short fiction

Inspired reading, with pieces by Leon Arden and Shirley J. Brewer, plus a peek inside the new issue with a poem by Charles Kesler.

Bar Talk (our recommendations):
Kevan is reading The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram; drinking the Ardbeg.
Jessica is reading All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes; drinking New Deal Distillery Bootstrap Whiskey.
Damien is reading Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez; drinking Hibiki Japanese Harmony.
Ryan is reading The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud; drinking Auchentoshan 12yr single malt.

If you liked this week’s interview, read ecofiction, tell stories in the Bardic tradition, and acknowledge the neurochemical storm in every person's brain. Also, check out Kevan Manwaring's other works in Panorama Journal and his latest collection, Ballad Tales: An Anthology of British Ballads Retold.

Up next: Season 5! Join us as we investigate... The Ghost Slayers: Thrilling Tales of Occult Detection, edited by Mike Ashley.

Special thank you to Dr Blake Brandes for our Whiskey and the Weird music! 

Like, rate, and follow! Check us out on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and at whiskeyandtheweird.com

In the year 2075, Carmen travels by transport machine, virtually and materially, to visit Jerry Sizemore, a comedian, and work with him on material for his comedy stand-up show.

B is for Bisexual - short stories by Laura P. Valtorta

Sudden Traveler is a collection of seven stories where the characters are trying to reconcile their journeys through life, death, and love.
It's Throwback Thursday, and in today's episode, I'm sharing an interview with author Sarah Hall about her story collection, Sudden Traveler.  This is a collection of seven stories where the characters are trying to reconcile their journeys through life, death, and love. These stories are not interconnected, and they slip in and out between fantasy and reality and the themes span love, life, death, grief, parenthood, and women’s agency. 
This interview was originally recorded in October 2019.
BOOK:
Order a copy of Sudden Traveler from Amazon or Bookshop. 
SHOW NOTES & BOOKLIST: 
Find the episode show notes and a list of all the books mentioned here.
MORE RESOURCES: 
Visit bibliolifestyle.com for more information and resources to help you in your reading journey.  

THE BIBLIOLIFESTYLE 2024 SPRING READING GUIDE
Spring into reading this season!  Download your free copy of The 2024 Spring Reading Guide when you visit springreadingguide.com.  This year's guide has twenty-one books organized across six categories, plus fun recipes, spring activities, lifestyle tips, and more.   So download your free copy and discover your next favorite book!

Entering our holiday hiatus, "Sharon" takes a few more twists and turns. For those of you who wish to start from the beginning, listen to episodes 40, 42, and 44 before listening to this one. During our holiday break, please continue to write, remembering our new address: P.O. Box 845, Windsor, CT 06095. Bonus content for Patreon subscribers will continue during December and regular episodes will re-commence in January 2023.

You can find bonus content on Patreon.
Patron Benefits

1. Personalized Welcome Package - SNAIL MAIL - directly to YOU!!!
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10. An open invitation for YOU, our PATRONS to share your content with us to feature on Sacred Airspace Podcast. Who knows... YOU may even BE A GUEST!

Your patronage shelters, feeds, clothes and nurtures our humble families.

• Customized Welcome Package - SNAIL MAIL
• Exclusive content
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Please rate us...

The serialized short fiction work "Sharon" continues with chapters 6-9. For those who wish to start from the beginning, listen to Episodes 40 and 42 before listening to this one.

You can find bonus content on Patreon.
Patron Benefits

1. Personalized Welcome Package - SNAIL MAIL - directly to YOU!!!
2. Exclusive access to one (1) Bonus Podcast Episode per month.
3. Monthly standing invitation to Sacred Airspace Podcast Zoom Group. Join Andrew, -Karrie and other kindred patrons. Open Forum - welcoming, accepting, contemplative. [pending finalization - Monthly on a Monday night 7-8pm EST]
4. Ability to correspond with Andrew and Karrie via snail mail and receive personalized responses.
5. 20% discount on Private Spiritual Companioning Sessions with Karrie.
6. Access to Sacred Airspace's community forum - here, on Patreon.
7. Insider connection to suggest content and episode topics.
8. Pre-sale shopping @ The Soul Center Shop (Karrie's creative offerings).
9. Future Sacred Airspace merchandise access.
10. An open invitation for YOU, our PATRONS to share your content with us to feature on Sacred Airspace Podcast. Who knows... YOU may even BE A GUEST!

Your patronage shelters, feeds, clothes and nurtures our humble families.

• Customized Welcome Package - SNAIL MAIL
• Exclusive content
• Monthly open forum via Zoom
• Live Q&As
• 20% Discount Spiritual Direction Sessions with Karrie
• Community Forum Connection
• Fan requests

Please rate us...

Em discusses the absolutely fabulous short story collection, 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill as well as the movie, The Black Phone.

Help support the pod & get fun, bonus content by subscribing to the Patreon!

Check out Em’s books, plays, and stories at frappmedia.com

And, you can find all things books & cats at booksncatspod.com

This week Em's talking about an incredible book of short fiction - Ghost Summer: Stories by Tananarive Due. Plus, cat adventures and a new chapter of Ocean Eyes -- enjoy!

Help support the pod & get fun, bonus content by subscribing to the Patreon!

Check out Em’s books, plays, and stories at frappmedia.com

And, you can find all things books & cats at booksncatspod.com

Memorable mothers, with pieces by Maureen Hossbacher, Margaret Osburn, Nancy Davidoff Kelton and Chris Carbaugh.

Ghostlore is an anthology of writing inspired by the folklore of ghosts and the supernatural. Edited by writer and audio dramatists Lyndsey Croal our second episode Hauntings, features the work of 11 writers and explores folklore from around the world. 

The readers are Sally Walker Taylor, Marie-Claire Wood, Lindz McLeod, Lyndsey Croal, Hadiya Morris, Chris Gregory, Amy Boucher and Christina Castaneda

Our pieces and writes are

The Witch by Amy Boucher
Amy Boucher is a passionate advocate of her native Shropshire’s folklore, ghostlore and local History. You can find her blog her https://nearlyknowledgeablehistory.blogspot.com/ and on twitter @g0blinegg

We Cower in a Ruined Castle and Hope Not to Hear a Ghost by Elou Carroll
Elou Carroll likes to tell ghost stories. You can find her work on www.eloucarroll.com

Ghost Feet by Ellen Forkin
Ellen Forkin is a writer and artist living in the magical Orkney Islands. Find her on Instagram @ellen_forkin and Twitter https://twitter.com/ellen_forkin 

Unrest by Vanessa Jae
Vanessa Jae writes horrifically beautiful anarchies, reads stories for Apex Magazine and translates for Progressive International https://twitter.com/thevanessajae

Huntress, Enchantress, Murderess by Lyndsey Croal
Lyndsey is a writer, audio dramatist and editor from Edinburgh. Find out more about her and her work here https://lyndseycroal.co.uk/

Welcome Home by Ai Jiang
Ai Jiang is a Chinese-Canadian writer, an immigrant from Fujian, and an active member of HWA. Find her on Twitter @AiJiang_  and online http://aijiang.ca

Naart Stuyck by Signe Maene
Signe Maene is a writer, folklorist and audio dramatist from Belgian.  Her work has been featured frequently in this podcast and a new audio play is in preparation.   signemaene.com/links/

 Ye Tak The Ghost Road by Callum McSorley
Callum McSorley is an author based in Glasgow. His short stories have been published by New Writing Scotland, Gutter Magazine, Shoreline of Infinity, and Monstrous Regiment among others. https://twitter.com/CallumMcSorley

The Accordionist by Anna Orridge
Anna Orridge is a writer from Croydon, whose short story 'Backdrop' was adapted for a an acclaimed Alternative Stories audio drama. You can find out more about her activism and writing on Twitter https://twitter.com/orridge_anna

A Fate Worse by Marisca Pichette
Marisca Pichette writes speculative fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. She is on Twitter as https://twitter.com/MariscaPichette  and Instagram as @marisca_write. Her website is: www.mariscapichette.com

The Island of Dolls by Sam W Pisciotta
Sam W Pisciotta is a writer and visual artist who believes, with his whole heart, that the glass is half-full.  Follow him on Instagram @silo34 and Twitter  https://twitter.com/silo34

 Music and production are by Chris Gregory
 More bio notes on our participants https://tinyurl.com/ncxpzm95
Sound effects are from freesound.org

I'm celebrating the change in SFWA's membership requirements and discussing my long history of working toward this change - since 2008! - including a tale of how a magazine published my story without telling me.

The treats for the Pixel Project Fundraising Campaign are here (https://thepixelproject.rallyup.com/read4pixelsiwd2022/Campaign/Details)

GREY MAGIC is now available!  (https://jeffekennedy.com/grey-magic)

The audiobook of DARK WIZARD is here (https://www.audible.com/pd/Dark-Wizard-Audiobook/B09QQRHTYZ?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-294201&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_294201_rh_us) and you can check out FaRoFeb here (https://farofeb.com/farofeb-2022/).

You can order FIRE OF THE FROST here (https://jeffekennedy.com/fire-of-the-frost) and DARK WIZARD here (https://jeffekennedy.com/dark-wizard). Preorder THE STORM PRINCESS AND THE RAVEN KING here (https://jeffekennedy.com/the-storm-princess-and-the-raven-king).

If you want to support me and the podcast, click on the little heart or follow this link (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jeffekennedy).

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Tweet me at @JeffeKennedy
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Thanks for listening!

Ghostlore is an anthology of writing inspired by the folklore of ghosts, spirits and the supernatural. Edited by writer and audio dramatists Lyndsey Croal this first edition, Wilderness, features the work of 11 writers and explores folklore from around the world. 

 Ghostlore Part One, Wilderness is presented and edited by Lyndsey Croal.  The readers are Sally Walker Taylor, Marie-Claire Wood, Maria S Picone, Lyndsey Croal and Chris Gregory.

 The featured pieces and writers are 

The Goatherd by Cormack Baldwin
Cormack Baldwin is a speculative fiction writer and editor who emerged from the Alaskan bush one day and mosied down to Oregon.
https://cmbaldwin.carrd.co/

A Ghost of Bones and Bark by Alexandra Beaumont
Alexandra’s debut fantasy novel based on Tudor astrology and star-magic, Testament of the Stars, was published in April 2021.
abeaumont@live.co.uk

Sing Sorrow To The Sea And the Waves Will Answer by Lyndsey Croal
Lyndsey is a science fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction writer from Edinburgh
www.lyndseycroal.co.uk

The Smiling Folk by E L Crocker
E L Crocker is a writer from Manchester. He cut his teeth in horror stories, but in recent years has turned to writing fantasy novels
https://twitter.com/ELCrocker3

Excerpt from “Mischief Acts” by Zoe Gilbert
Zoe is a prize winning short story writer, novelist and teacher based in Folkestone.  Her latest novel, Mischief Acts is published by Bloomsbury
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mischief-acts-9781526628817/

God is Neither Man Nor Ghost by Gessica Sakamoto Martini
Gessica Sakamoto Martini is a writer from Italy. Her writing has been published in Corvid Queen and featured in Alternative Stories podcast. She holds a PhD in Anthropology and tweets about folklore at https://twitter.com/GJMartini

Birth Story by Maria S Picone
Maria S. Picone/수영 (www.mariaspicone.com @mspicone on Twitter) is a Korean American adoptee and multigenre writer

Your Name Repeated by Tamara Rogers
Tamara writes mainly dark, surreal tales with a touch of science fiction. You can find her at www.thedustlounge.com and https://twitter.com/tamrogers

There is an Instinct by Melinda Salisbury
Melinda Salisbury is the three-time Carnegie nominated and bestselling author of multiple young adult novels, including the Sin Eater's Daughter series, the State of Sorrow duology, Hold Back the Tide, and Her Dark Wings.
www.melindasalisbury.com

The Hobby Lanterns by Cat Voleur
Cat Voleur is a writer, gamer, and podcaster. You can find her and more of her work through Twitter @Cat_Voleur and on her website http://www.catvoleur.com/

Spring Hollow Secret God Sleeping by Lorraine Wilson
Lorraine’s debut novel, the wilderness dystopian This Is Our Undoing, was released last year, and her second, The Way The Light Bends, a dark folkloric novel, is coming out in August this year. She tweets https://twitter.com/raine_clouds

 Music and production are by Chris Gregory

More bio notes on our participants https://tinyurl.com/ncxpzm95
Sound effects are from freesound.org

Full show notes out on the blog here.

After reading an article about the reason we need to keep reading novels, I (Kasie) suggested to Rex that we take on this idea of critical reading and how we build that skill set. We take it for granted that people read. For two reasons: 1) we read a TON and think that’s normal and 2) we write and we are hoping (hoping!) that people will buy our shit and read it.

This week we take a look at this reading thing. What do the trends look like? What are the opportunities (to think about this like entrepreneurs) and what are the worrisome numbers? When I couldn’t find the original article I read, I just googled “screens are making us reading” (seriously) thinking I’d find it. Turns out, I found a lot of conversation, going back as far as 10 years, related to reading on screens versus reading on paper and predicting the end of books. Yup.

Let’s unpack.

Rumors of the long-form demise:

• No one reads novels anymore
  • This article is about how no one will read your book – is this a supply and demand problem? Are there not enough readers consuming enough books to meet the supply of so.many.writers.? Publishers Weekly thinks so. Stats: 16 minutes per day reading (for those few Americans who actually do read books) and 3 hours per day of Netflix (if you wonder WTF is with that ratio you’re not alone).
  • The big 4 represent 75% of the commercial book market and people tend to read books that are already popular. Sigh.
• Former bibliophiles confess to having a hard time reading or finishing a book in this esquire article.
  • Blame our smartphones and their incessant notifications
  • We’ve been training our brains to skim and scroll instead of reading for depth and understanding
  • The author says, “my mechanisms for focus and attention have been gradually worn out and I find it harder now to shift gears.” Does that resonate?
  • And this: “Reading is a prolonged and concentrated effort in dealing with only the subject at hand, weaving through the logical transitions paragraph after paragraph and building a comprehensive thought after one has gone through the entirety of the text. It is, after all, a skill that requires considerable and constant practice. Simply put, the kind of reading we do in social media is easy, messy, random and incidental.”
• Is this about reading comprehension skills? If you had a strong reading comprehension skill set, would the extensive social media reading have degraded those skills? Or, if you had a poor reading comprehension skill set, was social media made for you and is exploiting that?

read more...

www.mikegarrigan.com - Mike Garrigan shares three original short stories and three original songs. Two of the stories were inspired by Reedsy's weekly writing prompts.
One story was inspired by a Vocal Media prompt. Click on the title of the story to read along.

• "Tongue" written on January 12, 2020 in response to the prompt "Write a magical realism story that takes place in the Wild West."
• "The New Parliament" - written on January 27, 2022 in response to the prompt "Share a piece of short fiction that includes a barn owl at any point in your narrative." 
• "Scars Don't Lie" - written on September 10, 2021 in response to the prompt "Set your story in a roadside diner." 

The three original songs are

• "Tell Me Everything" - piano variation; previously unreleased
• "Dirty Wake" - Live at Common Grounds, Greensboro, NC, January 22, 2022
• "Pure Triangles" - Live at Common Grounds, Greensboro, NC, January 22, 2022

In this cat-centric episode, Em talks about how cats have been depicted throughout history and recounts the Poe story The Black Cat.

Help support the pod & get fun, bonus content by subscribing to the Patreon!

Check out Em’s books, plays, and stories at frappmedia.com

And, you can find all things books & cats at booksncatspod.com

Abby and Alan present the scariest stories from Lunatics Radio Hour. Sit back and relax as we send shivers down your spine. 

Check out Abby's book Horror Stories. Available in eBook and paperback.

Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep.

Join the discussion on Discord.

lunaticsproject.com

The spookiness continues with more Stephen King as Em talks about her favorite stories from Skeleton Crew, and she discusses the super suspenseful movie, Bad Samaritan -- warning some spoilers ahead

Catching Cats - paperback & e-book

Help support the pod & get fun, bonus content by subscribing to the Patreon!

Check out Em’s books, plays, and stories at frappmedia.com

And, you can find all things books & cats at booksncatspod.com