Wherein I show some love to podcasts I’ve been listening to lately.

Bird House Rules – I’m on Twitter A LOT and have been quite some time. It would be easy for me to consider myself some kind of “expert” on the social media app. Far from it though. Tee Morris literally wrote the book on the subject (among others). So if you’re a Twitter user and want to know how to do it up right, listen to this.

Cybrosis – I had the pleasure of meeting P.C. Haring at Balticon last year. You might meet a nicer chap, but not by much. This is P.C.’s first foray into podcast novelship and he has hit the ground running. While I think there are a few things that could stand to improve (and I’ve shared those things with him), as a whole it’s a great ride. If you’re into cyberpunk this is the place to go. The action is top notch as is the production. This is a full voice case and he’s got some serious talent along for the ride. Cybrosis is in progress, but so far his release schedule has been reliable.

Decoder Ring Theater – I love me some quirky humor and I have a serious thing for noir and radio dramas. This podcast puts all that into the blender and hits frappe stirring it up into a frothing tasty concoction of awesomeness. At the moment it consists of two main stories, The Red Panda Adventures and Black Jack Justice. The first is a pulp superhero tale and the latter a take on the hard boiled detective. Neither one takes itself seriously at all and the humor is decidedly Canadian. if that sounds lovely to you then go get you some! Each episode is self contained, but I think it helped me to go back a little ways and trust me, you’ll kick yourself if you don’t.

Down From Ten – J. Daniel Sawyer is one of those writers that gets me all in a froth of jealousy. (See also Nathan Lowell) He makes the whole thing look effortless. This particular podcast outing was written as a screenplay for TV is memory serves and unfortunately for everyone NOT listening to podcast fiction it didn’t make it. Thankfully we get it in all its unadulterated glory. It’s basically a country house mystery and Dan has this to say “The book is a mix of Agatha Christie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, E.A. Poe, Salman Rushdie, and Robert A. Heinlein. It is a story solidly oriented towards adults, and will not be suitable for children in any fashion.” The latter half of that quote is very true. It may not even be suitable for some adults. There is some sexual content and violence that some won’t find suitable. The story is absolutely compelling though and while it’s hit some production snags recently, he says that it will be done within the next week or so.

Mad Poet Files – Zach Ricks is no stranger to podcasting. He has the Gut Check Cast, an effort to help us geeks to get fit, and the Geek Survival Guide, in which he gives us hints and tips on how to survive scenarios found in some of our favorite books and movies. Recently, in an effort to sharpen his writing skills, he decided to start releasing a short story every other week. The thing I really like about this, other than the stories, is that he talks about his writing process. The stories themselves aren’t always top notch (though so far I’ve enjoyed all of them), but the transparency is admirable. He’s also trying to make some coin from them by selling the stories themselves in polished form. He does a straight read of each story and I think that’s a great way to sharpen your narration skills. I like this idea so much I’ll be doing it soon!

Closet Treats – Paul E. Cooley is a writer I’ve become aware of only recently thanks to the magic of Twitter. This story is a relatively new podcast and I’d put it firmly in the psychological horror category. The main character, Trey Leger, is no stranger to seeing things, but something new has been added to the mix. A local ice cream trucks seems to be inhabited by an evil force or is it just that Trey is slipping deeper into madness? I love stories with a well written protagonist that may or may not be reliable. It’s a tough balance to strike and Paul is doing a fantastic job. Tackling characters with a mental illness is also a challenge and so far so good. Paul’s doing this as a straight read, which leads to him doing some female voices (a la Sigler, though better). I think he may be using some digital effects for some of the voices, but its not jarring (if he is). In any event it doesn’t take me out of the story. He qualifies this novel as a “slow burn” and promises big fireworks at the end. Closet Treats is a work in progress, but he feels confident that he’ll be finished with it by the time Balticon rolls around.

I hope you enjoy any of these that you might choose to listen to!