{"id":27330,"date":"2021-02-12T09:48:43","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T14:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/?p=27330"},"modified":"2021-02-12T09:48:43","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T14:48:43","slug":"mary-robinette-kowal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/2021\/02\/12\/mary-robinette-kowal\/","title":{"rendered":"Nibble hors d&#8217;oeuvres with Mary Robinette Kowal in Episode 138 of Eating the Fantastic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve been wanting to chat with <a href=\"https:\/\/maryrobinettekowal.com\">Mary Robinette Kowal<\/a> on Eating the Fantastic ever since I brought <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/2016\/02\/10\/the-first-episode-of-eating-the-fantastic-with-guest-sarah-pinsker-is-now-live\/\">the first episode<\/a> live five years and two days ago, but alas, the stars never aligned. And now, at last, they have!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/maryrobinettekowal.com\">Mary Robinette Kowal<\/a>  is the author of the Lady Astronaut series \u2014 which so far includes the novels <em>The Calculating Stars<\/em>, <em>The Fated Sky<\/em>, and <em>The Relentless Moon<\/em> \u2014 as well as the  historical fantasy novels in The Glamourist Histories series plus <em>Ghost Talkers<\/em>.  Her short stories  have appeared in <em>Strange Horizons<\/em>, <em>Asimov\u2019s<\/em>, and other magazines and anthologies, and her collections include <em>Word Puppets<\/em> and <em>Scenting the Dark and Other Stories<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-27332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s currently the President of SFWA, a member of the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses, and has received the Astounding Award for Best New Writer, four Hugo awards, the RT Reviews award for Best Fantasy Novel, the Nebula, and Locus awards.  Her novel <em>The Calculating Stars <\/em>is one of only 18 novels to win the Hugo, Nebula, and <em>Locus<\/em> awards in a single year. She\u2019s also a professional puppeteer and voice actor, and has won two UNIMA-USA Citations of Excellence, the highest award an American puppeteer can achieve.<\/p>\n<p>We discussed the temporal differences between puppetry and science fiction conventions, how she transitioned from writing magical Regency novels to the Lady Astronaut series, why unlike many writers, she reads her reviews (albeit selectively), the reason she&#8217;s able to write relationships between reasonable people so well, how she constructs a science fiction mystery, why it&#8217;s so important she likes her characters&#8217; clothing when she picks a project, the meaning of science fiction itself within her science fiction universe, the way she uses sensitivity readers to make her work better, how a novel is like a clear glass pitcher, and much more.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/eatingthefantastic\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-23795\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/PatreonWidget2-300x59.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"59\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/PatreonWidget2-300x59.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/PatreonWidget2.jpg 522w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how you can eavesdrop on our conversation &#8212; <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>1) Subscribe at <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/eating-the-fantastic\/id1083737796?mt=2\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> &#8212; where I hope you&#8217;ll decide to sample a few of the 137 previous episodes.<\/p>\n<p>2) Use the RSS feed of <a href=\"http:\/\/eatingthefantastic.libsyn.com\/rss\">http:\/\/eatingthefantastic.libsyn.com\/rss<\/a> on the device of your choice.<\/p>\n<p>3) Or listen using the embed below.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/17924891\/height\/240\/theme\/legacy\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/backward\/\" height=\"240\" width=\"100%\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Here are the hors d\u2019oeuvres we each prepped and then nibbled as we pretended we were at a cocktail party &#8212;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Mary Robinette&#8217;s Rosemary Crackers<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>with Ch\u00e8vre, coffee honey and cracked black pepper<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/CrackersMaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/CrackersMaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-27343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/CrackersMaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/CrackersMaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/CrackersMaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/CrackersMaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-768x768.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/CrackersMaryRobinetteKowalEatingtheFantastic-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong> Mary Robinette&#8217;s Pepper Jack Cheese Crisps<\/strong><br \/>\nwith raspberry jam<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalCrackers.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalCrackers-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-27346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalCrackers-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalCrackers-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalCrackers-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalCrackers-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalCrackers.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Mary Robinette&#8217;s Deviled Quail Eggs <\/strong><br \/>\n<em>topped with shiso fumi furakake<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalEggs.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalEggs-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-27348\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalEggs-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalEggs-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalEggs-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalEggs-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/KowalEggs.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Scott&#8217;s Poppy-Sesame Crackers<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>topped with brie and a pecan<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/PoppySesameCrackersEatingtheFantastic.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/PoppySesameCrackersEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-27334\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/PoppySesameCrackersEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/PoppySesameCrackersEatingtheFantastic-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/PoppySesameCrackersEatingtheFantastic-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/PoppySesameCrackersEatingtheFantastic-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/PoppySesameCrackersEatingtheFantastic-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Scott&#8217;s Mini Quiches<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>filled with bacon, onion and cheddar cheese<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniQuicheEatingtheFantastic.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniQuicheEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-27337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniQuicheEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniQuicheEatingtheFantastic-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniQuicheEatingtheFantastic-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniQuicheEatingtheFantastic-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniQuicheEatingtheFantastic-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Scott&#8217;s Mini Pizzas<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>pepperoni, of course<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniPizzaEatingtheFantastic.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniPizzaEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-27339\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniPizzaEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniPizzaEatingtheFantastic-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniPizzaEatingtheFantastic-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniPizzaEatingtheFantastic-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniPizzaEatingtheFantastic-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Scott&#8217;s Garlic Knots<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniGarlicKnotsEatingtheFantastic.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniGarlicKnotsEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-27341\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniGarlicKnotsEatingtheFantastic-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniGarlicKnotsEatingtheFantastic-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniGarlicKnotsEatingtheFantastic-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniGarlicKnotsEatingtheFantastic-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MiniGarlicKnotsEatingtheFantastic-1536x1536.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you enjoyed this episode and want to support my mission of breaking bread with creators of the fantastic while letting you eavesdrop, there are several ways you can help bring this podcast to the attention of potential new listeners looking for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comics ear candy \u2014<\/p>\n<p>One is to <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/eating-the-fantastic\/id1083737796?mt=2\">rate Eating the Fantastic on Apple Podcasts<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eatingthefantastic\/?fref=ts\">like it on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Also \u2014 you could tell your friends about the show by sending them a link to your favorite episode and letting them know what I\u2019m doing here.<\/p>\n<p>Finally \u2014 I hope you\u2019ll consider becoming a supporter of Eating the Fantastic, and help this podcast continue.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>You could make a small recurring monthly donation over at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/eatingthefantastic\">Patreon<\/a>, where there are various perks involved depending on your level of support, such as access to a patrons-only blog, getting a shout-out on the show, stickers, postcards, and more.<\/p>\n<p>Or if an ongoing level of commitment\u2019s not for you, or if Patreon\u2019s just not your thing, then consider tossing a couple of bucks in the tip jar instead and making a one-time donation of any size via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.me\/eatingthefantastic\">Paypal.me<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Or you could head on over to <a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/eatingthefantastic\">https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/eatingthefantastic<\/a> and send me the funds to cover the cost of a cup of coffee.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Please join me two weeks from now when my guest will be comics writer\/editor Jo Duffy, an old Marvel Bullpen pal who wrote <em>Power Man and Iron Fist<\/em> and <em>Star Wars<\/em> there, <em>Catwoman<\/em> for DC, and many other comics. One reason to listen in &#8212; since we\u2019ll be noshing on one of Stan Lee\u2019s favorite foods, if you don\u2019t join us, you\u2019ll never know what it was.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for listening!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve been wanting to chat with Mary Robinette Kowal on Eating the Fantastic ever since I brought the first episode live five years and two days ago, but alas, the stars never aligned. And now, at last, they have! Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of the Lady Astronaut series \u2014 which so far includes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[732,49,629],"class_list":["post-27330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-eating-the-fantastic","tag-food","tag-mary-robinette-kowal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27330"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27379,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27330\/revisions\/27379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottedelman.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}