In the flesh and blood world, I’m about to head off for Readercon, but in the world of Eating the Fantastic, it’s instead the Nebula Awards weekend that’s about to begin, with the first of three conversations recorded last month in Kansas City.

My guest this episode is Aimee Ogden, whose short fiction has appeared in publications such as Lightspeed, Fantasy, Analog, Clarkesworld, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Her debut novella, “Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters”, was a 2021 Nebula Finalist, and just this year, she was once again a Nebula finalist for the novelette “What Any Dead Thing Wants.” Also, her short story “A Flower Cannot Love the Hand” was a finalist for the Eugie Foster Memorial Award in 2022. Her latest novella, “Starstruck,” was released in June She’s also is the co-founder, co-publisher, and former co-editor of Translunar Travelers Lounge, a speculative fiction magazine devoted to fun, optimistic stories.

We discussed the YA novel origins of her new novella and the way a watermelon radish gave birth to them both, whether we agree which of her characters therein will captivate readers the most, why she believes in “productive procrastination,” how having twins counterintuitively helped rather than hindered her writing output, our opposing views on plotting vs. pantsing, the Bible story she can’t stop thinking about, how she chooses the next best thing to write, her secret to writing successful flash fiction, how she was able to carry on in the face of rejection, why being an editor helped her become a better writer, which Ursula K. Le Guin quote she chose as a tattoo, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us for BBQ at Jack Stack Freight House — (more…)