Music by Robert Farmer

Audio Engineering by Bruce McDonald

Yes, the story really is by the Neil Gaiman!  Neil Gaiman works magic in all fields of speculative fiction.  He has won many awards.  He has written Coraline, American Gods and Anansi Boys.  Most recently he has released a short fiction collection titled Fragile Things.  M is for Magic is a new collection coming out soon.

“Come on,” said Vic.  “It’ll be great.”

“No it won’t,” I said, although I’d lost this fight hours ago, and I knew it.

“It’ll be brilliant,” said Vic, for the hundredth time. “Girls! Girls! Girls” He grinned with white teeth.

Music by Robert Farmer

Illustration by Lorraine Schleter

Walter Jon Williams began his writing career in the 80’s and he has been a very prolific writer eversince.  His first SF novel was Ambassador of Preogress, followed by Hardwired, Aristoi, Metropolitan, City on Fire, The Rift and his Dread Empire’s Fall series.  He won a Nebula for “Daddy’s World” and “The Green Leopard Plague.”  His short fiction is colected in Facets and Frankenstein’s and Foreign Devils.  His most recent novel is Implied Spaces which the clonepod team can’t wait to read.

This coming of age story is PG because it is a coming of age story where not every child gets to become an adult.  Younger children may be frightened, but parents should decide for themselves.

It’s your understanding and wisdom that makes me want to talk to you, Doctor Sam.  About how Fritz met the Blue Lady, and what happened with Janis, and why her mother decided to kill her, and what became of all that.  I need to get it sorted out, and for that I need a real friend.  Which is you.

Janis is always making fun of me because I talk to an imaginary person.  She makes even more fun of me because my imaginary friend is an English guy who died hundreds of years ago.

If you have a blog or podcast and would like to play this one, please do!

Thanks for listening!

Music by Robert Farmer

Audio Engineering by Bruce McDonald

Nicholas Ozment teaches English at Winona State University. By night he is an sf writer of stories and poetry for publications such as Weird Tales, Mythic Delirium, SUSURRUS: THE LITERATURE OF MADNESS, MYTHIC CIRCLE, AFTERBURN SF, and RAVEN ELECTRICK. Two of his stories have been podcast on PSEUDOPOD. He reviews books and movies at DOWN IN THE CELLAR and MANNING’S MANLY MOVIES. He lives in Minnesota with his wife and a strange black dog.

by Nicholas Ozment

Marigold was bending over to pick a morel mushroom when she heard something crashing through the woods. It grew louder, coming towards her. Her heart jumped and she stood up straight, hoping it was only a spooked deer. She grasped the handle of the knife she carried beneath her cape, fearing it might be a far less pleasant denizen of the forest—a wolf or a boar or a bear. Not that the small knife would do the young girl much good against boar tusk or bear claw. It was more handy for whittling pocket-sized boars and bears out of sticks.

Then it—or rather he—burst from the trees not forty yards from her, running at full tilt. He came leaping over brambles and branches and bushes, his great long legs taking huge strides so that in the span of a heartbeat he was already nearly upon her. He was a gaunt, wiry giant of a man.

He didn’t notice Marigold until he nearly ran her over. Then his gangly body, all waving limbs like a daddy-longlegs spider, came to an abrupt halt. He towered over her, glaring down with gray, owl-like eyes

The story today is not for young children. It is PG13 for language, mature topics and violence

Read by Abby Kim

Music by Robert Farmer

Audio Engineering by Chris Moody

Jeffrey DeRego’s fiction has appeared at Escape Pod and Tales of the Zombie War. He also contributes funny commentaries about writing to The Writing Show (www.writingshow.com) and has appeared on both SciFi Dig, and The Eclectic Word.
 

So, we’re like in this mall in Wisconsin or Michigan or some other place I can’t find on a map, roped off and on a little stage. And, all I can concentrate on is how good an Orange Frosty from the food court would taste right now. Do I notice that a couple of hundred kids, mostly girls around between five and fifteen are screaming questions and snapping pictures? Sure, but that isn’t anyway near as interesting as how they mix orange juice, coconut milk, and soda water with a chopped banana.

Read by Bruce McDonald

Music by Robert Farmer

Audio Engineering by Bruce McDonald

The Invisible Man is Innocent was originally published at McSweeneys.net

He has had other humor pieces published at McSweeneys
Online Tendency, The Big Jewel, MonkeyBicycle, The
Morning News, Weird Tales, Fantastic Stories of the Imagination and
Talebones.  You can find Mr. Gamelli at http://webpagewithlinks.blogspot.com/

Regarding today’s front-page story:  I’m surely just one of
thousands dismayed to read that Mayor Pendleton’s pants slipped
down around his ankles during last night’s address at City Hall.
However, while I think we can all agree it was unfortunate (and
no doubt humiliating), I must take issue with your reporter,
Alan Hendale, who went out of his way to label the incident
“suspicious.”

We all know what he was implying.

PG-13 - not for young children!

Read by Leslie Ann Moore

Music by Robert Farmer

Audio Engineering by Bruce McDonald

 Ms Kelly received my MFA from Pacific University in 2006, and since leaving school, she has taught composition and fiction writing at Pacific. She has a short story appearing this summer in The Rose & Thorn. She was a finalist in a Glimmer Train short story contest in 2006, and in 2007 she won an artist residency at Caldera. In 1998 she was a writer in residence at Hedgebrook in Washington state, and in 1999, her short story “Scorched” was selected by Stephen King for his On Writing contest.

      After the cat died, time began to creep up on me.

      One day I set out to water and prune the tomato plants, and the next thing I knew I’d spent most of the day going through old clothes, shaking out the wrinkles and remembering when I last wore this dress, that blouse.

      In the trunk I also found a notebook. I don’t know how it got there, maybe scooped up in my last frenzy of packing. We are taught never to write anything down, not even directions or lists. I’ve obeyed this rule so well that I had to teach myself to hold a pen.

      You see, that was one way the cat helped. I wouldn’t have lasted a month out here without her, in the beginning.

Music by Robert Farmer

Audio Engineering by Bruce McDonald

A special thanks to Chris Moody of Podiomedia Chat for web design assistance.

Alien Hunt is the story of a Men in Black style “agent” looking for aliens on earth who is given a hit and run case.

Our author this week is James Hartley who is a retired computer programmer. He has published a fantasy novel, “Teen Angel,” and stories in many ezines. He is currently working on a second novel, “The Ghost of Grover’s Ridge.

It was just another hit-and-run. Beat up green Chevy, drunk driver, careless pedestrian. The cops got the driver later in the day–witnesses not only got the license number, but were able to identify the “Stop DWI” bumper sticker–and he’s now in jail, but that didn’t help the pedestrian any. He was dead before he hit the sidewalk. Only on thing was unusual, he wasn’t human. And that’s how I got involved.

Read by Rufus Nagel

Tannis is a standalone short story, but also forms the
bulk of the opening chapter of the young adult SF
novel Generations. Tannis is currently in production
as a short animated movie by a student filmmaker in
South Africa. The story previously appeared in the UK
small press magazine Xenos Issue 5 1993.

William Meikle is a Scottish writer, now living in Canada, with
seven novels published in the States and over 150
short story credits in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland,
Saudi Arabia, Greece, India and Romania.

The autumn sun drifted through the trees dappling the ground around him in soft shades of yellow and gold and green. But Tom didn’t notice. All his attention was on the pond in front of him.

He’d been stalking the newt all morning -