Writing Worlds: Conversations About World Building

Our guest on the Writing Worlds podcast this week is novelist and short fiction writer Jeremy Szal. An author of space opera, fantasy and a genre he calls ‘Space Punk’ , Jeremy is the writer of the three book “Common Saga” , a host of short fiction and From 2014 to 2020, he was the fiction editor and audio producer for the Hugo-winning podcast StarShipSofa where he worked with the likes of George R. R. Martin, Harlan Ellison, and William Gibson.  You can find out more about Jeremy and his work by visiting his website here https://jeremyszal.com/ Visit Jeremy’s page on his publisher, Gollancz’s website and purchase his books here https://store.gollancz.co.uk/collections/author-jeremy-szal You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest on the Writing Worlds Podcast today is a novelist, short story writer, prize winning audio dramatist, presenter of the Spotlight Indie YouTube channel and a part time robot.   Frasier Armitage is the author of several novels including "Cage of Stars' which will be the inspiration for today's discussion but we may also reference his previous novels including "Time's Elipse" and "New Yesterday" and his prize-winning radio play "Postcards from Another World". You can find out more about Frasier and his work by visiting his website here https://frasierarmitage.com/ Find out more about Spotlight Indie here https://spotlightindie.co.uk/ And follow Frasier's videos on the Fan Fi Addict channel here https://www.youtube.com/c/FanFiAddict You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest on the Writing Worlds Podcast today is the bestselling and award winning  novelist, poet and academic C.J. Cooke.  C.J.'s novels including the acclaimed 'The Lighthouse Witches' 'The Nesting'  and 'The Ghost Woods' lean on the gothic tradition.  Carolyn has built a huge and devoted international following and it is often the sense of world and place in her books that immerse readers so deeply.  Carolyn's most recent novel 'The Last Witch' was published by Harper Collins in autumn 2025.   You can find out more about C.J. Cooke and her work by visiting her website here https://carolynjesscooke.com/ Visit C.J's substack to read her blog 'The Gothic Cabinet' here https://cjcooke.substack.com/ You can follow C.J. on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/cjcooke_author/ You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest on the Writing Worlds podcast this week is novelist, short story author, game writer and live action role playing game organiser and player, Stewart Hotston. Stewart’s novel 'The Entropy of Loss' was a finalist for both the BSFA and Subjective Chaos awards and it’s one of 7 novels Stewart has published. As well as writing for the page Stewart has also written for 'Age of Ascent', the computer game and has set a number of short stories in this world. You can find out more about Stewart Hotston and his work by visiting his website here https://stewarthotston.com/ You can follow Stewart on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/stewarthotston.com and on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/thestewhotston/ Order a copy of Stewart's novel Project Hanuman from Waterstones in the UK here https://www.waterstones.com/book/project-hanuman/stewart-hotston/9781915998941 You'll be able to hear more from this conversation with Stewart Hotston and many of our other guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest on the Writing Worlds podcast this week is novelist and musician Alexandra Beaumont.  Alex’s fantasy is inspired by folklore, mythology,  history and the coastline of Cornwall in the far south west of England.  Her novels Dissonance of Birdsong and Ballad of River Bones (together known as the Myst Cycle) tell the story of a young woman, Eseld on a mission to cure the sacred birds her people rely upon.  Dissonance of Bridsong is a storm riven, atmospheric novel that has received a good deal of acclaim and we’re going to be looking at the settings and world building within it in our chat today.  Find out more about Alexandra Beaumont and her work by following her on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/abeaumontwriter/ And find links to Alex's books and articles here https://linktr.ee/AlexandraBeaumontAuthor You'll be able to hear more from this conversation with Alexandra Beaumont and many of our other guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  Today on Writing Worlds we are honoured to be joined by novelist, short story writer and publisher Gareth L Powell.   Gareth is a double winner of the BSFA award for best novel and shortlisted for awards including the Locus awards and the British Fantasy Awards.  Gareth's work includes the epic "Embers of War" trilogy, the brilliantly named Ack Ack Macaque and  "About Writing" a brilliant short guide to creative writing. Find out more about Gareth and his work by visiting his website here https://www.garethlpowell.com/ You can follow Gareth on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/garethlpowell/ And on BlueSky here https://bsky.app/profile/garethlpowell.bsky.social Find out about Gareth and Jendia Gammon's publishing house Stars and Sabers here https://www.starsandsabers.com/ You'll be able to hear more from this conversation with Gareth L. Powell and many of our other guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above where we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds episodes coming up for our patrons. Click the link to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for joining us for this review of season one of Writing Worlds with hosts Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. To hear our bonus content please join us on Patreon here ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠⁠ You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store. Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories. Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  In this episode we feature Arthur C. Clarke Award winning novelist, Chris Beckett. The author of 9 critically acclaimed novels and a number of short stories which have featured in publications such as Interzone and Asimov's Science Fiction, Chris has also written an audio drama adaptation of his novel "Two Tribes" which was produced by Chris Gregory of Alternative Stories Find out more about Chris and his work by visiting his website here https://www.chris-beckett.com/ Listen to Chris's audio drama adaptation of 'Two Tribes' here https://www.patreon.com/posts/two-tribes-133816023 You'll be able to hear more from this conversation with Chris Beckett by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above where we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds episodes coming up for our patrons. Click the link to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  In this episode we feature author illustrator and podcaster Adrian M Gibson. Adrian's novel "Mushroom Blues' explores a world in the wake of a devastating war in which the fungal inhabitants of the island nation of Hoppon and its capital city of Neo Kinoko are in dire straits, wracked by food shortages, poverty, and an influx of war refugees. Find out more about Adrian and his work + order a copy of "Mushroom Blues" by visiting his website here https://adrianmgibson.com/ You can follow Adrian on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/adrianmgibson/ Watch Adrian and colleagues on the FanFi Addict YouTube channel here https://www.youtube.com/c/FanFiAddict In this episode we discuss a number of books about fungi and mycelium including "Entangled Life' by Merlin Sheldrake, "Mycelium Running" by Paul Stamets and "Food of the Gods" by Terence McKenna. You should be able to buy copies of all of them by searching for a local supplier. You'll be able to hear more from this conversation with Adrian M Gibson by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. We have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds episodes coming up for our patrons. Click the link to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store. Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  In this episode we feature author Tim Hardie and voice actor and audio book reader RJ Bayley.  Tim and RJ talk about the creation of the audio book version of Tim’s novel Hall of Bones and we discuss the reasons why an author might consider producing an audio book and the economics and practicalities of doing so.  RJ provides insight into the ways in which a voice actor can help to bring worlds to life through voices and intonation. We’ll be sharing more from this conversation including an insight into running a kickstarter to fund an audio book project on our Patreon. Join to have all episodes of Writing Worlds delivered two days early and ad-free.  We have exclusive bonus content from most of our Writing Worlds episodes coming up for our patrons. Click the link to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ To find out more about Tim Hardie and his work and to order copies of his books  please visit his website here  https://www.timhardieauthor.co.uk/ To find out more about RJ Bayley and his work and to book him for your audio book project please visit his website here  https://rjbayley.com/ Tim Hardie has partnered with Audiobook Empire to make his audiobooks available at a discounted price. AE Audio Outlet don’t take a cut, so the authors they feature get the full list price when you buy through them. You can think of this as buying direct from the author, whilst AE Audio Outlet handles the hassle of managing the storefront.  You can check out their growing list of titles online at https://shop.audiobookempire.com/ Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  In this episode we feature multi-award-winning novelist, poet and academic Arkady Martine. You can find out more about Arkady by visiting her website https://www.arkadymartine.net/ Follow Arkady on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/byzantienne.bsky.social And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/byzantienne Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  Join our Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/AltStories In this episode we feature multi-award-winning novelist Joanne Harris. We would like to offer our thanks and appreciation to Joanne for taking the time to record this episode with us. You can find out more about Joanne by visiting her website https://www.joanne-harris.co.uk/ Follow Joanne on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/joannechocolat.bsky.social And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/joannechocolat You can read a full transcript of this episode here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eswme-QRDSWy_sk-JVLNqqmXGONIi39J/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true In this episode we mention the book An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski. Find out more here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Actor_Prepares We also mention the Penguin Book of English Folk Song in which you can find out more about the Child Ballads https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/179200/the-new-penguin-book-of-english-folk-songs-by-bishop-steve-roud-and-julia/9780141194622 Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  Join the Alternative Stories Patreon for exclusive, early release and ad-free Writing Worlds content. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ In this episode we feature authors Kaitlin Felix and Joshua Gillingham for a conversation about Norse-inspired writing and world-building. You can find out more about Kaitlin by visiting her website https://katifelix.com/ Follow Kaitlin on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kfelix_writes/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/kaitlinfelix.bsky.social Find out more about Joshua by visiting his website https://www.joshuagillingham.ca/ Follow Josh on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/joshuagillingham.bsky.social   You can listen to Kaitlin Felix's audio drama "The Seeing Trees" which was recently featured on our new Spec Fic Radio Theatre Podcast here https://pod.link/1812026298/episode/bd55616f99f641d35ad86ee2ac82dbfb   You can hear Joshua Gillingham on our Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast here https://pod.link/1470495562/episode/950476f020f8fd834a778ca6936f471f Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠ Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠ If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠  Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. ⁠https://www.patreon.com/AltStories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  Join the Alternative Stories Patreon for exclusive, early release and ad-free Writing Worlds content. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories   In this episode we feature the author of the urban fantasy Rivers of London series Ben Aaronovitch You can find out more about Ben and his world by visiting his website here https://www.benaaronovitch.com/ Follow Ben on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/benaaronovitch.bsky.social    Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories    Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected]    Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows.  We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers.     Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Chris and Emily chat with novelist and short fiction author Premee Mohamed about the concept and processes of terraforming. Visit Premee's website here https://premeemohamed.com/ Follow Premee on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/premeesaurus/ And on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/premeemohamed.com Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories  Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠    Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show and receive our eternal gratitude you can do so via this link  ⁠https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.  In this episode we chat with novelist, short story writer and teacher Zoe Gilbert about her magical realist worlds in her acclaimed novels ‘Folk’ and ‘Mischief Acts’. A full transcript of this episode can be found here  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iyXLmA6ePQ0WKTpX6kqeDHwD5IrsvzCf/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true  You can find out more about Zoe and purchase copies of her books by visiting her website here https://zoegilbert.com/ Visit Zoe's page at Bloomsbury, her publisher https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/author/zoe-gilbert/  Zoe is co-founder of London Lit Lab alongside memoirist Lily Dunn.  London Lit Lab run a range of writing workshops including many on writing the folkloric and fantastical led by Zoe.  Find out more here  https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/ Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories   Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected]    Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show and receive our eternal gratitude you can do so via this link  https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we chat with actor, writer, director Nicholas Briggs about his work on Doctor Who both on BBC TV and in audio drama versions published by Big Finish. You can read a transcript of this episode here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_etg3gGotMSEAwfhlscQB85tOhELaoDn/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true   Find out more about Nicholas Briggs and his work by visiting his website here https://nicholasbriggs.com/  You can listen to Nick's work with Big Finish here https://www.bigfinish.com/ Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories.  Find and listen to all of our audio drama productions here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠   Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/⁠ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here ⁠https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/⁠ And follow Emily on Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/⁠ And Bluesky ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social⁠   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here ⁠https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories⁠ Follow them on Instagram here ⁠https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/⁠ And Bluesky here ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social⁠   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via ⁠[email protected]⁠   Follow us on Eventbrite for details of upcoming live events, writing workshops and courses ⁠https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/alternative-stories-32973233175⁠   Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show and receive our eternal gratitude you can do so via this link  ⁠https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.   In this episode Emily and Chris are in conversation with Adrian Tchaikovsky.  Find out more about Adrian and order copies of his books by visiting his website here https://adriantchaikovsky.com/ Follow Adrian on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/aptshadow.bsky.social If you'd like to hear more from Adrian Tchaikovsky please listen to the Starship Alexandria podcast which he co-hosts with another science fiction writer Emma Newman.  Listen to Starship Alexandria on Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/episode/0AsMgIimhmFkWxZcDLHq7J?si=0fc1c21e20c741b1  You can read a transcript of our conversation here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1js5Vu2rAcvfXpXayy9MoX9aAWPm5PO3v/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true     Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories.  Find and listen to all of our audio drama productions here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories   Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected]   Follow us on Eventbrite for details of upcoming live events, writing workshops and courses https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/alternative-stories-32973233175   Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show and receive our eternal gratitude you can do so via this link  https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.   In this episode, recorded live at the Cymera Festival in Edinburgh we speak to speculative fiction writer Lyndsey Croal about her approaches to world building in her short fiction, novels and audio drama.   We would like to thank Lyndsey Croal for being our guest on this episode, Ann Landmann and her team at Cymera for hosting us and our live audience for playing along with the games and general silliness during the recording.  You can read a transcript of this episode here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ahQ2AP1UtFZkjoYx0woJMOeWvjID6lAT/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true   To find out more about Lyndsey Croal and her work please go to https://linktr.ee/lyndseycroal  You can follow Lyndsey on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/lyndseycroal/ And BlueSky here https://bsky.app/profile/lyndseycroal.bsky.social   Find out about the Cymera Festival here https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/   In this episode we heard from audience member Lindsey Stirling and you can find out more about Lindsey and her books by visiting her website here. https://lindseystirling.uk/   Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories   Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social   Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social   If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected]   Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make.  If you would like to support the show and receive our eternal gratitude you can do so via this link  https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the first episode of The Writing World Podcast with our regular presenters Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.   Writing Worlds is aimed at writers and those who love to hear about the process of designing and describing imaginary worlds in fiction.  We'll talk to writers, drama makers and those on the periphery of world building who bring these worlds to life.  Each week we'll introduce new topics and guests and introduce regular features and games.   The show will be formally launched at the Cymera Festival in Edinburgh on June 7th (find out more about Cymera and buy tickets here https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/   Emily Inkpen is the award-winning writer of The Dex Legacy audio drama as well as an author of novels and short fiction. She has written in the games industry and for medical organisations. As well as a writer she is a drama director, voice actor and podcaster. https://www.emilyinkpen.com/   Chris Gregory is an audio producer, director, composer and sound designer. He founded the production company Alternative Stories which produces the global chart-topping audio drama The Dex Legacy as well as Wasteland, Burnout and Spec Fic Radio Theatre.    You can find links to all our audio drama productions and other podcasts via this link. https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories   You can follow us on social media via the links below Emily:  https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social     Chris and Alternative Stories:  https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social   If you would like to get in touch to suggest a topic to cover or guest for the show or simply to say helllo., we'd love to hear from you. Please contact us via email at [email protected]   Learn about our writing workshops and courses at our Eventbrite page here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/alternative-stories-32973233175     Support the show https://ko-fi.com/alternativestories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Writing Worlds, a podcast about the art of writing worlds and settings in sci-fi, fantasy and horror. In this short trailer you can hear our presenters Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory introducing the show. Listen out for a full-length preview episode coming soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices