Episodes
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It's pretty well established that truth is stranger than fiction, but what do you do when the facts are literally too unlikely for a reader to swallow? When historical accuracy or authenticity is likely to bounce your reader out of your story for being unrealistic? Welcome to The Tiffany Problem. This week Jules and Madeleine examine this phenomenon, follow a trail through some examples and finally, offer suggestions for how to counter it while still being accurate in your storytelling.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Possession is a regular trope in horror and sci-fi. The idea that a physical body could be taken over by an external entity is as disturbing as it is enticing. However, there are many sub categories of this kind of bodysnatching, from parasites that physically puppeteer to Freaky Friday-esque body swaps. This week, Jules and Madeleine delve into the humour and horror of the trope, drawing on a wide range of speculative fiction and there own work where appropriate.
On the slab this week: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, V, the Bodysnatchers and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Missing episodes?
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Generations of a family punished for the ill-advised actions or an ancestor? Crossed paths with the sidhe and worded an answer impolitely? Fallen foul of someone's desire for revenge? Chances are, in speculative fiction, the problem will turn out to be a curse. It may not really be the oldest speculative fiction trope but it's definitely got history.
In this episode of the Dragons' spooky season, Jules and Madeleine drill down on the well used SFF and Horror trope of 'the curse'. How can you use the trope in a way that reads as fresh and novel? What are the main types of this trope? And what historical precedent is there for this occurrence in fiction?
On the slab this week: Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynn Jones, Unveiled, The Ring and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Continuing with the spooky season, this week the dragons delve into the popular sub genre of survival horror. While you could argue that the point of every horror story is survival, this sub genre takes it to the next level with characters pitted against nature, the wild and even space - sometimes with a twist of the supernatural thrown in.
But how do you go about writing survival horror that lands? What attributes should you be looking for in a main character? Why is setting so important? Join Jules and Madeleine for a discussion on all this and more.
On the slab this week: Devolution - Max Brooks, Alien, The Luminous Dead - Caitlin Starling and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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The dragons kick off spooky season with a look at one of the staples of horror - the haunted house. It's so ubiquitous now that haunted house stories are really a sub genre in their own right with their own tropes and conventions. So why do some haunted house stories work while others fall flat? This week Jules and Madeleine present a blueprint on how to build your own haunted house story complete with flickering lights, sordid history and reappearing blood stain. Rattling chains in the attic optional.
On the slab: The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Little Stranger and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Part two of a two part episode
Most speculative fiction will involve traumatising your main character at some point but how do you make it clear to a reader or viewer that this is what is happening without ponderously 'telling' it? What narrative techniques can be employed to show this instead? How do you deliver the message with emotion without tilting over into melodrama? How do you make trauma believable? This week Jules and Madeleine delve into this tricky part of storytelling.
On the slab - The Stand - Stephen King, The Mask Falling - Samantha Shannon, The Blood of the Delphi and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic -
Part one of a two part episode
Most speculative fiction will involve traumatising your main character at some point but how do you make it clear to a reader or viewer that this is what is happening without ponderously 'telling' it? What narrative techniques can be employed to show this instead? How do you deliver the message with emotion without tilting over into melodrama? How do you make trauma believable? This week Jules and Madeleine delve into this tricky part of storytelling.
On the slab - Daredevil, Twilight, I Belong to the Earth and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Part 2 of a 2 part episode
Following on from last week's over view episode, this week Jules and Madeleine get, appropriately, into the details of what to include or exclude when writing and worldbuilding. Speculative fiction can, by it's very nature, require extensive world building which in turn requires plenty of detail. But how do you know what to include or exclude? How much detail should you go for? Is there such a thing as too much detail?
On the slab this week - Harker & Blackthorn, The Sons of Thestian, Strange the Dreamer - Laini Taylor, Immortal Pleasures - V Castro and many more
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Part 1 of a 2 part episode
The dragons are back and gearing up for spooky season. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at the thorny issue of 'details'. Speculative fiction can, by it's very nature, require extensive world building which in turn requires plenty of detail. But how do you know what to include or exclude? How much detail should you go for? Is there such a thing as too much detail?
On the slab this week - The Book of Strange New Things - Michel Faber, Fire & Hemlock and Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones, Lorna Doone - R D Blackmoore and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Please note this episode contains spoilers for all the shows and books mentioned!
It's the human in superhuman which is the interesting aspect of the superhero genre, which is why the genre is so good at holding up a dark mirror to the worst aspects of humanity as well as being aspiration. This week Jules and Madeleine delve into the murky waters of dark superheroes looking at parallels between fame, money, consumerism and politics. How are superheroes the new pantheon of gods? Isn't a dark superhero just a villain? And why are writers drawn to telling these stories?
On the slab this week - The Boys, The Umbrella Academy, Velveteen vs by Seanan McGuire and many more.
This is the season finale but the dragons will be back in September.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Not every story can be or needs to be high octane intensity. In fact some of the best books are objectively quiet affairs. Low stakes does not mean low story or lack of compelling reading or viewing experience however. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at why low stakes can be just as enthralling as high stakes, and in many ways can provide deeper connections between the reader and the characters. How do you make a low stakes story compelling? What are the dos and don'ts of writing low stakes? And how do you keep a reader's attention focused on your MC when the world isn't ending?
On the slab this week - Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness, Swordheart by T Kingfisher and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Myths and stories from the classical world have always been popular inspiring works of art, poetry, books and plays across centuries. Lately, Greek mythology has enjoyed an even bigger revival powered by the era of the 'feminist retelling'. However, while many of these books may be enjoyable stories in their own right, they are almost always bad retellings of the original source material - although 'original' is a relative term. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a frank look at why this happens, why overlaying a modern lens over literature that is several thousand years old is often doomed to failure and how you can find a balance between anachronistically modern and incomprehensively contemporaneous with the original. On the slab this week - A Thousand Ships - Natalie Haynes, The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller, The Silence of the Girls - Pat Barker and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Every profession has at some point suffered from misrepresentation in fiction, however the inaccurate way writers are often depicted in screenplays is especially ironic. However, the dragons do acknowledge that exaggeration and outright fabrication often make for better storytelling so with that in mind, Jules and Madeleine take a look at the main writer character types used in fiction. From tormented geniuses to hardbitten hacks, this tongue in cheek episode is full of characterisation ideas if you ever want to include a writer character in your own writing.
On the slab this week - Argylle, Limitless, The Help and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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If you're a long term listener, you'll already be aware that the concept of 'genre' is mostly just a tool to aid categorisation, especially when it comes to selling books. That said, there are points on the timeline that are considered recognised emergence points for specific major genres. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at the evolution of fantasy: where did the idea come from? When did it diverge from fairy tales and folklore? And how did it become the speculative fiction power house genre it is today?
Part 2 of a 2 part episode.
Title music - Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic -
If you're a long term listener, you'll already be aware that the concept of 'genre' is mostly just a tool to aid categorisation, especially when it comes to selling books. That said, there are points on the timeline that are considered recognised emergence points for specific major genres. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at the evolution of fantasy: where did the idea come from? When did it diverge from fairy tales and folklore? And how did it become the speculative fiction power house genre it is today?
Part 1 of a 2 part episode.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Dinosaurs and prehistoric megafauna have been capturing human imagination for centuries. Certain myths may well have been partially shaped by the discovery of dinosaur bones, whilst our progressing understanding of the dinosaurs 180 million year reign and how it ended, has coloured our understanding of our own place in the natural order.
No surprise then that dinosaurs should appear in so much fiction - both written and staged or filmed. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at why these creatures hold such fascination for us, and why they have bled into fantasy and science fiction in a way that cannot be erased.
Under the microscope this week: Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton, The Palaeontologist - Luke Dumas, Dinotopia and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Storytelling is a powerful tool for exploring difficult issues - both in terms of catharsis and also at a distance. This is especially true for death and bereavement. While the dragons have discussed grief in speculative fiction before, this week they are examining bereavement as a storytelling mode in its own right.
How do you write bereavement in a way that isn't overwhelming, off-putting or just false? What are the popular tropes which explore this issue? And just why might you include it in sff anyway? On the slab this week - Fruits Basket, Star Trek: Discovery, A Symphony of Echoes - Jodi Taylor and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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It's time for another episode in the fairytales in focus series and this week the dragons are delving into one of the best known and (inexplicably?) best beloved. The tale of the Sleeping Beauty has gone through many permutations over the centuries and most likely has an oral tradition that was even older. It has been co-opted by Medieval Romantic poetry, pops up in Norse sagas, and was even used as code for aspects of Gnostic Christian movements. So what is it about this story which is so enduring? Is it the cursed child theme? The political coding in some versions? Or does it resonate with something even deeper? Find out in this weeks extended episode.
On the slab this week - The Witchwood Knot - Olivia Atwater, A Long Long Sleep - Anna Sheehan, Tchaikovsky's ballet and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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The villain who redeems themself is a highly popular trope, but so is it's mirror and sister trope - the hero who becomes the villain. Operating on the assumption that no one is born 'bad', this trope is an engaging look at how someone might gradually descend into villainy and not even realise until after they have arrived. This week, the dragons discuss how to tackle this storyline in a way that is believable and leaves your reader feeling satisfied by the story rather than cheated. On the slab this week - Star Wars, Breaking Bad, Dune - part II and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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Nineteenth century novels remain rich fodder both for adaptation and complete reimagining. However, it is rarely as easy as writers and screenwriters believe to strike the balance between respect for the source material, alteration to provide accessibility for a modern audience and presenting the themes which made the book a classic in the first place. This week Jules and Madeleine take a look at what can go right and what can go horribly wrong when using classics as the basis for your story.
Under the microscope this week - Ill Will - Michael Stewart, Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding, Persuasion and many more.
(This is part two of a two part episode)
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
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