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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 If you would like to enter the 2025 Pen to Print Audio Play Competition you need to be an unpublished audio drama writer and resident in the United Kingdom.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

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

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 [email protected]

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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 [email protected]

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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
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https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
or visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
Contact us by email at [email protected]

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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://x.com/TheWritersGymRK

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.

Contact us by email at [email protected]

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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 [email protected]

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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 [email protected]

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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 [email protected]

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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 [email protected]

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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 [email protected]
or visit our website here https://alternativestories.com/

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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

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 [email protected]
or visit our website here https://alternativestories.com/

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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 [email protected]
or visit our website here https://alternativestories.com/

Support the show