My replacement iPod arrived on Wednesday, so I've been catching up on all the podcasts I've missed. Good thing, too, or I might have missed my StarShipSofa debut. My flash fiction story, "Tech Support," is included in StarShipSofa's Aural Delights #49, which also features work by Samantha Henderson ("Hungry," a poem), Cory Doctorow (an essay called "SF Is The Only Literature On The Internet People Care To Steal"), and the incomparable Gene Wolfe (Lawrence Santoro's audio adaptation of Wolfe's "The Tree is my Hat"). Needless to say, I'm humbled to be in such talented company. So click on through, download a podcast (or three), and enjoy!

Or just click here to download Aural Delights #49.

...provokes an emotional response. A blush, a nod, a lurch in the throat, something like that.

A great story, on the other hand, means I'm driving to work sobbing, tears streaming down my face.

File Cat Rambo's Magnificent Pigs under Great Stories.

I commute, so I listen to a lot of podcasts. These are the best of the last week or so...

I've mentioned before that I dig StarShipSofa, particularly now that they have added a short story feature to their podcast feed. Recent high points include Elizabeth Bear's stunning And the Deep Blue Sea, Joe Haldeman's chilling Graves (Want to know how to write a damn good short story? Read and learn from this.), and Ted Chiang's fantastic The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate. Funnily enough, all three are available from Night Shade Books, Bear in The Chains that You Refuse and Wastelands, Haldeman in War Stories, and Chiang in The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Two.

Also worth a listen is PodCastle's initial offering, Peter S. Beagle's fabulous (as in "of the nature of a fable or myth") Come Lady Death (Beagle's "The Last and Only, or Mr. Moskowitz Becomes French", also well worth reading, is included in The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Two and Eclipse One) and Pseudopod's presentation of Amanda Spikol's Welsh zombie tale, The Sons of Carbon County. Good stuff, all of it.

Those ought to keep you busy for a little while...

...and you too, Steve Eley.

I knew this was going to happen. After all, I know I can't get through the Ken Scholes story Edward Bear and the Very Long Walk dry-eyed. That's the whole reason I've been putting off listening to this week's Escape Pod podcast.

But I listened to the podcast anyway, while Maddie and I were driving to work this morning.

Between the story itself, which is a masterful take on the sacrifice motif, encompassing everything I aspire to in writing, and Steve Eley's excellent and nuanced reading, I was sobbing by the time we reached the Waldo Tunnel. Sobbing. Good thing Maddie with me so I could reach over and scratch her head for comfort, or I might not have made it in today.

Silly old bear.

I've been a fan of the Starship Sofa podcast for a while now. For nuanced (if occasionally ADHD-level distracted) discussions of SF authors, books, and history, there's nothing else quite like it (especially on this side of the pond). Well, they've just started a new Wednesday feature: short stories. Kicking off the batch is (legendary Elric author) Michael Moorcock's London Bone. Trust me, this one's worth the download and an hour or so of your time.