HC sat down with Literary Local, author, screenwriter, and all around good guy, Glen Gabel to talk about his mother’s passion project, <b.Through the Corner of Circles
You can see HC’s written Q&A with Glen here: https://irresponsiblereader.com/2025/05/20/literary-locals-a-qa-about-writing-in-idaho-with-glen-gabel/
Glen’s website: https://glengabel.com/
and Meg Ashely’s website: https://meg-ashley.com/
HC chats with Nebula Award-winning author A.J. Calvin about the business side of Self-Publishing.
You can (and should) learn more about A.J. and her books at:
Bluesky
Instagram
Twitter
Sign up to A.J.’s mailing list
Also, be sure to see her contribution to Spreading the Self-Pub Love in 2025!
HC chats with Nebula Award-winning author Vanessa Ricci-Thode about the business side of Self-Publishing.
You can (and should) learn more about Vanessa and her books at:
Website
Bluesky
Instagram
Also, be sure to see her contribution to Spreading the Self-Pub Love in 2025!
HC sat down with author, bon vivant, and all-around hoopy frood, JCM Berne, to talk about the business side of Self-Publishing.
You can (and should) learn more about JCM and check out his books, YouTube Channel and more at:
Website
Bluesky
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Also, be sure to see his contribution to Spreading the Self-Pub Love in 2025!
HC sat down with podcaster and almost-debut author Tom Bookbeard to talk about the business side of Self-Publishing.
You can (and should) learn more about Tom and check out his reviews, podcast, etc. at:
Secret Scribes
Tom Bookbeard | FanFiAddict
The Four Beardsmen of the Bookpocalypse
Also, be sure to see his contribution to Spreading the Self-Pub Love in 2025!
HC sat down with gritty Fantasy author extraordinaire Michael Michel (https://michaelmichelauthor.com/) to talk about his book The Price of Power (released 4/2/25!) his other books, influences, and things of that nature. HC also works in an error-filled description of Thespis–a mischievous ghost (apologies to Jeremy Goodwin).
Some of the books we mentioned were:
Michael’s books:
The Price of Power
A Graveyard for Heroes
War Song
Way of the Wizard
Other books we mentioned/discussed:
Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie (Book 2 of The Age of Madness)
The Steel Remains(Author) by Richard K Morgan (Book 1 of A Land Fit for Heroes)
Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty (I’m pretty sure about this one, my handwriting got hard to read, and if I’m wrong, it looks like something we should’ve talked about)
For the two of you who might be curious, what I should’ve said about Thespis:
Jeremy:…in 534 B.C. that Thespis stepped out onto the stage of the Theater Dionysis during a choral song and dance and became the first man to speak words as an actor in a play.
…
Dana: Thespis?
Jeremy: The first actor. Now a mischievous ghost. He likes to wreak havoc on performances of any kind.
HC sat down with literary local Paul Regnier (https://www.pauljregnier.com/) to talk about his books, influences, and things of that nature.
Some of the books we mentioned were:
Paul’s books/writing:
Space Drifters trilogy
Luke and Bandit cozy mysteries
Bard Tidings
Monster Therapist and the Warlock’s Citadel
Almost the Chosen One Substack by Paul Regnier
Other books we mentioned/discussed:
The Sword of Shannara Trilogy by Terry Brooks
Magic Kingdom for Sale–Sold! by Terry Brooks
MythAdventures by Robert Asprin series
Mark of the Fool by J.M. Clarke
Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz by Garth Nix
The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine by Lindsay A. Franklin
I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle
Last year, you’ll have seen the name M.D. Presley here a few times–thanks to the first two books in his Inner Circle UF series. We had a fun chat last week that I bring to you today. Matt introduced me to the work of Laurel K. Hamilton and her influence on the genre.
Of course, better than that, would be checking out her site and work for yourself. But you might as well start with this chat.
Website ~ Bluesky ~ Facebook ~ Rites of Passage (Inner Circle book 1) ~ Worldbuilding Nonfiction
Are you a Reader of Things and want to chat with me about an author/series/something other than promoting your own work (which we will do, just not primarily)? I’d love to keep trying this, but I’m not ready to start pestering people about it. So please let me know.
I’m very pleased to welcome Jodie from Witty & Sarcastic Book Club to talk about what happened on our blogs last year, the books that stood out to us, as well as some hopes and goals for 2025–and very vague reading plans. We ramble a bit about some other things, too.
I hope you enjoy this.
The audio on my end is a wonky (and maybe hard to listen to) at the beginning, but it settles down after a little bit (but is still too loud compared to Jodie’s). Will go back to my old microphone next time.
Blogs/Websites we mentioned:
Peat Long’s Blog: https://peatlong.wordpress.com/
The Orangutan Librarian: https://theorangutanlibrarian.wordpress.com/
Pages Unbound: https://pagesunbound.wordpress.com/
Read Christie 2025: https://www.agathachristie.com/news/2025/read-christie-2025
Bookshop Pages, we’d appreciate you using one or all of these:
Behind the Pages Bookshop Page: https://bookshop.org/shop/BehindthePages
Witty and Sarcastic Book Picks: https://bookshop.org/shop/WittyandSarcasticBookPicks
HC’s Bookshop Page: https://bookshop.org/shop/irresponsiblereader
Particular Books We Mentioned:
The Root of Hope by Ricardo Victoria
God Ascended: An Archives of Evelium Tale by Jeffrey Speight
Dragons of Fate by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke
Buddy the Knight and The Queen of Sorrow by Peter David
The Half Killed by Quenby Olson
Camelot Shadow by Sean Gibson
The Part about the Dragon Was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson
The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri
The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The Star and the Strange Moon by Constance Sayers
Tales of Mystery: Dead for a Spell
Play of Shadows by Sebastien de Castell
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Martian by Andy Weir
No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister
The Mercy Chair by M.W. Craven
Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis by Michael Ward
Whisper in the Wind by Luke Arnold
The Last Soul Among Wolves by Melissa Caruso
The Final Vow by M.W. Craven
The Legendary Mo Seto by A. Y. Chan
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs
Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
If you’ve been on Bookish Social Medial at all in the 6+ months, I’m willing to bet you’ve seen the name Adrian Gibson or at least the cover of Mushroom Blues. You may also know him from the podcast he hosts with M.J. Kuhn, SFF Addicts. Last week, Adrian was gracious enough to struggle with StreamYard (and it was in a mood) in order that we could sit down and talk about Jeff VanderMeer–an author that I’ve been intimidated to pick up and try, but who has been instrumental in Gibson’s career. I walked away excited to try VanderMeer, and I had a good time in general. I hope you watch this and walk away thinking the same.
As I said, StreamYard wasn’t happy, so the video freezes a couple of times on both of us, but the audio is fine.
Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Website ~ Newsletter ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads
Are you a Reader of Things and want to chat with me about an author/series/something other than promoting your own work (which we will do, just not primarily)? I’d love to keep trying this, but I’m not ready to start pestering people about it. So please let me know.
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