Inks, Scrolls, and Secrets – A Week at the Raven Feather Salon – Now on Lightspeed 🪶

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Featured this week on Lightspeed Magazine is A Week at the Raven Feather Salon by Carrie Vaughn — a beautiful new fantasy story that I had the joy of narrating. 💫

At the Raven Feather Salon life slows down. Tea brews, buns bake, poetry is read, scrolls of protection are inked, and the soft melody of a lute drifts through the air.  ✨

But life wasn’t always like this for Sparrow. Not long ago, she was on the battlefield, inking protective scrolls for the army. She’d had enough of blood and war — and walked away at the height of her powers.

Until now.

When her old friend Major Kin rushes into the salon, everything changes. A spy has infiltrated his ranks, and Sparrow may be the only one who can uncover the truth. But doing so means risking everything she’s built… and the people she’s come to care for.

To listen or read A Week at the Raven Feather Salon head over to Lightspeed Magazine’s June 2025 Issue 181.  Big thanks to the wonderful team at Skyboat Media for sending this gem my way. 💜🪶

The Faerie King Goes Lightspeed! 🧚👑

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Dropping this week on Lightspeed Magazine is a new story podcast that I had so much fun narrating – When The Faerie King Toured the Human Realm by Vanessa Fogg.

Question:  Have you ever been transfixed by someone in the public eye? 📸
You don’t know why, but you follow their every move. What they’re wearing. Where they’ve been spotted. You need to know what happens next..

Now imagine that someone is a Faerie King. 🧚👑

He’s beautiful. He’s captivating.  He’s come to earth in search of his long-lost queen. 💗  And the internet is following his every step.

Told through fandom posts and one woman’s personal obsession, this story blurs the line between myth, memory, and what it means to belong. 🧚

I absolutely loved narrating this beautifully unique, modern take on a fairytale. Big thanks to Skyboat Media for sending this wonderful story my way! 💜

To listen to or read When the Faerie King Toured the Human Realm, head on over to Lightspeed Magazine.com or click the link here. 🧚

 

The Matchmaker is back … A WAGER WITH THE MATCHMAKER is here! 💘

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Book 3 is now out!  I absolutely loved narrating A Wager with the Matchmaker — the third installment in A Shanahan Match Series, written by the always incredible Jody Hedlund.  

One of the things I admire so much about the way Jody writes is how layered, vibrant, and full of life her characters are. There’s always humor, heart, and emotional depth. This story has it all: danger, suspense, impossible odds, romance, and those moments that just make you smile … or hold your breath.

Alannah Darragh is on the run, hiding from a ruthless gang leader who wants her as payment for her brother’s debt.  Kiernan Shanahan, her brother’s employer — and St. Louis’s most eligible bachelor — steps in to protect her.  As danger closes in and their connection deepens, the two must confront their undeniable chemistry and the bond growing between them  … even though their worlds couldn’t be more different.   

Enter the matchmaker.  Bellamy McKenna doesn’t play by the rules — and when he makes a wager, all bets are off.  💘

🎧 A Wager with the Matchmaker, published by Tantor Audio, is now available wherever you get your Audiobooks! 

What’s your favorite way to unwind in Nature?🌿🦋

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Whether it’s forest bathing, trail blazing, or ocean gazing – nature has a way of holding us, gently. 🌿💙

Take a moment today to step outside, feel the sun, hear the wind, notice the beauty. ☀️🌷

Let it remind you: you are not alone. You are part of something vast, wild, and deeply healing.

✨What’s your favorite way to unwind in nature?

It Holds Her in the Palm of One Hand – PART TWO – goes Lightspeed! ⚡🪐

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LS - It Holds Her - Part 2 with background color

🚀 The story continues …

Part Two is out! Dropping this week on Lightspeed Magazine is the next installment of It Holds Her in the Palm of One Hand by Lowry Poletti, a really unique sci-fi story podcast I so enjoyed narrating. If you’ve been following along, you know things are getting interesting …

To find out what happens next, head on over to LightspeedMagazine.com, where you can listen to or read Part Two now.

 Click here if you missed my post about PART ONE.

Transmission complete. 😉🎧🪐

A Bird, a Ship and a Question of Trust – New Story Podcast Drops on Lightspeed 🚀

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It Holds Her in the Palm of ne Hand Part 1_WPIMAGE🚀 BUCKLE UP—we’re going to Lightspeed! 

Dropping this week in the February issue of Lightspeed Magazine is a new story podcast that I had the absolute pleasure of narrating for Skyboat Media!

It Holds Her in the Palm of One Hand by Lowry Poletti is a mesmerizing sci-fi novelette that turns the familiar “first contact” idea on its head.  Set in deep space, on the planet Miphre, It Holds Her in the Palm of One Hand follows an uneasy, even antagonistic, relationship between humans and gastors – intelligent birds whose true intentions remain a mystery.  Are they allies? Manipulators? Something else entirely?  Lightspeed is serializing this story over the next two weeks, and Part One is out now!

To listen or read It Holds Her in the Palm of One Hand – Part 1, head over to LightspeedMagazine.com, Issue 177 – link is here.

Huge thanks to Lightspeed Magazine and Skyboat Media for the opportunity to bring this thought-provoking story to life.

Until next time, see you on the bit stream! 🎧✨

Hugo Award Finalist: The Sound of Children Screaming

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The Sound of Children ScreamingAbsolutely thrilled and overjoyed for Rachael K. Jones and her well-deserved 2024 Hugo Award nomination for Best Short Story with The Sound of Children Screaming. Narrating this powerful piece for Nightmare Magazine (October 2023) was an honor I won’t soon forget. 🎙️✨

As an audiobook narrator, some stories truly leave a lasting mark, and this is one of them. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 is a chilling, important tale that resonates deeply in today’s world. Inside Thurman Elementary, a mysterious portal traps a teacher and her students in a world suspended in time, with The Gun just beyond the classroom door…

The Hugo Awards take place this Sunday, August 11th, in Glasgow, Scotland at the 82nd Worldcon.  So wish I could be there!  Sending out big congratulations and lots of #HugoAward love ❤️ to all the nominees.

If you haven’t yet, you can read or listen to 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 in Issue 133 of Nightmare Magazine by going to Nightmare-Magazine.com or hitting the link here!

Special thanks to Stefan Rudnicki and Skyboat Media for entrusting me with this unforgettable story. ✨

Matchmaker Magic: Love Returns in Book 2!

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saved-by-the-matchmaker-WPfeature-300x224_aLooking for your perfect match? 💘 Happy Release Day to Saved by the Matchmaker, the latest in A Shanahan Match series, written by bestselling author Jody Hedlund! I loved every minute of narrating Book 2.

In Saved by The Matchmaker, we catch up with Finola’s younger sister, Enya. Enya’s troubled marriage with Bryan Haynes has ended, leaving her heart shattered, her body pregnant, and her future uncertain.

But don’t worry—our favorite never-by-the-books Matchmaker, Bellamy McKenna, is back and ready to work his magic. This time, he’s setting his sights on steamboat captain Sullivan O’Brien, who’s under pressure from his father to marry or give up his life on the water.

Sullivan is gruff, scarred from a heroic rescue, and the last thing he wants is to get married. His one condition for Bellamy? Find him a bride who’s unattractive, quiet, and indifferent to appearances. But Enya is anything but that—she’s beautiful, outspoken, and a self-proclaimed spitfire. 🔥

It seems like an impossible match, but that’s what Matchmakers are for, right? Bellamy suspects that what Enya really needs is someone who will treasure her for who she is, and he has a feeling Sullivan might just be the man for the job…

Congratulations to Jody Hedlund on your stirring new release, and thank you to Tantor Media for bringing this heartwarming gem my way! 💖

Saved by the Matchmaker is now available, and I couldn’t be more delighted to see that this beautiful new book is listed as the #1 New Release in Christian Historical Romance on Audible – so go get it! 💘 

Imagining Progress – Now Available on Audio!

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Imagining Progress_WPReleasing into the world this week is Imagining Progress: Science, Faith and Child Mortality in America, written by Kristin Johnson.  So honored to have had the opportunity to narrate this incredibly gripping book for Tantor Media. 📚🎙️

Johnson’s compelling book takes us on a historical journey, exploring the intersection of science, religion and the heartbreaking reality of child mortality from the colonial era to the 1920s.

From Cotton Mather’s smallpox inoculation campaign to the evolution debates of the 1920s, Imagining Progress delves deep into our evolving beliefs and their impact on children’s lives.

Congratulations Kristin Thomas on your new release, and thank you Tantor Audio for inviting me along on this poignant, and thought provoking journey.

Imagining Progress is now available on Audible, Amazon and wherever you get your audiobooks! 📚🎙️

Summertime … is the time to go Lightspeed 🚀

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LS July Issue 2024 copySummertime 🏖️ is perfect for escaping into a new story podcast!  So delighted to be featured in the July Issue of Lightspeed Magazine, narrating three different story podcasts:  one fantasy and two science fiction tales.  Huge thanks to Stefan Rudnicki, Skyboat Media and Lightspeed Magazine for sending these beautiful gems my way.  

For a flash fiction story about magic, melody and love caught in the cycles of time, check out Songs of the Sorrow of Thorns by Amayah Perveen.  It’s hauntingly beautiful.  

If you’re in the mood for something lighter, don’t miss The Only Writing Advice You’ll Ever Need to Survive Eldritch Horrors by Aimee Picchi, out today!  This story was a blast to record.  Our heroine secretly fights crime (Eldritch Horrors!) at night under the guise of being an accountant.   When her boyfriend breaks up with her over her suspicious 3am “accounting emergencies,” she puts pen to paper and writes him a letter. 

Lastly, if you love heist stories,  The Heist for the Soul of Humanity by Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko may be just what you’re looking for.  Out in the solar system, Josephine Foster and her team of female thieves plot to steal Orion’s Sabre, but the real prize is much more valuable.  Releases on Lightspeed July 18.

Grab your beach gear, headphones, or tablet and head to LightspeedMagazine.com to listen to or read these stories for free.

Buckle up … we’re going to Lightspeed! 🚀