Pseudopod

Some Good Stuff

Peter Germany Books, Horror, Sci-Fi, Short Fiction, Writing, Zombies , , , , , , , ,

Hey guys, I’ve got a couple of links here to some good fiction that I have heard in the last few days. Its been a while since I’ve heard some sort fiction that I have enjoyed enough to share so here it is 🙂

 

Escape Pod

http://escapepod.org/2013/03/07/ep386-finished/

 

Pseudopod

http://pseudopod.org/2013/03/08/pseudopod-324-wings/

 

StarShipSofa

http://www.starshipsofa.com/2013/03/06/starshipsofa-no-279-rachel-swirsky/

 

I hope you take a moment to check these stories out as I enjoyed them hugely 😀

 

Id also like to share this link for a recent episode of the Dead Robots Society where the Robots interview writer Jake Bible. Mr. Bible wrote a book called Dead Mech which is set in a world after the Zombie apocalypse and in this world there are huge military mech suits and when an operator dies inside one and gets infected, becoming a zombie the zombie then controls this piece of military hardware.

It’s a really good story which is the first of three books, I still need to read the second two.

I first found Mr. Bible via Scott Sigler. Sigler mentioned Dead Mech and collaborated with Mr.Bible on a story so I checked the story out and loved it. It had been released as a podcast.  Now though Mr.Bible has decided to walk away from podcasting and here he gives his reasons.

Again I would love for you to go and check these out as there is some amazing content here.

Escape Artists

Peter Germany Sci-Fi, Short Fiction , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The first podcast that I ever listened to was An Escape Pod episode, the first one in fact.  I’m one of these people who when I start listening to A podcast I listen to the earliest episode that I can find.  I had never really known of short stories until Escape Pod grabbed me and its been one amazing journey since then.

Escape Pod taught me that Sci-Fi is not just spaceships and robots.  It took me into worlds that I had never realised existed.  The Trouble With Death Traps by Marjorie James is one of my early favourites.  Feng Burger by John Aegard is still one that I think often about.  The Girlfriends Of Dorian Grey by Gregory Frost was also very impressive.  Here I could on for ages listing episodes that really hit home but that would just turn into A list of many episodes, Okay one more. Conditional Love By Felicity Shoulders really hit home.  A great story.

I’m A little out of date with the podcast now as my PC is still broken 😦 so I havent heard how the Podcast is going.  I do miss Steve Eley but I’m A big fan of Mighty Mur Lafferty and I like what she has done with the Podcast since she took the reigns.  She has such an easy, warm approached that has to of come from many years podcasting that must make newcomers feel at ease with the podcast before the story even begins, she’s A damn fine narrator too.

http://escapepod.org/

Pseudopod is the horror wing of Escape Artists.  I love listening to this podcast but it rarely ever shocks me.  It again did the same thing that Escape Pod did, in the way that it showed me horror is not just gore  like Hollywood would have us think. Alasdair Stewart and Ben Phillips are great with this podcast.  Stewart’s deadpan delivery of the intro and outro’s are fascinating and keep A heart to the podcast.  Again he is A fine narrator also.

http://pseudopod.org/

Podcastle has been the only part of the Escape Artists family that I had not taken too, until recently.  As I mentioned my Pc is broken which means I cannot update my iPod so I’ve been working through some of the podcasts that I had laying dormant on my iPod and I finally gave Podcastle A proper run.  I had listened to A few of the episodes but they had never really caught me. I’m not A big fan of fantasy.  I was never A man for Unicorns or Dragons and so on, but again Podcastle had done what Escape Pod and Pseudopod have done in showing me that these genre’s are wide open.

http://podcastle.org/

Fantasy is not just Elves and Wizards, Sci-Fi is not just alien invasions nano-tech and Horror is not demons under the bed or hockey mask wearing psycho’s.  All genre overlap into each other and this can only make fiction better.  These Podcasts have given me fiction that have made me smile, cry and sigh.  The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Escape Artists has given me more hours  of joy than I could possibly count.  I wonder how many people would like to buy Steve Eley A drink and say ‘Thank You Dude’  I will forever be grateful for what you have given me.  If it was not for Steve then I may never have discovered Scott Sigler, Phil Rossi, J.C. Hutchins, Mur Lafferty, Elizabeth Bear, Jeffery R. DeRego, Ted Chiang, The amazing Tim Pratt and so many others.  As well as finding the podcasts like StarShipSofa.  http://www.starshipsofa.com/

If you like short fiction that look at these genre’s then check these links out.  They really are something special 🙂

PC Died :(

Peter Germany Books, Uncategorized, Writing , , , , , , ,

Ten days ago my PC decided to die, it’s basically stopped sending a signal to my monitor which means I can’t see anything at all.  For all I know it may not even be powering up properly.  Thankfully I have a laptop which is not yet eighteen months old, but ALL of my iTunes is on my PC as I don’t want to overload my laptop with 2500 songs and about 5000 podcasts.  I have not been able to update my iPod since then, this is very, very bad as I am now out of date with Escape Pod, StarshipSofa, Pseudopod, Scott Sigler’s podcast, Fighting Talk and the list could go on for a fair while.  Yes I could download them onto my Laptop and sync my iPod to that but then I lose all the content that I have on my trusty old iPod Classic.  I can charge it without syncing so I thought “stuff it, I’ve got thousands of podcast episodes to get through so I should use this hiatus in my ability to sync to cut into some of these podcasts that I havent listened to yet”  So I have been.  Well, kind of anyway.  I’ve only really started listening to one that I havent before.  Adventures In SciFi Publishing is really, really bloody good! 

The two presenters Shaun and Sam are very funny and clearly know what they are talking about.  There is discussion of how the publishing world works as well as interviews with authors which are very insightful.  There is such an easy feel to this podcast that has made it very easy to listen to.  Like StarshipSofa you get A real enthusiasm from the people involved and an insight into the SciFi community as a whole.

For me Podcasts like this are gold-dust as they give me A look into a world that I am not part yet.  Listening to StarshipSofa and Adventures In SciFi Publishing have introduced me to names in the genre that I need to know about.  I had never known of Issac Asimov or Phillip K. Dick and the rest of these SciFi legends that I am ashamed to say that I’ve not really read, Although Asimov ‘sFoundation was amazing.  I’ve also got waiting to be read Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? and 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke.  I know that I don’t have to read these grandmasters of the genre but I feel that I must.  When I listen to people talking about how these authors influenced their lives I feel like I’ve been left out somehow.  I know people say that they are out dated and so on, but so is Romeo And Juliet. 

back to the dead PC though.  THankfully none of my writing that I am working on is on my PC, well what there is there is backed upped on to my laptop so its only the loss of my ability to sync iTunes that is lost, until payday and then I can get it fixed!!! 😀