S&L Podcast - #407 - The Strength of Family and Ghosts

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Alex Brown is back, the Nebula nominess are out and they are great! We also discover new teas, the real flavor of crab chips, and talk about our thoughts on Elatsoe by Darci Little Badger.

Download directly here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?

Tom: Ito En Matcha Milk Tea

Alex: Adagio Ace Pride Tea

QUICK BURNS

Mark and Tamahome: The Science Fiction Writers of America announced finalists for the 2021 Nebula Awards.
The results of the final ballot will be announced at the 56th Annual Nebula Awards® ceremony during the 2021 Nebula Conference Online, June 4–6, 2021

Julie: N. K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy to be developed for TV.

Joanna: Margaret Atwood’s Maddadam trilogy is being developed as TV series at Hulu, and The Handmaid‘s Tale had already been renewed for a fifth season.

Joanna: Victoria Schwab’s City of Ghosts series is in works at ABC Signature and Searchlight Television.

Richard: UK watch dog to review the Bertelsmann takeover of Simon & Schuster.

Rob: Will Wight's Bloodline (Cradel: Volume 9) is coming out April 9th

Ruth: Good news! Peter S Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn, has regained control of the rights to his own work.

BARE YOUR SWORD

Trike: OMG the cake thing! Cakes should not look like other food! I co-sign that so hard my pencil breaks. Cakes can look like other things, but never food. Never ever, ick. Here’s a plug for my cousin’s cake-making skills. Toss her some likes.

Treasure chest cake

Super Mario game cake

Cameron McCrorie (Meat Popsicle) @McCrorieBooks @swordandlaser @acedtect well its only taken 5 years and 32 minutes but that's me caught up with s&l podcasts lol. #onwardsandupwards

Dale: @gnarm with another suggestion for Crystal! Night Train To Rigel, by Timothy Zahn, and Station Breaker, by Andrew Mayne. Action with little/no combat or violence. Mysteries are the type ‘hero gets dropped in the middle of things, and has to figure out what the heck is going on’.

And a recommendation from Alex: Witchmark CL Polk

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terpkristin: I feel like it's my responsibility to say that crab chips don't taste like crab (that I know of) but the seasoning that is put onto crabs, Old Bay. Old Bay is a combo of like salt, pepper, paprika, and some other stuff. I put it on corn on the cob, eggs, anything from my work's cafe (they undersalt; it's particularly good on their egg salad sandwich), popcorn, chicken breast...

I've also had the Flying Dog Old Bay Summer Ale. It was ok but kind of weird. I could see having it at a cookout. Maybe just 1 bottle/can, though.

I enjoyed this episode. I didn't know what to expect from Elatsoe but I am really enjoying it. I saw someone else compare it to Veronica Mars and I think that's a great comparison. Hey Tom & Alex, and congratulations to Veronica!

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I heard you discuss the possibility that in this month's book pick, Elatsoe, the name Willoughby may be related to the Twilight Zone episode called "A Stop at Willoughby" - and I hope you're right - but I wanted to let the listeners know that we're a real place, too!

Even though I've claimed I'm from Cleveland for years, I'm actually from a small suburb about 20 miles east called WIlloughby, and I've lived in this area almost my entire life.

Rumor is that while travelling between college in western Ohio and home in eastern New York each year, Rod Serling's train would stop here, and he found it so idyllic that he used the town as the ultimate reward in his Twilight Zone episode.

There doesn't seem to be any other supporting evidence for why he chose that name, and there are other theories, but we are the only town in the country named Willoughby, and his train would have stopped here, so who knows?

Either way we embrace it at our Last Stop Willoughby festival every non-pandemic year. If any of the listeners want to enjoy a slightly weird town festival in August, now you've got a place to go!

Here's a link

-Chris

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSIONN

Next Month: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

WRAP UP

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

@MitchamBeth
ELATSOE, Darcy Little Badger. Teen Ellie has an rare superpower -- she and her parents trust each other. This helps her defeat the baddie. Oh, she can also summon the dead; this probably came in handy. But mostly the trust. @swordandlaser #Cybils2020 #YA

Jenny (reading Envy) Narrator - Kinsale Hueston - I enjoyed reading about the narrator, who is a poet and a member of the Navajo nation herself. She was once profiled in Time Magazine. She's a *cough* influencer *cough* as well.

John: The illustrations in the hardback book are amazing.
At the start of each chapter there is a "hero style" illustration that presents a scene from the story
I am about 250 pages in and thus far they have perfectly captured the mood and spirit of the story and I have come to enjoy them as much as I have the writing.

Tassie Dave added
There are chapter heading illustrations in the Kindle version as well. They are great.

And Iain added
Rovina Cai, gorgeous pencils...

ADDENDUMS

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