"The Sphinx" by Edgar Allan Poe



Virtual Storyteller, Caledonia Skytower

 A favorite short story of mine is Poe's The Sphinx.  In my Complete Works of ... it is classifed under "Humor and Satire."  It still bears the unmistakable tint of macabre.  An emotionally distraught man is filled with apprehensions of doom and death during the cholera epidemic in New York City of 1832.  The stress of this emotional state causes him to see omens and portents where they may not actually be and to, literally, blow them out of proportion.

Much thanks to my dear friend Shandon Loring for helping assemble this presentation.  It is posted on YOUTube under my virtual story self, Caledonia Skytower.

To enjoy, please CLICK HERE

The Letters of Abigail Adams, 1763 - 1776 (Selections)

Okay, I admit it ... I have longed to produce these letters since way before there were movies or specials on the A & E channel.  I always envisioned them as a theatrical presentation I would create, and never dreamed I would perform them myself.  Yet, I had the great pleasure of doing just that this week with one of my favorite reading partners in Second Life.

Today I am indulging myself by recording some of the selections I read earlier this week.  It is my own personal celebration of Independence Day, and a private tribute to a woman whom I have long admired.  So sit back and enjoy - as an indulgence I have not been quite as precise about editing as I might be.  I just enjoyed the language, thoughts, and heart of this remarkable woman.

CLICK HERE to listen to Selections (Updated Audio!)

Or go to the Seanchai Library YOU TUBE Channel and hear me (through my virtual storytelling self) reading selections from the correspondence of Abigail Adams and John Adams with my dear friend Shandon Loring on July 2nd. Skip to 4:00 to miss all the rambling introduction "ums" and get right to the letters.

"My Calliope" - An Original Short Story

A new, original short story based on a wee visitor who came whizzing into my office a few evenings ago.  Yes, yes ... I have replaced the window screen.  It was a great opportunity to wash the windows.

My Calliope by Judith Cullen
(c) Copyright 2012

CLICK HERE to enjoy! (Updated Audio!)

AND Part Three of Mj McGalliard's BEGGAR'S DAY is up on YOU Tube.  CLICK HERE.

BEGGAR'S DAY - Part 2 is up on YOU Tube!

More joy from MJ McGalliard's first novel Beggar's Day, Book One: The Beggar Prince.
We had a great time last night!

CLICK HERE to hear the selection from Monday, June 4, 2012

CLICK HERE to learn more about the author and his book!




FForward to 5:45 to skip the embarassingly "ummm" filled event introduction (I REALLY must script that!) and get right to the story. Remember: It was Live!

GREAT NEWS! More Books!

I have been working with author Rae Lori in the virtual world for a couple of years now, and we have spoken of doing an audio book of one of her novels that I have done a lot: A Kiss of Ashen Twilight.  Today, we finally talked about it in concrete terms, and it seems the time is right for us to make this shared dream become a reality! 

We will also be doing several short stories of hers, and I will have the links posted here as soon as they are ready for public consumption.  Rae does a very wide selection of work, much in the fantasy genre.  CLICK HERE to learn more about Rae's work at her website.

A Kiss of Ashen Twilight is part of a series by the same name that explores a world of immortal beings walking among us: Vampires, Lycans, and Shifter-Elves.  The adventures include events happening in current times, and flash-backs to centuries-old experiences of these individuals, as we begin to understand the relevent events in their long lives that are coming to fruition now, in the present.

We did some sample tracks last summer, when we first explored this idea.  CLICK HERE to listen to this selection from the Prologue of A Kiss of Ashen Twilight.

BEGGAR'S DAY - Part 1 on YOU Tube!

Good Friend MJ McGalliard e-published his first novel Beggar's Day in November.  You know how it is when a friend writes a book? ..."Oh wow!  That's great ..."  Then I read it!  What delightful fun!

MJ agreed to let me read Beggar's Day in the virtual world, and we even made an avatar so he could come in and hear it himself!  With his permission, we have recorded it and posted it on the Seanchai Library's YOU Tube Channel.  It is a live performance, so as a piece of video or a strictly audio track, it has many imperfections.  You'll hear me laugh, react to things and even greet people arriving ... things that you cannot see on the screen.  That's the joy of live performance!

CLICK HERE to go to the Seanchai Library's YOU Tube page and listen in!

CLICK HERE to go to MJ's Beggar's Day site and learn more about the author and the the book!

CLICK HERE to go to the Seanchai Library (a virtual Library in Second Life) blog page and see the schedule for Beggar's Day and other literary presentations.

"Oak of Culleen: The Legend of the Bile Rath ~ by Judy Cullen

The "Bile Rath" (or "Bile Ratha") is the legendary Tree of Life, or Sacred tree in Celtic Mythology.  From a more practical point of view, the large forests of Ancient Ireland were often victims of warfare, burned to the ground as a part of seiges.  Often , the one or two trees remaining after such a conflagration were considered sacred from that time forward.

This is an original short story, written by me in honor of World Storytelling Day 2012, whose theme was "Trees." It has the lore of the Bale Rath, interwoven with bit of my own family history, and themes of death and rebirth that have been much on my mind these days.

(c) Copyright 2012, Judith Cullen

CLICK HERE to listen!  (Unedited Track - Minimal Processing)

Interested in other short stories I have written?  Click Here and enjoy a few of them.