The Sword and Laser discussion

Put on the kettle and settle in with a cup of tea, it's an all new author guide episode featuring Gail Carriger, author of the 'Parasol Protectorate' series!

http://youtu.be/6O08ud0ftmE

Enjoy!

Awesome show...enjoy the new direction with the author guides and Gail was a great addition as I really didn't know much about her or her work. And she came in character!! to cool...

I'm really liking these so far. And definitely looking forward to Robin Hobb next time!

Great show. Watching it right now.

Ok - who thought - Mary Popins as cast by Tim Burton when you saw Gail ?

Disappointed there wasn't any mention of Elizabeth Peters and her Amelia Peabody books, which are a clear influence on her books.

I believe casava, which tapioca comes from, has something unhealthy about it, but by the time it becomes tapioca it's ok.

Loved the show! I was introduced to Ms. Carriger through the Vaginal Fantasy bookclub, and absolutely loved the Parasol Protectorate series. It's nice to put a "face" with a name and loved seeing that she was in character. Love it when smart women write smart books.

Star wrote: "Disappointed there wasn't any mention of Elizabeth Peters and her Amelia Peabody books, which are a clear influence on her books."

Well, as I've not heard of either of those things, would have been difficult to get it into the show!

Some newer female hard sf authors. Kathleen Ann Goonan was recently on the Coode Street podcast. Joan Slonczewski wrote what some consider a feminist classic, A Door Into Ocean, and just came out with The Highest Frontier, which I'm reading. Although I think the world building overwhelms the plot so far.

This was another great video, I'm loving the new format. I haven't read her books yet, but Orbit currently has a sale on her first book Soulless, with the Kindle eBook only being two dollars (it's probably the same price from the other sellers too). I picked it up, and I'll probably get to the book eventually. Should be a good way to introduce people to the series.

Was fun to watch! Really felt more like an afternoon tea than an interview.

Didn't know Gail Carriger at all but I'm guessing she's a good introduction to the steampunk genre? Or who is the best author to start with?

Keep up the good work!

She's a hoot! These Author Guide segments are great, really enjoying them.

Just watched it this am with my wife. First time I've ever heard of Ms. Carriger, but enjoyed her interview tremendously. Watching her come in character was great fun.

And another wonderful whiteboard review by Aaron. :)

You made me "lol" at the Whiteboard Aaron and I don't use internet lingo regularly. I need to know where just the whiteboard is so I can use it when I pitch the series to my friends. It's so hard to explain it and I think you did it perfectly.

Umbrella! She brought an Umbrella to the interview? How good was that!

I enjoyed the constant refrain of archeology & how it relates to writing--very interesting.

A fun interview--I find it interesting she is writing the prequel for a young adult audience. I assume that is just to capitalize on a growing market and make money, but I wonder if there was more to it than that. The wit found in the writing of the first five books did not strike me as the kind that would really translate well to kids books--unlike a lot of fantasy writers--is there something inherent in the stories that makes them more inherently YA? The titles don't seem that 'kid friendly'...I will check her blog for more clues.

Keep up the good work!

David wrote: "Umbrella! She brought an Umbrella to the interview? How good was that!"

I think she'd refer to it as a parasol, as in the name of her series "Parasol Protectorate" :D

Bob wrote: "You made me "lol" at the Whiteboard Aaron and I don't use internet lingo regularly. I need to know where just the whiteboard is so I can use it when I pitch the series to my friends. It's so hard t..."

I'm so glad you enjoyed it. I don't index the whiteboards. After tom tells me what to work on, I upload the video as unlisted, then forward the hidden URL to the show team so they can decide if and how to incorporate it into the show. Amusing result: a few weeks ago, my account started getting automatic copyright violation notices for ' reproducing' parts of the S&L show content. :)

However: If you view the video on youtube, and look in the notes for that video, someone (Becca?) has added links to the original whiteboard uploads in, I believe, every s&l episode in which they've appeared.

Enjoyed the show, and downloaded 'Soulless' this afternoon (I've been hearing about Gail Carriger from Veronica and the Vag Fan crew for so long now it got bumped on my 'to-read' list...)

After one chapter, the writing/humor style reminds me a bit of Terry Pratchett's 'Discworld' series.

LOVING the show, the author interviews, and all the exposure to books I might not have come across otherwise.

I'll do that P. Aaron and spam out on my Facebook every few weeks.

Weirdly it makes sense to me that computer software would flag you for stealing something BEFORE it got released. Maybe they think you're like the guy who "ruined" the Wolverine Origins movie by releasing it before it came out.

I like all of your whiteboards but because I've read and struggled explaining Gail's stuff so much this one really hit it right on with me. I've thought about doing a few myself but you've got the perfect voice for it to, mine is nasally and annoying so that stops me. All of which means keep up the awesome work your stuff is one of my favorite parts of the show.

You should setup a website with them a la The Oatmeal.

Ug. I'll try get the copyright thing fixed.

We showed it Gail,btw and she LURVED it.

She said it was better than bubble tea.

Don't worry about the copyright thing. It only affects videos after they've been used on S&L, so it's not interfering with upload.
I'm thrilled she liked it. Of course that also makes me nervous re: future instalments.

This was a fun episode, Gail Carriger seems like a great person. To bad her books really don't seem like my thing. I'll add Soulless to my to read list, but it'll be so far down it might as well not be on there at all.

The whiteboard review was one of the best so far too.

Loved the show. Loved the whiteboard review. Gail seemed a little nervous. Was it her idea to come out with the hat and parasol?

David Sven wrote: "Loved the show. Loved the whiteboard review. Gail seemed a little nervous. Was it her idea to come out with the hat and parasol?"

Yes!

Another great interview and P.Aaron's white board was top class as usual. Gail thought it was adorable.
http://gailcarriger.com/

P. Aaron wrote: "...However: If you view the video on youtube, and look in the notes for that video, someone (Becca?) has added links to the original whiteboard uploads in, I believe, every s&l episode in which they've appeared."

Yup! The link to the whiteboard is always in the show notes.

Might be time for me to start a master thread on here with all the links in one easy to find place...

Actually, I'd just as soon people have to go through the S&L video to get at them, after Tom & Veronica were so kind as to host a venue for these great discussions. Plus it drive up the Geek&Sundry channels youtube hit meter. :)

P. Aaron wrote: "Actually, I'd just as soon people have to go through the S&L video to get at them, after Tom & Veronica were so kind as to host a venue for these great discussions. Plus it drive up the Geek&Sundr..."

Now you're talking like big media.

I was thinking like small media. Wil Wheaton mentioned on his blog that Geek & Sundry's agreement with Youtube is coming up for renewal, and that the best evidence they can give for their case that geeks merit their own channel are subscriber numbers and hit counts on videos.

Star wrote: "Disappointed there wasn't any mention of Elizabeth Peters and her Amelia Peabody books, which are a clear influence on her books."

I thought so too, especially when the subject of archaeology came up. Oh well, limited time and all that, I suppose.

Beth wrote: "Star wrote: "Disappointed there wasn't any mention of Elizabeth Peters and her Amelia Peabody books, which are a clear influence on her books."

I thought so too, especially when the subject of arc..."

Considering I don't know who that is...

Veronica wrote: "Beth wrote: "Star wrote: "Disappointed there wasn't any mention of Elizabeth Peters and her Amelia Peabody books, which are a clear influence on her books."

I thought so too, especially when the s..."

Just to be clear, you do not know who Elizabeth Peters is, right? :)

Beth wrote: "Star wrote: "Disappointed there wasn't any mention of Elizabeth Peters and her Amelia Peabody books, which are a clear influence on her books."

I thought so too, especially when the subject of arc..."

Also, no one asked:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

I also don't know who Elizabeth Peters is.

But I did see a good question about a mythical pet, I think she would have liked that one.

Elizabeth Peters: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

She is an Egyptologist who writes under 3 different names (one for Egyptology, one for mysteries and one for gothic romancey-type things). Her Amelia Peabody mystery series follows a Victorian/Edwardian heroine and her family during their mystery-solving/archaeological adventures. Amelia is famous for attacking villains with her specially kitted-out parasol. Both Amelia Peabody and Alexia Tarabotti were based on the real Amelia Edwards, a Victorian Egyptologist, who wrote "A Thousand Miles Up the Nile".

Any relation to Bernadette Peters?

I'm also loving the author guide. Really enjoy this Carriger one and plan on reading her books. Also enjoyed the Cherie Priest episode as well. Gave me motivation to try Boneshaker again (after lemming it twice).

I am SORELY DISAPPOINTED in comments on the podcast that have a tone of disappointment. Connections outside the genre aren't going to be that obvious to most our readers, much less our hosts. Use the opportunity to point out the connection, not to complain, and we can all learn from each other.

I thought the interview with Gail Carriger was great. Despite the beautiful book covers, I don't think I'd ever try reading these books. However now that I've seen this and heard about the audio version in particular, I think I'll give it Soulless a try!

I hope we see more of these author guides!