podcast

Ghostlore: Hauntings & Ironwood out now!

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Today is an exciting day. Today is the first time I have had two publications drop at the same time. My insides are fizzing, I’m so excited. I’m like a shaken bottle of Pepsi, open me and I will explode. (In place of my organs, you will find only glitter and ghosts.)

The first is Ghostlore: An audio fiction anthology. Part Two: Hauntings, edited by Lyndsey Croal for the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities podcast. This episode is all about hauntings and spooks and is altogether a very eerie listening experience. I love it. My own story, “We Cower in a Ruined Castle and Hope Not to Hear a Ghost”, is narrated by the absolutely fantastic Sally Walker Taylor and features a local ghost—the Drummer Boy from Dudley Castle.

I cannot express how much I adore this production. You can listen below or via all the usual podcast channels.

My second publication of the day is issue two of Hexagon SF Magazine’s MYRIAD zines: Ironwood, edited by Anna Madden (who I had the great joy of appearing alongside in Hexagon Issue #4 in 2021).

“The Curse Uncursing” is a story about a witch and the importance of specificity when it comes to bargaining with faerie folk—or ‘unfolk’, as I call them.

This publication is doubly exciting as Ironwood also features a story by Lyndsey Croal, editor of Ghostlore!

It all feels a little bit like fate—if you believe in that sort of thing.

TERRIFY ME! With Antony Frost: Episode 8 (featuring me!)

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I did something scary last week: I recorded my first ever podcast interview with the lovely Antony Frost of TERRIFY ME! With Antony Frost. I’ve really been enjoying TERRIFY ME! since its launch earlier this year and it very much has a spot on my regular rotation. It’s a great little podcast if you’re interested in all things spooky and folkloric, which, naturally, I am.

Having never been very good at public speaking, I’d day-dreamed about potential spoken interviews, and how they would go and what I would say, while being almost entirely certain they would never happen—who hasn’t pretended they were part of an interview while standing under a steaming shower head? No? Just me?

Well, sometimes you surprise yourself. Not only was I thrilled to be invited but I was excited to take part, even if I was nervous! (And I was very nervous.)

The episode is now live, ready and waiting to be streamed. Antony and I chat about all things ghostly, gothic and Crow & Cross Keys—there may be some sneaky submission tips tucked in there too. I have included the episode below for your delectation and delight. TERRIFY ME! With Antony Frost is available on Anchor FM, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. (Antony has also interviewed the brilliant Alex Woodroe in a previous episode, which is well worth the listen!)

We cannot guarantee that episode 8 is not haunted. I hope you love it!

Ghostlore has been announced, & Spirit Machine is at the printers!

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This post makes me giddy. Giddy, I tell you. (I have been using this word everywhere today and I regret nothing.) I have been sitting on this for about a week, which doesn’t sound like long in the grand publishing scheme of things but it felt like a long time. When I submitted to Alternative Stories & Fake Realities’ new audio fiction anthology, Ghostlore—edited by Lyndsey Croal—I tried to convince myself that I didn’t mind if it wasn’t accepted. That was a complete lie. I really wanted this acceptance and luckily for me Lyndsey and the Alternative Stories team loved my little story just as much as I do.

For the first time in my publishing journey, my writing is going to be featured on a podcast—complete with background effects—and I absolutely cannot contain my excitement. I’ve never heard my writing professionally produced and I can’t wait.

“We Cower in a Ruined Castle and Hope Not to Hear a Ghost” is a story about superstition and one of the ghosts that loiters around Dudley castle. It will be featured in Ghostlore Episode 2, Hauntings (trailer and release date to come).

There are several familiar names that I’m thrilled to be sharing a contents list with, the complete line-up sounds incredible. Not to mention that episode 1 features an author whose book is sitting on my shelf right now. A book I adore. (Do I have to keep telling myself to Be Cool, Elou? Yes. Yes, I do.) I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit starstruck.

I can’t wait to share more as and when I can!

The second bit of incredibly exciting news I have to share is that Spirit Machine: Tales of Séance Ficton is fully funded and has been sent off to the printers! Air and Nothingness Press books are always so beautifully produced—and I will say this every time I mention them for the rest of forever. I can’t wait to hold it in my hands.

If you missed the Kickstarter but want a copy, you can still pre-order the anthology from the Air and Nothingness Press website.