Last Chance Salon Podcast

Luke and Shiri explore the depths of Lovecraftian Americana and are disappointed by the results vis a vis David Nickle’s: Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism.  Next, we face down the juggernaut that is Avengers: Age of Ultron.  We end, as always, with the Grrrrrr and the Arrrrrrrgh.

Episode 37: The Sequel Episode!  Luke and Shiri talk about the morning… er… version after in the forms of Kameron Hurley’s Infidel (Book 2 of the Bel Dame Apocrypha and follow up to the recently podcasted upon God’s War) and Despicable Me 2 (yep, we’re boldly going into the world of animation for the first time, kids.  They discuss how to go about writing a sequel which is as good, or perhaps even better, than the first.  We conclude, as always, with THE GRRR and THE ARRGH.  Hopefully more of the former than the later.  

Shiri and Luke delve into the award winning short fiction of Harlan Ellison with our review of Top of the Volcano. And then we approach the subject of this year's Hugo awards and the shenanigans surrounding the voting, so far. And of course, we end with the Grrr and the Arrrgh.

We could probably go with PIRATES! and get out point quite well but, just in case you’d like more details: Luke and Shiri discuss their first communal ingestion of non-fiction, The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard.  Crossbones is a travesty and neither of us is happy about it, though it does segue into the complex and limitless possibilities one has when Writing Rogues.  As always, there is Good and there is Bad.  And then there are those freakin’ contractors…

Luke and Shiri continue their hike through the “canon”, stopping for a Roadside Picnic.  Next, we bust the shit out of a bunch of refrigerators and finally take on the issue of some assholes vs the “vocal minority.”  We end, as always, with the Grrr and the Arrrgh.    

Luke and Shiri reminisce about (as John Scalzi put it) Leonard Nimoy, every Geek’s favorite grandparent. Then, we dance through Daniel Jose Older’s Salsa Nocturna. Next, we discuss short story collection and successful/not so much ways to put them together. We finish, as always, with the Grrrrr and the Arrrrgh.    

Reporting from Hoth and and the word outside the Snowpiercer respectively, Luke and Shiri examine the concept of narrative non-fiction through the lens of David Simon’s Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.   Our next stops are, appropriately, a post-mortem on Constantine season 1 (#SaveConstantine) and an examination of our open case file on Gotham.       We end, as always with the Grrrrr and the Arrrrrrrrrgh.

Luke and Shiri crawl up from under piles of snow to explore Revival by Tim Seely and Matt Norton.  Next, in honor of Oliver Queen’s return, we talk Coming Back from the Dead and its impact on comic and fantasy story telling.  We conclude, as always, the The Grrrr and the Arrrrgh.      

Episode 30: It’s the Joe Hill appreciation half hour when Luke and Shiri open the Heart Shaped Box, sell you all a ghost, and run for cover. Next, we appreciate Agent Carter is all her glory. Shiri coins and explains the term 'the Firefly Effect', then proceeds to use it a lot. We end, as always, with the Grrr and the Arrrgh.

29: Love it, Hate it Here at the Last Chance Salon, we're chock full of surprises and this week, we're sharing them with you fine folks!  Luke and Shiri expected to love the film adaptation of Joe Hill's Horns, for example, but herein proceed to enumerate the many, many reasons we, in fact, thought it should be consigned to a tree house of abject terror.  They move on to Beth Cato's The Clockwork Dagger, which both opened with great trepidation and long standing Steampunk-disappointment syndrome finding, against genre based expectations, an absolute gem of a book.  After a brief digression into why 2015 will be the year of phenomenal sequels in the book world, and generally fucking awesome in that of comics, Luke and Shiri Grrr and Arrrgh.   

28. Mythology This week, Luke and Shiri delve into the mystery and magic of G. Willow Wilson’s Cairo, then spin off into the larger world of mythology and the writer’s responsibility not to be a dick as regards said.  We make public (gah!) our goals for next year and GRRRRRRRR with a bare minimum of Arrrrrgh.   Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, ya’ll!

27: Happy 1st Birthday, LCSP Exactly one year ago yesterday, Luke and Shiri first posted the first episode of LCSP, replete with complete and utter bullshit they babbled at one another.  A year older, and, if at all possible less wise, we blather on about the fantabulous John Sclazi’s newest, Lock-In.  And by blather, I mean praise.  Tout.  Otherwise say mostly complimentary things about.  Changing it up a bit, we move into our best-of lists for the year (books, comics, media… thingys, and how happy we are that we’re either old enough, or art has gotten cheap enough, that we can have it on our walls).  Happy birthday, LCSP, and non-denomination specific winter gift giving festivities to all!

Episode 26: The DIY Episode! The Martian by Andy Weir (it started as DIY.  Honest!) Welcome to Nighvale and translating success from the other side.  Our writing topic: Self-Publishing: why it’s good, why isn’t not, why one should, why one shouldn’t… We conclude, as always, with the Grrr and the Arrrgh.  

Episode 25: Greatcoats and Great TV This week, Luke and Shiri wander through the worlds of heroes and superheroes. First off, The Traitor's Blade, takes us to world of swords, sorcery, and coats. Then, we get lost in the noise of Fall TV, again. Covering, Constantine, Arrow, Flash and more on Gotham. We skip writing subjects, but end, as always, with The Grrr and The Arrrgh.

Episode 24: The Time Travel Episode This week, Luke and Shiri wander through time wander through time wander through time … sorry, got caught in a loop…  with Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need is Kill.  We both break the no Tom Cruise rule and survive Edge of Tomorrow: Live, Die, Repeat.  Our writing topic is Time Travel.  We end, as always with The Grrrrrrrrrr and the Arrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh.  

23: Vanishing, Reappearing, and Why We Give a Crap This week, Luke and Shiri wander through the maze (or morass, depending on which one of us you’re talking to) of All The Vanished Engines by Paul Park.  Next, we welcome Gotham to our small screens and welcome back Ichabod, Abby, the utterly wonderful bugfuckery that is Sleepy Hollow.  Last, we talk Character Driven Writing.  We end as always with The Grrrrrrr and the Arrrrrrrrrgh.  

This week, Luke and Shiri watch the end of the world of the approaching and figure out if we should still give crap with The Last Policeman.  Next, buckle up, bitches, ‘cause we’re taking a ride on the Snowpiercer.  Last, how to keep the end the world fresh when a bunch of people have already ended it a bunch of times in pretty much every conceivable way.  We close, as always, with “The Grrrrrrrrrr” and “The Arrrrrrrggggghhhhh.”

Episode 21: Don’t Blink in the Mirror This week, Luke and Shiri fall through the alternate reality mirror and into The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley.  Next, we snap our fingers and head into the blue box with the new Doctor, his new bookshelves, Robin Hood, and a collection of spoons.  Last, we talk the how to of alternate realities.  We close, as always, with “The Grrr” and the “Arrrgh.”  

Episode 20: YA, Why not? This week, Luke and Shiri open with some notes from the Last Chance Salon itself. Then, they discuss Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Next they fly through the world of the movies How To Train Your Dragon 1 & 2. The writing topic ends up being a discussion of how to write YA (or how not to write YA). The podcast closes, as always, with “The Grrrr” and “The Arrrrgh.”

Episode 19: THE BIG ASS SPACE SHIP SHOW This week, Luke and Shiri discuss the Arthur C. Clarke, Nebula, and Hugo Awards winning novel Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.  Next, we jump on board with the Guardians of the Galaxy (holy crap, we’re relatively timely) and Luke recommends that “you always go with the lutes”.  Our writing topic is spaceships and how to use them.  We close, as always, with “The Grrrrr” and “The Arrrrrgh.”