PodCastle 576: When Leopard’s-Bane Came to the Door of Third Heaven Author : Vajra Chandrasekera Narrator : Peter Behravesh Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by Liminal. Rated: PG-13, f… We stand at attention all day at the top of the green tower. L and I stand on either side of the door to the third nonsensual heaven. The rifle is heavy and I develop a lean as the day wears on, until L hisses at me from the far side of the door and…

PodCastle 577: Temptation Author : Karuna Riazi Narrator : Farah Naz Rishi Host : Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 577: Temptation is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-13. A special episode in … When was the last time food glided over her tongue? It was funny how Kayla couldn’t even remember what it was she ate. via Pocket

PodCastle 578: The Bone Poet and God Author : Matt Dovey Narrator : Eliza Chan Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Sword and Sonnet. Rated PG. The Bone Poet and God by Matt Dovey Ur… Ursula lifted her snout to look at the mountain. via Pocket

PodCastle 579: I Am Not I — Part 1 Author : G. V. Anderson Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Rated R, for human p… I found the emporium on old Tanners Row. A prime location, to be sure — within pissing distance from a Saps’ slum. Its proprietor, Madame Qlym, boasted better pickings in her own back garden than any other acristologist in the city. via Pocket

PodCastle 587: Strange Waters Author : Samantha Mills Narrator : C. L. Clark Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published in Strange Horizons. Rated: PG, for a parent guiding herself home. Strang… Fisherwoman Mika Sandrigal was lost at sea. She knew where she was in relation to the Candorrean coastline and how to navigate back to her home city, Maelstrom. She knew the time of day. She knew the season. She knew the phase of the moon and the pa…

PodCastle 588: Willing Author : Premee Mohamed Narrator : Peter Behravesh Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums First published in Principia Ponderosa anthology by Third Flatiron Press, March 2017. Rated: PG-13… Bought bred, the new cow had cost three thousand dollars, and so as night fell with no sign of the calf, it was Arnold himself who trudged back and forth between the house and the barn, waving away the hired hands. via Pocket

PodCastle 564, ARTEMIS RISING: One More Song Author : Eliza Chan Narrator : Sofia Quintero Host : Elora Gatts Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Artist : Yuumei Discuss on Forums Previously published by World Weaver Press in their Sirens anthol… After Mira closed the door the selkie shed her skin, leaving the mottled grey fur in a heap like stepped-out-of work clothes. Mira handed her one of the many robes hanging on the hat stand and kept her eyes on her blue and green rug, only catching g… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io PodCastle 564, ARTEMIS RISING One More Song - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2SPd5vt

PodCastle 565, ARTEMIS RISING: I Am Fire; I Am Tears Author : Wendy Nikel Narrator : Veronica Giguere Host : Ace Ratcliff Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Artist : Yuumei Discuss on Forums PodCastle 565, ARTEMIS RISING: I Am Fire; I Am Tears … Ulykke crouched in the darkness, just beyond the sunray’s reach. Before her, along the forest path, an entourage of huntresses passed on horseback, armed with arrows and blades of finest silver and armor too strong for even Ulykke’s teeth to pierce.… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io PodCastle 565, ARTEMIS RISING I Am Fire; I Am Tears - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2u4wyOH

PodCastle 566, ARTEMIS RISING DOUBLE FEATURE: Starr Striker Should Remain Capitol City’s Resident Superhero, by Keisha Cole, 10th Grade Student; All the Fishes Singing Authors : Amanda Helms and Hester J. Rook Narrators : Maxine L. Moore and Nadia… Despite the call to ban Starr Striker from Capitol City for “attacking” Captain Thunder, she should remain our resident superhero. She tweets cute baby octopus pictures every Thursday. via Pocket

PodCastle 567, ARTEMIS RISING: The Weaver Retires Author : Kai Hudson Narrator : Jen R. Albert Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Artist : Yuumei Discuss on Forums PodCastle 567, ARTEMIS RISING: The Weaver Retires is a PodCas… They come from all over: exotic, far-off places with names Weisa can barely pronounce. Australia. Japan. Venezuela. Last week, some alien-sounding place called Pen-sil-vay-ni-yah. Her grandson Ashti says they come because she’s famous. via Pocket

PodCastle 568: The Pull of the Herd Author : Suzan Palumbo Narrator : S.B. Divya Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Originally published at Anathema. Content warning for violence against women. Rated: PG-13… My doeskin calls to me from under the woollen blankets in the cedar chest at the foot of our bed. Diya murmurs beside me, eases back to sleep. I cling to her, try to calm the panic welling in my chest by inhaling her cardamom scent. via Pocket

PodCastle 580: I Am Not I — Part 2 Author : G. V. Anderson Narrator : Tatiana Grey Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums Previously published by The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Rated: R, for human … I shook the bees from my jacket; they’d got cosy in my pockets and inside the lining. “I’m quite well, I assure you,” I said. I didn’t feel well. The walls and furniture around me seemed to move although I stood still, and small noises crashed in my…

Flash Fiction Contest V Opens Today! The Escape Artists Flash Fiction Contest opens today! The contest will be taking submissions from today, April 15, 2019, and ending on April 30, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Remember, each author may submit one ori… The Escape Artists Flash Fiction Contest opens today! The contest will be taking submissions from today, April 15, 2019, and ending on April 30, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Remember, each author may submit one original fantasy story of 500 words or les…

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 569: TALES FROM THE VAULTS — The Yew’s Embrace Author : Francesca Forrest Narrator : Stephanie Malia Morris Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producers : Peter Behravesh and Peter Wood Discuss on Forums Originally published in Strange Horizons… We could still see the old king’s blood in the cracks in the flagstones beneath the new king’s feet when he announced to us all that this was a unification, not a conquest, and that we had nothing to fear from the soldiers that fenced us round. via …

PodCastle 570: Elegy for a Slaughtered Swine Author : Rafaela Ferraz Narrator : Carlo Matos Host : Setsu Uzume Audio Producer : Peter Behravesh Discuss on Forums PodCastle 570: Elegy for a Slaughtered Swine is a PodCastle original. Rated PG-1… Men do not often cook, out behind these hills. It’s women’s domain, the kitchen, but they’ve shown me the ways of all that is theirs to rule. I could cook up a soup or a curse without leaving this room. The former is simple. Cabbage and potato and s…

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…

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 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 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

Escape Artists Flash Fiction Contest V The Escape Artists Flash Fiction Contest is back for a fifth time, and it’s PodCastle’s turn! The contest will be taking submissions beginning April 15, 2019, and ending on April 30, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. EST. E… The Escape Artists Flash Fiction Contest is back for a fifth time, and it’s PodCastle’s turn! The contest will be taking submissions beginning April 15, 2019, and ending on April 30, 2019, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Each author may submit one original fanta…

PodCastle Has Been Nominated for a Parsec Award! The finalists for the Parsec Award have been announced and PodCastle is twice-nominated! Both “A Non-Hero’s Guide to the Road of Monsters” by A. T. Greenblatt, narrated by Mike Flinchum, and “Six Job… The finalists for the Parsec Award have been announced and PodCastle is twice-nominated! Both “A Non-Hero’s Guide to the Road of Monsters” by A. T. via Pocket PodCastle Has Been Nominated for a Parsec Award! - PodCastle via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2NBT8ph

PodCastle has won, and is declining, the Parsec Award PodCastle has had an extraordinary year. We’ve published some amazing stories. We ran our fourth Artemis Rising. We were nominated for a World Fantasy Award. And just this week, we learned that … PodCastle has won, and is declining, the Parsec Award - PodCastle via Instapaper http://bit.ly/2BA5FWa PodCastle has had an extraordinary year. We’ve published some amazing stories. We ran our fourth Artemis Rising. We were nominated for a World Fantasy Award. via Pocket

ARTEMIS RISING 5: Call for Submissions In March 2019, Escape Artists will bring you ARTEMIS RISING for a fifth year. This special month-long event across all four Escape Artists podcasts is a celebration of stories written by women, in the broadest… In March 2019, Escape Artists will bring you ARTEMIS RISING for a fifth year. This special month-long event across all four Escape Artists podcasts is a celebration of stories written by women, in the broadest definition of the word. via Pocket

Call for Associate Editors! We’re recruiting! PodCastle is looking to add additional associate editors (also referred to as slush readers) to our team. PodCastle is an SFWA short fiction market. We’re in need of associate editors who can read and … We’re recruiting! PodCastle is looking to add additional associate editors (also referred to as slush readers) to our team. PodCastle is an SFWA short fiction market. via Pocket

I should tell you about the gods, yes? Good setting for it. Here in the desert, hunger and thirst sharpen the soul. Sharpens it enough to poke right through the side of your mind to let in the second sight. via Pocket via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io

Osnat went back to talk to the dybbuk again. Usually she liked walking up from the subway station, so close the pulsating holiness of 770. Different though Osnat’s own traditions were, the pull of the Lubavitch synagogue was impossible to ignore. vi… via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Strange Horizons - Whom My Soul Loves By Rivqa Rafael via Instapaper https://ift.tt/33XByFb

That’s his name. That might be him, so I may as well say it. I know he promised, and I promised, that we’d only come here together. That in this place, we’d never have to be alone. But she’s right, if that’s him, maybe nothing’s broken. via Pocket via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Strange Horizons - Promise Me This Is Ours By Omar William Sow, Art by Sarah Gonzales via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2MZN5fV

Two in the morning in the booth of an all-night diner a block off Santa Monica Boulevard, and I was trying to convince the Great Mandini to tell me his secrets. via Pocket via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Strange Horizons - The Great Mandini and the Dead Man's Hand By Kevin Wabaunsee via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2VDW3nc