2022, followed by sequel Radiant Sky in November 2024 and the concluding volume in the Apollo Rising series, Burning Night, in November 2025.

Smale has also sold over fifty pieces of shorter fiction to Asimov’s and other magazines and original anthologies. His short story, “Gunpowder Treason,” set in London in 1605, the lead story in Tales from Alternate Earths Vol. III from Inklings Press, won the 2021 Sidewise Award. His non-fiction essays have appeared in Lightspeed and Journey Planet, and he wrote a regular column about scientific and historical turning points for Galaxy’s Edge.

Born and raised in England, he lives in Maryland and recently retired from a career as an astrophysicist and data archive manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He also sings bass and serves as Business Manager for high-energy vocal band The Chromatics, who have performed at various science fiction conventions (D.C. Worldcon, Balticon, Shore Leave, Farpoint) and were Music Guests of Honor at Philcon.

We discussed the three projects he’d told me in 2019 he was going to write next (and what became of them), how what was originally intended to be a standalone novel turned into his latest trilogy, the synergy of writing an alternate history about the Apollo space program while working at NASA, how the constraints imposed by science helped improve his plot arc, the way astronaut personalities have changed across the decades, how to write alternate history to be entertaining both for those who know actual history and those who don’t, the advice he wishes he could give his younger self, how we don’t really dislike info dumps (only the ones which aren’t done well), and much more.

Here’s how you can join us at Mariscos 1133 restaurant —

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Here’s what you would have seen us nibbling had you been with us at Mariscos 1133 restaurant —

Ceviche Clásico
red onion, cilantro, rocoto, fresh lime juice, toasted corn

My Short Ribs
overnight slow-braised short ribs, Serrano-tomate puree,
dirty beans, rainbow carrots

Alan’s Mariscos Taco Platter
baja fish, shrimp, octopus, chipotle aioli, avocado,
cilantro, onions. cabbage, rice & beans

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Coming up two weeks from now on the podcast, you’ll be able to dive into a full English breakfast with Farah Mendlesohn, author of the Hugo-nominated The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein, about their newest work, Considering The Female Man by Joanna Russ.

Thanks for listening!