Why Murderbot is tough to write and other sci-fi secrets – Interview with Martha Wells

martha wellos fugitive telemetry

Why Murderbot is tough to write and other sci-fi secrets – Interview with Martha Wells

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/33EmJJ3

Interview Timeline

Martha Wells has written many fantasy and sci-fi novels, short fiction and novellas. She’s also written Star Wars and Stargate novels as well as worked on Magic:The Gathering. She has won Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards for her work. She recently released a new Murderbot novella and we spoke about the novella, Murderbot, her other works, and her inspirations. Fugitive Telemetry (Tordotcom, 2021)

0:54 – Martha talks about how she chooses the idea to write.

1:49 – Martha talks about being excited by her stories and writing.

3:05 – Martha talks about what parts of the story she wants to be engaged by.

3:37 – Martha talks about the Murderbot series and Murderbot.

6:42 – Martha talks about he chooses between writing a novel versus a novella.

8:22 – Martha talks about writing novellas.

9:24 – Martha talks about the difficulty in writing science fiction with new technology

11:43 – Martha talks about her inspirations.

14:53 – Martha talks about her interest in true crime and

16:45 – Martha talks about her previous mystery novels.

18:24 – Martha talks about the aesthetic of the book.

19:31 – Martha talks about sci-fi mysteries and noir.

21:10 – Martha talks about enjoying archaeology.

22:20 – Martha talks about enjoying revision.

23:51- Martha talks about her writing routine.

25:25 – Martha talks about her cats.

25:44 – Martha talks about how her writing process has changed over time.

28:31 – Martha talks about attending conventions.

32:13 – Martha talks about meeting celebrities at cons.

33:22 – Martha talks about how busy authors can be.

34:35 – Martha talks about having been a gamer.

36:00 – Martha talks about the video games she enjoyed.

36:55 – Martha talks about world-building.

37:58 – Martha talks about the Murderbot character.

40:16 – Martha talks about the future of Murderbot.

41:27 – Martha talks about her writing output.

42:10 – Martha talks about sci-fi versus fantasy.

43:10 – Martha talks about fantasy writing.

44:42 – Martha talks about her favorite character to write.

45:56 – Martha talks about enjoying Star Trek, Godzilla, and other things when she was young.

47:09 – Martha talks about writing Stargate and Star Wars novels.

48:43 – Martha talks about working on Magic: The Gathering.

49:16 – Martha talks about writing for other properties.

51:48 – Martha talks about promoting books.

52:51- Martha talks about her earlier works.

53:29 – Martha talks about how she was able to write for Stargate and Star Wars.

55:08 – Martha talks about the contracts for Murderbot.

56:40 – Martha can be found at marthawells.com and on twitter @marthawells1 and on marthawells.dreamwidth.org

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/33EmJJ3

https://publishing.tor.com/fugitivetelemetry-marthawells/9781250765376/

http://marthawells.com/

https://twitter.com/marthawells1

http://marthawells.dreamwidth.org

Contact Information

For more “Full Contact Nerd” please follow me at crisalvarez.com, on Facebook at CrisAlvarezFCN, on youtube at Cris Alvarez on twitter @CrisAlvarezFCN, on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi, and on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify for the podcast. Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: Martha Wells

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, tordotcom, science fiction, fiction, star wars, locus award, hugo award, Nebula award,

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/33EmJJ3

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Cris Alvarez Full Contact Nerd Interviews

Why Project Hail Mary is awesome and other sci-fi nuggets – Interview with Andy Weir

Andy Weir Project Hail Mary

Why Project Hail Mary is awesome and other sci-fi nuggets – Interview with Andy Weir

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/3nVHQ3f

Interview Timeline

Andy Weir spent over two decades as a software engineer before publishing the wildly popular novel The Martian which also came out as a movie starring Matt Damon. He also released Artemis, another successful novel, and has just released a new novel about a galaxy threatening danger. We spoke about the novel, Andy’s previous works, and his approach to science fiction and writing.  Project Hail Mary (Ballantine Books, 2021)

0:53 – Andy talks about where the idea of Project Hail Mary came from.

5:06 – Andy talks about the details of the story.

6:40 – Andy talks about the research he did for the book.

8:07 – Andy talks about the various sciences he studied for this book.

8:51 – Andy talks about other Earth disaster works.

12:35 – Andy talks about space psychology and details of the story.

14:25 – Andy talks about the science and his plots.

16:06 – Andy talks about calculating stuff for the novel.

17:15 – Andy talks about his motivators.

21:35 – Andy talks about technology and dystopia.

24:56 – Andy talks about the four canonical plots.

25:59 – Andy talks about how many Beatles eggs are in the book.

27:30 – Andy talks about humor in his books.

28:36 – Andy talks about his writing process.

32:16 – Andy talks about his favorite board games.

34:09 – Andy talks about how he doesn’t like to fly.

36:10 – Andy talks about conventions.

37:50 – Andy talks about the games he prefers.

39:11 – Andy talks about changes in his writing methods.

42:51 – Andy talks about one of the central components of the novel.

43:12 – Andy talks about the Martian

44:06 – Andy talks about his previous work.

46:21 – Andy talks about how much he writes.

47:35 – Andy talks about what his goals had been for writing the Martian.

48:47 – Andy talks about loving time travel.

51:09 – Andy talks about the Back to the Future DeLoreans.

53:30 – Andy talks about being pigeon-holed in a writing style.

54:48 – Andy talks about the heist works he likes.

56:02 – Andy talks about his writing career.

1:00:12 – Andy is at andyweirauthor.com

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3nVHQ3f

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/611060/project-hail-mary-by-andy-weir/

https://www.andyweirauthor.com/

Video version of the interview: https://wp.me/p7CDU9-5aL

Contact Information

For more “Full Contact Nerd” please follow me at crisalvarez.com, on Facebook at CrisAlvarezFCN, on youtube at Cris Alvarez on twitter @CrisAlvarezFCN, on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi, and on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify for the podcast. Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: Andy Weir

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, podcast, Ballantine Books, science fiction, fiction,

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/3nVHQ3f

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Cris Alvarez Full Contact Nerd Interviews

 

 

How modern alternative horror films have divided critics and fans with David Church

How modern alternative horror films have divided critics and fans with David Church

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/3dUl6x6

Interview Timeline

David Church is a film and media scholar specializing in genre studies, taste cultures, and histories of film circulation. He is the author of numerous books including a recent one on modern horror films. We spoke about the book and recent horror films. Post-Horror: Art, Genre and Cultural Elevation (Edinburgh University Press, 2021)

0:48 – David talks about why he enjoys horror films and why he wrote this book.

2:36 – David talks about the old horror movies he watched.

4:38 – David talks about examining horror films from 2013 and 2014.

6:53 – David talks about the motivations of the film makers in making new types of horror.

9:19 – David talks about how streaming has affected horror films.

12:16 – David talks about anthology horror films.

13:12 – David talks about horror video games.

14:10 – David talks about the budgets of these films.

16:13 – David compares low budget sci-fi with other low budget indie films.

17:58 – David talks about what he focuses on in the book.

23:42 – David talks about whether any of these films are sci-fi or historical.

25:16 – David talks about the countries these films are made in.

25:42 – David talks about cultural elevation of these films.

27:51 – David talks about these films and literary source material.

31:14 – David talks the use of monsters in these films.

34:07 – David talks about whether these horror movies are connected to the wars on terror.

36:27 – David talks about horror and politics.

37:08 – David talks about the focus of the book.

38:32 – David talks about the critics he looked at.

39:55 – David talks about the movies he had to watch. He talks about enjoying occult films.

41:34 – David talks about the stark divide about how good people thought the movies were.

43:03 – David talks about major studios trying to copy these films.

44:30 – David talks about the movie “Us”.

46:42 – David talks about the different groups defining horror.

47:16 – David talks about fans arguing about films.

48:33 – David talks about subversive horror films.

50:36 – David talks about new movies that have come out.

52:15 – David talks about Parasite.

53:08 – David talks about the meaning

56:00 – SPOILER for Get Out – 57:04

57:04 David talks about the studios putting out these films.

1:01:31 – David can be found at david-church.com

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3dUl6x6

https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-post-horror.html

https://www.david-church.com/

Contact Information

For more “Full Contact Nerd” please follow me at crisalvarez.com, on Facebook at CrisAlvarezFCN, on youtube at Cris Alvarez on twitter @CrisAlvarezFCN, on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi, and on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / Spotify for the podcast. Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: David Church

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, academic, podcast, Edinburgh University Press, the occult, horror, gothic, non fiction, film history,

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/3dUl6x6

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Cris Alvarez Full Contact Nerd Interviews