100 episodes

This is a journey exploring the stories we enjoy reading, watching, listening to, and the people who create those stories... the people who write our books, comics, movies, television shows, and what drives them to create these stories that we truly cannot live without.



Good stories start with the writers, and we talk to them: the novelists, the comics writers, the screenwriters, the playwrights, where ever there's a story, someone's either making it up or writing it down.

Writers, After Dark Summer Brooks

    • Arts
    • 5.0 • 3 Ratings

This is a journey exploring the stories we enjoy reading, watching, listening to, and the people who create those stories... the people who write our books, comics, movies, television shows, and what drives them to create these stories that we truly cannot live without.



Good stories start with the writers, and we talk to them: the novelists, the comics writers, the screenwriters, the playwrights, where ever there's a story, someone's either making it up or writing it down.

    “The Worlds of Dune”: Tom Huddleston on the structures of “Dune”

    “The Worlds of Dune”: Tom Huddleston on the structures of “Dune”

    Author and journalist Tom Huddleston talks about his new book “The Worlds of Dune: The Places and Cultures that Inspired Frank Herbert”, a detailed exploration of the influences behind the worlds and world-building of Dune.

    Tom talks about researching the sources and history that Frank Herbert was referring to and reading about while he was writing “Dune”, and about organizing this book into a cohesive and readable form for fans and new readers alike. We also wander into comparing the various film and television adaptations, with differing opinions on those.

    Quoting the book’s description: “Herbert’s boundless imagination was sparked by a dizzying array of ideas, from classical history to cutting-edge science, from environmentalism to Zen philosophy, and from Arabic texts to Shakespeare’s tragedies.”

    Website: tomhuddleston.co.uk

    Twitter: @TomHuddleston_

    Quarto Books: The Worlds of Dune

    What histories behind the fiction would you enjoy reading about? Let us know! Send Summer an email, or have your say in the comments below!

    Chat with Summer on Bluesky! @sliceofscifi.com

    Chat with Summer on Twitter! @WriteAfterDark

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    Learn how you can support Writers, After Dark and Slice of SciFi through Patreon and Paypal

    • 1 hr 8 min
    “Never Whistle at Night”: Indigenous dark visions from Shane Hawk & Ted Van Alst, Jr

    “Never Whistle at Night”: Indigenous dark visions from Shane Hawk & Ted Van Alst, Jr

    Editors Shane Hawk and Ted Van Alst Jr are here to to talk about their new collection, “Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology”, how the anthology came together, the search for established and new voices to include, and more.

    They also talk about their hopes for the future of promoting Indigenous fiction from as many tribes and cultures as we can include, and in mediums beyond prose fiction.

    Shane Hawk: shanehawk.com, (Twitter) @shanehawkk

    Theodore Van Alst, Jr: (Twitter) @TVAyyyy

    What fables, myths, and legends from cultures around the world would you want to read more about? Let us know! Send Summer an email, or have your say in the comments below!

    Chat with Summer on Bluesky! @sliceofscifi.com

    Chat with Summer on Twitter! @WriteAfterDark

    Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts!

    Subscribe & Share on Google Podcasts!

    Listen on Player.FM

    Support our shows!

    Learn how you can support Writers, After Dark and Slice of SciFi through Patreon and Paypal

    • 45 min
    “The Oppenheimer Alternative”: Robert J. Sawyer explores beyond the Manhattan Project

    “The Oppenheimer Alternative”: Robert J. Sawyer explores beyond the Manhattan Project

    With the new movie Oppenheimer in theaters enthralling audiences, award-winning science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer is here to talk about the newly released trade paperback edition of his alternate history / secret history novel “The Oppenheimer Alternative”.

    He talks about the inspiration for this story coming more from “A Life Inside the Center” by Ray Monk rather than from “American Prometheus” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, and picks at some of the story choices Christopher Nolan made for the feature film, and how he used some of those events in his book, creating a secret history of scientists of The Manhattan Project after the bombs had been used.

    We also take a short side trip into talking about the TV series “FlashForward”.

    Website: Robert J. Sawyer

    Link: “Oppenheimer” Bibliography

    Are there any events from history around the world you’d want to read a secret history about? Let us know! Send Summer an email, or have your say in the comments below!

    Chat with Summer on Twitter! @WriteAfterDark

    Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts!

    Subscribe & Share on Google Podcasts!

    Listen on Player.FM

    Support our shows!

    Learn how you can support Writers, After Dark and Slice of SciFi through Patreon and Paypal

    • 39 min
    “The Silent Planet”: Paul Salamoff on the journey needed to tell a story

    “The Silent Planet”: Paul Salamoff on the journey needed to tell a story

    Producer-Director-Author Paul Salamoff is here to talk about the process in adapting his own story from a novel into a graphic novel, seeking a way to tell this story in the best way possible, and what it has been like to to explore different creative ways to tell the story in an ever-expanding way.

    The life of “The Silent Planet” began as a screenplay for a movie Paul wanted to make, but budgetary concerns led to a rethinking what might be the best way to tell this story. He goes into how he develops stories, how he got into a groove working with co-writer Oren Nichols, and more.

    Don’t miss the continuation of this interview over at Slice of SciFi: Paul Salamoff: Adapting Comics, and Teaching for Hollywood

    Website: Paul J. Salamoff: Writer/Producer/Director

    Twitter: @pauljsalamoff

    YouTube: youtube.com/@pauljsalamoff

    Are you a fan of graphic novels? Let us know! Send Summer an email, or have your say in the comments below!

    Chat with Summer on Twitter! @WriteAfterDark

    Apple Podcasts: Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts!

    Google Podcasts: Subscribe & Share on Google Podcasts!

    Player.fm: Listen on Player.FM

    Support our shows!

    Learn how you can support Writers, After Dark and Slice of SciFi through Patreon and Paypal

    • 41 min
    “A Sleight of Shadows”: Kat Howard dives deeper into stolen magic

    “A Sleight of Shadows”: Kat Howard dives deeper into stolen magic

    Kat Howard stops by to talk about the second book in her “Unseen World” fantasy thriller series, “A Sleight of Shadows”.

    The stories take place in an alternate New York City which includes a secret group of powerful magicians, and our protagonist Sydney’s battle to take down The House of Shadows has consequences. In Book 2, the nature of magic in this world seems to be failing, and figuring out why sends her towards more discoveries. Of course, power does not stay quashed by those who want most to control it, there’s evil and corruption that needs to be fought again, and shenanigans ensue again.

    Kat also talks about the differences in writing novels and writing for comics, from her experience writing the “Books of Magic” series for Vertigo, part of a collection of stories set in the Sandman universe,

    “A Sleight of Shadows” is out April 25th from Saga Press.

    Website: kathowardbooks.com

    Twitter: @KatWithSword

    Instagram: @katwithsword

    What type of protagonist is your favorite for a thriller? Let us know! Send Summer an email, or have your say in the comments below!

    Chat with Summer on Twitter! @WriteAfterDark

    Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts!

    Subscribe & Share on Google Podcasts!

    Listen on Player.FM

    Support our shows!

    Learn how you can support Writers, After Dark and Slice of SciFi through Patreon and Paypal

    • 32 min
    “Playing Dead”: Peggy Rothschild on mixing dogs and mysteries

    “Playing Dead”: Peggy Rothschild on mixing dogs and mysteries

    Peggy Rothschild stops by to talk about the second book in her Molly Madison mystery series, “Playing Dead”.

    “Playing Dead” continues just a few months after “A Deadly Bone to Pick”, and we follow Molly training her expanding pack of dogs for agility competitions and scent tracking competitions where she once again stumbles across a murder. Her personal life & love interests clash and with her involvement in the crime, and of course, shenanigans ensue.

    Check out the first interview with Peggy, “A Deadly Bone to Pick”: Peggy Rothschild on starting over, with dogs

    Web: peggyrothschildauthor.com

    Twitter: @pegrothschild

    What type of pets would you like to see in your next mystery or thriller? Let us know! Send Summer an email, or have your say in the comments below!

    Chat with Summer on Twitter! @WriteAfterDark

    Apple Podcasts: Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts!

    Google Podcasts: Subscribe & Share on Google Podcasts!

    Player.fm: Listen on Player.FM

    Support our shows!

    Learn how you can support Writers, After Dark and Slice of SciFi through Patreon and Paypal

    • 30 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
3 Ratings

3 Ratings

Jeffrey Marraccini ,

Late to the party but enjoying the back catalog!

I subscribed to Babylon Podcast, Slice of SciFi, and Writers, After Dark recently after a great friend mentioned them to me. Wow, did I miss out, but I am super grateful to Summer and the supporters of Slice of SciFi for making the back catalog available! Summer and collaborators have produced a huge catalog of awesome author, cast, staff, and other interviews, along with their insightful commentary, on a vast variety of subjects. Babylon 5 fans are very well served, of course, but I am blown away by Summer’s explorations with her podcast collaborators and guests in other shows, books, and authors!

Highly recommend! Check out the back catalog of many, many hours of some of the best interviews I have heard!

Jazzmine2023 ,

Fun & Enjoyable 📚🎨👍

Summer has done it again & created a fun, enjoyable podcast with variety, creativity, & humor; discussing the writing process and interviews many authors of different mediums & genres. Two thumbs up 👍

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