Far Fetched Fables

"Flash Fiction: “Myriam” by Jay Lake & Ruth Nestvold("Tales of the Rose Knights" #11, originally published at Daily Science Fiction.)When the Rose Knight Myriam arrived in the farthest reaches of the magical lands of Hy Rugosa, she was already so pale she soon became known as the Gossamer Knight. She told no one from whence she hailed or why she had sought out the lands of Hy Rugosa, but rumors abounded: that she had assassinated the leader of the Inner Sea, that she had poisoned the Prince in Point-of-Sleep, that she had betrayed her fellow knights in far Chemeketa. Some thought they heard the lilt of the Moonwood in her voice, others the exotic strains of the Farmost West. One thing all the stories agreed on--she had been banished. She was mourning. And every day, she disappeared a little bit more.Jay Lake lived in Portland, Oregon until his death in 2014, shortly before his 50th birthday. His books include Kalimpura from Tor and Love in the Time of Metal and Flesh from Prime. His short fiction appeared regularly in literary and genre markets worldwide. Jay was a winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and a multiple nominee for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. In 2015, he posthumously received the Locus Award for his collection Last Plane to Heaven.Learn more about him and his work at jlake.com.Ruth Nestvold has published widely in science fiction and fantasy, her fiction appearing in such markets as Asimov's, F&SF, and Gardner Dozois' Year's Best Science Fiction. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Tiptree, and Sturgeon Awards. In 2007, the Italian translation of her novella Looking Through Lace won the Premio Italia award for best international work. She maintains a web site at ruthnestvold.com and blogs at ruthnestvold.wordpress.com.Jay and Ruth's collection of short stories, Almost All the Way Home from the Stars, is available at Amazon and via iTunes.Main Story: “Heavy Sulfur” by Ari Marmell(Originally published in Operation: Arcana.)Late autumn, 1916The Western FrontAmidst the roiling clouds of mustard gas, bilious and billowing, I could just make out the alchemancer positioned atop the hillock.He stood tall, arms spread, apparently untroubled by the fusillades filling the air with lead, the bursting ordnance raising geysers of shrapnel and mud across the field of no man’s land. Ritual robes of rusty hue hung open over an officer’s uniform of the German Empire; unseen eyes glared through the lenses of a heavy gas mask, a hideous insectile thing that looked to have taken the place of the man’s head. The carbine strapped to one shoulder hung unused, for his right hand was occupied by a rune-carved staff of oak, from which the impossible banks of flesh-searing gas flowed. He directed them, as an orchestra conductor, sending them against the wind, positioning them where he would. They rolled toward the trenches and the brave British defenders; far behind the alchemancer, I could see multiple squads of German soldiers preparing to rush any breach the mustard gas might open.I wasn’t meant to have spotted the poison-witch, none of us were. His occult defenses were far too strong. That, however, was why men such as I fought on the front lines. I could feel the faint wetness of the oil with which I’d anointed my own brow and eyelids, the charm that permitted me to overcome such protections.Ari Marmell would love to tell you all about the various esoteric jobs he held and the wacky adventures he had on the way to becoming an author, since that’s what other authors seem to do in these sections. Unfortunately, he doesn’t actually have any, because real life is boring — hence the focus on fiction. His published work includes fully original novels, such as Hot Lead, Cold Iron, and Thief's Covenant; licensed/tie-in novels for multiple properties; and role-playing game material for games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade. He has worked with publishers such as Del Rey, Pyr Books, Titan Books, and Wizards of the Coast.Ari currently lives in an apartment that’s almost as cluttered as his subconscious, which he shares (the apartment, not the subconscious, though sometimes it seems like it) with George — his wife — and two cats who really, really think it’s dinner time. You can find Ari online at mouseferatu.com and on Twitter as @mouseferatu.About the Narrators:Jen R. Albert is an entomologist, writer, editor, narrator, wife, dog-mom, game-player, reader of all the things, and haver of too many hobbies from Toronto. She is a regular narrator at the Escape Artists podcasts and is co-editor of Podcastle.Jack Calverley lives in Central London where he watches a very small patch of land struggle into gardenhood. In even quieter moments he has been known to narrate science fiction stories for Starship Sofa and horror stories for Tales to Terrify, and also hosted the now defunct Crime City Central podcast for its entire two-year run. He is a member of the T-Party genre writers' group, another group called WINOS, and critters.org, and (having attended two online classes from the Odyssey Writing Workshops) is a member of the Odyssey online critique group. A testament to perseverance if nothing else. He lives online at jackcalverley.com where he watches a very small patch of website struggle into nethood."

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Flash Fiction: “Dreidel of Dread: The Very Cthulhu Chanukah” by Alex Schvartsman(Originally published in Galaxy's Edge.)Twas the night before Chanukah, and all through the planet, not a creature was stirring except for the Elder God Cthulhu who was waking up from his eons-long slumber. And as the terrible creature awakened in the city of R'lyeh, deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, and wiped drool from his face-tentacles, all the usual signs heralded the upcoming apocalypse in the outside world: mass hysteria, cats and dogs living together, and cable repairmen arriving to their appointments within the designated three-hour window."This will not do," said Chanukah Henry. "I will not have the world ending on my watch, not during the Festival of Lights."Alex Shvartsman is a writer, translator, and game designer from Brooklyn, NY. More than 80 of his short stories have appeared in Nature, Galaxy's Edge, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, and many other magazines and anthologies. He won the 2014 WSFA Small Press Award for Short Fiction and was a finalist for the 2015 Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Fiction. He is the editor of the Unidentified Funny Objects annual anthology series of humorous science fiction and fantasy. His collection Explaining Cthulhu to Grandma and Other Stories and his steampunk humor novella H.G. Wells, Secret Agent were both published in 2015. His website is alexshvartsman.com.Main Story: “If Dragon's Mass Eve Be Cold and Clear” by Ken Scholes(Originally published at Tor.com.)Muscles tire. Words fail. Faith fades. Fear falls. In the Sixteenth Year of the Sixteen Princes the world came to an end when the dragon’s back gave out. Poetry died first followed by faith. One by one the world-strands burst and bled until ash snowed down on huddled masses whimpering in the cold.The Santaman came reeking of love into this place and we did not know him.This is his story.This is our story, too.PreludeThe Santaman Cycle, Authorized Standard VersionVerity Press, 2453 YDI buried my father on Dragon’s Mass Eve. I dug the grave myself, there on the hill overlooking our homestead, beside the grave he dug for my mother some thirty-five years earlier.Ken Scholes is the award-winning author of the five volume Psalms of Isaak series (published in the US by Tor) and more than fifty short stories. He is a native of the Pacific Northwest with two honorable discharges, a degree in History, and a wide background that includes time logged as a street performer, revivalist, nonprofit executive, government procurement analyst, and label gun repairman. Ken makes his home in Saint Helens, OR, with his twin daughters. Visit kenscholes.com to learn more.About the Narrators:Heather Klinke was born and raised in Southern Illinois. She grew up loving Gilda Radner, Wonder Woman, and the Muppets, all of whom inspired Heather to make the move to Hollywood. She received her BA in Theatre from Western Illinois University, and discovered the art of improvisation. She performed in numerous improv shows and stage plays in St. Louis before moving to LA, where she was accepted into Second City Hollywood’s first conservatory class. Heather has produced and starred in many shows at Second City, including “It’s Klinke! It’s Klinke!”, written and directed by Marc Evan Jackson. She often lends her voice to cartoons and the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast, which is co-hosted by her husband, Chad Fifer.Eric Luke is the screenwriter of the Joe Dante film Explorers, which is currently in development as a remake; has written for the comic books Ghost and Wonder Woman; and wrote and directed the Not Quite Human films for Disney TV.  His current project, Interference (a meta horror audiobook about an audiobook... that kills), is a bestseller on Audible.com. His website for creative projects is Quillhammer.com.

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Flash Fiction: “Under the Bed” by Effie Seiberg(Originally published in Crossed Genres.)I keep it clean under the bed. I go swoosh swoosh swoosh and suck the dust away. Jimmy can’t have a dusty bed. It would make him sick. I don’t want Jimmy to get sick. I love Jimmy. So I keep it clean.Jimmy’s been gone for three nights.Every night, we used to do our special thing. I’d slooooowly start to move. Make the whisperiest of sounds. And Jimmy would pretend to be frightened and he’d scream. His mom would come back into his room and look under the bed. “There’s nothing there, honey,” she’d say. But Jimmy and I would know different. It’s our secret, even though he can’t keep the secret even the littlest bit. But that’s OK. I always forgive him, because I love Jimmy.Effie Seiberg is a fantasy and science fiction writer. Her stories can be found in the Women Destroy Science Fiction! special edition of Lightspeed magazine (winner of the 2015 British Fantasy Award for Best Anthology), Galaxy's Edge, Analog, Fireside Fiction, and PodCastle, among others. She is a graduate of Taos Toolbox 2013, a member of SFWA and Codex, and a reader at Tor.com. Effie lives in San Francisco, recently and upcoming (but not presently) near a giant sculpture of a pink bunny head with a skull in its mouth. She likes to make sculpted cakes and bad puns. You can follow her on Twitter via @effies or on effieseiberg.com.Main Story: “The Adventures of Petal the Paper Doll Pirate” by Paul Jessup(Originally published in Fantasy Magazine.)The candle in the sky warmed their skin, making all too crisp the vellum of their bones. This was the Water Colored Tropics, far south from the harsh and acrylic snowlands that her Jotuns called home. Petal liked it here, this land of single hatch beaches and popup book natives in grass skirts.The papier-mâché Jotuns were grumpy and tired and sick. They did not like the heat, did not like being so close to the candle sun. They were afraid of burning up, of their paper-thin clothes curling black and catching flame, scattering the ash of their corpse in the static waves of the painted sea.They whispered behind Petal’s back. Talked of mutiny, written down in hidden parts of the ship. They made no secret of their disgust. When the Jotuns came brandishing clumsily drawn chains Petal had already stowed away on a brown cardboard boat, peddling straight towards a distant shore. She had copied the map on her flesh, inking the memory of the treasure she searched for into her skin with a large silver point pen.Paul Jessup is a critically acclaimed and award winning author, poet, and playwright. He's been published in numerous anthologies and magazines, and has three books out by various small presses.About the Narrators:Fran Carras is whatever she decides to be when she wakes up each morning. She has also been known to be a voice talent, performance artist, and poet, and professional dabbler in other arts that express. You can find her online at misfran.com.Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and three children. By day she works as a breast oncology nurse. At all other times she juggles, none too successfully, writing, reading, gaming, and gardening. She has been published at Escape Pod, An Alphabet of Embers, and People of Color Destroy Science Fiction!. She’s also penned a novel titled An Unproductive Woman which can be found on Amazon. Khaalidah is also a narrator and you may have heard her voice at Strange Horizons and all four of the Escape Artists podcasts. Khaalidah is guest editor for Artemis Rising 3 over at PodCastle and is also guest editing Truancy magazine‘s fourth issue.Khaalidah is on a mission to encourage more women and people of color to write and publish science fiction stories. Of her alter ego, “K” from the planet Vega, it is rumored that she owns a time machine and knows the secret to immorality. You can catch up to her posts at her website, khaalidah.com and follow her on Twitter, @khaalidah.

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Feature Story: “The Double-Edged Sword” by Sharon Shinn(Originally published in Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology: Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy.)I sat at the back of the dark tavern at the table that, in the past five years, had come to be known as mine. Even on the days when I did not bother to leave my house, or leave my bed, no one sat in this booth except me. The townspeople knew better, and strangers who made the mistake of sitting in my place would be told politely by Samuel that the table was reserved. I was the only one who ever sat there, and Samuel was the only one who would approach me while I was in possession.I idly shuffled my zafo cards and began laying out an unspecified fortune. It would be my own, of course; these days, I did not read for anyone except myself. And even then, I was rarely satisfied with the pictures I saw in the cards.Sharon Shinn has published 26 novels, one collection, and assorted pieces of short fiction since her first book came out in 1995. Among her books are the Twelve Houses series (Mystic and Rider and its sequels), the Samaria series (Archangel and its sequels), the Shifting Circle series, and the Elemental Blessings series. Visit her website at sharonshinn.net or on Facebook at sharonshinnbooks.About the Narrator:Julie C. Day's fiction has appeared in such venues as 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. Finally!: You can find Julie herself on Twitter @thisjulieday or through her website stillwingingit.com.

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Flash Fiction: “Myriam” by Jay Lake & Ruth Nestvold("Tales of the Rose Knights" #10, originally published at Daily Science Fiction.com.)When the Rose Knight Myriam arrived in the farthest reaches of the magical lands of Hy Rugosa, she was already so pale she soon became known as the Gossamer Knight. She told no one from whence she hailed or why she had sought out the lands of Hy Rugosa, but rumors abounded: that she had assassinated the leader of the Inner Sea, that she had poisoned the Prince in Point-of-Sleep, that she had betrayed her fellow knights in far Chemeketa. Some thought they heard the lilt of the Moonwood in her voice, others the exotic strains of the Farmost West.One thing all the stories agreed on -- she had been banished. She was mourning. And every day, she disappeared a little bit more.The Oldest People knew her story, but they did not tell.Jay Lake lived in Portland, Oregon until his death in 2014, shortly before his 50th birthday. His books include Kalimpura from Tor and Love in the Time of Metal and Flesh from Prime. His short fiction appeared regularly in literary and genre markets worldwide. Jay was a winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and a multiple nominee for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. In 2015, he posthumously received the Locus Award for his collection Last Plane to Heaven.Learn more about him and his work at jlake.com.Ruth Nestvold has published widely in science fiction and fantasy, her fiction appearing in such markets as Asimov's, F&SF, and Gardner Dozois' Year's Best Science Fiction. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Tiptree, and Sturgeon Awards. In 2007, the Italian translation of her novella Looking Through Lace won the Premio Italia award for best international work. She maintains a web site at ruthnestvold.com and blogs at ruthnestvold.wordpress.com.Jay and Ruth's collection of short stories, Almost All the Way Home from the Stars, is available at Amazon and via iTunes.Main Story: “Whither Thou Goest” by Gerri Leen(Originally published in She Nailed a Stake Through His Head: Tales of Biblical Terror.)In the stories of those who survive, I am a heroine. In the stories of my own people, those of us descended from Lot's daughter, from her incestuous union with her own father, I am also a heroine. If two such noble peoples see me as such, who am I to complain?They both love me because I endure. Because I survive. Because I cling with holy -- or is it unholy -- fervor to the woman who bore the man I sucked dry. Once she knew what I was, Naomi would have killed me if she could, but her life is forfeit if I should cease to draw breath. I saw to that when I said the ancient words, binding me to her, twining my very breath with hers."Wherever you go, I will go…"Gerri Leen lives in Northern Virginia and originally hails from Seattle. She has work appearing or accepted by: Nature, Flame Tree Press’s Murder Mayhem and Dystopia Utopia anthologies, Daily Science Fiction, Escape Pod, Grimdark, and others. She recently caught the editing bug and is finalizing her third anthology for an independent press. You can find her online at gerrileen.com.About the Narrators:Tatiana Gomberg is a critically acclaimed actress of stage, screen, and the audio booth. She has been nominated for dozens of fancy awards but hasn’t won a single damned thing. She lives in New York City. See more about her at tatianagomberg.com.Andrea Subasatti is a sociologist, journalist, and podcaster. In 2010, her Master's thesis on the social impact of zombie cinema was published under the title When There’s No More Room In Hell: The Sociology of the Living Dead. She joined the staff of Rue Morgue magazine in 2014, to which she is a frequent contributor. Her writing has also been published in The Undead and Theology (2012) and The Canadian Horror Film: Terror of the Soul (2015). In addition to writing, Andrea is the co-host and producer of The Faculty of Horror podcast with writer Alexandra West. She has made guest appearances on the Rue Morgue Podcast and Pseudopod, and is co-curator of The Black Museum, a Toronto-based monthly horror lecture series she founded with Canuxploitation creator Paul Corupe. Lady Hellbat lives and works out of Toronto, Ontario. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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First Story: “Evil is as Evil Does” by Travis Burnham(Originally published in Aoife's Kiss.)Right in the middle of my nefarious plan to create an enormous ball of bubonic plague-infected fleas, the door gong set my teeth to rattling. I sent Herschel to see who it was.“It's today's virgin,” he rumbled from the end of the hallway.“Well don't just stand there like an idiot, bring her in,” I shouted. “You know the routine.” Herschel is as loyal as any evil master could hope for, but if his intellect were a knife, he'd have trouble cutting butter.Herschel brought her in over his shoulder and placed her on the trapdoor that dropped virgins to the room below where they would meet their violent, bloody deaths at Vilesnoot's claws and fangs.I leaned back in my easy chair, annoyed. “Herschel, remind me to call Green Light Virgins and complain. They're simply cutting too many corners.”Travis Burnham is an SF/F writer and science teacher. His work has previously appeared in Aoife's Kiss, Bad Dreams Entertainment, South85 Journal, and SQ Quarterly. Originally from New England, he's lived in Japan, Colombia, and the Mariana Islands, and currently lives in Upstate South Carolina with his wife and pup. He's a bit of a nomad, having bungee jumped in New Zealand, hiked portions of the Great Wall of China, and gone scuba diving in Bali. He's got some novels looking for homes and can be found online at travisburnham.blogspot.com and travisburnhambooks.com.Second Story: “Picture Perfect” by Matt Mikalatos(Originally published in Unidentified Funny Objects 3.)Richard the unfriendly ghost woke me. I blinked twice. The sun was still up, I could sense it on the other side of the drapes. "Are you trying to murder me again?" I asked.Richard cackled. "Worse! Much worse, Isaac."I frowned. I didn't bother to ask what was worse than murder. As a vampire I had doled out plenty of worse-than-murder moments, not the least of which was feeding Richard to one of the elder gods of terror. That had bought me almost two months of Richard-free bliss. But ghosts are surprisingly resilient.Matt Mikalatos is the author of eight books, the most recent of which is the young adult superhero novel, Capeville: Death of the Black Vulture. Find out more at mikalatos.com, or on Twitter and Facebook.About the Narrators:Dan Kelly is an artist allowing the universe to deliver his wildest dreams. Other than a high school diploma and a few random certificates for esoteric skills like Steadicam operation and freediving, Dan is giddily sans credentials and credibility. Born just before all those iconic Americans were rubbed out, he now thrives at the northern edge of the USA amidst paranoid prepper enclaves and socialist sleeper cells. Dan likes movies and with a little luck, he’ll be releasing his first open source inspired featurette, a post-apocalyptic romantic comedy titled Daughter of God sometime in the late summer of 2016. You can learn more at dankelly.sexy.Seth Williams is the avatar for a three-kilometer sentient starship that is parked (probably uncomfortably) close to the third planet. Surprisingly he has not yet been discovered. He is very happy that the inhabitants have discovered enough technology to that he can communicate in this limited fashion. Any communications can be directed to theboojum.org.

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"Flash Fiction: “1348” by Russell Hemmell(Originally published in Strangelet 1.4 and also End of the Year Anthology 2015.)He arrived on Sunday, after a winter of sleep and snow. A jester with clear blue eyes, pale lithe hands and white flowers in them. He smiled and said, I come in peace. I ply my trade with buffooneries and riddles, and the joking tambourine accompanies my laughter. Enjoy my gifts, you beautiful city, and the good time I bring. He bowed in reverence, with the beauty of an angel. And it was Sunday.On Monday Florence woke up at the song of hundred birds, colourful plumes of fast-winged spirits. Sun was bathing the city roofs, and its rays made the Cathedral’s spires shine and glow. Here it comes an unforgettable season, people rejoiced. For the jester had promised.Russell Hemmell is a statistician and social scientist from the U.K, passionate about astrophysics and speculative fiction. His stories have appeared in Not One of Us, Perihelion SF, SQ Mag, and others. Learn more at earthianhivemind.net or on Twitter via @SPBianchini.Main Story: “Master of Business Apocalypse” by Jakob Drud(Originally published in Unidentified Funny Objects 3.)For the last one hundred thirty-one years my job at Mundo Perpetuo has been to stop all the probable and improbable apocalypses that people accidentally invoke. I've worked my way up from junior meteor diverter to viral containment specialist, and now, as the most senior staff member, I get to run the Department of Mixed Ends of the World. If the dinosaurs return, or civilization as we know it is threatened by falling anvils, Old Joe steps up to bat.And still, some days the world takes me by surprise, like the day when Paula Johnson greeted me in the lobby with these words: "Mr. Inflectus. I am to inform you that our new CEO, Mr. Halen, has called a meeting of all department heads at 9:00 A.M., and that you are now five minutes late."Around the office I just go by the name of Joe, so her salutation stopped me dead in my tracks. "And, eh, a very formal morning to you too, Ms. Johnson. New CEO, you said?"Paula just cracked her knuckles, a gesture I knew as danger incarnate. Her magic was capable of manipulating physical objects in disturbing ways, which made her the best security chief in the northern hemisphere. She was also an archivist of unrivaled skills, and both abilities had saved my life time and again. If she felt threatened, I did, too.Jakob Drud lives in Denmark with his wife and children. It's a good life, but his stories are probably more exciting than he is. They've met aliens, lived in the Sun, fought monsters and flown between the stars. They also travel more than he does, and so far they've appeared in magazines in the US, Canada, and Australia.About the Narrators:Alex Weinle lives in a cottage just outside Cambridge where he writes science fiction and narrates stories. His new fridge is bigger than the cottage itself, somewhat like the TARDIS but containing far more calories.Jonathan Sharp lives and works in a sleepy southern New Mexico town alongside his exceedingly talented wife, Paige. When he is free from the mountains of organic vegetables under which he works, he plays in front of the microphone in the hope it may one day talk back to him. You can reach him online at sharpandvoice.com."

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Flash Fiction: “In the Timeline Where the Moscow Metro Opened in 1934” by S.L. Harris(Originally published at Daily Science Fiction.)In the timeline where the Moscow Metro opened in 1934, we live together in a khrushchyovka on Bourbon Street and eat green caviar on waffles. Times are hard but we love each other like we never love each other, like we never love anyone else, in all the hundreds of millions of timelines I've seen.S.L. Harris is a writer and archaeologist who lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter and their faithful hound. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Abyss & Apex, Daily Science Fiction, and Plasma Frequency. He occasionally tweets as @sl_harris.Main Story: “The Last Song” by Gerri Leen(Originally published in Reflection's Edge, July 2008.)Haze rises like swamp gas in the capital, and Lupe can smell the exhaust swarming up around him from the traffic stalled on the Avenida La Reforma. The tourists are sweating as they head for the restaurants and shops or back to their hotels to stay in for the night. A man pushes past the others, hurrying, late perhaps. Sweat stains his fine shirt, darkening the fabric under the arms and down the back.“It’s a hot one,” Hector mutters. He doesn’t sweat, even though his charango lies flat against his back as he walks, the wood gleaming, the strings reflecting silver-white in the dying light.Enrique pushes his guitar back, but it’s too big to lie flat. It flops to the front after he has taken a few steps, the woven strap worn and faded and barely connected to the instrument. “So, it’s hot. So what?”They have been together too long to waste words. But Lupe knows they can’t remain entirely quiet. Silence is worse than death.And they should know.Gerri Leen lives in Northern Virginia and originally hails from Seattle. She has work appearing or accepted by: Nature, Flame Tree Press’s Murder Mayhem and Dystopia Utopia anthologies, Daily Science Fiction, Escape Pod, Grimdark, and others. She recently caught the editing bug and is finalizing her third anthology for an independent press. You can find her online at gerrileen.com.About the Narrators:Logan Waterman has a degree in Technical Theatre from California State University, and has worked in many theatres, large and small, professional and amateur. He has also worked for Apple computers, sold hot tubs and comic books, and prepared court documents. He has taught and performed sword-fighting for the stage, and run lights for a local band, until they broke up.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.As of this bio, he has narrated for The Drabblecast and all five District of Wonders shows: StarShip Sofa, Tales To Terrify, Far Fetched Fables, and the late lamented Protecting Project Pulp and Crime City Central -- and is the only story narrator to do so.By day, Roberto Suarez works as a community college student advocate and recruiter. By night he geeks out on all things fantasy and science fiction, comic books and board games He is the co-host and producer of A Pod of Casts: The Game of Thrones Podcast and the new Radio Westworld, a podcast dedicated to HBO’s latest science fiction series. You can find Roberto on the web at robertosuarez.me, or on Twitter as @PuertoGeekan.

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"Flash Fiction: “Papagena” by Jay lake and Ruth Nestvold("Tales of the Rose Knights" #8, originally published in Daily Science Fiction.)Papagena was born on the Borderlands, between the sere landscape of the south and the orange plains to the north, a child of two homes, and when she chose to become a Rose Knight, her allegiance was to the plains as well as the desert, to the fertile land of Osverio as well as the harsher but warmer beauty of the Desertlands.She did not wear only one color. Some said her loyalties were divided, but she was true to both, orange and yellow, fighting with an ancient heart for both armies, giving the strength of her sword arm when the orange knights went to battle and the strength of her shield when the yellow knights needed to defend Sandbridge from intruders. As with all of the Rose Knights about whom the tales are told, Papagena was her own agent, free to go where she would and fight with whom she chose, living off booty and the pay from the campaigns in which she fought. Nonetheless, most Rose Knights fought for only one army.Papagena went a different way.Jay Lake lived in Portland, Oregon until his death in 2014, shortly before his 50th birthday. His books include Kalimpura from Tor and Love in the Time of Metal and Flesh from Prime. His short fiction appeared regularly in literary and genre markets worldwide. Jay was a winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and a multiple nominee for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. In 2015, he posthumously received the Locus Award for his collection Last Plane to Heaven.Learn more about him and his work at jlake.com.Ruth Nestvold has published widely in science fiction and fantasy, her fiction appearing in such markets as Asimov's, F&SF, and Gardner Dozois' Year's Best Science Fiction. Her work has been nominated for the Nebula, Tiptree, and Sturgeon Awards. In 2007, the Italian translation of her novella Looking Through Lace won the Premio Italia award for best international work. She maintains a web site at ruthnestvold.com and blogs at ruthnestvold.wordpress.com.Jay and Ruth's collection of short stories, Almost All the Way Home from the Stars, is available at Amazon and via iTunes.Main Story: “She-Who-Thinks-For-Herself” by Juliet E. McKenna(Originally published in Resurrection Engines.)My beloved aunt, Phyllis Charteris, has received none of the plaudits lavished on the laurel-garlanded heroes who explore the remote heart of Africa. The Royal Geographic Society might deign to acknowledge Mary Kingsley after the success of her publication, ‘Travels in West Africa’ but there is not one quarter-inch of a newspaper column recording my aunt’s achievements.Such injustice has galled me ever since my return from the trackless swamps of the upper Zambesi. However I was sworn to secrecy for reasons which this narrative will soon explain.Now Mr. H. Rider Haggard has published the reminiscences of his Cambridge acquaintance sheltering beneath the pseudonym “Horace Holly”. Consequently I am free to share my aunt’s achievements with the world.But I am outstripping my story’s proper order.Juliet E. McKenna is a British fantasy author living in the Cotswolds, UK. Loving history, myth, and other worlds since she first learned to read, she has written fifteen epic fantasy novels, from The Thief’s Gamble which began The Tales of Einarinn in 1999, to Defiant Peaks concluding The Hadrumal Crisis trilogy. Exploring new opportunities in digital publishing, she’s re-issuing her backlist as ebooks as well as bringing out original fiction. She also writes diverse shorter fiction, reviews for web and print magazines and promotes science fiction and fantasy by blogging, attending conventions, and teaching creative writing. You can learn more about all of this at julietemckenna.com, and you can find Juliet on Facebook and on Twitter via @JulietEMcKenna.About the Narrators:Kat Merkulova is a multilingual, multi-national human. Born in the USSR, she currently lives in Paris, France. In the past she’s written a doctorate in plant biology, been an electro-grunge singer, and reported “LIVE!” on Russian national television. She’s recently decided to give web development a chance. As fascinating a person as she may be by day, she has zero literary credentials apart from being a fan of genre literature and podcasting. If you really want to, you can follow her on Instagram at @katlarusse.Nicola Seaton-Clark lives in the wilds of (almost) Eastern Europe with her long-suffering husband, phenomenal children and a grumpy cat. Trained as an actress and singer, she has worked in entertainment for over 20 years and currently splits her time between writing speculative fiction, helping her husband run their voice-over company, Offstimme, and voicing everything from commercials and documentaries to public transport announcements. She also hosts this podcast..."

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"Flash Fiction: “Anatomy of an Arrow” by Natalia Theodoridou(Originally published on Daily Science Fiction.)"So, uh, I've been meaning to ask. What's that?" He pointed at the fletching that poked out of a hole in her blouse, a few inches from her chest. It almost dipped in her bowl every time she bent to take a spoonful of soup.She shrugged and looked away. "An arrow.""An arrow." He mouthed the word slowly, as if trying to wrap his mind around each syllable.Natalia Theodoridou is a media and cultural studies scholar, a dramaturge, and a writer of strange stories. Her fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Crossed Genres, Interfictions, and elsewhere. Find out more at natalia-theodoridou.com or follow @natalia_theodor on Twitter.Main Story: “Into the Woods, with Zombunny” by Camille Griep(Originally published in Unidentified Funny Objects 3.)Squire Ulrich's very worst day began with cold tea at breakfast, followed by the discovery of a hole in his right greave, and culminating with a lost battle flag. "Good luck with your next job" his knight had said. Ulrich might have misplaced any number of items of little consequence; the battle flag was not one of them. Ulrich's shoulders slumped as his former employer disappeared over the rise. He'd never been sacked before, in the middle of battle, no less.The squire turned his back to a pile of pendants, none of which belonged to him, when misfortune beset him a final time. A sharp pain between his shoulder blades revealed itself to be a sturdy, wooden arrow impaling his chest.Camille Griep's recent work has been featured at Cartridge Lit, The Drabblecast, Under the Gum Tree, and Synaesthesia, among others. She is the editor of Easy Street, a senior editor at The Lascaux Review, and an editor at Prison Renaissance, a project that fosters mentorship and collaboration between incarcerated and free artists. The author of Letters to Zell (July 2015) and New Charity Blues (April 2016), she lives and writes near Seattle with her bulldog assistants, Dutch and Hippo. She can be found online at camillegriep.wpengine.com.About the Narrators:Jen R. Albert is an entomologist, writer, editor, narrator, wife, dog-mom, game-player, reader of all the things, and haver-of-too-many-hobbies from Toronto. She is a regular narrator at the Escape Artists podcasts and is co-editor of Podcastle.Rish Outfield is a writer, actor, and podcaster who can be heard as co-host of The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine, which presents genre stories with a full cast. He also performs audiobooks for Audible, and occasionally becomes a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms, and the moon is full and bright."

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