The Shallow One

Check out my latest, "The Shallow One," at the Drabblecast. It's Lovecraft, only funny and with an inspirational message. So, It's not really Lovecraft. But you'll love it, so go listen. To hear the audio, scroll down past the print version of the story. Terrific art by Leonardo d'Almeida. Click here to listen: https://www.drabblecast.org/2020/12/12/drabblecast-437-the-shallow-one/

 

Listen To My Latest

Art by Carly Heath

Listen to my two latest stories at the Drabblecast. Episode 427 includes my very short stories, "Life and Times" (140 of the One-Thousand), and "Sometimes I'm a Chair" (150). You can read them there also, but scroll to the player at the bottom if you want to listen: https://www.drabblecast.org/2020/07/04/drabblecast-427-doubleheader-matthew-sanborn-smith/

New Audio: Cyborg Giraffe Cleans House!

If you've never wanted to read my story,  Giraffe Cyborg Cleans House! I have great news for you. You can now listen to the audio at the Drabblecast under the twisted title Cyborg Giraffe Cleans House, which I think changes the whole story, but I'll let you decide. Click here and give it a listen: http://www.drabblecast.org/2016/03/02/drabblecast-378-cyborg-giraffe-cleans-house/

The audio was produced by Adam Pracht. If you're a fan of StarShipSofa, you'll love Adam's Drabblecast stories, because he often imports Sofa talent to make them. However, Adam took this story on before he knew I was the author. The story is narrated by Sofasister Amy H. Sturgis and the art is by Sofa artist Skeet Scienski. Fun will be had! Go listen!

The Empire State Building Strikes Back!

Hey! My latest story, The Empire State Building Strikes Back! (number 119 of The One-Thousand) is available today on The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine! It's a fast-paced, crazy-ass science fiction story with lots of funny stuff. Go listen here: http://dunesteef.com/2014/09/24/episode-164-the-empire-state-building-strikes-back-by-matthew-sanborn-smith/

Let me be straight with you. I ran this story by editors at pro markets for which I thought it would be a good fit. When they all rejected me, I skipped the semi-pros and went straight to the Dunesteef. Why? Because, for them, I thought it was the perfect fit. Yes, I went for the money first. I am trying to make a buck. But you know what? Even if I could have possibly sold this story to The New Yorker, they couldn't have given me what the Dunesteef has. (It's always the Dunesteef to me. Get over it.)

None of the big markets would have given my story the audio treatment with a full cast reading, sound effects, and music. None. You might see the Dunesteef as a small market, but they give you something, with passion, that the pros won't. As they explain in the show, due to a series of mishaps, my story broke their record for the longest time on their hard drives before being podcast.  But I'm delighted with the final product. It was worth the wait.

Conan On Audio (The Cimmerian, Not The Late Night Guy)

I was quite pleased to discover last night that BrokenSea Audio Productions has seen fit to bring some of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories to life on audio. Free audio! Give it a go: http://brokensea.com/conan/

Howard is my favorite writer. Not on literary merit, to be sure. The reason he's number one is that he was able to make black ink combine with pulp paper in such a way that it pulses in your hands. Roll up those sleeves because the passion spills over the edges of the page. Howard wrote with fire and fury and didn't give a damn about refinement or the liberal use of adjectives.

Caveats (Now that you've already gone and clicked on the link): Howard was a racist. He was a small town Texan writing during the depression era. That he was a racist shouldn't come as too much of a shock. You'll hear that worldview spill over into some of his stories. Where it does, I don't see it as particularly vicious, but some of you may be offended.

Also, though I've downloaded them, I haven't listened to these yet myself. I tried a few seconds worth just to make sure they weren't selling timeshares instead of reading Conan stories. The bit I listened to seems to have been narrated by either Randy "Macho Man" Savage or some other wrestling/surfer dude. Whoever he is, he's into it.

I have read both of these stories. Of the two stories so far posted "Red Nails" is by far the more powerful. There's something dread and claustrophobic about the whole thing that made me put my book down a couple of times and take in deep gulps of air. It's definitely one of the darkest Conan stories I've ever experienced.

Take up your sword, gulp your own air and dive straight into the heart of Hyboria.