It gives us great pleasure to present Season 11, Episode 35: Len M. Ruth!
Len M. Ruth shares his works, Beneath the Dark Water, Spectral Seduction, Star Haven Rising, and Unnatural Desires. He embraces many fiction genres: Dark Noir, Young Adult, Speculative Fiction, and even Supernatural Erotica, all while writing queerness in a way that matters… and we discuss them all!
Bio:
Len M. Ruth writes dark speculative fiction about people grappling with grief, loss, and the hard choices that follow when things unravel. His work blends literary sensibility with genre thrills. He’s written The Pull, The Unrecovered, Rachael’s Apocalypse Diary, Beneath the Dark Water, and Tales of the Doomed. He also co-authors the Spectral Seduction series with Devora Gray, a paranormal dark romance saga with weird mystery and dark humor woven through. His stories tend toward found family, characters who refuse easy answers, and the moments that remake you. He lives in Las Vegas with his partner Emory and their dog Cooper.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 11, Episode 31: Rob Costello!
Rob Costello shares his debut YA novel An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys. We discuss past trauma, facing shame, and why the young adult genre can be dark. We then talk about his anthology We Mostly Come Out at Night, and the queer joy he and the contributors share through monsters.
Bio:
Before Rob Costello discovered writing, he cleaned toilets and flipped burgers for a living. He dealt cards in a casino. He processed trade documents for an international bank. He dispatched police and emergency services, and answered 911 calls. He’s been a receptionist, a secretary, and a chief of staff. He was a social media manager for a while and even a speechwriter.
In 2012, he earned his MFA degree in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. He’s proud of that, but let us know it doesn’t mean he knows how to write any better than anybody else. It just means he tried really hard and did his best.
Rob’s also an alumnus of the Millay Arts, a beautiful and secluded retreat for artists and writers located on the former estate of the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. It’s an amazing place he highly recommends!
In addition to writing short stories and novels, he also teaches.
In June of 2023, Rob launched R(ev)ise and Shine! (with co-founders Lesa Cline-Ransome, Jo Knowles, and Jennifer Richard Jacobson), an online writing community where passionate writers come together to learn, grow, & thrive.
He and his husband live on top of a wide and windy hill in the countryside of upstate New York, where they dutifully take orders from their four-legged overlords who graciously allow them to live there. And feed them. And walk them twice daily. And pick up their poo.
Rob is an active member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) and a full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 11, Episode 6: Christian Baines!
Christian Baines returns to share his latest novel, Andalusia Dogs. We discuss The Season of the Witch for the Haunted Hearts book series, as well as his novel’s “bless this chaos” vibe set in the artistic Movida era of Spanish culture after the death of Franco.
Bio:
Christian Baines is an awkward nerd turned slightly less awkward author. Raised on dark humour and powered by New Zealand wine, he is the author of nine novels including gay paranormal series The Arcadia Trust and My Cat’s Guide to Online Dating. Born in Australia, he now travels the world whenever possible, living and writing in Toronto, Canada between trips.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or Listen/Watch Right Here:
November 22, 2024
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 9, Episode 45: Christian Baines!
Christian baines returns to share his latest releases: Geist Fleisch and Arcadia Trust 4 – Tears in Time. We discuss the rise of horror in Hollywood thanks to queer directors, ghosts in 1930s Berlin, and coming home to find your dimension has cracked a bit!
Bio:
Christian Baines is an awkward nerd turned slightly less awkward author. Raised on dark humour and powered by New Zealand wine, he is the author of six novels including gay paranormal series The Arcadia Trust and My Cat’s Guide to Online Dating. Born in Australia, he now travels the world whenever possible, living and writing in Toronto, Canada between trips.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or Listen/Watch Right Here:
May 26, 2023
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 8, Episode 22: Christian Baines + Our Review of Desert Fury!
Christian Baines delights us with his latest novel, My Cat’s Guide to Online Dating. It’s dark, it’s sexy, and it plays in the shadows of mythology. Then Baz and Vance rate and review a Hollywood classic, Desert Fury, and close by sharing who won their weeks!
Bio:
Christian Baines is an awkward nerd turned slightly less awkward author. Raised on dark humour and powered by New Zealand wine, he is the author of six novels including gay paranormal series The Arcadia Trust and My Cat’s Guide to Online Dating. Born in Australia, he now travels the world whenever possible, living and writing in Toronto, Canada between trips.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or Listen Right Here:
OR Watch on YouTube:
[Re-Edited and Re-Uploaded to YouTube due to copyright claim issue]
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August 2, 2019
It gives us great pleasure to welcome Christian Baines back as the guest on Episode 227 – Pollyannas Are Horrible!
Christian Baines returns for a great conversation about Urban Fantasy and his latest release, Sins of the Son, the third book of the Arcadia Trust series.
Christian Baines is an awkward nerd turned slightly less awkward author of weird and dark fiction. His work includes the gay paranormal series The Arcadia Trust, e-novella Skin, and Puppet Boy, a finalist for the 2016 Saints and Sinners Emerging Writer Award. Born in Australia, he now travels the world whenever possible, living, writing, and shivering in Toronto, Canada on those odd occasions he can’t find his passport.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or right here:
December 1, 2017
It gives us great pleasure to welcome Christian Baines as the guest on Episode 140: A Kiss Kill Love Fight Relationship!
This week Christian Baines joins us to talk about his latest novel, Skin, writing the paranormal and the world-building behind it, dark heroes and LGBTQ antiheroes!
Christian Baines is an awkward nerd turned slightly less awkward author of weird and dark fiction. His work includes the gay paranormal series The Arcadia Trust, e-novella Skin, and Puppet Boy, a finalist for the 2016 Saints and Sinners Emerging Writer Award. Born in Australia, he now travels the world whenever possible, living, writing, and shivering in Toronto, Canada on those odd occasions he can’t find his passport.
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 10, Episode 21: Mo Fanning!
Mo Fanning returns to share his new novel: Rainbows and Lollipops. We discuss setting a story close to home – Birmingham in this case, healing from loss, and friends growing into found family!
Bio:
Mo Fanning is a Birmingham-based novelist whose character-driven fiction explores the complexities of love, identity, and human connection through the lens of LGBTQ+ experiences. With his signature blend of humour, heartbreak, and hope, Fanning creates deeply relatable characters whose journeys reflect the universal search for belonging in an often-challenging world. Drawing inspiration from his Midlands roots, Fanning infuses his writing with authentic voices and settings that resonate with readers seeking stories that celebrate the beauty of imperfection and the transformative power of resilience. His innovative narrative approaches and genuine emotional depth have earned him a dedicated following among readers who appreciate contemporary fiction that balances entertainment with meaningful exploration of human relationships.
When not writing, Mo lives with his husband Mark and their beloved Labrador Ernie, continuing to find inspiration in the streets, stories, and people of his beloved Birmingham.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or Listen/Watch Right Here:
August 30, 2024
It gives us great pleasure to present a Season 9, Episode 34 Interview – Mo Fanning!
Mo Fanning joins us to share his latest novel Husbands! We discuss the dark side of Hollywood, telling stories while protecting identities, and finding happiness in the end.
Mo Fanning is a part-time novelist, part-time stand-up comic and full-time ageing homosexual. He currently lives in the Black Country backwater town of Stourbridge but aspires to something more rural without neighbours.
With a unique talent for blending romance and comedy in intriguing settings, Mo is an emerging voice in the contemporary fiction scene and aims to be the best-known writer of LGBTQ romance.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Chris Bedell is an author who is chasing his dreams of being a tv writer and actor.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
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September 27, 2019
It gives us great pleasure to welcome Chris Bedell back as the guest on Episode 235 – Like High School on Steroids!
Chris Bedell returns to share his upcoming release, Deathly Desires, and then joins a conversation about YA Paranormal Romance/Thrillers and writing for magazines!
Chris’s previous publishing credits include Thought Catalog, Crab Fat Literary Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Pidgeonholes Magazine, Abbreviate Journal, Short-Story.me, Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, Chicago Literati, The Vignette Review, Teleport Magazine, Entropy Magazine, Inklette Magazine, Sprout Magazine, and The Drunken Odyssey. He’s also a contributing blog writer to Moledro Magazine and YAtopia. He graduated with a BA in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University in May of 2016.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
Or right here:
August 17, 2018
It gives us great pleasure to welcome Chris Bedell as the guest on Episode 177 – I Know How to Tease A Little Bit!!
Chris Bedell joins us to discuss his upcoming release In the Name of Magic – a Y/A dystopian fantasy set in an earth-like 1920s – as well as discussing the craft of writing for a Young Adult audience.
Chris Bedell’s previous publishing credits include Thought Catalog, Entropy Magazine, and Foliate Oak Literary Magazine to name several examples. His debut YA Fantasy novel In the Name of Magic is forthcoming from NineStar Press and is the first book in a trilogy. Furthermore, Chris sold a second series to NineStar Press. A YA Sci-Fi Thriller series that can be described as Adam Silvera’s More Happy Than Not meets Arrow, and involves cryogenics and superheroes.
This Podcast episode is available on these channels (in order alphabetical):
It gives us great pleasure to present Season 11, Episode 35: Len M. Ruth!
