April 8, 2022

“The Journalist” and “The Singers”

Happy April, Fictional Cafe Listeners! To celebrate this month, we have, for your listening pleasure, “The Journalist” and “The Singers” written & edited by Zev Hurwich. Strange things are happening aboard a cruise ship in Antarctica. One reporter interviews passengers to learn the truth about these bizarre phenomena. Journalist, Art Rosenblatt goes on an Antarctic cruise with his family. When one of his children goes missing, he begins an investigation that will raise more questions than it answers. Cast Written & Edited by Zev Hurwich Art Rosenblatt- Zev Hurwich Cool guy- Zev Hurwich Lt. Col. Dahlia Yost meets a hot lifeguard. But what is his connection to the ethereal music that seems to follow him every night? Cast Written & Edited by Zev Hurwich Dahlia Yost- Lauren Sowa Art Rosenblatt- Zev Hurwich Special thanks to…

Continue reading →

April 6, 2022

“Trade an Honored Word,” by Michael Tyler

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

Sam lays beside, a strap released and delicate to the touch, bare back to the sun with a touch of whiskey to give the afternoon a kick. Charlie ties her hair back and applies lotion to Clay’s nose as he regales us all with tales of Amsterdam misadventure. A girl at each window, feigned desire amid fatuous aside from each passing native. Clay took a girl to a room, she cried as he undressed, he paid and let her be. She took his hand as she closed the door and returned to the window, he waved as he passed and that was Amsterdam. Clay has a fight in two days and Charlie notes he’s looking gaunt. He says it’s worth it for the adrenaline alone and it will not keep him from the whiskey. Charlie’s…

Continue reading →

April 1, 2022

Eva Shaw — Whimsy Meets Reality in Art

Posted by Mike Rochester in Fine Art

Artist’s Statement: In my art, I attempt to share how the world conveys its impressions on me, whether in whimsy or reality. I love to study the complexities of nature, the swirls and hearts and mysterious shapes and then transfer them into how the brush meets the canvas. Sometimes that’s silly; other times it takes a few “edits,” as I can tweaking the objects and designs. There are even times when I return to a painting a month or more later knowing that a detail or a entire image needs to be changed. I enjoy painting as I do when writing books. It consumes me. *** Eva Shaw began painting a decade ago, after a year-long battle with breast cancer. She credits her late husband Joe’s comment that got her started. He said, “The shed…

Continue reading →

March 27, 2022

“I Hear Yes,” Poetry by Vera West

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

i hear “yes” I jokingly have asked my husband: “Do you feel like I’m a gallon of milk you got home only to find out it’s expired?” He knows I’m referring to how I used to be pretty but now feel curdled. He laughs—not a real laugh but a confused nervous one I’ve forced out of him by knowing he loves me and asking him a ridiculous question like that anyway. You might focus on the fact that he did in fact laugh—coerced or not—but what you should really be focusing on is how only a sad insecure person hiding behind pain in humor would make that joke in the first place. It says so much and for the record, he always answers no but I always hear yes. ** affect and effect No one…

Continue reading →

March 21, 2022

“Tobias and the Wildflower Utopia,” by Derrick R. Lafayette

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

“Can you help me?” “Are you positive of what you lost?” “Yes.” “You’ve lost your soul?” “Yes.” “Where?” “I’m not sure. I awoke one day hollow.” “Continue.” There was a pathway beyond the wildflower meadows. My brother told me the noises from there were the product of trickery. Auditory hallucinations sent from devils and pagan worshippers. On a night not entirely unforeseen, my mother took her final breath in bed. I held a dying candle at her side. The embers cast a dreadful shadow upon the wall as if her soul was a silhouette. Dysentery had robbed her of her humanity. The smell tormented the house for days after. I suppose that was her way of saying she wasn’t ready. It left a silence in my home, which was filled with the sound of my…

Continue reading →

March 18, 2022

“Midnight Burger” and “A Haunting Beyond the Lake”

Posted by Ruby Fink in Audio Arts

Hello Fictional Cafe listeners! Rather than just giving you one Award-Winning podcast to end the month of March, I’m giving you two! First up, 2021 Audio Verse Awards Finalist “Midnight Burger” by Joe Fisher. Listen to episode one here, then listen to the rest over at the MB site! In episode one Gloria, now jobless in the pandemic era, takes a job interview at a lonely diner outside of Phoenix. What could possibly go wrong? https://podcasts.apple.com/ee/podcast/midnight-burger-ep1-by-joe-fisher/id894353107?i=1000524981187 Cast:Gloria – Siouxsie SuarezCaspar – Joe FisherAva – Finlay StevensonZebulon Mucklewain – Neal StarbirdEffie Mucklewain – Julie Cowden-StarbirdLeif – Tom Moorman Second, 2021 Winner of the UK International Radio Drama Award written by Richard H. Brooks. England, late 1990s. He has been in love with Lucy for as long as he can remember, and now might be the last time…

Continue reading →

March 16, 2022

“Catch the Spring Young,” Poetry by Sunil Sharma

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

Catch the spring young! A brief season that brings vitality to the faded flowers the wilted gardens and fields. The spring! It removes the effects of the winters in the frosty climes or the harsh sun in the moody tropics and ushers in dappled days dipped in fresh hues and light restores smiles on the  tired lips. Also, significantly, the young spring revives a hibernating artist by replenishing Within! ** The Snow the snow is deep outside the door shut inside in Toronto in the winter a whole world opens up Inside! ** Deep Darkness Evening no longer signals the darkness that thickens quickly, these days the tired eyes have seen darkness descend in the daylight also darkness that shines on despite the bright sun In a bleak country, where folks die quickly, fires burn merrily…

Continue reading →

March 9, 2022

“Counselling,” by Brandan Hingley-Lovatt

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

Editor’s Note: We keep the author’s original spelling when it differs from U.S. English. In this case, Brandan’s UK spelling of “counselling/counsellor” with two Ls persists throughout this work. If I were to write my suicide note I think I’d sign it “I’ve never liked anyone more than myself and I like myself this much.” A parting statement which I think is honest. I can picture it—the note attached to my shirt with a safety pin, my limp body hanging from the ceiling; a plastic bag wrapped around my head for good measure. Anyway, my counsellor says, “There are a lot of bad people in the world but there are good ones, too.” I agree but respectfully say that the good ones are too small in number so it doesn’t really make a difference. My…

Continue reading →

March 4, 2022

“The Adventures of Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe”

Posted by Ruby Fink in Audio Arts

Happy March, Fictional Cafe Listeners! The month of March is known for quite a few things: March Madness, St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras, Pi Day, Daylight Savings, but one of my favorites is International Women’s Day. And who better to represent women but a tough-as-nails, galactic gumshoe who who doesn’t take sass from anyone? Written by Thomas Lopez and produced by ZBS Foundation in 1982, “The Adventures of Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe” is a podcast of a tough, intergalactic detective at the heart of this expansive storyworld, where sci-fi meets film noir in the style of Blade Runner, but with a unique blend of slapstick comedy, cosmic consciousness, and stunning sound design. In this third season – a fan-favorite and great introduction to the series – Ruby traverses space and time as she investigates a…

Continue reading →

February 28, 2022

“Painting for Personal Joy,” by Hume Baugh

Posted by Mike Rochester in Fine Art

Artist’s Statement: I’ve been painting for five years. I am mostly self-taught. When I started painting, I decided right away that I was going to paint for my own joy, not to please other people. I wasn’t going to worry about whether the paintings were thought to be good or bad but was going to celebrate whenever someone found something in them. I have worked in other artistic contexts and there is always pressure to do well, to excel. But what this resolution regarding painting did for me was free me to simply play. Like when I was a child and I had paints. Sheer playing. This has been my method of operation since. I learn all the time, I am always experimenting, facing challenges, correcting mistakes, following unexpected paths – that is part of…

Continue reading →