Cast of Wonders

Read by Graeme Dunlop. Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present two flash fiction stories. If you’re not familiar with flash fiction, it’s a story form of varying brevity and while there’s no widely accepted definition of length, it generally ranges from a few hundred words to 1,000 words. Our first story is Color Contacts by Bethany Powell. Bethany didn’t really know people wore contacts until one day in middle school, when one of her classmates ran out of homeroom because one of his flipped. The fascinating trickery of it has stuck with her. (Though he was just as cute in glasses the next day.) She also has a weak spot for manga with plot points about glasses or contacts. Bethany has mainly published fantasy genre poetry, which you can find at bethanypowell.com. She also keeps a semi-popular Tumblr on suit fashion, mainly featuring Asian celebrities, suitdistracted.tumblr.com. When not scribbling or reblogging photos, she waits tables in a tea room. Our second story is The Quest Unusual by David Steffen. David runs the webzine Diabolical Plots, which posts interviews, reviews, lists and other material related to the field of speculative fiction. At this point DP is the […]

Read by Barry J Northern. Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Chapter 4 of our ongoing series, The Great Game by James Vachowski. This chapter is: In The Bowels of the Sick Man. We’ve given James’ bio before in Episodes 43 and 54 so check the shownotes for those Episodes for full details. Or, head on over to jamesvachowski.com/. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present The Cruel Sister by James Breyfogle. James writes fantasy and Science Fiction from his home in Pennsylvania. We his thoughts on the story in the outro, so stick around for a few minutes at the end. Your narrator is the fabulous Tina Connolly! Tina lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and young son, in a house that came with a dragon in the basement and blackberry vines in the attic. Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and the anthology Unplugged: Year’s Best Online SF 2008. Her debut fantasy novel IRONSKIN is forthcoming from Tor in October 2012, with a sequel in 2013. She is a frequent reader for Podcastle, and is narrating a 2012 flash podcasting venture called Toasted Cake. In the summer she works as a face painter, which means a glitter-filled house is an occupational hazard. Her website is tinaconnolly.com. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Retention by Jason Heitkamper. Jason is a student writer attending St. Petersburg College where he participates in creative and film writing classes in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature. This is Jason’s first first publishing credit. We’re very pleased for him and hope you enjoy the story as much as we do! Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Off Button by Shannon M Wendt. Shannon has had recent writing credits in The Washington Pastime, Cygnus, and Nine, among others. When she isn’t working at one of her two day jobs, Shannon spends her time writing fiction and taking photographs. She lives in wind-blown, sun-blasted New Mexico with her husband and five rescued dogs. She dreams of verdant forests and rain. You can find out more about Shannon and her work at wendterland.com/. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

Read by Barry J Northern. Listen above or download here. Show Notes Welcome to Episode number 50! It seems only a few short months ago we were starting out with Episode 1 and now here we are, half a century later! Today we present Chapter 3 of our ongoing series, The Great Game by James Vachowski. This chapter is: The Empty Quarter. We’ve given James’ bio before in Episodes 43 and 50 so check the shownotes for those Episodes for full details. Or, head on over to jamesvachowski.com/. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Miranda and the Butterfly by Abigail Hilton. We’re very pleased to feature Abigail again; welcome back! You may remember that she started us off in Episode 1 with A Suitable Pet. Abigail is a nurse anesthetist and writer who lives in Florida. Her works are primarily set in the world of Panamindorah and are available as free audio downloads or as eBooks from Amazon, B&N and the like. You can listen to her trilogy, The Prophet of Panamindorah, for free at www.panamindorah.com. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present The Malthus Alternative by Jamie Mason. Jamie is a Canadian sci-fi/fantasy short-story author and novelist whose works are characterized by absurdist themes and an exaggeratedly fatalistic world view. His stories have been featured in On Spec, Abyss & Apex and the Canadian Science Fiction Review. His young adult sci-fi novel ECHO was published in June 2011 by Drollerie Press. We asked Jamie if there’s anything special he’d like us to know about the story. He said, “This one cuts close to home for me on a number of levels. In my tumultuously-changing life, two things have persisted: judo and writing. The practice of judo has been fundamental to me since age 12. Having grown up with some pretty poor role models, I took refuge in the dojo and gained many of the personal values I hold today from my senseis. At age 46, I’m still a mat rat, still training and determined to give something back to the sport that shaped my life. The Malthus Alternative is based on my experiences with fellow students – one in particular – with whom I have trained.” You can find out more about […]

Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present I Kill Monsters by Nathaniel Lee. You may remember Nathaniel from Episodes 3, 4 and 5, Tir Na Nog. Of this story he says, “I wrote I Kill Monsters in a single sitting, and then I thought about how lucky I was that I was able to fight off my own monsters in childhood, and how many other kids aren’t as successful.” Of himself he says, “Nathaniel lives in North Carolina with his wife, child, and obligatory cats. He puts words in order, and sometimes people give him money for them. His work, including a full bibliography, can be found at his daily writing blog, Mirrorshards where he publishes a 100-word story most days.” Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

Read by Barry J Northern. Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Chapter 2 of The Great Game by James Vachowski. This chapter is called The Great Game. No, really, that’s what it’s called — The Great Game, Chapter 2 of The Great Game. It’s Chapter 2 of 7 and we’ll be running all seven over the coming months, probably once a month. We hope you enjoy! Your narrator is Cast of Wonders’ Editor, Barry J Northern As for James, well… he is a “quality assurance technician” for airport Duty Free Shops, where he strives to ensure that your next tax-exempt purchase meets or exceeds your high standards. When not living out of a suitcase and hopping between glamorous international terminals, he writes fiction. You can find out more about James at jamesvachowski.com or on Twitter, Goodreads or Facebook. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

Read by Marguerite Kenner. Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Finding the Blue Door by L. Lambert Lawson. L. Lambert Lawson writes from his library in Southern California. From 2005-2007, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine. He is the publisher of Kazka Press, an independent SFF press with a monthly flash fiction contest. He can be found online at www.llambertlawson.com or on Twitter @llambertlawson. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

Read by Danielle Daly. Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Lizzy Viscera and the Quest for the Perfect Sandwich by Spencer Koelle. Spencer tells us, “This is the first story I wrote at Susquehanna University. I’d transferred into the college as a creative writing major, and when I found out I hadn’t been registered for any creative writing classes, I pledged to make up for that deficit by writing at least two new short stories that term.” The author I most admire is Garth Nix, and after reading ‘Sabriel’ I thought about the lack of positive role models for necromancers in contemporary fiction. I also wanted to overturn that Doom and Gloom image that so often goes with practitioners of the craft, along with the image that female necromancers have to be model-thin gothic beauties with skull bras.” You can find out more about Spencer at www.spencerkoelle.com. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

Read by Barry J Northern. Listen above or download here. Show Notes Before today’s presentation, an announcement. Cast of Wonders will be taking a short break for the next few weeks but don’t worry, we’ll be back! Look for us again on Friday, July 19. Today we present Khyber by James Vachowski. James works as a “quality assurance technician” for airport Duty Free Shops, where he strives to ensure that your next tax-exempt purchase meets or exceeds your high standards. When not living out of a suitcase and hopping between glamorous international terminals, he writes fiction. You can find out more about James at jamesvachowski.com or on Twitter, Goodreads or Facebook. Khyber is part of a series of stories called The Great Game. There’s seven in the series and we’ll be running all seven on Cast of Wonders over the coming months, probably once a month. This is our first series; we hope you’ll look forward to it as much as we are! Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums

Read by Graeme Dunlop. Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present Campfire Story by Mark Brandon Allen. Mark began writing Science Fiction and Fantasy purely for the amusement of his friends, children and grandchildren. He lives in Valparaiso, Indiana where a vicious three pound Yorkshire terrier holds both he and his wife hostage. His work has been published in the pages of Demon Minds Anthology, Bull Spec, The Last Man Anthology, Sounds Of The Night, Indiana Science Fiction Anthology 2011 and Polluto amongst others. You can find out more about Mark at markbrandonallen.com. Mark also has a book out on the Lulu Books website — ifs IMAGINE FANTASY SCIENCE FICTION issue #1. Within the context of Fantasy and Science Fiction pulps, ifs IMAGINE FANTASY SCIENCE FICTION has much to recommend itself to the speculative fiction reader. The nineteen ifs within the book’s lineup make a meaty and satisfying read. For more about the book, go to lulu.com and search for “ifs IMAGINE” or ” Mark Brandon Allen”. Available as an ePub file or a paperback. Also available as a Kindle edition from Smashwords. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here […]

Read by Graeme Dunlop. Listen above or download here. Show Notes Today we present The Living Earth by Jake Walters. Jake has been published in several journals. He has recently returned to the United States after working for three and a half years in Romania, a place where the Earth, along with its history and memories, sometimes really does seem to be alive. Read along Click here to read the text of the story Discuss Click here to discuss in the forums