Joshua Gillingham is a fantasy writer whose work is heavily inspired by Norse Mythology and the Icelandic  sagas.  In this edition of the podcast we have an interview with Josh and we hear his short story "An Empty Thing" Read by Alex C StewartThe presenter in this edition is Sally Walker-TaylorSound design and music are by Chris GregoryThe interview with Josh Gillingham was recorded over zoom and we apologise for the sound variations in the recording.The interviewer is Chris GregoryYou can find out more about Joshua Gillingham by visiting his website  https://www.joshuagillingham.caand following him on twitter where he posts as https://twitter.com/JoshMGillingham You can buy Josh’s book The Gatewatch directly from Crows Nest Books here https://www.crowsnestbooks.com/product/the-gatewatch/In this episode we featured a trailer for the new audio drama "Darkstead" by Lucy Gibb Smith.   You can subscribe to Darkstead via the podcast’s website here https://www.darkstead.com/And follow Darkstead on twitter here https://twitter.com/DarksteadPodYou can book onto the Alternative Stories audio drama workshop with  London Lit Lab on 6th November here  https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/course/live-online-audio-drama-writing-for-sound/ And book for the Introduction to Audio Drama for Science Fiction Writers with Chris Gregory of Alternative Stories and Sci Fi writer Emily Inkpen on 8th November here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-introduction-to-audio-drama-for-science-fiction-writers-tickets-180790508277?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch

Alternative Stories and Fake Realities

Joshua Gillingham : Writing Inspired by Norse Mythology

Welcome to our special anthology podcast celebrating the UK’s National Poetry Day 2021. We have a mix of poems from the podcast in the past year and new poems in forthcoming collections. The presenter is Tiffany Clare Readers (where not read by the poets themselves) are Marie-Claire Wood, Niall Wright and Charlie RichardsSound design, soundscapes, and production are by Chris GregoryKim Moore : “All The Men I Never Married”  performed by Kim Moore with music by Dave Boraston.  This is taken from Kim’s new collection of the same name, published this week by Seren Books Polly Atkin : “Epiphany Insomnia” and “Frog Season” peformed by Polly Atkin from her Seren Books collection “Much With Body”Mona Arshi “Egg” and “Hurry (A Migration Song)” read by Tiffany ClareSalena Godden “The Red Tower” from “Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden (originally published as part of our podcast with Salena in July) read by Salena GoddenPhoebe Stuckes “Baby, You Know What I want” and “Dolly Parton Enters a Dolly Parton Lookalike contest in a gay bar and does not place” read by Marie-Claire Wood from the Verve Poetry Press pamphlet “The One Girl Gremlin”Sarra Culleno “Tantrum” from her forthcoming collection “Bonds” read by the authorCarolyn Jess-Cooke “Peeling The Skin”read by the writer from  her forthcoming Seren Books collection “We have to Leave The Earth”Hannah Ingeborg “Brumation” read by the author and Joanne Sutton Smith “ A New York City Keening”  read by Marie-Claire Wood taken from the Rare Swan Press Collection “100 Words of Solitude” Lisa O’Hare “Lockdown Life, A Roller-coaster of Emotions” from her Master House Publishing collection of the same nameGregory Leadbetter “Optics” read by Charlie Richards and taken from his Nine Arches Press collection “Maskwork” James O’Leary “Holding Joe” read by Niall Wright and Maggie Sawkins “Script” read by Tiffany Clare from the collection “A Wild and Precious Life edited by Zoe Gilbert and Lily Dunn. Follow our poets on twitter Kim Moore https://twitter.com/kimmoorepoetPolly Atkin https://twitter.com/pollyrowenaMona Arshi https://twitter.com/arshi_monaSalena Godden https://twitter.com/salenagoddenPhoebe Stuckes  https://twitter.com/phoebestuckesSarra Culleno https://twitter.com/sarra1978Carolyn Jess-Cooke https://twitter.com/CJessCookeRare Swan Press (100 Words of Solitude publisher) https://twitter.com/rare_swan_pressLisa O’Hare https://twitter.com/TheLisaOHareGregory Leadbetter https://twitter.com/GregMLeadbetterFind out more about Seren poets, Kim Moore, Polly Atkin and Carolyn Jess-Cooke and buy their books via the Seren website and listen out for some special podcasts with Seren coming soon https://www.serenbooks.com/Visit Nine Arches Press  https://www.ninearchespress.com/ You can find out much more about National Poetry Day on 7th October by visiting the website  https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/  and  twitter https://twitter.com/PoetryDayUK

National Poetry Day 2021

In this special edition we look at “A Wild and Precious Life” an anthology of writing on the theme of recovery which was published by Unbound in May 2021.  We have a selection of pieces from the collection read by our actors and insight from some of the writers who submitted pieces to the collection.  We also speak to Lily Dunn and Zoe Gilbert who had the idea for the anthology, compiled and edited it. **Trigger Warning** This podcast contains references to drug use, trauma and bereavement as well as swearing.  Listeners likely to be affected by any of these should avoid this podcast. In this podcast you heard the following pieces “Script” by Maggie Sawkins Read by Tiffany Clare “The Last Summer” by Susannah Vernon-Hunt read by Marie-Claire Wood “Silence” by T K Saeed read by Tiffany Clare “Begging For Change” by Gary Bryan read by Charlie Richards “Lucky” by J L Hall read by Sophie McNair “Holding Joe” by James O’Leary read by Niall Wright“Matt’s Song” by Helen Rye read by Sophie McNair “Last Orders Ladies and Gentlemen please” by John Pearson read by Chris Gregory“What’s all this time for” by Ford Dagenham read by Chris Gregory“Are You Intoxicated” by Rob True read by Chris GregoryThe podcast is presented by Tiffany ClareThe interviewer is Chris GregoryMusic, sound design and soundscapes are by Chris GregoryWe are proud to feature insight from the following writers on their contributions to A Wild and Precious Life: Rob TrueJ L HallMaggie Sawkins John Pearsonand Helen RyeBuy a copy of A Wild and Precious Life From Bookshop.org https://uk.bookshop.org/books/a-wild-and-precious-life-a-recovery-anthology/9781783529643  From publisher Unbound (including e-book version)https://unbound.com/books/recovery/In the UK you will also  find copies in many book shops.  Outside the UK you may find copies on Amazon and local online booksellers Follow Lily Dun on twitter here https://twitter.com/Lilydunnwriterand via her website here https://lilydunn.co.uk/ Follow Zoe Gilbert on twitter here https://twitter.com/mindandlanguageAnd at her website here http://zoegilbert.com/ And follow London Lit Lab on twitter here https://twitter.com/londonlitlabFor more information on courses and workshops via their website here https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/To book onto our Writing for Audio Drama workshop on 6th November please click here https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/course/live-online-audio-drama-writing-for-sound/ 

A Wild And Precious Life

Maskwork is a 2020 collection by poet and academic Gregory Leadbetter.  Themes of folklore, ritual, theatre and nature combine in these vivid and resonant poems brought to life by the voices of our actors and with a commentary by Greg himself.  In Maskwork by Gregory Leadbetter you heard the following poems  Musician read by Charlie Richards Doe read by Charlie Richards Lapse read by Tiffany Clare Engine Pool, Earlswood Lakes read by Lewie Watson At English Bicknor read by Charlie Richards Unconscious Minister read by Tiffany Clare Tuisto read by Lewie Watson Sky Burial read by Tiffany Clare Sakadas at Delphi read by Tiffany Clare Scenery read by Sally Walker Taylor You heard a commentary and introductions to the poems by Gregory LeadbetterSound design, music and soundscapes were by Chris GregorySound effects were from freesound.orgAnd the presenter in this podcast is Marie-Claire Wood. We would like to thank Jane Commane and Nine Arches Press for allowing us to recreate poems from Maskwork and Greg Leadbetter for his participation in the preparation and recording of this podcast. To find out more about Nine Arches Press and to hear more poems by Greg Leadbetter and other Nine Arches Press poets please listen to our special podcast featuring the work of the press which we put out in season 3 episode 19Find out more about Gregory Leadbetter here https://www.versopolis-poetry.com/poet/323/gregory-leadbetterAnd follow Greg on twitter here https://twitter.com/GregMLeadbetter Here’s a link to the Nine Arches Press website where you can find out more about the collection and buy a copy  https://ninearchespress.com/ We would like to draw our listener’s attention to the Future Places Environmental Essay and Poetry Prize, a UK wide prize for environmental literature.  There is a top prize of £1500 for the writer of the winning essay and £800 for the winning poem. If Alt Stories listeners and contributors are interested in entering, you have until Midnight on 19th September to do so Find out more and enter here https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/future-places/activities/the-future-places-environmental-essay-and-poetry-prize/#d.en.496220 You heard the voice of Karen Lloyd from the Lancaster University Future Places Centre. Visit Karen’s website here  https://karenlloyd.co.uk/ And follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/karenlloydwriteBook for our audio drama writing workshop with London Lit Lab here  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/live-online-audio-drama-writing-for-sound-tickets-164463923021 Book for our free Read Fest event about broadcasting in the pandemic on September 11th  https://pentoprint.org/eventbrite-event/readfest-broadcasting-through-the-pandemic-an-audio-perspective/ And our read Fest introduction to writing for audio drama workshop https://pentoprint.org/eventbrite-event/readfest-an-introduction-to-audio-drama-with-alternative-stories/

Maskwork by Gregory Leadbetter

Following the deployment of the Rone Missile (in our drama The Bomb) tension is rising in Dex Industries.  Ren, Isra and Varian continue their fight in the Domonos Mountains but the rebels have new tricks up their sleeves.  The Hunt is part 2 of Emily Inkpen’s audio drama series based on her Dex Legacy universe. In “The Hunt” by Emily Inkpen you can hear Warren Graham as TristanKamara Elliott as VarianKelsey Griffin as IsraCharlie Richards as RenAnnika Kordes as OsaLewie Watson as DevekStevie Skinner as RhayaEmily Inkpen as AutoAnd Chris Gregory as Nathaniel Music is by Allan StroudSound design, editing and soundscapes are by Chris GregorySound effects are from Freesound.orgThe presenter is Emily Inkpen When we recorded The Hunt our cast also recorded a series of mini-episodes involving the same characters.  Please follow us, subscribe to the podcast for more news on these and when they’ll be releasedFind out more about the Dex Legacy and Emily Inkpen’s novels, books and audio drama series please follow the link here https://www.thedexlegacy.com/Follow Emily on twitter for more updates https://twitter.com/emilyinkpenOur music is composed by Allen Stroud and you can find out more about him, his writing and news via his website here https://www.allenstroud.com/And follow Allen on twitter here https://twitter.com/AllenJStroudYou can listen to part one of our Dex Legacy series, The Bomb via our own podcast feed here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/4786163-the-bomb-an-audio-drama Listen to our recent interview with Emily including excerpts from her novels here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/8339413-scifi-writers-emily-inkpen and catch up with all of Alternative Stories’ Science Fiction and Climate Fiction content via this Podchaser link  https://www.podchaser.com/lists/sci-fi-and-climate-fiction-on-alternative-stories-107aDoFzmMThe Hunt : Dex Legacy Episode 2 is an alternative stories 2021 production for the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast  - it was written and presented by Emily Inkpen. 

The Hunt : An Audio Drama

In this podcast, we celebrate the publication of “Jane Is Trying” the eagerly awaited debut novel by writer, actor and comedian Isy Suttie.  Listeners will know Isy from the channel 4 series Peep Show, her BBC Radio 4 show “Isy Suttie’s Love Letters”, her critically acclaimed stand-up performances and from numerous other radio and TV appearances.   Jane Is Trying is Isy’s first novel and we chatted to her about the writing process and her inspiration for the book.  Jane is Trying will be out on 22nd July, the same day as this podcast is released.  It is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson and we would like to thank them for allowing us to reproduce excerpts from the book. Readings are by Tiffany ClareThe presenter is Sally Walter-TaylorThe interviewer is Chris GregorySound design, music and editing were by Chris Gregory If you would like to buy a copy of Jane Is Trying,  it is widely available through all the usual online resellers and in all good bookshops Buy via Wiedenfeld and Nicolson  https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/isy-suttie/jane-is-trying/9781474600002/Waterstones has signed copies here https://www.waterstones.com/book/jane-is-trying/isy-suttie/9781474600019Buy through Hive here https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Isy-Suttie/Jane-is-Trying/25678533And from Amazon (including Kindle version) here https://tinyurl.com/pvxmk2ddOther links including to the Audible audio book version here http://hyperurl.co/JaneisTrying You can follow Isy on twitter here https://twitter.com/IsysuttieAnd follow her podcast “ The Things We Do For Love” here  https://twitter.com/TTWDFLAnd listen to “The Things We Do For Love” in you favourite podcast player here https://linktr.ee/ttwdfl Follow Weidenfeld and Nicolson on twitter here https://twitter.com/wnbooks 

Isy Suttie : Jane Is Trying

In this special edition we look at the folklore and folk tales associated with the stone circles and standing stones of the British Isles.   Our guests are Anna Chorlton, Kevan Manwaring, Amy Boucher, Chloe Germaine and Catherine Munro and we visit stone circles from Cornwall up to Orkney and Shetland taking in Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire and Cumbrian circles along the way.  Our guests in this podcast are Anna Chorlton, Kevan Manwaring, Amy Boucher, Chloe Germaine and Catherine Munro The presenter of this podcast is Kate EdneyThe readers are Sally Walker Taylor and Ilaria PasseriMusic, sound design, editing and mixing were by Chris GregorySound effects were from Freesound.org  As this is a long edition of the podcast we’re providing some timing notes for the various sections.  If your podcast player supports it you should be able to use clickable chapter markers to jump straight to these sections. If not the timings below should help you.1.40 Cornwall with Anna Chorlton  https://twitter.com/anna_chorlton14.00 Wiltshire and Oxfordshire with Kevan Manwaring https://twitter.com/bardicacademic39.18  Shropshire with Amy Boucher https://twitter.com/g0blinegg46.50 Cumbria with Chloe Germaine https://twitter.com/gothlit_chloe1.13.45 Orkney and Shetland with Catherine Munro https://twitter.com/CatherineMMunro Find out more about our contributors by following them on twitter or visiting their websites  Anna Chorlton   http://annachorlton.com/You can find links to buy Anna’s book Cornish Folk Tales of Place which is mentioned in the podcast on her website.Kevan Manwaring  https://thebardicacademic.wordpress.com/Amy Boucher. https://linktr.ee/NearlyKnowledgeable Here you’ll find links to a number of Amy’s sites including her brilliant Nearly Knowledgeable History BlogChloe Germaine https://www.chloegermainebuckley.com/Catherine Munro   https://catherinemmunro.wordpress.com/ Follow alternative stories on twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAltAnd Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/You can contact the podcast via our email address here office@alternativestories.com

Stone Circles and Standing Stones: A folklore special edition

Mrs Death Misses Death is the acclaimed debut novel from poet and activist Salena Godden.  Telling the story of a female death figure and a young writer called Wolf who strikes up an unlikely rapport with her, this podcast has  excerpts from the novel and a full length interview with Salena.  Listeners should note that this podcast contains swearing and descriptions of death.  If these are likely to upset or offend you please skip this podcast.  In Mrs Death Misses Death you heard an interview with  Salena Godden and our readers were Hadiya Morris, Kelsey Griffin and Nina Nikolic.  You heard excerpts from the audiobook of Mrs Death.  Sound design, music, soundscapes and production were by Chris Gregory with sound effects from free sound.org.The presenter was  Tiffany Clare. If you would like to buy a copy of the book, e-book or audio book of Mrs Death Misses Death published by Canongate books they are widely available in bookshops and via online retailers.  You can purchase it online via amazon or here via Hive https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Salena-Godden/Mrs-Death-Misses-Death/25330558You can also buy Mrs Death as an e-book via Hive or via the Kindle store on AmazonThe audio book version of Mrs Death is available here via the Audible store https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Mrs-Death-Misses-Death-Audiobook/1838851216If you are outside the United Kingdom you should certainly be able to get hold of an e-book version of Mrs Death but you may also find that physical copies are stocked in your local bookseller.  Please check locally for availability To find out more about Salena Godden please visit her website here http://www.salenagodden.co.uk/And follow her on social media via twitter here https://twitter.com/salenagoddenAnd Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/salena.godden/ Mrs Death Misses Death is published by Canongate Books.  You can visit their website here https://canongate.co.uk/ We would like to pass on our heartfelt thanks to Canongate for allowing us to reproduce sections of the novel and the audio book of Mrs Death Misses Death.  We&apos;d especially like to thank Salena Godden for her time, love, encouragement  and support in the making of this podcast.Special thanks go to our voice actors  Hadiya, Morris  Kelsey Griffin , Nina Nikolic and Tiffany Clare for their brilliant contributions to this podcast.

Salena Godden : Mrs Death Misses Death

Kizzy is listening back through old recordings of her mother, Silva talking about the mystery of a missing folk singer, Molly Marrison who disappeared on the cusp of fame in the late 60s.  As the mystery deepens an older story, that of the runaway lovers from Derbyshire folklore, becomes entwined in the investigation.  The Keeper of Songs is adapted from the new novel by Fiona Mountain and features music by Bella Hardy.  In The Keeper of Songs by Fiona Mountain you heard Amy Forrest as SilvaKeeley Lane as KizzyChris Gregory as Jeff   Nicholas John as the news reader and Elsa Lamb, Susan John, and Elliot John as the voices in the news montage.The music is by Bella HardyThe presenter is  Sally Walker-Taylor This audio drama was written by Fiona Mountain based on her new novel of the same name.  You can purchase The Keeper of Songs, the book from Amazon and all the usual sources including selected local bookshops.  You can find out more about Fiona Mountain by visiting her website at https://www.fionamountain.com/You can also follow Fiona on social media where she posts as on twitter and as https://twitter.com/FionaMountain on twitter and as https://www.instagram.com/fionamountainwriter/ on Instagram.  Order the Keeper of Songs from Amazon here https://tinyurl.com/39666j28 The Keeper of songs was produced by Nicholas John.  Audio editing, mixing and mastering were by David Pickering Pick at ffg media  www.ffgmedia.co.ukThe news clips montage was produced by Leopard Belly  https://tinyurl.com/ymjh77smFollow Nicholas John on twitter here https://twitter.com/WordSong_And David Pickering-Pick (FFG) here https://twitter.com/ffgaudio The song you heard in this production was “Henry and Clara” by Bella Hardy which is taken from her album “The Dark Peak and the White”.   Find out more about Bella and buy her music by visiting her website https://www.bellahardy.com/And follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/bellahardy If you follow Alternative Stories on twitter where we post as https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt look out for our upcoming  competitions in which we’ll be giving away prizes from Fiona and from Bella Hardy. You may also be interested in listening to our recent podcast in which we interviewed Fiona and heard some passages from her previous novels.   You can find it here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/8482676  Coming up on Alternative Stories and Fake Realities we’ll have science fiction drama from Emily Inkpen, poetry from Gregory Leadbetter and a special edition in which we interview poet and novelist Salena Godden and hear dramatized excerpts from her debut novel Mrs Death Misses Death.  Please subscribe by searching for alternative stories in your favourite podcast app to have all new editions delivered directly to you on their day of release and to have access to our full archive of audio drama poetry and fiction podcasts 

The Keeper of Songs : An Audio Drama

100 Words of Solitude is a collection of writing on the subject of the solitude and isolation resulting from the Covid lockdowns.  100 pieces of  of exactly 100 words each by 100 writers from all around the world based on the Rare Swan Press publication and from the original concept by Simon and Philippa Holloway.Trigger warning:  The podcast contains descriptions of death, loneliness, isolation and of mental illness.  If these are likely to upset or disturb you we suggest you skip this podcast. Our podcast is presented by Sally Walker TaylorThe readers are Sally Walker Taylor, Marie-Claire Wood and Chris GregoryProduction, sound design, music and soundscapes are by Chris Gregory with sound effects from freesound.org You heard interviews with Philippa Holloway and Renee SigelYou can buy a copy of 100 Words of Solitude from Rare Swan Press here https://rareswan.wordpress.com/rare-swan-bookshop/ Find out more about 100 Words of Solitude by visiting the project’s website here https://100wordsofsolitude.wordpress.com/ Follow the project on twitter https://twitter.com/100WordSolitudeFacebook https://www.facebook.com/100WordsOfSolitude Visit Rare Swan Press’s website for news on 100 Words and all their other fantastic publications here rareswanpress.com Follow the press on twitter https://twitter.com/rare_swan_press And Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rareswanpress/  Renee Sigel of Rare Swan Press is also the publisher of the fabulous Literati Magazine which you can find out more about here https://literati-magazine.com/ The 100 Words of Solitude project was established to record literary responses to enforced or self imposed isolation during the 2020 Covid 19 lockdowns, It gives voices to writers across the world to capture the emotional, cultural and social impact of isolation due to the pandemic.    This is an audio representation of some of the pieces from the collection.Heartbreak in the Time of Corona  - Aisha Hamid For Robby Browne New York - Attracta Fahy Barrier Nursing – Tony Osgood Brumation – Hannah IngeborgDeadlines and Cuddles  - Shannon KennyLenses and Laughter -   R.J KinnarneyThe Kids - Manuela PalaciosEverything is Connected – Oz HardwickPalimpsest – Brian KirkSolitude  - Amantine Brodeur Untitled – Aymeric Fromentin People Watching in the Age of Self Isolation – Christina ParisiGreen White Hysteria   - Blessing Jegede2020-05d02.  – Jurgen SchoneichWhat About The Homeless?   Ibrahim Babátúndé IbrahimBurnt City  - Paras Abbasi Absence - Debabrata SahooNomadic – Dominique HecqGerm Hunt – Alison LockBrooding - Mandira PattnaikRemote Therapy - Natalie Reilly-JohnsonThe City Haunted by Kites – Katie PiperA New York City Keening – Joanne Sutton-Smith Golden Angels – Shampa Sinha Never Forgotten -  Cindy Matthews Love Me As I Am – Paula Gannon-SavvidesClose - Eleni S Askim Sincerest and heartfelt thanks to all the participants in this podcast and apologies to all those writers whose work appears in the collection that we were not able to include in this show.

100 Words of Solitude: Global Voices in Lockdown

At the height of the UK&apos;s lockdown Holly travels to Cornwall to visit her family.   As she learns more about the folklore and customs of the county her story becomes enmeshed with that of Hedrek, a hurler from Cornwall&apos;s distant past. In the Silver Ball by Anna Chorlton you heard, in order of appearance  Tim Cartwright As Conan Michael Fenner as the Vicar of St Cleer Jowan Jacobs as HedrekJamie Trotter as JagoTiffany Clare as HollyKate Edney as HelenCarly Barnes as Amy and HeatherAnd Sally Walker-Taylor as Mary Other voices were played by members of the cast The music in The Silver Ball was arranged and performed by Mike O’Connor based on traditional Cornish tunes. Additional music is by Chris Gregory Production, sound design and soundscapes were by Chris GregorySound effects are from Freesound.org The presenter of this podcast is Sally Walker Taylor  If you would like to find out more about the author of The Silver Ball, the Cornish poet and folklorist Anna Cholrton You can follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/anna_chorltonAnd visit her website here http://www.annachorlton.com/All the locations and customs mentioned in the story are based on real sites and events in Cornwall.  We’ll be chatting to Anna about hurling and especially about Cornwall’s many stone circles and the folklore associated with them in a future edition of the podcast.  We would like to thank all of our actors for taking part in The Silver Ball.  Most of the lines you heard were delivered by Cornish actors or actors with a strong connection to the county, recording from their homes. Recording took place before the UK’s lockdown restrictions eased, using the actors’ own recording equipment.  If the sound quality varies slightly we apologise and hope this doesn’t interfere with your enjoyment of the story. We’d also like to thank composer and musician Mike O’Connor for supplying the stunning music you heard in this drama.  You can find out more about Mike, his music and storytelling here http://www.lyngham.co.uk/mike_oconnor.htmlFinally, we&apos;d like to thank Anne Hughes, Harriet Chorlton, Les Harris and St Column Hurling. If this has been your first time listening to Alternative Stories and Fake Realities please subscribe to hear more of our audio drama poetry and fiction podcasts the moment they are released.  Follow us on twitter for news of forthcoming releases and to interact with the podcast, our actors and writers https://twitter.com/StoriesAltYou can also follow us on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ If you are a writer wishing to submit a script or an actor wishing to audition please contact us via email at office@alternativestories.com  

The Silver Ball : An Audio Drama

In this special edition we’ll be listening to poems from four regular contributors to the podcast and hearing a little about their approaches to writing poetry.  The presenter is Sally Walker-TaylorSound recordings in this podcast were made by the contributors and sound design, mixing and music were by Chris Gregory The poems in this podcast are  Binder’s Blue by Marie Claire WoodThe Afternoon Route by TAK ErzingerBellwether by Kevan MawaringLittle Red Morrigan by Sarra CullenoKintsugi in the Age of Social Media by Marie-Claire WoodChemical Bonds by TAK Erzinger Calving of the Berg by Kevan Manwaring Ab-Zohr’s Temple Sonnet (Offering To The Waters) by Sarra Culleno My Mother’s Dresser by Marie-Claire Wood Canto de mi Sangre (Song of My Blood) by TAK ErzingerChoices by Kevan Manwaring The Beach-Goers by Sarra Culleno Marie-Claire Wood is an actor, writer, model and presenter.  She has presented several episodes of Alternative Stories and appeared in our dramas Backdrop. Hare Spell and Out of The Darkness for which she was a co-writer.  She is an accomplished poetry reader and can be heard reading poems by Phoebe Stuckes and Maria-Taylor in series 3 of Alt Stories and as the lead voice in our audiobook version of the Invisible Borders anthology by Hypatia Publications.   Marie-Claire will be appearing in the new audio drama series Small Gods soon. Find out more about Marie-Claire and follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/MarieClaireWood TAK Erzinger is an American Swiss writer with Colombian background currently living in Switzerland.  Her collection “At The Foot of The Mountain” has recently been published by Floricanto Press and is available to buy via links in TAK’s twitter feed and from Amazon.  TAK was the writer of our recent audio drama “Stella’s Constellation” which was based on part of an upcoming novel.  She is also an accomplished artist and has contributed poems to our “Through The Trees” anthology.  Find out more about TAK and follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/ErzTak Dr Kevan Manwaring is a Senior Lecturer in creative writing at the Arts University in Bournemouth.  The author of many works of fiction and poetry he was the writer of our audio drama Black Box which was based on his award-winning novel of the same name.  A committed ecologist and writer in the field of climate fiction, Kevan also contributed to our special edition on that subject as well as to out discussion on folklore recently.   We are planning further projects with Kevan and you should follow him (and us) to find out more about them. Follow Kevan on twitter here https://twitter.com/bardicacademicAnd visit his website here https://thebardicacademic.wordpress.com/ Sarra Culleno may be best known to Alternative Stories listeners as one of the writing team behind our acclaimed audio drama Hare Spell.  That drama was partly inspired by Sarra’s original story The Hares of  Horsenden Hill which we also dramatised alongside Hare Spell. Sarra has contributed poetry to a number of editions of the podcast and we are incredibly proud and pleased to announce that her debut short fiction collection “Bonds” will be published later this year.  We’ll hear much more about that on Alternative Stories soon.  Follow Sarra on twitter here https://twitter.com/sarra1978 We hope you enjoy listening to poems from all four contributors.  

Poems from Marie-Claire Wood, TAK Erzinger, Kevan Manwaring and Sarra Culleno

In this edition we chat with historical novelist Fiona Mountain about her forthcoming novel and audio drama “The Keeper of Songs”.  We include excerpts from the audio drama of and from some of her other novels and talk about the role of music in inspiring Fiona, her historical research and the effects of the pandemic on her creativity.  This edition features excerpts from the forthcoming audio drama of The Keeper of Songs starring Amy Forrest and Keeley Lane and adapted from her novel of the same name by Fiona Mountain.  It features the track “Henry and Clara” by Bella Hardy which is reproduced with Bella’s permission.  The audio drama is produced by Nicholas John with Audio edit, mix and mastering: David Pickering Pick at ffg media  www.ffgmedia.co.uk You can find out more about Fiona Mountain and order her books by visiting her website https://www.fionamountain.com/  To join Fiona’s mailing list to be informed when pre-order for The Keeper of Songs opens please click the link at the foot of the website home page.  If you would like to purchase copies of Fiona’s novels you can visit her Amazon page here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiona-Mountain/e/B001HMN6QU?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_4&qid=1568592964&sr=1-4-catcorr You can follow Fiona on social media via twitter here https://twitter.com/FionaMountainAnd on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/fionamountainwriter/ To find out more about Bella Hardy and to purchase copies of her albums you can visit her website here  https://www.bellahardy.com/  If you would like to book a place on our Introduction to Writing for Audio Drama Workshop on 17th May you can do so via our Eventbrite page here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-introduction-to-writing-for-audio-drama-with-alternative-stories-tickets-148761496641 Subscribe to Alternative Stories in your favourite podcast app to have all future editions delivered to your feed the moment they are released and to access our full archive of audio drama poetry and fiction podcasts.  Follow us on social media to find out what we’re up to and to get news on forthcoming podcasts via twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAltAnd Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/You can contact us via email office@alternativestories.com Coming soon we’ll have poetry from Gregory Leadbetter and drama from Anna Chorlton and Emily Inkpen. 

An interview with novelist Fiona Mountain

In this edition we look at new books from two exciting British writers, poet Lisa O&apos;Hare and novelist and short story writer Alexandra Beaumont.  We have extracts from each book and interviews with their authors. Thank you to Lisa O&apos;Hare and Alexandra Beaumont for taking part in this podcast.  The presenter of this edition has been Sally Walker-TaylorThe interviewer was Chris GregoryPoems from Lisa&apos;s book "Lockdown Life, A Rollercoaster of Emotions" were read by Lisa O&apos;HareExtracts from Alexandra&apos;s book " Testament of the Stars" were read by Holly Skinner" Production, sound design and music were by Chris GregoryWe would like to thank Master House Publishing for allowing us to reproduce Lisa&apos;s poems and Gurt Dog Press for permission to share the excerpts from &apos;Testament of the Stars" Visit all of Lisa O&apos;Hare&apos;s links here https://linktr.ee/lisa.ohareAnd follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/TheLisaOHare Visit Master House Publishing’s website and order Lisa’s book here  https://masterhousepublishing.com/And follow Master House on twitter here https://twitter.com/MasterHousePubYou can find out more about Alexandra Beaumont and read some of her short fiction via her website here https://abeaumont75.wixsite.com/homeAnd follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/ABeaumontWriter Visit Alexandra’s publisher Gurt Dog Press here https://gurtdogpress.com/And follow the press on twitter here https://twitter.com/GurtDogPressPre-order a copy of Testament of The Stars here https://gurtdogpress.com/testament-of-the-stars-by-alexandra-beaumont/ To find out more about our forthcoming audio drama productions The Hunt by Emily Inkpen, The Silver Ball by Anna Chorlton and our next podcast, Keeper of Songs by Fiona Mountain please follow us on social mediaYou can follow Alternative Stories via twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAltAnd on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ In our extract from Keeper of Songs you heard the voice of Nicholas JohnIn our extract from The Silver Ball you heard the voices of Carly Barnes, Kate Edney and Tiffany Clare  If you would like to join one of our workshops on writing audio drama please follow the link below   We are taking bookings for our course on 17th Mayhttps://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-introduction-to-writing-for-audio-drama-with-alternative-stories-tickets-148761496641?aff=ebdsoporgprofile There&apos;ll be no Alternative Stories podcast next week.  We return on Friday 7th May with a new audio drams Keeper of Songs by Fiona Mountain starring Amy Forrest and Keeley Lane

Lisa O'Hare and Alexandra Beaumont

Emily Inkpen is a a British science fiction writer and audio dramatist.  Her drama The Bomb was one of our most popular podcasts of 2020.  In this edition we talk to Emily about world building for Sci Fi writers, her working practice, the influence of writing audio drama on her prose work and her forthcoming audio drama The Hunt.  We hear extracts from her novel The Blood Road and from The Bomb.In this edition you heard readings from Emily’s novel “The Blood Road” read by Laura Dunnion and Harri Rees Jones You also heard extracts from the audio drama “The Bomb” with the voices of Emily Inkpen, Warren Graham, Kelsey Griffin, Harri Rees Jones, Charlie Richards, Lewie Watson and Annika Kordes.  The presenter of this edition is Tiffany Clare The interviewer is Chris GregorySound design, music and audio drama production are by Chris Gregory You can find out more about Emily Inkpen’s work and writing by visiting her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/You can follow her on social media via twitter here https://twitter.com/emilyinkpenAnd on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/ The play-out music in this edition is an exclusive extract from the theme music to Emily’s forthcoming drama “The Hunt “ written by Allen Stroud.As well as being a composer, Allen Stroud is a writer and chair of the British Science Fiction Association You can find out more about Allen by visiting his website here  https://www.allenstroud.com/ Subscribe to Alternative Stories to hear The Hunt when it is released.You can access all our science fiction and climate fiction content including Emily’s first audio drama The Bomb via this linkhttps://www.podchaser.com/lists/sci-fi-and-climate-fiction-on-alternative-stories-107aDoFzmM And follow us on social media via twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAltAnd Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/ If you are interested in learning more about writing audio drama you can join one of our zoom workshops on the subject.  Our next Introduction to Writing For Audio Drama workshop will be on 17th May at 6.30PM UK time and you can register via the Eventbrite linkhttps://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-introduction-to-writing-for-audio-drama-with-alternative-stories-tickets-148761496641 Next week on Alternative Stories we bring you new writing from Alexandra Beaumont and Lisa O’Hare as well as previews of two forthcoming audio drama productions “Keeper of Songs” by Fiona Mountain and “The Silver Ball” by Anna Chorlton. 

SciFi Writers : Emily Inkpen

Alternative Stories and Fake Realities is a podcast designed to promote new and original audio drama, poetry and writing from across the English speaking world. Working with themes we will produce high quality content aimed at providing new perspectives on existing stories and ideas as we bring fresh and original writing into the world. We will use actors and writers from the United Kingdom and North America to offer a trans-Atlantic feel to our work. Content will be added when ready rather than on a strict week-by-week or month-by-month basis. Please check out our website https://alternativestories.com/

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Alternative Stories and Fake Realities

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