{"id":7463,"date":"2013-11-17T21:27:27","date_gmt":"2013-11-18T01:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=7463"},"modified":"2013-11-18T21:51:39","modified_gmt":"2013-11-19T01:51:39","slug":"podcast-sex-crime-and-other-arbitrary-genre-labels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-sex-crime-and-other-arbitrary-genre-labels","title":{"rendered":"Podcast: Sex, Crime, and Other Arbitrary Genre Labels"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Maxim Jakubowski on the Virtual Memories Show (2\/2) by Virtual Memoirist, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/chimeraobscura\/8890285146\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"align-right sizemedium\" alt=\"Maxim Jakubowski on the Virtual Memories Show (2\/2)\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2889\/8890285146_7454702d7e.jpg?w=440\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Virtual Memories \u2013 season 3 episode 27 &#8211;<br \/>\nSex, Crime, and Other Arbitrary Genre Labels<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6565\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-7463-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3\">http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?powerpress_pinw=7463-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4itPQhel9GzH3WK2iXr4Zw\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_spotify\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Spotify\" rel=\"nofollow\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/tunein.com\/podcasts\/Interviews\/The-Virtual-Memories-Show-p1091071\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_tunein\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on TuneIn\" rel=\"nofollow\">TuneIn<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/feed\/podcast\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/subscribe-to-podcast\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_more\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"More\" rel=\"nofollow\">More<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe emotions are what interest me in writing erotica, rather than the hydraulics. . . . Essex House showed me that you could write erotica without pandering to the lowest common denominator\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/maximjakubowski.co.uk\/\">Maxim Jakubowski<\/a> has had an amazing multi-decade, multi-genre career as a writer, editor, translator and publisher. During Book Expo America in New York, we sat down to talk about how he feels about being The King of the Erotic Thriller,\u00a0the silliness of genre labels, the perils of having a bad book habit (but not a \u201cbad-book habit\u201d), the story of publishing the first <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0739413546\/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0739413546&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=voyantpublishing\">The Mammoth Book of Erotica<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=voyantpublishing&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0739413546\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" \/>, how e-books have amplified <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sturgeon's_Law\">Sturgeon\u2019s Law<\/a>, how he managed to make a killing off the <em>50 Shades of Grey<\/em> phenomenon, and more!<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cAs a publisher, you have to accept that it&#8217;s a business. And genre was always accepted as solid, an area where you don&#8217;t lose money: crime, fantasy, science fiction, horror, thrillers.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6566\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-7463-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3\">http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?powerpress_pinw=7463-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4itPQhel9GzH3WK2iXr4Zw\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_spotify\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Spotify\" rel=\"nofollow\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/tunein.com\/podcasts\/Interviews\/The-Virtual-Memories-Show-p1091071\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_tunein\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on TuneIn\" rel=\"nofollow\">TuneIn<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/feed\/podcast\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/subscribe-to-podcast\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_more\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"More\" rel=\"nofollow\">More<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Maxim Jakubowski on the Virtual Memories Show (1\/2) by Virtual Memoirist, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/chimeraobscura\/8889591555\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large alignleft\" alt=\"Maxim Jakubowski on the Virtual Memories Show (1\/2)\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5469\/8889591555_3c2c337a91_z.jpg?w=525\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/virtualmemories\/Season_3_Episode_27_-_Sex_Crime_and_Other_Arbitrary_Genre_Labels.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">Enjoy the conversation!<\/a>\u00a0Then check out\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-archive\" target=\"_blank\">the archives<\/a>\u00a0for more great episodes! Related conversations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-the-correction-of-taste\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Dirda<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-slipping-the-noose-of-the-topical\" target=\"_blank\">Phillip Lopate<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-arts-and-sciences-and-bugs\" target=\"_blank\">David Rothenberg\/Clive Bennett<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-readercon-2013-monsters-memories-and-mythmaking\" target=\"_blank\">Theodora Goss\/Valya Lupescu\/Nancy Hightower<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-putting-the-pro-in-profanity\" target=\"_blank\">Jesse Sheidlower<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Follow <em>The Virtual Memories Show<\/em> on <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-virtual-memories-show\/id531173075\" target=\"_blank\">iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/vmspod\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VirtualMemoriesShow\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/virtualmemoriespodcast.tumblr.com\" target=\"_blank\">Tumblr<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?tag=podcast&amp;feed=rss2\" target=\"_blank\">RSS<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>About our Guest<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/maximjakubowski.co.uk\/\">Maxim Jakubowski<\/a> worked for many years in book publishing as an editor (including titles by William Golding, Peter Ackroyd, Oliver Stone, Michael Moorcock, Peter Ustinov, Jim Thompson, David Goodis, Paul Ableman, Sophie Grigson, Marc Behm, and Cornell Woolrich) and launched the Murder One Bookshop, which he owned and ran for over 20 years. He now writes, edits and translates full-time in London. He was born in London and educated in France, and <a href=\"http:\/\/maximjakubowski.co.uk\/publications\/\">his books<\/a> have been translated into many languages. From an early age, he was always fascinated by popular culture and his writing and editing has criss-crossed all areas, from science fiction &amp; fantasy to thrillers and, inevitably, erotica.<\/p>\n<p>He conceived one of the genre\u2019s first major contemporary anthologies, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0739413546\/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0739413546&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=voyantpublishing\">The Mammoth Book of Erotica<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=voyantpublishing&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0739413546\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" \/>, which has been followed by 18 more volumes, as well as four books devoted to erotic photography. In addition to more than 80 collections in other genres, Maxim has also edited the <em>Sex in the City<\/em> series, and run the Eros Plus and Neon lists, alongside such crime imprints as Black Box Thrillers, Blue Murder and Maxcrime.<\/p>\n<p><em>Credits: This episode\u2019s music is <\/em>Song for Bob<em>\u00a0by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. The conversation was recorded in Mr. Jakubowski&#8217;s hotel room in Manhattan\u00a0on a pair of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B002SQJLA4\/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B002SQJLA4&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=voyantpublishing\">Blue enCORE 200 microphones<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=voyantpublishing&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B002SQJLA4\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" \/> feeding into a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B001QWBM62\/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=voyantpublishing&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B001QWBM62\">Zoom H4n recorder<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=voyantpublishing&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B001QWBM62\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" \/>. <\/em><em>The intro and outro were recorded at home on a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B002VA464S\/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=B002VA464S&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=voyantpublishing\">Blue Yeti USB Microphone<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=voyantpublishing&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=B002VA464S\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" \/>. Processing was done in Audacity and Garage Band. Photos of Maxim Jakubowski by me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virtual Memories \u2013 season 3 episode 27 &#8211; Sex, Crime, and Other Arbitrary Genre Labels \u201cThe emotions are what interest me in writing erotica, rather than the hydraulics. . . . Essex House showed me that you could write erotica without pandering to the lowest common denominator\u201d Maxim Jakubowski has had an amazing multi-decade, multi-genre &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-sex-crime-and-other-arbitrary-genre-labels\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Podcast: Sex, Crime, and Other Arbitrary Genre Labels&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,1183],"tags":[2221,2204,2216,2218,2206,2217,2201,2205,2196,338,2199,2215,2213,705,1927,2203,1932,2210,1935,672,2219,2222,537,1586,157,2220,2214,693,643,2197,1386,2209,2211,2208,2200,572,65,2212,2207,2198,2202,1151],"class_list":["post-7463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-literature","category-podcasts","tag-anne-rice","tag-apollinaire","tag-book-expo-america","tag-brian-kirby","tag-cesare-pavese","tag-clive-barker","tag-cornell-woolrich","tag-david-guy","tag-david-meltzer","tag-donald-westlake","tag-donna-tartt","tag-e-l-james","tag-essex-house","tag-f-scott-fitzgerald","tag-fritz-leiber","tag-hank-stein","tag-harlan-ellison","tag-ian-watson","tag-isaac-asimov","tag-jg-ballard","tag-jack-vance","tag-john-banville","tag-john-irving","tag-john-le-carre","tag-jonathan-lethem","tag-l-m-adeline","tag-louis-aragon","tag-margaret-atwood","tag-martin-amis","tag-maxim-jakubowski","tag-michael-chabon","tag-michael-moorcoock","tag-michael-perkins","tag-nick-robinson","tag-patricia-cornwell","tag-philip-jose-farmer","tag-samuel-r-delany","tag-sasha-grey","tag-scott-turow","tag-sylvia-day","tag-will-self","tag-william-goldman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-1Wn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10433,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/readercon-pre-game","url_meta":{"origin":7463,"position":0},"title":"Readercon pre-game","author":"Gil","date":"July 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Getting ready for Readercon 2017? Then check out my podcasts with some of this year's guests: Samuel R. Delany\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 John Clute 1\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 John Clute 2\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Liz Hand 1\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Liz Hand 2\u00a0(brief) \u2022\u00a0mp3 Michael Dirda 1\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Michael Dirda 2\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Michael Dirda 3\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Scott Edelman\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 John Crowley\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 Theodora Goss\u00a0\u2022\u00a0mp3 (I think she'll\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Classic Comics Criticism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Classic Comics Criticism","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature\/classic-comics-criticism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/readercon.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9280,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-148-the-guest-list-2015","url_meta":{"origin":7463,"position":1},"title":"Episode 148 &#8211; The Guest List 2015","author":"Gil","date":"December 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show: The Guest List 2015 It's time for our year-end Virtual Memories tradition: The Guest List! I reached out to 2015's podcast guests and asked them about the favorite book(s) they read in the past year, as well as the books or authors they're hoping to read in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Architecture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/architecture"},"img":{"alt_text":"poetryape","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/poetryape-297x440.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15469,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-500-all-the-guests","url_meta":{"origin":7463,"position":2},"title":"Episode 500 &#8211; ALL The Guests","author":"Gil","date":"August 19, 2022","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 500: ALL The Guests FIVE-HUNDRED EPISODES of The Virtual Memories Show?! Let's celebrate this milestone episode with tributes, remembrances, jokes, congrats, non-sequiturs, and a couple of songs (!) from nearly 100 of my past guests, including Maria Alexander, Jonathan Ames, Glen Baxter, Jonathan Baylis, Zoe Beloff, Walter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/vm-500-comp-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C459&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/vm-500-comp-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C459&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/vm-500-comp-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C459&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/vm-500-comp-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C459&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/vm-500-comp-banner.jpg?fit=1200%2C459&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9206,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-145-kathe-koja-and-john-clute","url_meta":{"origin":7463,"position":3},"title":"Episode 145 &#8211; Kathe Koja and John Clute","author":"Gil","date":"November 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Virtual Memories Show #145: Kathe Koja and John Clute \"I started writing stories as soon as I knew what stories were. I taught myself to type when I was 8 years old, because I couldn't write fast enough.\" Novelist and immersive theater director Kathe Koja joins the show to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;literature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"literature","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/22236568714_8abb264749_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/22236568714_8abb264749_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/22236568714_8abb264749_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/22236568714_8abb264749_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/22236568714_8abb264749_o.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16633,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-577-scott-guild","url_meta":{"origin":7463,"position":4},"title":"Episode 577 &#8211; Scott Guild","author":"Gil","date":"February 20, 2024","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 577: Scott Guild \"I wish I could've understood the book I wanted to write and written it in one go, but here we are, 10 years later.\" With his fantastic debut novel, PLASTIC (Pantheon), Scott Guild brings us a dystopian future of eco-terrorism, meta-reality, and . .\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/guildcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C740&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/guildcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C740&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/guildcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C740&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/guildcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C740&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/guildcomp.jpg?fit=1200%2C740&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7181,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/podcast-readercon-2013-fairies-and-zombies","url_meta":{"origin":7463,"position":5},"title":"Podcast: Readercon 2013 &#8211; Fairies and Zombies","author":"Gil","date":"July 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Virtual Memories - season 3 episode 15 - Readercon - Fairies and Zombies It's time for a two-part mega-podcast! I visited the 24th annual Readercon, conference on literary fantasy & science fiction (or \u201cimaginative literature,\u201d as it\u2019s known) in Burlington, MA in July, and came back with a ton of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Comic books &amp; strips&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Comic books &amp; strips","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature\/comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1161.jpg?fit=1200%2C937&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1161.jpg?fit=1200%2C937&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1161.jpg?fit=1200%2C937&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1161.jpg?fit=1200%2C937&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_1161.jpg?fit=1200%2C937&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7463"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7465,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7463\/revisions\/7465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}