flash fiction

StarShipSofa No 527 Julie Novakova and G. V. Anderson

March 7, 2018 by Jeremy Szal

Patreon support now standing at 401 – last week 398. Help us get to 500 Patreon Supporters. 

Bitcoin address: 1FcqW3GEWFX9tuoyFrn1ySKoeybyc3J4W9

Ethereum address: 0xacC43A99b1eDe0e4a04B43A7A7fa3aA476B87EAA

Main Fiction: “Etude for an Extraordinary Mind” by Julie Novakova

Originally published in Futuristica

Julie Novakova is a Czech author and translator of science fiction, fantasy and detective stories. She has published short fiction in Clarkesworld, Asimov’s, Analog and other magazines and anthologies, and her translations of other authors’ work appeared in Tor.com, Strange Horizons and F&SF. Her work in Czech includes seven novels, one anthology (“Terra Nullius”) and over thirty short stories and novelettes. Julie is an evolutionary biologist by study and also takes a keen interest in planetary science. She’s currently working on her first novel in English and on translating more Czech stories into English. Read more at www.julienovakova.com, Twitter @Julianne_SF and Facebook fb.com/JulieNovakovaAuthor.

Narrated by: Abra Staffin-Wiebe

Abra Staffin-Wiebe loves dark science fiction, cheerful horror, and futuristic fairy tales. Dozens of her short stories have appeared at publications including Tor.com, Escape Pod, and Odyssey Magazine. She lives in Minneapolis, where she wrangles her children, pets, and the mad scientist she keeps in the attic. When not writing or wrangling, she collects folk tales and photographs whatever stands still long enough to allow it. Win one of ten signed copies of A Circus of Brass and Bone, a post-apocalyptic steampunk alternate history, by going to her Goodreads giveaway at https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/273408-a-circus-of-brass-and-bone, open February 12 – March 12.

Short Fiction: “Butterfly Eyes” by G. V. Anderson

‘G. V. Anderson is a British writer whose professional debut, Das Steingeschöpf, won the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction in 2017. Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Syntax & Salt, Strange Horizons, and F&SF.’

Narrated by: Logan Waterman

Logan Waterman has a degree in Technical Theatre from California State University, and has worked in many theatres, large and small, professional and amateur. Logan currently lives in Northern California with Grendel, a huge black beast whose primary occupations are sleeping, stalking the fish in the aquarium, and keeping the house safe from the hordes of invisible monsters that come out after dark; and Morgana, a small fluffy Queen who rules her domain with an iron paw. The fish are unimpressed. He has narrated for The Drabblecast and all five District of Wonders shows and is the only story narrator to do so.

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Categories: Podcast | Tags: , , , , ,

StarShipSofa No 481 Donald Jacob Uitvlugt and Laura Pearlman

April 12, 2017 by Jeremy Szal

Main Fiction: “Butterfly Dreams” by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt

Originally appeared in Science Fiction Stories

Donald Jacob Uitvlugt lives on neither coast of the United States, but mostly in a haunted memory palace of his own design. His short fiction has appeared numerous print and online venues, including Timeless Tales and Cirsova Magazine. He strives to write what he calls “Haiku Fiction,” stories that are small in scale but big in impact. If you enjoyed “Butterfly Dreams,” let him know at his webpage http://haikufiction.blogspot.com or via Twitter: @haikufictiondju.

Narrated by: Adrian Collins

Adrian Collins is the Sydney based founder of Grimdark Magazine. He loves reading about anti-heores and seeing a story from the perspective of the villain across all genres, especially SFF. When not reading, he’s generally getting stuck into a beer with mates, travelling, or working as a bad writer. Say g’day over on @AdrianGdMag and facebook.com/grimdarkmagazine.

Short Fiction: “”Some Things I Probably Should Have Mentioned Earlier” by Laura Pearlman

Laura Pearlman’s stories have appeared in Shimmer, Flash Fiction Online, Daily Science Fiction, Unidentified Funny Objects 4, and Mothership Zeta. She has a sporadically-updated blog called Unlikely Explanations and a tumblr devoted to things her cats have dropped in their water bowl. She should probably get out more. You can find her at @laurasbadideas on Twitter.

Narrated by: Summer Brooks

Summer is a bit of a television addict, and enjoys putting her scifi media geek skills to good use in interviewing guests. She had been a co-host for Slice of SciFi from 2005-2009, the co-host for The Babylon Podcast from 2006-2012, and host of Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas, before returning to Slice of SciFi full time as host & producer in August 2014. She is an avid reader and writer of scifi, fantasy and thrillers, with a handful of publishing credits to her name. Next on her agenda is writing an urban fantasy tale, and a B-movie monster extravaganza.Currently, Summer designs and maintains websites for clients in addition to having fun with the Slice of SciFi websites, and also does voiceover & narrations for Tales to Terrify, StarShipSofa and Escape Pod, among others.

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Categories: Podcast | Tags: , , , , , , ,

StarShipSofa No 438 Rjurik Davidson and Sunil Patel

June 1, 2016 by Jeremy Szal

The Museum of Science Fiction in Washington DC will be hosting a three day event  known as Escape Velocity which is  Part Comic Con and Part Science Fiction Festival.  20% discount on admission to all StarShipSofa listeners  if they use the promo code SOFA20.

Details about the event are below and at www.EscapeVelocity.events

 

Main Fiction: “Skins” by Rjurik Davidson

Originally published in Cosmos Magazine.

Rjurik Davidson is a freelance writer. He has written short stories, essays, reviews and screenplays.     His novel, Unwrapped Sky, was published by Tor Books in April 2014. Sci Fi Now claims it can “go toe-to-toe with China Miéville’s best.” Kirkus Reviews calls it “Impressively imagined and densely detailed.” Newtown Review of Books says it’s “one volume you cannot ignore.” His novel, The Stars Askew will be out in 2016 and his screenplay The Uncertainty Principle (co-written with Ben Chessell) is currently in development. Rjurik can be found at www.rjurik.com and tweets as @rjurikdavidson.

Narrated by: Kaushik Narasimhan

Kaushik is a management consultant by day and a writer by night with a keen interest in psychedelics and role playing video games. Website: http://kazarelth.net, twitter: @Kazarelth

 

Short Fiction: “The Attic of Memories” by Sunil Patel

Originally published in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination

Sunil Patel is a Bay Area fiction writer and playwright who has written about everything from ghostly cows to talking beer. His plays have been performed at San Francisco Theater Pub and San Francisco Olympians Festival, and his fiction has appeared in Saturday Night Reader, Fireside Magazine, Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, Flash Fiction Online, and The Book Smugglers, and is forthcoming in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination and Genius Loci: Tales of the Spirit of Place. Plus, he reviews books for Lightspeed and he is Assistant Editor of Mothership Zeta. His favorite things to consume include nachos, milkshakes, and narrative. Find out more at ghostwritingcow.com, where you can watch his plays, or follow him @ghostwritingcow. His Twitter has been described as “engaging”, “exclamatory”, and “crispy, crunchy, peanut buttery.”

Narrated by: Julie C. Day

Julie C. Day’s fiction has appeared in such venues Interzone, Podcastle, and Resurrection House’s anthology XIII. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast program  and a Masters of Science in Microbiology from the University of Massachusetts.

You can find Julie’s latest story “Florida Miracles” in Interzone 261. As well as narrating for StarshipSofa, Julie is also the host of the Small Beer Press podcast. If you want to hear more of Julie’s voice, you can find her narration of Carmen Maria Machado’s “I Bury Myself” at smallbeerpress.com/tag/podcastery/.

Finally! You can find Julie herself on Twitter @thisjulieday or through her website:www.stillwingingit.com.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Categories: Podcast | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

StarShipSofa No 416 Colin P. Davies and Anatoly Belilovsky

December 30, 2015 by Jeremy Szal

Coming Up…

Fact: Science News by J J Campanella

Interview with editor of Escape Artists’ MotherShip Zeta, Karen Bovenmyer with Jeremy Szal

Main Fiction: “Julian of Earth” by Colin P. Davies

Originally published in Asimov’s.

Colin P. Davies lives near Liverpool, England and has been contributing to the science fiction and fantasy magazines for twenty-five years. His stories have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Abyss & Apex, Andromeda Spaceways, Daily Science Fiction and elsewhere. His story “The Defenders” was included in The Year’s Best Science Fiction #22 edited by Gardner Dozois. Colin is currently working on the third novel in his Young Adult comic fantasy trilogy Clifford and the Bookmole. More information can be found at Colin’s webite www.colinpdavies.com

Narrated by Sarah Afa

Sarah was born and raised in the United States, and moved to Australia in 2009. She has years of experience doing public speaking, as well as reading poetry and prose for competitions. Yes, she is a talker! She enjoys singing, reading, and adventuring the world with her new husband.

Short Fiction: “Tempora Mutantur” by Anatoly Belilovsky

Originally appeared in Stupefying Stories.

Anatoly Belilovsky is a Russian-American author and translator of speculative fiction. He was born in a city that went through six or seven owners in the last century, all of whom used it to do a lot more than drive to church on Sundays; he is old enough to remember tanks rolling through it on their way to Czechoslovakia in 1968. After being traded to the US for a shipload of grain and a defector to be named later (see wikipedia, Jackson-Vanik amendment), he learned English from Star Trek reruns and went on to become a paediatrician in an area of New York where English is only the fourth most commonly used language. His original work appeared or will appear in the Unidentified Funny Objects anthology, Ideomancer, Nature Futures, Stupefying Stories, Immersion Book of Steampunk, Daily SF, Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk, and Genius Loci anthology, and has been podcast by Cast of Wonders, Tales of Old, and Toasted Cake; his translations from Russian have sold to F&SF, Year’s Best SF #32 (edited by Gardner Dozois,) Grimdark, and Kasma. He blogs about writing at loldoc.net.

Narrated by J.S. Arquin

J.S. Arquin is an actor, writer, musician and pessimistic optimist.  He lives in Portland, Oregon and spends a large portion of his time producing The Overcast, a speculative fiction podcast featuring breathtaking stories from the Pacific Northwest and Beyond. Find it at: www.peoples-ink.com/the-overcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Categories: Podcast | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,