Tuesday, April 29, 2014

"The Pirate's True Love" at Far-Fetched Fables

I'm interrupting the regularly scheduled broadcasting here yet again. But this time it's not to bemoan my travails with health insurance (no, no health insurance cards yet, for those who have been carefully monitoring this story), but rather to announce that a story of mine is being read on a podcast this week over at the newly launched Far-Fetched Fables!

A couple of months ago, I was contacted by the people behind this show, who asked if they could read a story of mine on their podcast. It's a  project under the umbrella group District of Wonders, which already has several series going, with names like Tales to Terrify, Protecting Project Pulp, etc. You have probably noticed that they have quite a taste for alliteration. Of course I said yes, and today we have the result. I have to say it's pretty exciting to be involved in the second podcast there ever.


"The Pirate's True Love" is a story I wrote quite a long time ago. And it is even a few years back now since it was picked up by Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, an amazing zine that has published the work of people like Kelly Link and Karen Joy Fowler, but also the random work of non-famous people like me. I was thrilled to be included.

The story has had an odd trajectory. It was later picked to be anthologized in a best fantasy series, which was never to be published because, tragically, its publisher, Byron Preiss, died in a traffic accident that year and the company folded. The editor, Jonathan Strahan, salvaged the project with the help of Locus Magazine, and Fantasy: the Very Best of 2005 came out the next year. Lady Churchill's also put out their own anthology in 2007.


So, yes, a few ups and downs, but not a bad run for a little story that wasn't even all that easy to get published in the first place. I certainly thought it had run its course, though. Then I received this email.


The story is second on the bill after a much longer story, "Demons Hide Their Faces", by a much more famous person, A.A. Attanasio. I'd recommend listening to this, as it is quite well read, and it benefits from that reading, as you can hear the work that Attanasio puts into the language. But if you're pressed for time, mine clocks in at around 44 minutes in. I was very curious to hear who would narrate it. It is actually a fairly international group of collaborators. I found it a tad ironic, then, to learn that the narrator, Fran Friel, lives right here on the Central Coast, and thus is more or less my next door neighbor, globally speaking.


Anyway, it's a fun, short story and I'm honored it was picked. Fran gives it a good rendition. Give it a listen at Far-Fetched Fables if you've got a few minutes.

8 comments:

  1. Having a fable week too, Seana. Hope to listen soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope a fable week is good in your part of the world, Nancy. I see from your blog that it is at least green...

    ReplyDelete
  3. How exciting! Congratulations. And it's a great publication history story, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks, Kathleen. Yes, I remember being quite disappointed when the anthology fell through, but obviously it was nothing compared to someone's actual death. And I think it's a good tale of how, when it comes to publishing, it's a very twisty road, and you just never know, so best not to get too disheartened at any particular turn.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete