The Overcast

The Great Should Have Been by Frank Oreto.  Read by J.S. Arquin.  Featuring an afterword recorded by Frank Oreto.  #Fantasy #podcast #magicalrealism #fiction #audiofiction

 "We'd sit on that old flea-bitten couch in your basement and you'd say, "Today should've been different.  In The Great Should Have Been, we rode our skateboards right down the goddamn handicap ramps and blasted through the cafeteria like rockets.  You told that story so good and true that I could see it.  I could feel the wind pushing back my hair; hear the other kids cheering.  We both felt it.  Then somehow, your story changed the world."

 Frank Oreto is a writer and editor of weird fiction whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Pseudopod, Fantasy Scroll Magazine, and the long running themed anthology series Trangulation, which he now co-edits.  When not writing Frank can be found cooking elaborate meals for his wife and three perpetually hungry children.  You can check up on what he's working on (both stories and food) by following him on Twitter @frankoreto.  

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Post Trauma Robotics by Mary Renzi.  Read by J.S. Arquin.  Featuring an afterword recorded by Mary Renzi.  #SciFi #Trauma #sciencefiction #podcast #fiction

"The organic decays," she'd say, studying her tired reflection in a car window or display case.  "Metal is closer to the eternal, to the divine.  Steel joists, struts, skyscrapers - think of their beauty!  The wings of bats should be flexible alloy, one carbon layer thick.  They should wrap their bodies and hang from trees like sleeping golden statues.  Bodhisattvas would be wiser if their veins channeled molten ore..."

Mary Renzi's fiction has appeared in Hypnos, Pantheon, Space Squid, and tons of other places.  You can read some of her nonfiction on occult topics over at Dirge Magazine - www.dirgemag.com .

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The Endless Flickering Night by Gary Emmet Chandler.  Read by J.S. Arquin.  Featuring an afterword by Gary Emmet Chandler.  #SciFi #sciencefiction #dark #underground #podcast #fiction #silverscreen

"Together, we made our way to Burrow's cinema.  Each time the Five set us to digging a new outpost, that was the first room we carved; the cinemas were our cathedrals, our last remaining sparks of faith.  We were ambling through the rows, running our hands along the surface of each abandoned throne, when Toaster began to howl."

Gary Emmet Chandler works from his apartment in Portland as a copywriter and web developer, mostly in pajamas, with a cat nibbling at his leg.  His fiction has appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Flash Fiction Online, and Pseudopod, among others.  Recently he has shifted his creative focus to photography, and you can follow his work on Instagram at @theangryluddite.  

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Chocolate Milkshake #314 by Caroline M. Yoachim.  Read by J.S. Arquin.  Featuring an afterword by Caroline M. Yoachim.  #SF #SciFi #blackholes #milkshakes #fiction #flashfiction #flashfictionmonth #podcast

The day we found out we didn't have enough fuel to escape our orbit, Carlos programmed the replicator to make a chocolate milkshake.  He figured if we only had 628 days left to live - a mere 628 days until we were stretched spaghetti thin by the tidal forces of the black hole - he at least wanted one last chocolate milkshake.

Caroline M. Yoachim lives in Seattle and loves cold, cloudy weather.  She is the author of dozens of short stories, appearing in Lightspeed, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, and Asimov's, among other places.  Her debut short story collection, Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World & Other Stories, came out with Fairwood Press in 2016.  You can find her online at carolineyoachim.com and on Twitter @CarolineYoachim.

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EveryChild To A Good Home Should Go by Karlo Yeager Rodriguez.  Read by Tina Connolly.  Featuring an afterword by Karlo Yeager Rodriguez.  #fantasy #tropes #orphans #chosenone #fairygodmother #flashfiction #flashfictionmonth

"So, you wished for a child," I said to open up the conversation.  They traded glances before Mr. Bumpkin ventured a nod.

"That would be right, Mizz--" He squinted at my nameplate.

"Merriweather," I said.  "Comma Flavia J.  At your service."

Karlo Yeager Rodriguez is originally from the enchanted island of Puerto Rico, but now lives in Baltimore.  He has long since put up his wand, and only works his magic on issues of accessibility at the Ministry of Magic.  The taste of gruel has grown on him, honest!  Find him online at www.alineofink.com  and on Twitter @kjy1066.

Tina Connolly is the author of the Ironskin and Seriously Wicked series, and the collection On The Eyeball Floor and Other Stories.  Her books have been finalists for the Nebula, Norton, and World Fantasy awards.  She co-hosts Escape Pod, runs Toasted Cake, and you can find her at tinaconnolly.com

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Beacon by K.S. O'Neill.  Featuring an afterword by K.S. O'Neill.  Read by J.S. Arquin.  #SciFi #wreckers #aliens #flashfiction #flashfictionmonth

"There was a survivor.

Sarah heard Elena calling from across the wreckage, and saw her daughter's lantern waving in the dark and the driving rain.  The sound of the storm's wild surf wafted in from the tip of the Cape a mile away..."

K.S. O'Neill's fiction has appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Plasma Frequency Magazine, and in the Orthogonal SF anthology "Code".  When he's not writing, he teaches at a small college on the Texas coast.

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And Here's Satan With The Weather by Brandon McNulty.  Featuring an afterword recorded by Brandon McNulty.  Read by J.S. Arquin  #satan #comedy #horror #media #fantasy #flashfiction #flashfictionmonth

The rest of the HON6 news station doesn't share my excitement over today's hundred-and-thirty degree high.  Maybe it has something to do with our busted A/C unit, but...

Brandon McNulty writes from Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania.  He dabbles mostly in horror.  Occasionally he tries to write something sunny, but it always ends up veering hard into darkness.His work has appeared in NewMyths.com, Sci Phi Journal, and Digital Horror Fiction.  He is a 2015 graduate if Taos Toolbox Sci-Fi/Fantasy Workshop.  Find him online at www.brandonmcnulty.com.

And on Twitter @McNultyFiction.

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The Whisper of Clockwork Wings by Sandra M. Odell.  Featuring and afterword by Sandra M. Odell.  Read by J.S. Arquin.  #steampunk #clockwork 

"On the first day of the end of the world, Lieutenant Archimedes Phillips bleeds, and drinks stale water from a canteen cup..."

Sandra M. Odell lives in Washington state with her husband, sons, and an Albanian miniature moose disguised as a dog.  Her work has appeared in such venues as Jim Baen's UNIVERSE, Daily Science Fiction, and Crossed Genres.  She is a Clarion West 2010 graduate, and an active member of SFWA.  Find her online at www.writerodell.com.

And on Twitter @WriterOdell.

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Protector of the Village Near Death by Voss Foster.  Featuring an afterword recorded by Voss Foster.  Narrated by J.S. Arquin.  #Fantasy #Humor #Tropes #Hero 

Garin's head pounded, ears filled with his own heartbeat.  He tightened his grip on his claymore and brought it swinging up.  So hard that it kept going, swung out of his hand, and clattered to the floor behind him.

Voss Foster lives in the middle of the Eastern Washington desert, where he writes science fiction and fantasy from inside a single-wide trailer.  He is the author if the Evenstad Media Presents series, The Mountains of Good Fortune, and the Immortal Whispers series.  His short fiction has been featured in various magazines and anthologies, including Andromeda Spaceways Magazine and the bestselling Alternative Truths Anthology.  When he can be pried away from his keyboard, he can be found singing, practicing photography, cooking, and belly dancing, though rarely all at the same time.  Find his online at http://vossforter.blogspot.com and on Twitter @VossFoster.

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Almost Angels by Ian McHugh.  Featuring an afterword read by Ian McHugh.  Narrated by J.S. Arquin.  #robots #space #SciFi #zombieslugs #angels

It had been Nipper's idea, to follow the humans back to the stars.  Eccentric, the humans might have said, or even faulty.  But how could all five of them have the same fault?

Ian McHugh's first success as a fiction writer was winning the short story contest at the 2004 Australian National SF convention.  Since then, his stories have appeared in publications including Asimov's Science Fiction, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, the Escape Artists podcasts, and Australian year's best anthologies.  His short story collection, Angel Dust, was shortlisted for Best Collection at Australia's Aurealis Awards in 2015.  In 2017 he'll have his first story in a world years's best collection, Gardner Dozois's The Year's Best Science Fiction.  Find him online at ianmchugh.wordpress.com

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