Charlie and Phoenicia Rogerson (Aphrodite) discuss the latter's mythological comedy, an incredibly unique book about the Greek goddess of love which sports an ensemble cast of many narrators in an Ancient Greek theatre fashion, a variety of different modes and effective mediums of writing including interrupting footnotes, and more sexual references than Zeus himself could produce.

Please note that this episode includes necessary mentions of mythological regular and sexual violence and swearing.

General references:
Pausanius says in his Description of Greece, chapter 19.2: "Now the shape of it is square, like that of the Her­mae, and the in­scrip­tion de­clares that the Heav­enly Aphrodite is the old­est of those called Fates."
Disney's Hercules

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Bram Stoker: Dracula
Phoenicia Rogerson: Herc
Phoenicia Rogerson: Aphrodite
Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games

Release details: recorded 12th September 2025; published 22nd December 2025

Where to find Phoenicia online: Website || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:41 Why Aphrodite? Changes made, and the Fates
07:01 Phoenicia's interesting writing style for her book, full of slang
09:47 Phoenicia's version of Zeus
12:25 The importance of humans in the mythology, how the gods rely on them, and how it's humanity who creates and furthers the story
16:14 Starting to discuss the different narratives and continuing on with the importance of humans to mythological stories
21:22 Phoenicia's favourite mythological character
22:37 Changing Cadmus' story to include dragons rather than serpents
23:57 The different written styles and multi-media writing Phoenicia uses, starting with the paragraph of one repeated word, and continuing on with the footnotes before talking about the way she allows reader interpretation
33:56 The chapter that is simply a list of the dead
36:34 The choice on when to change narrators
37:56 How the novel was planned
39:58 Did Phoenicia consider bringing her version of Prometheus back?
45:23 The ending, moving from Greek gods to Roman gods, in particular Aphrodite
47:03 Talking book cover knitwear
48:53 Brief notes about Phoenicia's next book

Charlie and Elodie Harper (Boudicca's Daughter) discuss the Iceni women history didn't deem important enough to give us names for, working with morally grey relationships for which there are no answers, and, in all this context, Ancient Britain and Ancient Rome.

Please note that there is mention of rape and violence in this episode.

General References: Butser Ancient Farm

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Elodie Harper: The Wolf Den trilogy
Elodie Harper: Boudicca's Daughter

Release details: recorded 27th August 2025; published 8th December 2025

Where to find Elodie online: Website || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:28 Why Elodie wrote about Boudicca's daughters; how Elodie approached the story in terms of responsibility; and the basics of the history that is known
09:04 Working with and including ancient texts that talk about Boudicca
11:05 Weaving Solina's almost completely fictional and Paulinus' somewhat factual stories together
15:19 Solina and Paulinus' mirrored experiences and the importance Elodie placed on Solina being both a cultural victim and aggressor
18:40 Solina and Paulinus are both from non-Roman cultures - Iceni and Etruscan; and Paulinus' Etruscan goddess, Nortia
21:35 Elodie's choice to kill off Solina's younger sister
25:15 Paulinus' decision not to tell Solina, effectively until the end of the book, about the brooch she left in Britain
27:18 Was it important that Solina stayed in Rome at the end?
31:15 Senovara, the Easter egg from Elodie's The Wolf Den trilogy, and Pliny, who Elodie had already written about in that trilogy, written in Boudicca's Daughter from a different perspective
36:55 Elodie's choices for Nero's wife, Poppaea
38:56 The sold slave, Ressona - what does Elodie think happened to her
39:53 Especially given Elodie's choices in terms of morally grey aspects, how does she hope readers will view the story?
42:11 Very brief notes on Elodie's next book (at the time of recording she wasn't allowed to say)

Photo credit: Paula Majid

Charlie and Juhea Kim (A Love Story From The End Of The World) discuss Juhea's fantastic largely environmental and philosophical short story collection. This is a book that looks at the problems with our present as well as the possible futures that may result from them.

General references:
Rocky
Groundhog Day
In The Mood For Love
Kpop Demon Hunters

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Dante Alighieri: The Divine Comedy
Juhea Kim: A Love Story From The End Of The World
Juhea Kim: the Divine Comedy
Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master And The Margarita

Release details: recorded 29th August 2025; published 24th November 2025

Where to find Juhea online: Website || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:25 The ordering of the stories in A Love Story From The End Of The World. We then go on to discuss the last story in the book and environmentalism
05:56 Looking at the theme of time and using metaphors
12:59 The ending of the first story, Biodome, the film adaptations, and the way Juhea ends her stories on a more general scale
19:45 Notting Hill (the story in the second person) and Juhea's writing of that point of view
24:07 The story Mountain Island and its themes of consumerism and pop idols
29:05 The philosophy, the question of god, in the stories as per two quotes from Juhea's book
37:14 What Juhea is writing now, a novel called The Divine Comedy

Photo credit: Nola Logan

Charlie and Clémence Michallon (Our Last Resort) discuss Clémence's epic multi-thousand-a-day writing streak and how she cuts sentences that don't work, often not replacing them, also Charlie's discomfort with the idea of the morally grey aspect of the novel and Clémence's thoughts that we think of morality in the context of the book/show, and fictional pets staying alive beyond the pages.

Please note that the book under discussion is about a murder.

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Clémence Michallon: The Quiet Tenant
Clémence Michallon: Our last Resort
Tyler Keevil: Your Still Beating Heart

Release details: recorded 8th August 2025; published 10th November 2025

Where to find Clémence online: Website || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:51 All about the title itself - Our Last Resort
04:07 The inspiration for the book
08:59 Talking about narratives and perspectives, which includes Clémence noting her previous book, The Quiet Tenant
11:41 The importance of using and including detail about the cult that is a part of Our Last Resort's in-the-past timeline
14:09 Did Clémence always known that Frida would be the person who'd committed the original murder? And how Clémence completely redrafted her novel
19:36 Clémence's use of italic text for particular categories of Frida's thoughts
22:38 Clémence likes the second person!
24:03 Clémence's chapter headings - the X day, and, in the past narrative X years ago
27:58 The effective themes of family and siblings in the book, including in the cult
32:34 What can we see happening in Frida and Gabriel's futures?
36:02 ...And then we discuss what might happen to Frida's dog beyond the last pages and get into a discussion on pets and death in fiction
39:25 Annie and the morally grey questions Charlie has about that character's choices
46:04 Joan, the local retail employee who becomes the first non-cult person Frida and Gabriel meet and who we find out later was killed off the page
47:18 Both of Clémence's books are being adapted for television!
48:21 Asking Clémence about how she goes about cutting sentences that don't work, as per Charlie's research
52:19 What Clémence is writing now

Photo credit: Gabrielle Malewski

Charlie and Nikki May (This Motherless Land) discuss her childhood in Lagos and moving to England, various ways Nikki's story changed over time (quite a lot!), the Nigerian women's relay team of 1992, and the upcoming TV adaptations of both This Motherless Land and Wahala.

Please note that there is some swearing in this episode.

General references:
About the Nigerian Women's Relay team win at the 1992 Olympics
Rocks (2019)
Nikki made the shortlist of the Nigerian Prize for Literature

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Enid Blyton: The Famous Five (series)
Jane Austen: Pride And Prejudice
Jane Austen: Emma
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park
Nikki May: Wahala
Nikki May: This Motherless Land

Release details: recorded 29th July 2025; published 27th October 2025

Where to find Nikki online: Website || Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:50 Being inspired by Jane Austen and Mansfield Park and introducing the way that the book is inspired by Nikki's own life
05:27 Expanding on how this book is inspired by Nikki's childhood in Lagos, Nigeria, and later move to England
08:52 About Nikki's brother, to whom This Motherless Land is dedicated
09:56 Talking about the Ikoyi club in Nigeria Nikki's family was a part of
11:03 The story changed so much during the writing! We discuss a few different areas - Liv, romance, JoJo
16:10 Somewhat like Funke, Nikki changed her name when she moved to England. We also discuss switching between Nigerian English and British English
20:33 Funke's father's grief
23:42 Brief discussion on how Jane Austen's sister couldn't attend her funeral
24:53 Easter eggs - carnation milk, and differences with food between the nations in this context
27:39 Could Liv have been believed about Kate?
29:27 The story beyond the pages and brief info about both This Mother Land's and Wahala's TV adaptations
33:40 Making each book different
35:30 What Nikki is writing at the moment; discussing ageism and the difference between men and women in that context
39:53 About Billy the parrot
41:06 Nikki's dogs and doing a combined dog and plot walk

Charlie and Jim C Hines (Kitemaster) discuss how his story developed over a number of years, including wonder and physics reasoning in the book, his excellent study of grief (and humour in that context), and his unique and choices in regards to the book world's belief system of an afterlife.

Please note there is some very mild swearing in this episode, as well as discussions of cancer and death. Please also note, on a very different subject, that there are spoilers for The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe as well as Serenity (Firefly) and, sort of, for Star Wars: A New Hope. I doubt anyone but me will mind, but I'm including the info regardless.

General references:
Cancelled Fable Legends game
Jim's link-to-all-posts on his poses as women on the covers of fantasy books
Jim's post about the physics of the kiteships
17 Again

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
C S Lewis: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe
Jim C Hines: Slayer Of Old (referenced as Unchosen Ones)
Jim C Hines: Kitemaster
Jim C Hines: Fable: Blood Of Heroes
Jim C Hines: Magic Ex Libris (series)
Jim C Hines: Goblin Quest

Release details: recorded 23rd June 2025; published 13th October 2025

Where to find Jim online: Website || Instagram || Facebook

Where to find Charlie online: Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

02:03 Struggling to come up with Kitemaster's summary
02:33 Selling the book
04:27 The parts of Kitemaster that have remained over the time Jim had been writing the story
06:44 Jim's work on the physics of how the kiteships would work
09:38 The grief in the book
13:35 Including Ossa, Nial's grandmother, who accompanies her in the form of a spirit kite, and discussions of how she would be the sum of her entire life's personalities and ages
21:11 Vikaan and Xao
26:02 Working with the cloud sky serpents and dragons, the god-like nature of the latter
28:36 World building
33:27 Everyone holds Nial's wrist!
35:25 Working with humour when you've got a theme of grief
41:38 The fictional old oral history texts Jim includes
42:58 The importance of Jim's characters to him
46:02 Queen Kavaya's thread conclusion
47:39 Could there be other stories in this world?
49:17 Jim's next book, now called Slayers Of Old

Charlie and Julie Kagawa (Fateless) discuss video games, working with fate and destiny, Julie's brilliant world building and magic system, and the decisions she made about where to end the book.

General references:
Charlie and Julie's pre-show chat (which is the reason Charlie knows Julie meant Final Fantasy X)
My episode with Samantha Sotto Yambao is 122

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Julie Kagawa: The Iron Fey
Julie Kagawa: The Blood Of Eden
Julie Kagawa: Talon

Games mentioned:
Assassin's Creed
D&D
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Guild Wars 2
Hitman
Prince Of Persia
Splinter Cell
Tomb Raider

Release details: recorded 19th May 2025; published 22nd September 2025

Where to find Julie online: Website || Instagram || Facebook || YouTube (Minecraft channel)

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:35 The video game inspirations (this becomes a longer discussion)
06:09 Writing the main characters
09:36 The fatechasers as a people
11:38 Working with an ensemble cast of characters
14:34 How Julie came to choose when to reveal the details of being fateless to the character
16:39 Writing the slow burn romance
18:56 Julie's awesome world building and unique magic system
22:22 Raithe's world and what we might learn about it in book two
24:07 Kovass' religion and how Julie worked with different sects of it
27:33 On Julie's decisions as to killing characters off
29:45 Choosing where to end this book
32:29 More about book two

Charlie and Maggie Stiefvater (The Listeners) discuss the lesser-known history of the US hosting Axis diplomats in luxury hotels, the arrangements made to swap diplomats one for one, including disability and mental illness in such a story, Maggie's main character's dachshunds and their relationship to the man they never let pet them, the era-aligned game that Maggie created, and much more.

General references:
Shiver (film adaptation)
Charlie's conversation with Elaine Chiew is episode 111
Amelie
Big Fish

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Maggie Stiefvater: Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater: The Scorpio Races
Maggie Stiefvater: The Raven Cycle
Maggie Stiefvater: The Listeners

Release details: recorded 1st May 2025; published 8th September 2025

Where to find Maggie online: Website || Instagram || Facebook || TikTok

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

00:01:41 How the book started
00:08:01 The history and hotels in terms of Maggie's interest. Lots of info here!
00:13:08 How Maggie created the characters; whether there's been a change in her process of 'thieving'
00:16:30 Creating June and her role as 'Hoss'
00:20:51 June and Tucker together and in the context of the sweetwater
00:25:43 Are the sweetwater or Avalon hotel characters?
00:28:57 The letters Maggie bookends the story with, and then we move on to Pennybacker and the dachshunds and Edgar
00:38:12 411
00:41:18 Disability and labels in the book, including Sandy and Maggie's decisions in regards to his story thread
00:50:04 Edgar beyond the pages
00:51:55 The arrangements during WW2 where diplomats were exchanged between the powers
00:57:49 What did Pennybacker have to say about the Swiss that he said he'd tell June?
00:59:11 The game of Winnet!
01:03:46 Present news about the Shiver film adaptation
01:04:39 Brief info on what Maggie's next adult novel

Photo credit: Stephen Voss