Rish's story "Birth of a Sidekick" available on Amazon and Audible

Buy it!!

A few years ago, I started reading books in the Western genre, and I thought it would be fun to create a cowboy hero who would go from town to town to right wrongs, bed bad guys, and shoot maidens fair.  I came up with the barest idea for the character, and suddenly thought, "What if he had a kid sidekick, like Batman, Captain America, Green Arrow, Aquaman, the Human Torch, and (once) Indiana Jones?  They could have a series of adventures together, wherein the little boy becomes a man!"  I absolutely LOVE the idea of the child sidekick, and will make no apologies for it.

The story I wrote, "Birth of a Sidekick," was the result.  It's not really the first story in a series (though Big suggested I could write more), and it's not a true Western.  But it's something I wrote that was a bit different from everything else I had written, and I decided to put it out in both text version and audio.

I sat down and recorded the whole thing . . . and then left it there.  It sat for months, gathering virtual dust, and went nowhere, just like everything else I create.

But no, I mustn't think like that.  I must put out my stuff, give people at least the CHANCE to read it (or listen to it, if they prefer).  And so, here it is.

I was lucky enough to get some pretty impressive cover art by David Krummenacher (above), and if I could somehow employ him to do art for every one of my stories, I'd put out . . . well, probably one or two.

Link is here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQMX05C at Amazon and http://www.smashwords.com/upload/details/468527 at Smashwords.

And here's the link to the audio version on Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/Teens/Birth-of-a-Sidekick-Audiobook/B00NAC94MU/ref=a_search_c4_1_13_srTtl?qid=1410209624&sr=1-13  I performed it myself, and I'd appreciate it if somebody out there buys it.

Rish

Rish's voice on Pseudopod

I noticed today that the next Netflix disc coming to me is Showtime's 2007 adaptation of James Triptree Junior's "The Screwfly Solution." It occurred to me that Pseudopod was going to present that as an episode (and that I had a small part in it) sometime. I went over there, and discovered it's already available.

Presented as their 400th episode, "Screwfly" is a timelessly disturbing story about a plague that spreads across the world, causing men to despise females of the species . . . and murder them. As you can guess, it's not a tale for the Hallmark Channel crowd.

They chose to do it in fullcast (for some reason), and I have a very minor role in the thing, but sometimes, that's good enough. 

Check it out at: http://pseudopod.org/2014/08/22/pseudopod-400-the-screwfly-solution/  If you dare.

Rish

TGMG 145: The Guardians of the--Who??

Somehow, Big and Rish ended up anticipating Marvel Studios' GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY most of all the movies release this summer.  How did it stack up?



Right click HERE to download the episode, select Save Link As, and save the file to your hard drive.

That Gets My Goat 144: Wonder Woman's New Clothes

Rish's obligations have put him behind on Goat and Dunesteef episodes, but he did have time to sit down with Big and talk about the costume Wonder Woman wears in the upcoming BATMAN V. SUPERMAN film.  Don't worry, they insist on staying positive on this one.



Right click HERE to download the episode, select Save Link As, and save the file to your hard drive.

Rish's story "Lighthouse View" on Horror Addicts podcast

This is the fourth year in a row I've entered the Masters of the Macabre contest, a short story challenge over at Horror Addicts dot net.  They provide an overall theme for the contest, and those participating are given three variables that have to be in the story.   This year, the theme was Creature Feature*, monster stories, and my three variables were: (Story) Location: Lighthouse, Item: Camera, and Creature Origin: Volcano. 

My tale tells of a young woman who comes to a lighthouse to interview the old man who lives there, but also hoping to get footage of the monster that supposedly emerged from an underwater volcanic eruption somewhere off the coast.  She starts the interview, and then hears a noise from outside the lighthouse . . .

It is called "Lighthouse View," and is a considerably stripped-down version of my first draft.  I'm not sure how good it is, but it was fun to write, and is yet another tale I'd never have come up with had the contest not suggested it.

There are five participants in the contest this year, but feel free to go over and listen to (or read) all five stories, and vote for your favorite.  Here be the link: http://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/master-of-macabre-3-rish-outfield/

Rish Outfield

Rish Performs "Of Men & Wolves" on Far-Fetched Fables

Although I try to accept every invitation that comes my way, I thought Gary Dowell (editor of the then-forthcoming Far Fetched Fables), was crazy to have sent me "Of Men and Wolves" to narrate.  On first glance, it was a tale told in the first-person of the struggles of the newly-widowed wife of a barbarian.   As I read the tale by An Owomoyela, and I discovered that the main character wasn't exactly a woman (or exactly a man either), I wondered how I would pull it off (not to mention pronouncing the name of the author).

But I recorded it, doing my best to deliver an androgynous, accented performance, but also to bring some emotion to the table, and I'll admit that there were a couple parts I thought were pretty okay. After that, I had to edit the recording, and it was then that I picked up on some nuances and language craft that I hadn't appreciated before. By the time it was done, I thought "Of Men and Wolves" was a pretty high quality tale.

You can check it out over at www.farfetchedfables.com/far-fetched-fables-no-16/ and judge for yourself.

Rish

The Journals of Jacob and Hyde

Longtime friend-of-the-show Tobias Queen has just released his first audiobook by way of ACX onto Audible.  It's called The Journals of Jacob and Hyde: Jehovah and Hades, Book 1 by Randall J. Morris.  Rish and Big both played a small part in his production, so we thought we'd mention it here for you in case you are interested in checking it out. Tobias Queen is the golden voiced narrator that has appeared in many of our productions over on the podcast, most notably The Troop by Tobias Harris, an all-Tobias affair which he performed entirely by himself, a first on our show if I remember right.  So, you can be sure that your ears will enjoy the velvety smoothness of his voice no matter what the story is like.

Oh, what is the story like?  Well, according to the Amazon page, it's something like this:

Jake was just a normal kid who enjoyed hearing his mother's bedtime stories. The stories became shockingly real when he discovered that he was a descendant of Dr. Jekyll, and that he had his own Mr. Hyde living inside him. Driven by a desire to do good, he attempts to hunt down and kill the remaining Hyde monsters.

Can he finish off the onslaught of Hyde monsters and keep the girl he loves safe from their retaliation?

Check it out if you're interested, Tobias will surely thank you for it...oh, and Randall J. Morris probably will too.