PodCastle is the world’s first audio fantasy magazine. Weekly, we broadcast the best in fantasy short stories, running the gammut from heart-pounding sword and sorcery, to strange surrealist tales, to gritty urban fantasy, to the psychological depth of magical realism. Our podcast features authors including N.K. Jemisin, Peter S. Beagle, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Jim C. Hines, and Cat Rambo, among others. Terry Pratchett once wrote, “Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can.” Tune in to PodCastle each Tuesday for our weekly tale, and spend the length of a morning commute giving your imagination a work out.
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PodCastle 460, ARTEMIS RISING: The Settlement
by Wendi Dunlap
read by Kimberly Taylor
A PodCastle Original!
Rated R, for violence, adult themes.
They file out into the predawn chill before the rest of the settlement is awake. Cloaked by a thick fog and the still darkness of a waning night, they carry shovels and picks. Despite the high collars and low hats that conceal their faces, their attempts at anonymity are wasted. I recognize them instantly through the frost of the kitchen window, their layers of clothing stitched by my own hand or those of my brethren.
I see you Reverend John Able, Matthias Smith, Thomas Gore, William Roe and Matthew Surgeon. And God sees you too.
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Wendi Dunlap has been writing speculative fiction since she was seven-years-old. Drawn to the genre by the Arthurian legends and the epic traditions of Europe, she eventually found a home in the works of Octavia Butler and Tananarive Due. She credits the novels Wildseed and My Soul to Keep for opening her eyes to the potential of combining African mythology, history and culture into the fantastic sagas she enjoyed as a child.
Her writing career has spanned across film, journalism, poetry and cultural critique. She has worked as a freelance journalist for The Amsterdam News and wrote op-eds on race and diversity for The Bergen County Record. She has won national awards for playwriting and was a regular in the NY / NJ spoken word circuit. Her literary reviews and cultural critiques have appeared in independent press publications like African Voices and New Jersey Perspectus magazine.
Wendi holds a BA in Film and Africana Studies from Cornell University. She currently resides in the Seattle, WA area with her teenage son. By day, she works in Digital Media & Advertising for a major technology company. In the evenings, she is completing her first full-length novel, a YA horror epic. Follow her on twitter @lovingbrowngirls.
Kimberly Taylor is a black Southern woman. She lives with a middle-aged man, a young Maltese, and an elderly Yorkie. She enjoys books, games, and colored paper.