Somaiya Daud interview about her space fantasy fiction novel “Court of Lions” (Flatiron Books, 2020)

Somaiya Daud interview about her space fantasy fiction novel “Court of Lions”

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/2DE3tlW

Interview Timeline

Somaiya Daud loves high fantasy and science fiction. She has taught the subject and she’s released her second high space fantasy novel Court of Lions. We spoke about the book, Moroccan culture, Tolkien, and getting the book written and published.

0:31 – Somaiya talks about how the idea for the novel came from seeing a Star Wars prequel costume exhibit.

1:49 – Somaiya talks about how her series is a space fantasy with a lot of political intrigue.

4:28 – Somaiya talks about the culture that stands in for Morocco in the book.

4:53 – Somaiya talks about the backstory of the setting.

5:12 – Somaiya talks about the protagonist and the conflict in the book.

7:04 – Somaiya talks about writing about serious subjects for young readers.

8:55 – Somaiya talks about research in to the Moroccan years of Lead.

11:28 – Somaiya talks about how her research fed into her novel.

12:07 – Somaiya talks about sympathetic characters among the antagonists.

13:59 – Somaiya talks about how she created her conquering antagonists.

16:35 – Somaiya talks about her interest in Arabic poetry and her use of it in the book.

19:53 – Somaiya talks about her use of religion in the book.

22:04 – Somaiya talks about her love of science fiction and Tolkien.

23:27 – Somaiya talks about her interest in comic books and non-fiction.

24:36 – Somaiya talks about the musical aesthetic of the books.

25:37 – Somaiya talks about her writing process.

28:36 – Somaiya talks about writing a lot of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings fan fiction.

34:58 – Somaiya talks about completing the book.

36:28 – Somaiya is on somaiyabooks.com, on twitter @somaiyadaud and on instagram @somaiiiya

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/2DE3tlW

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250126450

https://www.somaiyabooks.com/

https://twitter.com/somaiyadaud

https://www.instagram.com/somaiiiya/

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

Guests: Somaiya Daud

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, fantasy, writer, novel, novelist, fiction, Star Wars, prequel, Morocco, conquest, moon, queen, colonial, war, indigenous, dissident, Arabic, Arab, worldbuilding, poetry, Islam, Muslim, the Expanse, Killjoys, Tolkien, Luis Delgado, Silmarillion, Middle Earth, apocalypse

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/2DE3tlW

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Melanie R. Anderson and Lisa Kroger interview about Horror and Speculative Fiction – “Monster She Wrote” (Quirk Books, 2019)

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Melanie Anderson and Lisa Kroger discuss horror and speculative fiction — Melanie Anderson / Lisa Kroger horror and speculative fiction

Melanie R. Anderson and Lisa Kroger discuss Horror and Speculative Fiction

Interview Summary

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/31nsZDK

Melanie R. Anderson and Lisa Kroger have both extensively studied speculative and horror fiction. They’ve written a few books together on the subject and they recently won the 2020 Locus Award for non-fiction for Monster She Wrote which explores female authors of horror and speculative fiction. They also won a Bram Stoker award for the book. We spoke about the subject and the book writing process.

0:41 – Lisa talks about how she and Melanie wrote a book on female horror writers.

2:02 – Melanie talks about previous projects they did together on ghosts and spectrality.

3:48 – Melanie talks about they structured the book.

6:36 – Lisa talks about their struggle to cover a broad scope of literary history.

8:48 – Melanie talks about female use of pseudonyms in horror fiction.

11:48 – Lisa talks about women not having to hide their identities.

14:51 – Lisa and Melanie talk about the nationalities of the women they included in the book.

16: 45 – Lisa talks about 19th century female horror literature.

19:11 – Melanie talks about 19th century ghost stories and why so many female writers wrote horror.

24:00 – Lisa talks about female writers mixing violence, gore, and sex

27:45 – Melanie talks about gore in horror.

32:47 – Lisa talks about a scandalous Margaret Cavendish story she really likes.

35:30 – Melanie talks about author Dion Fortune.

37:28 – Melanie talks about how religion affected the writing these women did. Lisa talks more about Manfrone.

41:39 – Melanie talks about she did the research for the work.

44:55 – Lisa talks about how she added to her horror reading list and how some writers seem to have disappeared completely.

48:28 – Lisa talks about horror comic books.

49:47 – Melanie talks about the joy these authors took in their work.

53:36 – Lisa talks about the writers who she felt touched by.

56:26 – Melanie talks about Gertrude Barrows Bennett and Jewelle Gomez.

58:59 – Lisa talks about the Gilda stories.

1:01:20 – Lisa and Melanie talk about writing the book and getting it published.

1:07:48 – Lisa is at lisakroger.com and on twitter @lbkroger and on instagram @lisa_kroger. Their podcast is knowfearcast and monster she wrote podcast and @monsterwrote on social media.

1:09:25 – Melnaie is at melanieranderson.com and on instagram @melanieranderson7.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/31nsZDK

https://www.quirkbooks.com/book/monster-she-wrote

http://www.lisakroger.com/

https://melanieranderson.com/

http://www.knowfearcast.com/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-monster-she-wrote-podcast/id1498646080

Contact Information

Guests: Melanie R. Anderson and Lisa Kroger

Host: Cris Alvarez

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/31nsZDK

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Science Fiction – “The House of Styx” (Solaris, 2020) – Derek Kunsken interview

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Check the book out here https://amzn.to/2BEn6Jn

Derek Kunsken has worked as a scientist and a diplomat and has been frequently published in sci-fi short story magazines. He’s about to release a hard science fiction novel set on Venus. We spoke about the book and his writing process.

0:28 – Derek talks about the House of Styx and why he set his book on Venus.

2:38 – Derek talks about the details of the book.

4:33 – Derek talks about the amount of sci-fi technology in the book.

5:55 – Derek talks about the aesthetic of the story and his use of alien botany.

8:10 – Derek also explores the psychological aspects of colonists.

10:37 – Derek talks about the story itself being kept on Venus but Earth has its own backstory.

11:48 – Derek talks about researching Venus and various sciences for the book.

13:54 – Derek talks about what inspires him.

19:28 – Derek talks about his writing process.

22:20 – Derek talks about the serialization process in sci-fi magazines and his book.

24:14 – Derek talks about his approach to writing.

25:33 – Derek talks about having been a foreign service officer working on refugee issues.

27:19 – Derek about music and his novel.

29:11 – Derek about having wanted to adventure in Barsoom.

30:55 – Derek talks about how smoothly the writing of this book went.

32:37 – Derek talks about how note keeping process and his creative process.

34:53 – Derek talks about audio books.

36:03 – Derek can be found at derekkunsken.com and on twitter @derekkunsken and blogs on blackeight.com

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/2BEn6Jn

https://rebellionpublishing.com/product/the-house-of-styx/

http://derekkunsken.com/index.html/

https://twitter.com/DerekKunsken

Guests: Derek Kunsken

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, writer, novel, novelist, fiction, hard science fiction, Venus, Quebecois, colonists, technology, dirigibles, plant biology, religious cult, Mars, Moon, Air cadet, comic books, X-Men, serialization, China, Barsoom, comic books, Covid, publishing

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/2BEn6Jn

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.