The Great Beyond Podcast
A Podcast beaming out the best in Science Fiction and Fantasy short stories, novellas, and novelettes directly to you.

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Syndication

by Amory Lowe

Tom is a man of limited properties. He only sees the good in people, because like the three monkeys, he sees no evil, hears no evil, and speaks no evil. He has a face that everyone loves, and a mind that everybody pities.

Podcampaz.org

Hey, I'm on Twitter. If you feel like it, add me to your friends list. You can even get updates on the episodes coming up whenever I decide to put them up.

http://twitter.com/amorylowe

As always, the theme song is Beatnik Turtle's "Batshit Insanity", and you can find them at
www.thesongoftheday.com

See you at Podcamp AZ
Direct download: EPISODE_11_An_Act_of_Intention_1_of_1.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 2:45 AM
Comments[4]

Some quick information about the state of The Great Beyond

If you're going to attend Podcamp AZ on November 3rd, maybe you'll see me there. I'll be the one in the black Hell T-shirt.

http://podcampaz.org/


Direct download: TGB_Metacast_1.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 4:05 AM
Comments[4]

Demonstration Day
By: Ian Creasey
Part 2

I let the rush subside and followed at my own pace, taking up a seat near

the back and listening to the excited buzz of the scientists as they
contemplated Calverley's apparatus.  I recognised the high-spec generator
I'd sold him, but I knew nothing about the case, or the silver cube with a
door in the front and a control panel on the side.  This looked very like a
large microwave oven, and provoked a shout of, "I'll have a jacket potato
please," from the audience.



Vanzetti called for order.  "Gentlemen.  Thank you all for attending this
year's convention.  The Association has a proud tradition of demonstrating
the practical applications of the latest scientific advances...."  The
speech is so familiar I swear I can hear tape hiss, and so few people bother
to listen that he could announce discovery of the Final Theory without
raising a flicker.  It just gives the waiting scientist time to worry about
everything that could possibly go wrong with his demonstration.

www.iancreasey.com
The Sounds that come after screaming at Pseudopod.org
Direct download: EPISODE_10_Demonstration_Day_2_of_2.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 6:08 AM
Comments[5]

"Roll up, roll up!  Get your antimatter here!  Gravitons, superstrings,
Higgs bosons -- all going cheap.  Every proton has a lifetime guarantee!
Buy caloric, aether and nebulium while theories last.  Special offer on
orgone and vril!  Dried ghosts, astrographs, universal meters.
Superconductors and Bose-Einstein condensates.  Athanors and alembics.  Test
tubes and Bunsen burners, if anyone still uses them."

I switched on Markor's Domestic Star to spotlight the stock.  It had taken
all afternoon to set up the booth, and I didn't want to have to take
everything home again.  As the scientists began walking in, I mentally
assigned a sales target to each experimenter.

Pale from lack of sun, or tanned scary colours from exposure to strange
rays, the early arrivals stared at each other as if they'd forgotten what
other people looked like.  Their expressions told of the despair of failure,
or the voyeuristic exhilaration of uncovering the universe's secrets.  Only
a few remained unmarked, as if they'd discovered an anti-ageing drug, or
been silently replaced by a robot they'd foolishly made in their own image.
I recognised most of the arriving scientists, but one face was missing.

"Any sign of Rankin?" said Audran, who'd been browsing my stock of entangled
photons.

www.iancreasey.com
Direct download: EPISODE_9_Demonstration_Day_1_of_2.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 6:27 AM
Comments[5]

They climbed quickly. Below them Dawson glimpsed a tiny figure - Thomas
- pulling the boat ashore. The high cliffs were a wall which they
paralleled and passed effortlessly. He felt, at a visceral level, the
lethal distance between his frail body and the cold hard sea. Strangely,
the operation of this primitive instinct did not scare him. It thrilled
him, as though he were dreaming, and somehow indestructible.

www.jainefenn.com
Direct download: EPISODE_8_The_Path_to_The_Sun_2_of_2.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 7:39 AM
Comments[3]

Of course it was a hoax. It had to be.

No doubt both the original telegram and the brightly coloured thing
floating in the cove below were some rustic eccentric's idea of a joke.
Dawson was sure he had only been sent on this wild goose chase as
revenge for the affair with Alice.

Beatnik Turtle's Song of the Day
Direct download: EPISODE_7_The_Path_to_The_Sun_1_of_2.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 7:02 AM
Comments[4]

Hey, Amory here. Not able to get an episode out this week, going on a vacation. Expect a new episode Monday of next week. In the mean time check one of these great podcasts out.

The Drabblecast
EscapePod
Pseudopod

Or listen to one of our archived episodes.

-Amory Lowe
Editor at The Great Beyond Podcast
Category: general -- posted at: 11:03 AM
Comments[4]

Judge Claude Fingers knew the onus was on him to say something. He uncrossed his legs. "Mr Silver, I appreciate that reliving that episode must have been very distressing for you--"

 

"And the court shares your distress," Seymour chipped in. "Isn't that right, Y'onour?"

 

"Yes, thank you, Horace. I mean Mr Seymour. Um, Mr Silver, I'm afraid I closed my eyes at a critical moment. Can you confirm for me that you really are now, um, _sans testes_?"

 

"She hacked my damn balls off. With a chisel!"

 

"Oh dear. Mr Seymour, do you have any more questions to put to the witness?"

Direct download: Episode_6_Marbles_2_of_2.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:56 PM
Comments[3]

"Y'onour. Pornography has outstripped the mainstream cinema in popularity since early this century, but only in the latter half of this century have its creators truly reaped the spoils. For six years running John Silver was the highest paid movie star _in the world_. But was he content to rest on his laurels? Oh no. He had a burning desire to push the envelope, and so he became the first, and to date the only, time-travelling pornstar.

 

"He travelled to dangerous locations in the past, always alone, always living on his wits, to ravish the most famous women in history. On the sixth of July this year he embarked on his most ambitious project to date: Mr Silver attempted to seduce no less a personage than a goddess!" Seymour acknowledged the respectful "Aah" from the public gallery. "Sadly, in the course of this performance, Mr Silver suffered a debilitating injury."



www.mylefteye.net




Direct download: Episode_5_Marbles_1_of_2.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 11:09 AM
Comments[2]

Part 4 of The Dope Fiend
Read by Amory Lowe

 "So what do you want?" I said again. He shook his head at me, admonishing. "You fucked up, boy," he said. "There’s a ghost and an angel on the loose in your city, and you seem to think hiding here and drinking brandy is the answer to all your problems. Look how long it took me to find you. If you’re trying to hide, you’re not doing a very good job of it."

"I’m not trying to hide," I said, annoyed. "I’m trying to think. I don’t understand what’s going on."
Direct download: Episode_4_Dope_Fiend_4_of_4.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:12 PM
Comments[2]

Read by Amory Lowe

"Come here, fallen guardian," she said. I walked to her. She held her hands to me, but when I touched her I felt nothing, only whispering air. I looked into her face, no longer smiling. "You died."       
       
She inclined her head in agreement.       
       
"The paths between the spheres are disturbed," Amat said. "The passage of those seeking an end to death has unbalanced the twenty-two ways."       
       
I stood back and looked at her, feeling both sad and annoyed. "Don’t you think I know that?"       
       
She shook her head. "It isn’t a question of what you know, it is a question of what you  do."
Direct download: Episode_3_Dope_Fiend_3_of_4.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 5:27 AM
Comments[2]

Help Spread the word about The Great Beyond Podcast!

Yes, you can help get this small podcast off the ground by sending the promo for The Great Beyond attached in the RSS feed and sending it to as many Podcasters as you can think of.

JUST THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
Direct download: Great_Beyond_Promo.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 4:06 AM
Comments[2]

This episode should sound a lot better than the last one. Last time I ever use the Audacity cleaning option again.

The Dope Fiend, Part 2
Read by Amory Lowe

I had seen for myself the power of the stranger, and found in it something that I recognized. Manning’s people may have called it a _Loa_; Chang’s word for it was _Feng-Huang_. And in my own long history I had known ones who were like this mysterious entity, glimpsed from beneath darkened skies and on the edge of worlds beyond time...

My people called such beings _mal’achim_: angels.


www.apexbookcompany.com
music.podshow.com

Direct download: Episode_2_Dope_Fiend_2_of_4.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 1:47 AM
Comments[3]

"She's dead," I said again.       
       
Manning"s voice, when it came, was dangerously quiet. "You and I both know, Tzaddik, that death is not an entirely unknown country."       
       
"Isnâ��t it?" I said. "Iâ��ve never been there to know."       
       
And Manning slowly smiled. White teeth made his mouth look like an ivory gate into the dark. "No," he said. "You haven�t."

www.sethharwood.com
www.lavietidhar.co.uk


Direct download: EPISODE_1_Dope_Fiend_1_of_4.mp3
Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:10 AM
Comments[0]

The website is finally up. First episode should be out by the middle or end of June. For anyone gets redirected to this site, here are the guidelines as originally put up on www.Ralan.com (Thank you Ralan)

What we want in a story:

The Great Beyond is a Fantasy/Science Fiction podcast, and since that is our genre those are the stories we're going to buy. By the F/SF, we mean Fantasy and Science Fiction in the sense of it mattering to the story. Stories that have been previously published in text are gladly welcome, as well as never before published anywhere stories, but remember that if your story is good enough for us to buy, then other markets will probably think the same.

The e-mail address to send the story to is TheGreatBeyondPodcast@gmail.com (this address will be switched once the website is set up and the podcast is running, but for at least a couple months we will be running with Gmail).

Please only send one story at a time.

Length:

We're looking for genre pieces in the lengths of between 6000 words and 20000 words. This podcast is going to serialize single stories between 2 to 4 episodes, one episode running each week, and each episode running the length of between 20 minutes and 60 minutes, depending on the length of the story.

Pay:

Our payment system is a somewhat flat rate system. For each episode that the story appears in, the writer will receive $25 dollars. Hence, if it's a 10000 word story that is serialized into two episodes, the writer will receive $50 for the work, and if it's an 18000 word story serialized into four episodes, then the writer will receive $100 for the story. Payment will be received by the author within 60 days of acceptance of the story.

The Story Itself:

This is going to be an audio podcast of any stories we accept, hence the story must translate well into audio. A large amount of flowery language in the story does not translate well. We're looking for fiction with strong pacing, well-defined characters, engaging dialogue, and clear action. It can be beautiful too, but it must be a beauty that translates to audio.

Secondly, we're looking for upbeat stories. We want to have as much fun reading the stories as our listeners will have listening to it. Depressing and moody stories might be accepted, but they better be really good.

Lastly, we do not accept stories focusing on rape, incest, child molestation, body mutilation, hate crimes, unsubtle religious or anti-religious propaganda, or politics. This rule, if necessary, will be bent a little if the story is so overpowering in its fun factor that it makes the editor's head explode with anticipation to accept it. Of course, the fun associated with these ideals may not be the fun we want to be a part of, so don't send us your story about how a sexually abused-rape victim Neo-Nazi Catholic priest who mutilates children before he molests them is running for congress.

Submission Format:

So, you've decided to submit to us? Good for both of us then, isn't it?

To start off, we take all submissions as E-mail at the above e-mail address.

All submissions should be pasted into the body of the e-mail and should be in PLAIN TEXT FORMAT.

  1. On the subject line of the e-mail, put the words "Story Submission" followed by the name of the story and the word count (Word count should be a ball park estimate, with it rounded to hundred), with commas placed appropriately between the three requirements. It should look something like this:
    Story Submission, The Great American Short Story, 16500 Words.
  2. In the body of the e-mail, place your real name (We will publish under a pseudonym if wished, but we need to know who to write out the check to), your mailing address, and a cover letter giving us a small biography and top publishing credits (We will introduce the author before we read the story on the podcast and we would like to know what to say). We will not hold it against you if you don't have any publishing credits, we will accept and reject all stories based on the merit of the story.
  3. Also in the body of the e-mail, under the cover letter, insert the Word Count and title of the story again, followed by the name you wish to publish the story under and then the pasted story into the actual e-mail. We will not read e-mails with attachments, and hence will not accept stories attached to e-mails as Word or any other format. All submissions should be in PLAIN TEXT FORMAT. The story itself should be single spaced with _UNDERSCORES_ placed for emphasis and blank lines between paragraphs.

We will respond to the e-mail address which the e-mail was sent from.

The Necessary Skiff:

This is necessary stuff, and we don't like having to put it here, but here it is.

By sending us your story you understand and agree that:

  • You are the original creator of the work submitted to us;
  • You are the copyright holder of the work;
  • You are not prohibited by any prior agreement from the transfer of non-exclusive electronic and audio rights to the work;
  • All information in the contact and cover sections of your e-mail is accurate and truthful;
  • You accept sole responsibility for any false statements or encumbrances upon rights not disclosed to us.

Response Time:

Since we haven't started the podcast yet, it will be hard to estimate response time, but for now I will put it at 4 to 6 weeks. If it takes longer, it is probably a good thing and your story has received a second review for possible publication.

Lastly:

The audio files The Great Beyond will produce will be released under a Creative Commons license. Specifically, we will use the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Briefly, this means that the entire world has permission to distribute the podcast for free, provided they give credit for it, don't try to make money off of it, and don't change it in any way. Transcribing it, extracting portions from it beyond fair use, and mashing it up are all prohibited. This license applies only to our audio performance of your work, for which we've contracted and paid you. It does not apply to your story itself; you retain your copyright and all rights to any other use of the story.

Any other questions for us can also be e-mailed to TheGreatBeyondPodcast@gmail.com, but under the subject line put "question" instead of anything else, otherwise it will not be read.

Now that that nonsense is over with, what are you doing still reading? Start sending that stuff in!


Category: Guidelines -- posted at: 1:50 AM
Comments[0]

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.