Unprintable: The LitReactor Podcast Episode 32 - Alma Katsu Interview

Every episode, Unprintable will take a thoughtful look at books, the publishing industry, reading, writing, and more; featuring your host Robb Olson, as well as the periodic know-it-all geekery of LitReactor Class Director Rob Hart and Managing Editor Joshua Chaplinsky.

Alma Katsu joined Unprintable to chat about her recent novel, Red Widow, as well as her upcoming historical horror book, The Fervor. It’s a fascinating conversation, covering Alma’s experience in the intelligence community, writing spy novels, historical fiction, the Japanese internment camps of World War II, and so much more. Rob Hart also chats a bit about his forthcoming novel, The Paradox Hotel.

Related Links:

Alma Katsu author website
Red Widow by Alma Katsu
The Fervor by Alma Katsu (4/26/2022)
The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart (2/22/2022)

Timestamps:

   02:57 - Alma introduces herself.
   04:01 - Alma talks about her experience in the intelligence Community.
   08:57 - What made you decide to write a spy novel?
   13:18 - Discussing writing grounded or authentic spy fiction.
   18:40 - Are you required to clear your manuscripts with the agencies you worked for?
   20:09 - What is your involvement in the Red Widow series on Fox?
   27:06 - Recommendations for realistic espionage fiction.
   30:32 - Alma discusses her experience with social media analytics, and disinformation.
   42:13 - Briefly discussing the Red Widow book series.
   42:54 - First mention of The Fervor, her upcoming novel.
   44:21 - Alma talks about the levels of unreality in her books, & the social issues of the period reflecting today’s.
   49:06 - The Fervor as a starting point to learn more about the history of Japanese Internment Camps.
   55:39 - On companion content such as podcasts. Rob talks about annotating The Warehouse.
1:01:38 - Recapping Alma’s upcoming releasees and what’s in development.
1:02:55 - Discussing the horror community, writing in different genres, and how books are classified.
1:09:06 - Discussing releasing and promoting books in a pandemic.
1:11:23 - Anything to plug?
1:13:10 - Rob Hart talks about his upcoming release, Paradox Hotel.
1:21:54 - Thanks and goodbye.

Your Hosts This Episode:

Robb Olson was one of the creators and hosts of the podcast Booked., a literary podcast of book reviews and author interviews. He was an editor and publisher of The Booked Anthology. He briefly wrote a horror TV column for This Is Horror, and guested on the This is Horror podcast several times, as well as one time on Unprintable - the LitReactor podcast, for which he is now the permanent host.

Rob Hart is the class director at LitReactor. He also wrote The Warehouse, which sold in more than 20 languages and was optioned for film by Ron Howard. Other titles include the Ash McKenna crime series, and Scott Free with James Patterson. His next novel, The Paradox Hotel, is due from Ballantine. Find more at www.robwhart.com.