Cakes & Ale Episode 29: Interviews from Eastercon 2019

We’ve just returned from Ytterbium, a.k.a Eastercon 70, the annual UK science fiction convention. During the convention we had the great pleasure of chatting to a wonderful range of con-goers to create a snapshot of the kind of conversations you’d hear down at the bar, from writers to publishers, fans, reviewers, academics and con-runners. We wanted to catch the atmosphere of a con and we certainly captured the background sounds of one! We had tremendous fun putting this episode together and we hope to bring you another one of these bumper convention episodes from Worldcon 2019 in Dublin. Enjoy the episode!


Direct download: Episode 29: Interviews at Eastercon 2019

Below is a list of our guests with links for where to find out more about them and their work.

Juliet Kemp: Twitter / Website

Ali Baker: Twitter / Website

Dave L Clements: Twitter / Website

Emma Newman: Twitter / Website

Daniel Bensen: Twitter / Website

F. D. Lee: Twitter / Website

Claire Rousseau: Twitter / Radio Free Fandom Podcast / YouTube 

Noel Chidwick (Shoreline of Infinity): Twitter / Website

Emil Minchev: Author page

E.M. Faulds: Twitter / Speculative Spaces podcast / Website

Ruth E. J. Booth: Twitter / Website

Ian Whates (NewCon Press): Twitter / Website

A previous episode that may be of interest is our 2017 Small Press Day special – featuring Shoreline of Infinity, Mayamada and NewCon Press – which you can listen to here.

If you enjoy our podcast, please subscribe to the Time for Cakes and Ale podcast, leave us a review, and let us know what you think by getting in touch on Twitter, Facebook and here on the website. We’d love to hear from you!

Cakes & Ale Episode 28: Book Club – Paris Adrift by E. J. Swift

Welcome to the the Cakes & Ale Book Club! Every month we will be bringing you a mix of discussions and interviews about recent genre fiction we’ve been reading. This month, we cover Paris Adrift by E. J. Swift, published by Solaris Books.

Paris Adrift is the story of Hallie, a student who runs away from her life in England to seek escape and adventure in Paris. Taking a job on the night shift at Millie’s, a rowdy bar staffed by misfits and drifters, she begins to find a new family. But there is something strange in the keg room: a presence that draws Hallie in, an anomaly in time, waiting to send her spinning into the Paris of the past, and of the future. And as Hallie comes to terms with this new reality, other forces are in play around her – seeking to influence the fate of the whole world.


Direct download: Episode 28 Book Club: Paris Adrift by E.J.Swift

We give you our thoughts on the novel and bring you an interview with E.J. Swift who tells us about writing Paris Adrift and her upcoming projects. E.J. Swift is the author of many novels and short stories including the Osiris Trilogy. You can find out more about her work on her website and follow her on Twitter.

Stay tuned to the end to hear what our next book club choice will be!

If you enjoy our podcast, please subscribe to the Time for Cakes and Ale podcast, leave us a review, and let us know what you think by getting in touch on Twitter, Facebook and here on the website. We’d love to hear from you!

Cakes & Ale Episode 27: Book Club – The Loosening Skin by Aliya Whiteley

Welcome to the first episode of the Cakes & Ale Book Club! Every month we will be bringing you a mix of discussions and interviews about recent genre fiction we’ve been reading, and we’re kicking things off in style with The Loosening Skin by Aliya Whiteley, published by Unsung Stories.

The Loosening Skin is set in a world where, every seven years, people shed their skin – and with it shed aspects of their personality, even their love for one another. Those emotions and memories remain bound up in the old skin, to be kept, or burned, or sold. Rose Allington, a former celebrity bodyguard whose relationship with client-turned-lover Max Black ended abruptly with her last moult, falls back into his world when his old skins are stolen and he doesn’t know who else to trust to get them back. But as the world around her turns to medication to keep their skin from ever shedding again, Rose is determined to be true to herself – even when that means leaving behind everything she used to be.


Direct download: Episode 27: Book Club – The Loosening Skin

We kick off with a discussion about this wonderful book, with comments from listeners who have been reading with us this month, followed by a interview with Aliya Whiteley about her work and career. Aliya is the author of many novels, novellas and short stories in the realm of weird and speculative fiction, including the BSFA award-nominated The Arrival of Missives and Saboteur award-nomiated The Beauty. You can find out more about Aliya’s work on her blog and follow her on Twitter.

Stay tuned to the end to hear what our next book club choice will be!

If you enjoy our podcast, please subscribe to the Time for Cakes and Ale podcast, leave us a review, and let us know what you think by getting in touch on Twitter, Facebook and here on the website. We’d love to hear from you!

Episode 21 – An Interview with Donna Scott

This week we are joined by author, editor, stand-up comedian and Chair of the British Science Fiction Association, Donna Scott.

Donna is a professional editor who has worked with many SF and Fantasy authors including the legendary Alan Moore. Her short fiction has been widely published in magazines and anthologies, and she has been given the official title of the first ‘Bard of Northampton’. In addition to her stand-up comedy she is also involved in Arts Lab Northampton and in campaigns to save local libraries from closure.


Direct download: Episode 21

You can find our more about Donna and her work on her website. Click here to learn more about the campaign for Northamptonshire libraries.

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