Yesterday, after recording a lunchtime episode of my Eating the Fantastic podcast in Towson, Maryland, I headed into Baltimore to attend the second incarnation of Charm City Spec, a quarterly reading series which takes place at Bird in Hand Coffee & Books.

Last night’s featured writers were Malka Older, Tom Doyle, and Ariel S. Winter.

Do you regret missing it? Well, you don’t have to! Because I recorded all three readings, as well as parts of the introductions by Karen Osborne. And you can enjoy them all below.

Malka Older

Tom Doyle

Ariel S. Winter

The next installment of Charm City Spec will take place on April 25th with Leah Cypess, A.C. Wise, and Fran Wilde. I’ll be there. Will you?

Writer Tom Doyle and I recorded Episode 4 of Eating the Fantastic at Ethiopic Ethiopian restaurant nearby the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and Union Station in Washington D.C.—which unless I’m mistaken has the largest Ethiopian population outside of Ethiopia after so many resettled here during the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Tom’s the author of a contemporary fantasy series from Tor which began in 2014 with American Craftsmen, returned in 2015 with The Left Hand Way, and continues in the third installment War and Craft—the manuscript of which he handed in to his editor mere days before we met.

We talked about how what was was originally pitched as a standalone novel turned into a surprise trilogy, his fascination with apocalyptic fiction, what effect the Clarion workshop had on his growth as a writer, and much more.

Here’s how you can listen in— (more…)

Last night, Irene and I headed over to what was dubbed an Irish Fest of the Future, hosted by Tom Doyle and Beth Delany. Since we were asked to dress according to the theme, I adorned myself with little green men. As you can see in the photo below, in addition to green clothing and a brown derby, I wore Yoda, Braniac 5, and one of those cute aliens from Toy Story.

Also—you’ll note a certain green-haired wench on my arm … one who’s likely to smack me around for calling her a green-haired wench. (Thanks to Karen Wester Newton for the pic!)

The catalyst for the theme was that Tom’s a recent winner of the Writers of the Future competition, and will be heading to L.A. next month to take part in the awards ceremony. So last night, when he wasn’t leading us in singing “Fairytale of New York” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” he read the opening to his story.

St. Patrick’s Day may be over, but that’s no reason not join in the celebration now below! (more…)