Castle of Horror Podcast

Tonight we’re chatting with Kathryn Hore, author of the new thriller The Wildcard.

Kathryn is a Melbourne writer of speculative and thriller fiction with a taste for blending dark genres in twisting ways. Her short fiction has been published in several anthologies and magazines, including Aurealis and Midnight Echo. When not writing, she works in archives, libraries and records management, and has a couple of small children to keep her busy. The Wildcard is her debut novel.
THE WILDCARD
Jem doesn’t do risk. He doesn’t play games with chance. At least not until his ex-girlfriend shows up on his doorstop in tears and tricks him into signing for an impossible debt.
Thrust into an underworld of card players who bet anything they can think of – favours, information, secrets, even coffee – Jem has to figure his way out of a debt he doesn’t understand, in a world where the rules are twisting, complex and never explained. Relying only on a woman who plays life like she plays a game of poker, and drawn to a young man who offers temptations Jem’s not sure he can trust, there is only one thing he is clear on: the consequences of losing in this crowd. Because the last guy to owe a debt like his was just found floating face down in the ocean, and if Jem doesn’t sort this out fast, he could be next.

Find the book at the IFWG site: https://ifwgaustralia.com/title-the-wildcard/

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This week we are back with the 2016 film SHIN GODZILLA. This is Castle of Horror Episode 331.

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Piper Mejia is an advocate for New Zealand writers and liter¬ature.¬ Her¬ short ¬fiction ¬has ¬been¬ published ¬in ¬a¬ range¬ of¬ magazines ¬and ¬anthologies, ¬including ¬Room Enough for Two, which¬ appeared¬ in¬ the¬ Sir¬ Julius¬ Vogel¬ Award-winning¬ anthology¬ Te Korero Ahi Ka¬(2018).¬ A ¬collection -of ¬her ¬original¬ short ¬stories,¬ The Better Sister,¬ was ¬published¬ by ¬Breach ¬in¬ 2020.¬ In¬ addition¬ to¬ writing,¬ Piper¬ is ¬a ¬founding ¬member¬ of¬ Young¬NZWriters ¬–¬a ¬non-profit ¬organization ¬dedicated ¬to¬ providing¬ writing¬ and¬ publishing¬ opportunities¬ for¬ young¬ writers. ¬As ¬a ¬child, ¬Piper ¬stayed ¬up ¬late ¬ laughing¬ at ¬horror¬ films.¬ As¬ an¬ adult¬ she¬ has¬ never¬ lost¬ her¬ love¬ for¬ science¬ fiction¬ and¬ horror,¬ two¬ genres¬ that¬ continues¬ to¬ ask¬ the¬ question “What if...”

The blurb:

Nobody likes you when you're the ugly new kid. A hoodie and a new foster home won't hide the creeping dread that you are dangerous. So, when you're offered the chance to meet a grandfather you never knew, you jump on a plane to the bush-covered mountains of New Zealand.
Slate longs for a home when he finds himself living among an ancient race masquerading as travelling performers. Dispossessed and disillusioned, Slate fears being trapped in a life hiding from the world; one his own father had to run from.
However, the decision to stay or leave is taken from him when he is held captive by hunters on the trail of the ultimate game trophy. Tortured and alone Slate fears that the only way to escape is to become the monster he never wanted to be.

The publishers at IFWG would like you to know that if you would like to enter a drawing for a free print (or mobi/epub) copy tonight’s book, all you need to do is subscribe to the IFWG newsletter and fill out details for the drawing – just go to ifwgaustralia.com/treasures.

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This week we are BACK with the 2021 film GODZILLA VS. KONG. This is Castle of Horror Episode 330.

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Tonight we’re chatting Sebastian Fitzek, author of the new book The Package.
Sebastian Fitzek is Germany's most successful author of psychological thrillers. His books have been sold 11 million copies, been translated into more than twenty-four languages, and are the basis for international cinema adaptations and theater adaptations. Fitzek was the first German author to be awarded the European Prize for Criminal Literature. He lives with his family in Berlin.
THE PACKAGE is a new psychological thriller from Sebastian Fitzek releasing in the U.S. on February 4, 2021. Sebastian is one of Germany’s most successful authors of psychological thrillers whose books have sold 11 million copies, and have been translated into more than 24 languages.

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Tonight we’re chatting with Emily B Martin, author of Floodpath, brand new from HarperVoyager.
Martin’s eco-fantasy (cli-fi) novels, which are accessible to adult and YA readers alike, are “an exciting take on the fantasy genre with its mix of Wild West and a tempered glass court” (-Jeff Wheeler.) In FLOODPATH, Martin’s worldbuilding expands to incorporate new characters, new countries, and new intrigue.

The epic fantasy adventure begun in Sunshield races to its thrilling conclusion in FLOODPATH, an imaginative finale in which the fate of four extraordinary young people—and their nations—will be decided.

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Drew Edwards takes the reins and the cast is joined by frequent guest Jamie Bahr, Chairman of Girls Rock Austin, to discuss a foundational classic kaiju film-- the original Mothra.

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Tonight we’re chatting with David Bowles is an award-winning Mexican-American author and translator from south Texas, where he teaches at the University of Texas Río Grande Valley. To his two dozen books, he's just added the space opera THE BLUE-SPANGLED BLUE from Castle Bridge Media, as well as just this week, a translation of THE IMMORTAL BOY by Francisco Montana Ibanez.
We talk at length about BIPOC SF and the responsibilities of the author.
THE BLUE-SPANGLED BLUE
Jitsu. Once the center of human expansion into distant space, this world was isolated for the better part of a century, a theocratic government rising to fill the void left by its former corporate owners. Now, as Jitsu begins to open itself to the rest of humanity, Brando D’Angelo di Makomo accepts a teaching position on the arid planet. He finds himself drawn to controversial architect Tenshi Koroma and her religious reform movement. As he learns more about Tenshi's faith—The Path—Brando decides to accept its tenets, to shatter his identity and rebuild himself so that he can be worthy of a soul. But the dogmatic struggles on Jitsu are a mask for the machinations of a diabolical mind, and the professor’s life will be forever altered by the cruelty of Tenshi’s enemies. In the aftermath, Brando will find a deadly new Way along The Path. And his steps will echo throughout history.

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Tonight we’re chatting with Jack Dann, author of the alternate-Venice-fantasy book SHADOWS IN THE STONE from IFWG.
SHADOWS IN THE STONE
The author of The Age #1 bestselling novel The Memory Cathedral returns to Renaissance Italy with a transcendent vision of the ultimate battle between good and evil.
In Shadows in the Stone Jack Dann creates a fully-realized, living, breathing universe, a universe where the Vatican is in Venice, Jehovah is really a lesser god known as the Demiurge, and the magus John Dee’s experiments with angels are true and repeatable. Here you’ll discover a nun who has the expertise and agility of a Ninja warrior, the reincarnated snake goddess known as the Daughter of Light, the famed Florentine magician Pico Della Mirandola, a young magus who is part stone, the Knights Templar of the Crimson Cross, the sapphire tablet: the most secret of the Dead Sea scrolls, and a 15th Century dirigible kept aloft by imprisoned souls. Here you’ll find wild adventure and Machiavellian subtlety, treason and heroism, love and carnality, joy and loss, magic, machines, the cosmic machinations of angels, demons, gods, and half-gods; and the absolutely breathtaking vistas that are their battle grounds.
New York Times bestselling author Kim Stanley Robinson has compared Shadows in the Stonewith Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, calling it “such a complete world that Italian history no longer seems comprehensible without [Dann’s] cosmic battle of spiritual entities behind and within every historical actor and event.”
Join Jack Dann’s protagonists—Louisa Morgan and Lucian Ben-Hananiah—and the fellowship of The Dark Companions in their apocalyptic battle against the Demiurge—described in the forbidden Gnostic texts as the demon god Yaldabaoth… and known to us as Jehovah.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jack Dann has written or edited over seventy-five books, including the inter- national bestsellers The Memory Cathedral, The Rebel, The Silent, Bad Medicine, and The Man Who Melted. His work has been compared to Jorge Luis Borges, Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, Castaneda, Ray Bradbury, J. G. Ballard, Mark Twain, and Philip K. Dick. Library Journal called Dann “...a true poet who can create pictures with a few perfect words,” Best Sellers said that “Jack Dann is a mind-warlock whose magicks will confound, disorient, shock, and delight,” and bestselling author Morgan Llwelyn called his novel The Memory Cathedral “a book to cherish, a validation of the novelist’s art and fully worthy of its extraordinary subject. I can only say Bravo!”
Jack is a recipient of the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award (twice), the Australian Aurealis Award (three times), the Chronos Award, the Darrell Award for Best Mid-South Novel, the Ditmar Award (five times), the Peter McNamara Achievement Award and also the Peter McNamara Convenors’ Award for Excellence, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Premios Gilgames de Narrativa Fantastica award. He has also been honored by the Mark Twain Society (Esteemed Knight). He is the co-editor, with Janeen Webb, of Dreaming Down-Under, which won the World Fantasy Award, and the editor of the sequel Dreaming Again. He is the managing director of PS Australia, and his latest anthology Dreaming in the Dark is the first volume in the new line: it won the World Fantasy Award in 2017. Dr. Dann is also an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland.

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In Don’t Look Back, Caitlin Kramer, a woman of faith overcoming a tragic past, is one of several people who witness Douglas Helton, a well-liked public figure being assaulted in a park and don't intervene. When Douglas dies and the witnesses are "outed" to the public, they begin to die mysteriously. The public is largely unsympathetic, and think they're being stalked by a person out for revenge. And there are several possible suspects; from the victim's family and friends... to the dogged detective who's taken a strong interest in the case. But Caitlin, determined to seek redemption by solving Douglas' murder, see signs, and experiences eerie events that lead her to believe that something far more insidious is after them... maybe the victim's restless spirit, or even karma itself. But whether the threat is human or supernatural, it's very real. And Caitlin's faith, strength and resolve will be tested as she fights to unravel this mystery before she becomes the final victim.

Jeffrey Reddick started in the entertainment industry with an internship at New Line Cinema at age 19, where he worked for 11 years and shot to horror fame with the creation of the Final Destination franchise. As a writer and producer Jeffrey has worked in features and TV. His first network job was as a story editor for the NBC series, Midnight Texas. He has written on two upcoming Netflix series; one of which is a spinoff of famed Japanese comic book Usagi Yojimbo. Jeffrey’s feature directorial debut, the mystery/thriller Don’t Look Back, is available On Demand.

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