Alien Beer

The concept for Trans-Continental came to me in a dream. In that dream, a trans woman protagonist and her Artful Dodger-like companion flew their airship from place to place, having adventures together in the steampunk world I wrote about in Reality Check. I was so excited about this idea, I got up from bed at 2:30 in the morning and scribbled what I could remember down on my grocery list. When I found the notes in the morning, I dropped the writing project I had going already and started what would become Trans-Continental: Girl in the Gears. Eventually, I commissioned internet talk show host Angel Clark to do the narration of the audiobook. And now I'd like to share with you the first chapter from that book, and the beginning of the famous friendship of Ida and Duffy.

The Multiverse Blues is a science fiction serial spanning many alternate realities.

In this episode, Jules meets the crew of Hope's Tour as they load up to head to Gamma Earth through the Archnet gate.

This week, I present a flash story I wrote in 2013 for the late, great Iron Writer Challenge. This story of mad science is one of my favorites from that competition.

About half of the stories in this book were originally written for The (late, great) Iron Writer Challenge, a website and a community of folks who became good friends and adversaries in competing to craft 500 word stories using 4 elements -- written in just 4 days. I wrote the following story for The Iron Writer Challenge in July 2013 for the Summer Solstice Challenge. The challenge demanded that we use these four elements: An Electric Flying Bicycle, a Doppelgänger, Atlantis, and an obscure Black & White Television Drama/Comedy. My story finished dead last against 3 other past Iron Writer winners, who were worthy opponents. But one author friend told me that this story is what made her a fan of my writing, so winning isn't everything.

This bonus episode is the first chapter of my Tipsy Fairy Tales novel, Blue Spirit. Stephanie Estes is the narrator, and she does a wonderful job channeling Skye, the main character. The Blue Spirit audiobook may be found on Amazon/Audible.

In this, the premiere episode of The Multiverse Blues, we meet Jules, who's chasing a cat down a rabbit-hole to myriad 'verses!

Welcome to my new science fiction serial, The Multiverse Blues! I have had this idea rolling around in my head for a few years, or rather just a concept: Space Roadie. I put it dutifully in my Story Ideas file and have revisited a few times here and there to add some thoughts. But upon starting this podcast, I had a flash: what if the "Space Roadie" doesn't join an alien pop star's entourage. What if instead they travel through networked inter-dimensional gates to alternate realities? It could be an extension of the concept from my Reality Check novel, and I could visit strange, new worlds without the need for a spaceship.

 

The idea of a serial has appealed to me for awhile, since I am somewhat of a pantser, that is, I write by the seat of my pants. Okay, guilty admission, I DO outline for longer works, but it's sketchy at best, because I like my stories to grow organically. The podcast format, like old radio shows, seems to me to be an ideal medium for such an endeavor, so I am taking the challenge of writing another episode every two weeks, with my flash and short stories in between.

To be continued in Episode Two in two weeks. I welcome comments on The Multiverse Blues on Podbean, on my sillyhatbooks.com website, and on social media. My contact info is on sillyhatbooks.com/about.

This story is based vaguely on my "past life" as a ghost hunter, except from an alternate point of view.

 

Content Warning: Reference to anxiety, loss of agency, bones.

This bonus episode is the first chapter of Four 'til Late, the first book in my Road Ghosts series. Except it's not me reading this time, it's Sean Duregger, the talented narrator of my Road Ghosts Omnibus audiobook (available on Amazon/Audible). Even this one chapter is a story in itself. I hope you enjoy it.

Free audiobook codes of Road Ghosts for review, available until they're gone:https://audiobooksunleashed.com/product/road-ghosts-omnibus-edition/

Hello and welcome to Alien Beer! This is a podcast where I will read my science fiction, fantasy, and steampunk stories to you. This first installment is the title story, "Alien Beer" which is also the first story in my short story collection, Alien Beer and Other Stories, from which I will be reading stories weekly.