Waiting For A Window wins an Ogle Award

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Radio Drama RevivalFrederick Greenhalgh of Radio Drama Revival (and FinalRune) writes in to say…

“Saw that you honored 19 Nocturne Boulevard with an announcement of their win of the Gold Mark Time, I just wanted to add that my piece (which you reviewed earlier this year) Waiting For A Window has won the Gold Ogle!”

Congrats Fred! For those who haven’t heard it I described Waiting For A Window as “a richly atmospheric and rather nautical version of Waiting For Godot. Or perhaps as a sailor’s version of The Prisoner. But, it’s not so much scary as it is comforting. A tall tale of the sea and a fine sounding audio drama.”

The Ogle Award, celebrates the best Fantasy/Horror audio production of the year. The actual trophy will be handed out on July 2nd 2009 at the annual Mark Time Awards ceremony at Convergence-Con 2009.

This FinalRune Productions is an original story of a man waylaid on his way somewhere else, Waiting for a Window stars Bill Dufris (William Dufris), Joe Duley, Charly Duley, Ed Patterson and Philip Hobby. And it features original music by Barb Truex.

There’s a low quality version here…

Final Rune Productions Radio Drama - Waiting For A Window by Frederick GreenhalghWaiting For A Window
By Frederick Greenhalgh; Performed by a full cast
1 |MP3| – Approx. 26 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Podcaster: Radio Drama Revival
Podcast: September 26th 2008
This FinalRune Productions is an original story of a man waylaid on his way somewhere else. Starring William Dufris, Joe Duley, Charly Duley, Ed Patterson and Philip Hobby. With original music by Barb Truex.

And a high quality version available to purchase ($3) at Echo Fiction.

Posted by Jesse Willis

Ray Bradbury: Libraries = Awesome, Internet = Suck

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Ray Bradbury (New York Times June 19, 2009)The New York Times website has a June 20th, 2009 audio clip |MP3| (just 3 minutes) of Ray Bradbury riffing on public libraries and the internet (love of libraries + hate of internet). This interview was in aide of his recent appearance at the cash strapped H.P. Wright Public Library in Ventura, California.

Here’s the |PDF| detailing how you can help.

[via Black Gate]

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals – Star Wars

SFFaudio Recent Arrivals

As promised, Random House is now publishing the Star Wars titles in Unabridged format! Outcast is the beginning of a new series called Fate of the Jedi. Omen, Book 2 in that series, releases tomorrow! No Prisoners is a Clone Wars novel.

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi Book 1: OutcastStar Wars: Fate of the Jedi (Book 1): Outcast
By Aaron Allston; Read by Marc Thompson
10 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9780739376614 (CD)

After a violent civil war and the devastation wrought by the now-fallen Darth Caedus, the Galactic Alliance is in crisis–and in need. From all corners, politicians, power brokers, and military leaders converge on Coruscant for a crucial summit to restore order, negotiate differences, and determine the future of their unified worlds. But even more critical, and far more uncertain, is the future of the Jedi.

In a shocking move, Chief of State Natasi Daala orders the arrest of Luke Skywalker for failing to prevent Jacen Solo’s turn to the dark side and his subsequent reign of terror as a Sith Lord. But it’s only the first blow in an anti-Jedi backlash fueled by a hostile government and suspicious public. When Jedi Knight Valin Horn, scion of a politically influential family, suffers a mysterious psychotic break and becomes a dangerous fugitive, the Jedi become the target of a media-driven witch hunt. Facing conviction on the damning charges, Luke must strike a bargain with the calculating Daala: his freedom in exchange for his exile from Coruscant and from the Jedi Order.

Though forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is determined to keep history from being repeated. With his son, Ben, at his side, Luke sets out to unravel the shocking truth behind Jacen Solo’s corruption and downfall. But the secrets he uncovers among the enigmatic Force mystics of the distant world Dorin may bring his quest–and life as he knows it–to a sudden end. And all the while, another Jedi Knight, consumed by the same madness as Valin Horn, is headed for Coruscant on a fearsome mission that could doom the Jedi Order . . . and devastate the entire galaxy.
 
 
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi Book 2: OmenStar Wars: Fate of the Jedi (Book 2): Omen
By Christie Golden; Read by Marc Thompson
8.5 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9780739376638 (CD)

The Jedi Order is in crisis. The late Jacen Solo’s shocking transformation into murderous Sith Lord Darth Caedus has cast a damning pall over those who wield the Force for good: Two Jedi Knights have succumbed to an inexplicable and dangerous psychosis, criminal charges have driven Luke Skywalker into self-imposed exile, and power-hungry Chief of State Natasi Daala is exploiting anti-Jedi sentiment to undermine the Order’s influence within the Galactic Alliance.

Forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is on a desperate mission to uncover the truth behind Jacen’s fall to the dark side–and to learn what’s turning peaceful Jedi into raving lunatics. But finding answers will mean venturing into the mind-bending space of the Kathol Rift and bargaining with an alien species as likely to destroy outsiders as deal with them. Still, there is no other choice and no time to lose, as the catastrophic events on Coruscant continue to escalate. Stricken by the same violent dementia that infected her brother, Valin, Jedi Knight Jysella Horn faces an equally grim fate after her capture by Natasi Daala’s police. And when Han and Leia Solo narrowly foil another deranged Jedi bent on deadly destruction, even acting Jedi Grand Master Kenth Hamner appears willing to bow to Daala’s iron will–at the expense of the Jedi Order.

But an even greater threat is looming. Millennia in the past, a Sith starship crashed on an unknown low-tech planet, leaving the survivors stranded. Over the generations, their numbers have grown, the ways of the dark side have been nurtured, and the time is fast approaching when this lost tribe of Sith will once more take to the stars to reclaim their legendary destiny as rulers of the galaxy. Only one thing stands in their way, a name whispered to them through the Force: Skywalker.
 
 
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: No PrisonersStar Wars: The Clone Wars: No Prisoners
By Karen Traviss; Read by Jeff Gurner
7 hours – [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 2009
ISBN: 9780739376836 (CD)

The Clone Wars rage on. As insurgent Separatists fight furiously to wrest control of the galaxy from the Republic, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine cunningly manipulates both sides for his own sinister purposes.

Torrent Company’s Captain Rex agrees to temporarily relieve Anakin Skywalker of Ahsoka, his ubiquitous–and insatiably curious–Padawan, by bringing her along on a routine three-day shakedown cruise aboard Captain Gilad Pellaeon’s newly refitted assault ship. But the training run becomes an active–and dangerous–rescue mission when Republic undercover agent Hallena Devis goes missing in the middle of a Separatist invasion.

Dispatched to a distant world to aid a local dictator facing a revolution, Hallena finds herself surrounded by angry freedom fighters and questioning the Republic’s methods–and motives. Summoned to rescue the missing operative who is also his secret love, Pellaeon–sworn to protect the Republic over all–is torn between duty and desire. And Ahsoka, sent in with Rex and six untested clone troopers to extract Hallena, encounters a new and different Jedi philosophy, which shakes the foundation of her upbringing to the core. As danger and intrigue intensify, the loyalties and convictions of all involved will be tested. . . .

Posted by Scott D. Danielson

19 Nocturne Boulevard: AUDIO DRAMA

SFFaudio Online Audio

19 Nocturne BoulevardJulie Hoverson from 19 Nocturne Boulevard, writes in to say:

“One of our episodes, The Outpost, just won the 2008 Mark Time award for best science fiction audio drama!!”

Congratulation Julie! 19 Nocturne Boulevard is a podcast audio drama anthology series. Among the episodes are several dramatized H.P. Lovecraft adaptations. These are Chillin’ (a modernization of Cool Air), Within the Walls of Eryx, and The Temple. Julie also hints of several more Lovecraftian pieces in the works.

And for those who like me, were wondering, here’s the hidden podcast feed for the show:

http://neohoodoo.libsyn.com/rss

Posted by Jesse Willis

Miette’s Bedtime Story Podcast

SFFaudio Online Audio

Miette’s Bedtime Story PodcastHere’s a podcast that I’ve been listening to, on and off (mostly off), for years. Miette is a mystery to me and seemingly pretty much everyone else. She’s been putting out a weekly (or so) podcast since 2005 and yet we don’t know a lot about her. We know she loves to read short stories. That she’s got an accent people don’t easily pin down, and that she’s got a dog. Other than that…. well, we really don’t know.

What makes it all even more puzzling is that she’s an “obscurantist.”

Now I like the obscure, but she, well… she’s just out there – Miette has gone past the obscure and into the hinterlands of the truly odd. Every once in a while I want to throw her a lasso (or a lifeline) but I’m kind of afraid because she might pull me out there with her!

That sheer out-there-ness also makes me feel so normal. Miette’s the absolute omega to the omnivorous celebrity mainstream and me I’m just the guy who gets to say “sorry I don’t have TV” three or four times a week.

Perhaps Miette is from a parallel universe?

It would explain a lot.

Assembled below are some of the Miette-read tales that attracted me to her podcast. None of them are youur typical short story – most are experimental in some way, usually they’re at least odd, strange, or weird. The thing is though, these tales that I’ve picked here are the most centric of Miette’s stories!

SFFaudio interest:

Fun With Your New Head
By Thomas Disch; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 7 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

The Cask of Amontillado
By Edgar Allan Poe; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 22 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race
By J.G. Ballard; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 7 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

The Red Room
By H.G. Wells; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 7 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

I See You Never
By Ray Bradbury; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 11 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

How the World Was Saved
By Stanislaw Lem; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 11 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

The Necrophil
By Felipe Alfau; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 40 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
A story about a woman who dies too much.

The Yellow Wallpaper
By Charlotte Perkins Gilman; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Aprrox. 47 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

The Ghosts
By Lord Dunsany; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Aprrox. 15 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

On An Experience In A Cornfield
By Robert Sheckley; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 29 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

The Judgment
By Franz Kafka; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| Approx. 30 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

A World of Sound
By Olaf Stapledon; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 18 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
By Ursula K. Le Guin; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 20 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

of Aural Noir interest:

A Letter to A.A. (Almost Anybody)
By Charles Willeford; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 29 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

The Lost Soul
By Ben Hecht; Read by Miette
1 |MP3| – Approx. 29 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]

It Had To Be Murder
By Cornell Woolrich; Read by Miette
2 MP3s – Approx. 84 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3|

Podcast feed:

http://www.miettecast.com/feed/

iTunes 1-Click |SUBSCRIBE|

Posted by Jesse Willis

China Mieville on H.P. Lovecraft’s The Horror Of Red Hook

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A short video of city lover China Mieville talking about H.P. Lovecraft’s The Horror Of Red Hook (which is set in New York City). Lovecraft didn’t like living in NYC.

Lovecraft spelled out his inspiration for The Horror At Red Hook in a letter to Clark Ashton Smith:

“The idea that black magic exists in secret today, or that hellish antique rites still exist in obscurity, is one that I have used and shall use again. When you see my new tale The Horror at Red Hook, you will see what use I make of the idea in connexion with the gangs of young loafers & herds of evil-looking foreigners that one sees everywhere in New York.” -from H. P. Lovecraft, Selected Letters Vol. 2

Lovecraft’s wife, Sonia Greene, wrote of her husband’s xenophobia:

“Whenever we found ourselves in the racially mixed crowds which characterize New York, Howard would become livid with rage. He seemed almost to lose his mind.”
-From Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos

And here is a reading of the story itself…

Weird Tales January 1927The Horror Of Red Hook
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by April Sadowski
1 |MP3| – Approx. 45 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Podcaster: Broken Sea Audio Productions
Podcast: October 2008
Red Hook is a mysterious slum in New York City, full of gangs, crime, and just perhaps a terrible cult. Detective Malone had a case that had tendrils extending into Red Hook. It seems that one Robert Suydam, a corpulent and scruffy recluse, has been looking younger, more radiant and prosperous. What does that have to do with the recent spate of kidnappings? First published in the January 1927 issue of Weird Tales.

[via Monster Rally, Ominvoracious, Wikipedia and BSAP]

Posted by Jesse Willis