Tag Archives: Short Fiction

Changelings, Golems and Dragons: Three Stories from Lightspeed Magazine

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Changelings and fairy worlds, a wizard and her golem, a dragon and a cast-off princess, and portals to other worlds… 🔮

This month I had the absolute honor and joy of narrating three incredible stories for the October 2026 issue of Lightspeed Magazine. ✨

🧚 Uncanny Jack by Susan Palwick is such a poignant tale that I had to stop recording numerous times to pull myself together.  Its title comes in part from the old changeling belief in British, Irish and Scandinavian folklore: fairies were believed to steal human babies from their cradles and leave one of their own in their place.  In this story they steal adults too.  Lucy takes on this belief because it’s easier to bear than the dementia that has claimed her once brilliant engineer husband, Jack.  So she breaks him out to trade him back and is transported to a fairy world, where she finds her real Jack.  Then, echoing Orpheus and Eurydice, Jack tells her he’ll follow her back to their world as long as she doesn’t look back…

🐉 All the Shapes We Have Ever Been by Kehkashan Khalid centers on a Dev, a shapeshifting spirit chained for years as a serpent to guard a tower where orphaned girls are left as prizes for princes.  This is not a tale about Rapunzel by any means.  One cast-off princess grows up loving the Dev and begins to plan how to set them both free, a journey that takes her to another world and returns her forever changed by fire.

🪄 Until the Cure by Marissa Lingen introduces us to Mehi, a wizard desperately trying to cure the heterokontic plague that has taken hold of her mother.  Until she finds a cure, she builds a golem to give her mother the patience and care she feels she can’t, and the golem slowly becomes someone in its own right.  This story shines a light on caregiving, guilt and needing to do something that actually helps.

At their heart, each of these stories is about love that has to change shape in order to survive, and each holds the power to transform whoever comes across them.  Open that portal door and head on over to Issue 197, where these stories are waiting for you to read, or to listen on the Lightspeed Magazine podcast. 🌀

Heartfelt thanks to Lightspeed Magazine and Skyboat Media for sending these beautiful stories my way. 💜

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. 🧚

 

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. ✨

New Story Podcast Drops on Nightmare Magazine!

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Ready to descend the shadowy stairs?  Dropping today in the February issue of Nightmare Magazine is a spooky new story podcast that I had so much fun narrating. 🌙

Preamble to the Death of a Small God, written by H.B. Menendez and produced by Skyboat Media, follows an outcast … the last of her kind, navigating a forest haunted by pursuers until she stumbles upon a house nestled between ancient oaks.  This house, and the lingering spirit within, becomes her refuge, but its mysteries … are as enigmatic as its welcome.

Grab your flashlight and come with me over to Nightmare-Magazine.com, where you can listen to, or read Preamble to the Death of a Small God.  #storypodcast #newrelease

 

 

New Story Podcast Drops on Fantasy Magazine: Set Yourself On Fire🔥

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Set Yourself On Fire WP Post - FinalEver been guided or visited by a presence that left a lasting mark? Maybe even saved your life? ✨

Dropping this week in the September issue of Fantasy Magazine is an incredibly profound and poignant short story podcast that I had the pleasure of narrating, called Set Yourself On Fire, written by Sam Kyung Yoo, and produced by Skyboat Media.

In this gripping story, we meet a mysterious narrator quietly observing an abusive relationship between our protagonist and her boyfriend, Shaun.  Shaun’s Jekyll & Hyde persona is all too familiar in the world of domestic violence.  We often stay, hoping for change, as our partner’s apologies and promises feel like a life line.  But in Set Yourself On Fire, there’s a twist.

The narrator is a ghostly presence, once Shaun’s girlfriend, tragically taken from this world by his hands. Her spirit lingers, desperate to prevent our protagonist from following the same path. Can she succeed? 

Head on over to Fantasy Magazine’s September issue where you can listen or read this haunting story to find out …🔥

First in Fear and Then in Pain – New Story Podcast Drops on Nightmare Magazine

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Every night at 3 a.m. the screaming begins.  Tortured voices in the hallway coming closer.  Ghosts of the past held hostage by tragic memories of a fateful night.   At first, they cry in fear … Dropping this week in the July issue of Nightmare Magazine is a new story podcast that I had so much fun narrating.

First in Fear and Then in Pain written by Adam R. Shannon and produced by Skyboat Media, follows new homeowner Carey who purchases a townhouse from her realtor / friend Kevin, only to learn (too late!) that the townhouse she just purchased is haunted …

Ready to descend the shadowy stairs? Grab your flashlight and head on over to Nightmare Magazine, where you can listen to, or read First in Fear and Then in Pain.