First Chapter Reads

This weeks first chapter reads is the terrifying “All Hope of Becoming Human” by Lonnie Busch. Lonnie’s mastery at building tension is evident in this nail biting first chapter. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Lonnie Busch is an award-winning author whose work has also appeared in Southwest Review, The Minnesota Review, The Baltimore Review and others. His awards include the Clay Reynolds Novella Prize, finalist for the Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction, and the Glimmer Train Very Short Fiction Award. He is also a painter, illustrator, animator who has created artwork for many companies including the “Greetings from America” stamps and “Wonders of America” for the USPS.

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In other news

I am part of this free sci-fi giveaway where you can pick up stacks of great stories.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rohanoduill.substack.com

Travis is stranded on a distant planet, hundreds of light-years from the rest of mankind. Will he be able to find a way home before he runs out of resources? Will he ever see his father again? Most important of all, will he be able to determine what killed the other humans on this world and keep it from spreading to the rest of humanity? Find out in Great River of the Abyss!

Get a copy of Great River of the Abyss here

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rohanoduill.substack.com

Welcome to 2024. I thought I would start this bleak and cold January with a comedy story that will hopefully cheer you up.

Featuring five brand new Sci-Fi Comedy stories from five brilliant authors, the Cosmic Comedy Collection is a book that will have you laughing at everything from shapeshifting aliens, superintelligent AI, to flying cats. It's weird, it's wacky, and every single story in the book can't be found anywhere else.

This book contains talented, hilarious writing from:

A.J. Pagan, Aaron Frale, John Coon, Phillip Carter and Robin Drown

Arranged by Author-Comedian hybrid and bigfoot lookalike Phillip Carter, this book is a wild adventure into comedy that proves that Science Fiction can be a lot more than sulky protagonists and miserable weather. It can be silly, twisted, and downright ridiculous too.

In other news

I had a little flash story that I am kind of proud of published in signals magazine last week. Also do sign up for Signals magazine which publishes free flash fiction every week. You can check out my story here

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rohanoduill.substack.com

Into the unknown is a charity anthology published by Lower Decks Press with all proceeds going to the World Literacy Foundation.

If you would like to check out the eight other stories in the anthology you can pick up a copy on Amazon- click on the image for a link.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rohanoduill.substack.com

This weeks episode features the thought provoking sci-fi novel ‘Replika, Sky’s Mission’ by Hugo Bernard. If you liked what you heard you can check out the rest of the book by clicking on the image below.

In other news

This week saw the launch of the charity anthology ‘Instant Classic, that no one will read,’ which I have a little story in. This anthology is a bit more literary than what I normally write, so I was a bit out of my comfort zone. I didn’t go that far from home though as their is still a bomb and chemical weapons featured, wooops.

Instant Classic offers nine sardonic tales holding a carnival mirror to writers and stories. From a deal with the Devil to the ultimate AI vs human showdown, witness the terrifying spectacle of artists who'll do anything to clamber out of the creative trenches alive.

You can check it out by clicking the image below.

Thanks for listening. If you fancy getting a first chapter every week along with updates and promos, fill in the box below.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rohanoduill.substack.com

This week I am reading a middle grade sci-fi story by Frances Wong. You can check out the rest of the book here - amzn.eu/d/44iBLvc

In the lively West Midlands, where the tea is strong and the weather is...well, weather, Frances Wong dwells with her husband and a duo of ankle-biters. Since the distant days of 2005, Frances has donned the revered mantle of a primary school teacher, weaving enchantments of early reading and writing into the impressionable minds of her pupils.

A multi-genre author, focusing on science fiction and fantasy children’s books, Frances has penned innumerable books and published two so far.

When not scribbling fantastical stories, Frances finds respite in the noble art of perambulation, exploring the wonders of National Trust sites, and, naturally, delving into a good book. Among the literary conjurors who have her spellbound are none other than Terry Pratchett, Patrick Rothfuss and Mark Lawrence.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rohanoduill.substack.com

This week as in many weeks previously I am breaking the rules. Todays episode features a selection of poems from MOTHERBUNNET by Laura Cooney. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Do sign up to Laura’s blog, she is a lot of fun - www.lozzawriting.com

A plate of chips, that chancer the moon, stolen biscuits and stolen memories: the currents that threaten to drag us under and the life belts we cling to. In Motherbunnet Laura Cooney uses these and so more to bring us truly into her world, and explore the bliss and the burden of motherhood. By turns intimate and playful, meditative and visceral, and shot through with a seam of wry humour, her words capture the push-pull of emotions at the core of the day-to-day with refreshing candour and, ultimately, a whole lot of heart

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rohanoduill.substack.com

Iain CM Gray is a Scottish writer, currently working and living in London. Iain has published three books. The Ruined Road, Zombies Wha Hae, and Doctor Oadwin: The Making of a Maniac. The Ruined Road is a collection of short stories that have an unstated connection. It is somewhere on The Ruined Road that we first come across Doctor Oadwin, who’s tale if told in further detail in his own novella. Zombies Wha Hae is Gray’s first completed work and tells the tale of what happens to a bunch of ordinary people from Greenock, Scotland when they get caught up in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

https://mybook.to/XdJBx

https://www.iaincmgray.com/

Don’t forget you can check out all these free reads from great authors over on story origin

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This weeks First Chapter Reads is the excellent ‘Once Upon a Lane,’ Unfortunately due to some technical difficulties on my part, I only managed the first section of the chapter however I will be back soon with another of Duncan’s books.

Available to buy on https://hicsuntdeos.com/onceuponalane/

A character driven slice-of-life story that follows the humble lives of the residents of a suburban neighborhood as they live and love, and about the house with the dead yard, a vacant lot, that sits among their homes, inert and immobile, yet intimidating and terrifying to any who look at it too long.

Duncan Wilson is an avid author, pensive poet, and annoying alliterator with two novels, six novellas, and a plethora of short stories and microfiction published on patreon, medium, and

https://hicsuntdeos.com/

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This weeks first chapter reads is from the highly lauded debut novel ‘Sushi and Sealions’ by Rachel Corsini.

You can find a copy of Rachels book here https://books2read.com/u/bONod9

A little bit more about ‘Sushi and Sealions’

When a career-ending injury and a messy breakup send prima ballerina Daniela Verdi back to Queens, New York, she fills her days with countless distractions: meaningless sex, pinot grigio, and video games.It takes a chance meeting with her brother's best friend, Vincent LaBate, for her to remember who she was before the stage lights and distractions of the Upper West Side. She's convinced that Vincent could never love a girl like her: broken, insecure, and stumbling her way through life. What Daniela didn’t count on is that Vincent is as scarred as she is after divorcing his cheating wife and going through an equally messy child custody fight. Soon enough, old vulnerabilities rear their ugly heads, opening a crack in Daniela’s perfectly imperfect romance.As Daniela and Vincent's relationship develops, will Daniela learn to accept that a dream life isn't all it's cracked up to be?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rohanoduill.substack.com