So you've got lore galore, complex sociopolitical tangles, and a history that reaches back through the ages. How do you show that on the page without infodumping? Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms, who together make up M. A. Carrick, help us explore building a world with deep historical roots while communicating that history in a way that feels natural and exciting for a reader.
How do your characters think of their world's history? What different perspectives are there on historical events, and how have those perspectives shaped the present?
Transcript for Episode 66 (with thanks to our scribes!)
Our Guests:
Alyc Helms prefers tea over all other beverages. They sometimes refer to their work as “critical theory fanfic,” which is a fancy way to say that they are obsessed with liminality, gender identity, and foxes (and tea!). They are the author of the Adventures of Mr. Mystic novels from Angry Robot and, as M.A. Carrick, the co-author (with Marie Brennan) of The Mask of Mirrors, first in the Rook & Rose trilogy from Orbit Books.
Marie Brennan is a former anthropologist and folklorist who shamelessly pillages her academic fields for inspiration. She recently misapplied her professors’ hard work to The Night Parade of 100 Demons and the short novel Driftwood. She is the author of the Hugo Award-nominated Victorian adventure series The Memoirs of Lady Trent along with several other series, over sixty short stories, and the New Worlds series of worldbuilding guides; as half of M.A. Carrick, she has written The Mask of Mirrors, first in the epic Rook and Rose trilogy.
Episode 70: Magical Ethics and Ethical Magics ft. KATE HEARTFIELD
Episode 69: The Sexy Things People Don’t Want You To Think About, ft. ELSA SJUNNESON
Episode 68: Potpour-V
Episode 67: WorldCon Minisode
Episode 65: Money Makes The Worldbuilding Go ‘Round
Episode 64: The Times, They Are A-Changin‘, ft. FONDA LEE
Episode 63: It’s A Grimdark World After All ft. ANNA SMITH SPARK
Episode 62: Otherworldly Worldbuilding ft. SEANAN MCGUIRE
Episode 61: Worldbuilding: The Search for Intelligent Life ft. MARTHA WELLS
Episode 60: Worldbuilding: The Never-Ending Story
Episode 59: Ooooh, Shiny! Crafting a World from Shiny Ideas
Episode 58: L’Etat, C’est… Quoi? ft. C.L. POLK
Episode 57: Ask a Necromancer ft. AMANDA DOWNUM
Episode 56: Word Building ft. SARAH BETH DURST
Episode 55: Epic GrimDarkPunk Romance
Episode 54: Cyberpunk Worldbuilding ft. PJ MANNEY
Episode 53: Worldbuilding 301
Episode 52: Pot4ri
Episode 51: Gender, Equality, & Gender Equality ft. E.J. BEATON
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Lit Society: Books and Drama
Ex Libris
Write The Book: Conversations on Craft
Pollyanna
Pride and Prejudice
Fresh Air
Myths and Legends