And now, Episode 18, in which Sarah knows the rules for life, Edelle gets a hug, and Jeremiah gets religion.
This episode’s Story So far by author Blake Charlton, bumper by uberfan Mildred Cady.
Enjoy!
This post is my first in a dialogue with Scott Roche about whether or not science and religion are truly competing for the same intellectual and spiritual space in the world. Read Scott’s opening post here.
Twitter is a mischievous little meme. On that innocent network yesterday, I noticed fellow podcast novelist, and fabulous debate opponent Scott Roche say of science and religion: “the two are examining different things.”
Naturally, being unable to keep my mouth shut on religion, sex, or politics (this is, by the by, why I never stay long on the east coast - I have to leave quickly before I’m shot for violating public decency laws), I retorted immediately saying: “Science and religion can not meaningfully be said to be examining different things.” Hello, fundamental conflict (and, consequently, hellooooo blog content)!
I am pleased to report that the story I originally wrote for Philippa Ballantine’s podcast project Erotica a la Carte has just sold to Circlet Press, and will be included in their forthcoming anthology Apocalypse Sex.
Buried Alive In The Blues is the story of Irene, a widow who finds herself trapped by a months-long rainstorm that’s drowning the world, but she doesn’t care, because she’s got a pass to see the best blues band in the world play at an old speakeasy in the neighboring town. But when the bass starts thumping and the lights hit the stage, she realizes she may get more than she bargained for - but that’s okay, because the blues are worth it.
If you haven’t heard the story and would like to, you can find it here. Definitely not work safe, it contains explicit sexual situations and a heavy dollop of the blues, Buried Alive is a southern gothic romance that will keep you guessing right up to the end.
I’ll keep you all posted on publication dates for the anthology!
Stopping in quickly during a break in my hectic production and writing schedules to drop a handful of links that have recently blown me away in one way or another.
First, the coolest biomedical news this year: Synthetic arteries have arrived.
Second, some really cool news on dog evolution from two fronts. There’s an article discussing the stray dogs in Moscow, and what selection pressures have done to them over the last 100 years. Then there’s the new BBC documentary on how dogs shaped human development, and vice versa - and answers the question “Are dogs smarter than Chimpanzees?” Check out the video here .
Finally, the single most mind-blowing introduction to Chaos Theory I’ve seen or read. Goes into the history, the development, and the implications of the most radically disturbing area of mathematics ever to come around. See it here and prepare to be astounded.
Enjoy! And stay tuned in the next few days for new episodes!
And now, Episode 3 of Free Will and Other Compulsions. Story So Far by Blake Charlton - find his book Spellwright, forthcoming from TOR at his home page.
Cast this week (in order of appearance):
Miss Kalendar as Ali Hartman
Stephanie Sawyer as Cassy Orinthal
Kitty Nic’Iaian as Fugitive and The Answering Service
Kim The Comic Book Goddess as Val
And now, Episode 17, in which Kevin and Jeremiah explore the uses for Vasaline, and Gerd has a secret.
Story So far by J.R. Murcodk of V&A Shipping.
Enjoy!
As I sat in this chair this morning prepping the next round of episodes for Down From Ten after a longer-than-intended Christmas hiatus, I got the news that Tee Morris’s wife died yesterday, leaving Tee and his five-year-old daughter, affectionately known as Sonic Boom, behind.
You that listen here regularly know Tee from his starring role as Amos in Down From Ten, or perhaps you heard his voice as Marian’s boss in Predestination or from the Predestination exit interview, but the story of Tee Morris is quite a bit more colorful. Tee invented podcast fiction, co-founded podiobooks.com, and is thus created the industry which launched the careers of myself, Chris Lester, Philippa Ballantine, Nathan Lowell, Scott Sigler, Christiana Ellis, Mur Lafferty, Nobilis Reed, and many others. He’s also directly helped many of us, and many others, with encouragement, advice, and lending his voice to our worlds. He’s also become a good friend to many of us, apart from a professional association.
Odd as it sounds, there are three things in this modern world that are more expensive than any other - being born, dying, and death. Natalie Morris’s death was sudden and unexpected, but it has left Tee with a raft of expenses he must meet immediately, and this as an unexpectedly single parent. Because of this, I have a special request for you - if you were planning on sending me a tip in the next week or three, send it to Tee instead.
Below you’ll find a widget for the chip-in account that Philippa Ballantine has started to help get Tee and Sonic Boom through the crisis time to calmer waters. Please click on it and toss a couple bucks in if at all you can.
Happy Christmas, everyone!
Sometime in November, new cast member Andrea Fender (playing the as yet unnamed “moon girl”) contacted Dan after her first recording session and said something along the lines of “That was fun! Let’s do some more!”
Since Dan didn’t have any more of Free Will written at the time, it was decided that a holiday themed poetry reading, to be posted on Christmas eve, like a Christmas present, would be just fantastic.
Which is just what they did.
Directed by: Andrea Fender
Performed by:
Andrea Fender
Dan Sawyer
Works performed:
The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill - Robert Service
The Cremation of Sam McGee - Robert Service
A Visit from St. Nicholas - Clement Clarke Moore
Music used:
Jingle Bells
Carol of Bells
Away in a Manger
For those of you not following along, in the current book of The Antithesis Progression, one character is using a hormone cocktail on another as a chemical leash. I’ve gotten some questions about what these weaponized chemicals are supposed to accomplish, how they’re supposed to work, and whether they’re a good choice for the purposes described in the story, so I thought I’d give you guys a peak behind the research curtain.
…read full article…
And now, Episode 16, in which Katy teaches a class, Amos has a fan club, and Gerd gets a sore throat.
Story So far by Mur Lafferty of more things than I can ever hope to name.
Enjoy!
And now, Episode 2 of Free Will and Other Compulsions. Story So Far by J.R. Murdock - find his books at Podiobooks.
Cast this week (in order of appearance):
Andrea Fender as The Moon Girl
Michael Lemonjello as Search Party Leader
Mark Smith as The Third Search Party Member
Miss Kalendar as Ali Hartman
Derek Moore as Jim Hartman
Stephanie Sawyer as Cassy Orinthal
George Chlentzos as Douglas Reeves
Kim The Comic Book Goddess as Val
Of the complicated pile of…legacy…that we have to untangle from the cultural madness we Americans indulged in during the Naughties (that’s the ‘00 decade, where pretty much every public figure engaged with politics, public policy, economics, social action, environmentalism, culture wars, and foreign policy acted impulsively, childishly, and shamefully), perhaps none is more irritating than the new jargon that’s grown up to obfuscate the different kinds of political violence in the world. When it comes to political violence, the destruction of the language we’ve all ostensibly agreed on is quite shocking.
…read full article…
To tide you guys over this week, and for those of you who might not have heard it, here’s the show where Philippa Ballantine, Chris Lester, and I podjacked Podioracket. Much silliness ensued — enjoy!
The first Triple Threat Contest is now upon us.
Your Mission:
The winner will be drawn December 21st.
Prize: Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time 2009 Memorial Calender, full of gorgeous artwork.
Here’s your chance to double-dip. Check out Digital Magic and Metamor City for their versions of this same contest. Everyone who enters all three contests will automatically be entered into a second drawing - the prize this time being a package of local edible goodies from San Francisco and New Zealand!
And now, Episode 15, in which Jeremiah gets snowed, Edelle gets curious, and Amos reveals the truth.
Story So far by Jennifer Hudock of Polyamory Weekly
Episode 16 coming this weekend - I hope.
