Writing Worlds: Conversations About World Building
Alternative Stories
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Writing Worlds is a fortnightly podcast hosted by audio drama makers Chris Gregory and Emily Inkpen. Each episode features conversations with science fiction and fantasy writers about how they build fictional worlds. Guests discuss the creative choices behind their settings, societies, and rules. The show explores how those imagined worlds come to life in stories.
Afleveringen
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Season 2 Review And Awards 07.10.2026 1u 5minWelcome to our end-of-season 2 review episode. Join Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory for a look back at our guests and world building topics for the season and the announcement of our overall winners in our stoically fun games The Name Game and Would You Rather? We would like to thank all of our brilliant guests for giving us their time and expertise in all the episodes of season 2. If you enjoyed these episodes please check them out, follow them on social media and buy copies of their books. You can find out more about all of our guests and episodes here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/writing-worlds-pod You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Claire North: The Ethics Of World Building 05.08.2026 1u 5minOur guest on Writing Worlds today is the brilliant and acclaimed science fiction author Claire North. An incredibly prolific and imaginative writer Claire's novel 'The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August' was nominated for the Arthur C Clarke award and won the John W Campbell memorial award for best science fiction. Topically, given the recent release of a certain movie, Claire has based a number of their novels in the world of Ancient Greece and specifically based on the work of Homer. They have also written space opera and have a other writing lives as Catherine Webb and as Kate Griffin under which name they write fantasy. You can find out more about Claire and their work and buy copies of their books by visiting their website here https://www.clairenorth.com/ You can follow Claire on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/clairenorth_author/ Follow Claire and listen to their books on Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/author/23iuaspGzKtq0xWHKu5Wsp?si=e5a1ba9acfa845d5 You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Stephen Aryan: Races 08.07.2026 1u 6minOur guest on Writing Worlds today is the award winning fantasy author Stephen Aryan. With two trilogies: the Age of Darkness, and the Age of Dread set in his world of Mordana to his name , alongside his Persian inspired The Nightingale and The Falcon trilogy. Stephen is not only a prolific author but he has also been prolific in supporting and offering advice to other writers. You can find out more about Stephen and purchase copies of his books by visiting his website here https://stephen-aryan.com/ You can follow Stephen on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stephenaryan_writer/ You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Ren Hutchings: Liminal Spaces 24.06.2026 1u 6minOn the writing worlds podcast today we are chatting with a speculative fiction author, editor, writing mentor and a dedicated fan of science fiction and fantasy literature. Last year Ren Hutchings released 2 books in an indecently short period of time, The Legend Liminal and An Unbreakable World, a sequel to their 2022 time travelling space opera, Under Fortunate Stars. Ren also writes short fiction and amongst their likes listed on their website are using too many different fonts, enjoy never ending board games and rambling podcasts where the people laugh a lot. You can find out more about Ren and order copies of her books by visiting her website https://www.renhutchings.com/ And you can follow Ren on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/voidcricket And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/voidcricket.bsky.social You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Peter F. Hamilton: Writing Game Worlds 10.06.2026 1u 5minOur guest on writing worlds this week is one of the biggest names in science fiction. Peter F. Hamilton is the author of many bestselling novels and series , including the Greg Mandel series, the Night’s Dawn trilogy, the Commonwealth Saga, the Void trilogy, the Chronicle of the Fallers and the Salvation Sequence, as well as short-story collections and several standalone titles. You can follow Peter F. Hamilton on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/peterfhamilton/ Visit Peter's author page at his Publisher Pan Macmillan's website and order copies of his books here https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/peter-f-hamilton/1507 Listen to Peter F. Hamilton's audiobooks on Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/author/2DQr4pMXkaM8yQEUpT1xqg?si=e8a7b8b634b7489c You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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M.J. Kuhn: Belief Systems 27.05.2026 1u 8minThis week on Writing Worlds we are chatting about belief systems with novelist and podcaster MJ Kuhn M.J. Kuhn is a fantasy writer by night and a mild-mannered marketer by day. She is the internationally bestselling author of Among Thieves and Thick as Thieves and the upcoming Killswitch Protocol, cohost of SFF Addicts podcast and the FanFiAddict Book Club, and she lives in the metro Detroit area with her very spoiled cats, Evie and Thorin Oakenshield who appear in the background of this conversation. You can find out more about MJ and buy copies of her books here https://www.mjkuhn.com/ You can follow MJ on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/mjkuhnbooks/ And follow her on Bluesky at @mjkuhnbooks.bsky.social You can watch the Fan Fi Addicts book club which MJ co-hosts with Frasier Armitage here https://www.youtube.com/c/FanFiAddict You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Bonus: More On Spaceships With Gareth L. Powell 13.05.2026 42minWelcome to this bonus episode of Writing Worlds, the podcast about the art of world building with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. For this episode, we're continuing our chat with award-winning novelist Gareth L. Powell about spaceships in world building. Gareth is a double winner of the BSFA award for best novel and shortlisted for awards including the Locus awards and the British Fantasy Awards. Gareth's work includes the epic "Embers of War" trilogy, the brilliantly named Ack Ack Macaque and "About Writing" a brilliant short guide to creative writing . Find out more about Gareth and his work by visiting his website here https://www.garethlpowell.com/ You can follow Gareth on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/garethlpowell/ And on BlueSky here https://bsky.app/profile/garethlpowell.bsky.socialYou'll be able to hear all our season one bonus episodes and our forthcoming season two unheard chats by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. We have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds episodes coming up for our patrons. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Jeremy Szal: Species 29.04.2026 1u 6minOur guest on the Writing Worlds podcast this week is novelist and short fiction writer Jeremy Szal. An author of space opera, fantasy and a genre he calls ‘Space Punk’ , Jeremy is the writer of the three book “Common Saga” , a host of short fiction and From 2014 to 2020, he was the fiction editor and audio producer for the Hugo-winning podcast StarShipSofa where he worked with the likes of George R. R. Martin, Harlan Ellison, and William Gibson. You can find out more about Jeremy and his work by visiting his website here https://jeremyszal.com/ Visit Jeremy’s page on his publisher, Gollancz’s website and purchase his books here https://store.gollancz.co.uk/collections/author-jeremy-szal You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Frasier Armitage: Dyson Spheres 15.04.2026 1u 7minOur guest on the Writing Worlds Podcast today is a novelist, short story writer, prize winning audio dramatist, presenter of the Spotlight Indie YouTube channel and a part time robot. Frasier Armitage is the author of several novels including "Cage of Stars' which will be the inspiration for today's discussion but we may also reference his previous novels including "Time's Elipse" and "New Yesterday" and his prize-winning radio play "Postcards from Another World". You can find out more about Frasier and his work by visiting his website here https://frasierarmitage.com/ Find out more about Spotlight Indie here https://spotlightindie.co.uk/ And follow Frasier's videos on the Fan Fi Addict channel here https://www.youtube.com/c/FanFiAddict You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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C.J.Cooke: Gothic World Building 01.04.2026 55minOur guest on the Writing Worlds Podcast today is the bestselling and award winning novelist, poet and academic C.J. Cooke. C.J.'s novels including the acclaimed 'The Lighthouse Witches' 'The Nesting' and 'The Ghost Woods' lean on the gothic tradition. Carolyn has built a huge and devoted international following and it is often the sense of world and place in her books that immerse readers so deeply. Carolyn's most recent novel 'The Last Witch' was published by Harper Collins in autumn 2025. You can find out more about C.J. Cooke and her work by visiting her website here https://carolynjesscooke.com/ Visit C.J's substack to read her blog 'The Gothic Cabinet' here https://cjcooke.substack.com/ You can follow C.J. on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/cjcooke_author/ You can hear bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds Season One episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Stewart Hotston: Politics And Governance 18.03.2026 1u 4minOur guest on the Writing Worlds podcast this week is novelist, short story author, game writer and live action role playing game organiser and player, Stewart Hotston. Stewart’s novel 'The Entropy of Loss' was a finalist for both the BSFA and Subjective Chaos awards and it’s one of 7 novels Stewart has published. As well as writing for the page Stewart has also written for 'Age of Ascent', the computer game and has set a number of short stories in this world. You can find out more about Stewart Hotston and his work by visiting his website here https://stewarthotston.com/ You can follow Stewart on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/stewarthotston.com and on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/thestewhotston/ Order a copy of Stewart's novel Project Hanuman from Waterstones in the UK here https://www.waterstones.com/book/project-hanuman/stewart-hotston/9781915998941 You'll be able to hear more from this conversation with Stewart Hotston and many of our other guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Alexandra Beaumont: Coasts and Shorelines 04.03.2026 1u 4minOur guest on the Writing Worlds podcast this week is novelist and musician Alexandra Beaumont. Alex’s fantasy is inspired by folklore, mythology, history and the coastline of Cornwall in the far south west of England. Her novels Dissonance of Birdsong and Ballad of River Bones (together known as the Myst Cycle) tell the story of a young woman, Eseld on a mission to cure the sacred birds her people rely upon. Dissonance of Bridsong is a storm riven, atmospheric novel that has received a good deal of acclaim and we’re going to be looking at the settings and world building within it in our chat today. Find out more about Alexandra Beaumont and her work by following her on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/abeaumontwriter/ And find links to Alex's books and articles here https://linktr.ee/AlexandraBeaumontAuthor You'll be able to hear more from this conversation with Alexandra Beaumont and many of our other guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. There we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds episodes with many more from season two coming soon. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Gareth L. Powell: Spaceships 18.02.2026 1u 2minThank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. Today on Writing Worlds we are honoured to be joined by novelist, short story writer and publisher Gareth L Powell. Gareth is a double winner of the BSFA award for best novel and shortlisted for awards including the Locus awards and the British Fantasy Awards. Gareth's work includes the epic "Embers of War" trilogy, the brilliantly named Ack Ack Macaque and "About Writing" a brilliant short guide to creative writing. Find out more about Gareth and his work by visiting his website here https://www.garethlpowell.com/ You can follow Gareth on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/garethlpowell/ And on BlueSky here https://bsky.app/profile/garethlpowell.bsky.social Find out about Gareth and Jendia Gammon's publishing house Stars and Sabers here https://www.starsandsabers.com/ You'll be able to hear more from this conversation with Gareth L. Powell and many of our other guests by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above where we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds episodes coming up for our patrons. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Season One Review with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory 19.11.2025 1u 7minThank you for joining us for this review of season one of Writing Worlds with hosts Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. To hear our bonus content please join us on Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/AltStories You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store. Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories. Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Chris Beckett: Climate Crises 15.10.2025 1u 3minThank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. In this episode we feature Arthur C. Clarke Award winning novelist, Chris Beckett. The author of 9 critically acclaimed novels and a number of short stories which have featured in publications such as Interzone and Asimov's Science Fiction, Chris has also written an audio drama adaptation of his novel "Two Tribes" which was produced by Chris Gregory of Alternative Stories Find out more about Chris and his work by visiting his website here https://www.chris-beckett.com/ Listen to Chris's audio drama adaptation of 'Two Tribes' here https://www.patreon.com/posts/two-tribes-133816023 You'll be able to hear more from this conversation with Chris Beckett by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above where we have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds episodes coming up for our patrons. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Adrian M. Gibson: Fungi 01.10.2025 1uThank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. In this episode we feature author illustrator and podcaster Adrian M Gibson. Adrian's novel "Mushroom Blues' explores a world in the wake of a devastating war in which the fungal inhabitants of the island nation of Hoppon and its capital city of Neo Kinoko are in dire straits, wracked by food shortages, poverty, and an influx of war refugees. Find out more about Adrian and his work + order a copy of "Mushroom Blues" by visiting his website here https://adrianmgibson.com/ You can follow Adrian on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/adrianmgibson/ Watch Adrian and colleagues on the FanFi Addict YouTube channel here https://www.youtube.com/c/FanFiAddict In this episode we discuss a number of books about fungi and mycelium including "Entangled Life' by Merlin Sheldrake, "Mycelium Running" by Paul Stamets and "Food of the Gods" by Terence McKenna. You should be able to buy copies of all of them by searching for a local supplier. You'll be able to hear more from this conversation with Adrian M Gibson by joining our Patreon at the Gold Tier or above. We have exclusive bonus content from many of our Writing Worlds episodes coming up for our patrons. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories You can purchase a copy of Emily Inkpen's book "The Dex Legacy: Season Two Scripts and Commentary" by searching for Emily Inkpen in your local Amazon store. Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Tim Hardie and RJ Bayley: Voicing Vikings 17.09.2025 1u 6minThank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. In this episode we feature author Tim Hardie and voice actor and audio book reader RJ Bayley. Tim and RJ talk about the creation of the audio book version of Tim’s novel Hall of Bones and we discuss the reasons why an author might consider producing an audio book and the economics and practicalities of doing so. RJ provides insight into the ways in which a voice actor can help to bring worlds to life through voices and intonation. We’ll be sharing more from this conversation including an insight into running a kickstarter to fund an audio book project on our Patreon. Join to have all episodes of Writing Worlds delivered two days early and ad-free. We have exclusive bonus content from most of our Writing Worlds episodes coming up for our patrons. Click the link to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories To find out more about Tim Hardie and his work and to order copies of his books please visit his website here https://www.timhardieauthor.co.uk/ To find out more about RJ Bayley and his work and to book him for your audio book project please visit his website here https://rjbayley.com/ Tim Hardie has partnered with Audiobook Empire to make his audiobooks available at a discounted price. AE Audio Outlet don’t take a cut, so the authors they feature get the full list price when you buy through them. You can think of this as buying direct from the author, whilst AE Audio Outlet handles the hassle of managing the storefront. You can check out their growing list of titles online at https://shop.audiobookempire.com/ Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Arkady Martine: Language 03.09.2025 1uThank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. In this episode we feature multi-award-winning novelist, poet and academic Arkady Martine. You can find out more about Arkady by visiting her website https://www.arkadymartine.net/ Follow Arkady on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/byzantienne.bsky.social And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/byzantienne Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Joanne Harris: Smells and Sounds 20.08.2025 1u 1minThank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. Join our Patreon here https://www.patreon.com/AltStories In this episode we feature multi-award-winning novelist Joanne Harris. We would like to offer our thanks and appreciation to Joanne for taking the time to record this episode with us. You can find out more about Joanne by visiting her website https://www.joanne-harris.co.uk/ Follow Joanne on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/joannechocolat.bsky.social On Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/author/7Db5d8XGil0b0QcDEw40xP?si=e948c38931c44cd0 And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/joannechocolat You can read a full transcript of this episode here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eswme-QRDSWy_sk-JVLNqqmXGONIi39J/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115587715767862763681&rtpof=true&sd=true In this episode we mention the book An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski. Find out more here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Actor_Prepares We also mention the Penguin Book of English Folk Song in which you can find out more about the Child Ballads https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/179200/the-new-penguin-book-of-english-folk-songs-by-bishop-steve-roud-and-julia/9780141194622 Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Kaitlin Felix And Joshua Gillingham: Nordic Inspiration 06.08.2025 1uThank you for listening to the Writing Worlds Podcast with Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory. Join the Alternative Stories Patreon for exclusive, early release and ad-free Writing Worlds content. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories In this episode we feature authors Kaitlin Felix and Joshua Gillingham for a conversation about Norse-inspired writing and world-building. You can find out more about Kaitlin by visiting her website https://katifelix.com/ Follow Kaitlin on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kfelix_writes/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/kaitlinfelix.bsky.social Find out more about Joshua by visiting his website https://www.joshuagillingham.ca/ Follow Josh on Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/joshuagillingham.bsky.social You can listen to Kaitlin Felix's audio drama "The Seeing Trees" which was recently featured on our new Spec Fic Radio Theatre Podcast here https://pod.link/1812026298/episode/bd55616f99f641d35ad86ee2ac82dbfb You can hear Joshua Gillingham on our Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast here https://pod.link/1470495562/episode/950476f020f8fd834a778ca6936f471f Writing Worlds is created and presented by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory of the audio production company Alternative Stories Find out more about Emily and her work by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/ Listen to The Dex Legacy and Wasteland, Emily’s award-winning audio drama series here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home/ And follow Emily on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ And Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social Find out more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories Follow them on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ And Bluesky here https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social If you would like to get in touch with the show to recommend a guest for a future episode or to book a Writing Worlds live show for your convention or literary event please contact us via [email protected] Writing Worlds is free to listen to but not free to make. If you would like to support the show you can join our Patreon to get ad-free and early release episodes of this and all our other shows. We will also be releasing a series of Writing Worlds mini and bonus episodes featuring many of the guests you have heard in this series and our hosts Emily and Chris exclusively for our Patreon backers. Click the link below to find out more. https://www.patreon.com/AltStories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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