Stay ConnectedPage Break is a collection of casual conversations between epic fantasy author Brian McClellan and fellow creative professionals—like two friends sitting down over lunch to discuss career, craft, family, and hobbies. Authorhood is a quiet sort of minor fame where the person behind the words is often obscured by the works they’ve created. Brian aims to use this podcast to find out more about his friends and colleagues.
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Copyright: © Brian McClellan
Brian's guest this week is author Cherie Priest. Cherie is known for work that dips toes in a number of different genres, including horror, science fiction, southern gothic, fantasy, and steampunk. She’s best known for her Clockwork Century Universe that started with Boneshaker, and has also written the Eden Moore series, the Borden Dispatches, the Cheshire Red Reports series, and many other standalone novels and short stories.
Cherie and Brian talk extensively about her childhood in a south and the way that has affected her adult life and career. They discuss oppressive religion, spiritualism, and take a lengthy detour down her adventures in urban exploring.
Find Cherie on Twitter and her website.
Find Brian McClellan at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is science fiction author John Scalzi. John is known for a massive variety of work, including his early career as a reviewer and columnist, his bestselling breakout novel Old Man’s War, his time as president of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and his well-known blog, Whatever.
John and Brian talk about paradigm shifts in their industry, being a longtime public figure, and his well-publicized thirteen-book contract with Tor. They also talk about living and working in the Midwest, and the real nature of professional jealousy. Enjoy my conversation with John Scalzi!
Find John on Twitter or his website.
Find Brian McClellan at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is novelist Katherine Arden. Katherine is known for her Russian-inspired historical fantasy the Winternight Trilogy, which begins with The Bear and the Nightingale, and her middle-grade series Small Spaces.
Katherine and Brian chat about her life before getting published and her extensive world travels, as well as skiing, gardening, and what can make or break historical fiction. Enjoy Brian's conversation with Katherine Arden!
Find Katherine on Twitter or her website.
Find Brian McClellan at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hey everyone! Just a quick hello and update for everything going on in the Brianverse!
IN THE SHADOW OF LIGHTNING Preorder Campaign: https://read.macmillan.com/promo/intheshadowoflightningpreorder/
Les Imaginales: https://www.imaginales.fr/invites/mcclellan-brian/
Promise of Blood in French: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/2493405048/
The Crimson Campaign in Spanish: https://www.amazon.com/dp/8418711442/
Play Valheim: https://www.valheimgame.com
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Brian's guest this week is epic fantasy author Brian Staveley. Brian is known for his award-winning Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne, the first book of which was The Emperor’s Blades, which came out in 2014.
Brian and his fellow Brian talk about the solitary life of a writer, coming up with book titles, living in the countryside, and the challenges presented by different books in a series. They get into Brian’s past life as a poet and teacher, and his love of writing characters who are constantly bettering themselves. They also discuss their doppelganger careers, from sharing an agency to winning or being nominated for all the same awards.
Find Brian Staveley on Twitter and his website.
Find Brian McClellan at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
*FYI, we had some major internet hiccups and lost all the video as well as the last fifteen minutes of this conversation. Big thanks to our sound engineer who has stitched it back together the best he could.*
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Brian's guest this week is fantasy author Naomi Novik! Naomi is best known for her massively successful Temeraire series in which dragons fight in the Napoleonic Wars and was, as Brian recounts in the episode, an early inspiration for his own writing. She’s also written the Scholomance trilogy, standalone novels Uprooted and Spinning Silver, and a host of short fiction.
Naomi and Brian talk about international travel and attending conventions, Naomi’s love of fan fiction, her early work in video games, and writing characters—including non-humans—who think differently from modern people.
Fina Naomi on Twitter and her website.
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is fantasy author Samantha Shannon. Samantha’s career began at the age of twenty-one when she published the internationally-bestselling The Bone Season with Bloomsbury Publishing. There have been three more books in that series, as well as Samantha’s acclaimed stand-alone, The Priory of the Orange Tree.
Brian and Samantha talk about authorial input into behind-the-scenes decisions, their unhealthy addictions, book length and complexity, and being thrust in front of crowds as introverts. They also chatted about Samantha’s relationship with the media attention around her debut novel, and the pressure that comes with being a young success. Enjoy Brian's conversation with Samantha Shannon!
Find Samantha on Instagram or her website.
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is epic fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. For the very few of you who don’t know him, Brandon is one of the most prolific and successful authors working in science fiction and fantasy today. He is known for his massive interconnected Cosmere in which many different fantasy worlds exist in the same universe—including Mistborn, Elantris, and the Stormlight Archive. As of recording this intro, his Kickstarter for four secret novels has passed thirty million dollars and is by far the most successful Kickstarter in the history of the platform. Please note this interview was recorded before that went live, so they don’t cover the Kickstarter in this episode.
Brandon and Brian talk about the overwhelming nature of success, running a massive business, his experience working with co-authors, his desire to leave touring behind, and plenty more!
Find Brandon on Twitter or his website.
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is author and streamer Janet Forbes. Janet is the CEO of World Anvil, an online worldbuilding platform for roleplayers and writers that she founded with her husband. She also streams Dungeons and Dragons for Wizards of the Coast, records writing and RPG advice on Youtube, and works as a freelance worldbuilder and author.
Janet and Brian talk abut the genesis of World Anvil, writing for roleplaying games, dealing with the rapid growth of a company, and her background as a classically-trained musician and singer. They also talk about being a good game master, cooperative story-telling, and the occasional cultural differences you find playing RPGs. Enjoy Brian's conversation with Janet Forbes!
You can find Janet on Twitter or at WorldAnvil.
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian's guest this week is epic fantasy author Evan Winter. Evan is a former filmmaker whose first novel Rage of Dragons was named as one of Time Magazine's 100 best fantasy books of all time in 2020. The third book in his Burning series is out in 2023.
Evan and Brian talk about his experiences with music videos, the side work of being a creative professional that distracts us from actually creating, how his background in marketing helped him launch his first book, and the psychological toll our work can take on us.
Check out Evan on Twitter or his website.
Find Brian at his website, on Twitter and Instagram, or find his books on Amazon, direct from his bookstore, or wherever books are sold!
Don't forget to support the show on Patreon, or pick up some swag on Redbubble.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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