Holly Black, author of The Spiderwick Chronicles, joins us to talk about the Spiderwick movie, graphic novels, and D&D. Dave and John blame evil internet fairies for any number of things, possibly including the loss of their childhood action figure collections.
Introduction
0:00 Introduction by Tor.com
0:38 Dave and John introduce the show
Interview: Holly Black
03:22 Interview begins
03:40 Books that made Holly want to be a writer and early influences
05:32 Growing up believing in fairies turns out to be terrifying
08:34 On meeting her collaborator, artist Tony DiTerlizzi, winner of the Caldecott Award
07:29 Holly Black rolls 20s, baby!
10:00 Regarding the movie adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles
12:15 Can we look forward to any more Spiderwick?
12:51 Holly’s upcoming graphic novels
16:06 How Holly came to the idea behind her new series The Curse Workers, the first book of which is White Cat
19:38 Holly’s short story collection The Poison Eaters
21:45 A question from Geek’s Guide friend and listener Charles A. Tan: Will Holly set any future stories in the Philippines?
22:14 Holly’s new anthology Zombies vs. Unicorns and her foray into editing
26:01 About the Borderlands series and Holly’s work on the latest anthology
30:04 The upcoming Alpha workshop, and the workshop experience
28:22 Holly’s take on urban fantasy
32:12 End of interview
Dave and John talk about dolls action figures, and why you should put peanut butter on your keyboard
32:11 The things that inspire obsessive learning
35:46 Dolls vs. Action Figures and how it relates to SF writers who claim they don’t write SF
36:44 Dave confesses to his Artisanal Action Figure history
38:21 Imagination as social currency
39:44 The joy of toys
42:09 Moms of the world, take note: those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Back away from your kid’s comic collection NOW
45:46 Hey Listeners: what’s the deal with getting the rights to using action figures in stop-motion animation?
45:35 What John has in common with George R.R. Martin, and how role playing influences creativity
51:22 The peculiar phenomenon that is merchandising based on fiction
52:02 John’s recent trip to Medieval Times and what it clearly lacked
53:21 The writer’s need for a hobby
54:32 What do you do while listening to audiobooks?
56:15 No show would be complete with mentioning Robert Asprin
59:39 The Car Key Fairy, and putting peanut butter on your keyboard
01:01:57 The Comic Geek Speak podcast (it’s Episode 527 you’re looking for) and the Bowling Green degree in Popular Culture
01:03:55 Show wrap-up
Note: John was not able to photograph his miniatures properly. If he ever figures out how to take pictures of them in focus, he promises to post them.
Next week: Dan Carlin, host of the Hardcore History podcast
Thanks for listening!
John Joseph Adams (www.johnjosephadams.com) is an anthologist, a writer, and a geek. He is the editor of the anthologies By Blood We Live, Federations, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Living Dead (a World Fantasy Award finalist), Seeds of Change, and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse. He is currently assembling several other anthologies, including Brave New Worlds, The Living Dead 2, The Mad Scientistís Guide to World Domination, and The Way of the Wizard. He worked for more than eight years as an editor at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and is currently the fiction editor of Lightspeed Magazine, which launches in June 2010.
David Barr Kirtley (www.davidbarrkirtley.com) is a writer living in New York who has been called “one of the newest and freshest voices in sf.” His short fiction appears in magazines such as Realms of Fantasy and Weird Tales, and in anthologies such as The Living Dead, New Voices in Science Fiction, and Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2008 Edition.
Show notes compiled by podtern Christie Yant. Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
