Pig out on pork belly tacos with Alan Smale as we discuss why an astrophysicist's chosen field of fiction is alternate history rather than hard science, how his fascination with archeology and ancient civilizations began, the reason he started off his novel-writing career with a trilogy rather than a standalone, the secrets to writing convincing battle sequences, the nuances of critiquing partial novels in a workshop setting, how his research into Roman and Native American history affected his trilogy, what steps he took to ensure he handled Native American cultures appropriately, that summer when at age 12 he read both <em>War and Peace</em> and <em>Lord of the Rings</em>, one of the strangest tales of a first short story sale I've ever heard, how and why he joined forces with Rick Wilber for their recent collaboration published in <em>Analog</em>, and much more.
