At Breaking the Glass Slipper, we love innovative genre fiction. Rowenna Miller’s debut novel, Torn, uses the traditionally feminine art of sewing as the basis for its magic system. We asked Rowenna how she fit so many different elements into the one novel, the background to her magic system, and her …

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSSAlternate episode title: Magic goat sword (it will make sense if you listen!) If you’re planning a murder, always have a koala with you! Works of fiction are rarely confined to a single genre, especially when it comes to speculative fiction. …

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSSWe spend a lot of time on this podcast talking about how authors are subverting or downright overturning classic SFF tropes. But there are still merits of entrenched tropes, after all, tropes became such because they were enjoyable and worked, so …

This week we’re talking to Jane Skudder, bookseller extraordinaire. Essex-born. Yorkshire-based. Once described by a colleague as having been bookselling since the dawn of time, Jane works for Waterstones based in the enviable Wool Exchange building in Bradford. Here she talks about women and awards in the world of books. …

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSSWriting better female characters is covered in a lot of writing advice. Many of these pieces will preface their comments with sarcastic comments like ‘Women are people too, duh’. This sort of statement, I think, should make the topic a moot …

Freelance writer and journalist Jacqui Castle decided to turn her writing talents to fiction, giving us the debut YA dystopian novel The Seclusion. The novel, released in September, has been garnering great reviews. We asked Jacqui about her inspirations and why she loves dystopian fiction so much. What books and writers have …

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSSRedshirts. No sooner are they introduced than they are killed. The tension rises, there are beads of sweat on Kirk’s brow… now the audience knows the peril is real. These stock, disposable characters exist in a story solely for the purpose …

I was back home in Western Australia recently and, as always, made a point to visit the local speculative fiction specialist bookshop (Stefen’s Books, if anyone is interested – I highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area!). While there, I was recommended a YA fantasy novel by a …

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSSLucy and Charlotte talk to horror writer Catriona Ward about the art of the horror novel and her books Rawblood and Little Eve. For full episode notes, visit www.breakingtheglassslipper.com

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Android | RSSA Charlotte and Lucy special! After the success of our Labyrinth episode, we thought we’d have a bit of fun and take another look at one of our favourite films: The Dark Crystal. How does it hold up after 36 years?