Shen Tao joins Robin and David to discuss her debut, The Poet Empress, which released a day or so after us recording. A captivating and challenging story that does not shy away from difficult choices, inhabited by darkness, but shining brightly with bravery and love. We discuss Shen’s remarkable novel, matters of author self-care, character empathy, the experience of writing, and mice bombing asteroids.

https://britishfantasysociety.org/blog/bfs-podcast-long-story-short/

Are you a member of the British Fantasy Society yet? Join us here: https://britishfantasysociety.org/about-the-bfs/become-a-member/

Find out more about Shen here: https://www.shentao.ca

Visit David’s: https://www.davidgreenwriter.com/

And Robin’s website: https://robincmduncan.com/

Time stamps

(01:00) The Poet Empress and Shen as an author

(03:28) a precis of the story and the writing of it

(06:00) not for the faint of heart, how Shen looked after herself

(10:27) the evolution of style, considering the follow-up

(14:40) empathising with your character, escaping negative head-space, a tapestry of light and dark

(19:40) shifting POV, ‘time travel’, THE QUESTION, from 90K words to 130K, emergent themes

(24:03) writing close to the bone (re: word count), advice for debut authors

(28:17) an anti-romantasy

(32:08) Katie’s book review, “Scratch Moss” by David Barnett

(33:45) is it a feminist story?

(37:35) promotion planned in Shen’s debut year? Fantasycon in Glasgow

(42:02) writing as a solitary, but also collaborative experience

(45:27) mice bombing asteroids; acknowledgement for Miss Palumbo!

David and Robin are joined by Cheryl Morgan, owner of Wizard's Tower Press. Come gather round to hear the insights of an experienced independent publisher on such matters as anthologies, the dealers' room, the colonisation of Welsh mythology, and the San Francisco 49ers. Cheryl gives away the secret to making a small fortune in publishing, and provides us with enough recommendations to break a TBR pile.

https://britishfantasysociety.org/blog/bfs-podcast-long-story-short/

Are you a member of the British Fantasy Society yet? Join us here: https://britishfantasysociety.org/about-the-bfs/become-a-member/

Find out more about Wizard’s Tower here: https://wizardstowerpress.com

Visit Robin’s website: https://robincmduncan.com/

And David’s: https://www.davidgreenwriter.com/

Time stamps

(01:40) Fight Like A Girl 1 & 2 / Grimbold Books

(05:02) Bristolcon

(06:19) Wizard’s Tower: an origin story

(11:20) A lesson for small presses

(14:00) Juliet E. McKenna, The Green Man, the Algorithm, and the convention

(19:40) Waterstones vs The Dealers’ Room and the Comicon expectation

(25:30) the TTRPG connection

(26:45) Chas Brenchley and the Crater School books

(31:15) Of the Emperor’s Kindness

(33:29) recommendations, reviews and the TBR pile

(34:05) US football chat [regular viewers may skip to…]

(35:00) Wiz Duos

(39:37) Katie’s book review “Whalesong” & “Artifact Space” by Miles Cameron

(42:00) “They Are Still Here”, Welsh SFF, politics, resistance and resilience

(50:12) how to make a small fortune, authors beware

(52:45) the colonisation of mythology

(54:52) more Wizard’s Tower books

We are delighted to kick off our 2026 season with a novel (pun intended) format for us; we had so much fun discussing the important books Priya’s writing life that you can look forward to more such episodes in the future. So, dive into this fascinating selection box of literary gems.

https://britishfantasysociety.org/blog/bfs-podcast-long-story-short/

Are you a member of the British Fantasy Society yet? Join us here: https://britishfantasysociety.org/about-the-bfs/become-a-member/

Find out more about Priya here: https://priyasharmafiction.wordpress.com

Visit Robin’s website: https://robincmduncan.com/

And David’s: https://www.davidgreenwriter.com/

Time stamps

(02:20) Watership Down, Richard Adams (1972)

(11:10) Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier (1938)

- The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters (2009)

- The Blue Lenses & Other Stories, Daphne du Maurier (1959)

(17:30) The Colour Purple, Alice Walker (1982)

- Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)

- Genre vs Literary, Round 347…

(36:15) Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson (1985)

- The Passion, Jeanette Winterson (1987)

- Written on the Body, Jeanette Winterson (1992)

- The Daylight Gate, Jeanette Winterson (2012)

(41:40) The Books of Blood, Clive Barker (1984)

- Cabal, Clive Barker (1988)

- The Illustrated Man, Ray Bradbury (1951)

- Empires of Dust, Anna Smith Spark (2017,18,19)

- Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy (1985)

- The Road, Cormac McCarthy (2006)

- Child of God, Cormac McCarthy (1973)

(50:15) The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende (1982)

- The History of Danish Dreams, Peter Høeg (1988)

- Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie (1981)

(53:20) The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Angela Carter (1979)

- “The Tiger’s Bride”, Angela Carter (1979)

- The Writer’s Mosaic website: [second audio file]

https://writersmosaic.org.uk/people/priya-sharma-2/

(58:45) The Red Tree, Shaun Tan (2001)

- The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, Chris Van Allsburg (1984)

- The Arrival, Shaun Tan (2007)

(61:55) The Lost Books of the Odyssey, Zachary Mason (2007)

- Metamorphica, Zachary Mason (2018)

(65:50) Arcadia, Jim Crace (1992)

- The Pesthouse, Jim Crace (2007)