The Functional Nerds

Episode 146 – Delilah S. Dawson Part 1

Patrick Hester — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:30:41 +0000

In the 146th episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome author Delilah S. Dawson.

About Delilah S. Dawson:

Delilah S. Dawson is a native of Roswell, Georgia and the author of the paranormal romance Blud series for Pocket, including WICKED AS THEY COME and WICKED AS SHE WANTS and two e-novellas, THE MYSTERIOUS MADAM MORPHO and THE PECULIAR PETS OF MISS PLEASANCE. Her short story THE THREE LIVES OF LYDIA will be in Gallery’s Carniepunk anthology in July 2013. Her first YA, a creepy paranormal called SERVANTS OF THE STORM will be available in 2014 from Simon Pulse. RT Book Reviews has called her “a wonderfully fresh new voice!” and “on the fast track to the top of the genre!” and awarded WICKED AS SHE WANTS the May Seal of Excellence.

This week’s Picks:

Links:

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 145 – Justin Landon Part 2

Patrick Hester — Tue, 14 May 2013 06:30:29 +0000

In the 145th episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome blogger Justin Landon for part 2 of our conversation.

About Justin/Staffer’s Book Review:

Staffer’s Book Review is a blog maintained by Justin Landon. It began in spring of 2011 with a review of James S.A. Corey’s Leviathan Wakes. Initially inspired to jot down thoughts to help further his own writing, Justin soon became enamored with the review process itself. Since then he’s written hundreds of reviews, cementing a deep love for genre fiction, but also a deep fascination with the publishing industry.

Today, Staffer’s Book Review is as much a commentary about the state of science fiction and fantasy as it is a place of review. Interviews, short essays, and industry insider pieces are common.

This week’s Picks:

Links:

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 144 – Justin Landon Part 1

Patrick Hester — Tue, 07 May 2013 06:29:48 +0000

In the 144th episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome blogger Justin Landon.

About Justin/Staffer’s Book Review:

Today, Staffer’s Book Review is as much a commentary about the state of science fiction and fantasy as it is a place of review. Interviews, short essays, and industry insider pieces are common.

This week’s Picks:

Links:

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 143 – Chuck Wendig Part 2

Patrick Hester — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:30:30 +0000

In the 143rd episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back Chuck Wendig, author of many books including Blackbirds, Mockingbird, Double Dead, Bait Dog, and Dinocalypse Now.

About Chuck Wendig:

Chuck is the author of the published novels: Blackbirds, Mockingbird, Double Dead, Bait Dog, and Dinocalypse Now. He also the author of the soon-to-be-published novels: The Blue Blazes, The Cormorant, Heartland Books 1/2/3, Beyond Dinocalypse, Dinocalypse Forever, Harum Scarum, and Gods & Monsters: Unclean Spirits.

He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is an alum of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter’s Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, showed at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producers Ted Hope and Anne Carey. Together they co-wrote the digital transmedia drama Collapsus, which was nominated for an International Digital Emmy and a Games 4 Change award.

Chuck has contributed over two million words to the game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP). He was a frequent contributor to The Escapist, writing about games and pop culture.

Much of his writing advice has been collected in various writing- and storytelling-related e-books.

He currently lives in the forests of Pennsyltucky with wife, two dogs, and newborn son.

He is likely drunk and untrustworthy.

You may reach him at terribleminds [at] gmail [dot] com.

This week’s Picks:

Links:

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 142 – Chuck Wendig Returns Part 1

Patrick Hester — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 06:30:47 +0000

In the 142nd episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back Chuck Wendig, author of many books including Blackbirds, Mockingbird, Double Dead, Bait Dog, and Dinocalypse Now.

About Chuck Wendig:

Much of his writing advice has been collected in various writing- and storytelling-related e-books.

He currently lives in the forests of Pennsyltucky with wife, two dogs, and newborn son.

He is likely drunk and untrustworthy.

You may reach him at terribleminds [at] gmail [dot] com.

This week’s Picks:

John: The Roku Player 3
Chuck: The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
Patrick: Writer Beware Blog

Links:

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 141 – Dave Robison Part 4

Patrick Hester — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 06:30:39 +0000

In the 141st episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Dave Robison, host of the Roundtable Podcast.

About Dave:

Dave has indulged in creative pursuits his entire life. His CV includes writing Curious George fan-fiction at the age of eight, improv theater at age ten, playing trumpet at age twelve, as well as a theater degree, creating magazine cover art, writing audio scripts, designing websites, creating board games, hosting mythological roundtables and generally savoring the sweet draught of expression in all its forms. His years of exploration give him a unique, informed, and eloquent perspective on the art of storytelling.

This week’s Picks:

John: Toontrack EZDrummer
Dave: The Ankh-Morpork Map For iPad
Patrick: Green Lantern: The Animated Series

This week’s topic:

The Unsolitary Writer

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 140 – Dave Robison Part 3

Patrick Hester — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 06:30:18 +0000

In the 140th episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Dave Robison, host of the Roundtable Podcast.

About Dave:

This week’s Picks:

This week’s topic:

Amanda Palmer / TED talks / Kickstarter / The Veromica Mars Movie Project

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 139 – Dave Robison Part 2

Patrick Hester — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 06:30:44 +0000

In the 139th episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Dave Robison, hose of the Roundtable Podcast.

About Dave:

This week’s Picks:

John: Childhood’s End
Dave: Ted Talks
Patrick: Grimm

This week’s topic:

The Death of Google Reader

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 138 – Dave Robison

Patrick Hester — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 06:30:33 +0000

In the 138th episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Dave Robison, hose of the Roundtable Podcast.

About Dave:

This week’s Picks:

John: Composer Quest Podcast
Dave: Shared Story Worlds Podcast
Patrick: Kirkus Reviews – Save Sword (Live March 21st)

This week’s topic:

Star Wars 7

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 137 – Myke Cole and Topping Your First Novel

Patrick Hester — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 06:30:53 +0000

In the 137th episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Myke Cole, author of the Shadow Ops series including Control Point and the new Fortress Frontier, for the last in his guest stint on the show.

This week’s Picks:

John: Soundworks Collection
Myke: Infinity Blade 2
Patrick: Higher Earth and the Clone Wars season finale

This week’s topic:

Topping your first work (novel, album, story).

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 136 – With Myke Cole

Patrick Hester — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 04:22:59 +0000

In episode 135 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back Myke Cole, author of the Shadow Ops series including Control Point and the new Fortress Frontier.

This week’s picks:

John: The Hype Machine
Myke: SA Corey’s Leviathan Wakes Novel
Patrick: Usagi Yojimbo: Way of the Ronin Game

This week’s topic:

Is SF & F conservative in its structure and ideas? Are we no longer pushing the boundaries?

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 135 – Dungeons and Dragons w/Myke Cole

Patrick Hester — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 07:30:18 +0000

In the 135th episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome author Myke Cole to the third seat.

About Myke:

As a security contractor, government civilian and military officer, Myke Cole’s career has run the gamut from Counterterrorism to Cyber Warfare to Federal Law Enforcement. He’s done three tours in Iraq and was recalled to serve during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. All that conflict can wear a guy out. Thank goodness for fantasy novels, comic books, late night games of Dungeons and Dragons and lots of angst fueled writing.

Things discussed in this episode include:

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 134 – The Future of Sci-Fi Television (with Carrie Cuinn)

Patrick Hester — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 07:30:21 +0000

In the 134th episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick, John and Carrie discuss The Future of SciFi Television.

Picks of the Week:

Lost Girl (Carrie)
Fringe (Patrick)
Bladerunner Soundtrack by Vangelis (John)

Also mentioned in this Episode:

Fish Anthology from Dagan Books
Alphas
Stargate
Twin Peaks
Lost
Mutant X
The X-Men
Heroes
Smallville
Misfits
Continuum

This podcast contains original music by Paul and Storm, plus original music by John Anealio.

Episode 133 – When To Turn Your Hobby Into Your Career – With Carrie Cuinn

Patrick Hester — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:32:31 +0000

In the 133rd episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick, John & Carrie discuss all sorts of things, including:

This podcast contains original music by Paul and Storm, plus original music by John Anealio.

Episode 132 – Paul and Storm Talk Learning Town

Patrick Hester — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 07:30:01 +0000

In the 132nd episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Carrie Cuinn takes the night off, John talks to Paul and Storm about their new Geek and Sundry show, Learning Town, and Patrick and John discuss all sorts of other things.

About Paul and Storm: Paul and Storm have been writing and performing funny songs together for a long, long time, starting with their stint together in a cappella band Da Vinci’s Notebook. Their music tends to make people laugh and feel good, and Paul and Storm believe that this makes their pursuit noble, right and just. BONUS: their live show is better than 1,000 Fonzies, and more spellbinding than Mr. T on a unicycle. (And equally as confusing as both of those things).

In addition to their own performances, Paul and Storm are also co-founders of w00tstock, their geek-oriented variety show co-hosted by Adam Savage (“Mythbusters”) and Wil Wheaton (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”, “Eureka”), which has toured theaters across America since 2009 and whose guests have included Neil Gaiman, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Felicia Day and Chris Hardwick. The duo also co-produce JoCo Cruise Crazy, a Caribbean cruise/concert festival for fans of internet musician Jonathan Coulton, which began in 2011.

Paul and Storm’s music has also been featured on the popular online cartoon website Homestar Runner, web series The Guild and The Legend of Neil, “The Drew Carey Show”, Comedy Central, the “Bob and Tom” syndicated morning radio show, and all over the YouTubes and internets. Their latest CD, “Do You Like Star Wars?”, is available wherever it is sold.

About Learning Town: The duo’s musical webseries, LearningTown, debuted on Felicia Day’s Geek & Sundry YouTube channel Today! The ten-episode series features all-new original songs by Paul and Storm, and includes such notable guests as comedy music legend “Weird Al” Yankovic, Maurissa Tancharoen (co-creator of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and co-exec. producer of ABC’s upcoming “S.H.I.E.L.D.” TV series), fellow music-comedian Mike Phirman (half of Hard ‘n Phirm, along with Chris Hardwick), James Urbaniak (voice of Dr. Venture on “Venture Bros.”), and YouTube videomaker Greg Benson.

Patrick and John also discussed in this episode:

This podcast contains original music by Paul and Storm, plus original music by John Anealio.

Episode 131 – Comics, Book Covers and Christmas (with Carrie Cuinn)

Patrick Hester — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 07:30:59 +0000

In the 131st episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester, John Anealio and Carrie Cuinn chat about:

Archaia Entertainment
Lee Collins (Dead of Winter?)
The Eureka Christmas Special (S4 sneak peak)
Carrie’s Outside the Frame Column on SF Signal

Main Topic(s):

Episode 130 with Carrie Cuinn

Patrick Hester — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 08:38:21 +0000

In the 130th episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, changes are in the air! John and Patrick welcome Carrie Cuinn back to the ‘cast and we chat about an assortment of topics including:

The Man of Steel trailer
The proposed/rumored Justice League Movie
Mythomania
Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome
Arrow
Duotrope
John’s Holiday Mix
Carrie’s SF Signal Column
Gaile Simone getting kicked off another DC comic (Batgirl)
Solstice Chronicles
Conversations with my Cat
An Uncommon Collection
Patrick’s Jim Butcher interview

Episode 129 – Jonah Knight

Patrick Hester — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 07:30:42 +0000

In the 129th episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Jonah Knight back to talk about his new album and holiday tie-ins.

About Jonah:

A few years ago Jonah Knight was your garden variety singer/songwriter performing songs about girls and bars. In 2010 he changed course and started writing songs about ghosts, monsters, super heroes, and steampunk. In the past few years he has made a name for himself by performing at Conventions around the mid-Atlantic region. He had been contracted by Mercury Retrograde Press to write a series of songs based on their novels. He co-hosts the Pros And Cons podcast, a show about geek music and convention culture. And he has recently released his sixth album, Another Creepy Christmas, a collection of, you got it, creepy Christmas songs. His website is JonahOfTheSea.com and he is @JonahOfTheSea on Twitter.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 128 – Bradley Beaulieu

Patrick Hester — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 20:19:04 +0000

In episode 128 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Bradley Beaulieu, author of The Winds of Khalakovo and The Straits of Galahesh.

About Brad:

Bradley Beaulieu is the author of The Winds of Khalakovo and The Straits of Galahesh, the first two books in The Lays of Anuskaya trilogy. If you’re not familiar with them, he usually pitches them as: A Song of Ice and Fire meets Earthsea, with a Russian twist. It’s epic fantasy set on a world of cold, inhospitable islands, and he borrowed from Muscovite Russia, Medieval Persia, and Ottoman Turkey to round out the cultures in the story.

Like anyone, Brad had a lot of influences along the way, but the ones that stand out the most are J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, C.S. Friedman, Guy Gavriel Kay, Tim Powers, and (last but not least) Glen Cook. He’s a software engineer by day (for the IT savvy, he works mostly on enterprise-scale J2EE applications). He also likes to cook, especially Mexican and southwestern (basically, anything spicy). He lives in Racine, Wisconsin with his wife and two kids. He used to game quite a bit (role-playing and computer games). He also likes pool (billiards) and tennis. But as time goes on, his hobbies are slowly being whittled down to these two things: family and writing. In that order.

Find out more at www.quillings.com.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 127 – Cat Rambo

Patrick Hester — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:30:10 +0000

In the 127th episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Cat Rambo to the show.

About Cat Rambo:

John Barth described Cat Rambo’s writings as “works of urban mythopoeia” — her stories take place in a universe where chickens aid the lovelorn, Death is just another face on the train, and Bigfoot gives interviews to the media on a daily basis. She has worked as a programmer-writer for Microsoft and a Tarot card reader, professions which, she claims, both involve a certain combination of technical knowledge and willingness to go with the flow. In 2005 she attended the Clarion West Writers’ Workshop. Among the places in which her stories have appeared are ASIMOV’S, WEIRD TALES, CLARKESWORLD, and STRANGE HORIZONS, and her work has consistently garnered mentions and appearances in year’s best of anthologies. Her collection, EYES LIKE SKY AND COAL AND MOONLIGHT was an Endeavour Award finalist in 2010 and followed her collaboration with Jeff VanderMeer, THE SURGEON’S TALE AND OTHER STORIES.

She has edited anthologies as well as critically-acclaimed Fantasy Magazine, is a board member of feminist science fiction group Broad Universe, a member of the Codex Writers’ Group, and volunteers with Clarion West.

Although no longer actively involved with the game, she is one of the minds behind Armageddon MUD, the oldest roleplay-intensive MUD (an interactive text-based game) on the Internet, which has been described as “like no other mud I have played before“, “the most entertaining game I’ve ever played“, “the most creative, emotionally involved mud on the Net” and “a place of astonishing beauty and detail“. She continues to do some game writing as well as technology journalism and reviews for Publishers Weekly.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 126 – Marc Hershon

Patrick Hester — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 07:30:05 +0000

in the 126th episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome March Hershon.

About Marc:

In addition to being the host of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, Marc’s skill set stretches beyond the world of podcasting in a number of directions. He’s the Creative Director for Lexicon Branding in Sausalito, California, where he’s been instrumental in helping to create such famous worldwide brand names as BlackBerry, Swiffer, and Dasani mineral water. He’s been a screenwriter for over 25 years, and has had several movies made for the Hallmark Channel in recent years. Marc also writes books, including co-authoring a business book called I Hate People! Which has been sold in seven countries around the world including Germany, Italy, and Brazil. He’s also been performing and teaching improvisational comedy since 1983, and had created an editorial cartoon for a weekly California newspaper for over a decade.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 125 – Colin F. Barnes

Patrick Hester — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 19:12:54 +0000

In the 125th episode of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome author/publisher Colin F. Barnes to the podcast.

About Colin:

Colin F. Barnes is male human from Essex in the UK, although he isn’t to be confused with the stereotypical ‘Essex Boy’ as portrayed in the media, despite once owning a Ford Escort. His writing education started as a young toddler writing Grumbleweeds Fan Fiction. Rumour has it he would actually tape the show off the TV with a cassette recorder and rewrite the scripts to make them ‘better’. (Seriously, search YouTube for Grumbleweeds, they rocked the 80s). From there, he bumbled through secondary school and college before studying with the London School of Journalism and the Open University completing various english/writing courses. Colin F. Barnes straddles the traditional and indie publishing divide. He’s had a number of short stories published as well putting out some of his work through his publishing company ‘Anachron Press’. He is currently working on a cyberpunk/horror/dystopia mashup titled ‘The Techxorcist‘.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 124 – Chris F Holm

Patrick Hester — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 07:09:36 +0000

In the 124th episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio discuss MileHiCon 44, conventions in general, what conventions offer to creatives, and then welcome author Chris F. Holm his books.

About Chris F. Holm:

Chris was born in Syracuse, New York, the grandson of a cop with a penchant for crime fiction. It was the year of punk rock and Star Wars, two influences that to this day hold more sway over him than perhaps his wife would like. But it was books that defined his childhood, from his grandfather’s Wambaugh and Sanders to the timeworn pulps picked up secondhand from the library. His stories have appeared in a slew of publications, including Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Beat to a Pulp, and Thuglit. His novella The Hitter was selected to appear in The Best American Mystery Stories 2011, edited by Harlan Coben and Otto Penzler. He’s been an Anthony Award nominee, a Derringer Award finalist, and a Spinetingler Award winner. His Collector novels, Dead Harvest and The Wrong Goodbye, recast the battle between heaven and hell as Golden Era crime pulp. He lives on the coast of Maine with his lovely wife and a noisy, noisy cat. When not writing, he can be found on his porch, annoying the crap out of the neighbors with his guitar.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 123 – John Mierau

Patrick Hester — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 06:30:11 +0000

On episode 123 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome John Mierau to talk about his new shared worlds anthology, Walk The Fire.

About John Mierau:

John Mierau is a wordsmith. Audio storyteller. Family man & Internet junkie. A podcaster, an author of novel-length, serial and short fiction, who aims above all else to entertain. To make that happen, words, physics & reality will be bent as needed!

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 122 – John Kovalic

Patrick Hester — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 06:30:07 +0000

In the 122nd episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome artist / cartoonist John Kovalic.

About John Kovalic:

John Kovalic’s cartoons have appeared everywhere from his hometown WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL (Madison, WI) to the NEW YORK TIMES and DRAGON MAGAZINE. His creations include the sell-out comic book sensation DORK TOWER and “DR. BLINK: SUPERHERO SHRINK,” as well as SNAPDRAGONS, NEWBIES, WILD LIFE, BEACHED, and panel cartoons including MURPHY’S RULES, THE UNSPEAKABLE OAF and others.

A co-founder and co-owner of Out of the Box Games, and a cartoonist for Steve Jackson Games, John has illustrated over 100 games and game supplements, and is at least in part responsible for best-sellers like APPLES TO APPLES (A GAMES Magazine Hall of Fame inductee) , MUNCHKIN, CHEZ GEEK and BLINK. He is closing in on 4,000 MUNCHKIN cards drawn, and boy, are his arms tired.

He was the first cartoonist inducted into the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) Hall of fame. In his spare time, John searches for spare time.

Links:

John Kovalic’s Dork Tower (website/daily comic strip)
John Kovalic on Twitter
John on Twitter
Patrick on Twitter

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 121 – Anton Strout

Patrick Hester — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 06:30:35 +0000

In episode 121 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Anton Strout, author of Alchemystic (A Spellmason Chronicle novel) out from Ace.

About Anton: Anton Strout was born in the Berkshire Hills mere miles from writing heavyweights Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville. He is an always writer, a sometimes actor, sometimes musician, occasional RPGer, and the world’s most casual and controller-smashing video gamer. He currently works in the exciting world of publishing and yes, it is as glamorous as it sounds.

About Alchemystic: AN OLD FRIEND OF THE FAMILY… Alexandra Belarus is a struggling artist living in New York City, even though her family is rich in real estate, including a towering Gothic Gramercy Park building built by her great-great-grandfather. But the truth of her bloodline is revealed when she is attacked on the street and saved by an inhumanly powerful winged figure. A figure who knows the Belarus name… Lexi’s great-great-grandfather was a Spellmason–an artisan who could work magic on stone. But in his day, dark forces conspired against him and his, so he left a spell of protection on his family. Now that Lexi is in danger, the spell has awoken her ancestor’s most trusted and fearsome creation: a gargoyle named Stanis. Lexi and Stanis are equally surprised to find themselves bound to each other. But as they learn to work together, they realize that only united can they save the city they both love…

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 120 – Mister Billy

Patrick Hester — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 06:30:20 +0000

In the 120th episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Mr. Billy to the super secret underground lair of the Functional Nerds.

Who is Mr. Billy? Excellent question. Here’s the answer:

Mr. Billy, is a full time Children’s Singer Song-Rocker from Wisconsin. If you’re looking for extremely fun, upbeat, educational, contemporary music for kids and families you’ve come to the right guy. He offers extreme kids music concerts, educational workshops and residencies with a wide variety of programs that can fit any need that involves kids. Most programs come with an acoustic, electric duo or FULL BAND option to accommodate any size audience or budget. He presents hundreds of programs each year, and have toured from Florida to Alaska. Library reading show’s and elementary school assemblies are his specialty.

Links:

This podcast features Angry Birds Space, a piece of original music written and performed by Mr. Billy.

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 119 – Maurice Broaddus and Jerry L. Gordon

Patrick Hester — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 06:30:58 +0000

In the 119th episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Maurice Broaddus and Jerry L. Gordon, co-editors of the new anthology from Apex Books, Dark Faith: Invocations.

About Maurice:

Maurice Broaddus was originally born in London, England, but has lived in America most of his life. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Purdue University in Biology (with an undeclared major in English) and comes from a family that includes several practicing obeah (think: Jamaican voodoo) people. His novels include The Knights of Breton Court series: King Maker, King’s Justice, and King’s War.

About Jerry:

Jerry Gordon is a fiction author, editor, college instructor, computer programmer, and occasional grad student. If you’re wondering where free time fits into this equation, you just discovered the downside to being interested in everything. He has an undergraduate degree in English and Education from Ball State University. When not writing, he is daydreaming about his next trip… and a little apartment in Paris.

Links:

To sponsor an episode, visit our Promos & Advertising page.

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 118 – Laura Anne Gilman

Patrick Hester — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 06:30:28 +0000

In episode 118 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Laura Anne Gilman, author of the popular Cosa Nostradamus novels for Luna, and the award-nominated The Vineart War trilogy from Pocket.

About Laura Anne:

Laura Anne Gilman is the author of ten Cosa Nostradamus novels, including (most recently) Dragon Justice, and the Nebula award-nominated Vineart War fantasy trilogy, which concluded with The Shattered Vine. Her story collection, Dragon Virus, was published as a limited edition hardcover from Fairwood Press. Her most recent short fiction appeared in Daily Science Fiction and The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2011, edited by Paula Guran, while her new fantasy duology, HEART OF BRIAR and SOUL OF FIRE, will be published in Fall/Winter 2013. A member of the on-line writers’ consortium BookVew Café, she writes the “Practical Meerkat” advice-to-writers column on their blog. Learn more at www.lauraannegilman.net or follow her on Twitter: @LAGilman

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 117 – Michael J. Sullivan

Patrick Hester — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 06:30:49 +0000

In Episode 117 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Michael J. Sullivan, author of The Riyria Revelations series of books out from Orbit.

About Michael:

MICHAEL SULLIVAN is the author of The Riyria Revelations, a six-book traditional fantasy released by Orbit as a trilogy. After more than a decade, he stopped waiting for the Great Pumpkin (otherwise known as publication), and vowed never to write creatively again. Another decade later he returned to writing, but only on the condition that he wouldn’t seek publication. Ironically his wife and daughter conspired against him, and the rest as they say is history. Michael’s works have been named to over 25 “Best of” or “Most Anticipated lists including: Library Journal’s 2011 Best Books for Fantasy/Sci-fi & Barnes and Nobles Blog’s Best Fantasy of 2011 and has been translated into 14 foreign languages.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 116 – Tim Dodge

Patrick Hester — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 06:30:46 +0000

In episode 116 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome author and fellow podcaster Tim Dodge.

About Tim:

I am a middle-aged guy who prefers to think younger. I am the author of two podcast novels, Acts of Desperation and Purgatory. Because I have been unsuccessful in getting these books in print the conventional way, I am in the midst of the self-publishing project. I enjoy reading and writing, running, playing my guitar, and watching sports (I am, however, somewhat dangerous at sports; most people don’t have to obtain a weapon permit for their golf clubs.) I live in my favorite place in the U.S.A., which is Central New York, where you can drive anywhere in less than a half hour, enjoy all four seasons in the space of a few days, and enjoy the city and the country any day you want, depending on your mood. I’m doing this podcast because I love talking to people about what they do, I love exposing people to stories and other creative pursuits that they didn’t know about before, and I love being part of the podcast community. Plus, I bought a Zoom H2 digital recorder and have to justify the cost. I hope you’ll join me on this tour of the creative minds all around us. And always look on the geek side of life.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 115 – Adam Christopher

Patrick Hester — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 06:30:21 +0000

In episode 115 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio wake Adam Christopher up at 3 am local time to chat about his new book, Seven Wonders, due out from Angry Robot Books on September 6th, 2012.

About Adam:

ADAM CHRISTOPHER is the author of Empire State and Seven Wonders from Angry Robot, and the forthcoming Shadow’s Call from Tor Books. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Adam grew up watching Pertwee-era Doctor Who and listening to The Beatles, which isn’t a bad start for a child of the 80s. In 2006, Adam moved to the North West of England. Adam’s fiction has appeared in Pantechnicon, Hub, and Dark Fiction Magazine, and in 2010 he won a Sir Julius Vogel award, New Zealand’s highest science fiction honour. When not writing Adam can be found drinking tea and obsessing over superhero comics and The Cure.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

No cats were harmed in the creation of this podcast no matter how much they whine about wanting to play.

Episode 114 – Jules Sherred

Patrick Hester — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 06:30:39 +0000

In Episode 114 of the Functional Nerd Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Julia Sherred back to talk about her latest project, Five Little Zombies and Fred, a not-for-children children’s book.

About Jules:

Confirmed to be a “Geek God” by some online quiz and dubbed “The Queen of Geek” by many of her fans, Julia “Jules” Sherred is a mother, writer, author, radio personality, blogger, gamer, tech enthusiast, science nerd, sci-fi and fantasy freak, hard core Trekker, has an unnatural obsession with Optimus Prime and so much more. She emerged from the womb fully embracing her geeky tendencies, with a book on Astrophysics in one hand and a deck of cards in the other. Growing up, games were always an important part of her family, including family board game nights, Christmas family poker games and trying to pry the ColecoVision® and later NES controllers from her mother’s hands. She has now passed on this tradition to her own children and is raising the next generation of geeks and gamers.

Links:

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio

Episode 113 – Madeline Ashby

Patrick Hester — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 06:30:21 +0000

In episode 113 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Madeline Ashby, author of the new novel, vN.

About Madeline Ashby:

Madeline Ashby is a science fiction writer, futurist, anime fan, and immigrant. Her debut novel, vN, is available for pre-order now. Her non-fiction has appeared at BoingBoing, io9, WorldChanging, and Tor.com.

About vN:

vN introduces us to Amy. She’s been grown in a stable family environment, with her robot mother and human father. But alone of all her kind, her human-protecting failsafe has stopped working for some reason. Soon she’s on the run from the law, and worse – everyone’s after her, some to use her as a weapon, others to destroy her. Her sole friend is a robot boy who’s programmed to only like humans. This is pure science fiction entertainment, combining a stunning extrapolation of a robot future with bravura kick-ass Manga-inspired action – think Philip K Dick meets Joss Whedon.

You can read the review of vN by Cathy Russell right here on Functional Nerds!

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 112 – Scott Roche

Patrick Hester — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 06:30:51 +0000

In episode 112 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome author Scott Roche to the program.

New format includes: In the News, Our Picks of the Weeks and 5 Questions!

About Scott:

Bio – Scott is a husband, father of three and by day is a computer support technician. By night (and in every spare minute he can find) he’s a social media junkie, writer, podcaster, and a contributing editor at Flying Island Press. His fiction and details on all his projects can be found at scottroche.com. On Twitter he’s @spiritualtramp. The thing he’s pouring energy into lately is The Action Pack podcast, a speculative fiction serial anthology, with co-creators JR Murdock and Mike Plested.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Babylon 5 rules. Never forget that.

Yeah – I’m talking to you. What? What?!

Episode 111 – J.M. Mcdermott

Patrick Hester — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 06:30:08 +0000

In episode 111 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio launch a new show format and welcome author J.M. Mcdermott to chat about his writing.

About J.M. Mcdermott:

J M McDermott is a robot fueled by literature, vegetables, and caffeine. He lives in Decatur, GA, where he stands on street corners and shouts at passing cars about the future.

He holds a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston, and an MFA in Popular Fiction from the Stonecoast Program of the University of Southern Maine.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Hey! If you like the new format, let us know! Leave us a comment or ping us on twitter!

Episode 110 – Andre LaFosse

Patrick Hester — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 06:30:18 +0000

In episode 110 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome singer / songwriter Andre LaFosse.

About Andre:

Andre LaFosse (pronounced “ON-draye laugh-OSS”) is a guitarist, producer, and chronic deconstructionist tortured (solo) artist. His eclectic, obsessive experiments with gene-splicing his own musical DNA have won him acclaim, controversy, and more than a few puzzled looks from his listeners. His first CD, Disruption Theory (1999), juxtaposed live electric guitar against intricate electronic programming, and was greeted with both serious critical praise and serious commercial obscurity. In spite of being an instrumental guitar-driven record, the album was profiled in music publications as diverse as Alternative Press, MOJO, Outburn, Expose, and 20th Century Guitar. After a lengthy absence from recording, Andre has returned in 2012 with two separate solo albums that are as different from one another as they are from anything he’s previously released. The Hard Bargain is his self-described “mid-life crisis rock album.” Built exclusively from a foundation of guitar, bass, and drums, and featuring tightly composed, elaborately arranged material, it’s the completely unfashionable instrumental guitar recording he spent most of the last fifteen years avoiding making. The sister album, Do The Math (aka “the mad scientist modular synth hauntology krautrock album”), places his guitar playing atop a foundation of massive, buzzing, unstable electronics and hypnotic grooves.

Links:

This podcast features original music by Andre LaFosse

This podcast also features an impression of Beavis…

Episode 109 – Paul S. Kemp and Paul Weimer

Patrick Hester — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 06:30:01 +0000

In Episode 109 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back Paul S. Kemp and Paul Weimer to talk about The Hammer and The Blade, the new sword and sorcery novel from Mr. Kemp.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 108 – Nathan Lowell

Patrick Hester — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:07:39 +0000

In episode 108 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Nathan Lowell, science fiction and fantasy author and podcaster.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 107 – Balticon Podcast Editing Panel

Patrick Hester — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 06:30:44 +0000

In episode 107 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio present a panel discussion of podcasts and podcast editing from the 2012 Balticon in May.

Moderated by John Anealio, the panel featured fellow podcasters John Mierau, Paul Elard Cooley, Tim Dodge, and Mike Stokes.

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 106 – T.C. McCarthy and Justin Landon (Balticon)

Patrick Hester — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 06:30:41 +0000

In episode 106 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome T.C. McCarthy and Justin Landon in an interview from Balticon.

About T.C. McCarthy

T.C. McCarthy is a critically acclaimed southern author whose short fiction has appeared in Per Contra: The International Journal of the Arts, Literature and Ideas, in Story Quarterly and in Nature. His debut novel, Germline, and its sequel, Exogene are available worldwide and the final book of the trilogy, Chimera, will be released in August 2012. In addition to being an author, T.C. is a PhD scientist, a Fulbright Fellow, a Howard Hughes Biomedical Research Scholar, and a winner of the prestigious University of Virginia Award for Undergraduate Research.

About Justin Landon

Justin writes a speculative fiction review blog and makes outlandish comments. He also occasionally gets fired up about stuff.

Links:

This episode features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 105 – Liz Smith and Marian Call

Patrick Hester — Tue, 29 May 2012 06:30:46 +0000

In episode 105 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Liz Smith and Marian Call.

About Liz:

Who is Dammit Liz? Dammit Liz, aka Liz Smith, is an independent freelance event consultant specializing in geek and pop culture events.

I am passionate about what I do. If you have a project that needs organization, chaos management or just some stress relief, I am here to help. I can put your project on track and eliminate that sense of panic

About Marian:

Marian is a spunky independent singer-songwriter based in Alaska who spends most of the year playing concerts all over North America. Her songs are acoustic indie pop with flavors of folk, funk, and jazz, always heartfelt and often humorous. She has played concerts in all 50 states and most of the Canadian provinces, plus a territory or so. Tour dates, free streaming music, CD’s, and more are available at MarianCall.com.

Links:

This episode features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 104 – Scott Andrew

Patrick Hester — Tue, 22 May 2012 06:30:38 +0000

In the 104th episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Scott Andrew to the show to talk about recording.

About Scott: Scott Andrew lives in Seattle, writes songs and plays in bands. He thinks you’re pretty cool.

Links:

This podcast features original music written and performed by John Anealio.

Episode 103 – Jeff Patterson and Paul Weimer

Patrick Hester — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:51:10 +0000

In the 103rd episode of the Parsec Nominated Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Jeff Patterson and Paul Weimer to the super-secret lair of the Functional Nerds to talk about: Marvel Comics.

About Jeff:

By some fortuitous circumstance Jeff Patterson was born on September 1, 1962, the day the White House announced that the world population had exceeded three billion people, so he figures that was him. In ancient days he had stories published in obscure, short-lived, low-paying and generally unread periodicals. These days he runs Bad Day Studio, known mainly for its annual Holiday Cards. These were collected in a book called Solstice Chronicles. He blogs at Gravity Lens.

About Paul:

Not really a Prince of Amber, but rather an ex-pat New Yorker that has found himself living in Minnesota for the last 8 years, Paul Weimer has been reading SF and Fantasy for over 30 years and exploring the world of roleplaying games for over 25 years. Almost as long as he has been reading and watching movies, he has enjoyed telling people what he has thought of them. In addition to his reading and gaming interests, he can be found at his own blog, Blog Jvstin Style, the Functional Nerds, the SF Signal Community, Twitter, Livejournal and many other places on the Internet. And one day he will write his own “trunk novel”.

Links:

Jeff Patterson (website)
Jeff on Twitter
Paul Weimer (website)
Paul on Twitter
Patrick on Twitter
John on Twitter
Special Mention: BookLifeNow.com
Patrick’s Post on BookLifeNow (with link to download template)

This podcast features original music written and performed by John Anealio.

Episode 102 – Stina Leicht and Chris Holm

Patrick Hester — Tue, 08 May 2012 06:30:38 +0000

In the 102nd episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Stina Leicht and Chris Holm.

About Stina:

Stina Leicht is a 2012 Campbell Award nomineee and author of two books: Of Blood and Honey, And Blue Skies from Pain published by Night Shade Books. Stina Leicht‘s debut novel Of Blood and Honey, a historical Fantasy with an Irish Crime edge set in 1970s Northern Ireland, was released by Night Shade books in February 2011. And Blue Skies from Pain (a sequel to Of Blood and Honey) was released March 22, 2012 and is available via Indie Bound, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Night Shade Books, BookPeople and Powell’s. She also has a flash fiction piece in Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s surreal anthology Last Drink Bird Head.

About Chris:

Chris F. Holm was born in Syracuse, New York, the grandson of a cop with a penchant for crime fiction. It was the year of punk rock and Star Wars, two influences that to this day hold more sway over Chris than perhaps his wife would like. He wrote his first story at the age of six, which got him sent to the principal’s office. Since then, his stories have appeared in a slew of publications, including Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Beat to a Pulp, and Thuglit. His novella “The Hitter” was selected to appear in THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES 2011, edited by Harlan Coben and Otto Penzler. He’s been an Anthony Award nominee, a Derringer Award finalist, and a Spinetingler Award winner. His debut novel, DEAD HARVEST, is available February 2012 via Angry Robot Books, with its sequel, THE WRONG GOODBYE, to follow that October.

Links:

This podcast features original music written and performed by John Anealio

Episode 101 – Jonah Knight

Patrick Hester — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:30:20 +0000

In the 101st episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome singer / songwriter Jonah Knight.

About Jonah:

Jonah Knight performs Paranormal Modern Folk: songs about ghosts, monsters, super heroes and steampunk with a roots folk base.

Links:

This episode features original music written and performed by Jonah Knight.

Episode 100 – JC Hutchins and Chuck Wendig

Patrick Hester — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 06:30:23 +0000

In episode 100 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome J.C. Hutchins and Chuck Wendig on to talk about Transmedia.

About J.C:

J.C. Hutchins is an award-winning fiction and nonfiction storyteller, with 15 years of professional writing experience. His two novels – 7th Son: Descent and Personal Effects: Dark Art — were published in 2009 by St. Martin’s Press.

About Chuck:

Chuck Wendig is equal parts novelist, screenwriter, and game designer. He is the author of the novels DOUBLE DEAD, BLACKBIRDS, and MOCKINGBIRD. In addition, he’s got a metric boatload of writing-related e-books available, including the popular 500 WAYS TO BE A BETTER WRITER. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with wife, dog, and newborn progeny

About Transmedia:

“Transmediation” can refer to the process though which individuals select and translate data to represent it in another media forms. It may utilize more than one media form. All the components of a transmediated work are interlinked with each other to form the whole network. Therefore, transmediated works are closely linked to semiotics and technology in the context of digital media.

Links:

This episode features original music by John Anealio

Episode 099 – Brad Torgersen, Jean Johnson and Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Patrick Hester — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 06:30:43 +0000

In episode 99 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Brad Torgersen, Jean Johnson and Bryan Thomas Schmidt to discuss the Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6 anthology.

About Brad:

Brad R. Torgersen is a healthcare computer geek by day, a United States Army Reserve Warrant Officer on the weekends, and a science fiction writer at night. He was won the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future award, the Analog magazine AnLab readers choice award, and is currently nominated for the Nebula award, the Hugo award, and the Campbell award.

About Jean:

Jean Johnson is the author of several national bestselling novels ranging from military science fiction to fantasy romance, and was recently nominated for the Philip K Dick award for Best Outstanding Science Fiction of 2011 for her military scifi novel A Soldier’s Duty.

About Bryan:

Bryan Thomas Schmidt is the author of The Worker Prince, The Returning, 102 More Hilarious Dinosaur Jokes For Kids and The North Star Serial Part 1. His first anthology as editor, Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6 Just released from Flying Pen Press and is headlined by Mike Resnick and Jean Johnson. He also hosts #sffwrtcht on Twitter and various blogs and can be found online via Facebook, Twitter, or his website www.bryanthomasschmidt.net

Links:

This episode features original music by John Anealio

Episode 098 – John Joseph Adams and Karin Lowachee

Patrick Hester — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:56:26 +0000

In episode 98 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome John Joseph Adams and Karin Lowachee to discuss the new Armored anthology from Baen.

About John:

John Joseph Adams is the bestselling editor of many anthologies, such as Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom, Brave New Worlds, Wastelands, The Living Dead, The Living Dead 2, By Blood We Live, Federations, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and The Way of the Wizard. He is a two-time finalist for the Hugo Award and a three-time finalist for the World Fantasy Award. He is also the editor and publisher of Lightspeed Magazine, and is the co-host of Wired.com’s The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast.

About Karin:

Karin was born in South America, grew up in Canada, and worked in the Arctic. Her first novel WARCHILD won the 2001 Warner Aspect First Novel Contest. Both WARCHILD (2002) and her third novel CAGEBIRD (2005) were finalists for the Philip K. Dick Award. CAGEBIRD won the Prix Aurora Award in 2006 for Best Long-Form Work in English and the Spectrum Award also in 2006. Her second novel BURNDIVE debuted at #7 on the Locus Bestseller List. Her books have been translated into French, Hebrew, and Japanese, and her short stories have appeared in anthologies edited by Julie Czerneda, Nalo Hopkinson, and John Joseph Adams. Her current fantasy novel, THE GASLIGHT DOGS, was published through Orbit Books USA in April 2010.

Links:

Armored (official website)
John Joseph Adams (website)
John on Twitter
Karin Lowachee (website)
Karin on Twitter

This episode contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 097 – Paul Weimer and Justin Landon

Patrick Hester — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 06:30:20 +0000

In episode 97 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome book bloggers Paul Weimer and Justin Landon.

About Paul:

Paul Weimer is a blogger, commenter, and writer who writes book reviews, columns and Mind Melds for SF Signal, and does posts and book reviews for the Functional Nerds as well.

About Justin:

Justin writes a speculative fiction review blog and makes outlandish comments. He also occasionally gets fired up about stuff.

Links:

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 096 – Len Peralta

Patrick Hester — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 06:30:11 +0000

In episode 096 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome artist Len Peralta.

About Len:

Len Peralta is an Internet cartoonist. He’s been very fortunate to do some interesting illustrations. He’s drawn princes throwing up, Internet rock stars dressed up in skin-tight catsuits, illustrated a few books, drawn art for a card game about medical malpractice and even the New Yorker has shown off his stuff.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 095 – Saladin Ahmed and Tobias Buckell

Patrick Hester — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 06:30:18 +0000

In episode 095 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome authors Saladin Ahmed and Tobias Buckell to talk about cultural influences in science fiction and fantasy.

About Saladin:

Saladin Ahmed was born in Detroit and raised in a working-class, Arab American enclave in Dearborn, MI. His short stories have been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell awards, and have appeared in Year’s Best Fantasy and numerous other magazines, anthologies, and podcasts, as well as being translated into five foreign languages. He is represented by Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency. THRONE OF THE CRESCENT MOON is his first novel.

About Tobias:

Tobias S. Buckell is a Caribbean-born New York Times Bestselling author. His work has been translated into 15 different languages. He has published some 50 short stories in various magazines and anthologies, and has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Prometheus, and Campbell awards.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 094 – Gail Carriger and Mur Lafferty

Patrick Hester — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 06:30:38 +0000

In episode 94 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Gail Carriger and Mur Lafferty to talk about Building Your Audience.

About Gail:

New York Times Bestselling author Gail Carriger writes to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. She escaped small town life and inadvertently acquired several degrees in Higher Learning. Ms. Carriger then traveled the historic cities of Europe, subsisting entirely on biscuits secreted in her handbag. She resides in the Colonies, surrounded by fantastic shoes, where she insists on tea imported from London.

The Parasol Protectorate books are: Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless, and Timeless. Soulless won the ALA’s Alex Award. A manga version will release March 2012. She is currently writing young adult books set in the same universe ~ the Finishing School series (Feb. 2013). Soon she will begin a new adult series, The Parasol Protectorate Abroad (for Fall 2013).

About Mur:

Mur is a writer, podcast producer, gamer, geek, and martial artist. She also make a mean martini. Her books include Playing For Keeps, Nanovor: Hacked!, Marco and the Red Granny, and The Afterlife Series. Her podcasts are many, currently she is the editor of Escape Pod magazine, the host of I Should Be Writing, and the host of the Angry Robot Books Podcast. She writes a column for the gaming magazine Knights of the Dinner table, and in the past has written for Games Quarterly, Suicide Girls, and Anime Insider.

Links:

Gail Carriger (Author’s Website)
Gail on Twitter
Mur Lafferty (Author’s Website)
Mur on Twitter

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 093 – Lou Anders and E.C. Meyers

Patrick Hester — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 07:30:56 +0000

In episode 93 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Lou Anders back to the show to chat with E.C. Meyers about Young Adult Fiction.

About Lou Anders:

Lou Anders is the 2011 Hugo Award winning editorial director of Prometheus Books’ science fiction and fantasy imprint Pyr, and editor of the anthologies Masked (Gallery Books, July 2010), Swords & Dark Magic (Eos, June 2010, coedited with Jonathan Strahan), Fast Forward 2 (Pyr, October 2008), Sideways in Crime (Solaris, June 2008), Fast Forward 1(Pyr, February 2007), FutureShocks (Roc, January 2006), Projections: Science Fiction in Literature & Film (MonkeyBrain, December 2004), Live Without a Net (Roc, 2003), and Outside the Box (Wildside Press, 2001).

About E.C. Meyers

E(ugene).C. Myers is the author of Fair Coin, a young adult novel forthcoming from Pyr Books (March 2012). His science fiction and fantasy short stories have been published in a number of magazines and anthologies such as Sybil’s Garage, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Sporty Spec: Games of the Fantastic, and Touched by Wonder: A Symphony of Fantastic Tales.

Links:

This podcast featured original music by John Anealio

Epsiode 092 – Howard Andrew Jones and Paul S. Kemp

Patrick Hester — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:30:33 +0000

In episode 92 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome authors Howard Andrew Jones and Paul S. Kemp.

About Howard

Howard is the author of The Desert of Souls (Thomas Dunne Books 2011), a historical fantasy set in the 8th century Abbasid caliphate featuring the characters Dabir and Asim, who’ve been appearing in a variety of short fiction venues since 2000. His Pathfinder novel, Plague of Shadows, appeared in March of 2011. His collection of Dabir and Asim short stories, The Waters of Eternity, became available in e-form from Thomas Dunne Books in November of 2011. More Dabir and Asim novels will follow, and he has recently signed to write a sequel to Plague of Shadows.

About Paul

Paul is a writer of speculative fiction, sword and sorcery scribe, Star Wars and Forgotten Realms author, creator of Erevis Cale and Egil and Nix. His books include The Erevis Cale Trilogy, Shadow’s Witness, The Twilight War Trilogy, War of the Spider Queen, and the Star Wars Expanded Universe novels: Crosscurrent, The Old Republic: Deceived & Riptide.

Links:

Howard Andrew Jones (author’s website)
Howard on Twitter
Paul S. Kemp (author’s website)
Paul on Twitter

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 091 – Natania Barron and Tom Merritt

Patrick Hester — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 07:30:44 +0000

In episode 91 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Natania Barron and Tom Merritt.

About Natania:

Natania Barron is a writer with a penchant for the speculative; she is also an unrepentant geek. Her work has appeared in Weird Tales, EscapePod, The Gatehouse Gazette, Thaumatrope, Bull Spec, Crossed Genres, Steampunk Tales, Faerie Magazine, and in anthologies. She has released the most recent draft of her steampunk novel, The Aldersgate, as a podcast at The Aldersgate Cycle (you can also subscribe to the whole story in iTunes here). She is also the founder of The Outer Alliance, a group dedicated to queer advocacy in speculative fiction. Recently, she joined the Bull Spec crew as a fiction editor.

About Tom:

Tom anchors the daily tech news show Tech news Today on the TWiT network as well as hosting special live news coverage and other events. Tom also co-hosts several independent podcasts. Sword and Laser is a science fiction and fantasy podcast and book club with Veronica Belmont. FourCast is a talk show with Scott Johnson that invites guests to predict the future. All his shows are listed on the subscription page. You’ll also find Tom as a guest or interviewed as an expert on many TV, radio and Internet shows like ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS Radio, NPR, This Week in Tech, The Phileas Club and more.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 090 – Gabrielle Gantz and Brian Thompson

Patrick Hester — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:30:47 +0000

In episode 090 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back Gabrielle Gantz and welcome for the first time, Brian Thompson.

About Gabrielle:

Gabrielle Gantz is a Publicist with Viking and Penguin. She interviews author for The Nervous Breakdown, writes about arts & culture at The Contextual Life, and can be found on Twitter @contextual_life.

About Brian

Brian is better known as the guy behind Thorny Bleeder (Records). He’s a Vancouver based music industry entrepreneur, record label owner, artist manager, marketing consultant, digital strategist, brand architect, web designer, blogger, podcaster and industry speaker. Brian’s been in the music biz for twenty years. Formerly the corporate head of music buying and marketing for a large national music retail chain, Brian has since moved on to become a well respected voice on the convergence of artist development, music marketing, social media and technology.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 089 – Chuck Wendig and Daniel Polansky

Patrick Hester — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:30:25 +0000

In episode 89 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Chuck Wendig and Daniel Polansky.

About Chuck:

Chuck Wendig is equal parts novelist, screenwriter, and game designer. He is the author of the novels DOUBLE DEAD, BLACKBIRDS, and MOCKINGBIRD. In addition, he’s got a metric boatload of writing-related e-books available, including the popular 500 WAYS TO BE A BETTER WRITER. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with wife, dog, and newborn progeny.

About Daniel:

Daniel Polansky is the author of the new LOW TOWN fantasy series. Book 1 was published in August 2011. Daniel was born near Baltimore, Maryland. Visit www.danielpolansky.com for more.

Links:

Chuck Wendig (author’s website)
Chuck on Twitter
Daniel Polansky (author’s website)
Daniel on Twitter

This episode features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 088 – Andrew Mayne and Justin Robert Young

Patrick Hester — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:30:15 +0000

In episode 88 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Andrew Mayne and Justin Robert Young.

About Andrew Mayne:

Recognized as one of the most creative innovators in magic, Andrew has produced over 30 books and videos on the art of magic. His website can be found at ShockMagic.com

About Justin Robert Young:

A graduate of Syracuse University, Justin has worked at several major metropolitan daily newspapers including “The South Florida Sun-Sentinel” of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and “The Morning Call” of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Links:

Andrew Mayne (books)
Andrew Mayne (blog)
Andrew Mayne (Twitter)
Justin Robert Young (iTricks.com)
Justin Robert Young (TWiT.tv)
Justin Robert Young (Twitter)

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 087 – Peter Brett & Myke Cole

Patrick Hester — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:30:24 +0000

In episode 87 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back Peter V. Brett and Myke Cole.

Links:

Myke Cole (author’s website)
Peter V. Brett (author’s website)
Myke on Twitter
Peter on Twitter

This podcast features original music by John Anealio & an excerpt of Boxcar Boogie performed by Dr. John

Episode 086 – John Hlinko

Patrick Hester — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:30:03 +0000

In episode 86 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome John Hlinko to talk about Share, Retweet and Repeat – a ‘guidebook’ to optimizing your social media and promoting your message.

About John Hlinko:

As a youngster, John Hlinko never dreamed he would one day record a Grammy-winning duet with country music legend Willie Nelson. And indeed, it never happened. But he has been long recognized as an innovator and “Buzz Czar” on the grassroots marketing front, using a combination of emerging technology and creative communications to achieve maximum results within extremely constrained budgets.

Hlinko has worked with some of the biggest breakout viral success stories, starting with MoveOn.org in its earliest days, and continuing up to a “draft Obama” effort to build support for Barack Obama in advance of his presidential run.

He is the founder of “Left Action,” a network of more than a million progressive activists (LeftAction.com). Hlinko is also the author of the forthcoming book, Share, Retweet, Repeat: Get Your Message Read and Spread, to be published in early 2012.

Links:

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 085 – Samuel Montgomery-Blinn and John DeNardo

Patrick Hester — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 07:30:32 +0000

In episode 85 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Samuel Montgomery-Blinn and John DeNardo into the super secret Functional Nerds lair to chat about nerdy audio stuff like audio books and spotify.

About Samuel Montgomery-Blinn:

Samuel Montgomery-Blinn is a husband, father, and software engineer and speculative fiction magazine publisher from Durham, NC, with an abiding love of audiobooks. His blog is a completely unaffiliated blog and guide to what’s worth listening to in the world of science fiction and fantasy audiobooks and podcasts, with a focus on what’s coming to Audible.com’s Science Fiction and Fantasy section.

About John DeNardo:

John is an avid reader and reviewer. (See John’s review criteria.) His book reading comes second only to his book buying, which some (including John himself) might call compulsive. (We often use the B-word.) His frequent jaunts to the local bookstores are legendary in his own mind. Although John reads an occasional fantasy/mystery/non-fiction book, his tastes lean heavily toward science fiction. John’s tastes within any genre vary, but he is fond of classic sf even though he has a hit-and-miss experience with classic award-winning sf. John also likes to alternate novel-length fiction with shorter works, so he frequently reads anthologies between reading sessions. John’s favorite authors tend to be Golden Age authors like Theodore Sturgeon, Isaac Asimov etc., but he also likes the new kids on the block like Alastair Reynolds, John Scalzi, etc.

Links:

This podcast features music by John Anealio.

Episode 084 – Karin Lowachee and Gabrielle Gantz

Patrick Hester — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 07:30:37 +0000

In Episode 84 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Karin Lowachee and Gabrielle Gantz.

About Karin:

Karin was born in South America, grew up in Canada, and worked in the Arctic. Her first novel WARCHILD won the 2001 Warner Aspect First Novel Contest. Both WARCHILD (2002) and her third novel CAGEBIRD (2005) were finalists for the Philip K. Dick Award. CAGEBIRD won the Prix Aurora Award in 2006 for Best Long-Form Work in English and the Spectrum Award also in 2006. Her second novel BURNDIVE debuted at #7 on the Locus Bestseller List. Her books have been translated into French, Hebrew, and Japanese. Her current fantasy novel, THE GASLIGHT DOGS, was published through Orbit Books USA in April 2010.

About Gabrielle:

Gabrielle Gantz is a book publicist by day and raging fangirl by night (and early morning). Instead of doing normal social things she reads and attends literary events. In the past, Gabrielle has contributed to the Portland Book Review. She currently conducts author interviews for The Faster Times and The Nervous Breakdown. Gabrielle’s book interests include (but are not limited to): literary fiction, science fiction, fantasy, philosophy, and technology.

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 083 – Cherie Priest and Sam Sykes

Patrick Hester — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:30:15 +0000

In episode 83 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Cherie Priest and Sam Sykes.

About Cherie:

Priest is a Florida native, born in Tampa in 1975. She graduated from Forest Lake Academy in Apopka, Florida in 1993. She moved around quite a bit as a child of an Army father, living in many places such as Florida, Texas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. She moved around regularly until college. In 2001 she left the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with an M.A. in Rhetoric/Professional writing, and in 1998 she graduated with a B.A. from Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tennessee. Priest lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee for twelve years. She currently resides in Seattle, Washington with her husband and her cat.

About Sam:

Sam Sykes is the author of The Aeons’ Gate trilogy, a vast and sprawling story of adventure, demons, madness and carnage. Suspected by many to be at least tangentially related to most causes of human suffering, Sam Sykes is also a force to be reckoned with beyond literature. Sam currently lives in the United States with his two hounds and, at any given time, is probably yelling at something inanimate. Tome of the Undergates is his first book, but far from his last. At 25, Sam Sykes is in an excellent position to provide entertainment while other authors are dying from various infections and stress-related illnesses. Sam Sykes looks forward to being one of the sole providers of fantasy entertainment, assuming no other authors are actually discovered in the next forty years.

On the list of topics covered:

Skyrim
Batman: Arkham City
Google+

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 082 – Matt Forbeck and Jay Garmon

Patrick Hester — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:30:35 +0000

In episode 82 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome author Matt Forbeck and professional geek Jay Garmon to the super-secret underground lair to talk about nerdy things.

On the list of topics:

Batman: Arkham City
Garageband for ioS devices
Kickstarter
The Avengers movie

Links:

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 081 – Ed Lazellari

Patrick Hester — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 07:30:07 +0000

In episode 81 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome TOR author Ed Lazellari to talk about his new book, Awakenings.

From TOR’s website: EDWARD LAZELLARI has worked as an illustrator and graphic artist, doing projects for Marvel Entertainment, DC Comics, and Jim Henson Productions. His short story, “The Date,” won Playboy magazine’s prestigious college fiction contest in 1999. Lazellari lives in Jersey City, New Jersey. Awakenings is his first novel.

Links:

Ed Lazellari (author’s website)
Awakenings (Amazon)
Ed on Twitter
Ed on Facebook

This podcast features original music by John Anealio.

Episode 080 – Julia Sherred

Patrick Hester — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 07:30:02 +0000

In Episode 80 of the Functional Nerd Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Julia Sherred from the Geeky Pleasures Radio Show.

From her website: Confirmed to be a “Geek God” by some online quiz and dubbed “The Queen of Geek” by many of her fans, Julia “Jules” Sherred is a mother, writer, author, radio personality, blogger, gamer, tech enthusiast, science nerd, sci-fi and fantasy freak, hard core Trekker, has an unnatural obsession with Optimus Prime and so much more. She emerged from the womb fully embracing her geeky tendencies, with a book on Astrophysics in one hand and a deck of cards in the other. Growing up, games were always an important part of her family, including family board game nights, Christmas family poker games and trying to pry the ColecoVision® and later NES controllers from her mother’s hands. She has now passed on this tradition to her own children and is raising the next generation of geeks and gamers.

Links:

This podcast contains original music by John Anealio

Episode 079 – KV Johansen

Patrick Hester — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:27:39 +0000

In episode 79 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester & John Anealio welcome PYR author KV Johansen. KV’s new book, Blackdog, is one of the subjects discussed in this episode.

Links:

KV Johansen (author’s website)
Blackdog

This episode features original music by John Anealio

Episode 078 – Bryan Thomas Schmidt

Patrick Hester — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 06:30:45 +0000

In episode 78 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Bryan Thomas Schmidt, author of the new novel – The Worker Prince.

Links:

Support the podcast – tell your friends, subscribe via iTunes or click the donate link!

Episode 077 – Jeff and Ann VanderMeer

Patrick Hester — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:30:16 +0000

On this week’s episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, John DeNardo sits in for Patrick, and joins John Anealio in welcoming Jeff and Ann VanderMeer to the show.

Links:

Donations are always welcome – just click the ‘donate’ button in the sidebar.

Episode 076 – Rigor Amortis Panel

Patrick Hester — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:30:15 +0000

In Episode 076 of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome John Remy, Andy Penn Romine, Steven Scearce and Galen Dara to celebrate the re-release of the Rigor Amortis anthology.

Links:

Episode 075 – Andrew P. Mayer

Patrick Hester — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 06:30:52 +0000

In the 75th episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Andrew P Mayer, author of The Falling Machine, Book One of The Society of Steam, available from PYR.

Links:

Andrew P Mayer (author’s website)
Andrew on Twitter
The Falling Machine (Amazon)

Episode 074 – Peter Giglio

Patrick Hester — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:30:58 +0000

In episode 74 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome author and editor Peter Giglio.

When Peter Giglio isn’t writing, he plays with fire, juggles clowns, and dirty dances with the benevolent ghost of Patrick Swayze. Thankfully, he writes all the time. He is the co-author of “The Better Half: A Love Story”, appearing in the anthology Werewolves and Shapeshifters: Encounters with the Beast Within, edited by John Skipp. His first novel, ANON, will soon be published by Hydra Publications. And he has two e-books on the horizon: A SPARK IN THE DARKNESS from Etopia Press, and BALANCE from MuseItUp Publishing. Several of his short stories will soon appear in anthologies from Pill Hill Press and Library of the Living Dead. With Scott Bradley, he is working on the screen adaptation of a well known short story and several other classified projects.

Peter Giglio (on Twitter)
Peter Giglio (author’s Website)
Peter Giglio (Facebook)

This episode features original music by John Anealio

Episode 073 – Lev Grossman

Patrick Hester — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 06:15:51 +0000

In episode 73 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio chat with Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians and The Magician King, both available from Viking.

Links:

Lev Grossman (author’s website)
The Magicians
The Magician King
Lev Grossman on Twitter
Lev Grossman on Facebook
Lev Grossman at Time Magazine

This podcast features original music by John Anealio

Episode 072 – Lisa Paitz Spindler

Patrick Hester — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:30:53 +0000

In episode 72 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio take some time to chat about nerdy things for a change. These include: what we’re reading, Google +, Twitter, Tweetdeck, Facebook, the projects we’re working on, etc and so on.

Later, John brings us an interview with Lisa Paitz Spindler, author of The Spiral Path.

Links:

This episode contains original music by John Anealio.

Episode 071 – Moses Siregar III

Patrick Hester — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 06:30:25 +0000

In Episode 71 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio sit down to chat with Author and fellow podcaster, Moses Siregar III.

Moses’ debut novel, The Back Gods War, is generating a lot of buzz within the SFF community, and we chat with Moses about the book, about self-promotion, do it yourself publishing and much more.

Links:

Moses Siregar III (author’s website)
Moses Siregar III (twitter)
Adventures in SciFi Publishing (podcast)
The Black Gods War (debut novel)

Featuring Original Music by John Anealio

Episode 070 – Chris Hart

Patrick Hester — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 06:05:24 +0000

In Episode 070 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio chat with author/artist Chris Hart.

Chris has penned several ‘how to draw’ books throughout the years. His latest, Basic Anatomy for the Manga Artist, is available right now.

Basic Anatomy for the Manga Artist: Everything You Need to Start Drawing Authentic Manga Characters

This most basic and complete book on manga anatomy ever written is targeted to beginners, the widest segment of manga fans. The latest from bestselling author Chris Hart is not your father’s anatomy book, it’s an anatomy book strictly for the manga artist. Packed with dynamic step-by-step demonstrations detailing how to draw correctly proportioned manga faces and bodies, plus lots of tips and tricks of the trade, this practical guide has everything aspiring beginners need to start drawing convincing manga characters.

Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Watson-Guptill; Original edition (June 21, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0823047709
ISBN-13: 978-0823047703
Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches

This episode features original music written and performed by John Anealio

Episode 069 – Charles Day

Patrick Hester — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:33:07 +0000

In Episode 69 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio chat with author and small press owner Charles Day.

Links:

Charles Day (Author’s Website)
Evil Jester Press (Fiction Imprint)

Featuring original music by John Anealio.

Episode 068 – JC Hutchins

Patrick Hester — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 06:15:41 +0000

In the 68th episode of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester & John Anealio talk with freelance storyteller J.C. Hutchins.

Links:

Featuring original music by John Anealio.

Episode 067 – Patrick D’Orazio

Patrick Hester — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 06:15:21 +0000

In the 67th episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio chat with author Patrick D’Orazio.

Links:

Featuring original music by John Anealio.

Episode 066 – Kim Harrison

Patrick Hester — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:29:32 +0000

In episode 66 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester & John Anealio sit down to chat with author Kim Harrison, whose The Hollows series spans nine novels and a new graphic novel.

Links:

Kim Harrison (Author’s Website)
Burning Bunnies (Kim’s Twitter feed)

Episode 065 – Timothy Zahn

Patrick Hester — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:37:12 +0000

In Episode 65 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio talk all things Star Wars with the man who started the expanded universe, Timothy Zahn, to discuss his new book: Choices of One!

Music in the episode:

Sundog (Excerpt) by John Anealio
George R. R. Martin is not Your Bitch (Excerpt)

Episode 064 – Myke Cole

Patrick Hester — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 06:05:21 +0000

In episode 64 of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester and John Anealio sit down to chat with Author Myke Cole about his upcoming Shadow Ops series from Ace.

Links:

Check out Maphook.com – our new sponsor

Music in the episode:

Sundog (Excerpt) by John Anealio
Angry Robot-Remix (Excerpt)

Episode 063 – Sandra Wickham

Patrick Hester — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:05:18 +0000

In episode 63 of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester and John Anealio sit down to chat with Author and Fitness Nerd Sandra Wickham.

With Sandra, we discuss: fitness, water, carbs, discipline, working out, writing, word count, staying fit, exercise, calories, tracking your goals with apps, the InkPunks, being the Fitness Nerd, competition and transitioning into writing.

Links:

Welcome our new sponsor – MapHook.com. Click the link, download the app – it’s pretty cool.

Music in the episode:

Sundog (Excerpt) by John Anealio
Angry Robot-Remix (Excerpt)

Episode 062 – Jon Sprunk

Patrick Hester — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 06:01:46 +0000

In episode 62 of the Functional Nerds, John Anealio chats with PYR Author Jon Sprunk about his new book, Shadow’s Lure.

Links:

Jon Sprunk (Author Site)
Shadow’s Lure
Jon Sprunk (Twitter)
Pyr Books

Patrick and John also chat about other stuff. Promise.

Welcome our new sponsor – MapHook.com. Click the link, download the app – it’s pretty cool.

Music in the episode:

Geek Dad (Excerpt) by John Anealio
Angry Robot-Singularity Remix (Excerpt)

Episode 061 – Ken Denmead

Patrick Hester — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 06:01:09 +0000

In episode 61 of the Functional Nerds Podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome Ken Denmead, author of the new Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun, and publisher of Wired’s Geek Dad blog and podcast.

This week we chat about: Wired, Geek Dad, Borderlands, Star Trek, blogging, RP games, books, Geek Mom and the Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun.

Links:

Patrick and John also chat about Apple’s new iCloud service.

Welcome this week to our new sponsor – MapHook.com.

Music in the episode:

Geek Dad (Excerpt) by John Anealio
Angry Robot-Singularity Remix (Excerpt)

Episode 060 – Mur Lafferty

Patrick Hester — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 06:01:35 +0000

In the 60th episode of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester and John Anealio welcome back Mur Lafferty, author, podcast pioneer and all around awesome person. John and Mur chat at Balticon about: kickstarter campaigns, crowd funding, artists and patronage, do it yourself publishing, I Should Be Writing, getting published and epublishing.

Links:

The Murverse (Authors website)
I Should Be Writing (Podcast)
Heaven (eBook)
Hell (eBook)

Music in the episode:

I Should Be Writing (Theme) by John Anealio

Angry Robot (Remix) by John Anealio and The Cherry Men

Support The Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar & send us a couple bucks, or tell your friends about us.

Episode 059 – Steve Lawson

Patrick Hester — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:01:00 +0000

In the 59th episode of the Functional Nerds, John Anealio chats with solo bassist Steve Lawson.

From his website, Steve Lawson is:

a solo bassist who spends a lot of his time making very unbasslike noises.
an ambient experimenter who likes pop tunes too much to go strictly soundscape, but is way too atmospheric to sit comfortably in the ‘instrumental rock’ category.

Music in this episode:

Cylon #6 (excerpt) by John Anealio
A Year Afloat (excerpt) by Steve Lawson

Thank you so much for the Parsec Nomination – you folks rock!

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site or tell a friend about this podcast!

Episode 058 – Brian Malow

Patrick Hester — Tue, 17 May 2011 06:01:37 +0000

In Episode 58 of the Parsec-nominated Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester and John Anealio chat with Science Comedian Brian Malow.

We discuss: science, science fiction, comedy, domain names, comedy clubs, finding the right audience, Google, Time.com, Wired.com and Rachel Rosen.

Music in this episode:

Rachel Rosen (excerpt) by John Anealio

Thank you so much for the Parsec Nomination – you folks rock!

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site, visit our CafePress.com site to buy some merchandise or tell a friend about this podcast!

Episode 057 – Andy Romine

Patrick Hester — Tue, 10 May 2011 06:01:12 +0000

In the 57th episode of the Parsec nominated Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester and John Anealio sit down to chat with our very own Booze Nerd, Andy Romine! Andy is an author with works published in the Rigor Amortis anthology and the upcoming Broken Time Blues anthology. With Andy we discuss such diverse topics as: the World Fantasy convention, Rigor Amortis, Jaym Gates, Erika Holt, the Ink Punks, booze, mixing cocktails, the World Horror convention, being the Booze Nerd and Irish Hillbillies.

Music in this episode:

Sundog (excerpt) by John Anealio
Summer Glau (excerpt) by John Anealio

Thank you so much for the Parsec Nomination – you folks rock!

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site or tell a friend about this podcast!

Episode 056 – Peter Orullian

Patrick Hester — Tue, 03 May 2011 06:01:26 +0000

In the 56th episode of the Parsec nominated (SQUEEEE!) Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester and John Anealio sit down to chat with TOR author and musician Peter Orullian. Peter also has a pretty nifty dayjob working for the folks over at XBOX, so we had a lot of fun chatting with about such diverse topics as: TOR, epic fantasy, book series, tropes, The Unremembered, writing, music, moral ambiguity in characters, Microsoft XBOX, progressive rock, the concept album and vocalization.

Music in this episode:

Sundog (excerpt) by John Anealio
Pronbot (excerpt) by John Anealio

Thank you so much for the Parsec Nomination – you folks rock!

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site or tell a friend about this podcast!

Episode 055 – Tom Brislin

Patrick Hester — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 15:16:04 +0000

055 The Functional Nerds – Tom Brislin

In the 55th episode of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester kicks back while John Anealio interviews musician Tom Brislin.

Music in this episode:

Unicorn Pegasus Kitten (Excerpt) – John Anealio
The Future (excerpt) – Spiraling

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site or tell a friend about this podcast!

Episode 054 – Devo Spice

Patrick Hester — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 06:01:43 +0000

In the 54th episode of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester kicks back while John Anealio visits Devo Spice to talk about his new album.

Music in this episode:

George R. R. Martin is not your bitch (excerpt) – John Anealio

Platform Wars (excerpt) – Devo Spice

Episode 053 – Paul S. Kemp

Patrick Hester — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:01:24 +0000

In the 53rd episode of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester & Lisa Paitz Spindler sit down to chat with Paul S. Kemp, author of the new Star Wars novel: Deceived.

We also chat about: Star Wars, Forgotten Realms, Scrivener, outlining, the writing process, the heroes journey, law school, Erevis Cale, Wizards of the Coast, role playing games, R. A. Salvatore, The Clone Wars & Battlefield Earth.

Later, Patrick chats with Lisa about her debut novel, The Spiral Path.

Music in this episode:

Sundog (Excerpt) – John Anealio
Bohemian Rhapsody (excerpt) – Rockapella

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site or tell a friend about this podcast!

Episode 052 – Steve & Andy Scearce

Patrick Hester — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 06:01:33 +0000

In the 52nd episode of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester & John Anealio sit down to chat with Steve & Andy Scearce, authors of Unknown Transmission and Station 151.

We also chat about: World Fantasy, Farscape, Rigor Amortis, serialized fiction, collaboration, writing, dystopian future, being brothers, podiobooks, Cthulhurotica an Dagan Books.

Music in this episode:

Sundog (Excerpt) – John Anealio
Grindin’ Man (excerpt) – Pinetop Perkins

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site or tell a friend about this podcast!

Episode 051 – Ari Marmell

Patrick Hester — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 06:01:07 +0000

051 The Functional Nerds – Ari Marmell

In the 51st episode of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester & Special Guest CoHost Jaym Gates sit down to chat with Ari Marmell, author of The Goblin Corps & The Conqueror’s Shadow, available from PYR and Spectra respectively.

We also chat about: Role playing games, creative writing, short story writing, New Orleans, Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering, Corvis Rebaine, Broken Time Blues, the World of Warcraft, Blackgate Magazine, eBook publishing and the Babel Clash blog.

Music in this episode:

Sundog (Excerpt) – John Anealio
Streets of Bakersfield (excerpt) – Dwight Yoakam & Buck Owens

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site or tell a friend about this podcast!

Functional Nerds 050 Stephen Deas

Patrick Hester — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 06:02:25 +0000

050 The Functional Nerds – Stephen Deas

In the 50th episode of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester & John Anealio sit down to chat with Stephen Deas, author of The Adamantine Palace & The King of the Crags, available from ROC.

We also chat about: Conan, pulps, sword & sorcery, dragons, ROC, art, cover art, bookstores and Doctor Who.

Music in this episode:

Sundog (Excerpt) – John Anealio

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site or tell a friend about this podcast!

Functional Nerds 049 Carrie Cuinn Don Pizarro

Patrick Hester — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 06:01:04 +0000

In the 49th episode of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester & John Anealio sit down to chat with Carrie Cuinn, editor and publisher for Dagan Books & author Don Pizarro about the new anthology, Cthulhurotica.

We also chat about: short story writing, Dagan books, independent publishing, Twitter, Lovecraft, weird tales, tentacle porn, sex, anime, Rigor Amortis, The deep Ones, romance and plushie Cthulhu…

Links:

Music in this episode:

Sundog (Excerpt) – John Anealio
Transformers (Excerpt) – John Anealio

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site or tell a friend about this podcast!

Functional Nerds 048 Jason Sanford

Patrick Hester — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:01:47 +0000

In the 48th episode of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester & John Anealio sit down to chat with Jason Sanford, author of Memoria, available in Interzone Magazine.

We also chat about: short story writing, novels, “Millisent Ka Plays In Real Time”, Interzone Magazine, inspiration, music, Lawrence Welk, Hank Williams, Ghosts, Philip Jose Farmer and Andy Kaufman.

Links:

Author’s Website: http://www.jasonsanford.com/
Follow Jason Sanford on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jasonsanford
Find Jason Sanford’s Fiction on the web: http://www.jasonsanford.com/jason/fiction.html
Interzone Magazine

Music in this episode:

Sundog (Excerpt) – John Anealio
Angry Robot – John Anealio

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site or tell a friend about this podcast!

Functional Nerds 047 John Jackson Miller

Patrick Hester — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:01:24 +0000

In the 47th episode of the Functional Nerds, Patrick Hester & John Anealio sit down to chat with John Jackson Miller, author of Star Wars: Knight Errant

We also chat about: ebooks, The Star Wars Role Playing Game, Marvel Comics, Shadows of the Empire, Star Trek, the Crimson Dynamo, Lost Tribe of the Sith, DC Comics, comic book art, Overstreet, what is and isn’t cannon, Jedi and The Sith.

Links:

Author’s Website: http://www.farawaypress.com/
Follow John Jackson Miller on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jjmfaraway
Find John jackson Miller comics from Dark Horse: http://www.darkhorse.com/Search/John%20Jackson%20Miller

Music in this episode:

Sundog (Excerpt) – John Anealio
Imperial March (Excerpt)

Support the Functional Nerds – Click the donate button in the sidebar of our site or tell a friend about this podcast!