Escape Pod 12: Clean Up Your Room!
Show Notes
Rated G. Contains intense maternal nagging and disturbing chorework. May not be suitable for some adults.
Clean Up Your Room!
By Laura Anne Gilman
“Jessy, put that away and come eat breakfast. You won’t get anything useful done on an empty stomach.” The voice was the usual gender-neutral computer-generated drone, and yet it sounded different to her this morning. Obviously, the tone modifiers Gregory had suggested were working, too. That was going to be a selling point for everyone yelping about the dehumanization of home life. In a few generations, they’d be able to personalize the voice, maybe even to customer order.
About the Author
Laura Anne Gilman
Laura Anne Gilman is the author of more than twenty novels, including the Nebula award-nominated The Vineart War trilogy and the award-winning Devil’s West series from Saga Press/ Simon & Schuster. Her forthcoming projects include a Gilded Age historical fantasy and the start of a new contemporary fantasy series.
She has also dipped her pen into the mystery field as well, writing as L.A. Kornetsky (Collared, Fixed, Doghouse, and Clawed).
A member of the writers’ digital co-op Book View Cafe, she continues to write and sell short fiction in a variety of genres, including her new story collection, DARKLY HUMAN.
About the Narrator
Mur Lafferty
An inaugural inductee of the Podcast Academy’s Hall of Fame, Mur Lafferty began podcasting in 2004 and later built her writing career from her work as a science fiction podcaster.
As of 2026, Mur has written ten novels, eight novellas, and one nonfiction book. Her work has ranged from Star Wars to superhero fiction to afterlife fiction to paranormal fantasy to space murder–plus one book supporting writers based on her award winning podcast.
After winning the 2013 Astounding Award for Best New Writer, her work has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Parsec, Philip K. Dick, Manly Wade Wellman, and Podcast Peer Awards. Her podcast Ditch Diggers, with Matt Wallace, won the 2018 Best Fancast Hugo Award.
As an editor, Mur was the first editor of Pseudopod and Mothership Zeta, and is currently the co-editor of Escape Pod (with Valerie Valdes), eight-time finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine.
Her nonfiction work has appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table, and on the podcast The Dragon Page. In 2014, she received an MFA in popular fiction from the Stonecoast program at the University of Southern Maine.
She lives in Durham, NC, with her husband. She likes video games, tabletop games, murder mysteries, and dogs.
