It’s been a rough year for the speculative fiction podcasting community, where many of my earlier stories first came to light. I’ve always liked these people, not just because they’ve provided outlets for my work, but because they truly love spec fic and often pour hours into what they do for absolute chump change, if any financial reward.

Earlier this year we lost P.G. Holyfield, nice guy, author, and a notable in the podcasting community. (FYI, Holyfield did some voice work on my tale “Tex’s Last Run”, on Variant Frequencies).

One of the first authors to see their flag raised as a result (in part) of the community’s collective efforts was Eugie Foster. Her fiction placed on many of the well-known podcasting outlets. The bulk of her work, the last I checked, was fantasy shorts, particularly those inspired by folklore. They weren’t for me, but that was purely a subjective decision–they just weren’t my kind of fiction. I liked her science fiction a lot more. “Oranges, Lemons, and Thou Beside Me” is my personal favorite among Eugie’s vast body of work. It’s a fantastic story. Go check it out.

In fact, check out whatever you can of Eugie’s. Because she was a great writer, and had a breathtaking talent for imagery. Read the rest of this entry →