Cast of Wonders show

Cast of Wonders

Summary: Escape Artists Inc's Young Adult speculative fiction podcast featuring tales of the fantastic - Welcome! Visit us at castofwonders.org.

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  • Artist: Marguerite Kenner
  • Copyright: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International

Podcasts:

 Ep 86: Ieia by S. L. Bickley | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Alethea Kontis Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present S. L. Bickley’s story, Ieia, which originally appeared in the Winter 2012 issue of Tales of the Talisman. S. L. Bickley is a poet and student from Dayton, Ohio who will soon be relocating to Montana to continue her studies in the shadow of the appropriately named University Mountain. You can find out more about her at slbickley.webs.com. S. L. is one of the editors of a print literary journal called The Germ, which will be publishing its third issue this fall. The Germ webpage is at germ-magazine.com. Your narrator today is Alethea Kontis. Princess Alethea Kontis is the author of many shiny books for children of all ages. Her debut YA fairy tale novel, Enchanted, won the Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award in 2012 and was nominated for both the Andre Norton Award and the Audie Award in 2013. Born in Burlington, VT, Alethea now lives with her Fairy Godfamily (and a teddy bear named Charlie) in Ashburn, VA. You can find out more about Alethea and her work at aletheakontis.com. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here […]

 Ep 85: Patterns (Part 2) by Susan Oke | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Alasdair Stewart and Marguerite Kenner Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present the second (and final) part of Susan Oke’s story, Patterns. If you missed Part 1, it’s Episode 84 — please go back and listen to that first. You can find out more about Susan and her writing adventures at susanmayoke.wordpress.com. Your narrators are Alasdair Stuart and Marguerite Kenner, both familiar to anyone who’s been with us for a while. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

 Ep 84: Patterns (Part 1) by Susan Oke | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Alasdair Stewart and Marguerite Kenner Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present the first part Susan Oke’s story, Patterns. Susan spends her days working in the Higher Education sector, and her nights, weekends and every spare minute writing short stories and working on her first novel. Susan’s short stories have appeared in the magazine Words With Jam, and the anthologies Words Made Flesh (Tree House Press) and If Only You Could See Yourself (Words Just Words Publishing). Her latest story Junction 13: There and Back Again will appear in the Writers in the Crowd anthology (Tree House Press) due out in July 2013. Susan regularly blogs for the webzine Astronaut.com: where Science Fiction meets Reality. You can find out more about Susan on her WordPress site Loving Life in the Rain ate susanmayoke.wordpress.com. Your narrators are Alasdair Stuart and Marguerite Kenner, both familiar to anyone who’s been with us for a while. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

 Ep 83: The Dictionary’s Apprentice by Sandra M. Odell | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Graeme Dunlop Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Sandra M Odell’s story, The Dictionary’s Apprentice. Sandra lives in Washington state with her husband, two teenage sons, and four cats. When she’s not busy cleaning up after the rest of the household, she divides her time between writing and helping at her husband’s game store. Her work has appeared in NewMyths, Every Day Fiction, Tales to Terrify and Starship Sofa, amongst others. She blogs about life, writing, and audio fiction at sandramodell.com. And she’s currently working on a steampunk YA novel set in 1852 Hawaii, about a contest to build the first inter-island aero-flyer. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

 Ep 82: Mr. Scampers’ War by J. S. Bell | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by John Cmar Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present J. S. Bell’s story, Mr. Scampers’ War. Mr is a full-time dad and part-time writer who makes a living in sales only because he can’t write fast enough to pay the bills. He has two novel projects with an agent, and a publishing credit with The Western Online (“Mitchellsville”). He is a Lap Servant to two cats, Frost and Bramble, who help him with his stories by walking across the keyboard and adding random letters. Your narrator today is John Cmar. John is an infectious diseases physician in Baltimore who splits his time between treating horrors such as syphilis, and molding the next generation of doctors, while repeatedly washing his hands in between. When not herding his six cats or going fanboy over the space endeavors of his wife Moon Ranger Laura, John infectious various podcast projects with his voice. He is the Chief Medical Officer and Bad Doctor in Residence at The Secret Lair podcast and blog at thesecretlair.com, and ruminates over all manner of things at his personal blog, SaintNickanuck.com. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here […]

 Ep 81: Little Tear by Philip Meeks | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Graeme Dunlop Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Philip Meeks’ story, Little Tear. Philip has only recently started writing fiction after spending most of his writing life working in theatre and television. He’s written for “Emmerdale” and “Doctors” and had plays produced around the UK. He’s also an actor of sorts and can be found at Christmas playing panto Dame for QDOS, Britain’s top pantomime producers. Philip’s latest play “Murder, Marple and Me” is a mystery featuring Agatha Christie and the English actress Margaret Rutherford, who was the first person to play Miss Marple on screen. It’s playing in London at the Ambassadors Theatre in June for a few special performances. It’s part of the celebrations for the 60th Anniversary of Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap. You can find Philip on Twitter @PhilipMeeks. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

 Ep 80: Small Magics by Alethea Kontis | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Danielle Daly Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Alethea Kontis’ story, Small Magics. Alethea helped us start Cast of Wonders with her story The Unicorn Tree, all the way back in Episode 2; I recommend you go back and listen to it if you haven’t already. Princess Alethea Kontis is the author of many shiny books for children of all ages. Her debut YA fairy tale novel, Enchanted, won the Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award in 2012 and was nominated for both the Andre Norton Award and the Audie Award in 2013. Born in Burlington, VT, Alethea now lives with her Fairy Godfamily (and a teddy bear named Charlie) in Ashburn, VA. You can find out more about Alethea and her work at aletheakontis.com. Your narrator is the wonderful Danielle Daly. Dani has narrated for us many times before and we’re very happy to welcome her back. She’s recently been busy recording stories through the Audiobook Creation Exchange and one she recommends to the Cast of Wonders audience is called Sister Raven by Karen Rae Levine. Bound by magic to Old Mother, Beetle Girl lives a lonely life on the fringes of her Native […]

 Ep 79: Loma’ai by Jessie Bishop Powell | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Tina Connolly Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Jessie Bishop Powell’s story, Loma’ai. Jessie Bishop Powell has been writing since age 10. Her favorite authors include Dianna Wynne Jones, Tamora Pierce, and Neil Gaiman. She holds a Master’s Degree in English from the University of Kentucky but considers it irrelevant to good writing. She blogs at jesterqueen.com. Her next young adult project is a book featuring a plucky thief named Flori. Snatches of that story can be found on her blog. I will warn that her blog contains adult language at times! Your narrator today is the inimitable Tina Connolly. Tina lives with her family in Portland, Oregon. Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and her Nebula-nominated novel IRONSKIN is now out from Tor Books, with the sequel COPPERHEAD coming in Oct 2013. She narrates for Podcastle and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, runs the Parsec-winning flash fiction podcast Toasted Cake, and her website is tinaconnolly.com. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

 Ep 78: The Giant Who Dreamed of Summer by Jess Hyslop | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by M K Hobson Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Jess Hyslop’s story, The Giant Who Dreamed of Summer. You may remember Jess’ wonderful story To Be True, which was Episodes 11 and 12 of Cast of Wonders. Jess lives in Cambridge, UK, where she spends a good deal of time wandering between bookshops, cafes, and cinemas while pondering her next writing project. She studied English at the University of Cambridge, and was there awarded the Quiller-Couch prize for creative writing in 2010. Her winning story, ‘Augury’, has since been published by Shortfire Press. Her short fiction has also appeared in Daily Science Fiction and Bewildering Stories, and is forthcoming in Interzone and Mirror Dance. She tweets @JinxedJester. Your narrator today is the marvellous M K Hobson. M K is a writer extraordinaire whose work has appeared in many publications such as Realms of Fantasy, The Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Interzone and Sybil’s Garage. Her debut novel The Native Star was published to critical acclaim in September 2010 by Ballantine Spectra. She can be heard frequently on fantasy podcast PodCastle, both as guest host and narrator. You can find out more about M […]

 Ep 77: The Long Cut by Tom Howard | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Norm Sherman Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Tom Howard’s story, The Long Cut. Tom is a short story writer from Little Rock, Arkansas. Of this story Tom says, “My four children are the inspiration for this story as I was frequently lost when they were little, and they would ask, ‘Dad, is this another one of your long cuts?’ It made perfect sense to them that if a short cut got you there faster, a ‘long cut’ would get you there much, much slower. Cheeky monkeys.” Your narrator today is the fabulous Norm Sherman. Norm is the host and editor of the weird and wonderful — and Parsec award winning — Drabblecast, which publishes “strange stories by strange authors for strange listeners, such as yourself.” In addition he is the editor and co-host of the long running science-fiction podcast Escape Pod. Both podcasts server excellent fare, some of it quite adult. His smooth tones may be heard in many places in the pod-o-sphere such as PodCastle, The Guild of the Cowry Catchers, The Fullcast Podcast and many other fine audio productions. You can find Norm in many places online such as Facebook. Read […]

 Ep 76: Dragonomics by Lance Schonberg | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Graeme Dunlop Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Lance Schonberg’s story, Dragonomics. Learning from his children how to follow his dreams again, Lance has long since allowed his writing to tip over the border into obsession, and typically has too many writing projects in progress at any given moment. Some of his stories have even seen publication. In between trips to the word processor, Lance is currently conspiring to commit both a podcast and electronic publication. He can be found lurking on Twitter as WritingDad, on Facebook, and even on his own website at http://lanceschonberg.com/ (where you can also find several wonderful stories he’s serialized). Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

 Ep 75: The Field Trip by Alex Shvartsman | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Graeme Dunlop Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Alex Shvartsman’s story, The Field Trip. Alex is a writer and game designer whose short stories appeared or are forthcoming at Nature, IGMS, Galaxy’s Edge, and many other ‘zines and anthologies. His adventures so far have included traveling to over 30 countries, playing a card game for a living, and building a successful business. Alex resides in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and son. His recently published fiction is linked at www.alexshvartsman.com, and his recently published anthology of humorous F/SF, Unidentified Funny Objects, is at ufopub.com. And check out Alex’s Kickstarter for his second volume of UFO! Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

 Ep 72: The Dun Horse by Edward Ahern | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Graeme Dunlop Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Edward Ahern’s story, The Dun Horse. Ed Ahern resumed writing after forty odd years in foreign intelligence and international sales. He has his original wife, but advises that after 45 years they are both out of warranty. Ed dissipates his free time fly fishing, shooting and attending Japanese, German and French language groups. His proudest writing achievement is five new fairy tales, the protagonist of each of which has the name of one of his grandchildren. (Being published by Wicked East Press). Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

 Ep 71: Now Cydonia by Rick Kennett | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Marguerite Kenner Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Rick Kennett’s story, Now Cydonia. Rick works in the transport industry in Melbourne, Australia as possibly the longest serving motorcycle courier in the world, now pushing 33 years on the road. He’s been writing SF and ghost stories for about the same period with recent appearances in Aurealis (The Australian Sci-Fi and Fantasy Magazine), The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine and The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows from Sarob Press. Now Cydonia originally appeared in Orb Speculative Fiction number 7, in 2007. Of this story Rick says, “Cydonia is that region of Mars where lurks The Face, The City, The Pyramid and other mysterious geological features… if geological features they are. “Now Cydonia” is one of my Cy De Gerch sequence of stories, most of them featuring Cy as a young lieutenant aboard the starship Utopia Plain, a deep space frigate of the Martian Star Corps. But to get to that position she had to go through some tough training first.” If you enjoy this Cy De Gerch story, you may like to hear two others that have run on The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine: Episode […]

 Ep 70: A Song for the Season by Eliza Hirsch | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Read by Kate Baker Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present A Song for the Season by Eliza Hirsch. Eliza is an amateur writer of both adult and YA horror, science fiction and fantasy. When she’s not writing, she’s reading. When not doing either of those, she’s spending time with her wonderful husband, wishing she had a kittycat, or doing that whole earning money thing at her day job. You can find out more about Eliza at exploringeliza.com. Your narrator is the fabulous Kate Baker. Kate is the the Podcast Director and Nonfiction Editor for Hugo award-winning Clarkesworld Magazine. You can find out more about Kate at katebaker.net where you’ll also find a list of her narrations. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

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