Music is a cultural universal, something human societies have been producing since our very earliest days – So how do we use it when writing novels? How do we put the audial experience onto the page? Guest Mia Tsai joins us to discuss how to go beyond just slapping a bunch of lyrics down on the page! Music is about emotion and communication, so part of the craft of writing it into a book will mean exploring how your characters feel about it, as well as the mental and physical responses they have when they hear a certain tune.

Music can be the tool of the propagandist or the rebel; it can be sacred or profane; small and homey or huge and orchestral. Both its structure and its role in society can vary wildly by time and place, and interesting worldbuilding with music will benefit from looking outside the confines that Western imperialism built around the art. We also talk about building soundtracks for our novels!

[Transcript for Episode 177]

Our Guest: Mia Tsai is a Taiwanese American author of speculative fiction. Her debut novel, a xianxia-inspired contemporary fantasy titled Bitter Medicine, was published by Tachyon Publications on March 14, 2023. Her sophomore novel, an adult science fantasy titled The Memory Hunters, will be published on July 29, 2025, by Erewhon Books.

Mia lives in Atlanta with her family, and, when not writing, is a hype woman for her orchids and a born-again Knicks fan. Her favorite things include music of all kinds and taking long trips with nothing but the open road and a saucy rhythm section.

She has been quoted in Glamour and Washington Post's The Lily and, in her other lives, is a professional editor, photographer, and musician.

Mia is on BlueSky at @itsamia.bsky.social and Instagram at @mia.tsai.books. She is represented by Anne Tibbets at Donald Maass Literary Agency. Please contact Anne for all business inquiries.

One of the things that can make a novel memorable is its atmosphere. So what do we mean, exactly, when we use that word, and how do we craft it? Guest H. M. Long joins us to attempt to answer that question amid the nebulous, numinous clouds of vibes and aesthetics.

Not every author's going to interpret it the same way, but it's a bit about the mood, a bit about how the setting creates the mood, a bit about the characters' sensory experiences and their memories of those sensory experiences, a bit about what details you use to pull the reader into the character's experience of the world. It's a bit about weather, a bit about lighting, a bit about the score and soundtrack you're trying to put in a reader's head. Writers can use common shorthands, familiar references, quick sketches of setting, vocabulary choices, and other tools to hack their reader's minds and invoke a particular energy and vibrance for their story.

[Transcript for Episode 176]

Our Guest:

Hannah (H. M.) Long is a Canadian fantasy author. She inhabits a ramshackle cabin in Ontario with her family, but she can often be spotted snooping about museums or wandering the Alps.

​Hannah writes for Titan Books and is the author of the Four Pillars Quartet (Hall of Smoke), the Winter Sea Trilogy (Dark Water Daughter), the Entwined Duology (2026), Ashmarked (2027), and more.

​For the latest updates, follow Hannah on TikTok (@hmlongbooks), Instagram (@hmlongbooks), and Twitter (@hannah_m_long).

From creatures to avoid in the woods to superstitions about numbers, folklore not only gives us inspiration for stories, but also stories for the characters in your world to tell. So where do folktales come from, and how can we use them in our worldbuilding? Amélie Wen Zhao joins us to investigate the roots of folkloric monsters and their narrative potential!

We talk about the sometimes blurry lines between folklore, mythology, fables, and legends. Sometimes, that distinction is about the scale of the story: are we talking about the creation of the world, or are we talking about the little creature that lives in your oven to keep your bread warm? Folklore is often more personal as well as more localized, and thus the stories are often very culturally-specific -- and that means they can communicate a lot about your characters' beliefs and values, representative of the world they've grown up in! You also get to decide... are these creatures only stories within your world, or are they really real there?

[Transcript for Episode 175]

Our Guest: Amélie Wen Zhao was born in Paris and grew up in Beijing, where she spent her days reenacting tales of legendary heroes, ancient kingdoms, and lost magic at her grandmother’s courtyard house.

She attended college in the United States and now resides in New York City, working as a finance professional by day and fantasy author by night.

In her spare time, she loves to travel with her family in China, where she’s determined to walk the rivers and lakes of old just like the practitioners in her novels do.