The Writer and the Critic

Episode 4: 'White Cat' and 'Last Days' (plus 'Death Most Definite')

This month's episode of The Writer and the Critic sees your intrepid hosts, Ian Mond and Kirstyn McDermott, pack up their gear and travel to the gothic Victorian mansionette of their special guest: Melbourne horror writer, Felicity Dowker. The three of them discuss the recent controversy surrounding Bitch Media's list of 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader and the problematic removal of three books from said list. Ian mentions a blog post Kirstyn previously wrote about the issue. Talk of censorship, feminism and the complicated nature of list-making enues. Ian and Kirstyn then chat with Felicity about her own work, the flavour of horror that she writes, and why, before launching into a review of her chosen book for the month -- Death Most Definite by Brisbane author, Trent Jamieson. For those wishing to avoid spoilers -- and there are many -- the discussion of this novel begins at minute 28:00 of the podcast and ends around 49:00. You're welcome. The official podcast books for March are Last Days by Brian Evenson (recommended by Ian) and White Cat by Holly Black (Kirstyn's pick). For your convenience once again, the starting points are 49:00 for White Cat and 01:08:00 for Last Days. For a final wrap-up and some tasteless, non-book related jokes from Ian, make sure you've tuned back in by the 01:32:30 point. Note to selves: it is possibly not the best idea to imbibe wine while podcasting.

Next month, The Writer and the Critic hits the road again to meet with another special guest: Alexandra Pierce from Galactic Suburbia. Alex has chosen Bold as Love by Gwyneth Jones as her recommended read. Ian has recommended My Name is Will by Jess Winfield, while Kirstyn has chosen Under the Poppy by Kathe Koja. Just a reminder that The Writer and the Critic has now adopted more of a book club approach to its discussion and will assume its listeners have either read the books in question or don't care if they find out that the protagonist falls in love with a hairless ferret only to discover in a shocking last page revelation that said ferret is actually a killer whale in disguise. There will almost certainly be spoilers, so you are encouraged to read the chosen titles ahead of time. It'll be much more fun that way and Ian and Kirstyn won't get near as many death threats!

Episode 3: 'The City and The City' and 'The Windup Girl'

In this episode of The Writer and the Critic, Ian Mond and Kirstyn McDermott speak briefly about listener feedback, in particular Cheryl Morgan's musings about spoilers and the lack thereof in this podcast. They summarily decide to lift the ban on spoilers to allow more open discussion of all aspects of the books they are reviewing, including ... gasp ... endings and plot twists! Ian promises not to put his hands over his hands and make annoying humming noises while doing so. *** SPOILER ALERT *** THIS PODCAST CONTAINS SPOILERS *** Ahem. Don't say you were never warned. They also talk about the forthcoming Twelve Planets from Twelfth Planet Press and why a series of collections featuring Australian female spec fic writers is far from being a silly gesture. (And it's not just because Kirstyn is writing one of those collections!) Still on the topic of gender, the soon-to-be controversial guidelines of a new horror anthology from Ticonderoga Press are thrown on the autopsy table, with much made of the request for stories with a "masculine tone". This month books up for discussion are The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (recommended by Ian) and The City and The City by China Mieville (Kirstyn's choice), both joint winners of last year's Hugo Award for Best Novel. A review by Jonathan McCalmont by The Windup Girl is possibly badly paraphrased by Ian. For those wishing to avoid spoilers and skip ahead, discussion of The City and the City begins at 28:30, while The Windup Girl chat starts around 50:00. Check back in at the 1:19:45 mark for some brief final remarks and a preview of next month's podcast. We hope you enjoy the podcast! Next month, The Writer and the Critic travels into the world beyond Kirstyn's dining room to feature a special guest: Melbourne writer of all things dark and deliciously nasty, Felicity Dowker. Yes, that's right, a travelling podcast. Hey, it's a niche and we're claiming it. Felicity has chosen Death Most Definite by Trent Jamieson for Ian and Kirstyn to read. Ian's recommended book for March is Last Days by Brian Evenson, while Kirstyn has picked White Cat by Holly Black. And don't forget, The Writer and the Critic has now adopted more of a book club approach to its discussion and will assume its listeners have either read the books in question or don't care if they find out that the protagonist dies in a horrible rice threshing machine accident on the second to last page. There will almost certainly be spoilers, so you are encouraged to read the chosen titles ahead of time. It'll be much more fun that way and Ian and Kirstyn won't get near as many death threats!

Episode 2: 'Feed' and 'The Red Tree'

At the start of this episode of The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond spend a little time addressing some listener feedback from last month concerning social media and book recommendations. They have picked a book recommended by a listener to be read and reviewed in February but they're not telling you which one because, as Ian says, there aren't enough surprises in the world anymore. The Writer and the Critic is a proud contributor to the global surprise quotient. Then follows a very lengthy discussion about The Book Thief (one of the novels from the previous podcast) which was sparked off by a passionate and thought-provoking review of the same from Catherynne M. Valente. Free-form digressions may or may not be included. Conclusions may or may not be drawn. Ian and Kirstyn vow not to mention this particular book again for quite some time. This month's official books up for review are Feed by Mira Grant (recommended by Ian) and The Red Tree by Caitlín R. Kiernan (chosen by Kirstyn). We hope you enjoy this month's podcast. In the next episode, scheduled for late January, Ian and Kirstyn will discussion The Wind-Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi and The City and the City by China Miéville.

Episode 1: 'Deathless' and 'The Book Thief'

Welcome to the thrilling first episode of The Writer and Critic, a monthly podcast dealing with news, books reviews and the odd bit of idle gossip. After 10 minutes of rambling where your hosts Ian Mond (he would be the critic) and Kirstyn McDermott (she would be the writer) talk about the podcasts that have inspired them (and Ian mention his ego, while Kirstyn forgets something important), the podcast then gets down to some news. This months news items include the the Elizabeth Moon controversy (cue groans from Kirstyn) and when authors go bad. Ian brings up this blog post by Martin Lewis which argues that genre review and critical blogging on the web needs to be better. Then we get to the actual core of the podcast (it only takes about thirty minutes). Kirstyn recommended that Ian read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, while Ian recommended that Kirstyn read Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente (due for publication in April 2011). Much interesting conversation ensues. We hope you enjoy this first episode.  It's a bit raw around the edges, and Ian could have done more research (naughty Ian), but here it is in all its raw, unedited and rambly glory! In the next episode, due mid-December, Ian and Kirstyn will talk about Feed by Mira Grant and The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan.