#FreeFiction

PodCastle 563: El Cantar de la Reina Bruja Author : Victoria Sandbrook Narrator : Sofia Quintero Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Sword & Sonnet. Rated PG-13. El Cantar de la Reina… Mothers, hear me! I am alone but for your graces. My mistakes have bound me. My weaknesses have hobbled me. My pride has torn me from you. Alejandra pricked her finger on her rough iron chains and whispered lilting iambs until all appearance of fati…

PodCastle 562: Cooking Creole Author : A. M. Dellamonica Narrator : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Mojo: Conjure Stories, edited by Nalo Hopkinson. Content … At seventeen, it was music. Guitar. Then, at twenty-four: speechmaking. Rabble-rousing, his mother had called it. Binding a group of listeners - big, small, middling - with his voice. Inspiring the local grocery clerk to dump her useless husband. Se…

PodCastle 561: Baby Teeth Author : Lina Rather Narrator : Wilson Fowlie Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Gamut. Rated R. Baby Teeth By Lina Rather Laura watched from the window w… Laura watched from the window while Mama took the salt packets they'd pocketed from a Speedway and sprinkled a circle around the house to hide them from the monster. via Pocket

PodCastle 560: Suddenwall Author : Sara Saab Narrator : C. L. Clark Host : C. L. Clark Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Rated PG-13. Suddenwall By Sara Saab In the amnesty-… In the amnesty-city of Vannat, Aln Panette has let guilt go. The city of Vannat is a strict and inscrutable rulemaster, so Panette doesn't question the rules. She lives a plain, clean life. Keeps her recollections as free of the war as she can. via …

PodCastle 559: Dying Lessons Author : Troy Wiggins Narrator : Dominick Rabrun Hosts : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali, Jen R. Albert, Setsu Uzume, Peter Behravesh and C. L. Clark Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published a… Dying Lessons By Troy L. Wiggins I learned how to bend light from my mother. via Pocket

PodCastle 558: A Place to Grow Author : A. T. Greenblatt Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Rated PG. SFX used in the host spot of th… A Place to Grow By A. T. Greenblatt Lillian was wearing one of her uncles' old suits again. Her family always wore suits when they were going to tear down a world. Trouble was that this world, unlike the dozens before it, had started to feel like ho…

PodCastle 557: The Griffin and the Minor Canon Author : Frank Stockton Narrator : Jen R. Albert Hosts : Setsu Uzume and Peter Behravesh Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums This story was originally published in 1885 and is in th… Over the great door of an old, old church which stood in a quiet town of a faraway land there was carved in stone the figure of a large griffin. The old-time sculptor had done his work with great care, but the image he had made was not a pleasant on…

PodCastle 556: Shadow Boy Author : Lora Gray Narrator : Setsu Uzume Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Shimmer. Rated R.  Shadow Boy By Lora Gray I am sixteen and sitting on the ed… I am sixteen and sitting on the edge of an empty subway platform when Peter, forever small, reappears. His black eyes are bright, and he smells like licorice and cinnamon. He is wearing purple mittens and a pigeon-feather skirt. "Don't call me Prude…

PodCastle 555: Candied Sweets, Cornbread, and Black-Eyed Peas Author : Malon Edwards Narrator : Mandaly Louis-Charles Host : Aidan Doyle Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Sword & Sonnet. Rated PG-13. … No one wanted to come out of their houses. Not at first. They could see my father's blood soaking the cobblestones. They could see it dripping from the machete in my hand. via Pocket

For Your Consideration: PodCastle Award Eligibility 2018 It's that time again: awards season has begun! If you're looking for some awesome fantasy fiction to nominate, here's a convenient list of PodCastle's original, award-eligible short stories f… Posted by via Pocket

PodCastle 575: A Toy Princess Author : Mary de Morgan Narrator : Eleanor Wood Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh This story is in the public domain. Rated G. A Toy Princess By Mary de Morgan (1850-1907) More than a thousand… More than a thousand years ago, in a country quite on the other side of the world, it fell out that the people all grew so very polite that they hardly ever spoke to each other. via Pocket PodCastle 575 A Toy Princess - PodCastle via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2WjBtuZ

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io In the grayest hour of the evening of April 16th, 1699, when the sun had just vanished behind the great château that embraced the city of Caen but before her lantern-bearers had taken up the hooks of their trade, a gargantuan woman stooped to fit th… PodCastle 431 La Héron - PodCastle via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2cCkuhH

PodCastle 573: The Court Magician Author : Sarah Pinsker Narrator : Dave Robison Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published by Lightspeed and a 2019 Hugo Finalist for Best Short Story. Rated PG-… The boy who will become court magician this time is not a cruel child. Not like the last one, or the one before her. He never stole money from Blind Carel's cup, or thrashed a smaller child for sweets, or kicked a dog. via Pocket

PodCastle 572: Into the Wind Author : Marie Brennan Narrator : Karen Bovenmyer Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Children of a Different Sky, edited by Alma Alexander. Rated PG. Into the Wind by Marie Bre… The tenements presented a blank face to the border: an unbroken expanse of wall, windowless, gapless, resolutely blind to the place that used to be Oneua. via Pocket

PodCastle 571: The Guitar Hero Author : Maria Haskins Narrator : Setsu Uzume Host : Hamilton Perez Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Kaleidotrope. Rated PG-13. The first time Bella, Alice, and I exorc… The first time Bella, Alice, and I exorcised a demon it was an accident: a pentagram doodled backstage, some quotes from The Exorcist, and suddenly that vocalist from the band we were opening for wasn't quite himself anymore. Who knew hellfire was s…