Episodes

It is the holiday season and everyone is thinking about presents. Don’t lie, you know you are. You’ve been making a list (even if only in your head) of presents you’d like to receive and trying to work out what your loved ones would like. So, in the spirit of this time of year, we […] The post The 2017 speculative fiction prospectus first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

In our final episode of 2016, we ask agents, editors, and reviewers what they'd like to see in SFFH books in 2017, with comments from Anne Perry, Penny Reeve, Bella Pagan, Ed Wilson, Hal Duncan, Amanda Rutter, Gillian Redfearn, Sandra Sawicka, Alison Littlewood, and LaChouett.

While we may wish we only appreciated science fiction, fantasy, or horror that presented ideas of gender equality, we’d be lying if we tried to make that claim. There are plenty of books, films, tv shows out there that would make our favourites list that – if we were being honest with ourselves – do […] The post Guilty pleasures first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

While we might encourage the appreciation of stories that promote gender equality, we admit that there are plenty of lesser tales we enjoy. Whether we never saw their problematic nature when we first read the book or watched the film or whether we can appreciate other aspects of the story despite its flaws, we explore some of our favourite and most embarrassing guilty pleasures and ask if it is ok to excuse something as a product of its time.

It should come as no surprise to regular listeners of Breaking the Glass Slipper that we take issue with female characters being included in a narrative purely to act as a love interest. Unfortunately, it happens all too often. The conversation has flared up again around the plethora of superhero/comic book films where this problem happens […] The post Unnecessary romance and token love interests first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Charlotte, Lucy, and Megan discuss the frequency with which we see female characters added to a story who have no other purpose than to be the love interest. While this does also sometimes occur with male characters, given that good female characters are hard to come by, this is a problem worth talking about.

While Megan was sunning it up in Australia, Charlotte and Lucy interviewed on of Breaking the Glass Slipper’s favourite people: Emma Newman. Emma is a woman of many talents, including being a fabulous writer, outspoken feminist, snazzy dresser, hilarious podcaster, and audiobook narrator extraordinaire. Is there anything she can’t do?! A relative rarity amongst genre writers, Emma writes […] The post Interview with Emma Newman first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Lucy and Charlotte interview writer, podcaster, and audiobook narrator Emma Newman, covering topics such as worldbuilding, inequality in SFF, and what we can do to change the gender narrative.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet has been one of my favourite reads this year. If you enjoy science fiction and haven’t made time to read it yet… what are you waiting for? If you want to read my full (spoiler free) review, head over to Pop Verse. Becky Chambers did not have […] The post Interview with Becky Chambers first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

In today's episode, Megan chats to Becky Chambers, author of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and A Closed and Common Orbit, about using Kickstarter, self-publishing, the importance of beta readers, being nominated for a Clarke Award, writing humour into science fiction, sticking to science within the realm of possibility, and diversity in SFF.

The new Ghostbusters film is not alone, almost every week we hear of a new franchise reboot or cult film remake with a gender-swapped cast. From turning Splash into the tale of a merman to an Ocean’s Eleven reboot with a full cast of women, it appears as though Hollywood is tackling its diversity problems the way it handles everything […] The post Gender swapping first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Megan Leigh, Charlotte Bond, and Lucy Hounsom discuss the new trend in gender swapped reboots and what implications this has for gender equality in the film industry. While we here at Breaking the Glass Slipper appreciate any efforts being made towards equal gender representation on our screens, is gender swapping really the best way to go about it? What about original screenwriting to feature women? Why is Hollywood still so convinced that the market doesn't want to see new and original stories...

Megan Leigh interviews African speculative fiction writer Chinelo Onwualu about racism in the industry, expectations of African writing, and the trends coming out of the continent. Full episode notes can be found at www.breakingtheglassslipper.com

‘We need to include all voices.’ This podcast was set up to increase the conversation around a marginalised group in speculative fiction: women. But women aren’t the only marginalised voices in the industry. Fireside Fiction recently published a report on the embedded racism in the SF publishing industry, including this revelation: In 2015, of 2,039 […] The post African speculative fiction with Chinelo Onwualu first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

It's so exciting to see so many women recognised in the industry awards right now that we just had to have a little 'squee' about it. Charlotte interviews extreme horror author Dawn Cano.

After the last marathon episode, we have kept things more succinct. First up, Charlotte, Lucy, and Megan geek-out about the 2016 SFF Awards season. Women seem to finally be getting their due and we are all kinds of chuffed about it. After all, women have been writing fantastic books for years, so it’s about bloody […] The post Hugos, Nebulas, and Dawn Cano first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Recorded live at Nine Worlds Geekfest in London on August 13th, 2016. Discussion of both perceived and real barriers women experience when pursuing a writing career in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Megan, Charlotte, and Lucy are joined by three fantastic guests: Gillian Redfearn (Gollancz), Lydia Gittins (Titan Books), and Alasdair Stuart (Escape Artists). ***Please note, due to the episode being a live recording, the sound levels on this track are lower than usual, so you will likely ha...

It seems fitting that Breaking the Glass Slipper would make its live debut at Nine Worlds Geekfest in London, a convention that prides itself on diversity, panel parity, and accessibility. As such, we were there flying the flag for women in genre fiction, recording our panel on ‘Barriers to women in SFF publishing’ (or as […] The post Live at Nine Worlds first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

*Please note that this episode contains spoilers for Game of Thrones season 6. Listen at your own risk. This week, we discuss the tropes common to female villains in SFFH, from irritating cliches to our favourite villainesses. Visit the Pop Verse post for a full list of all texts mentioned in the episode.

It’s a bit of a long one this week. Get the three of us together and we can’t shut up about female villains! While I might be biased, I have to say that this is one of our best episodes yet, with Lucy spouting such gems like ‘speaking of psychos…’ and ‘I mean, Gary Oldman… […] The post Virgins and villainesses (part 2) first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Charlotte takes the helm today, overseeing a discussion of virgins in SFFH. Why do women who have sex often die? Why are magical abilities so often linked to virginity? We ask these questions and more as we discuss desire, gender stereotypes, and go on a tangent about The Fifth Element. Full list of texts references available here: http://wp.me/p39HQB-1Pw Part 2, on female villains, will be posted on Thursday the 11th.

Have you ever noticed that the women who have sex are often the first to die, while their virginal counterparts tend to last through to the bitter end? This week, Lucy, Charlotte, and I discuss the beginnings of this trope and its inherent sexism, along with a few tangents. For those trying to keep up […] The post Virgins and villainesses (part 1) first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.

Charlotte interviews an author who writes both erotica (as Janine Ashbless) and horror (as Keris McDonald). They discuss pornography vs erotica, what frightens a horror writer, and pacing stories as a kind of 'teasing'. If you blush easy, this might be one to save for when you get home.

This week, Charlotte talks to erotica and horror (as Keris McDonald) author Janine Ashbless. No topic is off limits with this wordsmith. They discuss pornography vs erotica, what frightens a horror writer, and pacing stories as a kind of ‘teasing’. If you blush easy, this might be one to save for when you get home. In September, The […] The post Interview with Janine Ashbless/Keris McDonald first appeared on Breaking the Glass Slipper.