Episodios

  • Book Tour 43: Sarah Pinsker – Haunt Sweet Home

    Book Tour 43: Sarah Pinsker – Haunt Sweet Home

    · Tales from the Trunk

    Show notes coming soon.

    If you have a few extra dollars, both Sarah and I would appreciate any donations you can make towards relief efforts in the areas of Appalachia affected by hurricane Helene. We highlighted the following organizations:

    BeLoved Asheville

    World Central Kitchen

    American Red Cross

  • Book Tour 42: T. Kingfisher – A Sorceress Comes To Call

    Book Tour 42: T. Kingfisher – A Sorceress Comes To Call

    · Tales from the Trunk

    We’re back, folks! And as promised, I’m joined this time around by none other than T. Kingfisher herself, who joins me to talk about her newest novel, A Sorceress Comes to Call, available right this very moment from fine booksellers everywhere.

    Things mentioned in this episode:

    DeviantArt

    “The Goose Girl”

    The Hamster Princess series, by Ursula Vernon

    Dracula, by Bram Stoker

    “Bluebeard”

    The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness, by Florence Hartley

    Swordheart, by T. Kingfisher

    Magic: the Gathering

    Commander format

    M:tG Arena

    Behold: Humanity!, by Ralts Bloodthorne

    Warhammer

    Humans are space orcs (this may not be the original, but it’s what I could surface)

    Ursula’s bluesky, tumblr, and website

    Join us again in October, when I’ll be talking to Sarah Pinsker!

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  • An Announcement

    An Announcement

    · Tales from the Trunk

    Hello, dear listeners!

    I wanted to give you all an update about the show. To whit: I’m taking a bit of a break. The last five seasons have been incredible, and season six has been and will continue to be.

    Tales from the Trunk is in no way ending. We will be back on September 20th, when I’ll be talking to T. Kingfisher.

    In the mean time, here are some of the things that I have been enjoying from the wider media landscape:

    A podcast: Friends at the Table – their eighth season, Palisade, is coming to a close right now, and it has been a Ride.A book: Bury Your Gays, by Chuck Tingle – you already know how much I loved Camp Damascus, and it should come as no surprise that the good doctor’s follow-up is every bit as incredible.A TV show: Hunter × Hunter (2011) – Just a fantastic shƍnen anime.And a musical twofer: Chappel Roan – come on. I’m queer. She writes good pop hooks. Suggested tracks: “Pink Pony Club” and “My Kink is Karma”Porter Robinson – if you like bouncy but also emotional EDM, give him a go. Suggested tracks: “Knock Yourself Out XD” and “Shelter”

    Thanks again for your support over the years, and I look forward to returning in two months with even more amazing interviews with incredible guests.

  • Book Tour 41: Aliette de Bodard – Navigational Entanglements

    Book Tour 41: Aliette de Bodard – Navigational Entanglements

    · Tales from the Trunk

    This time around, it’s my delight to welcome to the show Aliette de Bodard! Aliette joins me to talk about her new novella, Navigational Entanglements, available July 30th, 2024, from TorDotCom Books!

    Things we mention in this episode:

    C dramas

    Heaven’s Official Blessing, by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

    Xianxia

    Camp Damascus, by Chuck Tingle

    “The Tutelary, the Assassin, and the Healer,” by Aliette de Bodard in I Want That Twink Obliterated

    Worldcon

    Sarahs Gailey and Hollowell

    Dead Boy Detectives and The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman

    The Saint of Bright Doors, by Vajra Chandrasekera

    Chronicles of Elantra, by Michelle Sagara

    Aliette’s bluesky, insta, website, and patreon

  • Episode 62:

    Episode 62: "Visibility" and Pride in Place 2020

    · Tales from the Trunk

    Hello, and welcome to Tales from the Trunk.

    Listeners, it’s June, and ya boi is tired. I was going to try to scramble to get an interview scheduled, but then I remembered the name of a Shavuot workshop that a dear friend of the show attended last year: “What if we Rested?”

    Life has been nonstop for me for more than half a year now, so what if I rested? What if we all rested? Goodness knows that if you’re not a white cishet allo abled person, you need it.

    But also, I wanted to do something. So I’m bringing you something old and something—well, another old thing, actually, but one that hasn’t appeared here before. First, here is an essay that I wrote for Trans Day of Visibility a few years ago, and after that, a short collection of essays that first aired here in June of 2020. I hope you enjoy them.

    Visibility

    honestly i’ve been sitting on this for a grip and just not quite knowing how to fit the words together, but i’m tired, y’all. so, visibility. of trans people, specifically.

    it’s me. i’m trans people.

    it took me a long time to understand that about myself, and i didn’t come to it on my own. i needed help. i needed to see that “trans” was a word that could describe me.

    when i was little, i knew that i was weird. that i didn’t fit. that i didn’t act like the other little boys. that there were parts of me that i had to learn to hide to keep myself safe. that i couldn’t talk about with anyone because i didn’t have the language to capture it.

    when i was in ninth grade, one of our history teachers came out as trans. we had an assembly where an administrator told us all that our teacher was a man now, that his pronouns were he/him, probably that misgendering him wouldn’t be tolerated. but he didn’t look like me.

    i had a distant friend in high school who came out as trans. he didn’t look like me, either.

    years before she came out as trans, my closest friend at school told me that she was bisexual. she was the first bi person i knew i knew. we would go to goth clubs and she would make out with people while i danced or stood against the wall and nodded my head along. even before we were really friends, i was drawn to her, wanted to be her friend more than anything. we went through a lot of hard times together, but she didn’t look like me.

    she pierced my ears after high school. four holes i carry to this day, a little part of her with me all the time even though we haven’t seen each other in a decade.

    in college, my friend asked that we use neopronouns for them, then they/them. the neopronouns were hard. we were young. i knew so many queer people in college, so many trans people. none of them looked like me.

    that same friend came out to me and my spouse as genderqueer sometime before our wedding. i think that was the first time i’d heard the word. but i didn’t know it was something that could belong to me. not yet.

    i “came out” to a friend one summer night while i was in college. we were driving to get snacks after a day of endless quaker committee meetings. i said that i’d only ever fallen for women before, but that i was open to the possibility that wouldn’t always be the case. i was in my first actual relationship then. years later, my ex came out as nonbinary. i didn’t think about that coming-out conversation again for a long time.

    i came out as bi to my cat while i was driving her to the vet for dental surgery. she was upset because she was in the car, but i knew that she was someone i could trust with my “secret.” it wasn’t for another few weeks that i came out to my spouse and a few of my friends. i used to think of outness as a binary, even though it’s always been a spectrum. i’m out to some of my coworkers, mostly other queers, but not others. it’s not worth the discomfort. or it’s choosing the lesser of two levels of discomfort.

    one time, my boss at the time said “everyone here is straight” in a meeting. he wore a rainbow strap on his apple watch in june. he’d like you to know that he’s an ally. i felt deeply uncomfortable about not saying anything, but also deeply uncomfortable about the idea of saying something. after i left that job, a former coworker confided in me that this boss pulled some classic cishet white dude stuff with them. i felt grateful that i hadn’t outed myself in that meeting long ago.

    i found a copy of Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer at a bookstore the same summer that i left that job and bought it on the spot. i just thought it was neat. i knew that i needed it.

    i read that book in a single sitting. i’ve re-read it more times than i can count since then.

    Maia didn’t look like me, but i still saw myself in eir experiences in a way that i hadn’t experienced before. e was queer. queer as in weird. queer as in didn’t get social expectations for eir assigned gender. queer as in, well, queer.

    a month or two later, i got a tattoo of a jackalope on my arm, but if you look closely, you’ll see that it’s a bunny wearing a pair of antlers that are tied on under their chin. when i designed the tattoo, i explained that that was about live-action roleplaying. maybe i believed it? but that’s not what it was really about, was it?

    i had a gender crisis in 2020 at the start of the lockdown. if i’m being honest, i’d been having a gender crisis for years, quietly, tucked in the pages of journals hidden away where i didn’t have to look at them. but suddenly, it was just two adult humans and two cats all alone in a house, doing their grocery shopping at first light, uncomfortable with the idea of other people in a new way.

    there was a lot of gender going around then.

    i came out as genderqueer to my cat while i was driving her to another appointment. maybe you’re sensing a theme. she knows my secrets, but she’ll never talk.

    i came out to my partner. it was easier, in some ways, and harder in others. “i’m attracted to more than one gender” is much more straightforward than “i’m genderqueer, but my pronouns are he/him, but my experience of gender is ????” i talked to my few close nonbinary friends about it. that really helped, because we had a shared vocabulary of “gender? what the fuck?”

    i came out to my therapist.

    he just didn’t get it. he was an older cishet white man. in one of our last sessions, he said that we should talk more about my gender. with my spouse’s help, i broke up with him and found a new therapist before i had to go through that ordeal. my new therapist is queer. she asked me what pronouns to use for me in our first session and told me to tell her if that changed. i started using he/they, then they/he, then just they/them pronouns within a couple months. not everywhere at first, but most places.

    bigots started challenging Gender Queer earlier this year, or maybe at the end of last year. who knows when? time is fake. they call it pornographic. they call it smut.

    i call it lifechanging.

    it wasn’t until i was in my 30s that i started to see queer people who looked like me. it wasn’t until i read a memoir by a person whose early life experiences mirrored my own that i really learned language to talk about myself.

    i like where i am in my life. yes, i’m anxious, and we’re all still out here with this pandemic and a global rise in fascism, but i know a lot more about myself, understand a lot more about myself at 35 than i did at 30, at 25, at 20. but that doesn’t stop me from wondering what my life might have looked like if i’d seen people like me when i was growing up.

    i can’t change my past, but i can be visible for today’s kids. maybe some weird little boy will see me in the grocery store and gain some understanding that he didn’t have before. maybe a nonbinary teen will feel safer just existing knowing that they’re not alone. that’s what we mean when we talk about “trans visibility.” that’s why it’s important. because trans visibility produces trans adults, but trans invisibility produces miserable people, miserable kids. or dead ones.

    trans visibility, queer visibility, is lifesaving.

  • Book Tour 40: Jay Wolf – The Shepard in Shadow

    Book Tour 40: Jay Wolf – The Shepard in Shadow

    · Tales from the Trunk

    We’re kicking off Pride this year with none other than my good friend Jay Wolf! Jay reads a snippet about their best worst boys, Egan and Petrel before we get to talking about their newest book as M. Daniel McDowell, The Shepherd in Shadow, which releases June 28th!

    Things we mention in this episode:

    Valerie Valdes

    The Gormenghast series, by Mervyn Peake

    Inkfort Press Self-Publishing Derby

    Bringer of the Scourge, by M. Daniel McDowell

    Glen Cook

    Fritz Leiber

    Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

    The Colour of Magic and Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett

    Beating Hearts & Battle Axes

    New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine

    Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo

    M.E. Morgan

    X-Men ‘97

    Forged in Fire

    Jay’s socials and M. Daniel McDowell’s socials

  • Episode 61: Meg Elison – Hemet

    Episode 61: Meg Elison – Hemet

    · Tales from the Trunk

    This time around, I’m thrilled to welcome to the show Meg Elison! Meg reads to us from the start of their trunked novel, Hemet, which leads us into a wonderful conversation about a whole host of topics, including her own artist’s statement on spooky stuff.

  • Book Tour 39: Victor Manibo – Escape Velocity

    Book Tour 39: Victor Manibo – Escape Velocity

    · Tales from the Trunk

    This time around, it’s my delight to welcome back to the show Victor Manibo! After a bit of catching up, we get into Victor’s new book, Escape Velocity, which releases later this month from Erewhon Books!

    Things we mention in this episode:

    The Sleepless, by Victor Manibo

    Victor’s first episode

    “The Cask of Amontillado,” by Edgar Allan Poe

    The Fall of the House of Usher (show)

    Gravity (2013)

    Funeral and Neon Bible, by Arcade Fire

    COWBOY CARTER and RENAISSANCE, by Beyoncé

    Shƍgun (TV series) based on the novel by James Clavell

    Game of Thrones

    Our Share of Nights, by Mariana Enriquez

    ICFA

    Victor’s website, twitter, insta, tiktok, fb, and substack

    Stick around next time when my guest will be Meg Elison!

  • Episode 60: Ivy Fox – Strapped

    Episode 60: Ivy Fox – Strapped

    · Tales from the Trunk

    In addition to the regular strong language, this episode carries content warnings for: reclaimed gay slurs; a non-graphic depiction and discussion of non-consensual sex; depictions of consensual violence; and discussions of attempted suicide, medical trauma, experiences of psyche wards, descriptions of psychosis, forcible medication, restraint, experiences of homelessness, alcoholism, and body horror. The non-consensual sex and the consensual violence are both depicted in the reading, which is 24 minutes long, and there is some further discussion of the events from the reading following it. Perhaps even more so than usual, listener discretion is advised.

    This time around, it is my complete gremlin pleasure to welcome to the show Ivy Fox! Together, we perform the entirety of her play, Strapped, which leads us into a wide-ranging conversation that touches on collaborative art, anime girls, furry music, mental health, and so much more. Seriously, this episode is over two hours long. We just kept talking!

    Things we mention this episode:

    Sarah Gailey

    Friends at the Table

    Toronto Fringe

    Buffy the Vampire Slayer

    Firefly

    JRPG

    Magic: the Gathering

    Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, by Samine Nosrat

    Chuck Tingle

    “Trust the Process,” by Hilary B. Bisenieks in Stone Soup

    Machine Girl

    The Mad Bird

    Kirby’s Return to Dream Land

    US Trans Survey

    Rev (blue liquor)

    Madness and Civilization, by Michel Foucault

    Death of the author

    The Legend of Zelda

    AO3

    Warrior Cats series, by Erin Hunter

    This tumblr post

    The Matrix

    Splatoon 3

    MahjongSoul

    All Our Yesterdays, by Hilary B. Bisenieks

    “Chain Bastard”

    Metallic Rouge

    Blade Runner

    Dungeon Meshi

    Hunter x Hunter

    Hisoka

    Slay the Princess

    Revolutionary Girl Utena

    Together We’ll Shine

    Conflict is Not Abuse, by Sarah Schulman

    Voidreckon, by Mittsies

    Techdog 1-7, by Patricia Taxxon

    I WANT TO LOVE AGAIN, by doefriends

    Watership Down, by Richard Adams

    Ivyfoxart [at] gmail [dot] com, Ivy’s cohost and ko-fi

    Soul Mates! on cohost

    Doctor Fanfiction’s Monster

    Tableturf Battle

    Media Club Plus

  • Book Tour 38: John Wiswell – Someone You Can Build a Nest In

    Book Tour 38: John Wiswell – Someone You Can Build a Nest In

    · Tales from the Trunk

    This time around it is my absolute delight to welcome John Wiswell back to the show to talk about his debut novel, Someone You Can Build a Nest In, which just released this very week! We talk about John’s favorite bits both in and no longer in the book, along with conversation about language, games, and a surprise musical performance!

    Things mentioned in this episode:

    Premee Mohamed

    Sarah Gailey

    Caitlin Starling

    “D.I.Y.” by John Wiswell

    “Open House on Haunted Hill” and its Japanese cover

    Katakana and Hiragana

    Hunter x Hunter (2011)

    Media Club Plus

    Starred review in The Library Journal

    Merc Fenn Wolfmoor

    “This is Not a Wardrobe Door,” by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor

    Sickos yes

    4th Street Fantasy

    Worldcon

    John Scalzi

    Ted Chiang

    Martha Wells

    Chuck Tingle

    The Simpsons

    The Arcadia Project trilogy, by Mishell Baker

    Camp Damascus, by Chuck Tingle

    Miri Baker

    Tom Bombadil

    Howard Tayler

    Writing Excuses

    Schlock Mercenary

    Brandon Sanderson

    Mary Robinette Kowal

    Maurice Broaddus

    Dongwon Song

    Reservation Dogs

    Holly, by Stephen King

    VacĂ­os Cuerpos

    Balatro

    The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

    Baldur’s Gate 3

    Roguelike

    Deck-builder

    Calvinball

    Hades

    Friends at the Table Balatro stream

    Austin Walker

    Twilight Mirage and Spring in Hieron soundtracks

    Bandcamp

    Deep-fried jpegs

    Is It Bandcamp Friday?

    Web 1.0

    John’s twitter, bluesky, insta, patreon, and substack

    Escape Velocity, by Victor Manibo

  • Episode 59: Laura Blackwell –

    Episode 59: Laura Blackwell – "Poor Prisoners"

    · Tales from the Trunk

    This time around, it’s my pleasure to welcome longtime friend of the show Laura Blackwell! Laura reads to us from her very very trunked story, “Poor Prisoners,” which leads us into a wide-ranging discussion of things we wish we’d learned sooner, writers whose work we admire, and kindness to our past selves.

    Things we mention in this episode:

    Story Hour

    LiveJournal

    Dreamwidth

    Macey’s Murderboard episode

    All Our Yesterdays, by Hilary B. Bisenieks

    Quaker Spec Fic issue

    AO3

    Omegaverse

    The Iliad and Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson

    Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney and Maria Dahvana Headley

    Grimms’ Fairy Tales

    Lattimore, Fitzgerald, Fagles Homers

    The Aeneid, by Virgil, translated by Robert Fagles

    Paradise Lost, by John Milton

    Translation State and the Imperial Radch trilogy, by Ann Leckie

    The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years, by Shubnum Khan

    Archival Quality, by Ivy Noelle Weir and Steenz

    The MĂŒtter Museum

    Ivy’s episode

    Just Like Home, by Sarah Gailey

    The Death of Jane Lawrence, Last to Leave the Room, Yellow Jessamine, and The Luminous Dead, by Caitlin Starling

    Megan E. O’Keefe

    Megan’s first episode

    Steve Toase

    Amanda Cook

    Jo Miles

    SFWA

    HWA

    Premee Mohamed

    She Walks in Shadows, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles

    Beneath the Rising, And What Can We Offer You Tonight, The Annual Migration of Clouds, and The Butcher of the Forest, by Premee Mohamed

    System Collapse, by Martha Wells

    Yuletide (fic exchange)

    The Red River of the north

    Lake Agassiz

    Marie Brennan

    Martha Wells

    Ursula Vernon

    Chuck Tingle

    Sarah Gailey

    Hugo Awards thing

    Stoker Awards

    Edenville, by Sam Rebelein

    Camp Damascus, by Chuck Tingle

    Hellraiser

    Death Note manga, netflix, and anime

    Potato chip eating scene

    Death Note: The Musical

    Laura’s website, bluesky, twitter, insta, mastodon

    Join me next month when I’ll be talking to John Wiswell and Ivy Fox

  • Book Tour 37: A.D. Sui – The Dragonfly Gambit

    Book Tour 37: A.D. Sui – The Dragonfly Gambit

    · Tales from the Trunk

    To open this show’s sixth season, it is my total delight to welcome A.D. Sui to talk about her forthcoming novella, The Dragonfly Gambit, available later this year!

    Things we mention in this episode:

    Neon Hemlock Press

    dave ring

    :unhinged_vibrating:

    :shaking_eyes:

    Fix-it fic

    Fanfiction dot net

    Even Though I Knew the End book tour episode

    Supernatural

    Carl Engle-Laird

    100th episode

    Jared can’t read vine

    Blue Eye Samurai

    Family Guy

    Rick and Morty

    Anna’s twitter, insta, bluesky, and website

    John Wiswell

    Ursula T. Kingfisher Vernon

  • Book Tour 36: Jo Miles – Ravenous State

    Book Tour 36: Jo Miles – Ravenous State

    · Tales from the Trunk

    This time around, to close out season 5 of Tales from the Trunk, I’m thrilled to welcome Jo Miles to talk about the excellent conclusion to their Gifted of Brennex trilogy, Ravenous State!

    Things we mention this episode:Worldcon 76

    Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie

    Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee

    Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin

    Brandon Sanderson

    A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin

    ART and Murderbot from The Murderbot Diaries, by Martha Wells

    Starling House, by Alix E. Harrow

    System Collapse, by Martha Wells

    Warped State and Dissonant State, by Jo Miles

    Jo’s mailing list, bluesky, insta, and mastodon

  • Book Tour 35: Premee Mohamed – The Butcher of the Forest

    Book Tour 35: Premee Mohamed – The Butcher of the Forest

    · Tales from the Trunk

    Today, it’s my pleasure to welcome back to the show Premee Mohamed! We talk about her new novella, The Butcher of the Forest, out February 27th from Tor.com books, and then feed something new to the trunk.

    Things we mention this episode:

    The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin

    Hansel & Gretel

    Annihilation, by Jeff Vandermeer

    Escape from LA

    The Faerie Queene, by Edmund Spenser

    Snake Plissken

    LSBM

    Van Helsing post

    Dracula, by Bram Stoker

    Red Deer Polytechnic

    Thursday Next books, by Jasper Fforde

    The Siege of Burning Grass, The Annual Migration of Clouds, and We Speak Through the Mountain, by Premee Mohamed

    The Rider, The Ride, The Rich Man’s Wife, by Premee Mohamed

    One Message Remains

    “The General’s Turn,” by Premee Mohamed in The Deadlands

    Sean Markey’s episode

    Mysterious Galaxy event with John Wiswell, on February 28th 2024

    Someone you Can Build a Nest In, by John Wiswell

    The Two Doctors GĂłrski, by Isaac Fellman

    The Vanished Birds and The Spear Cuts Through Water, by Simon Jimenez

    Premee’s bluesky, insta, patreon, and website

    Stick around next week, when I’ll be talking to Jo Miles!

  • 2023 Awards Eligibility Roundup

    2023 Awards Eligibility Roundup

    · Tales from the Trunk

    Once again, it’s time for an awards eligibility roundup! This episode’s transcript appears in full below:

    Hello, and welcome to Tales from the Trunk: Nominating the works that did make it. I’m Hilary B. Bisenieks.

    Listeners, it’s somehow that time of the year again, where awards nominations are upon us, and so I have once again reached out to all the wonderful guests who make this show what it is to round up works they’d like to receive your attention for nominations.

    To begin, Tales from the Trunk is eligible for the Hugo Award for Best Fancast.

    Sarah Gailey, who most recently joined me for our 100th episode retrospective, is eligible for Best Graphic Story for Know Your Station, and for Best Fanzine for their excellent Stone Soup.

    Leigh Harlen, who joined us in August of 2021, is eligible for Best Novella with A Feast for Flies.

    Dee Holloway, who joined us last May, is eligible in various categories. Her eligibility post is linked in the show notes.

    Juliet Kemp, who just joined us most recently a few weeks ago, is eligible for Best Novel with The City Revealed; Best Novella with Song, Stone, Scale, Bone; Best Short Story with “Just As You Are;” and Best Series for The Marek Series. Their eligibility post is linked in the show notes.

    Maya MacGregor, who appeared on the show in April of 2022, is eligible in Best Novel and Best Young Adult Novel categories for The Evolving Truth of Ever-Stronger Will.

    Freya Marske, who appeared here in October of 2021, is eligible for Best Short Story with a version of the very story that she brought to this fine podcast, “One Version of Yourself, At the Speed of Light.” She is also eligible for Best Novel with A Power Unbound and Best Series for The Last Binding.

    Sam J. Miller, who joined us in January of 2022, is eligible for Best Short Story with "If Someone You Love Has Become a Vurdalak."

    Premee Mohamed, who last joined us in the summer of 2021, is eligible for No One Will Come Back For Us in various short story collection categories and for “Imagine Yourself Happy” for Best Short Story. Her eligibility post is linked in the show notes.

    Annalee Newitz, who joined us for a book tour last January is eligible for Best Novel for The Terraformers.

    Aimee Ogden, who joined us twice last year, most recently in August, is eligible for Best Novella for Emergent Properties. Her eligibility post is linked in the show notes.

    Malka Older, who joined us at the start of this season in March of last year, is eligible for Best Novella with The Mimicking of Known Successes and for Best Short Story with both “The Plant and the Purist” and “The Dangers We Choose.”

    C.L. Polk, who last joined us in February of last year, is eligible for Best Novelette with Ivy, Angelica, Bay, which you can read right now on Tor.com.

    Caitlin Starling, who last joined us in October of last year, is eligible for Best Novel with Last to Leave the Room and Best Short Story for “Caver, Continue.” Her eligibility post is linked in the show notes: Twitter | Bluesky

    Steve Toase, who joined us back in April of 2021, is eligible for Best Short Story with “Crumpled.” His eligibility post is linked in the show notes.

    Rem Wigmore, who last joined us in August of 2022, has an eligible novelette, Lightrunner’s Gambit, and a novel, Wolfpack.

    Fran Wilde, who joined us in January of 2021, is eligible for Best Novella for The Book of Gems, Best Short Story for “The Rain Remembers What The Sky Forgets,” and Best Short Story for “No Contingency.” In addition, she would like to recommend From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi, in which “No Contingency” appears, to be considered for anthology and related media categories. Fran, along with Julian Yap, are eligible for Best Editor, Short, for their work at Sunday Morning Transport, which is itself eligible for Best Semiprozine.

    If you’ve made it this far, I’d like to sincerely thank you for listening and nominating over the years. Your support means so much to me and all of my guests.

    Next month, we’re closing season five of this show out with a book tour appearance by Canadian author and definitely not a lorge beetle Premee Mohamed and a trunk reading from Jo Miles. Please note that due to some scheduling conflicts, Premee’s episode will be releasing on February 8th rather than the 1st.

    Also, season 6 is almost upon us! I’m still hammering out guests, so stay tuned to see what amazing authors join me!

    Tales from the Trunk is mixed and produced in beautiful Oakland, California.

    Our theme music is “Paper Wings,” by Lillian Boyd.

    You can support the show on patreon at patreon dot com slash trunkcast. All patrons of the show now get a sticker and logo button, along with show outtakes and other content that can't be found anywhere else.

    You can find the show on Bluesky at trunkcast dot bsky dot social, and I post at hbbisenieks dot bsky dot social.

    If you like the show, consider taking a moment to rate and review us on your preferred podcast platform.

    And remember: don't self-reject.

  • Book Tour 34: Juliet Kemp – Song, Stone, Scale, Bone

    Book Tour 34: Juliet Kemp – Song, Stone, Scale, Bone

    · Tales from the Trunk

    This time around, I’m joined again by the delightful Juliet Kemp, who joins us to talk about their new novella, Song, Stone, Scale, Bone! After a great little reading, we talk about some of the things that are hard to get on page.

    Things mentioned in this episode:

    Josh’s episode

    The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, by Patricia C. Wrede

    A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin

    The Marek series, concluding with The City Revealed, by Juliet Kemp

    Deadlock

    Madeleine Sami

    Our Flag Means Death

    The Last Binding trilogy, by Freya Marske

    Freya’s episode

    Juliet’s website, twitter, bluesky, and mastodon

  • Episode 58: Josh Storey – The Wolf That Waits at the End of All Things

    Episode 58: Josh Storey – The Wolf That Waits at the End of All Things

    · Tales from the Trunk

    Today it is my sincere pleasure to welcome to the show weird little guy and all around splendid human being Josh Storey! Josh reads to us from his trunked novel, The Wolf That Waits at the End of All Things, which leads us into a lively discussion of the novels we wrote a few pages of when we were young, the ways we reuse ideas until they find the right home, and semiotic bullshit.

    Things we mention in this episode:

    Trunkcast’s 100th episode

    Terry Pratchett’s troll counting

    Macey’s murderboard episode on We Make Books

    River of Teeth, by Sarah Gailey

    Sarah Hollowell

    World’s largest frying pan in Iowa

    Jessica Mary Best’s episode

    Machineries of Empire series, by Yoon Ha Lee

    Jasper Fforde

    Zip disk

    Final Fantasy

    Homestuck

    The Locked Tomb series, by Tamsyn Muir

    Miri’s episode

    Mary Robinette Kowal

    Rock Lee

    System Collapse book tour

    A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin

    Baffling Magazine

    AO3

    All Our Yesterdays, by Hilary B. Bisenieks

    Death (Neil Gaiman)

    Friends at the Table

    Anamnesis

    Brandon Sanderson

    Writing Excuses

    Mary Robinette Kowal’s patreon

    “The Air Gap,” by Hilary B. Bisenieks in Lamplight

    C.C. Finlay

    F&SF

    Mary Robinette Kowal’s MICE

    HTML

    Be The Serpent

    R.J. Theodore

    Peridot Shift series, by R.J. Theodore

    NaNoWriMo

    Gnome Stew

    Misdirected Mark network

    Personal Canons Cookbook

    My macaroni and cheese recipe (and essay)

    HĂ©ctor GonzĂĄlez

    Amal El Mohtar

    Bigolas Dickolas

    This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El Mohtar and Max Gladstone

    Trigun Stampede

    Trigun (98)

    SunCoast Video

    L-space

    Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

    Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi)

    Apocalypse Keys

    Hellboy

    Pathfinder 2.5

    WotC

    Josh’s insta, bluesky, and website

    Urban Phantasy blog

    Premee Mohamed

    Jo Miles

  • Episode 57: Sean Markey – The Deadlands

    Episode 57: Sean Markey – The Deadlands

    · Tales from the Trunk

    Today it’s my great pleasure to welcome publisher of The Deadlands, Sean Markey, to the show! Sean talks us through the inception of the magazine, what it’s like being a publisher, and where both the magazine and his press, Psychopomp, is going next!

    Things we mention in this episode:

    Elise Catherine Tobler

    Laura Blackwell

    Story Hour

    Psychopomp

    Shimmer

    Beth Wodzinski

    Quaker Spec Fic issue

    “Refuse All Their Colors,” by Annalee Flower Horne

    A Voice Calling, by Christopher Barzak

    Martha Wells episode

    Meg Elison

    Maria Haskins

    Vanessa Maki

    Avra Margariti

    A.R. Arthur

    Ancillary Sword, by Ann Leckie

    “The Dead Boy Inside Me,” by Angel Leal

    Clarkesworld

    C.C. Finlay

    F&SF

    Strange Horizons

    Chuck Tingle

    Sarah Gailey

    Fireside

    The Deadlands Patreon

    Psychopomp store

    Diablo 4

    “Ultraviolet,” by Spiritbox (and on Bandcamp)

    “Peristalsis,” by Vajra Chandrasekera

    Rakesfall, by Vajra Chandrasekera

    “The Long Way Up,” by Alix E. Harrow

    “Death is a Diner at 3:00 a.m.” by A.C. Wise

    Psychopomp twitter and bluesky

    The Deadlands twitter and bluesky

    Shimmer’s twitter

  • Book Tour 33: Martha Wells – System Collapse

    Book Tour 33: Martha Wells – System Collapse

    · Tales from the Trunk

    Today it is my absolute pleasure to welcome to the show none other than Martha Wells! Martha joins us to read from and talk about the newest entry in her Murderbot Diaries series, System Collapse, out November 14th from TorDotCom publishing!

    A transcription of this episode by Kiri from the Murderbot discord is available here

    Things we mention on this episode:

    Hugo Awards

    Nebula Awards

    Locus Awards

    Dragon Awards

    Network Effect, Fugitive Telemetry, and Exit Strategy, by Martha Wells

    Witch King, by Martha Wells

    City of Bones, by Martha Wells

    Jamie Jones

    The Book of Ile-Rien: The Element of Fire & The Death of the Necromancer, by Martha Wells

    Mammoths at the Gates, by Nghi Vo

    Furious Heaven, by Kate Elliott

    Andrea Hairston

    The Water Outlaws, by S.L. Huang

    Aliette de Bodard

    Martha’s website, bluesky, mastodon, and insta

    The Deadlands

    Join us on November 17th, when my guest will be Sean Markey!

  • Episode 56: Best of the Trunk – Episode 37 with Lillian Boyd

    Episode 56: Best of the Trunk – Episode 37 with Lillian Boyd

    · Tales from the Trunk

    Hey everyone, Hilary here. Due to a combination of life things and poor planning on my part, there’s no new interview this time around, but I’d like to take this spooky month to highlight a great episode from the backlog with our composer and true horror ghoul, Lillian Boyd.

    A few other things before we get to the episode:

    This show is now on Bluesky at trunkcast.bsky.social, and I’m on there at hbbisenieks.bsky.social. Of the twitter-replacements, Bluesky seems to be the one where most of my writing friends have ended up, so it made sense that the show should find a home there, too.

    Also, a heads up that due to scheduling needs, next month’s book tour with Murderbot author Martha Wells will be coming out on Monday, November 6th, rather than Friday the 3rd.

    Finally, thank you all so much for listening. I always appreciate hearing from fans of the show. Your support and enthusiasm helps continue making this show what it is!

    And now, on with the show!

    It's my absolute delight, this time around, to welcome our very own composer, Lillian Boyd (@herelieslill), onto the show. Lillian reads her short-story-that-should-be-a-novella, "Inside Job" (cw: gore, skip forward 10:15 to avoid) before we just go off on an extended tangent about horror movies, noir, pulp, and being as thoroughly on our bullshit as is possible.

    Things we mention in this episode:

    Rank and Vile

    Tetsuo the Iron Man

    28 Days Later

    My appearance on Rank and Vile

    The Reinvented Detective, edited by Jennifer Brozek and Cat Rambo (2023)

    Raymond Chandler

    Guy Noir: Private Eye

    A Prairie Home Companion

    Nick Danger

    The Firesign Theater

    Clive Barker

    Nightmare Alley

    Guillermo del Toro

    Magic for Liars, by Sarah Gailey

    Nick and Nora

    Humphrey Bogart

    Farewell, My Lovely, by Raymond Chandler

    P. Lovecraft (notable racist)

    Scrip

    Neuromancer, by William Gibson

    Blade Runner

    The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

    "Panama," by Van Halen

    Terry Pratchett

    Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

    The Discworld

    The Bromeliad

    Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett

    The Long Goodbye, by Raymond Chandler

    Chandler's cat letters

    Guards, Guards! by Terry Pratchett

    Carpe Jugulum, by Terry Pratchett

    Neil Gaiman

    Ichabod Crane

    Michael Kane

    Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser

    Sandman, by Neil Gaiman

    "The Book Job," The Simpsons season 23, episode 6

    "Falafelosophy," Arthur season 14, episode 4a

    "Neil Gaiman! What are you doing in my falafel?"

    Alanis Morisette

    Amanda Palmer

    Tori Amos

    Fiona Apple

    "Silent All These Years," by Tori Amos

    Where's Neil When You Need Him?

    The CrĂŒxshadows

    Mirrormask

    "Mr. Sandman," by The Chordettes

    "Enter Sandman," by Metallica

    Hot Topic

    "Cry Little Sister," by Gerard McMann

    The Lost Boys

    Voltaire

    Ego Likeness

    The Velocipastor

    "Toasty"

    Siouxsie and the Banshees

    Daybreakers

    Placebo

    "Running Up That Hill," by Placebo

    "Running Up That Hill," by Kate Bush

    Velvet Goldmine

    "20th Century Boy," by Placebo

    "20th Century Boy," by T. Rex

    Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

    Queen of the Damned

    Twilight

    Failure to Adapt

    The baseball scene from Twilight

    Underworld

    Blade 3: Trinity

    Triple-H

    House of Wax

    Friends at the Table: Sangfielle

    The VVitch

    Sarah Gailey's appearance on Episode 1 of this very show

    Hailey Piper

    Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy, by Hailey Piper

    Trouble and Her Friends, by Melissa Scott

    The Mountain Goats

    Alien Vs. Predator

    Fireside Quarterly, June-July 2021

    The Rank and Vile list

    Bride of Frankenstein

    And Now the Screaming Starts!

    Candyman II: Farewell to the Flesh

    The Crow: Wicked Prayer

    Brainscan

    Videodrome

    Audition

    Lillian's Twitch

    Hair Metal

    "Dream Warriors," by Dokken

    Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

    The Books of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin

    Charles Vess

    The Farthest Shore, A Wizard of Earthsea, and The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula K. Le Guin

    Keebio's Iris keyboard

    BĂĄn DĂ©nes, mrzealot

    Ergogen

    Ghost in the Shell

    Data

    Hako Royal True switches

    Hellraiser

    Lillian's website, soundcloud, and reedsy

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