Archive for Cast of Wonders Originals

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Cast of Wonders 65: The Great Game, Part 7 – The Mustard Wyrm

Cast of Wonders 65: The Great Game, Part 7 – The Mustard Wyrm is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:46 — 10.9MB)

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Show Notes

The Mustard Wyrm is final installment of a series of stories called The Great Game by James Vachowski and narrated by Barry J Northern. To find other episodes in the series search for the tag The Great Game.

The Great Game, Part 7–The Mustard Wyrm

By James Vachowski

What is that infernal screeching?  In God’s Holy Name, child, leave that poor cat alone!

Eh?  Music?  So you say.  To these ears it sounded more like a banshee being skinned alive.  Do yourself a favor and quit now, while you still have your youth. Your talents clearly lie beyond the world of music, and I dare say you will need all available time to discover your true skill.  By virtue of your heinous display of what I can only assume was intended to be a strain from Schubert, it is safe for us to rule out the violin as your life’s calling.

Besides, any devotee knows there is but a single instrument worthy of mastery.  Which one, you say? Do you jest? Surely your music professor has taught you the wonder of the bagpipes?  No? Child, the pipes are the birthright of the Highlanders, the instrument of ancient Scottish kings! Here now, be a good lad and wrap that quilt round my knees.  Close the window as well. The night grows cold, and I fear we have tormented the neighbors enough for one evening, what with your attempts at harmony.
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Cast of Wonders 64: The Gloaming (Part 2)

Cast of Wonders 64: The Gloaming (Part 2) is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:25 — 20.6MB)

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Show Notes

Today we present Part 2 of The Gloaming by M E Garber. Be sure to check out Part 1, first, if you haven’t already.

The Gloaming

by M E Garber

At this time I knew the Rules One through Five. They were easy, almost ridiculously so. Except for the “Asking” part, which I found hard.

Rule One: What you truly believe will become real. What you truly disbelieve will fade.

Rule Two: Pride brings unwelcome notice, and testing by the true fey. Guard well against Pride.

Rule Three: The Question must be asked. A lore-tender may only divulge rules once his or her charge has asked after each of them. Some leading is permissible, but pure telling is not possible.

Rule Four: Names prove important in strange, unpredictable ways. Always be careful when Naming if you have the power of fey.

Rule Five: Protect your purity. Loss of that innocence, of purity in your thoughts and deeds, will result in loss of your fey abilities.

My own corollary to Rule Five: It’s well-known that unicorns only associate with pure fey innocents. So, to stay with Azim al-Liajli, I stayed as far from human boys as possible. Easy.
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Cast of Wonders 63: The Gloaming (Part 1)

Cast of Wonders 63: The Gloaming (Part 1) is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:04 — 22.1MB)

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The Gloaming, Part 1

by M E Garber

I forgot Rule Number 1.

I imagined the evil hordes, and they became real.

I did it. I believed in them, gave them their power and forms. They merely fed my fear and my inattention, directed my fertile imagination into the darkness of isolation. I followed, as blind as I could be.
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Cast of Wonders 61: The Great Game, Part 6 – When Stars Fall

Cast of Wonders 61: The Great Game, Part 6 – When Stars Fall is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:11 — 13.1MB)

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Show Notes

To find the other episodes in this series, search for the tag The Great Game.

The Great Game, Part 6–When Stars Fall

by James Vachowski

Child! Quickly now, come here! Pull the drapes back, there’s a good lad, and roll me to the window.  See… there! That flash of light! 

What?  A meteor?  Don’t be a dunce, child, there’s no such thing. That was a star falling from the heavens, as sure as I’m alive. But draw the curtains now, if you please. A single shooting star is an omen of luck, but seeing several foretells death. I’ve seen enough death in my time, and I fear that my own summons cannot be too far off.

Ah, thank you. The stars are beautiful flashes of silver from afar, but terrifying when viewed up close. What? Of course I’ve seen a star up close, child! In fact, I’ve actually ridden in one!
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Cast of Wonders 59: Once There Was A Hero…

Cast of Wonders 59: Once There Was A Hero… is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:51 — 24.6MB)

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Once There Was A Hero…

by Jenny Moore

*Text to Come*

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Cast of Wonders 58: The Great Game, Part 5 – The Dark Continent

Cast of Wonders 58: The Great Game, Part 5 – The Dark Continent is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:26 — 10.6MB)

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Show Notes

The Dark Continent is part 5 of a series of stories called The Great Game by James Vachowski and narrated by Barry J Northern. To find other episodes in the series search for the tag The Great Game.

The Great Game, Part 5 — The Dark Continent

by James Vachowski

Light a lamp, child, and be quick about it. The day is fading, and my eyes are not what they once were. Ah, that’s the rub. This room closes in when night falls. Oftimes I find myself back in the dense brush of the Kalahari. Were you to speak a smattering of Bantu, odds are fair I would mark you by size as a pygmy Bushman.

What?  A Bushman, child!  Do you mean to tell me you have no knowledge of the fiercest warriors on this Earth?  The scourge of the Dark Continent? Those diminutive spearmen have dispatched tens of thousands of Her Majesty’s riflemen to their end, and it is no embellishment to say that I was nearly one of that number.
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Cast of Wonders 57: Empty Pockets (Part 2)

Cast of Wonders 57: Empty Pockets (Part 2) is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:51 — 22.8MB)

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Show Notes

Today’s episode is Part 2 of “Empty Pockets” by James Issac. Be sure to listen to Part 1  if you haven’t yet.

Empty Pockets, Part 2

by James Isaac

Fresh, clean and ready for his first day of work, Dee Jay made sure to wake way before nine o’clock. No rain today, a good sign, he thinks as he walks leisurely to the shop-with-no-name. MCG is sitting on her stool, this time whistling as she paints purple polish on her nails. She nods to Dee Jay as he crosses the street, shouting loudly because of the noise of the headphones “Good morning.”

As soon as he pushes past the bead-curtain Granny Guffin is there, throwing an orange apron at him. “Here is your ‘Apron of Customer Service,” she says. Lacking kangaroo pouch, Dee Jay considers it ‘rated underling.’

“Don’t you ever close?” he questions, as Mrs Guffin seems to be wearing the same gear as yesterday.

“Don’t be silly. Now clever young man, off to work you go. I want you to put the contents of those boxes on the shelves” she says pointing over to several large cardboard boxes between the aisles. “Do it anyway and anyhow you want. And remember, in case of a customer, we are what we are in the eye of the beholder.”
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Cast of Wonders 56: Empty Pockets (Part 1)

Cast of Wonders 56: Empty Pockets (Part 1) is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:27 — 14.2MB)

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Show Notes

Today we present Part 1 of Empty Pockets by James Isaac. James has three stories (non-YA) placed in three different anthologies that should be out before the year’s end:

Anabiosis, editors John G. Hartness & Emily Leverett, The Big Bad – An Anthology of Evil (publication and other details pending)

The Edge Between, Soul Reflections, Wicked East Press, 2012 (not yet appeared) e Publications, 2012

Waste Not Want Not, Tales for the Toilet, Crowded Quarantine Publications, 2012

Theme music is “Appeal To Heavens” by Alexye Nov, available at MusicAlley.com.

Empty Pockets, Part 1

by James Isaac

MCG doesn’t notice the young man, clutching a wad of freshly printed CVs, walk past and enter Pound Palace next door. Oblivious to the pattering of rain on the blank shop-awning above, she nods her head to the noises emitting from the over-sized, Monster Soundzzz, studio-quality headphones clutching her ears and scalp. A panoply of charms spreads randomly on the stall display-table in front of her; vacuum packed rabbits feet, horseshoes, an array of styled sevens and twelves. Leaning back on a wooden stool, with her fat-laced trainers up on the table, she maintains a precarious equilibrium. Her stall’s alleged purpose is to entice customers into the shop directly behind. But the last thing MCG expects is to be disturbed by customers. No-one ever enters from the front door.
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Cast of Wonders 54: The Great Game, Part 4 – In The Bowels of the Sick Man

Cast of Wonders 54: The Great Game, Part 4 – In The Bowels of the Sick Man is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:15 — 11.3MB)

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Show Notes

In The Bowels of the Sick Man is part 4 of a series of stories called The Great Game by James Vachowski and narrated by Barry J Northern. To find other episodes in the series search for the tag The Great Game.

Theme music is “Appeal To Heavens” by Alexye Nov, available at MusicAlley.com.

The Great Game, Part 4 — In The Bowels of the Sick Man

by James Vachowski

Child!

What is that swill you have brought me?  I called for coffee!

From Colombia, you say? Where? South America? My dear lad, America is but a speck along the timeline of history and hardly worth mentioning, much less pinpointing on a map. Ah, but real coffee… now that is something timeless.

Of course, there is only one place on earth where one can get such a draught. Hmm? I mean Istanbul, you fool! Here now, if you cannot manage to make proper coffee then at least steep a kettle for tea, and be quick about it.
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Cast of Wonders 53: The Cruel Sister

Cast of Wonders 53: The Cruel Sister is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:38 — 30.9MB)

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Show Notes

Today we present The Cruel Sister by James Breyfogle. James writes fantasy and Science Fiction from his home in Pennsylvania.

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 here. Check the shownotes for details.

Theme music is “Appeal To Heavens” by Alexye Nov, available at MusicAlley.com.

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Cast of Wonders 52: Retention

Cast of Wonders 52: Retention is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:11 — 8.5MB)

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Show Notes

Today we present Retention by Jason Heitkamper. Jason is a student writer attending St. Petersburg College where he have 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 Jason and hope you enjoy the story as much as we do!

Theme music is “Appeal To Heavens” by Alexye Nov, available at MusicAlley.com.

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Cast of Wonders 51: Off Button

Cast of Wonders 51: Off Button is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:50 — 8.1MB)

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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 her website.

Theme music is “Appeal To Heavens” by Alexye Nov, available at MusicAlley.com.

Off Button

by Shannon M Wendt

Serious, fourteen-year-old Becky Brown, with her over-large glasses and unruly brown hair, is considered the best babysitter in town and has a reputation of being able to tame even the most difficult brat. She is so popular and in-demand that parents bring their kids to Becky’s place instead of the other way around. On any given night, she has anywhere from three to a maximum of fifteen children in her care.

Becky is such a prolific sitter that she keeps an accounting ledger of her booming, little business. She can tell at a glance who her best clients are and who owes her money (although she rarely agrees to babysit “on account”). She makes between $600 and $1,200 per week, and has even been known to give her parents a loan from time to time (with interest, of course).
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