August 28, 2020
I first read Weaveworld in high school in 1988. I think it was the third Clive Barker book I read, with The Damnation Game being the first. At the time, a friend of mine volunteered at our local library and wanted to impress me, so he snagged an audio copy of The Damnation Game. I think I still have the…
August 24, 2020
One of the most common questions authors face is a deceptively difficult one to answer: “Where do you get your ideas?” Yet, the answers to that common question can be almost as interesting as the resulting story. Welcome to You’re My Inspiration, a column dedicated to discovering what inspires a particular author and their work. Whether it be a lifelong…
October 22, 2019
It’s Day 22 of The Kasturi/Files at Speculative Chic! We’re in the home stretch! Gemma Files and Sandra Kasturi continue yakking about horror movies every day the entire month of October. We wanted to spend some time looking at some horror movies outside North American white culture. Today we start off with A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. (Some…
May 13, 2019
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Kate Story, whose next book, Antilia: Seer and Sacrifice, comes…
October 22, 2018
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with author Seressia Glass, whose urban fantasy and paranormal novels are…
July 17, 2018
Dystopias have been a part of the map since the start of the 20th century – a grim set of countries and worlds lying under a gray fog, ready to remind us of our potential follies. If utopias are our dreams, dystopias are our nightmare realms. Regular dystopian fiction focuses on the Everyman. If a feminist utopia imagines a…
June 14, 2018
Fledgling (2005) Written by Octavia E. Butler Narrated by: Tracey Leigh Genre: Science Fantasy Length: 12h, 17m (Audiobook) Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc. Why I Chose This: In a post in 2017, I listed out several of the (many, many, many) books on my To Be Read pile. I’d never read Octavia Butler before and had been wanting to and figured…
January 26, 2018
Welcome to the Speculative Chic Book Club! Each month, we invite you to join us in reading a book that is voted on by YOU, our readers. We’re still experimenting with the format, so just like last month, this month we’re just doing a review followed by your discussion in the comments! Dawn (1987) Author: Octavia E. Butler Pages: 256…
December 21, 2017
Goodbye 2017! It’s almost time to close the place out! For my last column of the year, I decided to share some of the books on my To Be Read pile (which is really an entire bookshelf). I’ve fallen out of the habit of reading for pleasure in the last several years, so one of my goals for 2018 is…
December 20, 2017
Every year on Christmas Eve, my friends and family perform an epic rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” People group up and choose numbers. We have a conductor. It’s loud and ridiculous, and probably the reason this idea popped into my head. So, my friends, come forth and join me in a chorus of “The Twelve Days of Spec…