The Halfling and the Spaceman

We had an unexpected guest appearance at AtomaCon!  Christopher Waples. Known as the Grumpy Dungeon Master, he showed up just to talk with us!   He is a professional gamemaster.  He’s also the host of The Grumpy Dungeon Masters podcast, and he developed modules for 5th Edition D&D.

https://grumpydungeonmasters.com/

We were excited to have Matthew Kresal with us!  Matthew is an author, critic, and podcaster with many and varying interests. He's written about and discussed topics as wide-ranging as the BBC's Doctor Who, Cold War fact and fiction, and the UFO phenomenon on podcasts.

References and Links:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/KresalWrites/

We sat down and chatted with Kit Anderson.  Kit is a cartoonist and comics editor. She’s had several short comics published, and her first graphic novel, Second Shift, was released in June of 2025.  She’s also done graphic design work.  Lots of fun talking with her!

References and Links:
https://www.kitkanderson.com/

We were excited to talk with Don Mancha III.   Don is a writer and editor of comics and table-top RPGs.  It was definitely a lot of fun!

References and Links:

https://www.donmanchaiii.com/

We invited Ryan McGinnis to chat with us!  He’s written the Xavier Greene Thriller Series, several horror-themed short stories available for free on his website, and his brand-new sci-fi thriller, Terrestrial, came out in March of 2026.

References and Links:

https://ryan-mcginnis.com/

We were delighted to talk with James Metts.  James has always had the desire to contribute in some way towards the betterment of life and to show his appreciation. His book, Planet Storyland, was published in February of 2024

References and Links:
https://www.facebook.com/planetstoryland

We were excited to chat with Shane Gries.  He’s written several miliary sci/fi books as serials and been featured in anthologies.  His latest book, Battle Drills: Kill Zone, was published in February of 2026. 

References and Links:

https://x.com/ShaneMGries

We welcomed Malory to our show for a fun conversation!  Malory writes epic LitRPG and Progression Fantasy novels.  His latest book The Weird Map in Mr. Glimm's Skull, was released in December of 2025.

References and Links:

https://raconteurpress.substack.com/p/meet-malory-newest-boys-book-author

Most socials:

@MaloryAuthor

We were excited to chat with Kara Dennison.  She has credits at Crunchyroll, Discotek, Sekai Project, and others.  She has written several short stories for anthologies and has written some stand-alone fiction and non-fiction.  We couldn’t get it all in our intro!

References and Links:
https://karadennison.blogspot.com/p/about.html

P.A Cornell stopped by to catch us up on what’s happened since she was on our show in February of 2023.  She is an award-winning, Chilean-Canadian, speculative fiction author. Her latest novella, SHOESHINE BOY & CIGARETTE GIRL, is now out.  

References and Links:

https://www.pacornell.com/

The Spaceman catches up with Avery Wild, the organizer and convention chair for Ret-Con.  Ret-Con is a literary-focused, speculative fiction convention serving the Raleigh-Durham Metro Area of North Carolina.   Ret-Con this year will be held on the weekend of March 6-8, 2026, at the DoubleTree Hotel Raleigh-Durham Airport at Research Triangle Park. The Halfling and The Spaceman will be there!

https://www.ret-con.org/

We were happy to be joined by author James Young.  He and his wife are friends of the show and were first on our show in January 2023.  He’s an alternate history writer and stopped by to catch us up on what’s new with him.  He talks about a new anthology, among other things.  

References and Links:
https://us.amazon.com/Sea-Naval-Alternate-History-Ares/dp/1963830148

We had a great time talking with Stanley Wheeler!  Stanley is the author of several self-published books spanning many genres.  His most recent book, Accidental Pirates, was released in November of 2025.

References and Links:
https://stanleywheeler.com/
https://stanleywheeler.blogspot.com/
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00FN5I7T8?ccs_id=e329a5d7-14e1-4a6d-b30d-0fab2aa3ced1

Spaceman got to talk with and find out a little about Bob Brinkman!  Bob is a role-playing game designer and freelance author for Goodman Games and Shields of Faith Games, among others.

We had the great opportunity to talk with E. J. Isaacs.  E.J. is a tea vendor turned writer.  His first novel, A New Beginning - Book 1 of the Unforgiving Stars, is a military space opera, released in October of 2025.

References and Links:

https://www.solinterests.com/about-7-1

https://www.spacewizardsciencefantasy.com/author/edward-isaacs

We were so excited to be talking with Marisa Wolf.  Marisa is the author of books, collaborations, and short stories in anthologies.  She’s written the gamut of sci/fi and fantasy.  Her latest book, A Plague of Magic, was released in September of 2025! 

References and Links:

https://www.marisawolf.com/