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Episodes
Authors J.A. Ironside and M.E. Vaughan talk about books, films and all aspects of speculative fiction, from the nuts and bolts of writing it, to its (occasionally) obscure origins.
Episodes
Friday Sep 16, 2022
Friday Sep 16, 2022
The base setting for the human species is sociability to some degree. Even the most misanthropic or introverted of us are not meant to be completely cut off from all other people. In narrative terms, however, isolation can be a great way to test your character. It can also provide interesting back story or provide a setting or frame for a survival story. So what sort of tests can you set for your MC? How can you use isolation to explore characterisation or setting? Find out in this week's episode. Under the microscope this week: Castaway, The Martian, The Clan of the Cave Bear and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Sep 09, 2022
Friday Sep 09, 2022
Regular listeners of the podcast will be quite well versed in the dragons opinions on sexist tropes against women, however there are certainly tropes which are sexist against men too, which they haven't covered in quite as much detail. This week the dragons take a look at some of these tropes as well as discussing the insidious growing trend of punishing male characters for their biological sex in speculative fiction. From fathers always being distant to male villains always being sex offenders, here are the tropes Jules and Madeleine think could do with being retired.
On the slab this week: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mrs Doubtfire, Leon and many more
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Sep 02, 2022
Friday Sep 02, 2022
The dragons return this week with another 'fairy tales in focus' episode. Beauty and the Beast is one of the most beloved fairy tales of all time - quite an achievement when the story as we now know it, the most popular iteration, is a mere two hundred and sixty years old! While many of the themes and motifs can be found in earlier folk tales and myths, the current version is incredibly young by fairy tale standards and is probably partially inspired by historical events at the court of the French king, Henry II. Jules and Madeleine trace it's journey and permutations from myth to history to folk tale and beyond. On the slab this week - Heart's Blood - Juliet Marillier, Disney's Beauty & the Beast, Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte, Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Aug 26, 2022
Friday Aug 26, 2022
Characters who are more extroverted and more obviously dynamic are generally easier to shape a story around. However, stories featuring gentler, more introverted characters can be very rewarding to both write and read too. In fact, many beloved, favourite characters across genres fall into this category. So what's the problem? Well, unless you get a screenwriter who understands how to portray these characters in film, often gentler characters get butchered during adaptation. But there are good reasons for keeping the characters as they are and excellent reasons for including gentler characters in your work. This week the dragons dive into why and how to write and include quieter characters. Under the microscope this week: Persuasion - Jane Austen, The Lord of the Rings, I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Aug 19, 2022
Friday Aug 19, 2022
The dragons are always happy to consider requests and this episode is a response to one such request. Weird Western is an odd genre in many ways, being a mixture of the western sub-genre of general or saga style historical fiction with 'weird' elements. These may include dark fantasy, sci-fi, horror, paranormal or even romance. And yet despite being a complete hotch podge, Weird Western is very definitely its own genre and is growing in popularity. So this week Jules and Madeleine take a look at what goes into one, the common archetypes and tropes and a peek at their favourite examples. On the slab this week: Firefly, Cowboy Bee-bop, Stephen King's The Dark Tower and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Aug 12, 2022
Friday Aug 12, 2022
This week the dragons are delighted to welcome Lorraine Wilson back to the show. Lorraine is the author of This is our Undoing and the recently released folkloric mystery/ family suspense The Way the Light Bends. The latter is an exceptional example of this week's discussion which makes Lorraine the perfect person to join the episode.
Anyone who has paid any attention at all will have noticed that Jules and Madeleine are enthusiastic about folklore. But what actually defines a folk tale as opposed to a fairy tale or a myth? What are the basic structural tenets of a folk tale and how can writers tap in to them for storytelling purposes? Why is it an advantage to do so? Find out in this week's episode.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Aug 05, 2022
Friday Aug 05, 2022
We've all read them; books with great setting, promising story, engaging prose...and a damp squib for a main character. Sometimes this is because the author has been pushed into supplying what industry representatives think readers want in a main character and sometimes it's just that the author has failed to listen to their own story, perhaps missing that a secondary character is both more engaging and has a better story to tell. This week the dragons look at what makes a MC engaging and what you should avoid doing when you create a character. On the slab this week: Deep Space Nine, Stranger Things, A Court of Silver Fire and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic.
Friday Jul 29, 2022
Friday Jul 29, 2022
There are many ways to create tension and suspense in fiction. One popular device is to give your main character a moral dilemma - a difficult choice which challenges their personal beliefs, morality or even their own view of themselves. However, this is one of those things that's really easy to do wrong, leaving your readers unsatisfied. This week Jules and Madeleine take a look at what defines a moral dilemma in speculative fiction and how it differs from impossible choices, as well as how to set it up so it will land with your audience. Under the microscope this week - Firefly, Deep Space Nine, The Next Generation and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Jul 22, 2022
Friday Jul 22, 2022
On a lighter note this week, Jules and Madeleine look at the growing demand for cosy speculative fiction. While this term now gets applied to various subsections of genre fiction - for example cosy mysteries - it's relatively new in sci-fi and fantasy terms. Think of it as very character driven fiction which is relatively small in scale - no huge sprawling epic worlds here - which revolves around the more mundane problems of the tightly knit cast of characters. You might not find chosen ones, fights to the death or world ending events, but you probably will find an orc setting up a coffee shop, a bakery wizard making gingerbread golems or a spaceship full of loveable misfits getting into amusing hot water. The dragons delve into what makes up cosy speculative fiction and why it's becoming increasingly popular.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Jul 15, 2022
Friday Jul 15, 2022
The dragons tackle a slightly contentious topic this week - or at least a potentially contentious angle on this topic - and take a deep dive into how LGBTQ+ characters are depicted in the media. Specifically, in speculative fiction. There's been a decided uptick in easily accessible fiction featuring queer protagonists and side characters over the last ten years or so, and this is undoubtedly a good thing. However, there are many in the bookish community who would like to see only positive examples queerness represented, where characters are only shown in positive relationships and generally as mostly good people. Respectfully, the dragons find this viewpoint just as limiting as previous trends which would only allow queer characters to be deviants and villains. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at why only allowing a narrow set of parameters for 'acceptable' queer characters is a problem, and what they would like to see more of.
On the slab this week: Gentleman Jack, Harker & Blackthorn, Pennyblade and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic