---

On the eve of the New Year, Rachel Swirsky and Dave Thompson talk about the Changing of the Guard and what’s in the works at PodCastle. An excerpt is included with the post. The full text of the metacast will be available at the forums. Feel free to extend your well wishes to any of the editors there.

from Rachel:
“I always knew that I wouldn’t be with PodCastle forever. Last summer, I decided that, as much fun as PodCastle was, I really needed more time to write. I’ve been very fortunate to enjoy some success with my writing career, from publishing two novellettes at Tor.com to signing a contract for an upcoming collection through Aqueduct Press, Through the Drowsy Dark.

So I went to Anna Schwind and Dave Thompson, who I had cleverly invited to the cast with this eventuality in mind, and asked if they’d be interested in taking over as editors. Happily they agreed, and they’ve been training with me for the last couple months.”

from Dave:
“Anna and I were asked to come aboard PodCastle earlier this year as deckhands, and I have to tell you, working with Rachel and Ann Leckie has been a dream come true for us. We’re both love Escape Artists in general – Anna fell in love with Escape Pod waaaaaaaaaaaay back when it was the only podcast in the family, and she heard Greg van Eekhout’s killer piece of flash “Airedale”. My first EP was Pete Butler’s “Squonk the Dragon”….

We’re going to miss Rachel. Rachel built this podcast from the sky up….

As for Anna and I? We’re not going to be sitting back in an underground hatch punching a button every 108 minutes. Nope. We’re thinking about raising ourselves an avanc, harnessing the monster, and seeing what this PodCastle has in her.

It’s gonna be a wild ride, and we hope you’ll continue on with us for the next chapter of this adventure.”