It’s time for a fourth and final conversation from this year’s StokerCon, following previous guests Ai Jiang, Chuck Tingle, and Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam. I invite you to join me at the table with the award-winning Cynthia Pelayo for burgers and fries at Hodad’s Downtown.

Pelayo is a Bram Stoker Award-winning and International Latino Book Award-winning author and poet. She’s the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, The Missing, Poems of My Night, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Children of Chicago, Crime Scene, The Shoemaker’s Magician, as well as dozens of short stories and poems. Loteria, which was her MFA in Writing thesis at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was re-released to much praise, with Esquire calling it one of the Best Horror Books of 2023. Santa Muerte and The Missing, her young adult horror novels, were each nominated for International Latino Book Awards. 

Poems of My Night was nominated for an Elgin Award, while Into the Forest and All the Way Through was nominated for an Elgin Award and was also nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. Children of Chicago was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in Superior Achievement in a Novel and won an International Latino Book Award for Best Mystery. Crime Scene won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. Her most recent novel, The Forgotten Sisters, was released in March and is a modern adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”
 
We discussed the dead body she thought she saw which sparked The Forgotten Sisters, why she changed her mind about killing every character at the end of that newest novel, how growing up in a haunted house helped turn her into a horror writer, why she evolved from a pantser into a plotter, the importance of describing decaying bodies in extreme detail, which journalistic skills transferred easily to fiction writing and which didn’t, what makes Chicago great, the reason classic fairy tales survive, how reading Agatha Christie helped her learn how to plot, the way to write successful flash fiction, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us for lunch at Hodad’s Downtown — (more…)

I returned home from the Glasgow Worldcon less than 48 hours ago, and am still suffering from jet lag, but I’m not so groggy I can’t share with you what was my favorite item on the program there — Jenny Rowe’s one-woman show, Tiptree: No One Else’s Damn Secret But My Own. I loved her performance, and immediately reached out to see whether I could chat with her about channeling James Tiptree, Jr., and how she distilled the life of that brilliant writer into an hour-long arc. Luckily, we were able to connect in the Crown Plaza bar.

Rowe is an actor, improviser and writer who performs and teaches improv internationally. She wrote her solo show about James Tiptree, Jr./Alice Sheldon in 2018, was nominated for Best Female Performer at Buxton Fringe ’24, and continues to tour with the production. Her other performances include Read Not Dead (Shakespeare’s Globe) Clean by Sam Chittenden (Best Play Award, Brighton Fringe 2019), Mary Rose by J.M.Barrie (National Tour), and Somewhere in England by Mark Burgess.

A member of Impromptu Shakespeare and Brighton Fringe Comedy Award-winners, The Maydays, since 2006, she has guested on the iO Chicago mainstage with Whirled News Tonight and headlined at improv festivals across Europe. She also writes weird, dark short stories which occasionally get published in weird dark places: one is upcoming in the Map of Lost Places anthology from Apex Books in 2025.

We discussed the serendipitous way she learned James Tiptree, Jr. existed, the differing reactions to her one-woman show from SF vs. non-SF audiences, how she managed to nail Tiptree’s accent (some of which you’ll get to hear), why she ultimately decided not to begin or end the show with a gunshot, how she settled on the structure of her script (and why she decided to leave herself out of the story), the way inhabiting Tiptree affected her feelings about the controversy, why she’d have loved to meet Tiptree but not necessarily want to be her friend, the purpose of the play’s moment of audience participation, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us at the Crowne Plaza bar — (more…)

Out in the real world, we’re in the midst of the Glasgow Worldcon, but here at Eating the Fantastic, it’s still Stokercon. So I invite you to take a seat at the table for my third culinary conversation captured there, following my Korean lunch with Ai Jiang and tea and scones with Chuck Tingle.

Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam is the author of the horror novel Grim Root, which was officially released two days after our chat. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in over 90 publications, such as Popular Science, Lightspeed, and LeVar Burton Reads. Her short story collection Where You Linger & Other Stories and her horror novella Glorious Fiends were both published in 2022.. She’s a two-time finalist for the Nebula Award. By day, she works as a Narrative Designer writing games for a mobile game company. 

We discussed how her new horror novel toys with the tropes of reality TV, the importance of balancing multiple POVs in a novel to keep them all equally interesting, our differing views on the revision process, the three years she spent writing 1,000 words per day (and why she stopped), the message she took from her two Nebula nominations, the importance of community, what she learned about herself by rereading her short stories to assemble a collection, why we both believe in ambiguous endings, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us for breakfast at the Broken Yolk Cafe — (more…)

The Glasgow Worldcon kicks off in eight days, and even though it’s in the future, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic … because it will mark the 50th anniversary of my first Worldcon, which I attended in Washington, D.C. in 1974.

You probably weren’t at that one, but if you’re going to be at this one, here’s where you can find me … when I’m not off hunting for donuts, recording episodes of my Eating the Fantastic podcast, or sitting in on panels absorbing the wisdom of others, that is! —

My First Time at Worldcon
Thursday, August 8, 2024, 2:30 p.m. (Argyll 2)
We have selected some fandom veterans, as well as recent Worldcon attendees, to share their stories of how they prepared for and how they experienced their first Worldcon. We hope you will get inspired for your first time at Worldcon.
with Emily January, Alan Fleming, Claire Brialey, and España Sheriff

The Art of the Interview
Thursday, August 8, 2024, 5:30 p.m. (Academy M4)
Many podcasts rely on interviews with creators, fans, and other interesting people. What makes a great podcast interview, and how do you learn the skills you need to put your guest at ease and make an entertaining podcast? And how should you approach being a podcast guest?
with Randee Dawn, Adrian M. Gibson, Janet Forbes, and Wendy Van Camp

Podcasts and Big Business
Thursday, August 8, 2024, 8:30 p.m. (Dochart 2)
Podcasts started as a niche hobby, ballooned into a media empire, and now we’re seeing stories that the business of podcasting is in decline. How has the rise of the podcasting industry affected the individual podcaster? Do you run your podcast as a small business or as a hobby you can monetise, and how do you keep your podcast finances sustainable? What are the benefits of joining a podcasting network, or do you prefer to do your own thing?
with Alan Bailey, Dan Moren, Marguerite Kenner, and Mur Lafferty

The Difficult Second Album
Friday, August 9, 2024, 10:00 a.m. (Alsh 1)
So you’ve started a podcast! You’ve got microphones and editing software and even a few listeners! What’s next? How do you keep your podcast exciting and build an audience? How do you measure success or failure? Does every podcaster want to keep growing their audience, or are you happy in your small niche?
with Ali Baker, Alison Scott, Luke Elliott, and Marguerite Kenner

Table Talk
Friday, August 9, 2024, 1:00 PM (Hall 4)

Stroll with the Stars
Monday, August 12, 2024, 9:00 a.m. (Outside Crowne Plaza)
Join your fellow convention members, and perhaps some big names, for a gentle stroll (1.3 miles/2km) around Festival Park, across the river from the SEC, led by Farah Mendlesohn and Mike Scott. The route is wheelchair-accessible, and we will adjust our pace to match the abilities of the slowest walkers. Sign up at the Registration Desk by 18:00 the previous day, and meet at 09:00 outside the Crowne Plaza hotel’s main entrance.

I hope to see you there!