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I have struggled to write this post for weeks, rather months, okay, since January 20, 2017.  Like many sane people, I have difficulty processing much of what has happened in the past 12 months, kind of like processing being hit by a mack truck and dragged for a mile caught in its undercarriage as an afterthought.

The urge to wax poetic about my struggles with depression and suicidal ideation during the Year of Bizarro ...continue reading "2017 – The Good, The Bad, The WTF?"

If you need any help, just ask, I said.  I'd love to learn more, I said.

Sure thing, they said.  Hey, we have this story and you'd be terrific, they said.

Sure thing, I said.

Me and my big mouth.

Since then, ...continue reading "Brain Weasels Hate Showtunes"

News flash.  I love short fiction podcasts.  Shocking, right?

Years ago, through the wonders of the interwebz, I became acquainted with Escape Artists, Inc. (EA to its friends) and we've been best buddies ever since.  EA produces four of my favorite podcasts:  ESCAPE PODPSEUDOPODPODCASTLECAST OF WONDERS.  I fell in love with the short fiction format, the narrators, the hosts, everything.  Since then, I've had the privilege of hearing my own work produced on three of the four shows (*shakes fist at the heavens*  I'll get an acceptance yet, ESCAPE POD!).  You can read my interview with EA owner Alasdair Stuart here.

I recently supported EA's new Patreon campaign to do such things as pay CAST OF WONDERS narrators, offer new non-fiction content, and pay PSEUDOPOD narrators directly from the Patreon campaign itself.  I thought I would ...continue reading "PATREON As a Force of Good in the World (or: Why You Should Support Escape Artists, Inc.)"

With the wealth of incredible short fiction podcasts competing for our earspace, the talented voices behind the recordings are the spoken-word heroes.  I recently had the chance to ask Kate Baker of CLARKESWORLD MAGAZINE fame a few questions about narrating, music, self care, and hats.  (And if you're looking for more Kate, check out her interview Carl Slaughter over at File 770.)

 

kate

 

You’ve narrated for many splendiferous venues of the years.  In your opinion, what makes for a good podcastable story (I need to trademark that word).  Dialogue?  Number of characters?  Sparse or verbose prose?  Enough coffee in the morning? ...continue reading "LISTEN UP: The Voice Of A World (An Interview With Kate Baker)"

The season is upon us, the season of ghosts, haunts, haints, and the delightful chill of dark tales whispered at the dead of night.  Over the last two weeks on Twitter (hint: follow me @WriterOdell) I've shared some of my favorite horror podcast stories to help set the mood and I wanted to add a few more to the list because, let's face it, you can't have enough scary stories.  So, in no particular order: ...continue reading "HEAR THAT? HALLOWEEN SPECIAL"

Much like ice cream, garlic, and really good chocolate, there are a variety of podcasts to suit every taste in fiction.  (What do you mean you don't like garlic?  That's just not right.)

*ahem*

Hugo Award-winning LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE burst onto the interwebz in June of 2010.  Under the leadership of editor John Joseph Adams, it soon merged with its sister FANTASY MAGAZINE and became one of the premiere markets for short fiction, and quality podcasts produced by Skyboat Media.  You can ...continue reading "HEAR THAT? Lightspeed Magazine"

Let's hear it for podcasts!

See what I did there?  See?  See?. . .suit yourself.

THE DRABBLECAST may well be my favorite fiction pocast.  It certainly is the one I've listened to longest, introduced by a friend who thought I would appreciate the show's mission to bring "strange stories, by strange authors, to strange listeners such as yourself", and I am happy to say I've been a fan ever since.  THE DRABBLEAST looks at weird fiction not only as ann expression of other genres, but as a genre of its own.  From ...continue reading "HEAR THAT? The Drabblecast"

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I'm not a writer, I'm an imposter, not that you can tell because I writer like a writer doing writerly stuff.  Handy that, yes?

Imposter syndrome is a professional hazard writers know well.  We are dreamers, schemers, plotters, purveyors.  Loud, obnoxious personal demons insist we're fakes and phoneys.  Even the likes of the immensely talented Neil Gaiman has fallen prey to imposter syndrome.  As he said in his "Make Good Art" Keynote Address at the University of the Arts in 2012:

"The first problem of any kind of even limited success is the unshakable conviction that you are getting away with something, and that any moment now they will discover you. It's Imposter Syndrome, something my wife Amanda christened the Fraud Police.

In my case, I was convinced that there would be a knock on the door, and a man with a clipboard (I don't know why he carried a clipboard, in my head, but he did) would be there, to tell me it was all over, and they had caught up with me, and now I would have to go and get a real job, one that didn't consist of making things up and writing them down, and reading books I wanted to read. And then I would go away quietly and get the kind of job where you don't have to make things up any more."

I sometimes wonder what it would be like if other professions had this problem.  Can you picture a surgeon worrying that someone will figure out he doesn't actually cut and only draws marks on his patients in red and black ink?  Or a firefighter convinced someone will suddenly figure out he can't really put out fires?

So, yeah, I'm an imposter.  How do I know this?  Because people actually think I'm a writer!  Can you believe that?  I can't.  Yeah, sure, I put marks on paper or a computer screen, and sometimes people read them, but that doesn't make me a writer.  Any day now I'll hear that knock on the door and open it to find Neil Gaiman's guy with a clipboard standing there, waiting to take my computer and hand me a McDonald's uniform.

But don't fret.  Even this blog post is a clever ploy to bolster my writerly façade.  I've fooled plenty of people.  It's what imposters do.  Writers I greatly admire remark on posts I make on Twitter!  I've exchanged emails and conversed face to face with editors!  People have complimented me on the author spotlights I've done for LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE and NIGHTMARE MAGAZINE. Not once, not twice, but three times, three times mind you, a complete stranger has contacted me out of the blue to compliment me on one of my stories.  I'm an imposter, I tell you!

*sigh*

Yeah, so about that. . .

Some days it's harder than others to convince myself that I am, in fact, a writer.  I am certain that I am one rejection slip away from being found out.  Every writer is.  If I had a nickel for every time I've heard even award-winning, bestselling writers talk about their own imposter syndromes, I'd have plenty of overused metaphors to continue that comparison.  The secret to winning out against the imposter?   Keep writing.  At least that's what I do; not for readers, or editors, or the neighbor's dog, but for myself.  Most days I don't like what I've written; some days I do.  Write hundreds of words, thousands, write until I'm exhausted, write a single line and break down because I'll never be able to write again.

Write.  That's it.  Perhaps someone will read it, even like it enough to seek out more of my work.  Write the imposter to death until the next time she shows up and I writer her down again.  Maybe someday I'll be a writer pretending to be an imposter pretending to be a writer.  Nice work if you can get it.

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There are thousands of podcasts floating in the podsphere, but what about the talented people behind them?  I recently had the opportunity to ask Alasdair Stuart of the Escape Artists family of podcasts a few questions about podcasting, EAs future, and herding cats.

 

Alasdair Stuart, Man of WordsAlasdair2

 

Let's start with the standard boilerplate question. How did you become involved with podcasts in general and Escape Artists, Inc., in particular? ...continue reading "LISTEN UP: Who Was That Masked Man? (An Interview With Alasdair Stuart)"

If you haven't figured it out by now, I like audio fiction.  There are few things I enjoy more than closing my eyes while someone reads me a story.  Thanks to the recent "official" introduction of the Young Adult/New Adult genres there are now even more great stories to keep my ears entertained.

You don't need to be a young adult to enjoy YA fiction.  Good YA touches on many of the same themes and ideas as more mature fiction, yet the voice is geared towards younger readers.  Think less "immature" and more "exploration."  One of my favorite podcasts happens to be CAST OF WONDERS, "a fiction audio magazine for young adults featuring stories of the fantastic".  Started in 2011 as the brainchild of Barry J. Northern, it is now helmed by the splendiferous Marguerite Kenner and is part of the Escape Artists, Inc., family of podcasts.   Where to start listening?  Here are a few of my favorite episodes:

EPISODE 8 & 9:  "Alienation" Pt. 1 & Pt. 2 by Katherine Sparrow, read by Graeme Dunlop.  This story is a perfect example of the beauty of young adult fiction.  It addresses the complexities of social interaction, blooming sexuality, and the pain and joy of learning hard lessons.  Here is a story of alien first contact told with humor and insight from the aliens' points of view.  Katherine's prose is straight forward, and Graeme's narration brings it to life.  Well worth your time.

EPISODE 15:  "Same Day Delivery" by Desmond Warzel, read by Graeme Dunlop.  A wizard is hired to bring cargo into the city.  It's taken him a lifetime to master the art of teleportation, but when things go sour his customer learns the wizard has more than a few tricks left up his sleeve.  This is my favorite CoW episode.  Graeme's narration cinches everything together and presents the story in a tight, vivid, read.  Highly recommended.

EPISODE 43: "The Great Game, Part 1 - Khyber" by James Vachowski, read by Barry J. Northern.  This is the first of a series of seven stories told as "honest, there I was" tall tales.  I didn't know what to think of them at first, but it didn't take long for them to engage me with their pacing and high adventure.  Barry's narration is spot on, and Graeme's appearance for one episode in the series isn't bad at all.  Take the time to hunt these stories down.  You won't be disappointed.

EPISODE 71: "Now Cydonia" by Rick Kennett, read by Marguerite Kenner.  Tight, vivid, science fiction tale of exploration and loss on Mars.  This won the 2013 Parsec Award in the Small Cast, Short Form category.  Well worth your time if you like darker science fiction.

EPISODE 94: "The Drove of Maris-Charlottes" by David Turnbull, read by Stephanie Morris.  Herding wild potatoes!  Fending off a bunch of wild celery!  I giggled all the way through this.

EPISODE 170: "Princesses Do Not Breathe Fire" by Sarina Dorie, read by Jeff Hite and his children.  Here is another fine example of reaching out to all ages.  A princess wants to be good, honest!, but she keeps breathing fire and, well. . .

There you go!  CAST OF WONDERS offers a selection of stories that are great for all ages.  Take a listen, and if you like what you hear consider making a donation to keep the stories coming.

Have a favorite podcast?  Let me know in the comments.  And until next time, gentle listeners, keep your ears open!

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