September 29, 2023

“In the Days of the Revolution,” by David Michael Litwack

Tehran, February, 1979 “So you’re a bachelor,” I ventured. “Why do you say that, agha?” “You wear the brown of a bachelor.” “That is a custom for the maghrebi—the westerners. The Berbers. For me it is a good color to disguise the filth I encounter here. For example, that dog.” “Nice taqiyah!” I was complimenting his white cap. White linen doubled over with a kind of gold filigree. “It is an araqchin, agha.” “Why are you sitting here?” I asked. I had had enough of the xenophobic vocabulary lesson. He’s irritated me so I decided to be irritable in return. “I am making illustrations of the bustle and tragedy of these people. These Emricani and the Irani. Maybe some are from Afghanistan as well. They are always in the wrong place. Always the wrong time, those…

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September 22, 2023

“Snowbirds” Created & Written by Linda Andersson

Posted by Ruby Fink in Audio Arts

“Snowbirds” is a Audio Fiction Drama – A Quirky Female-Led Comedy/Crime Series created and written by Linda Andersson. Four New York City women have a group mid-life crisis when a bagman friend involves them in a jewelry smuggling sting. Starring:Gina Glass as StephanieDenise Warner-Gregory as LizAJ Carter as JakeStephanie Johnson as RandiGwenith Knight as FrancoLinda Andersson as Mish Starring:Gina Glass as StephanieDenise Warner-Gregory as LizAJ Carter as JakeStephanie Johnson as RandiGwenith Knight as Franco Starring:Gina Glass as StephanieDenise Warner-Gregory as LizAJ Carter as JakeStephanie Johnson as RandiGwenith Knight as Franco We hope you enjoyed listening to “Snowbirds”, written and created by Linda Andersson. Produced by Linda Andersson and Gina Glass. Linda Andersson is a writer/director/producer and a member of the Television Academy (EMMY’S ®).Although she originally wrote “Nobody Parks in L.A.” as a live action…

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September 8, 2023

“Blue Dust” by Nicholas Dunkley

Posted by Ruby Fink in Audio Arts

BLUE DUST is a sci-fi audio-fiction series. We follow Max, a teenage boy, who has been stranded on a decaying Earth for over two years as he tries to return to his old home, a floating mega-city, to find his father. Upon his return, Max soon learns that his father is not only missing, but that he is central to the factional warfare that has gripped the city, with the old guards fighting against a new faction, lead by a girl with mysterious powers known as “The Red Queen.” In a city filled with lies and half-truths, where it’s either play or be played, truth is power, and Max has to come to terms with his past and where he belongs in this strange new world. In Max’s desperation to return to the city, he…

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September 5, 2023

The FC Publisher Interview: Stephen Games

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Interviews

The Publisher of EnvelopeBooks Proves You Can Judge A Book by Its Cover The art of creating a distinctive publishing brand among a miasma of publishers Ever wonder why there is no authoritative, independent resource for seeking out books like there is with IMDB for movies? (Well, like IMDB used to be, anyway.) It surely isn’t Amazon, nor is it Goodreads, which Amazon took over in 2013. A year earlier, a publishing entrepreneur filled that void in the UK . . . we interviewed him to learn about his experiences and views of the publishing business. In 2012, Stephen Games started a magazine connecting publishers’ books with readers and named it Booklaunch , which he says is, “now the highest circulation books magazine in the UK . . … Tabloid-size pages allow publishers to place…

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August 28, 2023

The Talented Miss Amina Murodova

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Fine Art

Amina Murodova is a 14-year-old refugee from the war the despot Vladimir Putin brought down upon Ukraine. She has found her true artistic expression across a wide range of subjects and mediums. She was a student at the famous Kyiv Academy of Arts, beginning when she was six years old – before the war forced her and her mother to flee (with her cat and bunny) to America a year ago, which is certainly a story for another day. Her father has remained, in battle against the Soviet invasion. Amina’s diverse range of work is displayed here, each with its title, medium, and the artist’s age when she created it. Owl; Gouache, 13yo Still Life with Violin Acrylics, 14yo Hurricane Ian Acrylics, 14yo Amina is very dedicated to her art, including the animated movies she…

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August 24, 2023

“The Christie Pitts Riots” by Sam Rosenthal

Posted by Ruby Fink in Audio Arts

The Hogtown Experience is an innovative theatre company dedicated to telling compelling stories with an immersive “You are there” approach. Our first Podcast is a 4 episode audio drama called THE RIOT AT CHRISTIE PITS. Based on real events, it tells the story of a series of brazen anti-semitic acts that took place in Toronto in 1933, six years before the start of the Second World War. THE CHRISTIE PITS RIOT features original music from Canada’s own Measha Bruegergossman, and we are thrilled to announce that THE RIOT will be the first of many audio immersive stories yet to come. We hope you enjoyed listening to The Christie Pits Riot. If you want to hear more, you can listen to them on Spotify or Google Podcasts. And if this audio production wasn’t to your liking,…

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August 22, 2023

“The Jam,” A Short Story by Joshua Britton

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

A black Nissan hatchback with its lights off rolls down the street. Troy is at the wheel, and he and Brandon listen through the open windows for community unrest. But it’s dark and quiet. The lights go off at 11:00, inside and out, whether you’re ready or not. Utopic villages like this one have sprouted up all over the country, segregation as a result of a rigorous application process. Troy had tried to be admitted just hard enough to know it was futile. These communities were designed to keep out gimps like Troy and minorities like Brandon. If discovered, how they’d snuck in would cause a panic among the residents. Aided by light from the moon without the hindrance of light pollution, Troy slowly navigates the hatchback toward the main gate through the flat neighborhood…

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August 15, 2023

“Featherweight,” A Short Story by Avi Setiawan

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

On a warm day in May, when only a few clouds tripped across the sky like lambs, Gertrude Stocking began to float away. It was a clear day, with a sky so blue that it made Gertrude Stocking want to cry. She didn’t cry, though; she felt as if she was stewing in a huge pot of soup. It was that kind of day. Gertrude Stocking didn’t notice that she was floating at first, thinking that she was particularly light on her feet on this particular May day. But as she traveled up the street, Gertrude Stocking realized that her feet were no longer touching the ground. She stopped and looked down at her brown patent leather shoes. There was a good half-inch between her soles and the pavement. “Well,” said Gertrude Stocking. “Perhaps if…

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August 11, 2023

CBS Radio Mystery Theater

Posted by Ruby Fink in Audio Arts

In 1974 long-time radio producer Himan Brown convinced CBS to green-light a new anthology of Radio Dramas, CBS Radio Mystery Theater (CBSRMT). Radio shows from the golden era of broadcasting are part of ” Old Time Radio “, or “otr.” During the Golden Age of Radio, listeners gathered by their radio to enjoy their favorite radio programs. Radio Mystery Theater (1974-82) was a resurgence of the nostalgia of those radio days. CBS Radio Mystery Theater was meant to appeal to an audience that remembered when old time radio drama was a popular form of family entertainment. Riding on the wave of nostalgia fever, the radio show attracted many younger listeners who would stay up late, hidden under their covers to hear the program on their bedroom radio (and many of them were not able to go to sleep after listening to the…

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August 9, 2023

“Coddled by Mountains,” Poetry by PS Conway

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

coddled by mountains watercolor skyline we have forgotten the artist but recall the art on a wall, set apart while all the while Cézanne lies face down in a field surrounded, coddled by mountains carefully crafted by the same god he helped re-create ** seaside ministrations bundled warm and dry midst the juniper subtle scents of pine and lavender blend to blunt the violence of raging surf and the winds that lament with banshee song first days of February, tides carry reminders of winter’s devastations flotsam mottles waves snowflakes cascade white blur the aplomb of the horizon line springtide seems so far away, here amongst the rocks and sand, no driftwood dry enough to light a fire no reeds to weave a holy rood nor to silence the dogged banshee keen the poet has denied…

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