This week Phil and Stephen had the pleasure of interviewing sci-fi author Tobias S. Buckell.

And we covered a lot of ground:

• Mr. Buckell's recent sci-fi novel, Crystal Rain. The first third of the novel is available online at Crystal-rain.com. Here is The Speculist review, and here is the SciFi Channel review.

• Using blogs and other viral marketing devices to promote books. Other ways that blogging can help launch a writer's career.

• Tobias' participation in the Clarion Science Fiction Writer's Workshop.

• Tobias' favorite authors Cordwainer Smith and Bruce Sterling. And Tobias' favorite Cordwainer Smith short story, "The Game of Rat and Dragon."

• The sport of "balloon jumping" and how that could fit into the world of Chrystal Rain. We also got exclusive info on the Chrystal Rain sequel, Ragamuffin.

• Space: NASA v. The Private Sector. Tobias' column, "A Four Way Space Race."

• The Skyhook and airship-to-orbit concepts.

And as always, we are showcasing an up-and-coming artist from garageband.com. This episode it's Salient Band's "Stay."

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