Episode 23: 'Bitter Greens' and 'Osama'

This month brings the first fresh recording of The Writer and the Critic since the massive  pre-record-a-thon back in June. Yours hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, welcome themselves back into the slightly rusty saddle with a brief catch-up on what they did during their break ... which seems to have been a whole bunch of extracurricular reading and podcasting! Kirstyn confesses to the reading slump in which she currently finds herself bemired, while managing to provide a a handle of capsule reviews along the way. Ian discusses his short story ennui as well as taking the opportunity to plug episodes of Last Short Story and the Martian Drive-In Podcast in which he appeared. Podcast floozy, thy name is Mond. The books tabled for dissection this month are Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth (beginning around 21:40) and Osama by Lavie Tidhar (at 1:06:10). There are many, many spoilers, including detailed discussions of both endings. Be warned! For supplemental listening, Ian and Kirstyn both highly recommend this episode of Galactic Chat in which Sean Wright interviews Kate Forsyth about the research and writing of Bitter Greens. If you've skipped ahead, please back around the 1:53:00 mark -- yes, it's another loooooong podcast -- for some final remarks and listener feedback. Next month is the special Writer and Critic eBook Extravaganza! Ian and Kirstyn will endeavour to read and discuss the following six -- yes, SIX -- originally self-published eBooks as recommended by their listeners:

• Angelfall by Susan Ee
• Anticopernicus by Adam Roberts
• Paintwork by Tim Maughan
• The Black God's War by Moses Siregar III
• The Dark Wife by Sarah Diemer
• The Silence of Medair by Andrea K Höst

Unlike other books featured on the podcast, Ian and Kirstyn will also be commenting on the format, practical readability and publication standards of these six titles in the context of a broader discussion of e-publishing -- and they have given each other permission to abandon any book they find a struggle for whatever reason. Join them for what should be a most entertaining, engaging and edifying episode!