Podcast appearances and mentions of Rachel Swirsky

Author : Scott Lynch Narrators : Norm Sherman, Pria Wood, Dave Thompson, Anna Schwind, Wilson Fowlie, M.K. Hobson, Graeme Dunlop, Ann Leckie, Alasdair Stuart, Rachel Swirsky and Marshal Latham Host : Matt Dovey Audio Producer : Devin Martin Discuss on Forums Originally Published in Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery, Originally PodCastle 200 […] The post PodCastle 792: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: In the Stacks appeared first on PodCastle.

El presente relato corto ganó el premio Nébula del año 2014 . En realidad, no estamos ante un cuento estrictamente de ciencia ficción, ni siquiera es fantástico… o tal vez sí, pero al margen de su adscripción genérica se trata de una bellísima historia de amor ❤️ —casi un poema— que merecía ser publicada en español y narrada por una servidora. Apareció en marzo de 2013 en la cada vez más interesante revista Apex y suscitó decenas de elogios aunque también fue una de las historias que centraron los ataques del ala más reaccionaria de la ciencia ficción norteamericana, aquella liderada por los denominados Sad Puppies y Rabid Puppies, cuyas campañas han llegado incluso a amenazar el prestigio de los premios Hugo. Por cierto, el marido de Rachel es un gran aficionado a los dinosaurios. 🦖🦖 RACHEL SWIRSKY (California, 1982) es una escritora de fantasía y ficción especulativa, aunque también es poeta, ensayista, editora e, incluso, fue vicepresidenta de la Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Ha sido nominada a los premios Hugo, Sturgeon y Locus, y en 2010 obtuvo el Nébula de mejor novela corta con «The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window» . Sus historias han aparecido en numerosas publicaciones: Tor.com, Subterranean Magazine, Clarkesworld, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Fantasy Magazine, Interzone, Realms of Fantasy, Weird Tales, y en recopilaciones tan prestigiosas como The Year’s Best Science Fiction de Gardner Dozois, The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy de Rich Horton, Year’s Best Science Fiction y Fantasy of the Year de Jonathan Strahan, o Best American Fantasy de Jeff y Ann VanderMeer. 📌 ¡¡Síguenos en Telegram: https://t.me/historiasparaserleidas (estamos preparando un sorteo)🎁 🛑BIO Olga Paraíso: https://instabio.cc/Hleidas 📌Súbete a nuestra nave y disfruta de contenido exclusivo solo para ti, pulsa el botón azul APOYAR y serás un tabernero galáctico desde 1,49€ al mes. Gracias por tu apoyo. ¡¡Hasta el próximo audio!! 🚀 (｡◕‿◕｡) Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

Author : Kij Johnson Narrator : Heather Lindsley Hosts : Matt Dovey and Rachel Swirsky Audio Producer : Eric Valdes Discuss on Forums PodCastle 781: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: Interview with Rachel Swirsky is a PodCastle original. Episode 781 is part of our 15th Anniversary special and includes an interview with Rachel Swirsky, the founding editor of Podcastle […] The post PodCastle 781: ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL: Interview with Rachel Swirsky appeared first on PodCastle.

As we move through the first week of December and into day nine of the Advent Calendar series, Gary spends some time chatting with the incredible Rachel Swirsky about what she's been reading, what she'd recommend, what she reads on the holidays, what work she has coming out, and her fabulous science fiction novella January Fifteenth (Tordotcom), which looks at how universal basic income might affect some of us. As always, our thanks to Rachel for making the time to talk to us. We hope you enjoy the episode!

On this final episode of The Writer and the Critic for 2022 your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, spend a few minutes musing over the missing of podcasts, the breaking of awards, and the end of time as we know it. The books up for discussion this month are January Fifteenth by Rachel Swirsky [9:30] and Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen [39:00]. The interview with Samantha Allen that was mentioned in this episode can be read here. The fabulously sartorial Jules Mond can be found on Instagram @seemeswoon. And for listeners curious to know what Ian's beautiful William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review actually looks like, here it is complete with box: Kirstyn promises to mail it to him before the end of the year. Maybe. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 109:10 for final remarks. The first episode of 2023 will be uploaded in February 2023 and the two books on the slab will be: Every Version of You by Grace Chan The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!  

For the first week in July, we're joined by Nebula Award winner Rachel Swirsky, whose novella January Fifteenth ( just out from Tordotcom) is a provocative exploration of the idea of Universal Basic Income (UBI) as it might play out in the lives of four women in very different circumstances. We touch upon Rachel's decision to focus on characters rather than systems, to set the tale in a recognizable near future, and to deliberately restrain from many science-fictional bells and whistles. This leads to how SF deals, too rarely, with questions of economic policy and the effects on individual lives —in the case of January Fifteenth, a woman escaping from an abusive ex-spouse, a journalist covering the effects of UBI, a well-off college student whose friends deliberately waste their annual checks, and a young member of a repressive religious cult. As usual, we touch upon what's next for Rachel, including an intriguing collaboration with Ann Leckie. As always, our thanks to Rachel for making the time to talk to us. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Episode Notes The Sin of America Next week - Tangles Transcript - Accuracy 90%ish   SSSP-TheSinOfAmerica Tue, 7/5 12:30PM • 14:06 SUMMARY KEYWORDS story, america, sheridan, gluttony, personal favorites, sin, feel, living, woman, setting, rewarded, sparrows, aspect, case, scene, whimsical, remarkable, week, lottery, sin eater SPEAKERS Chris Garcia, Kristy Baxter   Kristy Baxter  Lightning recap. A woman is given a tremendous task that will change everything and nothing.   Chris Garcia  You've got a little time,   Kristy Baxter  We've got a little podcast.   Chris Garcia  This is short story short podcast. I am here today with   Kristy Baxter  Kristy L. Baxter   Chris Garcia  And, you know, I felt so good all week, I really, what I really need to do is to get into a a group of things in which all but one of them will lose, so that I might feel better about my future of losing.   Kristy Baxter  But you say that would be kind of like a lottery of sorts. I was thinking   Chris Garcia  more like a series of nominees.   Kristy Baxter   Oh, okay. All right. I see. Like, like a slate.   Chris Garcia  Similar, yes. Or a granite. But what granite? member would we be reading this week?   Kristy Baxter  This week, we would be reading the scent of America by Katherine M. Berlin de   Chris Garcia  now. Hi, can we have red cat before? By car? They sparrows? Bold,   Kristy Baxter  they radiant car? They sparrows do something on that one? Yeah.   Chris Garcia  Yeah, that's still easier than a alpiq overpass. But this story in particular, is one of those stories, that one you have to be willing to read deeper than just the surface. And you're 100% rewarded by having knowledge, in this case of Christ's symbology. And also American history. And a lot of writers trying to write this, it would feel exceptionally heavy handed. And maybe this is, but it's so beautifully written that I don't notice.   Kristy Baxter  A grade and I don't I don't think it's heavy handed at all. I think she uses a nice depth light touch with everything and sort of comes at the central idea of the story more sideways than directly, which is I think part of what helps to kind of ease the reader into it.   Chris Garcia  And she's using one of my favorite techniques where it is the ordinary, the humdrum, the scenes that we are encountering all the time if we live in our long, busy highways. But at the same time, there's a fantastical element that is, in this case, I would say us lyrically, it is to fold over this scene with just magnificently constructed writing   Kristy Baxter  yeah, there's so much that is just like beautiful about this, that it's really the writing that pulls you in and and overcomes any any issues of heavy handed ness and is she's really good at setting the scene, but not in like a standard pedestrian kind of way. It's it's a very it's a more I don't want to say whimsical because it's too deep to be whimsical. You know it's not it's not light and airy or anything like that, but there's just a lot of gorgeous imagery. And we learned that a group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope which is my favorite Fun Fact of the week now. I am so happy about that.   Chris Garcia  And I think what's great about cats riding overall is how that ability to structure language in a way that hits the poetry section of the brain is, is really remarkable palimpsest, her novel from about 1215 years ago. amazing example of that six guns Snow White, and novella she did about maybe eight, nine years ago now. Beautifully done and my one of my personal favorites of all time, space opera. It's Eurovision in space really. And it is just absolutely remarkable. It opens with tickets Enrico and Enrico Fermi segment that makes me happy. But what one thing that you can always count on is this butting up of popular culture that happens and you know, one of my personal favorites. It was Lenny, who had hung up all those felt the NFL champion pennants in chronological order, starting with the Cleveland Browns in the year of her birth, dangling over the revolving pipe display case and terminating abruptly in the 1982. Washington Redskins, whose solemn mascot frowns down on the cash register. I mean, it is a sentence that does nothing to move the story forward. It is a sentence that does everything to move, not only the setting forward, but the character's involvement with the setting.   Kristy Baxter  A great great and then you have beautiful lines like the blue bison Diner is a ghost living room and is serving the sin of America. I mean, that's, that's just it just knocked me for a loop ghost living room. I'm going to call everything that ghosts living room now. But yes, I love that. That intersection of character and setting and how they play with each other, how the setting tells us more about the characters and the characters then tell us more about the setting, they sort of inform each other. And that that I can really appreciate I think if somebody is looking for a primer on how those two aspects affection can work well together, I think this would be a good example to use.   Chris Garcia  This is the other quadrant of the the extra world interior world positivity of human emotion thing that I would say, Richard the Third lays on the exact opposite side of where it is the physical description of the exterior of the person and TRT world that they're living in. And I think that is amazing. I think there's something here too. It's serving the Center of America, what serving the Center of America is this? America of of people who live along Highway. And that is an interesting statement in and of itself, and one that I actually see as being smarter than I would have thought it to be. If you were to describe, you know, the average American and someone who lives with dinars in their blood, I would say no, that's not true. It's mostly but then I kind of realized, well, in a way it is, in a way it always is. And that I think is what makes it interesting is that it's serving the sin of America. In both senses,   Kristy Baxter  in both senses, yes, it's this sort of, there's an aspect of homespun capitalism, I guess I would call it it's really hard for me, I think that the best description I'm going to come up with, but it's just this very like countrified backwoods down home, but still got to make $1 Still gotta earn your living, you know, still gotta make money. And then sort of added with that into sort of a sense of feeding into gluttony. You beat me to it. Whoa, cross the finish line. Yeah,   Chris Garcia  that this idea that the ultimate sin of America somehow has to do with gluttony, and the restaurant and all these sorts of ideas, I think actually plays very well. And again, you are rewarded for having because this is a Christ allegory in a way. And I think that that the more you know, into that realm, you know, if you can add all this Christian symbology, and so forth, and technology and all the other stuff that ended ologies that once you can combine all that you can look through the story through a couple of different lenses. And I think what's interesting is if you look at it as this is what this is how we view America, and this is how we view the religion aspect of that, at some point, the two are at the exact right level away from your eyes to form a full form picture. It's like a stereo graph. And I liked that idea. And I can see me doing that with little thing.   Kristy Baxter  And then the eye doctor comes in and says, which is better one or 2142?   Chris Garcia  Same? Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Yes. And I like this story. It's less of a I don't know if I'd say it's as much of a it's not a go out there knocking around actions don't   Kristy Baxter  know, it's not it's not but it does still feel like there is a lot at stake. You know, nothing will change.   Chris Garcia  Wow, you just described a whole lot.   Kristy Baxter  That is true. Yes.   Chris Garcia  Gigantic button, nothing ultimately will change. Yeah. Kinda like this is written about the world at large over the past billion years.   Kristy Baxter  Almost, like almost.   Chris Garcia  I have to say, I enjoyed this. I don't know, if I would like writing wise, I would put it as the number one thing we've read so far. I think there's, there's literally I can think of maybe three people one of which being Ted Chang and the other one being Rachel Swirsky. Who have this level of ability to create in sentence and I think that this is a a wonderful read. It's not exactly what I'm looking for in a story necessarily. But it's when I encounter it I enjoy it.   Kristy Baxter  Personally, I think the writing is good enough that this it's good enough to wave me into putting this in my my number one spot so far   Chris Garcia  think I you know, I could see that. I've got it. Maybe it's just that I have a real soft spot for Twitter.   Kristy Baxter  Oh, gee, I wonder in what direction you might be leaning.   Chris Garcia  Lean in every direction at once it's my superpower. Got any other thoughts here there Christie?   Kristy Baxter  Just that this story is like if the lottery and the what was it the Death Eaters? Oh, yeah. If they got together and had a baby and then that baby got selected to go and sacrifice itself upon the altar of capitalism and gluttony and all those wonderful things.   Chris Garcia  The Sin Eater   Kristy Baxter  was it the sin eater?   Chris Garcia  Yeah, the one who was eating all the sin.   Kristy Baxter  Okay. All right. So this is so it's very much like that the the baby?   Chris Garcia  Well, yes, and I think I think that that's a good, that's a good way to combine it. It's a as far as if you then use I would say that is a Okay, good. I'll take it. Hey, hey. Hey, Christy.   Kristy Baxter  Did you get stuck there? Yes.   Chris Garcia  What should we read next week?   Kristy Baxter  I think that next week, we should read another Hugo nominated story. tangles by Seanan McGuire.   Chris Garcia  Excellent. Another person who I have damn well fondness for. So until that week. This has been short story, short podcast Find out more at https://short-story-short-podcast.pinecast.co

Inspired by social media drama, Bethany and Izzy are back to give you the truth about getting ARC's (Advance Reader Copies) and advice to anyone looking to get into reviewing books. PLUS we have an extended segment with Queer book recommendations for Pride month (beginning 26:43)! - Queer Romance Readathon Announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG6BYm_0ZqM Looking for a book mentioned in the episode? Check here! *Note that all links are affiliate links from which we earn a commission to support the podcast Books Mentioned Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine: https://amzn.to/3O4yygV The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill: https://amzn.to/3xBPiXG August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White: https://amzn.to/3MDBEHR Twisted Love by Ana Huang: https://amzn.to/39k70pc Bet On It by Jodie Slaughter: https://amzn.to/3MwFMJD White Whiskey Bargain by Jodie Slaughter: https://amzn.to/3QerZdy QUEER  EROTIC ROMANCE  Neighborly by Katrina Jackson: https://amzn.to/3Q9Whyf The Roommate by Brandy Bush: https://amzn.to/3QnNd98 Gifting Me to His Best Friend by Katee Robert M/M ROMANCE BY GAY MEN Crimes of Passion by Jack Harbon: https://amzn.to/3QbNOue Meet Cute Club by Jack Harbon: https://amzn.to/3xzh9aW Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall: https://amzn.to/3H9mmJC Cole McCade Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas: https://amzn.to/3xpCK4q I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver: https://amzn.to/3xjPpFN Phil Stamper Nate Plus One by Kevin van Whye: https://amzn.to/3ttwMhz Wolfsong by TJ Klune: https://amzn.to/3ttURVE Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune: https://amzn.to/3xBUfQ6 The Secret Life of Albert Entwhistle by Matt Cain: https://amzn.to/3HbtTYd QUEER SCI-FI/FANTASY The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri: https://amzn.to/39nuIkh Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell: https://amzn.to/3O1IaZW In the Vanisher's Palace by Alliette de Bodard:https://amzn.to/3mzXlxS Siren Queen by Nghi Vo: https://amzn.to/3xj4szJ Skye Kilaen Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh: https://amzn.to/3xy2Kf4 The Girls are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh: https://amzn.to/3xzd2M0 ASEXUAL REP Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann: https://amzn.to/39k98NI The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann: https://amzn.to/3aG6aU2 Beyond the Black Door by AM Strickland: https://amzn.to/3aVWPI1 In the Ravenous Dark by AM Strickland: https://amzn.to/3MBpVcO The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood: https://amzn.to/3MBq67Y That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert: https://amzn.to/3MCRIJF Network Effect by Martha Wells: https://amzn.to/3MwoD2A Books from On My Radar Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert: https://amzn.to/3ttyfV7 Boys, Beasts & Men by Sam J Miller: https://amzn.to/3mzLtfc January Fifteenth by Rachel Swirsky: https://amzn.to/3xfTxXv Fake It Til You Bake It by Jamie Wesley: https://amzn.to/3mwYi9U American Royalty by Tracey Livesay: https://amzn.to/3MEubrT The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi: https://amzn.to/3MEubrT Follow us on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok @Chapter3Podcast or watch episodes on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy6yRiktWbWRAFpByrVk-kg Interested in early access to episodes, private Discord channels and other perks? Consider joining the Chapter 3 Patreon!  Co-Hosts  Bethany: https://www.youtube.com/c/beautifullybookishbethany Liene: https://www.youtube.com/c/LienesLibrary Izzy: https://www.youtube.com/c/HappyforNow

Editors' Intro: Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas Short Fiction: “For All Those Who Sheltered Here” by Del Sandeen, as read by Matt Peters Short Fiction: “White Rose, Red Rose” by Rachel Swirsky, as read by Erika Ensign Short Fiction: The North Pole Workshops” by Mari Ness, as read by Matt Peters Poetry: “Confessions of a Spaceport AI” by Mary Soon Lee, as read by Erika Ensign Interview: Lynne M. Thomas Interviews Del Sandeen   Want to join the Space Unicorn Ranger Corps? You can find new science fiction and fantasy stories, poetry, and nonfiction every month in Uncanny Magazine. Go to uncannymagazine.com or subscribe to the eBook version at weightlessbooks.com or amazon.com. This podcast was produced by Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky. Music created by Null Device and used with permission. Copyright © 2021 by Uncanny Magazine

Episode Notes The story at Apex Magazine, a phenomenal magazine! Find out more at https://short-story-short-podcast.pinecast.co

Authors : Larry Hammer, Mike Resnick and Jim Kling Narrators : Michael R. Mennenga, Elie Hirschman and Rachel Swirsky Hosts : Benjamin C. Kinney, Rachel Swirsky and Serah Eley Audio Producers : Adam Pracht, Rachel Swirsky, Serah Eley and Mur Lafferty Discuss on Forums Paul Bunyan and the Photocopier first appeared on Escape Pod on June […] Source

No episódio #025 – Rachel Lima lê "Se eu fosse um dinossauro" de Rachel Swirsky -- Rachel Lima e Silva nasceu na capital de São Paulo em 1996 e criou-se no interior paulista, Registro, cidade do Vale Ribeira (ou mais conhecido como o vale das bananas). Hoje mora em Florianópolis e faz faculdade de bacharelado em Artes Visuais na Udesc. Como estudante e artista em download, explora o texto como trabalho artístico e caminha por meios intermidiáticos, como a vídeo-performance, desenhos, notas-fotográficas e os vocabulários do corpo a partir da dança. > Quando a minha amiga Gabi leu este texto para mim, fiquei fascinada pela sua potência imagética. A história te conduz para um imaginário imprevisível, uma narrativa breve, intensa e instigante. Interpreto nesse ser, que poderia ser um dinossauro, as vulnerabilidades impostas à população LGBTI. O Brasil é um dos países que mais assassina transsexuais e travestis, também é um dos que mais violentam lésbicas, gays, bissexuais e desde as eleições no Brasil, este terror só tem piorado. Não faz sentido que uma patética convenção heternormativa classifique quais corpos são dignos de humanização, a liberdade de existência é castrada e relações de afeto são punidas por não se encaixarem ao padrão imposto. Mas se eu, se você , se elxs fossem dinossauros “Eu confiaria em seus dentes e garras para manter você / eu / nós seguros agora”. O texto “Se eu fosse um dinossauro” é de Rachel Swirsky, foi publicado em 2013 pela revista Apex Magazine e vencedor no prêmio Nebula em 2013 . A tradução do texto para português foi realizada pela mestranda em Artes Visuais Gabriela Hermenegildo. Fonte: www.apex-magazine.com/interview-with…achel-swirsky/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/podcastversar/message

This week we're talking to Christine Tyler, short story author, cosplay enthusiast, and Odyssey Workshop alum. Check out her first published short story, THE HORRIBLE DEATHS OF HELGA HRAFNSDÓTTIR, over on PodCastle at http://podcastle.org/2019/08/27/podcastle-589-the-horrible-deaths-of-helga-hrafnsdottir/. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ctylerauthor, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ChristineTylerAuthor/, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/christinetyler. Find out more at https://www.christinetyler.com. Thank you to all of our incredible listeners, including our Patrons over at https://Patreon.com/BeyondTheTrope. Get exclusive Beyond The Trope gear at https://Redbubble.com/people/BeyondTheTrope. Mentioned in this episode: Mile Hi Con Cowboy Bebop (TV Show) Alien (Movie) Aliens (Movie) Star Wars: A New Hope Predator (Movie) Rambo: First Blood (Movie) Hayao Miyazaki Clarion Workshop "Seasons of Glass and Iron" (Short Story) by Amal El-Mohtar The Hugo Awards Jeanne Cavelos "An Arc of Lightning Across the Eye of God" (Short Story) by P. H. Lee Clarkesworld "Compassionate Simulation" (Short Story) by Rachel Swirsky and P. H. Lee Uncanny Magazine S. R. Mandel Lulu Kadhim Chris Degni Harry Potter (Book Series) by J. K. Rowling The Lord of the Rings (Trilogy) by J. R. R. Tolkien BURIED IN THE SKY by Amanda Padoan and Peter Zuckerman Writing Excuses Podcast Beneath Ceaseless Skies

This episode features "Your Face" written by Rachel Swirsky. Published in the August 2019 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/swirsky_08_19 Support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/clarkesworld

This episode features "Your Face" written by Rachel Swirsky. Published in the August 2019 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine and read by Kate Baker. The text version of this story can be found at: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/swirsky_08_19 Support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/clarkesworld

Nibble New York cheesecake in L.A. with Nebula Award-winning writer Rachel Swirsky as we discuss what it was like to be critiqued by Octavia Butler at the Clarion Science Fiction Writers Workshop, how she learned there's no inherent goodness in being concise in one's writing, the generational shift in mainstream literature's acceptance of science fiction, why she's an anarchist (though she's really not), what she learned about writing as a reporter covering pinball professionally, how the things most people say are impossible actually aren't, why you shouldn't base your self-worth on your accomplishments, how to deal with writers block and impostor syndrome (and the way they're sometimes connected), the proper way to depict mental illness in fiction, why whenever she writes erotica it turns out to be depressing, how she survived the controversy over "If You Were A Dinosaur, My Love," and much more.

Author : Scott Lynch Narrators : Norm Sherman, Peter Wood, Dave Thompson, Wilson Fowlie, M.K. Hobson, Graeme Dunlop, Anna Schwind, Ann Leckie, Alasdair Stuart, Rachel Swirsky and Marshal Latham Host : Peter Wood Audio Producer : Peter Wood Discuss on Forums Originally Published in Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery. Rated R: Contains violence, […] The post PodCastle 516b: 10th Anniversary Special, The Best of PodCastle #4 – In the Stacks appeared first on PodCastle.

“Broken Clouds” by Rachel Swirsky (Originally published in When the Villain Comes Home.) Alex walked home through light rain that was almost soundless as it silvered the sidewalk. The whole world seemed colorless: overcast sky, grey drizzle, endless cement. The empty, grasping ache in her abdomen gnawed at her, not just because of the pain but because of the frisson of loss that accompanied it. She was like a glass with the water poured out, a vacant vessel. Would it ever stop? Did anyone ever recover from having the magic torn out of their flesh? Her house came into view as she turned the corner, its dilapidated single story dwarfed by the apartment buildings on either side. It always seemed to be cowering, as if the neighboring giants might decide at any moment to crush it into oblivion. Its faded wood siding was the same grayed-out blue as the rainy sky. Battered shutters held tight against wind and water. Rain had swollen the doorframe. Alex grunted as she put her weight into tugging it... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When she comes into the loft, she glares at me with the bright-eyed, serpentine resentment of the dead. In the dry attic, water drips from her hair and pools at her feet. Her lips pull back. I'd forgotten that I used to grimace like that---teeth bared like an animal's. I'm not her and she isn't me. When I say “I,” I might mean either one of us, but that's not precise. I have no past, so I took her memories. I have no name, so I took her name. I had no body, but I have hers now. | Copyright 2016 by An Owomoyela and Rachel Swirsky. Narrated by Gabrielle de Cuir. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our fourth podcast for February is “Between Dragons and Their Wrath” written by An Owomoyela and Rachel Swirsky and read by Kate Baker. Subscribe to our podcast.

Our fourth podcast for February is “Between Dragons and Their Wrath” written by An Owomoyela and Rachel Swirsky and read by Kate Baker.

Begin at the beginning: His many hats. Felt derbies in charcoal and camel and black. Sporting caps and straw boaters. Gibuses covered in corded silk for nights at the theatre. Domed bowlers with dashingly narrow brims. The ratty purple silk top hat, banded with russet brocade, that he keeps by his bedside. | Copyright 2015 by Rachel Swirsky. Narrated by Stefan Rudnicki.

All That Fairy Tale Crapby Rachel SwirskyI was supposed to go to the ball, but I spent the night licking out my stepsister instead.Bethesda moaned and rustled mulberry silk high up her thighs. “There, there, no, faster, come on, faster, please…”The friendly mice put out their eyes and ran out in trios to join a different fairy tale.Never marry a prince when you can eat a pussy.Never ride a pumpkin when you can steal cab fare.Never wear a ball gown when you can slink in snakeskin pants.Never listen to a fairy godmother.Full transcript appears after the cut.----more----[Intro music plays.]Hello! Welcome to GlitterShip episode 14 for September 8th, 2015. This is your host, Keffy, and I'm super excited to be sharing this story with you.Our story today is "All That Fairy Tale Crap" by Rachel Swirsky.Rachel Swirsky holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers Workshop. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Hugo, the World Fantasy Award, and the Locus Award, and twice won the Nebula Award. She's always been obsessed with fairy tales, from Shelley Duval's Fairy Tale Theatre through Datlow and Windling's anthologies of retellings.All That Fairy Tale Crapby Rachel SwirskyI was supposed to go to the ball, but I spent the night licking out my stepsister instead.Bethesda moaned and rustled mulberry silk high up her thighs. “There, there, no, faster, come on, faster, please…”The friendly mice put out their eyes and ran out in trios to join a different fairy tale.Never marry a prince when you can eat a pussy.Never ride a pumpkin when you can steal cab fare.Never wear a ball gown when you can slink in snakeskin pants.Never listen to a fairy godmother.Bethesda and I went clubbing. Everyone gave her the oddball eye for wearing ruffled silk with fucking puffy sleeves. I laughed back at all of them.I seduced some refugee from the eighties who had a rainbow mohawk. Bethesda glared at us and bought herself two shots of tequila, one of which she threw in my face.Well, what do you expect from an ugly girl?I danced until the eighties mohawk guy got tired and went home, and then I danced until the bartender tried to close everyone out, and then I danced more until it was sunrise, and the bartender still hadn’t managed to get away because I was dancing with him, our eyes locked across the room, him swaying like a hypnotized snake to the flute of my body.Outside, it was pink and gray over endless city. I chose a street at random.“Eat my body,” said a house that belonged to a witch.“Look at me,” said a mirror with a voice.“Do you want some boots?” asked a man exchanging new shoes for old.I pulled off my heels and traded them in for knee–high go–gos.“You look very intelligent,” said the man. “I bet you could scam an ogre.”I grinned and gave him a dollar I’d stolen off the bartender.The heroes of fairy tales are straight. And skinny, too, so they’re straight and narrow.People think this is because of heterosexism and beauty standards. It isn’t. Snow White takes a cock in her scrawny cunt because she can’t imagine how to be twisty.You start out with three tools. You’re pretty. You have small feet. And you can do housework.Now become a princess.Go on. Laugh. Shatter glass class ceilings? Yeah, right. There’s a reason they call it the American dream. It ain’t gonna happen while you’re awake.I find a hotel all lit up neon even though it’s half past five a.m. Slip inside because why not? A place still partying through dawn’s likely to have someone in it who’ll try to pick you up by buying breakfast and staring at your tits.Inside, it’s all tattered chiffon streamers and tumbled confetti glitzing up the rug. Martini glasses are scattered on ottomans, couches, in the pots of fake rubber tree plants, half of them smashed to shiny bits.And there: the prince. What the hell? Thought he was throwing a ball not a prom. But you can tell he’s the prince on account of the epaulettes. He’s tongue–spelunking down some girl’s throat. Grope, slip, grope, they change angle, and shit — that girl’s face! Sharp and blunt in all the wrong angles. Hell if it’s not my other stepsister, Griselda.Suddenly, the prince’s hangover pall goes from jaundice to chartreuse. His abdomen clenches. Then comes the retching. Griselda can’t jump back fast enough. He spews puce chunks of half–digested pâté all down her mint green frills.She shoves him off — “Fuck! You got some in my mouth!”But he can’t hear because he’s slammed on the floor, passed out like a pine board.Griselda gives me the stink–eye when I go over to help which I can’t blame since I’m the one who just last night threw her over for her sister. But when I turn over His Blotto Majesty so I can rifle through his pockets, one of his epaulettes falls off, and underneath there’s a label for a costume shop on 44th.“Fuck!” Griselda shouts. “A fucking fake!”Her rant zooms off and I’d kiss her to shut her up except for the vomit.“You’re uglier when you’re angry,” I say.“Bitch. Where’s my sister?”“Jealous snit. Stormed off.”“You’re an entitled little slut, Cinderella.”“You want this guy’s wallet or not?”Griselda sets her mouth in an ugly snarl. Hard to describe the kind of ugly she and Bethesda’ve got. Everything in the right place, technically, but goes together nine kinds of wrong.She stays all frozen grimace — can’t say no, won’t admit yes — till I take mercy and throw his billfold at her. He brought enough to play prince for another couple hours. Won’t set her up for life, but it’s not nothing. She glares at me as she rifles bills with her thumb.“You’re still a bitch, Cinderella,” she says, but her bark is out of bite.There’s this thing happens when you’re growing up, narrative an anvil on your shoulders, when you know you’re supposed to pull yourself up by the bootstraps of your Lucite stripper heels. And that thing is: you cease to give a fuck.Worse when everyone and her hairy–legged sister’s busy telling you what it is you mean. Smashing you with a hammer and turning the bits into symbols, grabbing a ballpoint and writing you into a hundred ink–stained girls in diamond ball gowns screaming bra–burning opposition to becoming passive, powerless, pampered princesses.And what’s wrong with pampering? Sounds good to me. Better than wearing the daily jewels of five–fingered bruises bestowed by the cunt who calls herself mother. Better than inhaling bleach and ammonia every morning while you’re on your hands and knees scrubbing other people’s muck.Better than the taste of coal, the real taste of it, when the char’s gone deep in your tongue, scorched every bud, turned all that supposed–to–be–pink into scalding black. After that, there’s nothing doesn’t taste of burning.I tell you: when the whole world is charcoal, you take whatever bullshit they’re serving because even shit sandwiches are better than fire.Deeper in the lobby, there’s a she–bear sitting on a loveseat. You can tell it’s a she–bear because she’s wearing a ruffled apron.Beside her, there’s a passed out girl. Like last night’s champagne, she’s gone flat. Tongue lolls; limbs sprawl; hope she had a ball ’cuz today’s gonna be a long–ass haul.She–bear opens her paw. Inside, there’s a tiny tea cup — on second thought, not tiny; her paw’s just enormous. Silver tray on the ottoman in front of her, bone–delicate porcelain tea service painted with pastel roses. She raises the cup to her snout and, I swear, her fucking pinky claw is raised.“What are you at the ball for?” I ask. “You someone’s dancing bear?”I shove the flat–champagne girl onto the floor and take her place. Girl grunt–snores as she tumbles onto the rug, golden ringlets flipping over her face.She–bear rumbles disapprovingly at my incivility but won’t be rude in return. Gestures with her free paw to the other cups on the tray.There are three. Obviously.I grab the hot one and pour it down my throat. Hiss of steam as it hits my lips. Saliva boils. Flame sears down my gullet.Like anything’s so hot I can’t take it.I open my mouth so she can see the skin bubbling on my tongue. “Juuuuuust right.”Her nose twitches with amusement. She sets down her just–so cup and grabs the oh–so–cold one. One long swallow and when she opens her mouth again, icicles glisten on her fangs. Her frozen exhalation blasts my face like frostbite.“All right,” I say. “I grant you. That was mucho macho.”She runs her tongue across her fangs to lick off the ice, regards me with an impatient what–do–you–wantstare.“It’s paper–thin. That’s what gets me. It’s always paper–thin. Was to start with. Well, I guess it was voice–thin then. Oral–tradition–thin. There you are, you’re an archetype, and you get to marry a prince who doesn’t even have a name, and does either of you exist at all? Or are you just epaulettes and glass slippers? Not even good costumes. Oh, what the hell do you know anyway? You’re a bear who doesn’t even have to shit in the woods.”Her teacup slams against the tray. Reverberation sends the dishes crashing into each other. I startle–leap back, but much as I want to, I can’t run; I’m transfixed by the smoldering black glare. Her maw gapes open. This time, I’m not fooled by the flowers and ruffles. Those fangs can bite down on cucumber sandwiches, sure, but they can also tear out a moose’s throat, seize a salmon straight out of the river.Glass rings as her growl crescendos.She says, “You shouldn’t make assumptions.”I shiver. “I didn’t know you could speak.”“Let me give you some advice.” She leans closer, snout foreshortened in my vision, breath a humid mix of rotten meat and blueberry scones. “Female to female. From someone who’s been in the world longer than you have. Who’s borne a cub and met a thief and slept howling winters into spring.”I rub the goosebumps on my forearms. Her ursine stare is all crags and glaciers and white water rapids.Along the back of my neck, where the hairs are raised, I feel a sting — not just of fear, but of hope. Maybe she has the answers to questions I don’t even know how to ask.Levelly, she stares at me. “You look stupid in go–go boots.”Here’s the thing:You can’t win.You can’t win if you’re a princess. You can’t win if you rescue the prince. You can’t win if you cross–dress and become the royal huntsman. And heaven forbid you try to slip into another fairy tale by pricking yourself with a spindle — in the real world, the only thing a spindly prick gets you is up the duff.No one else is doing better. The mice always wondering if they’re supposed to walk on two legs. The prince so vapid he can only recognize the chick he’s fallen in love with by her shoe size. Your poor, ugly stepsisters who half the time are hobbling on chopped–up feet.Animators can come in with fake smiles and truckloads of bleach and Zip–a–Zee–Do–Dah away the blood and eye–pecking birds. Post–modern lit grads in ironic t–shirts can tear you up and stitch you into Frankenstein’s femme fatale.Still there are a thousand girls resting their heads on fireplace stones. Still a thousand streaked with ash and spit.Still a million going to sleep each night with the knowledge that no one gives a fuck whether or not they wake up.Little cinder girls, we’re raised in fire.Either you melt and become the simpering thing you’re supposed to.Or else you temper into something calloused and unbreakable.Ditched the hotel to search for Griselda. Was hoping I could wheedle a cut of the cash, but before I can chase her down, someone’s grabbing my arm and dragging me down the sidewalk, and she–bear is right, I am stupid to be wearing go–go boots because if I’d chosen something else — something with steel toes maybe — I could kick this fucker in the shins and get away.Instead, I’m shoved into a swarm of people. My assailant shouts, “What about this one?”More people grab my arms. There are women in black sheath dresses and pink pearls, and men in ponchos and eyeliner, all talking rapidly over each other. “Could be the one! Could be her! She could work!” Hands push me down onto one of those folding chairs people take camping, and there’s some guy at my feet —Oh, look. Epaulettes again.Gently, he tugs on my left go–go boot. Leather slips down my calf. His tongue brushes the side of his mouth as he pulls, slow–as–slow. He pants, quick and shallow. Saliva pools in the corner of his mouth. His lids lower with creepy–ass pleasure as my heel pops free. He reveals my arch and then my toes. His index finger traces my sole. “Mmmmmm.”Whole crowd’s eyes on my bare foot. The prince’s eyes. The eyeliner–and–pearls attendants’ eyes. The eyes of the encircling ranks of morning commuters in business casual who cinch in closer so they can get a better ogle.The prince passes off the go–go boot, and holds out his hand, impatiently. Sheath–dresses and ponchos confer. “Blue doeskin?” suggests one.“Blue doeskin!” shout the others. “Blue doeskin!”A ponchoed ponce presents a shoebox. Sweeps off the lid with a flourish. “Blue doeskin!”Prince lifts out a four–inch sling–back heel. “Doeskin. Mmm.”He leans forward to slide the shoe onto my foot. I surprise him with a kick to the stomach.He doubles over. The pearls–and–eyeliner people flutter their hands in alarm. “Five–bow wedges?” “Studded cowboy boots?” “Gladiator sandals?”I lurch to standing, awkward with one foot bare and the other go–go heeled, and grab Prince Droolface by the collar. “I always figured a fucker that obsessed with shoe size had to be a fetishist. Look, fine by me, okay? You want me to wear stilettos and walk your spine like a runway? Skippy. But first you tell me what you’re offering in exchange.”He sputters. I grab one of his epaulettes.Patty’s Party World. ’Nother fucking fake.It’s all so clear the day before you’re supposed to go to the ball.Walk away and they can’t make a real Cinderella out of you.But once you’ve washed the taste of your stepsister’s pussy out of your mouth with a tequila shot… What then?Now you’re hungover, and your eyes are bloodshot, and you haven’t slept in thirty–six hours — and still, everything you do is heading toward some kind of meaning.All you wanted to do was run off so you could say, “Her? That’s not me. I’m someone different.”But Cinderella’s still the center. Everything you do is bound to what she did. You’re her marginalia. You’re the commentary on her body of work.Everything you do is going to be read in relation to her. You can’t ever really be your own.I’m still running — well, hobbling, given the one–shoe thing — away from Creepy–Ass McFootFetishist when suddenly I spot Griselda. She’s sitting on the curb, taking coins out of the wallet once possessed by Faux Prince #1, and flipping them one by one into the gutter. They make a lonely ringing sound as they clang into the sewers.I pause, wondering if I should set myself up with a catcher’s mitt — because wasting cash? What? — when shifting clouds change the light, and my shadow tumbles over Griselda.She looks up. Tears streak her ugly face.“Oh,” she says, looking sadly back toward the gutter. “You.”“Uh. Hi.”A big coin that looks like it might be a Susie B. clamors its way down.“Could you stop that?” I say.Her face snarls up. She pulls out a fistful of change and it looks like she’s going to throw it all in the gutter at once, but then she turns and hurls it in my face.“Take it then!” she shouts.“Um,” I say.I can’t help glancing at the passersby who are now giving the crazy chicks wide berth. For dignity’s sake, I probably shouldn’t bend ass to collect a few dollars in change, but I pull off my second go–go anyway and start scooping quarters into it.Griselda grunts disgustedly. “He wasn’t even a real prince. I let him feel me up and everything. And he wasn’t even a real prince.”She bares her teeth.“Should have known,” she says. “Thought maybe I could get some royal nookie even if you got the veil. But no. With you around, everything’s fake.”She throws the wallet smack at my chest. It hits me then bounces to the ground. I bend down to get it. When I stand back up, she’s gone.You’re an astute reader. So let’s cut the bullshit. You’ve read enough metafiction to think you know where I’m going. And you probably do know because basically what I’ve been saying this whole time is that everything that happens from here is going to fall into one category of commentary or another.You’ve probably become aware that I’m not exactly Cinderella. I’m not bricked up behind the fourth wall, but I’m not driving the bulldozer either… I’m going to go with the charitable angle and call my identity complex. But I won’t argue if you want to call it confused, ill–defined, or pretentious bullshit.For the purposes of this story, you may consider me to be any one of the following, or any combination thereof. Feel free to switch up at any time.• Cinderella• The metafictional compilation of Cinderellas• A prop for anachronistic jokes• A stand–in for the author• The pissed off ghost of the chick who told her story to some asshats named Grimm• A caterpillar with sixteen feet wearing sixteen glass slippers, dreaming of smashing its cocoon and metamorphosing into the black hole that will devour the universeNot sure if wandering the streets is such a good idea given my luck so far, but I keep pounding the pavement anyway, walking barefoot, with the wallet in one hand and the coin–filled go–go boot in the other.Come upon a dried–up patch of grass trying to pass as a park. Asleep on a bench, there’s Bethesda. Mulberry skirt torn into a mini that makes her legs look uglier than usual.“Hey,” I say, looming.She wakes up. Her breath smells like the bear’s but without the trace of sweet. “Shit.” She rubs her eyes to get a bleary look at me. “I should slap you.”“Yeah. But you won’t.”“Nah,” she agrees.That’s the central difference between Bethesda and Griselda. Piss off Griz and she’ll punch a motherfucker. Beth runs hot for an hour or two but can’t keep grudging.She presses her hand against her head and moans. “The fuck did you let me drink so much?”“I’m not your mother.”“Fuck my mother. Where’s Griz?”“Sulking because she made out with some dude who wasn’t a prince.”“Fuck her too, then. But not like I fucked you.”“Speaking of,” I say, “That’s over. No offense. Was just a one–time kind of thing.”“Figured. After mohawk guy.” She shrugs. It turns into a full–out stretch. “So what the hell’re you going to do now?”“Been thinking about that.”“And?”“Not coming up with much.”“What happened to your shoes?”“Sold ’em for some boots.” I lift my change purse cum go–go. “Then lost one.”“So you’re a streetwalker who can’t even keep her heels on.”“And you’re a recently dumped, hungover ugly chick wearing a ball gown miniskirt.”“So you done yet?” she asks. “This all weird enough for you finally?”“Hell no…”Cuz it’s not, is it? Not twisty. Not really.Even if I could somehow break us out of this place where we started… chew us free from the bear trap of our story… go someplace no had ever heard of glass slippers and running away at the stroke of midnight… how would we even recognize ourselves then?I shift foot to foot. Sun’s making the asphalt hot. I’m regretting not having made off with the blue doeskin slingbacks.“One idea,” I say. “We should go home.”“So you can grab some shoes?”“Yeah, but also, I bet if we toss the place, we can figure out where your mom keeps all her valuables before she even wakes up. Live hog–high for a week or three.”Bethesda smirks. “Kick the figuring out what to do next thing down the road a while.”“Correct–a–mundo.”You know what? Never mind all that shit I said before. I’m none of those things.Unless that was working for you. Then go for it. Far be it for me to tell you what to think.But here — this is my theory. I’m not just Cinderella. Not just. Not metaphorically.Take my situation — you could apply it all around.Listen. We’re all trying to escape archetypes. I’m trying to be me, not just a girl who grew up with a mouthful of ashes. I don’t want to be someone that everyone thinks they already understand. Someone everyone wants a piece of.Bet you’re trying to escape, too. Trying to be more than just mother, wife, daddy’s little girl, big sister, little sister, baby sis, granny, daft old biddy, crone, trophy wife, castrating bitch, conniving cunt, skank, vixen, hoebag, virgin, Madonna, sweetiepie. Trying to navigate the hairpin turns between bangled bikinis, apple–pie aprons, and power–bitch pantsuits.I bet you manage it, too. Bet you’re an ice queen exec who bakes cookies on the weekends, or a demure little preacher’s daughter who takes it up the ass, or the marathon runner who’s going to smoke the world record that dudes think belong to them by right of chromosome Y.Feel free to fill in the blanks with whatever it is you actually are.But all that aside, at the end of the day, where do we stand? The archetypal feminine, the ur woman with a capital W, she’s this fire we can’t run from. She’s burning constantly, devouring bits of us, turning them into herself.Here and there, we don’t burn up completely. But even our ashes are her creations.We always exist in relation to her, no matter what we do.So anyway, Bethesda and I head home.We pass the dude trading new shoes for old, and I shout at him that his products are crappy. Bethesda makes faces in the magic mirror until it begs her to go away. We break off pieces of peppermint windowsill to eat for breakfast, and when the witch shouts at us, we flip her the bird and grab extra fistfuls of pop rocks from the driveway.Last night’s bartender is still in the back alley, smoking a clove. In a flash of remorse for stealing his tips, I toss him the go–go full of change.Outside a salon, we run into she–bear with ringlet–girl in tow. She–bear’s smirking. Blondie’s definitely too zonked out to choose her own haircut. Wonder if she’s due for a knee–length weave or a pixie cut.At the coffee shop next door, the sheath–dressed women and men in ponchos are lined up for lattes. His Royal Foot Fetishist stands outside the door, licking the blue slingbacks.“What the —” Bethesda begins.“Don’t ask,” I say, guiding her quickly past.Couple blocks later, we see a couple on the other side of the street, gropeslurp groping. Sure enough, they change angle, and there’s Griselda. This time, she’s making out with a drag queen in six–inch stilettos, a sequined slink of a dress, and epaulettes made from the shards of disco balls. Least she knows this one’s fake.We tiptoe on past so we won’t disturb them.Not too long later we reach home. Bethesda grabs her key out of her bra.She toasts. “To home sweet home.”“Cheers,” I agree. “Let’s rob a bitch.”And we slap each other high five.And some of you are saying, oh look, I know what this means, it ends with female–on–female violence which pigeonholes women as jealous backstabbers, and what the hell is with the unquestioning perpetuation of the evil stepmother stereotypeAnd some of you are saying, oh look, I know what this means, it’s a tale of female friendship because Cinderella and her sister are forging a bond through petty theft and how often do you see stories focusing on positive female–female relationshipsAnd some of you are saying, oh look, a wimpy ending that refuses to say anything decisive, I could tell from the beginning this was going to be pretentious bullshit.And some of you are wondering whether there was any point to the bear scene or whether the author just thinks bears drinking tea are funny.And look, whatever, okay? You just go ahead and take whatever you’re thinking and go think about it on your own time. Because Bethesda’s searching the house, and I’m the lookout, and I really don’t need your noisy–ass ruminations waking up my stepmother before we’re finished.OK, fine, I’ll tell you this one thing for sure. Right now, a thousand Cinderellas are going to steal back our childhood dignity in the form of an old lady’s life savings. And then we’re going to spend it on booze and clubbing and high–priced high heels.And when we pass out drunk, we’re going to keep on dreaming of becoming that black hole that will swallow the universe.END“All That Fairy Tale Crap” was originally published in Glitter & Mayhem  in 2013 and was reprinted in Apex Magazine in December of that year.This recording is a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license which means you can share it with anyone you’d like, but please don’t change or sell it. Our theme is “Aurora Borealis” by Bird Creek, available through the Google Audio Library.Thanks for listening, and I’ll have another story for you on September 15th.[Music plays out]

Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith talk to me about their YA novels (Stranger and Hostage), and C.S.E. Cooney talks to me about her music project, Brimstone Rhine.First, a congratulatory note to all the Nebula nominees this year! Many OA members on that list, which is full of awesome people and awesome stories! Special congratulations to Katherine Addison (Sarah Monette), Ann Leckie, Ken Liu, Richard Bowes, Rachel Swirsky, Sarah Pinsker, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Aliette de Bodard, Alyssa Wong, Sam J. Miller, Usman T. Malik, Carmen Maria Machado, Ursula Vernon, and Eugie Foster (who passed just after her last story was published). Hugo nominations are open until the 10th of March. If you are an attending or supporting member of Sasquan, or if you attended or supported LonCon last year, you should be eligible to nominate! I (Julia Rios) personally am eligible in Best Editor Short Form for my work with Strange Horizons, and on Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories. I'm also eligible in Best Fancast for this very podcast as well as for The Skiffy and Fanty Show, and Strange Horizons is eligible in Best Semiprozine. There are a bunch of other super worthy OA member projects, but I wanted to give another special shoutout to Catherine Lundoff's series on LGBT SF History over at SF Signal. I believe she's eligible for best fan writer for that series. Stranger and Hostage are the first two books in the Change quartet, set in a post apocalyptic LA. Rebel and Traitor (books 3 and 4) should be out later this year and early next year respectively.Prisoner, Partner, and Laura's Wolf are Rachel's three books featuring werewolf marines, hot sex, and PTSD. You can download Prisoner for free.Angel in the Attic is Rachel's lesbian werewolf romantic comedy.Brimstone Rhine is C.S.E. Cooney's made up rockstar alter ego, who is crowdfunding two EPs right now on indiegogo. Rewards include things like Claire's books (in addition to the music of course). For a free taste of Claire's Witch's Garden world, you can read "Witch, Beast, Saint" in Strange Horizons. The books that are part of the Brimstone Rhine campaign rewards include The Witch In the Almond Tree, The Breaker Queen, The Two Paupers, and Bone Swans. The Banjo Apocalypse Crinoline Troubadors are one of C.S.E. Cooney's other music  and storytelling projects, which, if Brimstone Rhine ends up hitting far beyond the initial funding goal, might also produce an album of Distant Star Ballads.

Coming up… Fact: Fiction Crawler No 15 by Matthew Sanborn Smith 01:35   Short Fiction: 2014 Hugo Nominee – “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love,” by Rachel Swirsky 10:20 If you were a dinosaur, my love, then you would be a T-Rex. You’d be a small one, only five feet, ten inches, the same height as human-you. You’d be fragile-boned and you’d walk with as delicate and polite a gait as you could manage on massive talons. Your eyes would gaze gently from beneath your bony brow-ridge.  This narration originally appeared on Apex Magazine and is used with permission.   Rachel Swirsky holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers Workshop and attended Clarion West in 2005. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Deborah Ross AKA Deborah Wheeler and Connie Wilkins AKA Sacchi Green join me to discuss the Lambda Awards ceremony.Deborah was nominated for Collaborators. The Lambda Literary review is here. Connie won for Wild Girls, Wild Nights: True Lesbian Sex Stories. The Lamba Literary review is here.The interview is very pleasant, but it does mention Marion Zimmer Bradley. In the interim between recording the interview and today, there has been a lot of online discussion of Bradley and her role in enabling abuse and abusing children herself. This is a very fraught emotional topic for many people in the SF, SCA, and QUILTBAG communities because many people looked at her as a role model and influence, and loved her books and/or or made their first sales to her. Here are some links collecting responses to the whole thing. Please note that the materials about MZB and her ex-husband, Walter Breen, are extremely disturbing. Proceed with caution, especially if rape and abuse are trigger topics for you.*Rape, Abuse, and Marion Zimmer Bradley is a links roundup and response by Jim C. Hines, who is a rape crisis counselor. *Silence Is Complicity is another links roundup and response by Natalie Luhrs, who has been actively calling out bad things in the SF community for quite some time. *On Doing a Thing I Had to Do is a post by Janni Lee Simner, an author who made her fist sale to MZB, and who has decided to donate her proceeds to RAINN. *Rachel Manija Brown's post is a personal response from someone who has been abused about the importance of making this visible. *Regarding the Marion Zimmer Bradley Abuse Story is Deborah's personal response, apologizing for an earlier tweet.While I do think it's important to acknowledge all of this, the podcast episode itself is only a tiny bit about MZB, and mostly about The Lambda Awards, and other awards and projects. Here are the episode specific links:*Here's the picture of Connie winning her Lambda Award. *Here's a picture of Cecilia Tan and Mary Anne Mohanraj (in the red sari Connie and Deborah both admired) at the Lambdas.*The Nebula Award winners list. Congratulations to Ann Leckie, Vylar Kaftan, Aliette de Bodard, Rachel Swirsky, Nalo Hopkinson, and Samuel R. Delaney!*Congratulations to Sarah Pinsker for winning the Sturgeon Award! *The Bisexual Book Awards winners are here. Congratulations all, especially Cecilia Tan, Laura Lam, Malida Lo, and Zan Christensen!*The Ditmar Awards were announced at Continuum in Melbourne. Congratulations all, especially Kirstyn McDermott, Sean Wright, Tehani Wessely, David McDonald, Tansy Rayner Roberts, and all of the Galactic Suburbia and Galactic Chat crews!*Jim C. Hines's Continuum GoH speech. *Congratulations to Cecilia Tan and Mary Robinette Kowal for winning RT awards!And finally, two currently active IndieGoGo campaigns you might like to contribute to:*Gears for Queers is the San Francisco Steampunk community's fundraiser to support the GLBT National Help Center. There are 12 more days to order awesome steampunk items and support a good cause. *Interfictions Online is fundraising to bring us all more excellent interstitial content. They have 19 days left in their campaign, and are working towards some exciting stretch goals.

The Unheard Voices of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror panel from Arisia. Catherine Lundoff moderated this panel, with K. Tempest Bradford (standing in for Nisi Shawl), Julia Rios, Trisha Wooldridge, Andrea Hairston, and Victor Raymond. Listening to this doesn't give you the visual cues that people in the room had, so a note up front: Nisi was in the audience, but wasn't up for sitting on the panel. There was an ongoing joke about Tempest being Nisi, and about Nisi being Nalo Hopkinson, who was not at the convention. Awards season!*Lambda finalists include lots of OA members like Nicola Griffith, Sacchi Green, Mary Ann Mohanraj, Alex Jeffers, Alaya Dawn Johnson, The editors and contributors to Ghosts in Gaslight, Monsters in Steam Gay City: Volume 5, Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold, Richard Bowes, Lee Thomas, and more. Full list here: http://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/news/03/06/26th-annual-lambda-literary-award-finalists-announced/*The Nebula nominee list is also out, and lots of OA types are there too, including Sofia Samatar, Nicola Griffith, Ellen Klages and Andy Duncan, Vylar Kaftan, Catherynne Valente, Christopher Barzak, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Sarah Pinsker, Rachel Swirsky, Karen Healey, and Nalo Hopkinson. Full nominee list here: http://www.sfwa.org/2014/02/2013-nebula-nominees-announced/The Galactic Suburbia Award and Honor List is out now, and the joint winners are N.K. Jemisin and Elise Matthesen. Full Honor List here: http://galactisuburbia.podbean.com/2014/03/23/episode-96-19-march-2014/*Carl Brandon Society is a group for fans and writers of color. They give out the Kindred and Parallax Awards for fiction by and/or about people of colors, and also administer scholarships for students of color to attend Clarion.*Broad Universe is a group for women who write and publish science fiction and fantasy. They have a website, a podcast, and many promotional and support networking opportunities for members, including organizing group readings and book sale tables at conventions. *WisCon is a feminist science fiction convention held each year at the end of May in Madison, Wisconsin. The Carl Brandon Society and Broad Universe both have strong presences there. *Con or Bust is an organization that raises money to send fans of color to conventions. The Carl Brandon Society administers the funds. *Gaylaxicon and Outlantacon are conventions specifically for the QUILTBAG SF fandom community. Gaylaxicon is a roving con (like WorldCon), and Outlantacon happens each year in May in Atlanta. This year's Gaylaxicon will be hosted by Outlantacon.Work by people on the panel:*Filter House is Nisi Shawl's Tiptree Award Winning short story collection (Tempest joked that her collection would be called Filter House 2).*Redwood and Wildfire is Andrea Hairston's Tiptree Award Winning novel (for which she had also just received a Carl Brandon Award on the day of this panel).*Silver Moon is Catherine Lundoff's novel about menopausal werewolves*Catherine writes a series about LGBT SFF for SF Signal.*Julia is an editor for Strange Horizons, which is always interested in publishing diverse voices.*Kaleidoscope is an anthology of diverse YA SF and Fantasy stories Julia is co-editing with Alisa Krasnostein, which is scheduled to launch in August of 2014.*In Other Words is an anthology of poetry and flash by writers of color Julia is co-editing with Saira Ali, which is scheduled to launch at WisCon in May, and which will benefit Con or Bust.Other things mentioned: *Lorraine Hansberry was an African American lesbian playwright, best known for Raisin in the Sun, but Andrea pointed out that she also wrote a lot of science fiction plays. *The SFWA Bulletin incited a lot of pushback in 2013. Here is a timeline: http://www.slhuang.com/blog/2013/07/02/a-timeline-of-the-2013-sfwa-controversies/. It has since changed editorial staff and has just put out the first of the new team's issues, which seems to be a lot more favorably received, as evidenced here: http://www.jasonsanford.com/jason/2014/03/the-new-sfwa-bulletin-is-blowing-my-mind.html.*"The Serial Killer's Astronaut Daughter" by Damien Angelica Walters was written partly in response to the SFWA bulletin's sexism. *A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar came up as an example of a novel by a person of color put out through an independent (not one of the big New York houses--Andrea argued for calling these sorts of publishers independent rather than small) publisher, Small Beer Press. Since the panel, A Stranger in Olondria has won the Crawford Award and been nominated for the Nebula. *Crossed Genres, Twelfth Planet Press, and Papaveria Press are independent presses that publish diverse voices.*Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, and Apex are magazines Tempest sees publishing diverse stories. Tor.com is also publishing more diverse stories now, like "The Water That Falls on You From Nowhere" by John Chu. *The Tiptree Award celebrates work that expands our notions of gender.*Dark Matter is an anthology exploring a century of SF by black writers. *Blood Children was an anthology put out by the Carl Brandon Society in 213 to benefit the Octavia Butler Scholarship, which sends students of color to Clarion. *Bending the Landscape, Kindred Spirits, and Worlds Apart were brought up as examples of QUILTBAG anthologies from more than just a few years back. All of these were mentioned as early examples, but the panel agreed we need more. *Daughters of Earth is a collection of stories by women from the early 1900s to 2000 with accompanying critical essays. This collection is edited by Justine Larbalestier. Andrea wrote a critical essay about an Octavia Butler story in this book. *The Cascadia Subduction Zone has a feature where an established writer recommends and reviews an older work that might be obscure. Andrea and Nisi have both done this. *Lethe Press publishes best gay SF stories each year in Wilde Stories, and best lesbian SF stories each year in Heiresses of Russ. Nisi and Julia are both in Heiresses of Russ 2013.*From the audience, Saira Ali recommends Goblin Fruit and Stone Telling as diverse poetry magazines, and Aliens: Recent Encounters (edited by Alex Dally MacFarlane) as a good anthology.

Have you been ignoring short stories? You're missing out! And Rachel Swirsky is one of the best authors to prove it. Find out how this award-winning author and podcaster got into writing and poetry too!

Today I have three special guests talking about a topic close to my own heart; Galen Dara, Wendy N Wagner and Rachel Swirsky from Lightspeed ... The post “Women Destroy Science Fiction” with Galen Dara, Wendy N Wagner and Rachel Swirsky appeared first on Dark Matter Zine.

The Coode Street Podcast is a full service podcast. While Gary and Jonathan are on vacation, we asked long-time listener Cat Sparks to select some classic episodes that we could send out to entertain and enlighten in their absence.
 This week Cat has selected a discussion with award winning author Rachel Swirksy. When we spoke to Rachel it was just following the publication of her major short story collection How the World Became Quiet. We discussed writing short stories, the business of science fiction and much more. We hope you enjoy the podcast and our thanks to Cat!

This week, just following the publication of her major short story collection How the World Became Quiet, we are joined by Nebula Award and SFWA Vice President Rachel Swirsky to discuss writing short stories, the business of science fiction and much more. As always, we would like to thank Rachel for joining us, and hope you enjoy the podcast!

After a long sequence of discussions with wonderful guests, it's just Gary and Jonathan alone in the Waldorf Room once more. This week, after a brief chat about the forthcoming World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, their attention turns to how literary canons are formed, the potential toxicity of the canon forming concept and other matters. No books were sold in the making of this podcast. As always, we hope you enjoy the podcast. Next week we'll be back with special guest Rachel Swirsky.

"If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love" by Rachel Swirsky -- originally published in Apex Magazine issue 46 March, 2013 Rachel Swirsky’s short stories have appeared in Tor, Subterranean Magazine, and Clarkesworld, and been reprinted in year’s best anthologies edited by Strahan, Horton, Dozois, and the VanderMeers. She holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers Workshop, and graduated from Clarion West in 2005. Her work has been nominated for the Hugo, the Sturgeon, and the Locus Award, and won the Nebula in 2010 for best novella. Her husband is a dinosaur fanatic, but if he turned into a dinosaur, he wouldn’t be a T-Rex. He’d be a Therizinosaur. This Apex Magazine Podcast was performed by Editor-in-Chief Lynne M. Thomas and produced by Erika Ensign. Music used with kind permission of Oh, Alchemy! Apex Magazine Podcast, copyright Apex Publications

Coming Up Fact: Everything by Morgan Sterling 03:00 Main Fiction: “A Taste of Promise” by Rachel Swirsky 14:30 Narrator: Renee Chambliss Diane Severson at Amazing Stories   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Short Stories

Robert J. Sawyer and Rachel Swirsky with Terry Bisson

Our first piece of audio fiction for February is "Diving After the Moon" written by Rachel Swirsky and read by Kate Baker. Subscribe to our podcast.

By Rachel Swirsky, from Issue #30 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies Online MagazineLady Percivalia sat motionless for as long as she could so that she could savor the thrill.More info »