Alternative Stories and Fake Realities

https://bsky.app/profile/madeleinefwhite.bsky.social

In this episode of the Alternative Stories podcast we're chatting with poet, novelist and audio drama writer Madeleine F White about the two books she is publishing in the first part of 2025; the poetry collection 'The Horse and The Girl' and the verse memoir 'Maiden Mother Crone'

We have a full length interview with Madeleine and excerpts from the collections read by Madeleine. We also hear a clip from Madeleine's audio drama 'The Ark' based on her debut novel 'Mother of Floods' and an excerpt from an episode of the 'Write On! Audio' Podcast.

You can follow Madeleine f White on social media here

https://x.com/madeleinefwhite

https://www.instagram.com/madeleinefwhite/

The Horse and The Girl and Maiden Mother Crone are both published by Sea Crow Press. You can find out more and order copies here

https://www.seacrowpress.com/

Find out more about the Write On! suite of publications which Madeleine edits here

Write on! https://pentoprint.org/write-on-features/

Listen to the Write On! Audio Podcast from Pen to Print here https://open.spotify.com/show/4IG6ODY67eJjTXFmC5nFP5?si=3c9f3ebcfd9d4be3

If you have enjoyed this podcast you can listen to more from our production company Alternative Stories including our new science fiction drama 'Burnout' here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories

A Blue Plaque Mystery: An Audio Drama by Brian Hipkin

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

There are hundreds of Blue Plaques on buildings around London commemorating the famous people who lived there at some time in the building’s history . But only one building has three plaques for three different people who lived in the building at the same time. Chiltern Court on Baker Street was home to novelists HG Wells and Arnold Bennett and composer Eric Coates in the early 1930s.

In this new audio drama by Brian Hipkin we imagine a pivotal meeting between the three in December 1930 and a modern day investigation into events from the 30s.

In A Blue Plaque Mystery by Brian Hipkin you heard

Ewan Bailey as Arnold Bennett

Jon Glover as HG Wells

Zephryn Taitte as Eric Coates

Charlie Richards as The Concierge

Grace Savage as Cassie

Ria Knowles as Sunday

Tom McEnery as Voice on the recording

Maya Cohen Gregory as Phyllis Coates

And Samira Ahmed as herself

A Blue Plaque Mystery was directed by Chris Gregory

It was produced by Brian Hipkin and Chris Gregory and recorded at Orpheus Studio in London by Richard “Orpheus” Campbell

Production sound-design and editing were by Chris Gregory

The studio assistants were Holly Hughes and Maya Cohen Gregory

The music tracks in this production are

Saint James Infirmary Blues by Cab Calloway

By a Sleepy Lagoon by Eric Coates

You can find out more about Brian Hipkin and his work by following him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/brianhipkin/

To find out more about Alternative Stories, listen to our other dramas and contact us you can find all our links here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories

Introducing New Alternative Stories Audio Dramas: Wasteland And Burnout

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 04:00:00 +0000

https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt

In this short episode Chris Gregory and Emily Inkpen introduce two new Alternative Stories audio drama series. You can hear trailers for our two new shows Wasteland and Burnout which are both available on their own podcast platforms.

To listen to Wasteland you can search "Wasteland A Dex Legacy Story" wherever you listen to podcasts or you can click here to find it https://pod.link/1790863463

If you would like to listen to Burnout you can find it by searching "Burnout Alternative Stories" in your favourite podcast app or click here to find it https://pod.link/1798982875

To follow Alternative Stories on social media you can click the links below to find and follow us on your social platform of choice

https://bsky.app/profile/storiesalt.bsky.social

https://x.com/StoriesAlt

https://www.threads.net/@stories.alt

The Earth Serenades: An Audio Drama by Emma Griffiths

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 04:00:00 +0000

https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/competitions/

In orbit around our planet, an alien creature is listening in on Earth noise. One sound in particular seems to have a greater significance than others but what does it mean and how will Skim and Beta find out more about it? In our final Alternative Stories episode of 2024 we are bringing you the winner of the 2024 Pen to Print Audio Play Competition “The Earth Serenades” by Emma Griffiths.

In “The Earth Serenades” by Emma Griffiths you can hear

Tiffany Clare as Skim

Emily Inkpen as Beta

Sophie Macnair as Pree

And Chris Gregory as Shakarn

Other voices were played by Sophie Macnair and Emma Griffiths

The Earth Serenades was Directed by Chris Gregory and Emily Inkpen and recorded at Orpheus Studio in London

The sound engineer was Richard Campbell

Music, sound design and editing were by Chris Gregory

The script for the earth serenades is copyright Emma Griffiths and may not be used in whole or in part except with the permission of the author

If you would like to enter the 2025 Pen to Print Audio Play Competition you need to be an unpublished audio drama writer and resident in the United Kingdom. The competition is open to entries until 5pm on Friday 21st March. You can find out more and download entry terms and conditions via the link below

The interview in this episode was conducted by Emily Inkpen and the presenter was Chris Gregory

To find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can follow us on social media
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
or visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
and Linktree here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories
Contact us by email at office@alternativestories.com

Storytelling in Games with Oscar Clark and Emily Inkpen

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In this episode we look at the world of gaming and discuss the many and varied storytelling styles and approaches within games. Our guests are games industry expert, actual-play podcaster and author Oscar Clark and novelist, audio drama author and game writer Emily Inkpen.

If you would like to watch a video version of this conversation you can find it on the Alternative Stories YouTube channel here

Find out more about Oscar Clark and his work in the games industry by following him
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscarclark/
Twitter / X https://x.com/Athanateus
Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/athanateus.bsky.social

You can watch Oscar's actual play podcast Anything Can Happen on YouTube here https://www.youtube.com/@AnythingCouldHappen-show
and listen via Spotify here https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/anything-could-happen

You can find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by visiting her website
here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/

Find out more about The Dex Legacy here
https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home

Follow Emily on social media
Twitter / X https://x.com/emilyinkpen
BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/emilyinkpen.bsky.social
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/

To find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can follow us on social media
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
or visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
and Linktree here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories
Contact us by email at office@alternativestories.com

The Out-Of-Towners Club 2024

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode of the podcast we are looking at the Script Club New York City production of "The Out-Of-Towners Club", an adapted version of an audio drama that originally ran on this podcast back in 2019.

In our interview you can hear Script Club NYC members Jackie Jorgenson, Roger Lipson, Alex Highsmith and Jess Thompson talking about their roles in the upcoming performances at the Fiction Bar / Cafe in Brooklyn

You can also hear an excerpt from our original audio drama featuring Miguel Antonio as Dan (written by Chris Gregory, Jackie Jorgenson and Mary McDonald) and an excerpt from the Script Club NYC production performed by Alex Highsmith and Jess Thompson.

You can get tickets for Out-Of-Towners Club performances on 7th and 21st December here https://script-club-nyc.ticketleap.com/holiday-radio-show/

And find out more about Script Club NYC here linktr.ee/scriptclubnyc

Follow Script Club NYC on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/scriptclubnyc/

You can hear our original audio drama of The Out-Of-Towners Club from 2019 here
and the sequel "Out-Of-Towners" here

To find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can follow us on social media
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
or visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
Contact us by email at office@alternativestories.com

Introducing The Writers' Gym Podcast

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 04:00:00 +0000

https://x.com/TheWritersGymRK

In this episode we are introducing another Alternative Stories podcast you may enjoy. The Writers' Gym features Chris Gregory, Dr Rachel Knightley and Emily Inkpen and each week we discuss a different writing topic. Whether you are a writer yourself or simply interested in books and writing you'll find plenty to enjoy. Covering novels, short fiction, scripts, screenplays, audio drama and all stops in between you can catch the podcast by searching "The Writers Gym" in your favourite podcast app or clicking the links below.

Listen / subscribe via Spotify here
https://open.spotify.com/show/0myjCJkk2pt6jPfdIa0AAr?si=f18ec34cef764327

and via Apple Podcasts here
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-writers-gym-podcast/id1674424465

You can listen to Rachel Knightley's audio drama "Winter Spring" here https://open.spotify.com/episode/2gBu6Bqmc7CiC8zwXTYIPZ?si=b2c423862aaf4438

Emily's drama serial "The Dex Legacy" can be heard here https://open.spotify.com/show/1aphgDiefw4FdO8EN5LJxy?si=2908e95681354b81

Join the Writers’ Gym and book your next writing workout at https://www.rachelknightley.com/the-writers-gym/

Find out more about The Writers' Gym and Rachel Knightley by going to: https://www.rachelknightley.com/

Find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by going to: https://www.emilyinkpen.com/

Learn more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://alternativestories.com/

Follow the Writers’ Gym and contact us on Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/jointhewritersgym/

https://www.facebook.com/JoinTheWritersGym/

Subscribe to The Writers’ Gym in your favourite podcast app to be notified of all new episodes as they are released.

"The Bone Diver": An Interview with Novelist Angie Spoto

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 03:00:00 +0000

The Bone Diver is the latest novel from Chicago born novelist Angie Spoto who now lives in Edinburgh. Telling the story of Keir, an expert diver who is unable to kill, The Bone Diver is a gothic tale of family, the legend of the selkies and a young woman who is offered an impossible choice.

Readings from The Bone Diver are by Sophie Macnair.

Find out more about Angie Spoto and buy a copy of The Bone Diver by visiting her website here https://www.angiespoto.com/

Follow Angie Spoto on social media here
https://x.com/angiespotowrite
https://www.threads.net/@angiespotowrite
https://www.instagram.com/angiespotowrite/

Find out about Sophie Macnair and hire her for your voice or acting project here https://app.spotlight.com/7656-8974-2745

Listen to Sophie in our Scottish Folklore audio drama "Selkie" by Signe Maene here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/episodes/3858479

Visit the Black and White website here https://blackandwhitepublishing.com/

Find out about the Cymera Festival which is a speculative fiction literary festival held annually in Edinburgh https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/

To find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can follow us on social media
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
or visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
Contact us by email at office@alternativestories.com

All About Blogging with Alanna Duffield

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In this episode we chat with blogger, poet and freelance writer Alanna Duffield about her writing and the art of blogging. With advice and thoughts on topics, style, frequency of posts and titles this not only a guide to getting started as a blogger but also an insight into Alanna's own creative practice. We end with a look at Alanna's poetry.

Throughout this episode you can hear excerpts from Alanna's blog posts and poems. These are written, performed and recorded by Alanna Duffield and may not be reproduced in whole or part except with the written permission of the author.

Alanna Duffield is a writer, blogger and poet whose work explores pop culture, relationships, human connection, grief, nature and - of course - writing itself.

Her poetry and short stories have been published by the BBC, Dear Damsels and Aurelia Magazine. Her essays and journalism have been published by Cosmopolitan, Metro and Stylist. She also runs SILT, a weekly lifestyle publication on Substack.

Alanna has performed her poetry at Luxembourg Gallery, Mayfair and she was a headline performer for VERSES, a London-based poetry collective.

You can read Alanna's blog art alannaduffield.substack.com
Her poetry blog is here thelinebreak.substack.com
and you can follow her on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/alannaduffield/

To find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can follow us on social media
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
or visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
Contact us by email at office@alternativestories.com

Alethea Lyons and The Seer of York Series

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In this episode we chat with fantasy author Alethea Lyons about her series of novels and short stories called The Seer of York. We look at the influences on Thea's writing including the folklore of the British Isles and the inspiration that the City of York has been on her world. Along the way we hear excerpts from Alethea's writing read by Emily Inkpen

Find out more about Alethea Lyons by visiting here website here https://alethealyons.wixsite.com/stories

Links to Alethea's social media channels and many other locations can be found here https://linktr.ee/alethearlyons

You can find out about Alethea's publisher, Brigid's Gate Press here https://brigidsgatepress.com/

If you'd like to find out more about our reader Emily Inkpen and hire her for your voice or writing project you can do so here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/

We mentioned Rhianna Pratchett's BBC series about creatures from British folklore and you can listen here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001tgpb

To find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can follow us on social media
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
or visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
Contact us by email at office@alternativestories.com

"Hair's Breadth" and "Dog Only Knows": Audio Drama by Robbie Laughton

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 04:00:00 +0000

In this episode we share two short audio dramas by Nottingham based playwright and short fiction author Robbie Laughton.

These were two of four plays we recorded with Robbie and our cast in August. You can listen to our first podcast featuring Robbie's dramas "Hairy Fairy" and "Tormeted" which has since been featured on BBC Radio, here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/episodes/15864824

Please note that "Dog Only Knows", our second drama contains very strong and abusive language throughout. Listener discretion is advised.

Hair's Breadth
When Bob goes to the supermarket to buy extra supplies for a barbecque, he brings home more than a selction of wine and some hollandaise sauce... in fact, he forgets the hollandaise altogether.

In “Hair's Breadth” by Robbie Laughton Chris Gregory played Bob, John was played by David Monteith and Emma by Holy Gillanders. Other voices were played by members of the cast.

"Hair's Breadth" was directed by Emily Inkpen and recorded at Orpheus Studio in London by Richard Campbell. Sound design and production was by Chris Gregory. Music was by Franz Gordon.

The script for “Hair's Breadth” is copyright Robbie Laughton and may not be produced in whole or in part except with the written permission of the author.

Dog Only Knows
Dog walking can be frustrating when your dog doesn't want to follow orders and the whole world seems to be against you.

In “Dog Only Knows” by Robbie Laughton The Man was played by David Monteith. Other voices were played by Holly Gillanders and Robbie Laughton.

"Dog Only Knows" was directed by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory and recorded at Orpheus Studio in London by Richard Campbell. Sound design, music and editing were by Chris Gregory.

The script for “Dog Only Knows” is copyright Robbie Laughton and may not be produced in whole or in part except with the written permission of the author.

Find out more about Robbie Laughton and his work by visiting his short fiction site Incredible Shorts here https://incredibleshorts.com/

The Writer's Gym Podcast
Produced by Alternative Stories and featuring Rachel Knightley, Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory, the Writers' Gym Podcast tackles a different writing topic each week. With discussions, writing advice, anecdotes and writing challenges you'll enjoy the podcast if you are a writer, reader or someone who enjoys conversations about writing and books.
https://open.spotify.com/show/0myjCJkk2pt6jPfdIa0AAr?si=0fd7d646491f4f01

To find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can follow us on social media
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
or visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
Contact us by email at office@alternativestories.com

"Untethered": Short Fiction by Philippa Holloway

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0100

In this episode we chat with novelist, academic and short story writer Philippa Holloway about her new short fiction collection "Untethered" which was published last month by Parthian. Along the way we hear excerpts from the collection performed by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory.

In this podcast you heard excerpts from the following stories

A Cloud of Starlings - read by Emily Inkpen
Handprints - read by Chris Gregory
Beached - read by Emily Inkpen

Sound design, editing, music and interviewing were by Chris Gregory

You can follow Philippa Holloway on X, formerly twitter here https://x.com/thejackdawspen

And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/thejackdawspen/

Find out more about Parthian Books and purchase a copy of "Untethered" here https://www.parthianbooks.com/

Follow Parthian on X here https://x.com/ParthianBooks

And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/parthian_books/

You can listen to Philippa's first podcast with Alt Stories in which we talked about her novel "The Half Life of Snails' here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/episodes/10479070-the-half-life-of-snails

Please follow Alternative Stories on social media here
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

And to contact the podcast please drop us an email at office@alternativestories.com
or visit our website here https://alternativestories.com/

Monologues by Stella Klein

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0100

In this episodes we share a short series of monologues written by Stella Klein and performed by members of the Alternative Stories acting team.

Stella Klein is a London-based writer of very short stories and occasional poems. Her flash and micro fiction has appeared in print and online collections published by Fish, 101 Words, Spread the Word, FlashBack Fiction, Flash Fiction Magazine, Reflex Fiction and The Mechanics Institute Review.

Reclining Nude is performed by Tiffany Clare
Baristas is performed by Chris Gregory
The Day Susan McPhee Was Away is performed by Emily Inkpen
Sausalito is performed by Reginald West
Euphonium Blues is performed by Lewie Watson
Easy Peasy Lets Make Love is performed by Emily Inkpen
and Craft Coffee and Climate Change is performed by Chris Gregory

Sound design, editing and music on all monologues is by Chris Gregory

Four of these monologues have previously been published:

Baristas in City of Stories, Vol. 2. Spread the Word 2018
Sausalito (earlier version titled Licorice King) Flash Fiction Magazine, April 2020
Reclining Nude: Fish Anthology, Fish Publishing 2020
Craft Coffee and Climate Change, in Defence of Pseudoscience, Reflex Fiction Volume 5. Reflex Press, 2022

Alexandra Beaumont: Dissonance of Birdsong

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0100

In this episode we chat with fantasy author Alexandra Beaumont about her new novel Dissonance of Birdsong (Brigids Gate Press 2024)

Alexandra Beaumont is a fantasy author and folklorist whose debut novel "Testament of the Stars" was also featured on this podcast. Her latest book, Dissonance of Birdsong draws on the folklore and landscape of Cornwall.

You can listen to our original interview on this podcast here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/episodes/8376524

To find out more about Alexandra Beaumont and her work please visit her website here https://abeaumont75.wixsite.com/home
You can follow her on X here https://x.com/ABeaumontWriter
and Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/abeaumontwriter
To order copies of Dissonance of Birdsong, please follow the links in Alexandra's Linktree https://linktr.ee/AlexandraBeaumontAuthor

To find out more about Alexandra's publisher, Brigids Gate Press you can visit their website here https://brigidsgatepress.com/
and follow them on X here https://x.com/BrigidsGate

You can follow Alternative Stories on social media via the links below
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

If you'd like to back the Dex Legacy Season Three Kickstarter please go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/emilyinkpen/the-dex-legacy-science-fiction-audio-drama-season-3

And to contact the podcast please drop us an email at office@alternativestories.com
or visit our website here https://alternativestories.com/

A Walk with Poet and Novelist Tim Relf

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0100

In this episode of the podcast, recorded on a walk in The Welland Valley in eastern Leicestershire Chris Gregory is in conversation with novelist, poet and journalist Tim Relf. Tim writes fiction under the name T.R. Richmond and his novel "What She Left" is published by Penguin.

In this podcast you can hear three poems
Scrambler by Tim relf read by Jackie Jorgenson
Blackberries by Tim Relf read by Chris Gregory
Adlestrop by Edward Thomas read by Tim Relf

To find out more about Tim and his work please follow him on X, formerly twitter here https://x.com/timrelf
You can also visit Tim's page at the Professional Writing Academy here https://www.profwritingacademy.com/team/tim_relf

If you'd like to see some of the view Chris and Tim describe in this discussion we'll post some pictures on the Alternative Stories social media pages here
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

If you'd like to back the Dex Legacy Season Three Kickstarter please go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/emilyinkpen/the-dex-legacy-science-fiction-audio-drama-season-3

And to contact the podcast please drop us an email at office@alternativestories.com
or visit our website here https://alternativestories.com/

"Hairy Fairy" and "Tormented": Audio Drama by Robbie Laughton

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 04:00:00 +0100

In this episode we share two short audio dramas by Nottingham based playwright and short fiction author Robbie Laughton.

These were two of four plays we recorded with Robbie and our cast in August and we'll be sharing the other two and more about Robbie in a forthcoming episode

Hairy Fairy
Big Dean is preparing for his release from prison while on the streets of the city a mysterious figure known only as "Hairy Fairy" endlessly collects money for charity. But what connects them and how will their fortunes intertwine?

In “Hairy Fairy ” by Robbie Laughton Chris Gregory played Hairy Fairy, Big Dean was played by David Monteith and the prison guard by Emily Inkpen. Holly Gillanders played Lizzie, The Waitress. Other voices were played by members of the cast.

Hairy Fairy was directed by Emily Inkpen and recorded at Orpheus Studio in London by Richard Campbell. Sound design, editing and music were by Chris Gregory.

The script for “Hairy Fairy” is copyright Robbie Laughton and may not be produced in whole or in part except with the written permission of the author.

Tormented
A married couple spend their lives tormenting each other in every aspect of their lives so why do they stay together?

In “Tormented” by Robbie Laughton The Man was played by David Monteith and the Woman by Holly Gillanders.

Tormented was directed by Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory and recorded at Orpheus Studio in London by Richard Campbell. Sound design and editing were by Chris Gregory and the music was by Franz Gordon.

The script for “Tormented” is copyright Robbie Laughton and may not be produced in whole or in part except with the written permission of the author.

Find out more about Robbie Laughton and his work by visiting his short fiction site Incredible Shorts here https://incredibleshorts.com/

To find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can follow us on social media
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
or visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
Contact us by email at office@alternativestories.com

A Conversation with Novelist, Audio Drama Writer and Director Emily Inkpen

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 04:00:00 +0100

https://twitter.com/emilyinkpen

Today we’re sharing an interview with novelist, short story writer and award winning audio drama script writer, Emily Inkpen.

You can back our kickstarter to make season 3 of The Dex Legacy Season here
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/emilyinkpen/the-dex-legacy-science-fiction-audio-drama-season-3

If you’d like to see a video version of this interview you can find it on the Alternative Stories YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@alternativestoriesandfaker6885

You can find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by visiting her website
here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/

Find out more about The Dex Legacy here
https://www.emilyinkpen.com/thedexlegacy-home

Find out more about the Fantasy and Sci Fi Spotlight event which will be held on 29th September at the Nerdy Cafe in Shrewsbury here https://www.fantasyandscifispotlight.co.uk/

And find out about and book onto Alternative Stories workshops with Emily and Chris here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/alternative-stories-32973233175

Find out more about Alternative Stories and book us to record your audio drama, book promotional materials or interviews here https://alternativestories.com/
for which we’ll share a link in our show notes. If you’d like to back our season 3 kickstarter you’ll also find a link in our show notes or you can go to kickstarter .com and search “The Dex Legacy

To find out more about Emily and her world of writing , directing and teaching you can visit her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/about

To follow Emily on social media please kick the links below

https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/

https://www.threads.net/@emilyinkpen

"Limelight": Short Fiction by Lyndsey Croal

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 04:00:00 +0100

https://twitter.com/writerlynds

In this edition we chat with author Lyndsey Croal about her new and acclaimed short fiction collection “Limelight”, We are also joined by Limelight’s publisher Alan Lastufka from Shortwave Publishing for a conversation about the topics covered in the collection, Lyndsey’s writing and inspiration and the world of indie publishing. The podcast includes excerpts from Limelight.

If you would like to learn more about Lyndsey Croal you can visit her website https://lyndseycroal.co.uk/ Here you can order copies of Lyndsey’s books and subscribe to her newsletter

You can also follow Lyndsey on social media

https://www.instagram.com/lyndseycroal/

To find out more about Shortwave Publishing and their work visit their website here

https://shortwavepublishing.com/

You can follow Shortwave on social media

https://x.com/ShortwaveBooks

https://www.instagram.com/shortwavebooks/

The stories featured in today’s podcast are copyright Lyndsey Croal and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the author’s permission.

The dramatised version of “A Ring Around” starred Tiffany Clare as Elara + Dina and Emily Inkpen as Sage. It was co-directed and recorded by Tiffany and Emily with sound design and music by Chris Gregory.

The readings were by Chris Gregory and Lyndsey Croal

If you would like to find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can visit our website here https://alternativestories.com/
Or contact us via office@alternativestories.com

And if you would like to find out more about and support The Dex Legacy Season 3 Kickstarter please go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/emilyinkpen/the-dex-legacy-science-fiction-audio-drama-season-3

Join us next time for an interview with the writer of the Dex Legacy Emily Inkpen.

Winter Spring: An Interview with Writer Dr Rachel Knightley

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 04:00:00 +0100

In this bonus episode we have an interview with the writer of our audio drama Winter Spring, Dr Rachel Knightley. Rachel talks with co-director Emily Inkpen about the inspiration for her story and the joy of bringing it to life in the studio.

This interview was recorded at Orpheus Studio in London by Richard Campbell.

If you would like to find out more about Rachel Knightley and her writing coaching organisation The Writers’ Gym please go to https://www.writersgym.com/

You can follow Rachel on X at https://twitter.com/DrRKnightley

And on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/drrachelknightley/

You may also enjoy The Writers’ Gym Podcast in which Rachel, Emily Inkpen and Chris Gregory have weekly conversations about writing topics. You can listen here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-writers-gym-podcast/id1674424465

Or by searching “the writers gym” wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you would like to find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can visit our website here https://alternativestories.com/
Or contact us via office@alternativestories.com

This podcast has been an Alternative Stories 2024 production

Winter Spring: An Audio Drama

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 04:00:00 +0100

Welcome to Season 8 of the Alternative Stories and Fake Realites Podcast.

Our new season begins with Winter Spring, an audio drama by Dr Rachel Knightley.

Alice Winter, her brother Ash Winter and cousin Harris Spring are the third generation of a family property company, founded by their German immigrant grandfather who taught them the one thing the world would always need was good landlords. Three generations later, in order to survive, Ash has turned the business into an estate agency: the thing their grandfather hated most. A new tenant, only known as Poppy, moves into the top floor of what she discovers used to be their family home. Alice lives in the other flat with Kit, the imaginary friend she's had since childhood. As stories of future and past fight to be 'true', the story asks are we more than the stories we tell ourselves

In Winter Spring by Dr Rachel Knightley you can hear

Holly Gillanders as Poppy

Nic Lamont as Alice

Sam Kennard as Ash

David Ellis as Harris

Adam Rhys-Davies as Kit

Nicholas Vince as “Daddy”

Winter Spring was written by Rachel Knightley

It was recorded at Orpheus Studio in London by Richard Campbell.

Direction was by Rachel Knightley and Emily Inkpen.

Sound design, editing and music were by Chris Gregory

The script for Winter Spring is copyright Rachel Knightley and may not be reproduced in whole or part except with the written permission of the author

If you would like to find out more about Rachel Knightley and her writing coaching organisation The Writers’ Gym please go to https://www.writersgym.com/

You can follow Rachel on X at https://twitter.com/DrRKnightley

And on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/drrachelknightley/

Or by searching “the writers gym” wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you would like to find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can visit our website here https://alternativestories.com/
Or contact us via office@alternativestories.com

This podcast has been an Alternative Stories 2024 production presented by Holly Gillanders and Chris Gregory .

Plans for season 2 of our Audio Drama The Best of Men with writer Amy Boucher

Tue, 14 May 2024 04:00:00 +0100

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cgregory/the-best-of-men-a-folk-horror-audio-drama

In this edition of the podcast we're chatting with writer, folklorist and historian Amy Boucher about plans for more from the world of her folk horror audio drama The Best of Men which was originally broadcast on this podcast.

If you would like to find out more about the project to make season 2 of The Best of Men and to pledge your support to the project via our kickstarter campaign you can do so here. Remember the campaign runs until 23rd May so please back it by then to enjoy our rewards and support our project.

To listen to the first two episodes of the drama via this podcast’s archive please go to

Part one https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/12499890-the-best-of-men-an-audio-drama-part-one

Part two https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/12600423-the-best-of-men-an-audio-drama-part-two

And to find out more about writer Amy Boucher and the folklore of Shropshire please follow her on X formerly twitter here https://twitter.com/g0blinegg

Margo's Story : An Audio Drama

Fri, 10 May 2024 04:00:00 +0100

Following the loss of her father, Margo is trying to come to terms with bereavement and the unkindness of her classmates at school when she begins to experience some strange encounters. In this moving drama by Gemma Johnson, performed by members of the Creative Youth Company we explore Margo's journey towards recovery and the individuals and communities that help her.

In Margo’s story by Gemma Johnson you can hear

Margo: Sophia Horton

Aggie: Aubrey Johnson

Mum: Gemma Johnson

Bev the Librarian/TV Narrator: Jade Taylor

Kelly: Millie Millington

Kelly's Friend: Millie Dyson

Daz: Charlie Woodhouse

Daz's Mate 1: John Paul Harrison

Daz's Mate 2: Shaye Williams

Mr Bradley: Chris Gregory

Simon: Michael Johnson

Auntie Pat: Sehra Hussain-Choudhry

The sound effects for Toby were provided by Poppy Sue the labrador

Margo’s story was Recorded on location at St Martin's Church, Castleton. Greater Manchester.

The cast of young actors are members of the non profit group The Creative Youth Company: creativeyouthcompany@gmail.com

Margo's story is based on an original script by Gemma Johnson

The audio drama was directed by Chris Gregory and Gemma Johnson

Production, sound design and editing were by Chris Gregory for Alternative Stories

Gemma Johnson is co-founder of a non profit organisation that supports children and young people with paranormal education. To find out more please visit the website: www.juniorparanormalevents.co.uk or email juniorparanormalevents@gmail.com

We would like to thank everyone who generously backed and supported this project via our fundraising campaign or through offering their time and expertise.

The script for Margo’s Story is copyright Gemma Johnson and may not be copied or reproduced in whole or part except with the permission of the author.

Camlann: An audio drama: An interview with creators Ella Watts and Amber Devereux

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Camlann is the new audio drama from Tin Can Audio written by Ella Watts. In this special edition we chat with Ella and sound designer / composer Amber Devereux of Tin Can Audio about the creation of the show.

Chris Gregory and Dex Legacy writer Emily Inkpen chatted with Ella and Amber via zoom so the sound quality isn't always perfect. We hope this doesn't spoil your enjoyment of the conversation.

Camlann is a post-apocalyptic drama based on folklore and Arthurian legend
You can listen and subscribe by searching "Camlann" in your favourite podcast app or....

To listen via Apple please click here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/camlann-an-audio-drama/id1714630550

And Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/show/1sXRFAqZoVduDQ0NgcD8Fl?si=f585aedabd2f40ba

Follow the Camlann team on X here https://twitter.com/camlannpod

As always for new audio drama productions, if you enjoy episode one (which is out on Monday 15th January) please subscribe, leave a rating or review. These small acts of kindness go a long way to raising the profile of the show

Find out more about Amber Devereux and their Tin Can Audio production company here https://www.tincanaudio.co.uk/

Follow Tin Can Audio on Twitter here https://twitter.com/TinCanAudio

And visit Ella's website here https://www.ella-watts.com/

And follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/GejWatts

Emily Inkpen is the writer of The Dex Legacy audio drama (which you can find out more about here https://www.thedexlegacy.com/ ) books and short fiction.

You can follow Emily on twitter here https://twitter.com/emilyinkpen

and instagram here https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/

Ark : An Audio Drama

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Flood survival operations are underway aboard the Ark and Captain Noah has delegated command to his sons and their partners. But as the voyage begins a spate of mysterious deaths prompt Parphia to turn detective and embark upon the world's first ever murder mystery. She is determined to record every last clue and discovery as she tries to solve the crimes, but has she bitten off more than she can chew and can she survive the mysterious Ark killer?

In Ark by Stephanie Weston you heard

Tiffany Clare as Parphia

Charlie Richards as Japhet

Emily Inkpen as Olla

Stephanie Weston as Leah

And Chris Gregory as Ham

Ark was directed by Chris Gregory and Emily Inkpen

Sound design, music and editing were by Chris Gregory

Ark was recorded at Orpheus Studio in London and by Richard Campbell

Ark by Stephanie Weston was the winner of the 2023 Pen to Print Audio Play competition. If you would like to enter the 2024 competition which is aimed at new and first time writers you'll need to be a resident of the UK and submit a script of approximately half an hour. You'll find a full set of regulations and more details about the competition on the pen to print website
https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/competitions-2023/

You can find out more about Stephanie Weston by visiting her website https://tabb.cc/stephanie-weston

And you can follow Stephanie on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stephanie__weston/

This will be our final podcast of 2023 but we'll resume our seventh season early in 2024

Ark is an alternative stories 2023 production for the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast.

"Twisted Branches": A conversation with author Dr Rachel Knightley

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Our guest on this edition of Alternative Stories is writer, writing coach and teacher Dr Rachel Knightley. We chatted on zoom about Rachel’s short story cycle “Twisted Branches”

To buy a copy of Twisted Branches from the publisher Black Shuck Book please click the link below https://blackshuckbooks.co.uk/twisted-branches

And find out more about Rachel and her wider work you can visit her website here https://www.rachelknightley.com/

You can follow Rachel Knightley on X, formerly twitter, here https://twitter.com/DrRKnightley

And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/drrachelknightley/

Read Rachel’s work on Substack here https://substack.com/@drrachelknightley

To find out more about Alternative Stories and our work please visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
You can follow us on X (formerly twitter) https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
And on Threads https://www.threads.net/@stories.alt

Thank you for listening to this edition of the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast. The interviewer was Chris Gregory who also did the sound design, music and editing.

Behind the Scenes of our Science Fiction Drama The Dex legacy

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 04:00:00 +0000

In this edition we look behind the scenes at the making of our science fiction drama The Dex Legacy

This podcast originally went out as an episode of The Dex Legacy Podcast and was released before the current season started.

You can find out more about The Dex Legacy, subscribe and listen by searching The Dex Legacy in your favourite podcast app or by clicking the link below.
https://www.thedexlegacy.com/

You can follow The Dex Legacy on X (formerly Twitter) at https://twitter.com/thedexlegacy

On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thedexlegacy

And on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thedexlegacy1/

Unfortunately the London Lit Lab workshop led by Chris Gregory and Emily Inkpen has now passed but you can join further Alternative Stories writing for audio workshops with London Lit Lab here https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/courses/

And a free writing workshop looking behind the scenes at the Dex Legacy with Chris and Emily will be run by Pen to Print on 7th December and you can book here https://pentoprint.org/about/events/

Watch out for details of more writing workshops from Alternative Stories in the new year.

Launching season 2 of the Seren Poetry Podcast with Sarah Johnson of Seren

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 04:00:00 +0000

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035359

The second season of the Seren Poetry Podcast begins this week and in this preview edition we chat with Sarah Johnson from Seren who will be the interviewer in this series and hear poems from the featured poets.

Thank you to Sarah Johnson from Seren for being our guest in this edition

Sound design and production are by Chris Gregory for Alternative Stories

Subscribe to the Seren Poetry Podcast in your favourite podcast app by searching “the seren poetry podcast” or click the link below

To find out more about the Alternative Stories audio workshop series with London Lit Lab which features Chris Gregory and guests including actor and presenter Tiffany Clare go to the London Lit Lab website here https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/courses/

Workshops will be running weekly between now and mid-December

Find out more about Alternative Stories by visiting our website https://alternativestories.com/

And follow us on social media

On X (twitter) https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt

And on Threads https://www.threads.net/@stories.alt

Whatever you do, just don't! Talking poetry with Matthew Stewart

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 04:00:00 +0000

http://www.happenstancepress.com/

Thank you for listening to this edition of the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast in which we chat with poet Matthew Stewart about his new Happenstance collection “Whatever you do, just don’t”

You can order a copy of the collection via Happenstance here https://www.happenstancepress.com/index.php/shop/product/47818-whatever-you-do-just-don-t/category_pathway-64

And visit Happenstance to find out more about their work and publications here

Find Happenstance on x here https://twitter.com/Nell_Nelson

To find out more about Matthew Stewart you can follow him on X, formerly twitter, here https://twitter.com/roguestrands

And read Matthew’s blog Rogue Strands here http://roguestrands.blogspot.com/

This podcast is presented and edited by Chris Gregory

You heard a trailer for the Seren Poetry Podcast series two as part of this podcast. You can listen to season one and subscribe to be alerted when new episodes are available by searching for “The Seren Poetry Podcast” in your favourite podcast app or clicking the link below https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035359

Workshops will be running weekly between now and mid-December

Find out more about Alternative Stories by visiting our website https://alternativestories.com/

And follow us on social media

On X (twitter) https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt

And on Threads https://www.threads.net/@stories.alt

A conversation with author Lyndsey Croal

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 04:00:00 +0100

https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/8017320-daughter-of-fire-and-water-an-audio-drama-part-two

In this edition we chat with author Lyndsey Croal about her novelette "Have You Decided on your Question?" her audio drama "Daughter of Fire and Water" and the kickstarter campaign for the forthcoming climate change edition of the "Shoreline of Infinity" magazine which she will be editing.

Find out more about Lyndsey Croal by visiting her website here https://lyndseycroal.co.uk/

Follow Lyndsey on twitter here https://twitter.com/writerlynds

And instagram here https://www.instagram.com/lyndscroal/

Order a copy of Lyndsey's novelette "Have You Decided on your Question?" from Shortwave Publishing here https://shortwavepublishing.com/catalog/have-you-decided-on-your-question-novelette/

Find out more about Shoreline of Infinity and back the kickstarter campaign we talked about in the interview here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/soig/shoreline-of-infinity-the-climate-change-issue

Listen to both parts of Lyndsey's Alternative Stories audio drama "Daughter of Fire and Water" here
https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/7925203-daughter-of-fire-and-water-an-audio-drama-part-one

We'd like to thank everyone who backed the Dex Legacy kickstarter campaign. With your help we reached our first stretch goal target meaning that all our recording costs have been covered. Your generosity means that season 2 will definitely be happening. Recording will start soon and we are aiming for a release in the autumn.
Find out more about The Dex Legacy by visiting our website at https://www.thedexlegacy.com/

Editions of alternative stories will be a little more sporadic over the summer period as our focus shifts to recording and editing new drama productions that we'll be sharing as part of our autumn season. Listen out though for a couple of guest edited editions and more from our spell sounds soundscape series

Subscribe by searching alternative stories in your favourite podcast app to have new editions delivered to you the moment they are released.

If you have enjoyed the podcast and are new to Alt Stories please check out more of our work by visiting our website https://alternativestories.com/

You can follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

And on instagram https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

And you can contact us via email at office@alternativestories.com

Notes From Dad's Room : An Audio Drama

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 04:00:00 +0100

Performed by Carole Pluckrose and Ria Knowles https://www.spotlight.com/1418-7861-2841

Produced in association with The Boathouse Barking CIC. https://www.boathousebarkingstudios.com/ Instagram Facebook

©Carole Pluckrose 2023

Dedicated to Edgar, Anne and Sheelagh

Script editors :Claire Steele, Jill Glenn, Constellations Consultancy

With thanks for their enduring support and critical friendship to: Tony Humphreys, Nick Crean, Carl Blackburn. Mark and Dan Horn, Martin Heaney, Julie Wedge, Dorinda Hulton, Pen to Print and Grace and Phoebe Pluckrose-Oliver

I started writing Notes From Dad's Room in 2017, a few months following my dad, Edgar's death in November 2016. As a writer and theatre maker it was the natural place to go. In 2015 Edgar had been given 3/4 weeks to live following a heart condition which he had managed for over 30 years. With an imminent terminal diagnosis when no more could be done to improve his health he came back from hospital to die at home. Despite all the predictions however he lived for a further 15 months. In large part this was to do with an attitude of mind and a full engagement still in the world, family and thought despite being bedridden and confined to his bedroom. Somehow he managed to live this period largely with grace and positivity by looking outside himself into the world, and stubbornly refusing to reduce his rich imagination and sheer love of life. He travelled through this time and space in much the way he had told me stories when I was a child.

During this time I began a Facebook group, firstly for updates about Edgar's progress, but soon it turned into an open, tender and insightful conversation about death and dying. It was full of rich reflections and the resounding message was that it was a much welcome space to open up the often taboo discussion about mortality, our own and those we love. It was also a space to share stories of parent/child relationships, about the things we lay down in our children's lives that have a lifetime of significance.

The play is a result of these conversations and it has been through many iterations in the intervening years, with a rehearsed reading at UEL with Ria Butler, a Zoom reading during the pandemic. It's been scrutinised by critical friends, supported by writers and writing mentors Claire Steele, Tony Humphreys, Nick Crean, Carl Blackburn.

Through making this piece we want to share the story of a journey of love and caring and the liminal space inhabited in the time of impending loss. We know that so many of us live lives of caring behind closed doors and the toll emotionally and economically can be enormous. We want to share this story as an act of commonality and solidarity with those travelling this path right now.

I am also a celebrant and have learnt so much from my work with families in grief when supporting them in writing and officiating funeral ceremonies.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolepluckrose/
Carole Pluckrose instagram

Tickets and further details of our writing workshop day on 1st July https://tinyurl.com/354ut7s3

Support The Dex Legacy Season 2 fundraiser https://ti

Spell Sounds : Sea and Shore

Fri, 26 May 2023 04:00:00 +0100

Spell sounds is an audiofiction soundscape series in which we combine poetry and prose with sound effects to evoke places, spaces and landscapes

In this edition you heard the voices of Tiffany Clare, Sally Walker Taylor, Cee Cee and Chris Gregory

You heard writing by

Lyndsey Croal

Ange Wilson

Anna Chorlton

Josh Holton

Joana Varanda

Cee Cee

And Chris Gregory

Soundscapes, music, mix and editing were by Alternative Stories

Sound effects were by Alternative Stories and from Freesound.org

Please listen out for more from our Spell Sound series soon. Thank you to everyone who has contributed pieces for the series.

Next week on Alternative Stories we'll bring you Audio drama : Notes from Dad's Room by Carole Pluckrose

Subscribe by searching alternative stories in your favourite podcast app to have all editions delivered to you the moment they are released.

Frasier Armitage : New Yesterday

Fri, 19 May 2023 04:00:00 +0100

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1868546

In this edition we speak to science fiction writer Frasier Armitage about his novel New Yesterday which was published earlier this year. Frasier is the author of our award winning audio drama Postcards from Another World and several pieces of short fiction. Chris Gregory met Frasier over zoom to discuss the writing process and his influences.

The excerpts from New Yesterday were read by Chris Gregory and the excerpts from Postcards from Another World featured the voices of Sarah Golding, Marie-Claire Wood and Emily Inkpen

Music and sound design were by Alternative Stories and the interviewer was Chris Gregory

You can buy a copy of New Yesterday and Frasier’s other publications by visiting his author page on Amazon here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Frasier-Armitage

You can find out more about Frasier by visiting https://frasierarmitage.com/

And follow him on twitter here https://twitter.com/FrasierArmitage

And you can hear Postcards from Another World here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/11897671

If you enjoy science fiction you may like our sci fi serial drama The Dex Legacy which is written by Emily Inkpen. You can listen and subscribe by searching The Dex Legacy in your favourite podcast app or click the link below

If you would like to support us to make season 2 of The Dex Legacy and gain some unique rewards along the way you can make a pledge to our kickstarter campaign here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/emilyinkpen/the-dex-legacy-science-fiction-audio-drama-season-2

and to listen to more science fiction and climate fiction from Alternative Stories check out this podchaser playlist https://www.podchaser.com/lists/sci-fi-and-climate-fiction-on-alternative-stories-107aDoFzmM

If you haven’t already subscribed to Alternative Stories and Fake Realities you can do so by searching Alternative Stories in your favourite podcast app.

If you would like to work with us or enquire about our courses and workshops please contact us via email at office@alternativestories.com
You can also follow us on twitter where we posts as https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
And Instagram where we are https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Our next workshop will be on 1st July and it will cover writing for audio drama, taking audio from page to production, monologues in audio drama and writing for audio fiction. You can find out more and book via Alex Davis Events here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-for-audio-with-chris-gregory-and-emily-inkpen-tickets-634717375757

Storying our Futures : Climate change and storytelling in East Africa

Fri, 12 May 2023 04:00:00 +0100

Storying our Futures is a new podcast series looking at the climate crisis in east Africa and the ways in which storytelling can help to spread information to the local population. Through the eyes of two Kenyan storytellers, Mara and John, we travel with them through South Sudan and northern Kenya to see how the crisis is affecting local communities.

"Storying our Futures: climate resilience through indigenous knowledge" is a UK/East Africa collaborative project bringing traditional oral storytellers together with East African pastoralist communities, scientific meteorologists, journalists, and indigenous traditional climate forecasters known as Rainmakers, to amplify and explore the many ways that storytelling can support system change. Chris Gregory from Alternative Stories undertook the sound design and editing work for this podcast series.

The podcast series is a joint venture between Adverse Camber, a UK based arts production company, ICPAC, a specialised organisation fostering climate services and knowledge to enhance community resilience in Africa, The British Council, Cath Heinemeyer of York St John University and storyteller / activist Hannah McDowall.

To learn more and listen you can go to to the Adverse Camber website www.adversecamber.org

or listen via Spotify here https://open.spotify.com/show/4Jof3zj7OY68TLjIfdndXw?si=2aa371d9d24f433a

or YouTube here https://youtu.be/ZIOdlh80Rx4

You can follow Adverse Camber and find out more about their work by following them on social media

Twitter. https://twitter.com/adversecamber20
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/adversecamberontour/

If you would like to find out more about the Dex Legacy season two kickstarter campaign you can do so here
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/emilyinkpen/the-dex-legacy-science-fiction-audio-drama-season-2

Here you’ll find information about why we need funding, what your pledges will pay for and the rewards you can get by backing the project. You’ll also be able to find out about our cast and listen to a new and exclusive piece of music by our soundtrack composer Allen Stroud.

You can follow The Dex Legacy on twitter here https://twitter.com/thedexlegacy
And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/thedexlegacy1/

Thank you as always for listening to this edition of Alternative Stories and Fake Realities
You can follow Alternative Stories on twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

You can contact us by email via office@alternativestories.com

The Best of Men : An Audio Drama : Part Two

Fri, 07 Apr 2023 04:00:00 +0100

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/spe…

Marc Hughes, the larger-than-life presenter of the supernatural investigation TV show Paranormal Takedown, is in Shropshire visiting his friend Jack who claims that the Devil is active in the county. Alongside co-host Emilie Daniels, Marc has decided to make a special edition about the weird goings-on but upon arrival in the county he starts to realise that the stories he is hearing are stranger and darker than he imagined.

Catch up with part one of the drama here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/12499890

Content warning : this podcast contains swearing, suggestions of peril and references to violence , death and injury.

In the Best of Men by Amy Boucher you can hear, in order of appearance

Tiffany Clare as Emilie
Alex White as Marc
Carl Wharton as Jack
Amy Boucher as the woman in the pub
Chris Gregory as 'Owd Scratch
Emily Inkpen as Laura

Other parts are played by members of the cast

Music, sound design, production and editing are by Chris Gregory for Alternative Stories

Casting and actor direction is by Chris Gregory and Amy Boucher

Sound effects are by Alternative Stories and from Freesound.org

The script for The Best of Men is by Amy Boucher and may not be reproduced in whole or in part other than with the permission of the author.

You can find out more about our writer Amy Boucher by visiting her blog here https://nearlyknowledgeablehistory.blogspot.com/

And follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/g0blinegg

You can follow Alternative Stories on social media here

Twitter https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

And contact us by email here office@alternativestories.com

Find out more about our lead actors, and hire them to voice your podcast or drama

Tiffany Clare https://twitter.com/TiffanyEclair

Alex White https://twitter.com/alexwhiteactor

Carl Wharton https://twitter.com/carlwharton

Emily Inkpen is the writer of our science fiction serial drama The Dex Legacy. Find out more and listen here https://www.thedexlegacy.com/

If you've enjoyed The Best of Men please check out our other folklore and folk horror productions via this Podchaser playlist https://www.podchaser.com/lists/folklore-folk-horror-and-fairytale-on-alternative-stories-107a9Gdi9h

We'd also like to recommend another podcast we think you'll enjoy - The Spectre of the Sea is by Owen Staton and Bethan Briggs Miller and features folklore, legend and history from the Welsh coastline. Listen and find out more here.

https://twitter.com/spectre_sea

We always appreciate ratings and reviews so if you have enjoyed this edition please rate or review the podcast on apple podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser or any podcast app that accepts ratings.

Spring Fever: A new novel by Thomas Legendre

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 04:00:00 +0100

https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
And https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Thank you for listening to this edition of The Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast featuring the new novel "Spring Fever" by Thomas Legendre

Readings from Spring Fever were by Tiffany Clare with Thomas Legendre playing Craig Merleau in the interview excerpt

The interviewer was Chris Gregory

Editing sound design and original music were by Alternative Stories

Spring Fever is available now from publisher Valley Press and more widely from 1st June

Order a copy directly from Valley Press here https://www.valleypressuk.com/shop/p/spring-fever

Find out more about Thomas Legendre by visiting his website here https://www.thomaslegendre.com/

And follow him on twitter here https://twitter.com/legendreality

Readings in this podcast were by Tiffany Clare. You can find out more about Tiffany and hire her for your voice stage or film project by visiting her website here https://www.voicebytiffany.com/

Get updates on forthcoming Alternative Stories podcasts and find out about our writers and actors by following us on social media where we post as

Hire us to produce your drama or podcast. Get in touch via office@alternativestories.com

Listen out for part 2 of The Best of Men by Amy Boucher coming soon.

The Best of Men : An Audio Drama : Part One

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 04:00:00 +0000

When Marc Hughes, the larger-than-life presenter of the TV show Paranormal Takedown, receives a series of increasingly desperate voice mail messages from his childhood friend Jack claiming that a great evil is loose in Shropshire, he is sceptical. Realising that investigating the story might make for great television he sets off to debunk Jack's claims and finds himself at the heart of some dark and dangerous folk beliefs that seem to have spilled over from stories to reality.

Content warning : this podcast contains swearing, suggestions of peril and references to violence , death and injury.

In the Best of Men by Amy Boucher you can hear, in order of appearance

Tiffany Clare as Emilie

Alex White as Marc

Carl Wharton as Jack

Music, sound design, production and editing are by Chris Gregory for Alternative Stories

Casting and actor direction is by Chris Gregory and Amy Boucher

Sound effects are by Alternative Stories and from Freesound.org

The script for The Best of Men is by Amy Boucher and may not be reproduced in whole or in part other than with the permission of the author.

You can find out more about our writer Amy Boucher by visiting her blog here https://nearlyknowledgeablehistory.blogspot.com/

And follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/g0blinegg

You can follow Alternative Stories on social media here

Twitter https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

And contact us by email here office@alternativestories.com

Find out more about our actors, and hire them to voice your podcast or drama

Tiffany Clare https://twitter.com/TiffanyEclair

Alex White https://twitter.com/alexwhiteactor

Carl Wharton https://twitter.com/carlwharton

The second part of The Best of Men will be out in April on this podcast. Please subscribe to have it delivered to you the moment it is released.

We always appreciate ratings and reviews so if you have enjoyed this edition please rate or review the podcast on apple podcasts, Spotify, Podchaser or any podcast app that accepts ratings.

The UK Ghost Story Festival

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Thank you for listening to the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast. Our guest in this edition is Alex Davis of the UK Ghost Story Festival

You can find out more about the festival, book tickets and read more about the participants by visiting the festival website here https://www.ukghoststoryfestival.co.uk/
Follow the festival on twitter here https://twitter.com/GhostStoryFest
And Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/ghoststoryfestival/
And follow Alex Davis on twitter here https://twitter.com/AlexDavis1981

Our podcast was recorded at the Museum of Making in Derby.
https://www.derbymuseums.org/museum-of-making/
Follow the museum on twitter here https://twitter.com/MuseumofMaking
And Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/derbymuseums/

We share excerpts from the following audio books in this podcast

The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke (Harper Collins) Read by Paula Masterton
https://carolynjesscooke.com/
Follow C J on twitter here https://twitter.com/CJessCooke

The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell. (Raven) Read by Sheila Atim
https://www.laurapurcell.com/
Follow Laura on twitter here https://twitter.com/spookypurcell

The Witch in the Well by Camilla Bruce (Penguin) The audiobook of The Witch in the Well is narrated by Christina Cole, Emily Barber and Charlotte Davey
https://camillabruce.com/
Follow Camilla Bruce on twitter here https://twitter.com/millacream

The House of Footsteps by Mathew West (Harper North) read by Joshua Manning
https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/the-house-of-footsteps-mathew-west
Follow Mathew West on twitter here https://twitter.com/mathewoneT

Thank you to Alex Davis for being our guest in this edition and The Museum of Making in Derby for hosting our interview. We’d also like to thank the authors and publishers whose work is featured in this podcast.

If you’ve enjoyed this podcast and would like to hear more ghostly fiction please check out our 2 part Ghostlore anthology

Part one https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/10264614-ghostlore-an-audio-fiction-anthology-part-one-wilderness
Part two https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/10353265-ghostlore-an-audio-fiction-anthology-part-two-hauntings
Please also check out our ghostly audio drama The Gathering by Lewis Carter here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/11594709-the-gathering-an-audio-drama

If this is your first time listening to our podcast please subscribe to have all future editions delivered to your podcast feed the moment they are released. You can find us by searching “alternative

Working Class Writers with guest editor Amber Hall

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 04:00:00 +0000

https://www.ukghoststoryfestival.co.uk/

In this podcast we look at working class writers, their work and experience with guest editor Amber Hall. We look at the difficulties that working class writers overcome and the limitations and expectation placed upon them by the wider world of literature. We speak to guests 1990s Chris and Lisa McKenzie both of whom ae part of the Working Class Collective, A community of working class creatives formed during the pandemic.

This podcast was guest edited by Amber Hall. Amber also interviewed 1990s Chris and Lisa McKenzie for this podcast. You can find out more about Amber by following her on social media

You can follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/amber_marie_123
And Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/amber.marie.123/

Amber is a member of the editorial team for Write On! and you can read an interview with her here https://pentoprint.org/write-on-interviews-writer-amber-hall/

Lisa McKenzie is a writer and academic from Nottingham. You can find out more about her and her work by visiting her website
https://lisamckenzie1968.wixsite.com/website

You can follow Lisa on Twitter here https://twitter.com/redrumlisa

1990s Chris is a queer writer, poet, performer and film maker originally from Hereford and now living in Bristol You can find lots of Chris’s work via his Linktree here https://linktr.ee/1990schris

And follow Chris on Twitter here https://twitter.com/1990sChris

Lisa and Chris are both members of the Working Class Collective.

Find out more about the collective and buy the book “Lockdown Diaries of the Working Class” via their website here https://www.workingclasscollective.co.uk/

Follow the collective on Twitter here https://twitter.com/WorkingClassCol

You can hear 1990s Chris performing his piece “Sink” as part of this podcast

Join us next week for a podcast about the UK Ghost Story Festival

"Home" : A New Novel by Cailean Steed

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 04:00:00 +0000

Thank you for listening to this edition of the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast.

In this edition we speak to Cailean Steed, the author of a new novel “Home” which is published by Raven Bloomsbury on 19th January. The novel deals with Zoe, a young woman who has grown up as part of a repressive religious cult who returns to rescue her sister.

Excerpts from the audiobook of “Home” in this episode were read by Paula Masterton. The audiobook is published on the same day as the hardback and e-book versions of the novel.

The interviewer was Chris Gregory

Sound design, editing and music were also by Chris Gregory

To find out more about Cailean Steed you can visit their website here https://www.caileansteed.com/

And follow them on social media here
https://twitter.com/CaileanSteed
https://www.instagram.com/caileansteedauthor/

To order a copy of Home via the Raven Bloomsbury website follow this link https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/fiction/crime-thriller-mystery/
And follow Raven Bloomsbury on twitter here : https://twitter.com/bloomsburyraven

If you have enjoyed this podcast please subscribe in your favourite podcast app if you haven’t already. Just search for alternative stories wherever you listen to podcasts. Coming up soon we have a podcast about working class writers with Amber Hall, a new audio drama “The Best of Men” by Amy Boucher and a feature on the UK Ghost Story Festival.

You may also enjoy the other podcasts made by Alternative Stories

The Seren Poetry Podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035359
Write On! Audio, a podcast aimed at writers which we make for Pen to Print : https://anchor.fm/pentoprint
And our science fiction serial drama The Dex Legacy https://www.thedexlegacy.com/

If you would like to contact us you can do so via office@alternativestories.com
And follow us on twitter https://www.thedexlegacy.com/
And Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Postcards From Another World: An Audio Drama

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Making a life on a new world following a family tragedy, Lyra and Neeva reflect on their past lines as farmers on Epsilon while coming to terms with the realities of existence on their new home, Lunasetti. Postcards From Another World by Frasier Armitage is the winner of the 2022 Pen to Print audio play competition.

In Postcards from Another World by Frasier Armitage you heard
Sarah Golding as Lyra
Marie-Claire Wood as Neeva
Warren Graham as Zabo
Emily Inkpen as the computer
Rhiannon Armitage as the Lunasetti spaceport announcer
Chris Gregory as Privik.

Production, sound design and editing were by Chris Gregory for Alternative Stories
The original score was composed and performed by Chris Gregory
Sound effects were from Freesound.org
Casting advice, actor coaching and beta listening were by Frasier Armitage.

You can find out more about Frasier Armitage and his work by visiting his website here https://frasierarmitage.com/
You can follow Frasier on twitter here https://twitter.com/FrasierArmitage
And Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/frasierarmitage/

You can contact and hire our lead actors by visiting them online
Sarah Golding https://sarahgoldingvoiceactorandmore.weebly.com/
Marie-Claire Wood https://linktr.ee/MarieClaireWood
Warren Graham https://twitter.com/wg973
Emily Inkpen https://www.emilyinkpen.com/

The script for Postcards from Another World by Frasier Armitage was the winner of the 2022 Pen to Print audio play competition. We would like to thank Pen to print for their support in the making of this drama and for sponsoring this annual competition. The 2023 competition is open for entries now. We are looking for scripts of around half an hour (4- 5000 words) and the competition is open to UK residents only. You have until 31st March to submit your entires and you can find out more and enter the competition here
https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/competitions-2023/

We hope you’ve enjoyed listening to Postcards From Another World. Please join us in 2023 for more audio drama, poetry and fiction podcasts You can subscribe by searching for alternative stories in your favourite podcast app.

If you’ve enjoyed this audio drama please check out our other science fiction , fantasy and cli fi productions. Here’s a link to a podchaser playlist https://www.podchaser.com/lists/sci-fi-and-climate-fiction-on-alternative-stories-107aDoFzmM

You’ll also enjoy our science fiction serial drama The Dex Legacy by Emily Inkpen – search The Dex Legacy in your favourite podcast app to listen and subscribe.
https://www.thedexlegacy.com/

We’d like to end this podcast with a recommendation for an audio drama we think you’ll enjoy.. Set in the wilds of British Columbia, Darkstead is a fantasy crime drama by writer / director Lucy Gib Smith. You can listen and subscribe to Darkstead here https://www.darkstead.com/

The Gathering : An Audio Drama

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 04:00:00 +0000

When Sasha and Gemma’s mother dies they are contacted by the mysterious solicitor Clark, with news that the rambling and isolated family home, Harrington Hall has been left to the sisters as part of the will. There’s a catch however: in order to gain their inheritance Sasha and Gemma must spend a night together in the abandoned house…

Content warning : This drama contains strong language and depictions of peril and horror.

In The Gathering by Lewis Carter you can hear

Miztli Rose as Sasha
Phoebe Batteson Brown as Gemma
Alex White as Tom
Chris Gregory as Clark
Sarah Golding as Mrs Harrington
Marie-Claire Wood as Rosie
And Emily Inkpen as the nurse
Other voices were played by members of the cast.

Production, sound design, music and editing were by Chris Gregory

Recordings of Sasha and Gemma were by Phoebe Batteson Brown

Casting was by Chris Gregory and Lewis Carter

Sound effects were from Freesound.org and created by the team

The presenter in this podcast is Tiffany Clare

The script for The Gathering is copyright Lewis Carter and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the consent of the author.

Lewis Carter is an award winning writer and filmmaker living and working in South Wales.
You can follow Lewis on twitter here https://twitter.com/fictionist4hire
And Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/fictionist4hire/

Miztli Rose and Phoebe Batteson-Brown are actors and comedians based in London.
You can find out more about Phoebe here https://www.spotlight.com/6773-7863-8669
And follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/phoebebbrown
And Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/phoebe_batteson/
Read more about Miztli here http://www.miztliroseneville.com/
Follow Miztli on twitter here https://twitter.com/RoseNeville1
And Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/miztli_rose/
Phoebe and Miztli work together as the comedy duo “Ladylikes” and you can find out more about them here https://ladylikescomedy.wixsite.com/ladylikes and listen to an Alternative Stories Podcast featuring Ladylikes here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/3479755-ladylikes-in-lockdown

Emily Inkpen, Alex White, Chris Gregory and Tiffany Clare have all appeared in the science fiction drama The Dex Legacy which is also produced by Alternative Stories. Find out more about The Dex Legacy, listen and subscribe via our website here https://www.thedexlegacy.com/

If you’ve enjoyed The Gathering please check out more Alternative Stories drama via this Podchaser link https://www.podchaser.com/profile/lists/16596/edit

Listen out for more drama from Alternative Stories in the coming weeks.

The Sylvia Plath Literary Festival : A Poetry Anthology

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 04:00:00 +0100

https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

The Sylvia Plath literary festival celebrates the life and work of one of the twentieth century’s most influential poets. Taking place over the weekend of the 21st to 23rd of October in Hebden Bridge and Heptonstall in West Yorkshire, the festival will feature events led by and featuring contemporary poets. In this podcast we hear from some of the poets appearing at the festival with their thoughts on Plath and readings of their poems.

Thank you for listening to this edition of the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast

You can find out about each of the poets featured in this podcast via the following links
Polly Atkin. https://pollyatkin.com/
Jessica Mookherjee https://thejessicapoet.com/
Daniel Fraser https://danieljamesfraser.wordpress.com/
Michael Crowley http://michaelcrowley.co.uk/
Maureen Boyle https://twitter.com/BoyleMo

Find out more about the Sylvia Plath Literary Festival, order the After Sylvia anthology and book tickets for in-person and online events visit the festival’s website here https://plathfest.co.uk/
Follow the festival on social media
https://twitter.com/PlathFest
https://www.instagram.com/plathfest/

You can hear more from Polly Atkin by listening to her interview on the new Alternative Stories produced Seren Poetry Podcast. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035359

And hear from Plathfest director Sarah Corbett in an extended interview in this podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/11406109

This podcast has been presented by Chris Gregory and Tiffany Clare. Each of the contributors recorded their own poems for this programme.

Production, sound design and editing were by Chris Gregory

Follow Alternative Stories on social media

https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

and contact us by email at office@alternativestories.com

National Poetry Day 2022 : A Seren Poetry Anthology

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 04:00:00 +0100

For National Poetry Day 2022 we are sharing an anthology of poems recorded for the Seren Poetry Podcast which is launched on 6th October. All of the poems in this selection broadly related to this year’s National Poetry Day theme of the environment.

The following poems are included - all are read by their authors.

Polly Atkin - Queen of the Woods.

Carolyn Jess Cooke - Confrontation

Christopher Meredith - Steampunk Jungle

Rhian Edwards – Blodeuwedd

Ben Wilkinson - Mam Tor

Ilse Pedler – The Young Man and the Fox

Rosalind Hudis – The Plant Hunter

Eric Ngalle Charles - Homelands

Kim Moore – All the Men I Never Married Number 35

All of these poems are published by Seren and you can find out more about the poets and their collections and purchase them by visiting the Seren website https://www.serenbooks.com/

You can listen to the Seren Poetry Podcast by searching for us in your favourite podcast app or following this link and selecting your favourite podcast player https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035359

The Seren Poetry Podcast and The Sylvia Plath Literary Festival. A Poetry Special Edition

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 04:00:00 +0100

In this edition we speak to poets and poetry editors for Seren Books Rhian Edwards and Zoe Brigley and to poet and director of The Sylvia Plath Literary Festival, Sarah Corbett

You can listen to preview editions and subscribe to the Seren Poetry Podcast by searching “The Seren Poetry Podcast” in your favourite podcast app or by clicking the link below and selecting the platform on which you’d like to listen
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2035359

The podcast formally launches on Thursday 6th October, the UK’s National Poetry Day, with an edition featuring poet Polly Atkin and her collection “Much With Body”

You can find out more about Seren Books and buy books and poetry collections here https://www.serenbooks.com/
You can follow Seren Books on twitter here https://mobile.twitter.com/SerenBooks
And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/serenbooks

The Sylvia Plath Literary Festival takes place over the weekend of 21st, 22nd and 23rd October and is based in Hebden Bridge and Heptonstall in West Yorkshire. Our interview is with poet and festival director Sarah Corbett.

The interview commences at 42.30

You can find out more about the festival and book tickets for events here https://plathfest.co.uk/
Follow the festival on twitter here https://twitter.com/PlathFest
And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/plathfest

Contact Alternative Stories by email at office@alternativestories.com

The presenters in this edition are Chris Gregory and Tiffany Clare

The interviewer is Chris Gregory

Production, sound design and editing are by Chris Gregory

Audio Drama Creators: A special Edition

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 04:00:00 +0100

In this edition we talk to audio drama creators about their shows, their production processes and tips for other creators. We speak to Christina Castaneda, creator of Venice Magic Shop, David Johnson and Jodie Jasmine Hicks of Death in Podville, Emily Inkpen of The Dex Legacy, Jackie Jorgenson of Tales from the Aether and Lucy Gibb-Smith of Darkstead.

Thank you to the creators who joined us for this special edition. We are hugely grateful to all of them for taking the time to chat with us in this special edition. We have links to their shows, websites and social media below so please follow, subscribe, link and download to support their work
Please note, this episode contains some swearing in the episode clips and trailers.

Christina Castaneda's podcast is called "The Savvy Creative" and you can listen to Venice Magic Shop and her other dramas here
https://thesavvycreative.libsyn.com/
Follow Christina and her work on twitter https://twitter.com/savvycreativecc
And instagram https://www.instagram.com/savvycreativepodcast

David Johnson and Jodie Jasmine Hicks of the Fenland Films Initiative's website is here https://www.fenlandfilmsinitiative.com/
You can follow them on twitter https://twitter.com/fenlandfilms
And instagram https://www.instagram.com/thefenlandfilmsinitiative

You can listen to Emily Inkpen's drama The Dex Legacy (which is produced by Alternative Stories) here https://www.buzzsprout.com/1868546
And follow Emily in twitter here https://twitter.com/emilyinkpen
And Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen
In addition you can read Emily's scripts and find out more about The Dex Legacy at the show's website here https://www.thedexlegacy.com/

You can listen to Jackie Jorgenson's podcast Tales from the Aether here https://anchor.fm/talesfromtheaether
And follow Jackie on Twitter here https://twitter.com/jackiejorgenson
And instagram here https://www.instagram.com/jackie.jorgenson

Lucy Gibb-Smith's drama Darkstead can be found here https://www.darkstead.com/
And you can follow the show on twitter here https://twitter.com/DarksteadPod
And instagram here https://www.instagram.com/darksteadpodcast

Walking on Skylark Ridge by David Suff : A Midsummer Podcast

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 04:00:00 +0100

In this midsummer edition we continue the theme of nature writing . We feature Walking on Skylark Ridge by artist and writer David Suff. The book charts David’s daily walk along the same route for a year beginning at the start of the UK’s first national lockdown in which we were restricted to an hour of outdoor exercise per day. It discovers the changes in the nature along the route as the seasons change and explores the meaning of community as David shared his weekly updates in paintings and emails to his friends and followers locked down around the world

Thank you for listening to Walking on Skylark Ridge from The Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast. The presenter is Chris Gregory and the readers are Chris Gregory, Marie-Claire Wood and Tiffany Clare.

Sound design and editing is by Chris Gregory

You can buy a copy of Walking on Skylark Ridge, the book directly from David’s website and www.davidsuff.com where you’ll be able to see more pictures and read a bit more about it.

Visit David’s Instagram page to see more of his art here https://www.instagram.com/suffdavid/

The music in this podcast is “The January Man” written by Dave Goulder and performed by Lau and Karine Polwart.

Vocals and guitar by Karine Polwart and Kris Drever
Martin Green played Accordion and Wurlitzer
Aidan O’Rourke played Fiddle

We are grateful to Mark Whyles and Tom Rose for their permission to use the track which you can find on the Evergreen EP by Kau Vs Karine Polwart

You also heard “Searching For Lambs” by Andrew Cronshaw which featured Andrew Cronshaw playing maronvantele and zither
Recorded at home, May 2022
Courtesy of Cloud Valley Music / David Suff

You can find out more about the musicians you heard in this podcast by visiting their websites

Lau https://www.lau-music.co.uk
Karine Polwart https://www.karinepolwart.com/
Andrew Cronshaw http://cloudvalley.com/andrewcronshawhome.htm

And to find out more about the work of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds visit their homepage here https://www.rspb.org.uk/

If this is your first time listening to the Alternative Stories podcast please consider subscribing in your favourite podcast app to have all our future editions delivered directly to your feed the moment they are released. You’ll also have access to our archive of over 120 past editions.

Walking on Skylark Ridge is an Alternative Stories 2022 production for the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities podcast.

The Ponies at The Edge of The World. Nature writing and Landscape

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 04:00:00 +0100

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/144/1446790/the-ponies-at-the-edge-of-the-world/9781846047268.html

In today’s podcast we speak to two writers for whom nature, landscape and horses are important in their work. Catherine Munro is the author of “The Ponies At The Edge of The World” about her life in Shetland and Madeleine F White whose poetry collection “The Horse And The Girl” explores riding, the environment and the landscape of Kent.

Thank you to Catherine Munro and Madeleine F White for taking the time to speak to us for today’s podcast. We’d like to thank Rider, an imprint of Penguin Random House and Lapwing Publications for allowing us to reproduce extracts from their books in this podcast.

Readings are by the authors, Catherine Munro and Madeleine F White

Interviews, editing and music were by Chris Gregory

You can find out more about The Ponies At The Edge Of The World and buy a copy via Penguin Random House through this link

Find out more about Catherine Munro and read her blog entries here

https://catherinemmunro.wordpress.com/

You can follow Catherine on twitter here https://twitter.com/CatherineMMunro

Follow Rider Books on twitter here https://twitter.com/Rider_Books

And Penguin here https://twitter.com/penguinukbooks

Follow Madeleine F White on twitter for news of the release of The Horse and The Girl and how you can buy a copy when it is released later in June 2022 https://twitter.com/madeleinefwhite

The collection will be published by Lapwing Publications and you can visit their website here

https://sites.google.com/a/lapwingpublications.com/lapwing-store/home

Order/ pre-order by emailing them on lapwing.poetry@ntlworld.com

Find out about and purchase Madeleine’s novel Mother of Floods via Good Reads here

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50646333-mother-of-floods

During her interview Madeleine mentioned poetry and other writing that had influenced her work. These were as follows

· Seamus Heaney – Digging and the Wishing Tree,

· Exiled writers Jennifer Langer and Elena Croitoru,

· Iraqi poetry, so closely bound up to land and suffering - Rain Song Poem by Badr Shakir al-Sayyab.

· Equestrian writing : Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling -natural horsemanship, which is so much about the bond and connection between horse and rider and the language/ non verb

If you would like to listen to Alternative Stories’ other podcasts you can find them here

Our science fiction drama serial The Dex Legacy https://www.buzzsprout.com/1868546

Our podcast for writers, Write On! Audio https://anchor.fm/pentoprint

The Half-Life of Snails

Fri, 22 Apr 2022 04:00:00 +0100

In this edition we look at The Half Life of Snails, the debut novel by writer and academic Philippa Holloway. The novel deals with issues surrounding nuclear energy and the communities it affects and we talk about Philippa's trip to the Chernobyl exclusion zone as part of our interview. We have excerpts from the book read by Phoebe Holmes

In the Half-Life of Snails you heard the voices of Philippa Holloway and interviewer Chris Gregory. The interview took place at Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker in Cheshire. Our excerpts were read by Phoebe Holmes and reproduced with the kind permission of Parthian Books.
Sound design, production, editing and music were by Chris Gregory

You can pre-order a copy of The Half Life of Snails by visiting the Parthian website at www.parthianbooks.com

Find out more about Philippa Holloway by following her on social media where she posts as https://twitter.com/thejackdawspen
and https://www.instagram.com/thejackdawspen/

You can follow Parhtian Books on twitter here https://twitter.com/parthianbooksAnd Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/parthian_books/

You can find out more about Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker by visiting their website at https://www.hackgreen.co.uk/
And follow then on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/secret_bunker/

You can read Philippa Holloway's response to the Ukraine crisis here https://www.walesartsreview.org/philippa-holloway-borders/

And find out about her academic work at the University of Staffordshire here https://www.staffs.ac.uk/course/english-literature-creative-writing-ba

Philippa has also written about psychogeography including this article https://www.nawe.co.uk/DB/current-wip-edition-2/articles/7-walking-in-imaginary-shoes-by-philippa-holloway.html

Finally – please check out the other podcasts mentioned in this edition

Write On! Audio https://anchor.fm/pentoprint

The Dex Legacy https://www.buzzsprout.com/1868546

And Chaika https://y2kpod.com/

Ghostlore : An audio fiction anthology. Part Two : Hauntings

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 04:00:00 +0100

Ghostlore is an anthology of writing inspired by the folklore of ghosts and the supernatural. Edited by writer and audio dramatists Lyndsey Croal our second episode Hauntings, features the work of 11 writers and explores folklore from around the world.

The readers are Sally Walker Taylor, Marie-Claire Wood, Lindz McLeod, Lyndsey Croal, Hadiya Morris, Chris Gregory, Amy Boucher and Christina Castaneda

Our pieces and writes are

The Witch by Amy Boucher
Amy Boucher is a passionate advocate of her native Shropshire’s folklore, ghostlore and local History. You can find her blog her https://nearlyknowledgeablehistory.blogspot.com/ and on twitter @g0blinegg

We Cower in a Ruined Castle and Hope Not to Hear a Ghost by Elou Carroll
Elou Carroll likes to tell ghost stories. You can find her work on www.eloucarroll.com

Ghost Feet by Ellen Forkin
Ellen Forkin is a writer and artist living in the magical Orkney Islands. Find her on Instagram @ellen_forkin and Twitter https://twitter.com/ellen_forkin

Unrest by Vanessa Jae
Vanessa Jae writes horrifically beautiful anarchies, reads stories for Apex Magazine and translates for Progressive International https://twitter.com/thevanessajae

Huntress, Enchantress, Murderess by Lyndsey Croal
Lyndsey is a writer, audio dramatist and editor from Edinburgh. Find out more about her and her work here https://lyndseycroal.co.uk/

Welcome Home by Ai Jiang
Ai Jiang is a Chinese-Canadian writer, an immigrant from Fujian, and an active member of HWA. Find her on Twitter @AiJiang_ and online http://aijiang.ca

Naart Stuyck by Signe Maene
Signe Maene is a writer, folklorist and audio dramatist from Belgian. Her work has been featured frequently in this podcast and a new audio play is in preparation. signemaene.com/links/

Ye Tak The Ghost Road by Callum McSorley
Callum McSorley is an author based in Glasgow. His short stories have been published by New Writing Scotland, Gutter Magazine, Shoreline of Infinity, and Monstrous Regiment among others. https://twitter.com/CallumMcSorley

The Accordionist by Anna Orridge
Anna Orridge is a writer from Croydon, whose short story 'Backdrop' was adapted for a an acclaimed Alternative Stories audio drama. You can find out more about her activism and writing on Twitter https://twitter.com/orridge_anna

A Fate Worse by Marisca Pichette
Marisca Pichette writes speculative fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. She is on Twitter as https://twitter.com/MariscaPichette and Instagram as @marisca_write. Her website is: www.mariscapichette.com

The Island of Dolls by Sam W Pisciotta
Sam W Pisciotta is a writer and visual artist who believes, with his whole heart, that the glass is half-full. Follow him on Instagram @silo34 and Twitter https://twitter.com/silo34

Music and production are by Chris Gregory
More bio notes on our participants https://tinyurl.com/ncxpzm95
Sound effects are from freesound.org

Ghostlore : An audio fiction anthology. Part One: Wilderness

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 04:00:00 +0000

Ghostlore is an anthology of writing inspired by the folklore of ghosts, spirits and the supernatural. Edited by writer and audio dramatists Lyndsey Croal this first edition, Wilderness, features the work of 11 writers and explores folklore from around the world.

Ghostlore Part One, Wilderness is presented and edited by Lyndsey Croal. The readers are Sally Walker Taylor, Marie-Claire Wood, Maria S Picone, Lyndsey Croal and Chris Gregory.

The featured pieces and writers are

The Goatherd by Cormack Baldwin
Cormack Baldwin is a speculative fiction writer and editor who emerged from the Alaskan bush one day and mosied down to Oregon.
https://cmbaldwin.carrd.co/

A Ghost of Bones and Bark by Alexandra Beaumont
Alexandra’s debut fantasy novel based on Tudor astrology and star-magic, Testament of the Stars, was published in April 2021.
abeaumont@live.co.uk

Sing Sorrow To The Sea And the Waves Will Answer by Lyndsey Croal
Lyndsey is a science fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction writer from Edinburgh
www.lyndseycroal.co.uk

The Smiling Folk by E L Crocker
E L Crocker is a writer from Manchester. He cut his teeth in horror stories, but in recent years has turned to writing fantasy novels
https://twitter.com/ELCrocker3

Excerpt from “Mischief Acts” by Zoe Gilbert
Zoe is a prize winning short story writer, novelist and teacher based in Folkestone. Her latest novel, Mischief Acts is published by Bloomsbury
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mischief-acts-9781526628817/

God is Neither Man Nor Ghost by Gessica Sakamoto Martini
Gessica Sakamoto Martini is a writer from Italy. Her writing has been published in Corvid Queen and featured in Alternative Stories podcast. She holds a PhD in Anthropology and tweets about folklore at https://twitter.com/GJMartini

Birth Story by Maria S Picone
Maria S. Picone/수영 (www.mariaspicone.com @mspicone on Twitter) is a Korean American adoptee and multigenre writer

Your Name Repeated by Tamara Rogers
Tamara writes mainly dark, surreal tales with a touch of science fiction. You can find her at www.thedustlounge.com and https://twitter.com/tamrogers

There is an Instinct by Melinda Salisbury
Melinda Salisbury is the three-time Carnegie nominated and bestselling author of multiple young adult novels, including the Sin Eater's Daughter series, the State of Sorrow duology, Hold Back the Tide, and Her Dark Wings.
www.melindasalisbury.com

The Hobby Lanterns by Cat Voleur
Cat Voleur is a writer, gamer, and podcaster. You can find her and more of her work through Twitter @Cat_Voleur and on her website http://www.catvoleur.com/

Spring Hollow Secret God Sleeping by Lorraine Wilson
Lorraine’s debut novel, the wilderness dystopian This Is Our Undoing, was released last year, and her second, The Way The Light Bends, a dark folkloric novel, is coming out in August this year. She tweets https://twitter.com/raine_clouds

Music and production are by Chris Gregory

More bio notes on our participants https://tinyurl.com/ncxpzm95
Sound effects

Season 6 preview with Madeleine White and Emily Inkpen

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 04:00:00 +0000

In this first edition of season 6 we look at the other podcasts Alternative Stories have been working on. We chat with novelist Madeleine White about the pdcast for writers, Write On! Audio and novelist and audio dramatist Emily Inkpen about our new science fiction audio drama The Dex Legacy. We also preview some of the content you’ll be able to hear in season 6.

In this edition you can hear an interview with the editor of the Write On! suite of publications, Madeleine White.

You can listen to Write On! Audio by searching for “pen to print” in your favourite podcast app or by clicking the link below. https://anchor.fm/pentoprint

You can hear Madeleine White’s audio drama The Ark by clicking here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/6127414

And order her novel “Mother of Floods” here and at the usual book retail outlets https://www.crowsnestbooks.com/product/mother-of-floods/
And follow her on twitter here https://mobile.twitter.com/madeleinefwhite

Find out more about author and dramatist Emily Inkpen and her new audio drama podcast The Dex Legacy by visiting the podcast’s website here https://www.thedexlegacy.com/

You can listen to the Dex Legacy by searching “the dex legacy” in your favourite podcast app or click the link below https://www.buzzsprout.com/1868546

You can follow The Dex Legacy on twitter here https://mobile.twitter.com/thedexlegacy

And follow Emily on twitter here https://mobile.twitter.com/emilyinkpen

You heard an excerpt from Zoe Gilbert’s forthcoming novel “Mischief Acts” read by Sally Walker Taylor. Mischief Acts will be published on 17th March and you can order a copy and find out more about Zoe via the Bloomsbury website here https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mischief-acts-9781526645401/
Follow Zoe on twitter here https://mobile.twitter.com/mindandlanguage

Also out on 17th March will be the memoir “Sins of My Father” by Lily Dunn and you heard a short excerpt in the podcast read by Lily herself. You can order a copy at all the usual book outlets and via the W&N website here https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/lily-dunn/sins-of-my-father/9781474623308/
Follow Lily on twitter here https://mobile.twitter.com/Lilydunnwriter

Also in this podcast you can hear

· the poem “Scent of Oleander” by Amantine Broduer read by Tiffany Clare

· An excerpt from a forthcoming interview with artist David Suff about his book “Walking on Skylark Ridge”

· And an excerpt from an upcoming interview with writer, actor and dramatist Jackie Jorgenson which we’ll be sharing as part of our storytelling season soon.

We look forward to welcoming you to season six starting with our Ghostlore audio drama anthology which will be out on 18th March.

Midwinter Monologues

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Midwinter Monologues is a collection of seasonal short fiction by 13 different writers. We feature stories written and performed by Alternative Stories regulars such as Lewie Watson and Marie-Claire Wood and introduce some new writers and voices. This anthology will put you in in a festive mood and help you to consider some alternative versions of Christmas. We all have our own midwinter stories – what’s yours?

“The Hidden People” by Bean Swayer performed by Sally Walker Taylor

“To All A Good Life” by Lewie Watson performed by Lewie Watson

“Winter Monologue” by Marie-Claire Wood performed by Marie-Claire Wood

“Home for the Holidays” by Jackie Jorgenson performed by Jackie Jorgenson

“The Sunday Morning Club” by Sally Goble read by Tiffany Clare

“The Golden Ball” by Gessica Sakamoto Martini performed by Sally Walker-Taylor

“Turkey Story” By Jude Whiley-Morton read by Jude Whiley-Morton

“The Pond” by Carolyn Stockdale read by Tiffany Clare

“Solstice” by Daniel Draper read by Daniel Draper

“The Sun Stones” (A Solstice Story) by Kevan Manwaring read by Kevan Manwaring

“Monologue” By Ford Dagenham read by Chris Gregory

“Trouble and Strife” By Janet O’Donnell read by Janet O’Donnell

“Unread Stories” By Maggie Sawkins read by Maggie Sawkins

Thank you to all our writers and readers for their contributions to this podcast. Special thanks to Lily Dunn, Zoe Gilbert and Ennis Welbourne of London Lit Lab for their help in finding us so many brilliant new writers for this edition.

You heard trailers for 2 new Alternative Stories productions in this podcast.
Find out more about the Dex Legacy by visiting our website https://www.thedexlegacy.com/
and subscribe to the podcast here https://www.buzzsprout.com/1868546 to hear our first episodes as they are released in January
Follow The Dex Legacy on twitter here https://twitter.com/thedexlegacy

Write On! Audio from Pen to Print is a podcast aimed at writers everywhere. You can subscribe here or by searching “Pen To Print” in your favourite podcast app https://anchor.fm/pentoprint
And follow Pen to Print on twitter here https://twitter.com/Pen_to_Print

We also shared a trailer for our recent audio drama Real Boy by Cailean Steed. Listen free here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/9690521-real-boy-an-audio-drama

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our listeners an enjoyable festive season and a creative, exciting and story-filled 2022. From all at Alternative Stories, thank you so much for listening in 2021 and please join us again for season 6 next year.

If you would like to contact us while we're away please email us at office@alternativestories.com or follow us on social media
https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

The Folklore of Animals, beasts and familiars with Signe Maene

Sun, 19 Dec 2021 04:00:00 +0000

In this special edition guest-edited by Signe Maene we look at the folklore and folk stories associated with animals, beasts and familiars. Our guests are Terri Windling, Zoe Gilbert, Willow Winsham, Icy Sedgewick and Natalja Saint-Germain

Thank you to Signe Maene, Terri Windling, Zoe Gilbert, Willow Winsham, Icy Sedgwick and Natalja Saint German for being out guests on the podcast today. We’ve posted links so you can find out more about our guests and follow their blogs, podcasts, websites and social media as part of these show notes.

Find out more about our guests by visiting their websites, listening to their podcasts and following them on social media

Signe Maene
https://signemaene.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/MaeneSigne
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/signemaene/
Signe also co-edits the Wyrd Wednesday hashtag on twitter which you can follow here https://twitter.com/WyrdWednesday

Terri Windling
https://www.terriwindling.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/terriwindling
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bumblehillstudio/

Zoe Gilbert
http://zoegilbert.com/zoe-gilbert/
Twitter https://twitter.com/mindandlanguage
Zoe teaches creative writing, often with a folkloric twist, with London Lit Lab. Find out more here https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/

Icy Sedgewick
https://www.icysedgwick.com/ where you can link to her books and her wonderful Fabulous Folklore Podcast
Twitter https://twitter.com/icysedgwick
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/icysedgwick/

Willow Winsham
You can find Willow’s books for sale here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Willow-Winsham/e/B01DR996L4%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
Twitter https://twitter.com/WillowWinsham
And follow Folklore Thursday which she co-runs with Dee Dee Chainey here https://twitter.com/FolkloreThurs

Natalja Saint-Germain
Twitter https://twitter.com/bjorn_stjerne
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/natalja_stgermain/
Natalja also co-hosts the Swamp Sunday hashtag on twitter which you can follow here https://twitter.com/swampsunday

You can listen to all our folklore and fairytale podcasts via this podchaser link
https://www.podchaser.com/lists/folklore-and-fairytale-on-alternative-stories-107a9Gdi9h

Storytelling : Part Two with Lily Dunn

Wed, 15 Dec 2021 04:00:00 +0000

In this edition we resume the theme of storytelling, this time looking at the art and techniques of telling stories from real life. Our guest, Lily Dunn is a novelist, memoirist and teacher whose debut memoir, Sins of My Father will be out in March 2022.

Excerpts from Sins of My Father in this podcast are read by Lily Dunn
The interviewer is Chris Gregory
Production, sound design, music and editing are by Chris Gregory

Lily Dunn is a writer, teacher and lecturer in creative writing and narrative nonfiction at Bath Spa University. She is the author of one novel, SHADOWING THE SUN, and co-editor with Zoe Gilbert of A WILD AND PRECIOUS LIFE, an anthology of recovery stories.

You can find out more about Lily by visiting her website here
https://lilydunn.co.uk/

And follow Lily on social media
Via twitter https://twitter.com/Lilydunnwriter
And Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lilydunnwriting/

Lily's memoir, Sins of My Father will be published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson in March. We think W&N for permission to use excerpts from the book in this podcast.

Lily and Zoe Gilbert co-founded and teach for London Lit Lab. If you have enjoyed listening to Zoe and Lily chatting about storytelling and the art of writing please visit their website at the address below to find out about and book onto their courses and workshops.
https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/
For updates about London Lit Lab courses and activities follow them on social media here Via twitter https://twitter.com/londonlitlab
And Instagram https://www.instagram.com/londonlitlab/

You can listen to part one of our Storytelling series with Zoe Gilbert and Tiffany Clare here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/9672055-storytelling-part-one-with-zoe-gilbert-and-tiffany-clare

Listen out for future podcasts about storytelling featuring professional storyteller Ilaria Passeri and playwright and scriptwriter Lucy Kaufman

If you have enjoyed this or any of our podcasts we would be grateful if you could provide us with a rating and review preferably on Apple Podcasts here
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/alternative-stories-and-fake-realities/id1470495562
or Podchaser here
https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/alternative-stories-and-fake-r-882341

and if you would like to contact us, submit work or enquire about our actors, production services or course and workshops please drop us a note via office@alternativestories.com

Real Boy: An Audio Drama

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Mastrocherry is a tech company making poppets - highly realistic replicas of real humans. Senior engineer Catherine Antonio and Junior Reclaim Engineer Fox Cameron have a problem. A poppet has been returned by a VIP customer and they must diagnose the reasons for some alarming behavioural traits it has been displaying. Can it really be possible that the poppet has become self-aware and started to display violent tendencies?

Real Boy is written by Cailean Steed and was the winner of the 2021 Pen To Print Audio Play Competition.

In Real Boy you can hear
Alex White as Fox
Kelley Costigan as Cat
Kirsty Woolven as Carlo
Carl Wharton as Father
Hadiya Morris as Mother
and Verity Blyth as Azure

Music, sound design, direction and production are by Chris Gregroy
Casting and character direction are by Chris Gregory and Cailean Steed
Sound effects are from freesound.org
The script for Real Boy is copyright Cailean Steed and the produced audio drama copyright Alternative Stories / Cailean Steed.

Find out more about our writer Cailean Steed by following them on twitter at https://twitter.com/CaileanSteed

We would like to thank Cailean for their invaluable work in the production of this drama.

Real Boy was the winner of the 2021 Pen to Print Audio Drama writing competition. If you are a dramatist and would like to enter the 2022 competition, please visit www.pentoprint.org for details of how to do so or to join an audio drama writing workshop. These workshops are run by Chris Gregory from Alternative Stories and the next one will be on Thursday 20th January.

If you have enjoyed listening to Real Boy please check out our other audio dramas via our podcast feed.

Real Boy is an Alternative Stories 2021 production for the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast

Storytelling : Part One with Zoe Gilbert and Tiffany Clare

Tue, 07 Dec 2021 04:00:00 +0000

In this podcast we look at the art and techniques of storytelling. We speak to novelist Zoe Gilbert about the ways in which she uses folklore and folk tales as inspiration and backdrop for her storytelling and actress Tiffany Clare about telling stories through characters and narration.

Our first guest in this edition is Zoe Gilbert. Zoe won the Costa Short Story prize in 2014. He debut novel Folk was published to considerable acclaim and featured on BBC Radio. Zoe's second novel Mischief Acts will be published in 2022. She co-founded London Lit Lab with novelist and memoirist Lily Dunn who we'll be featuring in part two of this short series.

Find out more about Zoe and her work by visiting her website here
http://zoegilbert.com/
You can follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/mindandlanguage

Find out more about London Lit Lab and sign up for their courses and workshops here https://www.londonlitlab.co.uk/

You can buy Folk as paperback, e-book or audiobook through all the usual outlets.

Tiffany Clare is an actress working on stage, screen and in audio drama. She has appeared in many Alternative Stories dramas being nominated for two audio verse awards for her appearances in our dramas The Adults in The Room and No Words. The latter represented the UK at the International Radio Drama Festival in 2020. Tiffany works as a voice artist in commercials, presents podcasts and has worked as a voice actor for video games.

If you would like to work with Tiffany you can contact her via her website https://www.voicebytiffany.com/

In this podcast you can hear extracts from the following

Two extracts from Mischief Acts by Zoe Gilbert read by Sally Walker-Taylor
An extract from Folk by Zoe Gilbert read by Tiffany Clare
An extract from The Seeing Trees by Kaitlin Felix featuring Tiffany Clare and Charlie Richards
An Extract from The Adults in the Room featuring Tiffany Clare and Catherine D’Addario

We would like to thank Bloomsbury, Zoe Gilbert’s publisher for permission to recreate extracts from her books for this podcast. You can visit Bloomsbury here

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/
And follow them on twitter here https://twitter.com/BloomsburyBooks

In our next podcasts you’ll be able to hear

· Storytelling Part Two featuring Lily Dunn

· Real Boy, a new audio drama by Cailean Steed

· A folklore special edition about creatures, beasts and familiars in folklore guest-edited by Signe Maene

· Midwinter Monologues – our Christmas 2021 edition featuring short seasonal monologues from a variety of writers.

Bonds: Short Fiction by Sarra Culleno

Fri, 03 Dec 2021 05:00:00 +0000

https://twitter.com/sarra1978

Bonds is the debut short story collection by poet, dramatist and friend of the podcast Sarra Culleno. Dealing with the bonds between mothers and children as its main theme it skips genres between science fiction, fantasy and folklore. We have an interview with Sarra and excerpts from the stories.

You can order a copy of Bonds directly from the CAAB Publishing website here https://www.caabpublishing.co.uk/store/Fiction-c45916043

It’s also available from Waterstones and Amazon

Follow Sarra Culleno on social media here

https://www.instagram.com/sarracullenopoetry/

And follow CAAB Publishing on twitter here

https://twitter.com/CaabPublishing

The readings from the story Machina Ex Deus which appears in Bonds were by Tiffany Clare and Alex White

In the excerpt from The Hares of Horsenden Hill you heard the voices of Stevie Skinner and Amy Forrest. Music was by Inge Thompson

The excerpt from Greenman was read by Annabelle Broad

Contact Alternative Stories at office@alternativestories.com to enquire about upcoming audio drama writing workshops as mentioned by Sarra in the podcast.

Mona Arshi : Somebody Loves You

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 04:00:00 +0000

In this edition of the podcast we look at “Somebody Loves You”, the debut novel by acclaimed poet Mona Arshi. We’ll bring you extracts from the novel read by actress Rakhee Sharma, an interview and some of Mona’s poetry.

The presenter in this edition is Sally Walker Taylor, the readers are Rakhee Sharma and Tiffany Clare. and the interviewer is Chris Gregory.

Sound design, production and music are by Chris Gregory

We would like to thank Mona Arshi for her time and support in the making of this podcast. We’re also grateful to And Other Stories for allowing us to feature Somebody Loves You and reproduce extracts from it.

If you would like to buy “Somebody Loves You” you can do so directly from the publisher by visiting https://www.andotherstories.org/ where you can buy or pre-order a paperback or e-book version of the novel. You can also buy the book through all the usual outlets

Alternative Stories is pleased to recommend bookshop.org – all purchases from this retailer support local bookshops of your choice.

You can find out more about Mona Arshi by visiting her website https://www.monaarshi.com/

And follow her on social media where she posts as https://twitter.com/arshi_mona

And Instagram where she is https://www.instagram.com/monaarshipoetry/

You can visit publisher And Other Stories’ website here https://www.andotherstories.org/

Follow them on twitter via https://twitter.com/andothertweets

And on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/andotherpics/

If you have enjoyed this edition of the podcast please consider subscribing to have all our future editions delivered directly to your podcast feed. We make audio drama, poetry and fiction podcasts as well as writer interviews and writing advice.

Coming soon on Alternative Stories we’ll be sharing a new audio drama, “Real Boy” by Cailean Steed and we’ll be chatting to novelist Zoe Gilbert, memoirist Lily Dunn and other guests about the art of storytelling.

Seren Books 40th Anniversary

Sun, 31 Oct 2021 03:00:00 +0000

https://twitter.com/SerenBooks

In this edition we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Seren Books, the publisher from south Wales responsible for launching the careers of many poets and for putting out a series of memorable poetry collections including a few featured previously on Alt Stories

In this podcast you can hear an interview with Seren’s outgoing poetry editor Amy Wack who leaves the press at the end of October 2021. She looks back at her time with Seren and the changes to the style and readership of poetry since she joined.

The presenter of this podcast is Nadia Wyn Abouayen and the readers from Alt Stories are Tiffany Clare and Chris Gregory

We feature the following poems in this podcast

“We are coming” by Kim Moore is taken from her recently published collection “All the men I never married” and is read by Tiffany Clare

“Yet, he remembers Baghdad” by Abeer Ameer from the 2021 collection “Inhale / Exile” read by Tiffany Clare

“Air Camera” by Christopher Meredith from his collection “Still” is read by Chris Gregory

“Wrack of Summer” is taken from Polly Atkin’s latest collection “Much With Body” and is read by Tiffany Clare

“Karaoke King” is the title poem of Dai George’s latest collection which came out in June. The reader is Chris Gregory.

“Paean for a cliff railway driver” is written and read by Paul Henry and is taken from the upcoming collection “As if to sing” to be published by Seren in 2022

From the collection “Let Me Tell you What I saw” by Adnan Al Sayegh, the recording we include features the voice of translator Jenny Lewis reading the text in English whilst Adnan Al Sayegh reads the original Arabic version. The music in the background is called “The Moon Fades” and it is reproduced here with the kind permission of Naseer Shamma
Production, sound design, editing and music are by Chris Gregory unless stated.
We would like to thank Sarah Johnson of Seren Books for her invaluable help in the making of this podcast and Amy Wack for sharing her thoughts on her time at Seren with us. We’d also like to thank all of the contributing poets for allowing us to use their poems.

If you would like to find out more about Seren Books and buy the collections featured you can do so by visiting the press’s website here https://www.serenbooks.com/

You can also follow Seren on social media here

https://www.instagram.com/serenbooks/

You can also follow our featured poets

Kim Moore https://twitter.com/kimmoorepoet

Polly Atkin https://twitter.com/pollyrowena

Abeer Ameer https://twitter.com/hijjabi

Paul Henry https://www.paulhenrypoet.co.uk/

Dai George http://daigeorge.com/

Christopher Meredith https://christophermeredit9.wixsite.com/website

Adnan Al-Sayegh http://adnanalsayegh.com/eng/

Please follow Alternative Stories on twitter at https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt for information on our upcoming drama, poetry and fiction podcasts as well as our workshops and writer / publisher services

Roy McFarlane : Poems of activism and jazz

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 04:00:00 +0100

In this edition of the podcast we hear from poet and activist Roy McFarlane. Roy has two collections from Nine Arches Press and a third collection to be published in 2022. In the podcast we share a selection of Roy’s poetry and hear about what inspires and influences his work.

In this podcast you heard the following poems

Papers read by Kam Elliott

Clinton McCurbin 1987 read by Kam Eliiott

Joy Gardner 1993 read by Hadiya Morris

How it Feels to Be Free read by Kam Elliott and Hadiya Morris

To the Heron who stood with me in the ruins of another black man’s life read by Kam Elliott

Sound design and editing are by Chris Gregory

If you would like to find out more about Roy McFarlane and his work you can visit his website http://roymcfarlane.com/

And follow him on twitter where he posts as https://twitter.com/rmcfarlane63

You can buy Roy’s poetry collections “Beginning with your last Breath” and “The Healing Next Time” from publisher Nine Arches Press via their website here https://www.ninearchespress.com/publications/poetry-collections/

Find out more about Nine Arches and follow them on twitter here https://twitter.com/NineArchesPress

search websites in your area to find out about Black History Month events taking place near you.

Next on Alternative Stories we feature Seren Books, the South Wales based publisher celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2021

Joshua Gillingham : Writing Inspired by Norse Mythology

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 04:00:00 +0100

https://www.joshuagillingham.ca

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 Stewart

The presenter in this edition is Sally Walker-Taylor
Sound design and music are by Chris Gregory
The interview with Josh Gillingham was recorded over zoom and we apologise for the sound variations in the recording.
The interviewer is Chris Gregory

You can find out more about Joshua Gillingham by visiting his website

and 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/DarksteadPod

You 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

National Poetry Day 2021

Tue, 05 Oct 2021 04:00:00 +0100

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 Richards
Sound design, soundscapes, and production are by Chris Gregory

Kim 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 Clare
Salena 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 Godden
Phoebe 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 author
Carolyn 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 name
Gregory 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/kimmoorepoet
Polly Atkin https://twitter.com/pollyrowena
Mona Arshi https://twitter.com/arshi_mona
Salena Godden https://twitter.com/salenagodden
Phoebe Stuckes https://twitter.com/phoebestuckes
Sarra Culleno https://twitter.com/sarra1978
Carolyn Jess-Cooke https://twitter.com/CJessCooke
Rare Swan Press (100 Words of Solitude publisher) https://twitter.com/rare_swan_press
Lisa O’Hare https://twitter.com/TheLisaOHare
Gregory Leadbetter https://twitter.com/GregMLeadbetter

Find 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

A Wild And Precious Life

Sun, 29 Aug 2021 04:00:00 +0100

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 Gregory

The podcast is presented by Tiffany Clare
The interviewer is Chris Gregory
Music, sound design and soundscapes are by Chris Gregory
We are proud to feature insight from the following writers on their contributions to A Wild and Precious Life:
Rob True
J L Hall
Maggie Sawkins
John Pearson
and Helen Rye

Buy 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/Lilydunnwriter
and via her website here https://lilydunn.co.uk/

Follow Zoe Gilbert on twitter here https://twitter.com/mindandlanguage
And at her website here http://zoegilbert.com/

And follow London Lit Lab on twitter here https://twitter.com/londonlitlab
For 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/

Maskwork by Gregory Leadbetter

Sun, 15 Aug 2021 04:00:00 +0100

https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/future-places/activities/the-future-places-environmental-essay-and-poetry-prize/#d.en.496220

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 Leadbetter
Sound design, music and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory
Sound effects were from freesound.org
And 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 19

Find out more about Gregory Leadbetter here https://www.versopolis-poetry.com/poet/323/gregory-leadbetter
And 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

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/karenlloydwrite

Book 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-storie

The Hunt : An Audio Drama

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 04:00:00 +0100

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 Tristan

Kamara Elliott as Varian

Kelsey Griffin as Isra

Charlie Richards as Ren

Annika Kordes as Osa

Lewie Watson as Devek

Stevie Skinner as Rhaya

Emily Inkpen as Auto

And Chris Gregory as Nathaniel

Music is by Allen Stroud

Sound design, editing and soundscapes are by Chris Gregory

Sound effects are from Freesound.org

The 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 released

Find 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/emilyinkpen

Our 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/AllenJStroud

You 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-107aDoFzmM

The 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.

Isy Suttie : Jane Is Trying

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 04:00:00 +0100

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 Clare
The presenter is Sally Walter-Taylor
The interviewer is Chris Gregory
Sound 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/9781474600019

Buy through Hive here https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Isy-Suttie/Jane-is-Trying/25678533

And from Amazon (including Kindle version) here https://tinyurl.com/pvxmk2dd

Other links including to the Audible audio book version here http://hyperurl.co/JaneisTrying

You can follow Isy on twitter here https://twitter.com/Isysuttie
And follow her podcast “ The Things We Do For Love” here https://twitter.com/TTWDFL
And 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

Stone Circles and Standing Stones: A folklore special edition

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 04:00:00 +0100

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 Edney
The readers are Sally Walker Taylor and Ilaria Passeri
Music, sound design, editing and mixing were by Chris Gregory
Sound 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_chorlton

14.00 Wiltshire and Oxfordshire with Kevan Manwaring https://twitter.com/bardicacademic

39.18 Shropshire with Amy Boucher https://twitter.com/g0blinegg

46.50 Cumbria with Chloe Germaine https://twitter.com/gothlit_chloe

1.13.45 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 Blog

Chloe Germaine https://www.chloegermainebuckley.com/

Catherine Munro https://catherinemmunro.wordpress.com/

Follow alternative stories on twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

And Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

You can contact the podcast via our email address here office@alternativestories.com

Salena Godden : Mrs Death Misses Death

Sun, 11 Jul 2021 04:00:00 +0100

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/25330558

You can also buy Mrs Death as an e-book via Hive or via the Kindle store on Amazon

The audio book version of Mrs Death is available here via the Audible store https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Mrs-Death-Misses-Death-Audiobook/1838851216
If 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/salenagodden

And 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'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.

The Keeper of Songs : An Audio Drama

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 04:00:00 +0100

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 Silva

Keeley Lane as Kizzy

Chris 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 Hardy

The 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.uk

The news clips montage was produced by Leopard Belly https://tinyurl.com/ymjh77sm

Follow 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

100 Words of Solitude: Global Voices in Lockdown

Sun, 20 Jun 2021 04:00:00 +0100

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 Taylor

The readers are Sally Walker Taylor, Marie-Claire Wood and Chris Gregory

Production, sound design, music and soundscapes are by Chris Gregory with sound effects from freesound.org
You heard interviews with Philippa Holloway and Renee Sigel

You 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/100WordSolitude

Facebook 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 Ingeborg

Deadlines and Cuddles - Shannon Kenny

Lenses and Laughter - R.J Kinnarney

The Kids - Manuela Palacios

Everything is Connected – Oz Hardwick

Palimpsest – Brian Kirk

Solitude - Amantine Brodeur

Untitled – Aymeric Fromentin

People Watching in the Age of Self Isolation – Christina Parisi

Green White Hysteria - Blessing Jegede

2020-05d02. – Jurgen Schoneich

What About The Homeless? Ibrahim Babátúndé Ibrahim

Burnt City - Paras Abbasi

Absence - Debabrata Sahoo

Nomadic – Dominique Hecq

Germ Hunt – Alison Lock

Brooding - Mandira Pattnaik

Remote Therapy - Natalie Reilly-Johnson

The City Haunted by Kites – Katie Piper

A New York City Keening – Joanne Sutton-Smith

Golden Angels – Shampa Sinha

Never Forgotten - Cindy Matthews

Love Me As I Am – Paula Gannon-Savvides

Close - 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.

The Silver Ball : An Audio Drama

Sun, 06 Jun 2021 04:00:00 +0100

At the height of the UK'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'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 Hedrek
Jamie Trotter as Jago
Tiffany Clare as Holly
Kate Edney as Helen
Carly Barnes as Amy and Heather
And 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 Gregory
Sound 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_chorlton
And 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.html

Finally, we'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/StoriesAlt

You 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

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

Sun, 23 May 2021 04:00:00 +0100

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-Taylor
Sound 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 Wood
The Afternoon Route by TAK Erzinger
Bellwether by Kevan Mawaring
Little Red Morrigan by Sarra Culleno
Kintsugi in the Age of Social Media by Marie-Claire Wood
Chemical 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 Erzinger
Choices 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/bardicacademic

And 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.

An interview with novelist Fiona Mountain

Sun, 09 May 2021 04:00:00 +0100

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiona-Mountain/e/B001HMN6QU?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_4&qid=1568592964&sr=1-4-catcorr

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

You can follow Fiona on social media via twitter here https://twitter.com/FionaMountain

And 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/

Fiona mentions folk singer and writer Sam Lee during the podcast. You can find out more about Sam, his music and his latest book all about the nightingale by visiting his website here https://samleesong.co.uk/

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/StoriesAlt

And 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.

Lisa O'Hare and Alexandra Beaumont

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0100

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/an-introduction-to-writing-for-audio-drama-with-alternative-stories-tickets-148761496641?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

In this edition we look at new books from two exciting British writers, poet Lisa O'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'Hare and Alexandra Beaumont for taking part in this podcast.
The presenter of this edition has been Sally Walker-Taylor
The interviewer was Chris Gregory
Poems from Lisa's book "Lockdown Life, A Rollercoaster of Emotions" were read by Lisa O'Hare
Extracts from Alexandra's book " Testament of the Stars" were read by Holly Skinner"
Production, sound design and music were by Chris Gregory

We would like to thank Master House Publishing for allowing us to reproduce Lisa's poems and Gurt Dog Press for permission to share the excerpts from 'Testament of the Stars"

Visit all of Lisa O'Hare's links here https://linktr.ee/lisa.ohare
And 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/MasterHousePub

You can find out more about Alexandra Beaumont and read some of her short fiction via her website here https://abeaumont75.wixsite.com/home
And 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/GurtDogPress
Pre-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 media

You 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 John
In 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 May

There'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

SciFi Writers : Emily Inkpen

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0100

https://www.podchaser.com/lists/sci-fi-and-climate-fiction-on-alternative-stories-107aDoFzmM

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 Gregory

Sound 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/emilyinkpen

And 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 link

And follow us on social media via twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
And 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 link

https://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 : Chris Beckett

Fri, 09 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0100

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1487

Chris Beckett is one of the UK’s leading science fiction writers. His novel Dark Eden won the prestigious Arthur C Clarke Award for the best UK published science fiction novel of the year in 2012 and his latest novel Two Tribes was published to considerable critical acclaim in 2020. In this podcast we have an interview with Chris and extracts from his novels. Listeners are advised that there is some explicit language in this podcast.

Thank you to Chris Beckett for taking the time to record this interview with us. The excerpts you heard were from the following novels

The presenter of this podcast is Tiffany Clare
The interviewer is Chris Gregory
Sound design and production were also by Chris Gregory

America City (published in 2017) The reader was Marie-Claire Wood

Beneath the World, A Sea (published in 2019) – excerpts were read by Harri Rees Jones

Tomorrow (due to be published in July 2021) – excerpts were read by Charlie Richards and Tiffany Clare

You also heard excerpts from our audio drama adaptation of Two Tribes with the voices of Verity Blyth, Rosa Samuels, Sadie Pepperrell and Charlie Richards

Chris’s novels and short story collections are published in the UK by Corvus Books which is an imprint of Atlantic Books. We’d like to thank Kate Straker from Corvus / Atlantic for her help in the making of this podcast and for allowing us to use these excerpts.

You can purchase Chris Beckett’s novels via Hive here https://tinyurl.com/3kk8f6w4

And via Amazon here https://tinyurl.com/4ebs6whj

Visit Chris’ website here http://www.chris-beckett.com/

You can visit Corvus’ Website here https://atlantic-books.co.uk/corvus/

Follow Chris on twitter here https://twitter.com/chriszbeckett

And Corvus here https://twitter.com/CorvusBooks

Chris’s reading recommendations in the podcast were

Sunken Land Begins To Rise Again by M John Harrison
https://www.gollancz.co.uk/titles/m-john-harrison/the-sunken-land-begins-to-rise-again/9780575096370/

Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo
https://tinyurl.com/yzyhrwhw

Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
https://tinyurl.com/b6wjehs

Next week on the podcast, in the second part of our short series in which we talk to science fiction authors we’ll feature Emily Inkpen. Listeners may recall Emily’s audio drama The Bomb which we published last summer. Coming soon we’ll have Emily’s latest drama The Hunt and in the interview Emily talks about the process of writing drama, how The Hunt fits into her wider literary universe and how the process of writing her novel series The Dex Legacy is going.

Alternative Stories on twitter https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
Emily Inkpen https://twitter.com/emilyinkpen

If you are interested in writing audio drama you can join our forthcoming introductory workshop in which we’ll work with extracts from Alt Stories dramas via the link below

Two Tribes : An Audio Drama

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 04:00:00 +0100

As a historian in the bleak, climate-ravaged twenty-third century, it's Zoe's job to record and archive the past, not to recreate it. But when she comes across the diaries of Harry and Michelle, who lived two hundred years ago, she becomes fascinated by the minutiae of their lives and decides to write a novel about them, filling in the gaps with her own imaginings. Listeners are warned that this episode contains explicit language.

In Two Tribes by Chris Beckett you heard

Verity Blyth as Zoe
Rosa Samuels as Cally
Charlie Richards as Harry
Sadie Pepperrell as Michelle
And Marie Claire Wood as Letty

The presenter is Tiffany Clare
The main theme for Two Tribes is by Scott Ander
Sound design, soundscapes and direction are by Chris Gregory
Casting was by Chris Gregory and Chris Beckett
The script was adapted from Chris Beckett’s original novel by Chris Gregory and Chris Beckett
Sound effects are from freesound.org

This audio drama is an adaptation of part of the novel Two Tribes. If you would like to read the full novel it is out in paperback in the UK now and details on how to buy it are posted below

Chris Beckett has been involved throughout the process of making this drama and we would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his time and expertise and for allowing us to work with his brilliant story.

We would also like to thank Kate Straker of Corvus / Atlantic Books for her help and cooperation in the making of this audio drama.

You can find out more about Chris Beckett by visiting his website here
http://www.chris-beckett.com/
Follow Chris on twitter here https://twitter.com/chriszbeckett
And purchase Two Tribes here
On Hive https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Chris-Author-Beckett/Two-Tribes/25602398
And on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Two-Tribes-Chris-Beckett/dp/1786499339/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1615034100&sr=8-1

You can visit Corvus via their website here https://atlantic-books.co.uk/corvus/
Follow Corvus on twitter here https://twitter.com/CorvusBooks

The theme tune for this edition is is called “The Hunt” by Scott Ander, from his EP “The Holocene” which you can listen to here
https://soundcloud.com/user-498615231/sets/the-holocene
You can follow Scott on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/scottandermusic/

Follow Alternative Stories on twitter for a chance to win one of 3 free copies of Two Tribes signed by Chris Beckett in our competition starting on Friday 2nd April
https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

You can book to join one of our upcoming audio drama writing workshops via this link
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/148761496641

Join us next week for a special edition featuring Two Tribes author Chris Beckett. We'll have an interview with Chris, clips and excerpts from his recent and upcoming books and reflections on his writing practices. As part of this short season on science fiction writers we'll also have an interview with Emily Inkpen. We'll look forward to her new audio dram

Folklore Edition

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Since Alternative Stories started almost two years ago we have produced a number of audio dramas based on episodes from folklore. This discussion edition looks at the ways in which folklore continues to inspire writers , academics, musicians and podcasters.

This edition is presented by Marie-Claire Wood
Production and music are by Chris Gregory

Our guests in this edition are

Dee Dee Chainey https://twitter.com/DeeDeeChainey
Folklore Thursday https://twitter.com/FolkloreThurs
The Folklore Thursday website http://www.folklorethursday.com/

We have prepared a full set of show notes with more information and links for each of our guests and our recommended podcasts here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AkNqhywad3YvSYQxHhWP2Yf8IcCIRRFM/view?usp=sharing

Drama excerpts in this edition were from Hare Spell , The Seeing Trees, Selkie
and Daughter of Fire and Water You can listen to all our folklore related content here
https://www.podchaser.com/lists/folklore-and-fairytale-on-alternative-stories-107a9Gdi9h

In two weeks time we’ll be bringing you an audio drama based on the latest novel by British SciFi author Chris Beckett. Listen to “Two Tribes” on 2nd April. Please subscribe to alternative stories in

Katrina Naomi: Poetry and Conversation

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 04:00:00 +0000

In this edition we speak to poet Katrina Naomi about her life and writing. We feature six poems from Katrina's collection Wild Persistence (Seren Books 2020) and hear Katrina's recommendations for other poets we should read.

The presenter of the podcast is Tiffany Clare
Poems are read by Katrina Naomi, Laura Dunnion and Nadia Wyn Abouayen
The interviewer is Chris Gregory
We would like to thank Seren Books for their support and for allowing us to work with poems from Wild Persistence
Production, sound design and music are by Chris Gregory

You can visit Katrina’s website here www.katrinanaomi.co.uk

And follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/KatrinaNaomi

Wild Persistence is available from Seren Books Wild Persistence | Seren Books

as is Katrina’s second collection The Way the Crocodile Taught Me The Way the Crocodile Taught Me | Seren Books

Katrina’s pamphlet Typhoon Etiquette is available via this link Katrina Naomi – Typhoon Etiquette (vervepoetrypress.com)

For signed copies of all of Katrina’s books please visit the bookshop on her website here Books – Katrina Naomi

And you can read and subscribe to Katrina’s newsletter here Katrina Naomi's poetry newsletter - 'short & sweet' (mailchi.mp)

The poets Katrina recommended in our discussion and their collections are
· Caroline Bird - The Air Year
· Natalie Diaz - Postcolonial Love Poem
· Caleb Femi - Poor
· Peter Redgrove - Collected Poems

To find out more about Pen To Print please visit their website here
https://pentoprint.org/

enrol on our audio drama writing course here
https://pentoprint.org/eventbrite-event/pen-to-print-an-introduction-to-writing-for-audio-drama-with-chris-gregory/

and enter our audio drama competition here (closing date is 2nd April 2021)
https://pentoprint.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Pen-to-Print_Audio_Play_Comp_How-to_Enter_Rules_TCs_2021.pdf

And you can read Write On! Magazine here
https://pentoprint.org/product-category/magazines/

Please subscribe to Alternative Stories in your favourite podcast app to have all future editions of the podcast delivered to you the moment they are released.

If you have a moment please leave us a rating and review in your podcast app

Join us next week for a discussion about folklore, folk stories and folk songs with some amazing guests from the world of writing, academia and folk music.

Stella's Constellation: An Audio Drama

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 04:00:00 +0000

In a small alpine village Stella contemplates her strange life and origins as a number of mysterious events unfold around her. Stella's Constellation is a magical realist story by Swiss American author TAK Erzinger.

In Stella’s Constellation by TAK Erzinger you heard
Sadie Pepperrell as Stella,
Simone Low as the Narrator
Marie Claire Wood as Lagrimas
Rhys Anderson as Jurgen

Music, sound design, direction and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory
Nana De Falla was sung by Marie-Claire Wood
Sound effects were from freesound.org
The presenter in this edition is Kelli Winkler

TAK Erzinger is an American/Swiss poet and artist with a Colombian background. Her poetry has been featured in Bien Acompañada from Cornell University, The Muse from McMaster University, The Galway Review, River South from Wilkes University and more. Her debut poetry collection entitled, “Found: Between the Trees” was published by Grey Border Books, in Canada in 2019 and her forthcoming poetry book “At the Foot of the Mountain” is being published by Floricanto Press. The audio drama you just heard, “Stella’s Constellation” is an excerpt from a book she is currently writing under the same title, inspired by magical realism and the folklore of South America and central Europe. She lives in a Swiss valley with her husband and cats.

You can find out more about TAK by visiting her website and following her on social media
https://takerzinger.wixsite.com/poet

And follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/ErzTak

And Instagram https://www.instagram.com/takerzinger/

You can follow Alternative Stories on twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

And contact us by email on office@alternativestories.com

To book a place on our Writing for Audio Drama Course with Pen To Print please follow this linkhttps://pentoprint.org/eventbrite-event/pen-to-print-an-introduction-to-writing-for-audio-drama-with-chris-gregory/

And to enter the Pen To Print competition to write an audio drama click here https://pentoprint.org/get-involved/competitions/

In the coming weeks on alternative stories we have poetry, conversation and more audio drama for you. Our poetry content for season 4 will begin with a podcast featuring Katrina Naomi and also include poems from Gregory Leadbetter and Geraldine Clarkson in the coming weeks. We have a discussion on folklore and its relevance to modern audiences coming soon as well as new audio drama from Chris Beckett, Emily Inkpen, Fiona Mountain and Anna Chorlton. Subscribe to Alternative Stories and Fake Realities in your favourite podcast app to have all new editions delivered directly to your feed and to gain access to our growing library of drama, poetry and fiction podcasts.

Daughter of Fire and Water: An Audio Drama: Part Two

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 04:00:00 +0000

Brida is the daughter of the goddess Callie and bound by a spell her mother has cast, she is held captive beneath Callie's mountain fortress. Longing to escape so that she may travel freely around the world, Brida has tried many ways in vain to break the spell but the visit of a prince from the world beyond the mountain may suggest ways in which her captivity can be ended.

In Daughter of Fire and Water by Lyndsey Croal you heard
Kelsey Griffin as Brida
Lewie Watson as Angus
Peter Forbes as Cernun
and Simone Low as Callie

Music was by Cameron Mackay
Sound design, direction and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory
Sound effects were from freesound.org
The presenter of this podcast is Marie-Claire Wood

We would like to thank Lyndsey Croal, Anthea Middleton, Sam Canning and Gillian Bowman for their invaluable help in casting for this drama

Daughter of Fire and Water began as a character origin tale for Lyndsey's in-progress young-adult fantasy novel, though it morphed into something quite different by the end. She'd like to thank Julie Bertagna for prompting her to explore this back story, and Scottish Book Trust for their support over the past year. Inspiration also came from Scottish folklorist Donald Alexander Mackenzie's interpretation of the Cailleach's story.

If you would like to find out more about Lyndsey Croal and her writing, please visit her website https://lyndseycroal.wordpress.com/

To find out more about Cameron Mackay and to listen to more of his music please go to https://www.cameronmackay.co.uk/

You can follow Lyndsey Croal on twitter here https://twitter.com/writerlynds
And Cameron Mackay here https://twitter.com/CameronJMackay

"Daughter of Fire and Water” is an alternative stories 2021 production for the alternative stories and fake realities podcast.

Our next production is called Stella's Constellation by TAK Erzinger and it will be out on Friday 5th March.
In the trailer for Stella's Constellation you heard the voices of Marie-Claire Wood, Simone Low, Sadie Pepperrell and Rhys Anderson

Please subscribe to alternative stories and fake realities in your favourite podcast app to have this and all future editions delivered directly to your podcast feed the moment they are released.

Daughter of Fire and Water: An Audio Drama: Part One

Fri, 19 Feb 2021 06:00:00 +0000

To find out more about Cameron Mackay and to listen to more of his music please go to https://www.cameronmackay.co.uk/

You can follow Lyndsey Croal on twitter here https://twitter.com/writerlynds
And Cameron Mackay here https://twitter.com/CameronJMackay

"Daughter of Fire and Water” is an alternative stories 2021 production for the alternative stories and fake realities podcast.

Part two of Daughter of Fire and Water will be out on Friday 26th February. Please subscribe to alternative stories and fake realities in your favourite podcast app to have this and all future editions delivered directly to your podcast feed the moment they are released.

Season 4 Preview Edition

Tue, 16 Feb 2021 06:00:00 +0000

In this short preview edition presented by Kelli Winkler we look forward to some of the drama and poetry productions we'll be bringing you as part of season 4 of the podcast.

The preview includes

A trailer for Daughter of Fire and Water, and audio drama by Lyndsey Croal starring Kelsey Griffin, Lewie Watson, Peter Forbes and Simone Low and with music by Cameron Mackay
A trailer for Stella's Constellation by TAK Erzinger with the voices of Marie-Claire Wood, Sadie Pepperrell, Rhys Anderson and Simone Low
St Rose of Lima's Revenge, a poem by Geraldine Clarkson read by Tiffany Clare
Optics, a poem by Gregory Leadbetter read by Charlie Richards

Please subscribe to hear all of the content from our fourth season starting with part one of Daughter of Fire and Water on Friday 19th February.

Sound design, production and editing in this edition are by Chris Gregory

Snowed in : an audio drama for Christmas 2020

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 06:00:00 +0000

https://www.fayhield.com/

Four friends have their Christmas travel plans disrupted by Covid but resolve to spend the holiday together sharing stories, customs and traditions from their homes. Snowed In is an audio drama for this unique festive season by Charis McRoberts and Signe Maene

In “Snowed In” you heard

Charis McRoberts as Aine
Lewie Watson as Jamie
Jackie Jorgenson as Beth
Amy Forrest as Olivia
Fay Hield as herself
The presenter of this edition is Kelli Winkler

"Snowed In" was written by Charis McRoberts and Signe Maene with additional dialogue by Chris Gregory. The cast advised on dialogue for each of their characters.

Direction, sound design, soundscapes and incidental music were by Chris Gregory.
Sound effects were from Freesound.org

In the story, you heard an original recording of the Wassailing song “Sweet Master” performed by Fay Hield. This was an exclusive recording for the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast. Fay Hield is a Topic Records recording artist. “Sweet Master of Our Habitation” is a traditional Cornish wassailing tune. The version sung by Fay in this podcast was arranged by Lou Killen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Killen
The complete recording by Fay is included at the end of this podcast.

Charis McRoberts is a writer, poet and actor originally from Northern Ireland. In 2020 Charis was named one of the BBC’s New Creatives and she has subsequently appeared on BBC Radio and in film productions as well as being part of a number of Alternative Stories podcasts. https://twitter.com/CharisMcRoberts

Lewie Watson is an actor from Elgin in the Scottish Highlands. He has appeared in a number of Alternative Stories productions including Selkie, also by Signe Maene and most recently in Black Box by Kevan Manwaring https://twitter.com/LewieEh

Amy Forrest is an actor who has worked with the National Theatre in London and had television roles in shows such as Coronation Street and Call The Midwife. Amy appeared in our acclaimed drama Hare Spell playing a role written by Fay Hield and in a number of other Alternative Stories productions during 2020 https://twitter.com/amyforrest26

Jackie Jorgenson is an actor, writer and podcaster originally from Canada but now living in the United States. She has appeared in a number of Alternative Stories productions including “Out of Towners” which she also co-wrote and Anglia. In 2020 Jackie launched her own podcast “Tales from The Aether” which we encourage listeners to check out. https://twitter.com/jackiejorgenson

Signe Maene is a writer and folklorist from Belgium. Signe wrote our popular drama Selkie earlier in 2020 and contributed short fiction to “Through The Trees” anthology https://twitter.com/MaeneSigne

Fay Hield is a folk singer, academic and folklorist who regular listeners will know as one of the writers of our acclaimed drama Hare Spell which we released in September. If you've enjoyed Fay's performance in this edition please find out more about her music including her latest album "Wrackline" which is released by Topic Records / Proper Music Distribution
https://twitter.com/fayhield

This is the last Alternative Stories Podcast of 2020. We’ll be taking a short break until the end of January. We wish all our listeners who celeb

Poetry from Nine Arches Press

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 06:00:00 +0000

In this edition we look at Nine Arches Press, an independent poetry publisher from Warwickshire. We feature poems from 3 Nine Arches poets, Gregory Leadbetter, Rishi Dastidar and Geraldine Clarkson and have insight and recommendations from Editor and Director Jane Commane.

The poems featured in this podcast are
"Optics" by Gregory Leadbetter from the Nine Arches Press collection "Maskwork" read by Charlie Richards
First extract from Saffron Jack by Rishi Dastidar from the Nine Arches Press Publication "Saffron Jack" read by Tiffany Clare
"Saint Rose of Lima's Revenge" by Geraldine Clarkson from the Nine Arches Press Collection "Monica's Overcoat of Flesh" read by Tiffany Clare
"The Ape At The End of The World" by Gregory Leadbetter read by Charlie Richards
Second extract from Saffron Jack by Rishi Dastidar read by Tiffany Clare
"Homily of Francis" by Geraldine Clarkson read by Charlie Richards
"A Young Woman Undressed Me And..." by Geraldine Clarkson read by Tiffany Clare

The presenter in this edition is Tiffany Clare
Production, sound design and soundscapes are by Chris Gregory
Jane Commane's interview was recorded by Kevin Brook at Soundbite Recording (link below)

Visit the Nine Arches Press website here https://ninearchespress.com/
And follow them on twitter here https://twitter.com/NineArchesPress
And on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/ninearchespress/

Follow Gregory Leadbetter on twitter here https://twitter.com/GregMLeadbetter
Rishi Dastidar here https://twitter.com/BetaRish
Geraldine Clarkson here https://twitter.com/GBClarkson
And Jane Commane here https://twitter.com/CommaJane

For more about Soundbite Recording please visit their website here https://www.soundbiterecording.com/
You can find out more about our presenter and reader Tiffany Clare here https://twitter.com/TiffanyEclair
And Charlie Richards here https://twitter.com/CharlieDTR
And follow Alternative Stories here https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

Rishi Dastidar is a fellow of “The Complete Works”, a consulting editor at The Rialto magazine, a member of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, and chair of writer development organization Spread The Word. He is editor of The Craft: A Guide to Making Poetry Happen in the 21st Century (Nine Arches Press). Saffron Jack is his second collection.

Gregory Leadbetter is the author of two poetry collections, Maskwork (2020) and The Fetch (2016), both with Nine Arches Press, as well as the pamphlet The Body in the Well (HappenStance Press, 2007), Balanuve (Broken Sleep, 2021). His book Coleridge and the Daemonic Imagination (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) won the University English Book Prize 2012. He has written both poetry and radio drama for the BBC. He is Professor of Poetry at Birmingham City University.

Geraldine Clarkson has performed poems at the Royal Albert Hall, as part of the Proms Extra Late series broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and also at the Poetry Society AGM. She is a former winner of the Ambit and Poetry London competitions and her first full collection Monica's

Black Box : An Audio Drama : Part Three : Shadow On The Ice

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 06:00:00 +0000

In Black Box, based on the novel by Kevan Manwaring, mankind is looking to the stars to find solutions to the failing climate on planet Earth. In episode 3, Lake must try to get the space berg back on course for the Arkship Ithaka after the accident which sent it off course. Content warning; Swearing, drug references, peril, sexual references.

Black Box Part Three: The Shadow On The Ice was written by Dr Kevan Manwaring, adapated from his original novel.

In this episode you can hear:
Danyelle Ellett as Sentience
Lewie Watson as Captain Lake
Charlie Richards as Butler

The presenter is Kelli Winkler
The original theme and incidental music are by Chris Gregory
Sound effects are from freesound.org
Direction, sound design and editing are by Chris Gregory

Thank you to our actors for going above and beyond in the recording of their parts for this production.

You can follow Kevan Manwaring on twitter here
https://twitter.com/bardicacademic

And read his regular blog posts here
https://thebardicacademic.wordpress.com/

This is the last of 3 pilot episodes of Black Box, the drama based on Kevan Manwaring's novel. We’ll be assessing the possibilities of dramatizing the whole story at a later date. In the meantime we’d love to hear your thoughts on Black Box and particularly on whether you’d like to hear more. You can drop us a note via office@alternativestories.com or tweet us with your thoughts

If you’re an audio drama producer and have ideas about how we could take Black Box into full production we’d be very grateful for your views.

If you would like to check out more Science Fiction on Alternative Stories please look for our dramas A Memory of Robin by David Green, The Ark by Madeleine F White, The Bomb by Emily Inkpen and Backdrop by Anna Orridge. You’ll be able to find them by searching our content on any podcast platform

You can find out more about our fabulous cast by following them on social media

Follow Lewie Watson on twitter here https://twitter.com/LewieEh

Danyelle Ellett here https://twitter.com/MyNamesDany

And Charlie Richards here https://twitter.com/CharlieDTR

Content warning: The character of Captain Lake is depicted as a drug user in Black Box. In one scene within this episode Lake is heard taking drugs or "shooting up". If listeners are likely to be offended by this please do not listen to this episode.

Next week on Alternative Stories and Fake Realities we’ll continue Black Box and introduce you to the character of Commander Boone.

Invisible Borders

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Invisible Borders is a collection of poetry and short fiction by women writers with a connection to the county of Cornwall. It is published by the Hypatia Trust and this podcast celebrates the release of the audio book version of the collection which has been produced by Alternative Stories.

In this podcast we celebrate the launch of the audio book version of Invisible Borders a collection of poetry and short fiction by women writers with a connection to the county of Cornwall. Invisible Borders is now available in three formats: as a book, an e-book and now an audio book produced by Alternative Stories. The audio book will be out on 11th December and will be available from the Hypatia Trust Bookshop
https://hypatia-trust.org.uk/bookshop

This podcast is presented by Hollye Sangster.

The readers are Marie-Claire Wood, Katrina Naomi, Ella Frears and Mary J Oliver.

The poems you can hear in this podcast are

Hieroglyph Moth by Pascale Petit
Warm Rain by Mary J Oliver
I knew Which Direction by Ella Frears
Perfume Map by Penelope Shuttle
Elsewhere by Katrina Naomi
I am Becoming by Faye Wilson

You can hear interviews featuring

Miki Ashton from the Hypatia Trust
Linda Cleary from Hypatia Publications
Marie-Claire Wood, the actress who reads much of the work featured in the audio book
Chris Gregory from the Alternative Stories Podcast

Music, sound design and production are by Chris Gregory. Sound recordings were by Marie-Claire Wood, Ella Frears and Linda Cleary.

We’d like to thank all our contributors to this podcast : Miki Ashton, Linda Cleary, Marie-Claire Wood, Chris Gregory and poets Pascale Petite, Mary J Oliver, Ella Frears, Penelope Shuttle, Katrina Naomi and Faye Wilson. We would especially like to thank the Hypatia trust for entrusting us with creating the audio book version of Invisible Borders. Special thanks are due to Cultivator Cornwall and Sam Jackman for their valued support in the making of Invisible Borders.

We would also like to thank Bloodaxe Books, Seren Books and Offord Road Books for granting permission to reproduce work by their writers in Invisible Borders and in this podcast.

You can find out more about the Hypatia Trust by visiting their website
https://hypatia-trust.org.uk/

Or follow the trust on twitter at https://twitter.com/hypatia_trust

You can follow Marie-Claire Wood on twitter at https://twitter.com/MarieClaireWood

Find out more about Linda Cleary here https://twitter.com/_freewriters

And follow Alternative Stories on Twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

Please subscribe to have all of our audio drama, poetry and fiction content delivered to your podcast feed the moment new episodes are released.

Black Box : An Audio Drama : Part Two : Europa

Fri, 04 Dec 2020 06:00:00 +0000

In Black Box, based on the novel by Kevan Manwaring, mankind is looking to the stars to find solutions to the failing climate on planet Earth. In episode two we meet Commander Boone and Dr Massimo from the Europa Mission.

Black Box Part Two : Europa, was written by Dr Kevan Manwaring, adapted from his original novel.

In this episode you can hear:
Danyelle Ellett as Comamander Boone
Lewie Watson as Captain Lake
Charlie Richards as Dr Massimo
Warren Graham as Boone's father
Kelli Winkler as Boone's Mother

Other voices were by members of the cast

The presenter is Kelli Winkler
The original theme and incidental music are by Chris Gregory
Sound effects are from freesound.org
Direction, sound design and editing are by Chris Gregory

You can follow writer Kevan Manwaring on twitter here
https://twitter.com/bardicacademic

And read his regular blog posts here
https://thebardicacademic.wordpress.com/

As a bonus in this edition you can hear Kevan Manwaring talking about the inspiration for Black Box, the process of writing the original novel, of adapting it to audio drama and of recreating the visual elements for an audio drama audience.

We have made 3 pilot episodes of Black Box, the drama, based roughly on the first 3 chapters of the novel. We’ll be assessing the possibilities of dramatizing the whole story at a later date. In the meantime we’d love to hear your thoughts on Black Box and particularly on whether you’d like to hear more. You can drop us a note via office@alternativestories.com or tweet us with your thoughts

If you’re an audio drama producer and have ideas about how we could take Black Box into full production we’d be very grateful for your views.

Black Box : An Audio Drama : Part One: Ithaka

Fri, 27 Nov 2020 06:00:00 +0000

In Black Box, based on the novel by Kevan Manwaring, mankind is looking to the stars to find solutions to the failing climate on planet Earth. We follow Captain Lake and Commander Boone on their missions. Content warning; Swearing, drug references, peril, sexual references.

Black Box Part One : Ithaka, was written by Dr Kevan Manwaring, adapated from his original novel.

In this episode you can hear:
Danyelle Ellett as Sentience
Lewie Watson as Captain Lake
Charlie Richards as Butler
Maisie Armah as Lake's wife
Chris Gregory as Salovar ("The Suit")
Kelli Winkler as Ultima Thule crew member
Other voices were by members of the cast

The presenter is Kelli Winkler
The original theme and incidental music are by Chris Gregory
Sound effects are from freesound.org
Direction, sound design and editing are by Chris Gregory

Thank you to Kevan Manwaring for beta listening this edition and to our actors for going above and beyond in the recording of their parts for this production.

You can follow Kevan Manwaring on twitter here
https://twitter.com/bardicacademic

And read his regular blog posts here
https://thebardicacademic.wordpress.com/

You can hear Kevan speaking about his writing, about Black Box in particular and on the topic of climate fiction in our recent edition called “Climate Fiction” Alternative Stories Series 3 Episode 13

We have made 3 pilot episodes of Black Box, the drama, based roughly on the first 3 chapters of the novel. We’ll be assessing the possibilities of dramatizing the whole story at a later date. In the meantime we’d love to hear your thoughts on Black Box and particularly on whether you’d like to hear more. You can drop us a note via office@alternativestories.com or tweet us with your thoughts

If you’re an audio drama producer and have ideas about how we could take Black Box into full production we’d be very grateful for your views.

If you would like to check out more Science Fiction on Alternative Stories please look for our dramas A Memory of Robin by David Green, The Ark by Madeleine F White, The Bomb by Emily Inkpen and Backdrop by Anna Orridge. You’ll be able to find them by searching our content on any podcast platform

Content warning: The character of Captain Lake is depicted as a drug user in Black Box. In one scene within this episode Lake is heard taking drugs or "shooting up". If listeners are likely to be offended by this please do not listen to this episode.

Next week on Alternative Stories and Fake Realities we’ll continue Black Box and introduce you to the character of Commander Boone.

Backdrop: an Audio Drama

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 06:00:00 +0000

In a future London ravaged by the effects of climate change, a company is busy harvesting memories to build virtual versions of the world before "The Withering". But there are parts of her past Laura would rather forget. This episode contains swearing and accounts of emotional abuse. Listeners are advised to avoid this story if they are likely to be offended by either.

Backdrop is based on a short story by Anna Orridge and adapted by Anna Orridge and Chris Gregory

In Backdrop you'll hear
Marie-Claire Wood as Laura
Harri Rees-Jones as Marvin
Kelley Costigan as The Administrator
Kelli Winkler as the voice of Backdrop
Chris Gregory as Laura's father

Music, sound design and editing are by Chris Gregory
Sound effects are from freesound.org
The presenter in this edition is Kelli Winkler

This edition contains a trailer for Black Box by Kevan Manwaring in which you can hear the voices of Danyelle Ellett, Lewie Watson and Charlie Richards. Part One of Black Box will be out on Friday 27th November.

If you would like to read the original short story upon which our audio drama is based you can do so here http://mironline.org/backdrop/

You can find out more about our brilliant actors here

Marie-Claire https://twitter.com/MarieClaireWood

Harri https://twitter.com/HarriReesJones

Kelli https://twitter.com/KelliWinkler

And Kelley https://twitter.com/KelleyCostigan

And follow Anna on twitter here https://twitter.com/orridge_anna

Please subscribe to alternative stories in your favourite podcast app to listen to all our content and have new editions delivered to your podcast feed the moment they are released. If you’ve enjoyed Bakckdrop please give us a rating on apple podcasts, podchaser or any podcast app that allows it. If you felt inclined to write a short review we would be very grateful as these help to raise the profile of the podcast.

Finally we’d like to thank everyone who entered our competition to win a copy of Fay Hield’s album over on twitter. As you may recall, Fay is one of the UK’s foremost folk singers and was a co-writer of the drama Hare Spell which we released back in September. Her album Wrackline has been voted the second best folk album of the year by Songlines magazine and has been riding high in the UK folk album chart. The lucky winners of the competition were Tanith Hicks, Rebecca Lambert and Lisa O’Hare and signed copies of the album should be with you very shortly.

You can find us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Climate Fiction

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 06:00:00 +0000

https://twitter.com/orridge_anna

In today's podcast we look at the genre of climate fiction or "Cli Fi" and preview two upcoming audio dramas we'll be sharing as part of our Autumn climate season. We talk to the authors of the two pieces, Anna Orridge and Kevan Manwaring and get their views on Cli Fi, writing in general and the stories that inspired our upcoming dramas.

In todays' podcast, presented by Kelli Winkler you heard the voices of Anna Orridge and Kevan Manwaring.

You heard clips from our forthcoming dramas Backdrop by Anna Orridge and Black Box by Kevan Manwaring

You heard the voices of actors Marie-Claire Wood, Harri-Rees Jones, Kelley Costigan and Kelli Winkler in the Backdrop trailer.
In the Black Box trailer you heard Danyelle Ellett, Lewie Watson and Charlie Richards.

Sound design, soundscaping and music are by Chris Gregory with effects from freesound.org

Backdrop will be out on 20th November with Black Box appearing in three parts on 28th November, 4th and 11th December

Links and social media

You can follow Anna Orridge on twitter here

You can follow Kevan Manwaring on twitter here

https://twitter.com/bardicacademic

and visit Kevan’s wordpress site where you can read more of his writing here

https://thebardicacademic.wordpress.com/

We ended the podcast with a recommendation for the novel America City by Chris Beckett

You can purchase America City from Blackwell’s here

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/America-city-by-Chris-Beckett-author/9781786491534

You can download a free sample of America City here

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3H49Dxf9NTpHXrTybN80hxC/america-city-by-chris-beckett

and you can follow Chris Beckett on twitter here

https://twitter.com/chriszbeckett

We are publicising the work of Culture Declares Emergency during our Autumn climate season. You can follow them on twitter here

https://twitter.com/CultureDeclares

And you can pledge your support to their cause here

https://www.culturedeclares.org/

Please note, we have bleeped out swearing in the trailer for Black Box. When we put out the "real thing" all swearing will be fully audible (and beautifully delivered by Lewie Watson!)

Also in the trailer for Black Box you heard Lewie singing a few lines from "King of The Road" by Roger Miller. We don't own the rights to this and acknowledge all copyrights relating to the piece.

Spoken Word

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 06:00:00 +0000

https://twitter.com/nancyjgv1
https://twitter.com/thedriftkent
https://twitter.com/LongbarrowPress

In this edition of the podcast we look at spoken word poetry. We feature a new project from Kent: a music and poetry collaboration by Nancy Gaffield and The Drift. We look at spoken word record label Nymphs and Thugs and we hear from Lisa Mead, CEO and Artistic Director of Apples and Snakes. The presenter is Marie-Claire Wood

There is some swearing and references to suicide and drug use in this podcast. Please avoid if this is likely to offend

In today’s podcast you heard:

An interview with Nancy Gaffield, Rob Pursey, Amelia Fletcher and Darren Pilcher of Nancy Gaffield and The Drift. http://thedrift.uk/

The track you heard was Wealden Part 3 : Song of The Shingle from the album Wealden published by Longbarrow Press as a book and CD pack
https://longbarrowpress.com/

Wealden is also available as a digital download from The Drift’s record label Skep Wax https://skepwax.bandcamp.com/

Follow Nancy Gaffield, The Drift and Longbarrow Press on Twitter here

You also heard an interview with Matt Abbott, founding owner of Nymphs and Thugs. https://nymphsandthugs.net/

The poems you heard were
“I Saw Goody Proctor Jogging Without a Face Mask” by Salena Godden
“Nowt Matters Now” by Toria Garbutt

You can buy content from Nymphs and Thugs including these recordings via their band camp page here
https://nymphsandthugs.bandcamp.com/

Follow Nymphs and Thugs, Matt, Salena and Toria on twitter here
https://twitter.com/nymphsandthugs
https://twitter.com/MattAbbottPoet
https://twitter.com/salenagodden
https://twitter.com/ToriaGarbutt

Our final interview is with Apples and Snakes and their Artistic Director Lisa Mead. Find out more about Apples and Snakes and link to their online content here https://applesandsnakes.org/

and here for their excellent YouTube channel where you can see many poets performing live
https://www.youtube.com/c/ApplesandSnakesPoetry

You heard poems by John Bernard and Adrian B Earle

Follow Apples and Snakes, Lisa Mead, John Bernard and Adrian B Earle on twitter here
https://twitter.com/ApplesAndSnakes
https://twitter.com/applesMead
https://twitter.com/PoetBernard
https://twitter.com/Think_write_fly

This podcast was presented by Marie-Claire Wood https://twitter.com/MarieClaireWood

Production, sound design and editing were by Chris Gregory
Individual sound design and editing of the poems and interviews within the show were by the contributors

We would like to thank all contributors to this podcast. If you can please check out all the links we’ve posted, buy content from the suppliers and support artists, poets, musicians, writers and any creative

The Ark : An Audio Drama

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 06:00:00 +0000

In the aftermath of her husband's death Martha and her teenage children Emmy and Henry are struggling to adapt to life without him. Strange things are happening in their lives and whilst things may be starting to look up no one is quite sure what is causing these coincidences. Please note : some strong language in this audio drama.

The Ark is written by Madeleine F White. It is adapted from her novel Mother of Floods which is published by Crowsnest Books

In The Ark you heard

Sarah Golding as Martha
Holly Skinner as Emmy
Harri Rees Jones as Henry
Chris Gregory as Dave

Other voices were by Madeleine F White and members of the cast.

Sound effects were from freesound.org

Music, soundscape, direction and production were by Chris Gregory

The presenter in this edition is Kelli Winkler.

The Ark is adapted from the novel Mother of Floods by Madeleine F White. “Mother of Floods” is published by Crows Nest Books and we would like to thank them for their kind permission to adapt the novel in this drama. You can visit their website and purchase Mother of Floods here
https://www.crowsnestbooks.com/

And follow them on Twitter here
https://twitter.com/crowsnestbooks

You can find out more about Madeleine F White by visiting her Good reads page here
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50646333-mother-of-floods

And follow her on twitter here
https://twitter.com/madeleinefwhite

Madeleine is also involved in the excellent writer's magazine Pen to Print which you can check out here
https://pentoprint.org/

Anglia Revisited Part 4

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 06:00:00 +0000

The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe. In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries. This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the last episode of our four part story.

Almost a year since we first broadcast Anglia we are revisiting it as part of our climate change season supporting Culture Declares Emergency

Millie: Tiffany Clare
Rachel : Jackie Jorgenson
Awira : Saya Zahawi
David : Charlie Richards
Laura : Catharine Daddario
Willa : Kelli Winkler
Other parts : Chris Gregory
Presenters : Kelli Winkler and Tiffany Clare
Music written and performed : Chris Gregory
Sound effects : Freesound.org
ANN News Jingle : Stonefree

Please also check us out on social media : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
and https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

To find out more about Culture Declares Emergency please visit their website to find out how you can get involved in their work and offer your support.
https://www.culturedeclares.org/

and follow them on twitter here
https://twitter.com/CultureDeclares

Anglia Revisited Part 3

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 06:00:00 +0100

The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe. In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries. This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the third of four parts.

Almost a year since we first broadcast Anglia we are revisiting it as part of our climate change season supporting Culture Declares Emergency

Millie: Tiffany Clare
Rachel : Jackie Jorgenson
Awira : Saya Zahawi
David : Charlie Richards
Laura : Catharine Daddario
Willa : Kelli Winkler
Other parts : Chris Gregory
Presenters : Kelli Winkler and Tiffany Clare
Music written and performed : Chris Gregory
Sound effects : Freesound.org
ANN News Jingle : Stonefree

Please also check us out on social media : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt and https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

To find out more about Culture Declares Emergency please visit their website to find out how you can get involved in their work and offer your support. https://www.culturedeclares.org/

and follow them on twitter here https://twitter.com/CultureDeclares

Anglia Revisited Part 2

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 06:00:00 +0100

The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe. In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries. This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the second of four parts

Almost a year since we first broadcast Anglia we are revisiting it as part of our climate change season supporting Culture Declares Emergency

Millie: Tiffany Clare
Rachel : Jackie Jorgenson
Awira : Saya Zahawi
David : Charlie Richards
Laura : Catharine Daddario
Willa : Kelli Winkler
Other parts : Chris Gregory
Presenters : Kelli Winkler and Tiffany Clare
Music written and performed : Chris Gregory
Sound effects : Freesound.org
ANN News Jingle : Stonefree

Please also check us out on social media : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt and https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

To find out more about Culture Declares Emergency please visit their website to find out how you can get involved in their work and offer your support. https://www.culturedeclares.org/

and follow them on twitter here
https://twitter.com/CultureDeclares

Anglia Revisited Part 1

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 06:00:00 +0100

The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe. In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries. This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the first of four parts.

Almost a year since we first broadcast Anglia we are revisiting it as part of our climate change season supporting Culture Declares Emergency

Millie: Tiffany Clare
Rachel : Jackie Jorgenson
Awira : Saya Zahawi
David : Charlie Richards
Laura : Catharine Daddario
Willa : Kelli Winkler
Other parts : Chris Gregory
Presenters : Kelli Winkler and Tiffany Clare
Music written and performed : Chris Gregory
Sound effects : Freesound.org
ANN News Jingle : Stonefree

Please also check us out on social media : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt and https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

To find out more about Culture Declares Emergency please visit their website to find out how you can get involved in their work and offer your support. https://www.culturedeclares.org/

and follow them on twitter here https://twitter.com/CultureDeclares

The Hares of Horsenden Hill

Fri, 09 Oct 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Ealine is travelling home from work on the day on which lockdown is announced. Weary from her workload, anxious about the future and worried about events in her past she deviates on her route home to visit Horsenden Hill where events from the ancient history of West London, Ealine's present and future coincide. The Hare of Horsenden Hill is the origin story of Ealine from our audio drama Hare Spell and a prequel to events in that story.

The Hares of Horsenden Hill is written by Sarra Culleno and published by Mookychick.

Ealine and the narrator were played by Stevie Skinner
Amy Forrest played the hares
Chris Gregory was the voice of the ancient storyteller
Original music was by Inge Thomson
Sound effects were from Freesound.org
Sound design, mixing and production were by Chris Gregory

In this episode we include an excerpt from the new podcast called The Portal by British musician and composer Martin Green. As one third of the band Lau Martin has played numerous gigs and festivals. He's also released a good deal of solo work and collaborated with other musicians in producing his work. The Portal is Martin's venture into the world of podcasting and we're sure listeners of Alternative Stories and Fake Realities will enjoy it. Listen to The Portal by searching "the portal martin green" in your favourite podcast app or follow the link below

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-portal-by-martin-green/id1532707187

To find out more about Martin and his music follow this link

https://www.martingreenmusic.co.uk/

To find out more about Sarra Culleno and her work please follow her on twitter here

https://twitter.com/sarra1978

The Hares of Horsenden Hill is published by Mookychick. Heres'a link to their website so you can read the original story and check out their other wonderful content

https://www.mookychick.co.uk/

National Poetry Day

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 06:00:00 +0100

1st October is National Poetry Day in the UK. This edition celebrates some of the poetry we have broadcast on the podcast in the last year and the poets and publishers we have worked with.

In this podcast you can hear the following poems

Thus I Became a Heart Eater by Phoebe Stuckes from her collection Platinum Blonde published by Bloodaxe Books and read by Marie-Claire Wood

Then I Reconsidered Prayer by Maria Taylor from her collection Dressing For The Afterlife published by Nine Arches Press and read by Tiffany Clare

Ty Draw by Peter Finch from the collection Machineries of Joy published by Seren Books and read by Nerys Howell

Black Crow Woman by Sarah Corbett from the collection The Witch Bag published by Seren Books and read by Jade Matthew

The Overwhelming Urge by Ella Frears from the collection Shine Darling published by Offord Road Books and read by Tiffany Clare

Greenman by Sarra Culleno read by Annabelle Broad first broadcast on the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast

Catch 22 in Simplified Language by Jennifer Wong from the collection Letters Home published by Nine Arches press and read by Jennifer Wong

Dark Moon by Sarah Corbett from the collection The Red Wardrobe published by Seren Books and read Amy Forrest

Boots by Peter Finch from the collection Machineries of Joy published by Seren Books and read by Dafydd Morse

East West by Mary J Oliver from the collection Jim Neat: The Case of Young Man Down on his Luck published by Seren Books and read by Charlie Richards

To the Uninhabited Island of Cara by Mary J Oliver read by Tiffany Clare

We would like to thank all the poets, publishers and readers of these poems.

This edition is presented by Hollye Sangster
Music, sound design and production is by Chris Gregory
Sound effects are from Freesound.org

To contact the podcast please send us an email to office@alternativestories.com

or contact us on social media
https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
or https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Hare Spell An Audio Drama. Part Two

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Having arrived in Devon to visit the mysterious Sally Whitehorn, Molly, Ealine and Katherine contemplate the invitation that brought them there and the meaning of the ancient hare folklore she invokes. Can what she is proposing really be true and what will it mean for the women?

Hare Spell is written by Terri Windling, Fay Hield , Sarah Hesketh and Sarra Culleno with additional material, editing and collation by Chris Gregory.

You heard
Amy Forrest as Molly
Sarah Golding as Sally
Stevie Skinner as Ealine
Nadia Wyn Abouayen as Katherine
Marie-Claire Wood as Amy
Chris Gregory as the hotel receptionist

Music was by Fay Hield and Inge Thomson

The songs "When She Comes" and "Hare Spell" are taken from the Topic Records album "Wrackline" by Fay Hield. Copyright is held by Fay Hield under exclusive licence to Proper Music Publishing Limited. We would like to thank Fay Hield, Topic Records and Proper Music Publishing Ltd for their kind permission to use these tracks.

Musicians on Fay Hields tracks are Fay Hield, Sam Sweeney, Rob Harbron, Ben Nicholls and Ewan MacPherson with production by Andy Bell

The instrumental soundtrack recordings you heard are written and performed by Inge Thomson, copyright Inge Thomson and commissioned by the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast

Direction, sound design and production of the audio drama is by Chris Gregory

Casting was by our writing team

Sound effects are from freesound.org

The presenters are Holly Sangster and Kelli Winkler

If you'd like to learn more about the participants in this drama the links below will point you to their websites or twitter feeds

Fay Hield : https://fayhield.com/
Terri Windling : https://www.terriwindling.com/
Sarah Hesketh : http://www.sarahhesketh.co.uk/
Sarra Culleno : https://twitter.com/sarra1978
Inge Thomson : https://www.ingethomson.com/
Amy Forrest: https://twitter.com/amyforrest26
Sarah Golding : https://twitter.com/SarahofGolding
Stevie Skinner: https://twitter.com/Stevieskinner_
Nadia Wyn Abouayen : https://twitter.com/NadiaWyn
Marie-Claire Wood: https://twitter.com/MarieClaireWood

and please follow Alternative Stories on : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt for information on past and future editions of the podcast.

Hare Spell An Audio Drama. Part One

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 06:00:00 +0100

When three women receive letters from a sender in Devon they are intrigued enough to accept the invitation within and set off to travel to Dartmoor to meet the mysterious Sally Whitehorn. What will they find there and will Sally's outlandish claims prove to be true? Our story explores real folk stories about hares and the mythology associated with them.

Hare Spell is written by Terri Windling, Fay Hield , Sarah Hesketh and Sarra Culleno with additional material, editing and collation by Chris Gregory.

You heard
Amy Forrest as Molly
Sarah Golding as Sally
Stevie Skinner as Ealine
Nadia Wyn Abouayen as Katherine
Marie-Claire Wood as Amy
Chris Gregory as the hotel receptionist

Music was by Fay Hield and Inge Thomson

The songs "When She Comes" and "Hare Spell" are taken from the Topic Records album "Wrackline" by Fay Hield. Copyright is held by Fay Hield under exclusive licence to Proper Music Publishing Limited. We would like to thank Fay Hield, Topic Records and Proper Music Publishing Ltd for their kind permission to use these tracks.

Musicians on Fay Hields tracks are Fay Hield, Sam Sweeney, Rob Harbron, Ben Nicholls and Ewan MacPherson with production by Andy Bell

The instrumental soundtrack recordings you heard are written and performed by Inge Thomson, copyright Inge Thomson and commissioned by the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast

Direction, sound design and production of the audio drama is by Chris Gregory

Casting was by our writing team

Sound effects are from freesound.org

Dressing for the Afterlife: poems by Maria Taylor

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Dressing For The Afterlife is the new collection from British Cypriot poet Maria Taylor. Published by Nine Arches Press, the collection has been highly commended by the judges of the Forward Prizes for Poetry 2020. In our podcast we feature nine poems from the book and an interview with Maria.

In Dressing For The Afterlife you heard :

Prologue read by Marie-Claire Wood
Then I Reconsidered Prayer read by Tiffany Clare
Ante read by Nadia Wyn Abouayen
And There She Was in the Shrunken Apartment like Joan Crawford, Toy Dog on her Lap read by Marie-Claire Wood
Learning the Steps read by Tiffany Clare
I Began The Twenty-Twenties as a Silent Film Goddess read by Marie-Claire Wood
What it was Like read by Tiffany Clare
Ophelia read by Phoebe Holmes
The Floating Woman read by Phoebe Holmes

The presenter and interviewer was Hollye Sangster
Music and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory
Sound effects were from freesound.org
Production and editing were by Chris Gregory

You can purchase Dressing For The Afterlife directly from Nine Arches Press via this link https://www.ninearchespress.com/

Follow Nine Arches Press on twitter here
https://twitter.com/NineArchesPress

and you can find out more about Maria Taylor by following her on twitter where she posts
as
https://twitter.com/MariaTaylor_

Our preview was presented by Kelli Winkler.
You heard a trailer for Hare Spell our new audio drama which you'll be able to hear on 18th September. It is written by Fay Hield, Terri Windling, Sarah Hesketh and Sarra Culleno and features original music by Fay Hield and Inge Thomson. You heard the voices of Sarah Golding, Amy Forrest, Stevie Skinner, Nadia Wyn Abouayen and Marie-Claire Wood.

Hare Spell is based on and inspired by music from Fay Hield's new album Wrackline which is released on Topic Record / Proper Music Distribution on 11th September.

You can purchase the album and find out more about it by following this link
https://www.topicrecords.co.uk/2020/05/fay-hield-wrackline/

Bleach : Poems by Phoebe Stuckes

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Phoebe Stuckes is a poet living and working in London. Her new collection Platinum Blonde is published this week by Bloodaxe Books. We bring you 5 poems from the collection and an interview and thoughts on the poems from Phoebe herself.

The poems you can hear are
Bleach read by Marie-Claire Wood
Wet read by Tiffany Clare
Paris read by Tiffany Clare
Thus I Became a Heart Eater read by Marie-Claire Wood
and Confessional read by Nadia Wyn Abouayan

The presenters are Hollye Sangster and Kelli Winkler

You can purchase Platinum Blonde directly from Bloodaxe Books via this link
https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/

and follow Bloodaxe on twitter here
https://twitter.com/BloodaxeBooks

Follow Phoebe Stuckes on twitter here
https://twitter.com/phoebestuckes

Out of the Darkness: An Audio Drama

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 06:00:00 +0100

As lockdown eases in London a group of friends decide to meet up for the first time in three months. As they travel they reflect on what lockdown meant to them. This is a collaborative audio drama project with some of our actors writing and performing their own parts in the production.

Out of the Darkness was written by Katherine Priddy, Charis McRoberts, Marie-Claire Wood and Chris Gregory with additional material by Warren Graham.

Warren Graham played Michael
Katherine Priddy was Freya
Marie-Claire Wood played Georgia
Sophie Macnair was Alex
Chris Gregory played David

The presenter was Karen Cooper

Sound Design, soundscapes and production were by Chris Gregory
Sound effects were from freesound.org
The news clips were from public domain sources including Downing Street Press Briefings
The Song "Wolf" was written and performed by Katherine Priddy and produced by Simon J Weaver.
Additional music was by Chris Gregory

This podcast is dedicated to anyone who lost a loved-one, their job or livelihood during the pandemic. Our thoughts are with you. We are aware that many people were much more seriously affected by the events of the last few months than the characters in this drama. The story is not intended to be representative of the entire population but merely to the experiences of the characters depicted.

Katherine Priddy is a folk singer from Birmingham. You can find out more about her and her music by visiting her website http://www.katherinepriddy.co.uk/ and you can buy "Wolf" and the EP it appears on by clicking on Store via this link. There is also a video for the song which you will find by searching for Katherine's YouTube channel.
You can follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/KatherinePriddy
and Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/katherinepriddy/

Please follow our other actors on twitter to find out more about their work and upcoming projects and if you are an audio drama producer wishing to hire them
Marie-Claire Wood https://twitter.com/MarieClaireWood
Warren Graham https://twitter.com/wg973
Sophie Macnair https://twitter.com/liloldsoph
and Charis McRoberts https://twitter.com/CharisMcRoberts

This is the final podcast in season 2 of Alternative Stories and Fake Realities. Thank you to all the actors, writers, musicians and poets who have appeared in this series.

Thank you also to our loyal and valued listeners. We do hope you have enjoyed this finale to the season and that you will join us again in season 3 which will be starting in September.

Undertow by Nicholas John

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Undertow is a short story by Nicholas John inspired by and featuring music from British acoustic duo Show of Hands.

Undertow is written and performed by Nicholas John with music by Show of Hands
Show of Hands are Phil Beer and Steve Knightley
The presenter of this edition of the podcast is Karen Cooper
Sound design and editing are by Nicholas John and Chris Gregory

Nicholas John is a writer and music journalist. You can find out more about him by following him on twitter https://twitter.com/WordSong_

Show of Hands are a folk / acoustic duo from Devon. The band comprises Steve Knightley and Phil Beer. You can follow them on twitter here https://twitter.com/showofhandsnews.
and visit their website here https://www.showofhands.co.uk/

Given events of the year so far it is more important than ever that you support musicians and performers wherever possible. Like all other forms of live entertainment revenue from gigs and performances has completely dried up for most bands and artists. There is no better way of supporting the music industry than by ordering a CD, digital download or other item of merchandise from artists you enjoy. If you've enjoyed this podcast please take a listen to more by Show of Hands and consider supporting them by ordering their new album from their online store. https://smarturl.it/bfielddancefloor

Copyright on the story Undertow: Nicholas John

Publishing Copyright on the song Undertow: (Steve Knightley/MCPS Ltd)
Sound Copyright is owned by Show Of Hands and is used by kind permission of Hands On Music.
The original version of the song Undertow is taken from the Show Of Hands 2006 album 'Witness'

The Bomb : An Audio Drama

Fri, 31 Jul 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Dex Industries' top scientist has developed a new weapon and it's about to be tested but how devastating will the new bomb be? The Bomb is a prequel to The Blood Road series of novels by Emily Inkpen

In The Bomb by Emily Inkpen:

Warren Graham plays Tristan
Annika Kordes is Osa
Kelsey Griffin plays Isra
Lewie Watson plays Devek
Harri Rees-Jones is Varian
Charlie Richards plays Ren
Chris Gregory plays Nathaniel
Emily Inkpen plays "Auto"

The presenter is Hollye Sangster
Music, sound design and production are by Chris Gregory
Sound effects are from Freesound.org

You can find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by following her on twitter
https://twitter.com/emilyinkpen and at her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/

You can listen to an interview with Emily on our preview edition here
https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/4641992-the-bomb-an-interview-with-author-emily-inkpen

Please follow Alternative Stories on twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
and on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Letters Home : Poetry by Jennifer Wong

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Jennifer Wong is a poet living and working in London and originally from Hong Kong. Her poems deal with the idea of life in a city and culture very different from our own. As well as her poems, in this podcast Jenny offers insight into her writing process and provides background to the 5 poems we feature.

The poems in this edition are;

Arrivals
Dim Sum at Joy King Lau
The Colour of Race
Catch 22 in Simplified Language
Diary of a Miu Miu Salesgirl

All poems are written and performed by Jennifer Wong
Music, sound design, soundscapes and production are by Chris Gregory
Sound effects are from Freesound.org
The presenter is Holly Sangster
Letters Home, Jenny's 2020 poetry collection, is published by Nine Arches Press and we thank them for allowing us to recreate these poems in this podcast

If you'd like to learn more about Jennifer Wong you can visit her website here
https://jenniferwong.co.uk/
And you can follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/jennywcreative

You can learn more about Nine Arches Press and purchase Letters Home here
https://www.ninearchespress.com/
You can follow Nine Arches Press on twitter here https://twitter.com/ninearchespress

Please check out our other poetry content including podcasts featuring Ella Frears, Mary J Oliver, Sarah Corbett and Peter Finch by subscribing to the podcast in your favourite podcast app or in a streaming service such as Spotify.

Jenny recorded the content for this podcast at home without access to professional recording equipment. We hope the variable sound quality does not spoil your enjoyment of this podcast.

Thank you once again to Jenny for sharing her poems with us in this podcast.

Mother of Floods

Fri, 24 Jul 2020 08:00:00 +0100

In the edition we review the new novel, "Mother of Floods" by Madeleine F White and bring you an interview with the author. We have excerpts from the novel read by Madeleine herself and we look at her plans for a sequel and other writing projects begun during lockdown.

The presenter is Kelli Winkler
Sound design, music and production are by Chris Gregory
Sound effects are from Freesound.org

If you are interested in reading Mother of Floods you can purchase it in paperback or e-book form via Crowsnest books by following this link https://www.crowsnestbooks.com/
The book and e-book can also be purchased from Amazon.

You can follow Madeleine on twitter here https://twitter.com/madeleinefwhite

Please subscribe to Alternative Stories and Fake Realities for more author interviews, previews and analyses into the writing process.

Coming soon we'll bring you
Poetry from Jennifer Wong
Audio drama : The Bomb by Emily Inkpen
Audio drama : Out of the Darkness - a collaborative piece inspired by the easing of lockdown in London featuring Katherine Priddy, Marie-Claire Wood, Warren Graham, Charis McRoberts and more

and much more.

Please follow us on twitter for more news and updates around our future podcasts https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

The Bomb : An interview with author Emily Inkpen

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 06:00:00 +0100

In this edition we bring you an interview with Emily Inkpen, the author of our forthcoming science fiction audio drama The Bomb. We also have previews from the drama and a look forward to some other upcoming content.

Emily Inkpen is a British writer and her sci fi novel The Blood Road is currently in query. The Bomb is a prequel to this novel series but contains events pivotal to the main story.

In the clips you can hear the voices of Harri Rees Jones, Kelsey Griffin, Charlie Richards, Annika Kordes, Lewie Watson and Emily herself. Warren Graham and Chris Gregory join the cast but are not heard in these clips.

The presenter and interviewer in this podcast is Kelli Winkler
Music, sound design and production are by Chris Gregory
Music is published by Scared Crow Music

Follow Emily Inkpen on twitter https://twitter.com/emilyinkpen
and instagram https://www.instagram.com/emilyinkpen/
to learn more about her work and for news of upcoming publications

In the interview Emily recommended the original Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy radio version. This is available via Audible through this link
https://www.audible.co.uk/series/Hitchhikers-Guide-radio-plays-Audiobooks/B00HSSYM74

Follow Alternative Stories and Fake Realities on twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
And on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Through The Trees Part 2

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Through the trees is an anthology about trees and woodlands, their folklore and mythology. Dealing with the subjects of transformation and change into and from trees our writers use poetry and monologue to tell their stories inspired by folk and fairy stories, classical mythology and lived experience.

The pieces in part 2 are

The Woodcutter's Children by Sarra Culleno read by Tiffany Clare with music by Fay Hield
Arbol by TAK Erzinger read by Tiffany Clare
The Fairy Tree by Signe Maene read by Kelsey Griffin
Dark Moon by Sarah Corbett read by Amy Forrest
Serenade by TAK Erzinger read by Tiffany Clare
Extract from the audio drama "No Words" performed by Tiffany Clare and Federico Foglia

The presenter is Tiffany Clare
Music and production are by Chris Gregory

You can listen to "No Words" in full here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/1341199-the-daphne-and-apollo-episode

In this podcast we featured the track "Willow Glen" by Fay Hield which appears on the Topic Records album "Old Adam" . We would like to thank Topic Records and Proper Records for their kind permission to use this track and particularly to Glen Johnson for enabling this. You can find out more about Topic Records, The World's Oldest Independent Record Label, here
https://www.topicrecords.co.uk/
You'll also find more about Fay Hield's upcoming album Wrackline which will be released on September 11th here. Listen out for news of another exciting collaboration between Fay and Alternative Stories on the podcast and by following us on Twitter and Instagram. You can follow Fay on twitter here https://twitter.com/fayhield

To find out more about Signe Maene who is also the author of our recent audio drama "Selkie" please visit her website here https://signemaene.com/ and follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/MaeneSigne
You can hear Selkie by clicking here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/3858479-selkie

Sarra Culleno is a poet and writer who has previously appeared on Alternative Stories. Please check out Sarra's poems on her youtube account https://www.youtube.com/user/sarra1978 and follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/sarra1978

Sarah Corbett's collection The Witch Bag was the subject of an Alternative Stories edition in April. You can find out more about Sarahby following her on twitter https://twitter.com/sarahcorbett70. and listen to The Witch Bag here https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/3386344-sarah-corbett-the-witch-bag

TAK Erzinger is an American writer and artist living in Switzerland. She'll be appearing in another edition of Alternative Stories very soon. Find out more about her and her work by following her on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/takerzinger/

Forthcoming podcasts from Alternative Stories include: The Bomb, an audio drama by Emily Inkpen, Mother of Floods by Madeleine F White, poetry from Jennifer Wong and Out of The Darkness, a collaborative piece on the lifting of lockdown with writers reflecting on their experiences during the Covid 19 crisis.

Please subscribe to hear all of

Through The Trees Part 1

Fri, 10 Jul 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Dragon Cloak : Poems by Angela Stoner

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Dragon Cloak and other poems by Angela Stoner is the fifth and last in our series of podcasts featuring the work of women poets from Cornwall.

The poems in this podcast are

"Swimming my Way Home" read by Jade Matthew
"Dragon Cloak" read by Sophie MacNair
"Travels with Dad" read by Amy Forrest

The presenter of this podcast is Hollye Sangster

Sound design, music, editing and production are by Chris Gregory
Sound effects are from freesound.org

Please listen to the other podcast in this series featuring Sarah Cave, Mary J Oliver, Ella Frears and Lesley Hale.

If you've enjoyed this podcast please check out more by Angela Stoner by visiting her page at Oversteps Books https://overstepsbooks.com/poets/angela-stoner/

and her page at the Penzance Literary Festival website https://www.pzlitfest.co.uk/speaker/angela-stoner/

In the podcast you heard a mention of the Hypatia Trust which is based in Penzance Cornwall. Here is a link to their website https://hypatia-trust.org.uk/ and twitter account https://twitter.com/hypatia_trust

Here is a brief overview of the work of the Trust
The Hypatia Trust was formed to collect, and make available, published and personal documentation about the achievements of women in every aspect of their lives. Central to activities has been the care, development and re-distribution of the Hypatia Collection, a unique set of sub-collections of books, artefacts, and archives, by and about women.

Created initially to oversee a major collection of women’s literature now placed on permanent loan to the University of Exeter, the Hypatia Trust has extended its interests to a wide and international range of educational engagements and partnerships.

Important to the Trust’s activities has been the will to make available – through research, publication and exhibition – the worthwhile achievements of women, so often overlooked, and even suppressed in written histories.

Its educational activities focus on issues that affect women in families, community and society, and on the continuing need for documentation and support to their concerns.

Out of Towners : An Audio Drama

Fri, 03 Jul 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Allison and Jenny have been together for 6 months but Jenny is falling out of love with New York City. Can their relationship survive if she moves away from the city?

Out of Towners is a comedy drama written by Jackie Jorgenson and Mary McDonald and based on the characters, Allison and Jenny which originally appeared in our audio drama The Out of Towners Club which appeared at Christmas 2019 (series 1 Episode 22)

Allison : Mary McDonald
Jenny : Jackie Jorgenson
Kylie : Caroline Mincks
Dan: Miguel Antonio

The presenter is Kelli Winkler
Additional material was written by Chris Gregory
Music, sound design and production were by Chris Gregory
Sound effects are from Freesound.org
Music is published by Scared Crow Music

Out of Towners is an Alternative Stories 2020 production for the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast

You can follow Jackie Jorgenson and find out more about her work by following her on twitter https://twitter.com/jackiejorgenson
Follow her podcast Tales From The Aether here https://anchor.fm/talesfromtheaether

Follow Mary McDonald here https://twitter.com/MaryMcDonald_

You can follow Alternative Stories on twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
And on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Dust : Poems by Lesley Hale

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 06:00:00 +0100

In part 4 of our short series on women poets from Cornwall we feature three poems from performance poet Lesley Hale.

Lesley is originally from the north of England but moved to Cornwall 20 years ago. Her poetry in this podcast explores themes of music, travel and relationships.

Fugue : Libretto and Score is read by Tiffany Clare
Dust is read by Tanya O'Sullivan
Guitar Lesson is performed by Chris Gregory

All poems are by Lesley Hale and used with her full permission. They may not be reproduced without her permission
Music, soundscapes, sound editing and production are by Chris Gregory
The presenter in this edition is Hollye Sangster

You can find out more about Lesley Hale and her poetry by following her on twitter where she posts as https://twitter.com/_LesleyHale_

Please subscribe to Alternative Stories and Fake Realities to hear our new content the moment it's released. We're available on all major podcast platforms.

Small Island : An Interview with actress Amy Forrest

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 06:00:00 +0100

The National Theatre stage production of Small Island by Andrea Levy will be available to watch worldwide on the NT At Home YouTube channel from 7PM on Thursday 18th June for a week. Amy Forrest who has appeared in recent episodes of this podcast was part of the cast playing the role of Mrs Ryder and in this short edition she discusses the importance of the play, how she was cast in it and the importance of the arts during the coronavirus crisis.

Small Island is by Helen Edmundson based on the original novel by Andre Levy and will be available between 18th and 25th June via the National Theatre Youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pac-Furijsw
If you watch please consider making a donation to the National Theatre to support its work and employees during lockdown.

If you would like to find out more about Amy Forrest please follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/amyforrest26 and listen to her appearances on Alternative Stories including in the audio drama The Seeing Trees

If you have enjoyed this podcast please subscribe to hear more from Alternative Stories and Fake Realities

The Lake Isle

Tue, 16 Jun 2020 06:00:00 +0100

A psychological drama in which Kirsty Monroe, a busy young executive in London struggles to maintain a relationship with her younger sister whilst holding down a difficult job. When Helena disappears Kirsty must track her down and try to patch up their failing family.

In the Lake Isle you can hear

Kelsey Griffin as Kirsty Monroe
Sophie MacNair as Helena Monroe
Carl Wharton as Mr Monroe
Warren Graham as Michael, the counsellor
Chris Gregory as the man in the coffee shop

The Lake Isle is written by Chris Gregory and Clarke Wainikka with script review by Sophie MacNair and Kelsey Griffin
Music, sound design and mixing are by Chris Gregory
The presenter is Kelli Winkler

If you’d like to find out more about writer Clarke Wainikka you can follow her on twitter via https://twitter.com/clarkewainikka at her webpage https://www.clarkewainikka.com/

If you’re a regular listener and would like a namecheck on the podcast or access to Alternative Stories bonus material and merchandise please contact us via office@alternativestories.com Please contact us also if you would like to recommend a writer, poet or dramatist for inclusion in future editions.

You can contact us via twitter https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

The Lake Isle : Preview Edition

Fri, 12 Jun 2020 06:00:00 +0100

In this edition we preview our upcoming drama The Lake Isle with lead actor Kelsey Griffin. We also look ahead to another drama production, a sequel to our 2019 Christmas production, The Out of Towners Club written by Jackie Jorgenson and Mary McDonald.

In this edition you can hear the voices of Kelsey Griffin, Sophie McNair, Jackie Jorgenson, Mary McDonald, Tiffany Clair and Federico Foglia.

The presenter is Kelli Winkler

You heard extracts from "The Lake Isle" by Chris Gregory and Clarke Wainikka, "Out of Towners" by Jackie Jorgenson and Mary McDonald and "No Words" by Chris Gregory

Music and sound design are by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music.

The Lake Isle will feature in the next edition of the podcast while Out of Towners will appear later in June.

Ella Frears

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 06:00:00 +0100

In this edition we feature poems from Cornish Poet, Ella Frears. Ella is one of the most prominent young poets in Britain at this time with her collection "Shine Darling" attracting praise from many quarters including the Guardian Newspaper in its selection of the best recent poetry books. Readers are asked to note that this episode contains strong language and explicit content which some readers may find offensive. Please avoid if this is likely to be the case.

All poems are by Ella Frears and recreated here with Ella's permission
Poems are read by Tiffany Clare with soundscapes and music by Chris Gregory
Sound design and editing are by Chris Gregroy
The presenter is Hollye Sangster
A quote from poet and critic Mark Waldron from the Offord Road website is recreated in part in this edition of the podcast.

You can follow Ella Frears on twitter where she posts as https://twitter.com/EllaFrears

Ella Frears is published by the excellent Offord Road Books who also publish Will Burns who was featured in an earlier edition of this podcast.
You can follow Offord Road on twitter here
https://twitter.com/OffordRoadBooks
and visit their website here
https://www.offordroadbooks.co.uk/
You can purchase Shine Darling, Ella's acclaimed new poetry collection from which these poems are taken directly from Offord Road via this address

This has been the third in our series of short podcasts featuring female poets from Cornwall.

You can listen to the Sarah Cave edition here
https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/3662434-sarah-cave-poetry

And the Mary J Oliver podcast here
https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/3755186-mary-j-oliver-and-cornwall

Still to come in the series Lesley Hale and Angela Stoner.

Please subscribe to hear these and all our other content the moment it is released

The Seeing Trees

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 06:00:00 +0100

In the forests of Scandinavia a family is besieged by a malicious raven which watches and follows them everywhere they go. How will they escape from this curse and at what cost? The Seeing Trees is a dark nordic mystery with elements of violence, peril, horror, language and elements that some listeners may find disturbing. Please do not listen if you object to any of the above.

In the Seeing Trees By Kaitlin Felix…

Charlie Richards played Trygve
Lewie Watson was Harleif
Tiffany Clare was Mother
Amy Forrest played Freja
Chris Gregory was Magnus and Townsman
Annika Kordes played Townswoman 1
Karen Cooper played Townswoman 2

The incantation was performed by Charlie Richards, Tiffany Clare, Kaitlin Felix and Chris Gregory with coaching, support and counselling by Kaitlin!

Original music and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory

The Seeing Trees was adapted from her original short story by Kaitlin Felix and Chris Gregory

The presenter is Kelli Winkler

You can find out more about Kaitlin Felix and read more of her work by visiting her website www.katifelix.com or following her on twitter where she posts as https://twitter.com/KatiGirl90

If you have enjoyed this edition and haven’t yet subscribed to the podcast you can do so in apple podcasts, spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Once you’ve subscribed you’ll have all future editions of Alternative Stories delivered to your podcast feed the moment they are released. If you would leave us a rating and review and perhaps recommend us to a friend we would be very grateful

We have more drama coming soon with “The Lake Isle”, a psychological drama which examines the ways in which we communicate in the digital age, “The Bomb”, a sci fi drama by Emily Inkpen and a follow up to our drama “The Out-of-Towners Club” by Jackie Jorgenson and Mary MacDonald. We’ll also have more poetry from Ella Frears Angela Stoner and Lesley Hale in our Cornish Poets season.

You heard a trailer for Sane Time Sane Place, the new podcast by Phoebe Batteson-Brown and Miztli Rose of Ladylikes https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sane-time-sane-place/

Raven

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 06:00:00 +0100

This edition is called Raven. It features the short story "The Raven's Call" by Charis McRoberts and a preview of The Seeing Trees, our forthcoming audio drama which features a raven. This podcast also includes interviews with Charis McRoberts, Kaitlin Felix author of "The Seeing Trees" and Amy Forrest.

The Raven's Call is written and performed by Charis McRoberts with music by Chris Gregory. It is reproduced with Charis' permission.

The Seeing Trees trailer features the voices of Lewie Watson, Tiffany Clare, Charlie Richards and Amy Forrest. The Seeing Trees is written by Kaitlin Felix and will be published on the podcast on Friday 4th June. You can also hear a short interview with Kaitlin

We also reproduce an interview from the BBC's Podcast Radio Hour in which Amy Forrest talks about the ways in which Alternative Stories has adapted to the Covid 19 pandemic. This is the full version of a piece which was truncated for the BBC broadcast.

Sound design, music and mixing are by Chris Gregory. Music is published by Scared Crow Music.

The presenter in this edition of the podcast is Kelli Winkler

Find out more about Charis McRoberts by following her on social media where she posts as https://twitter.com/CharisMcRoberts

Find out more about Kaitlin Felix by following her on twitter https://twitter.com/KatiGirl90 and at her website https://katifelix.com/

You can follow Amy Forrest on Twitter https://twitter.com/amyforrest26

Join us for The Seeing Trees, the full audio drama in our next podcast.

Sound Design and Music for Audio Drama

Fri, 29 May 2020 06:00:00 +0100

In part 3 of our series on creating audio drama we discuss sound design and music with guests Hedley Knights from We Fix Space Junk, Daniel French from Fishbonius Sound Design and the Chronosphere Fiction Podcast, Richard Campbell from Red Valley, John Bartmann of the How I Make Music podcast and Chris Gregory of Alternative Stories and Fake Realities.

If you've ever wanted to get into creating audio drama this podcast will help you master the basic skills of sound design and editing you'll need to learn. We also hope that established sound designers and composers will find plenty to enjoy and learn in this podcast.

You heard clips from the following shows in this podcast

We Fix Space Junk
Red Valley
Chronosphere Fiction
Alternative Stories and Fake Realities
You also heard the track " Heart of Acceptance" by John Bartmann

All extracts and clips are provided by the contributors and are used with their permission. They may not be reproduced except with the owner's consent.

Follow our contributors on social media and listen to their shows here

Hedley Knights https://twitter.com/Hedley_K
Hedley's production company : Battle Bird https://twitter.com/BattleBirdProd
and We Fix Space Junk https://twitter.com/WeFixSpaceJunk
Listen and by We Fix Space Junk merch here https://battlebird.productions/

Daniel French https://twitter.com/Fishbonius
Chronosphere Fiction https://twitter.com/ChronosphereFi1
Listen to Chronosphere Fiction here http://chronosphere.podbean.com/

Richard Campbell
Red Valley Podcast https://twitter.com/RedValleyPod
Listen to Red Valley here https://pod.link/redvalley

John Bartmann https://twitter.com/johnisthemusic
Website and podcast http://johnbartmann.com/music/

Chris Gregory
Alternative Stories and Fake Realities https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt

Sound design and mixing in this edition were by Chris Gregory
The Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Theme music is by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music
The presenter in this edition is Kelli Winkler

Selkie

Fri, 22 May 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Selkie is an original audio drama by Signe Maene. Selkies are mythical creatures from northern European folklore. Seals that can transform to human form by shedding their skin they are particularly prevalent in Scottish folklore . In our story, Andrew discovers a selkie whilst walking on the beach near his home. He immediately falls in love aiming to make the selkie his wife.

In Selkie by Signe Maene the parts were played as follows

Sophie Macnair as The Selkie
Lewie Watson as Andrew
Simone Low as Andrew's Mother
Kelsey Griffin as a Selkie and singer of Ae Fond Kiss
Stevie Skinner as a Selkie

The music is arranged and performed by John Spiers based on the traditional folk tune "The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry"
"Ae Fond Kiss" (trad. with lyrics by Robert Burns) is performed by Kelsey Griffin
Additional music and soundscapes are by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music

Sound effects are from Freesound.org
Sound mixing and editing are by Chris Gregory
The presenter in this edition is Kelli Winkler

Signe Maene is a Belgian writer, academic and folklore specialist. You can follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/MaeneSigne and view her website at https://signemaene.com/

John Spiers is a folk musician and player of many squeezebox style instruments. You can follow him on twitter at https://twitter.com/squeezyjohn and view his website here https://squeezyjohn.com/. Follow John's YouTube channel to see and hear him in action https://www.youtube.com/user/squeezyjohn1

Follow Alternative Stories on Twitter at https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
On Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
And contact us directly via office@alternativestories.com

Selkie Preview

Tue, 19 May 2020 14:00:00 +0100

In this short bonus edition we preview our forthcoming audio drama Selkie by Signe Maene. We talk to Signe herself and to Sophie Macnair who plays the selkie in our story. We also hear from John Spiers, the folk musician who performs the theme music for the drama.

In this edition you heard the voices of
Signe Maene
Sophie Macnair
John Spiers
Simone Low
Lewie Watson
Kelsey Griffin

If you would like to find out more about Signe Maene and her other work please visit her website https://signemaene.com/
You can also follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/MaeneSigne
and on instagram https://www.instagram.com/signemaene/?hl=en

If you'd like to find out more about John Spiers and his various projects please visit his website https://squeezyjohn.com/
follow him on twitter https://twitter.com/squeezyjohn
and subscribe to his YouTube channel here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJHIyrMTAG9ZiE_AtnJRcZg

You can follow Sophie Macnair on twitter here https://twitter.com/liloldsoph

If you'd like to see the video version of the trailer included in this podcast you can visit the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKUqSlCAsOnOWU0eIMANScA

Mary J Oliver and Cornwall

Fri, 15 May 2020 06:00:00 +0100

In this edition, the second in our series featuring women poets from Cornwall in the South West of England, we feature the work of Mary J Oliver. We also look at Cornwall itself and its enduring influence on artists, writers and poets with presenter Hollye Sangster.

The poems featured in this podcast are

"To the uninhabited Island of Cara" read by Tiffany Clare with music and soundscape by Chris Gregory
"Torso to Torso" read by Tiffany Clare
"Undressing the Dead" and "Play to Win" both read by Piers Owen with music by Judith Bailey performed by Deborah Came (piano)
"NGO Lunch Break : Accra" read by Jade Matthew with music and soundscape by Chris Gregory

Some of the poems in this podcast are included in Mary's 2019 book "Jim Neat : The Case of a Young Man Down on His Luck" which is published by Seren Books

We would like to thank Mary J Oliver for her help and cooperation in the making of this podcast and for her ongoing support of our podcast.

The presenter in today's edition is Hollye Sangster with additional contributions from Kelli Winkler

Sound effects used in this podcast were from Freesound.org

If you would like to find out more about Mary J Oliver please follow her on twitter https://twitter.com/mjoliver4

and to read more about Mary and her book, "Jim Neat" (the subject of a previous Alternative Stories Podcast) please click here https://www.jimneat.com/

You can purchase "Jim Neat" directly from Seren Books by clicking here https://www.serenbooks.com/

A Memory of Robin

Mon, 11 May 2020 06:00:00 +0100

A Memory of Robin is an audio drama from writer David Green. It tells the story of Gem, the daughter of a woman called Robin whose last few days of life we follow through extracts from her voice diary as she seeks to escape the confines of an increasingly oppressive and totalitarian government.

In A Memory of Robin by David Green characters were played as follows:

Robin - Jackie Jorgenson
Gem, her daughter - Abby Hilden
The Voice of the Nation - Kelli Winkler

A Memory of Robin was based on the short story of the same name by David Green. Additional material and adaptation were by Chris Gregory.

Original music was composed and performed by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music
Sound design ,editing and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory
Sound effects were from Freesound.org

The presenter was Kelli Winkler

Find out more about David Green by following him on twitter https://twitter.com/DavidpGreen83
And visit his website www.davidgreenwritercom.wordpress.com
And facebook https://www.facebook.com/davidgreenwriter/

Be Warned: Episode contains swearing and references to suicide

Sarah Cave Poetry

Fri, 08 May 2020 06:00:00 +0100

In the first of a series of short podcasts featuring female poets from the county of Cornwall in the extreme south west of England we feature Sarah Cave and her poem cycle The Eidolon Triptych. Poems are read by Jade Matthew with music and soundscapes by Chris Gregory

The Eidolon Triptych is written by Sarah Cave and performed here with her full permission and cooperation.

The soundscapes used in this edition are published by Scared Crow Music and sound effects are from Freesound.Org.

The presenter in this edition is Kelli Winkler

If you would like to find out more about Sarah Cave please follow her on twitter where she posts as https://twitter.com/campanilecave

You can find more of Sarah's work at https://www.knivesforksandspoonspress.co.uk/ and, as mentioned in the podcast, at https://www.guillemotpress.co.uk/

We'll be featuring more women poets from Cornwall on the podcast soon. These will include, Mary J Oliver, Ella Frears, Lesley Hale and Angela Stoner. Please subscribe to hear these editions and our other content.

Voice Acting Special

Mon, 04 May 2020 06:00:00 +0100

In this special edition presented by Amy Forrest we look at the techniques, equipment and training you'll need to make a career as a voice actor by talking to a number of actors who have made the switch successfully. Our actors come from a variety of backgrounds ranging from stage and screen to podcasts and commercial voiceover work and each provides insight and advice for prospective new voice talent. We particularly hope that actors whose careers have been put on hold by coronavirus, like our presenter Amy, can find useful advice to set themselves up to do voice work.

Our guests are :

Amy Forrest https://twitter.com/amyforrest26
Kirsty Woolven https://twitter.com/kirstywoolven
Jade Matthew https://twitter.com/jade_matthew
Alan Mandel https://twitter.com/alan_mandel
Saya Zahawi https://twitter.com/SayaZahawi
Maddy Searle https://twitter.com/maddy_abstract
Tiffany Clare https://twitter.com/TiffanyEclair
Charlie Richards https://twitter.com/CharlieDTR
Sarah Golding https://twitter.com/SarahofGolding
Kelli Winkler https://twitter.com/KelliWinkler

A number of podcasts are mentioned in the show and here are links to a selection of them

https://twitter.com/Y2Kpod in which Kirsty and Maddy both appear
https://twitter.com/ArrivalsPod created by and starring Kirsty
https://twitter.com/PrickwillowPod created by and starring Maddy
https://twitter.com/RedValleyPod which features Alan Mandel
https://twitter.com/MadivaP is Sarah Golding's podcast about voice acting
http://quirkyvoicespresents.buzzsprout.com/199207 Sarah Golding's podcast about women's health

Amy, Kirsty, Jade, Saya, Maddy, Tiffany. Charlie and Kelli all appear in Alternative Stories and Fake Realities

You heard clips from Alternative Stories and Fake Realities, The Prickwillow Papers and Red Valley. We would like to thank Maddy, Alan and the creators of Red Valley for allowing us to use these clips.

All recommendations for equipment, software, courses and teachers are the preferences of our guests and do not necessarily represent the views of Alternative Stories and Fake Realities. This podcast cannot be held responsible for these recommendations and individuals should always do their own research before purchasing any equipment mentioned in this podcast.

Historical Audio Drama

Fri, 01 May 2020 06:00:00 +0100

In this edition we explore podcasts producing historical audio drama. In a medium dominated by Sci Fi we look at some podcasters telling stories from the past and their inspiration and methods for doing this.

We feature Jill Korn from L'Histoire Audio, Christopher Knighton and Debbi Christophers from Lottie's Diary and Jackie Jorgenson of Shared Manifest Entertainment, the production company behind Tales from the Aether.

You can hear original music by David Simpson (theme to Confessional) and Chris Gregory (Kyna's Theme from The Witch of Rockwood Cove)

In our trailer for the upcoming Alternative Stories and Fake Realities audio drama "Selkie" by Signe Maene you heard the voices of Sophie Macnair, Lewie Watson and Simone Lowe with music by John Spiers.

The Presenter in this edition is Kelli Winkler

To listen to L'Historie Audio please visit https://www.jillkorn.com/audio-drama
And follow Jill and her team on social media at https://twitter.com/LHistoireAudio

To listen to Lottie's Diary you can visit https://anchor.fm/lottie-fisher
And say hello on social media https://twitter.com/LottieSdiary

And to listen to The Witch of Rockwood Cover go to https://anchor.fm/talesfromtheaether
and to follow Jackie Jorgenson and Shared Manifest on twitter https://twitter.com/SharedManifest

Very Short Stories

Mon, 27 Apr 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Very Short Stories : A Microfiction Special With Charlotte O'Farrell

Very short stories and microfiction are terms for tiny pieces of writing that can tell an entire tale in a small number of words. On twitter the hashtag #VSS365 is used to signify these stories told in a single tweet. A skilled proponent of VSS is British writer Charlotte O'Farrell who joins us on the podcast today. We have worked with Charlotte to turn some of her stories in Alt Stories episodes for the Listen Rinse Repeat podcast which is promoting handwashing during the Covid 19 crisis by putting out tiny episodes timed to ensure a good handwash (20 - 40 seconds) and to keep listeners entertained while they clean. Charlotte talks about the VSS phenomenon and why she loves it and provides some tips for writers wishing to have a go. We also feature writing from Victoria J Price, Lena Stone, Mark Anthony Smith and Natalie Reilly Johnson

In this edition you can hear the voices of
Saya Zahawi
Maddy Searle
Daffyd Morse
Joy Hayward
Simone Lowe
Annabelle Broad

Our presenter is Kelli Winkler and our special guest is Charlotte O'Farrell

If you'd like to find out more about our writers please follow them on social media Charlotte O'Farrell. https://twitter.com/ChaOFarrell
Victoria J Price https://twitter.com/victoria_jprice
Natalie Reilly Johnson https://twitter.com/nreillyjohnson
Mark Anthony Smith https://twitter.com/MarkAnthonySm16

if you'd like to know more about the Listen Rinse Repeat podcast follow it on social media here https://twitter.com/Podcast_LRR
And Listen/ subscribe here http://listenrinserepeat.libsyn.com/website

We would like to thank all our contributors and especially Charlotte O'Farrell for their time in helping to make this podcast.

Ladylikes in Lockdown

Fri, 24 Apr 2020 06:00:00 +0100

This week we bring you comedy sketches and conversation from Phoebe and Miztli of the acclaimed sketch comedy duo Ladylikes. Recording separately in lockdown they talk cats, shopping, growing vegetables, working from home, daytime TV and the best and worst aspects of lockdown.

Ladylikes in Lockdown is written and performed by Phoebe Batteson Brown and Miztli Rose

The presenter is Annabelle Broad and sound mixing and editing are by Chris Gregory

If you'd like to find out more about Ladylikes please check out their website https://ladylikescomedy.wixsite.com/ladylikes

And their youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcsGb6376GeVJLrqVx1QfkQ

And follow them on twitter https://twitter.com/LADYLIKESCOMEDY
and facebook Ladylikes - Home | Facebook

Audio Drama Creators : Special Edition

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 13:00:00 +0100

In this special edition we look at the techniques, processes and practicalities of creating audio drama with the creators of some of the best and most exciting drama podcasts out there. We discuss writing, casting, working with actors, directing and recording as well as the touchy subject of monetising your show.

Our guests are
David S. Dear of A Ninth World Journal
Karin Heimdahl of the Y2k Audio Drama
Jackie Jorgenson of Tales From the Aether
and Oscar and Jade Wenman-Hyde of Conversations: An Original Audio Drama

Our presenters are Kelly Winkler and Amy Forrest
Music and sound design are by Chris Gregory

Find out more about our guests and their podcasts by checking these links

A Ninth World Journal ninthworldjournal.com
https://twitter.com/9thWorldJournal
Y2k Y2Kpod.com
https://twitter.com/Y2Kpod
Tales From The Aether https://anchor.fm/talesfromtheaether
https://twitter.com/SharedManifest
Conversations https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/conversations-an-original-audio-drama/id1502764717
https://twitter.com/ojscriptwriters

And find Listen, Rinse, Repeat here https://listenrinserepeatpodcast.com/
https://twitter.com/Podcast_LRR

Listen out for our future edition on the art, skills, techniques and technicalities of voice acting which features today's presenter Amy Forrest

Sarah Corbett : The Witch Bag

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 06:00:00 +0100

The Witch Bag is a poetry collection by Sarah Corbett. Originally published in 2002, 18 years on we review and reimagine the collection assessing its impact as art and on the life and career of Sarah as a poet.

The narration is by Sarah Corbett herself and readings are by Jade Matthew, Tiffany Clare and Amy Forrest

The Witch Bag read by Jade Matthew
Green Rose read by Tiffany Clare
Black Crow Woman read by Jade Matthew
To the Spider read by Tiffany Clare
Spook read by Tiffany Clare
First Light read by Amy Forrest
Eclipse read by Amy Forrest
Cornwall 1974 read by Amy Forrest
Starfish read by Amy Forrest
Sculpture: Girl Standing read by Tiffany Clare

Music, soundscapes and sound design by Chris Gregory

The presenters in this edition are Kelli Winkler and Annabelle Broad

The Witch Bag is published by Seren Books and we thank them for their assistance in the making of this podcast.

You can purchase a copy of The Witch Bag from https://www.serenbooks.com/
and from Amazon.

Follow Sarah Corbett on social media at https://twitter.com/sarahcorbett70 for details about her other poetry collections and her upcoming novel.

Follow Seren on social media https://twitter.com/SerenBooks and https://www.instagram.com/serenbooks/

Lockdown Diaries : Rachel Lightfoot

Mon, 13 Apr 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Rachel Lightfoot is a comedian, poet and blogger from Sheffield, South Yorkshire and in this short episode she shares her thoughts, fears, observations and ideas about isolation alongside a couple of her poems.

Script written and performed by Rachel Lightfoot
Poems "Too Much Girl" and "The Fanatic" by Rachel Lightfoot with soundscapes by Chris Gregory

Sound design by Chris Gregory
Sound effects from freesound.org
Original sound recordings by Rachel Lightfoot

Find and follow Rachel on social media
https://twitter.com/Rachel_L_Poet
https://www.instagram.com/lightfoot_rachel/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbmRmb6terR-VW9EQKdk1gQ

This episode contains some strong language and mild sexual references

The Angel's Calling Part 4

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 06:00:00 +0100

"The End of The Beginning ", Part 4 of the Angel's Calling by Victoria J.Price, a fantasy audio drama miniseries from the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast.

Earth's parallel world, Ohinyan is home to angels, witches and magical creatures but an impending disaster in the world means that some of these beings are visiting Earth to seek help.

Narrator : Tiffany Clare
Fia Aldridge : Annabelle Broad
Sophie: Kirsty Woolven
Hazel: Maddy Searle
Alexander : Charlie Richards
The Lady Noor : Saya Zahawi
Teenage Girl : Joy Hayward
The Waiter : Chris Gregory

Other parts were played by members of the cast

Music and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music

Sound effects were from Freesound.org

The presenter is Kelli Winkler

The Angel’s Calling is adapted from her original novella by Victoria J Price and published with the author’s full permission and cooperation.

Find out more about Victoria J Price by following her on social media
https://twitter.com/victoria_jprice
https://www.instagram.com/victoriajprice/
and on her website https://victoriajprice.com/

In this edition we ran trailers for two new shows. Find out more about them and listen here

Tales From the Aether "The Witch of Rockwood Cove"
Twitter https://twitter.com/SharedManifest
Listen here : https://anchor.fm/talesfromtheaether

Conversations : An Audio Drama
Twitter : https://twitter.com/ojscriptwriters
Listen here : https://open.spotify.com/show/3Y6wWMtWcl5ouxXqvNQLD7?si=T3ncPETFRcWiCBFStpWTSg

Sarra Culleno Poetry

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 06:00:00 +0100

In this short extra edition of the podcast we bring you two poems from British poet Sarra Culleno.

The pomes featured are Green Man and Clearing up After Children

Our presenter and reader in this edition is Annabelle Broad
Poems are by Sarra Culleno
Sound design, editing and original music by Chris Gregory
Sound effects (birdsong) is from Freesound.org

London born and Manchester based, Sarra Culleno is a poet, mother of two and English teacher who is widely published and performs at poetry events across the UK. She writes about children’s rights, motherhood, identity, gender, age, technology, the environment, politics, modern monogamy and education. She features in numerous podcasts, radio shows, and literary festivals as Featured Poet. She was longlisted for the Cinnamon Press Pamphlet Prize.

Find Sarra online here
https://twitter.com/sarra1978
https://www.instagram.com/sarracullenopoetry/
https://www.facebook.com/sarracullenopoetry
ttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOXQq5kcpq5hhOZBvA0T_Ag
Sarra1978@hotmail.com

All poems are copyright Sarra Culleno and are performed here with the express permission of Sarra.

The Angel's Calling Part 3

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 06:00:00 +0100

"The Witches' Secret", Part 3 of the Angel's Calling by Victoria J.Price, a fantasy audio drama miniseries from the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast.

Part 4 https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/3299698-the-angel-s-calling-part-4

Earth's parallel world, Ohinyan is home to angels, witches and magical creatures but an impending disaster in the world means that some of these beings are visiting Earth to seek help.

Narrator : Tiffany Clare
Fia Aldridge and Runa : Annabelle Broad
Sophie: Kirsty Woolven
Hazel: Maddy Searle
Alexander : Charlie Richards
The Lady Noor : Saya Zahawi
Teenage Girl : Joy Hayward
The Waiter : Chris Gregory
Other parts were played by members of the cast

Music and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music

Sound effects were from Freesound.org

The presenter is Kelli Winkler

Artists in Isolation

Mon, 30 Mar 2020 06:00:00 +0100

Artists in Isolation is a special edition of the podcast looking at the ways in which artists can adapt their working lives and creative processes to cope with the isolation caused by the Covid 19 crisis. It features actor Jade Matthew, folk musician John Spiers and writer, blogger and podcaster Christina Castaneda.

We would like to thank Jade, John and Christina for their time in writing and recording their pieces. Please listen out for Jade and John in future editions of the podcast.

The presenters in this edition are Kelli Winkler and Annabelle Broad

Find out more about our guests below:

Jade Matthew
https://twitter.com/jade_matthew
https://www.instagram.com/jade.matthew/
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5242037/

John Spiers
https://twitter.com/squeezyjohn
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJHIyrMTAG9ZiE_AtnJRcZg
https://squeezyjohn.com/

Christina Castaneda
https://www.instagram.com/savvycreativechristina/
https://www.facebook.com/savvycreativechristina/
https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-savvy-creative-christina-castaneda-RxiZjsNUnqY/

The Angel's Calling Part 2

Fri, 27 Mar 2020 06:00:00 +0000

"Alexander's Mission", Part 2 of the Angel's Calling by Victoria J.Price, a fantasy audio drama miniseries from the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast.

Part 3 https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/3214291-the-angel-s-calling-part-3

Earth's parallel world, Ohinyan is home to angels, witches and magical creatures but an impending disaster in the world means that some of these beings are visiting Earth to seek help.

Narrator : Tiffany Clare
Fia Aldridge : Annabelle Broad
Jo : Kirsty Woolven
Hazel: Maddy Searle
Alexander : Charlie Richards
The Lady Noor : Saya Zahawi
Student Advisor : Tanya O'Sullivan
The Dying Woman : Annika Kordes
The Homeless Man: Chris Gregory
Other parts were played by members of the cast

Music and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music

Sound effects were from Freesound.org

The presenter is Kelli Winkler

The Angel’s Calling is adapted from her original novella by Victoria J Price and published with the author’s full permission and cooperation.

Find out more about Victoria J Price by following her on social media
https://twitter.com/victoria_jprice
https://www.instagram.com/victoriajprice/
and on her website https://victoriajprice.com/

We featured a trailer for Cheyenne Bramwell's new podcast Word Wonk. You can find out more by visiting the links below
Twitter:https://twitter.com/WordWonkPod
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/wordwonkpod/ Website:https://www.cheyennebramwell.com/word-wonk-pod Email:WordWonkPod@gmail.com

And find out more about Listen, Rinse, Repeat by visiting the website
http://listenrinserepeat.libsyn.com/

The Angel's Calling Part 1

Fri, 20 Mar 2020 06:00:00 +0000

"The Girl and the Angel", Part 1 of the Angel's Calling by Victoria J.Price, a fantasy audio drama miniseries from the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast.

Part 2 https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/3133174-the-angel-s-calling-part-2

Earth's parallel world, Ohinyan is home to angels, witches and magical creatures but an impending disaster in the world means that some of these beings are visiting Earth to seek help.

Narrator : Tiffany Clare
Fia Aldridge : Annabelle Broad
Sophie Aldridge and Jo : Kirsty Woolven
Alexander : Charlie Richards
Paramedic : Tanya O'Sullivan
Nurse : Karen Cooper
Hazel: Maddy Searle

Music and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music

Sound effects were from Freesound.org and from BBC Sound Effects

The presenter is Kelli Winkler

Fantasy

Fri, 13 Mar 2020 06:00:00 +0000

"This Rough Magic I Abjure" by Ruthanne Reid plus a preview of our new fantasy miniseries "The Angel's Callling" by Victoria J Price and news of the UK International Radio Drama Festival at which our drama "No Words" will be featured.

"This Rough Magic I Abjure" by Ruthanne Reid features her character Grey who also appears in her novella "String". Follow Ruthanne on twitter for more details https://twitter.com/RuthanneReid
Grey - Chris Gregory
"The Throne" - Joy Hayward
Music and soundscape by Chris Gregory
Extract from The Tempest, Act 5, Scene 1 by William Shakespeare read by Chris Gregory

In the preview of "The Angel's Calling" by Victoria J Price you can hear the voices of Tiffany Clare, Annabelle Broad, Kirsty Woolven, Saya Zahawi, Charlie Richards, and Maddy Searle. Original music score by Chris Gregory

In the excerpt from "No Words" which originally appeared in our Daphne and Apollo edition (June 2019) you ca hear the voices of Tiffany Clare and Charlie Richards. The original music score is by Chris Gregory.
Find more about the UK International Radio Drama Festival by following the festival's twitter account here https://twitter.com/radiodramafest

The presenter is Kelli Winkler

Follow us on social media : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt and https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Flash Fiction

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 06:00:00 +0000

In this episode we feature flash fiction from 4 British Writers. All 4 stories have as a theme parents or parenthood.

"The Bear" by Mark Anthony Smith is read by Tanya O'Sullivan
"Sorry" by Della McEwen is read by Afia Yale
"She's my Mum" by Lena Stone is read by Joy Hayward
"Father, Son" by Siobhian R.Hodges is read by Dafydd Morse

The presenter is Kelli Winkler
Original music and soundscapes are by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music
Sound effects are from freesound.org

"The Bear" was originally published by the online literary journal “Nymphs” which we highly recommend. You can find it at nymphspublications.com

Follow our writers and read more of their work
https://twitter.com/MarkAnthonySm16
https://twitter.com/DellaTheWriter
https://twitter.com/SiobhianAuthor

And follow the podcast at https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt and https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Peter Finch :The Machineries of Joy

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 06:00:00 +0000

This edition we feature poetry from Peter Finch. His new collection, "The Machineries of Joy" is published by Seren Books on 17th February. We feature 9 poems from the collection in the podcast

The Road West
The RoadWest #2
Hendrix Island
Clarksdale
Ty Draw
First Hearing Bob Dylan "Baby Let Me Follow You Down"
Boots
The Machineries of Joy
ABC of Birds

Our readers are Gavin Duff, Dafydd Morse, Nerys Howell and Chris Gregory
Soundscapes created by Chris Gregory
The Presenters are Nerys Howell and Kelli Winkler
Sound effects are from freesound.org

You can find out more about Peter Finch by visiting www.peterfinch.co.uk and about Seren Books by visiting www.serenbooks.com

Nerys Howell is the writer and presenter of Seren, a new audio drama podcast which we highly recommend.

Into the Glasshouse

Fri, 07 Feb 2020 06:00:00 +0000

In "Into the Glasshouse" by Nicole Matta a young woman embarks on a journey of self discovery and finds herself becoming involved with a group of artists, musicians and poets in New York's East Village

This is an excerpt from the forthcoming novel of the same name by Nicole Matta.

Babydoll : Abigail Reno
The Musician : Miguel Antonio
Joel : Chris Gregory
Eva : Kelli Winkler
Other parts are played by members of the cast.

The Presenter is Kelli Winkler

Original music is by Chris Gregory and Miguel Antonio and published by Scared Crow Music
Sound effects are from Freesound.org

Find out more about Nicole Matta by visiting https://nicolematta.com/

And visit her on twitter https://twitter.com/NovemberHume

and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coleygirl23/

For more on Abigail Reno visit https://www.abigailreno.com/

There are sexual and drug references in this podcast : Please be advised.

Like Tying a Shoelace

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Like Tying a Shoelace by Sonia Rosa Ciocca is a short drama looking at the options we have in our lives and how our futures could be different based on the choices we make.

Like Tying a Shoelace is based on a short story by Sonia Rosa Ciocca

The woman is played by Abby Hilden, the man by Miguel Antonio

The presenter is Kelli Winkler

Original music and soundscapes are by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music

If you enjoyed this story please check out more by Sonia Rosa Ciocca please visit her website https://soniarosawrites.com/ where you can find Shoelace" and more excellent stories.
Please also visit her on social media where she posts as @soniarosawrites on both instagram and twitter

If you enjoyed this podcast please subscribe to Alternative Stories and Fake Realities in your favourite podcast app and follow us on social media

We post as https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt and https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Wayfaring Stranger

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Wayfaring Stranger by Caroline Mincks contemplates the end of everything through a simple folk tune passed down through the generations of one family. Part reminiscence, part warning, this is a story brilliantly written and told.

Wayfaring Stranger is Number 5 in our series of Farewell Monologues

Written and performed by Caroline Mincks
Original music score and soundscapes by Chris Gregory
The presenter is Kelli Winkler
The singer of the first version of Wayfaring Stranger is Anjy Hall
Sound effects are from freesound.org

We are social on

https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Caroline Mincks
https://twitter.com/saucymincks

Review, preview and Writer Invitation

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 06:00:00 +0000

In this first episode of the year we look back at our the content from our first season and preview some of the new stories we'll be producing in 2020. We also offer an invitation to new writers, poets and dramatists to submit their work for consideration for being included in the podcast.

Submissions should be sent to office@alternativestories.com

In this episode you can hear the voices of Catharine Daddario, Tiffany Clare, Charlie Richards, Jackie Jorgenson, Abby Hilden, Saya Zahawi, Miguel Antonio and Mary MacDonald.

Writers are Chris Gregory, Jackie Jorgenson Mary J Oliver and Mary MacDonald

The presenters are Kelli Winkler and Chris Gregory
Music and soundtrack are by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music

The Out-of-Towners Club

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 15:00:00 +0000

It's not all fun and parties when you have to spend Christmas away from your friends and family. For our Christmas edition we meet some of the members of the Out of Towners Club as they plan for Christmas in New York City.

Dan - Miguel Antonio
Jack - Charlie Richards
Jessica - Tiffany Clare
Allison - Mary McDonald
Jenny - Jackie Jorgenson
Adam - Josh Winkler
Kylie - Caroline Mincks
Kelli - Kelli Winkler

The Out Of Towners Club was written by Jackie Jorgenson, Mary McDonald, Kelli Winkler and Chris Gregory with additional material by Miguel Antonio and Caroline Mincks
The presenter is Kelli Winkler
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen was arranged and performed by Chris Gregory and Anjy Hall
Sound effects and non-copyright music elements are from freesound.org
The Alternative Stories theme tune is written by Chris Gregory and published by Scared Crow Music.

Mary J Oliver : Jim Neat

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Jim Neat : The Case of a Young Man Down on his Luck by Mary J. Oliver.

In this edition of the podcast we adapt extracts from Mary J Oliver's memoir / travelogue / poetry collection about her father, Jim Neat, a hobo in depression era Canada. This edition of the podcast also includes some information about our forthcoming writer submission requests which will be going out in January.

Poetry Readers : Tiffany Clare, Charlie Richards, Mary J Oliver
Diary Readers : Jackie Jorgenson, Tiffany Clare, Charlie Richards
Narration and presenting : Tiffany Clare and Kelli Winkler
Wayfaring Stranger sung by Caroline Mincks
Original music score written and performed by Chris Gregory

Jim Neat : The Case of a Young Man Down on his Luck is published by Seren Books. We would like to thank Seren for their cooperation and support in making this podcast.

Anglia : Part 4

Fri, 06 Dec 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Anglia Part Four : Endings

A storm is gathering as Rachel and David head out to sea with the mysterious Davies. Millie and Laura are trying to find Rachel while Awira's fate lies in the balance.

The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe. In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries. This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the final part of Anglia

Millie: Tiffany Clare
Rachel : Jackie Jorgenson
Awira : Saya Zahawi
David : Charlie Richards
Laura : Catharine Daddario
Willa : Kelli Winkler
Other parts : Chris Gregory
Presenter : Kelli Winkler
Music written and performed : Chris Gregory
Sound effects : Freesound.org
ANN News Jingle : Stonefree

Please visit https://alternativestories.com/ for more information about Anglia and our other productions
Please also check us out on social media : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt and https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

A press kit for Anglia is available on request from office@alternativestories.com

Anglia: Part 3

Fri, 29 Nov 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Anglia Part Three : Shadows

Journalist Rachel Woods' investigation into the ongoing migrant crisis continues with help from Millie. Meanwhile, Kurdish migrant Awira and her friends are starting to feel the net tighten around them. What can Rachel and Millie do to help?

The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe. In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries. This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the third of four parts.

Millie: Tiffany Clare
Rachel : Jackie Jorgenson
Awira : Saya Zahawi
David : Charlie Richards
Laura : Catharine Daddario
Willa : Kelli Winkler
Other parts : Chris Gregory
Presenter : Kelli Winkler
Music written and performed : Chris Gregory
Sound effects : Freesound.org
ANN News Jingle : Stonefree

Please visit https://alternativestories.com/ for more information about Anglia and our other productions
Please also check us out on social media : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt and https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

A press kit for Anglia is available on request from office@alternativestories.com

Anglia : Part Two

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Anglia Part Two : Migrants

Journalist Rachel Woods continues her investigation into the migrant crisis unfolding in a remote part of Eastern England. Meanwhile Millie meets Awira, a migrant trying to evade the British authorities.

The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe. In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries. This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the second of four parts.

Millie: Tiffany Clare
Rachel : Jackie Jorgenson
Awira : Saya Zahawi
David : Charlie Richards
Laura : Catharine Daddario
Willa : Kelli Winkler
Other parts : Chris Gregory
Presenter : Kelli Winkler
Music written and performed : Chris Gregory
Sound effects : Freesound.org
ANN News Jingle : Stonefree

Please visit https://alternativestories.com/ for more information about Anglia and our other productions
Please also check us out on social media : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt and https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

A press kit for Anglia is available on request from office@alternativestories.com

Anglia Part One

Fri, 15 Nov 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Anglia part One : Arrivals

The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe. In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries. This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the first of four parts.

Millie: Tiffany Clare
Rachel : Jackie Jorgenson
Awira : Saya Zahawi
David : Charlie Richards
Laura : Catharine Daddario
Willa : Kelli Winkler
Other parts : Chris Gregory
Presenter : Kelli Winkler
Music written and performed : Chris Gregory
Sound effects : Freesound.org
ANN News Jingle : Stonefree

Please visit https://alternativestories.com/ for more information about Anglia and our other productions
Please also check us out on social media : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt and https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Farewell Monologue 5 : Eva

Fri, 08 Nov 2019 08:00:00 +0000

A novelist tries to come to terms with the process of finishing her novel and talks about the mixed emotions she feels about reaching this landmark. Written and performed by Jackie Jorgenson this humorous piece is dedicated to all writers and novelists and particularly to those participating in National Novel Writing Month 2019

This edition also includes a trailer for our forthcoming multi-part audio drama production, Anglia which will commence on 15th November.

Written and performed by Jackie Jorgenson
Music and sound design by Chris Gregory
Presented by Kelli Winkler
Sound effects from https://freesound.org/

Anglia Trailer : Voice: Charlie Richards Music and sound design: Chris Gregory

Find out more about Jackie Jorgenson by visiting her Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/JackieJorgensonActor/

Halloween Special

Tue, 29 Oct 2019 21:00:00 +0000

Alison Daniels is given a wind-up musical box to look after overnight. But what secrets does the box hold and why does it keep playing of its own accord? Our ghostly short story A Musical Box is read by Abigail Reno.

Reader : Abigail Reno
Presenter : Kelli Winkler
Original music, soundscape and writing by Chris Gregory
Whispers in the background!! : Cheyenne Bramwell

To find out more about Alternative Stories and Fake Realities please join us on social media
https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
and our website https://alternativestories.com/

Find out more about Abigail Reno by clicking here https://www.instagram.com/goblin_qveen/
and here https://www.facebook.com/abigailrenoaudio/
And you can listen to her podcast, Diary of An Old Soul here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diary-of-an-old-soul/id1475525295

Farewell Monologue 4: Fading Fires

Fri, 25 Oct 2019 15:00:00 +0100

In this edition poet Cheyenne Bramwell presents her long form poem Fading Fires which she performs herself. In the style of an epic poem, this work imagines a civilization, reeling from war and hardship and learning to live at peace once more.

Fading Fires written and performed by Cheyenne Bramwell
Music and soundscape by Chris Gregory
Sound effects by Freesounds.org
Presented by Kelli Winkler

Find out more about Cheyenne Bramwell and read more of her work by visiting her website
https://www.cheyennebramwell.com/

If you would like to know more about The Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast please visit https://alternativestories.com/

Farewell Monologue 3: Mojave

Fri, 18 Oct 2019 15:00:00 +0100

In this latest edition of our Farewell Monologues series of short episodes Chelsie Buckner, the poet known as Poems and Peonies, performs her verse story, Mojave. We also provide details on how writers, poets and dramatists can contribute to the podcast.

Mojave : Written and performed by Chelsie Buckner
Music : Written by Chris Gregory and performed by Chris Gregory, Anjy Hall, Cherish Burk and Al Jordan
Presenter : Kelli Winkler

Find out more about Chelsie and her work here https://www.instagram.com/poemsandpeonies/

For more information about the podcast please visit http://alternativestories.com/

Follow us on social media . https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt . https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Farewell Monologue 2 : Rainbows

Fri, 11 Oct 2019 15:00:00 +0100

In the second of our series of Farewell Monologues we take a look at bereavement through the eyes of our regular presenter, Kelli Winkler. The loss of a loved one is tough and a very individual experience. In this monologue Kelli gives us an insight into her experience of loss and the memories and feelings it provokes.

Kelli Winkler : Writer and performer
Tiffany Clare : Presenter
Music is written and performed by Chris Gregory
This podcast is dedicated to the memory of Judith Dale Hutchison

For more information on this podcast including biographies of our writers and actors please visit our website https://alternativestories.com/

Please also check us out on social media
Twitter https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Poetry Special

Fri, 04 Oct 2019 11:00:00 +0100

In our first poetry special edition of the podcast we feature the work of three poets: Will Burns, Chelsie Buckner and Julie Stevens.

The podcast is presented by Kelli Winkler and Chris Gregory
Will Burns @TroubledStriker on twitter
Chelsie Buckner @poemsandpeonies on instagram
and Julie Stevens @jumpingjulespoetry on twitter and instagram.

Find out more about the poets including further links at our website alternativestories.com and follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

Farewell Monologue 1 : Sarah

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 21:00:00 +0100

In the first of a series of mini episodes, Farewell Monologues, we explore departure, saying goodbye, endings and changes. In this monologue Abby Hilden is Sarah, a young woman leaving a relationship and contemplating lost time and an uncertain future.

Sarah : Abby Hilden
Presenter Kelli Winkler
Music and sound design : Chris Gregory

For more information visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
Follow us on Twitter : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

The Adults in the Room

Wed, 14 Aug 2019 17:00:00 +0100

Two cousins reunited after many years unearth a dark family secret that threatens to destroy their relationship. In a break from our theme of mythology we consider the ways in which different individuals can view the same set of events drawing vastly different conclusions. Strong language and sexual references. Listener discretion is advised.

Catharine Daddario : Veronica
Tiffany Clare : Amber
Nathan Powell : Sam
Kelli Winkler : Presenter
Chris Gregory : Music and Script
freesounds.org : sound effects
Find out more at alternativestories.com
Contact : office@alternativestories.com

"Porcelain" An Audio drama inspired by the story of Echo and Narcissus

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 16:00:00 +0100

Emily Horner, a talented singer songwriter struggles with confidence, anxiety and identity in our latest audio drama. Taking the name "Echo" as a mask to hide behind, Emily begins to make her way in the world of professional music. This episode stars singer songwriter Micah Cottingham (MICVH) as Echo and features some of her original music. This music is used with Micah's permission.

The Daphne and Apollo Episode

Fri, 28 Jun 2019 15:00:00 +0100

Continuing our theme of new writing based upon stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses (and from mythology in general) this episode features an audio drama and poem based on the myth of Daphne and Apollo. The audio drama "No Words" features Tiffany Clare as Naomi, Charlie Richards as Robert and Federico Foglia as The Museum Attendant. Narration is by Kelli Winkler and original music is by Chris Gregory.

For more information please visit alternativestories.com Please subscribe to hear past and future episodes.