I picked up a serious podcast habit while I was a traveling book rep, and have kept up with most of them even in my more localized gig at Angry Robot. These days, I do most of my listening while at the gym and during my commute.

People sometimes ask me about podcasts, and I thought it’d be cool to list my regular listens and talk a bit about each.

Most of this list is SF/F writing oriented, since that the world I live, eat, breathe, and work in for both my day and whenever-I-can jobs.

Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing – Hosted by Shaun Farrell, Moses Siregar III, and Brent Bowen, Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing takes the temperature of the SF Publishing world on a regular basis with news and topical discussion, as well as frequent interview segments with SF/F writers/editors, and professionals.

Functional Nerds — Hosted by John Anealio and Patrick Hester, this is the sister show to the SF Signal Podcast. The Functional Nerds podcast is balanced between the hosts discussing recent events in SF/F, Music, and Cool Stuff, as well as interviews, all from a perspective informed by the title — being geeky without being disconnected with or nonfunctional in the real world. Functional Nerds is going through a format change soon, so I’m interested to see what they’ll do next.

Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy – Hosted by acclaimed editor J.J. Adams and noted writer David Barr Kirtley, The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy gets some incredibly prominent authors and creatives on the show. I’m also a fan of their guest geek segments, where they have discussions after the interview with the assistance of guest geeks, talking about a subject (usually) related to the work of the main guest.

Once and Future Podcast – Hosted by Urban Fantasy author Anton Strout, The Once and Future Podcast was launched by Strout to give him a chance to share the awesome kinds of conversations from conventions, where writers would talk about their paths to publication, trade tricks, and wander off into awesome digressions about various bits of geekdom. Strout is a fun and probing interviewer, and I was honored to be a guest on the show last summer.

Roundtable Podcast — This show is one of my favorites for listening during workouts, as it helps really get my brain going in the morning. Hosted by Dave Robison and David Humphrey, each week delivers two episodes: an author interview and then a workshop episode, where the hosts and guest host help a courageous author to workshop their story idea into something truly awesome, in their eternal search for what they call…literary gold. I’m slotted to be a guest host in the new year, and I’m really excited for it.

SF Signal Podcast – Hosted by Patrick Hester, this is the Podcast for the Hugo-winning fanzine SF Signal, which features both individual interviews and panel-style discussions on a variety of topics. I find the panel discussions particularly awesome, but like all things, it depends on the mix of panelists and how well they mingle.

SF Squeecast – The Hugo-Award-Winning Podcast (!) comprised of a selection of participants including Paul Cornell, Lynne M. Thomas (moderator), Elizabeth Bear, Seanan McGuire and Catherynne M. Valente, as well as occasional guest stars. This show is imagined as a “never-ending panel discussion of vague positivity.” Participants bring shows, books, etc. to Squee about, giving vaguely-positive-to-total-squee level reviews and commentary. It’s also worth noting that this podcast is a Hugo Award Winner for Best Fancast.

Speculate! The Speculative Fiction Podcast for Writers, Readers, and Fans — Hosted by Brad Beaulieu and Gregory A. Wilson (both of whom I’ve had the fortune to meet in person outside of the podcast work). Speculate’s normal format is a bit different than most of the other podcasts I follow, in that they (mostly) use a triptych model. They do three episodes on one text, collection, or issue of a SF/F magazine. The first episode is Greg and Brad’s review of the text, where they’ll give a usually-low-spoiler evaluation, and raise thoughts and questions that they’ll bring up in the second and third episodes of the triptych. The second episode is an interview with a professional directly involved with the text, usually the author but sometimes the editor or the artist. The third episode is more free-form, with discussion of the text, the interview, and re-visitation of ideas raised earlier in the triptych  They also have occasional State of the Field podcasts taking a broader look at SF/F publishing. I had a great time as a guest on their second State of the Field podcast, along with the fabulous Mary Robinette Kowal.

Sword & Laser – Hosted by Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont, this is the long-running podcast connected to the Goodreads group and Geek & Sundry YouTube show. The podcast is the backbone of the Sword & Laser world, with news, interviews, and book group discussion.

Writing Excuses – Hosted by Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells, Writing Excuses is a short-format show where the hosts discuss aspects of writing, panel-style, including features of audiobooks and writing prompts.

Brilliant and acerbic freelance penmonkey Chuck Wendig has interviewed me for his blog, Terribleminds. You should be reading his blog anyway, even without me in it. He gives tough-love writing advice, and is one of the most inventive swear-word-smiths I know.

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/12/13/michael-r-underwood-the-terribleminds-interview/

I’ve been sitting on this for a few weeks, but the deal is up, so now I can shout to the four corners:

Michael Underwood’s GEEKOMANCY and CELEBROMANCY, in which a heroine who works at a comic book shop uses magic drawn from the love of pop culture to defeat evil, to Steve Feldberg at Audible, in a nice deal, by Sara Megibow at Nelson Literary Agency.

That’s right, GEEKOMANCY and CELEBROMANCY will soon be transmissible directly to your ears thanks to the folks at Audible!

This deal is extra special for me since in my last job as a field sales rep, I spent so much time on the road that reading in paper or electronic form was hard. Instead, I consumed 1-3 books a month in audiobook, thanks to an Audible membership.

This means that if you have a commute, like to read books during your workout, or are planning a road trip, my novels will soon become even more accessible. Given that the books have been ebook only so far, this is a great chance for greater exposure.

*Happy author dance*

Last night, I finished up initial revisions and submitted Celebromancy (aka Geekomacy 2: Nerd Boogaloo) to my editor at Pocket Star. I’m excited to get his feedback and to make the book even more awesome so that you all can enjoy it this summer (7/15/2013!).

And for more awesomeness, noted SF/F reviewer Paul Weimer has reviewed Geekomancy for The Functional Nerds, a subsidiary/partner site to the Hugo-award-winning SF Signal. Hurray for review exposure!

http://functionalnerds.com/2012/12/book-review-geekomancy-by-michael-r-underwood/

Mark Lawrence (of Prince of Thorns fame) has started a campaign to support children’s charities, while offering a promotional opportunity to recognize donors.

He’s created a cover board (with the hope to eventually expand it to a huge mosaic) with each image linking to a retailer/author/publisher page. I’ve taken the plunge myself, and am very happy to support these charities and get some attention for Geekomancy as a side benefit.

You can see the page here to learn more (and see Geekomancy‘s cover off to the right of the amazing cover for Peter V. Brett’s The Daylight War:

http://www.themilliondollarbookshop.com/

While you’re at it, check out the other titles listed by great and generous authors. This board will hopefully grow and evolve, so keep an eye on the experiment as it grows!

After chatting with my editor, I got the clearance to announce the publication date for CELEBROMANCY, the sequel to GEEKOMANCY:

Set your calendars for 7/15/2013! That’s right, CELEBROMANCY will be out in time for SDCC 2013.

It may take some heroic efforts to get me to the con, though, since normal passes sold out before I even had a chance to have a chance to buy a pass. Such is the marvel and allure of SDCC.

I’m doing my first round of revisions right now, and I’m very excited to get this novel out into the world. Every time someone asked about a sequel, it was another log on the fire for me to writer better, write faster, and aim higher with the second novel.

And now back to work!

I’ve just confirmed an appearance at the Bergen Country SF association on Saturday, May 11th, 2013, thanks to an invite from Philip De Parto.

The website is here: https://sites.google.com/site/sfassnofbergencounty/home/about-the-s-f-a-b-c-f-a-q/-monthly-general-meeting.

While you’re there, check out their other guests, and if you’re in the NJ area, consider heading down to a meeting.

On Sunday, before Superstorm Sandy started to roll in, I managed to finish up the first draft of the sequel to Geekomancy, which clocked in just under 79K words.

There’s quite a bit of revision to be done, but it did what a first draft needs to do — I got the skeleton of the story in place, I met and got to know the new characters, figured out what is different in Ree’s life for book two, what her arc will be, and so on. I’m very excited for this novel, and I hope it will carry forward the things which connected strongly with readers in book one as well as adding in some new elements to develop the world.

My next task, along with ignoring the novel for a couple weeks so I can re-approach it with fresh eyes, is to work on some short stories that I’ve been neglecting due to the whole ‘novels under contract’ thing. I’m not participating in NaNoWriMo per say, but I’ll be plenty busy writing this month. And if things go really well, I’ll also be getting back to work on Metaphysical Fencing Academy (placeholder title), the YA fantasy I was working on when the idea for Geekomancy bushwhacked my brain.

Imagine how amazed I was when a Google Alert lead me to DeviantArt and the following piece of awesome fan art for Geekomancy:

Behold the awesomeness:

Fan art by Sarah aka “Shira-chan”

Big props to Shira-chan, the artist who brought this awesome piece to life. I especially love the attention to detail with the T-shirt quilt of convention shirts

It’s been just over a month since I started with Angry Robot Books as the North American Sales & Marketing Manager.

Here are some thoughts on the new job:

• The working environment is awesome. I liked my Wybel gig, but my co-workers at AR are much more My Kind of People. Everyone is in the genre fiction world, so my geekdom isn’t just an Outside Specialty that helps some of what I do, it’s a core facet of what I bring to the table.
• Having greater dispensation to read for work is very fun. With my last job, I had to read a little bit of everything, since we had dozens of client publishers. For AR, it’s all genre fiction, all the time. I’ve been devouring novels as fast as I can, in SF/F, YA, and Crime/Mystery, across our three imprints (Angry Robot, Strange Chemistry, and Exhibit A, respectively). As expected, I’m getting great use out of my Nexus 7, which has become my primary reading device for work.
• Working conventions is very hard work, but totally worth it. I attended WorldCon as an Angry Robot, and spent most of the show working the AR booth, reconnecting with my bookseller roots and meeting tons of people in order to send them away with big armfuls of books. 🙂
• Since AR is a smaller publisher, there is a lot of ‘everyone does everything.’ I’m learning about all aspects of the publishing world — P&L reports, acquisitions, ad buys, publicity best practices, title presentations, cover design, everything. It’s awesome. 🙂
• The gig has been great for my writing. Now that I have a more regular schedule, it’s easier to order my weekly and daily schedule and be consistent in my writing time. I’ve also had the chance to meet lots of AR/SC/ExA authors, and more writer friends means more people to brainstorm with, more people to cross-promote with, etc. Learning even more about the industry from the inside has made me a more appealing guest for podcasts/interviews/etc., since I can talk to the publisher side as well as the author side. The bonuses keep coming!
• There’s also been a fair amount of press about the appointment:

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1826#m17449

http://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2012/09/people-88/

and the most recent issue of LOCUS.

• And not to be overlooked is the fact that I’M MOVING TO NEW YORK CITY! I visited NYC last week and signed on an apartment in Queens, which my girlfriend and I will be moving in to next month. It’s a nice and safe neighborhood, and the apartment is gorgeous, with lots of features in the building.