OCTOBER 2: "The Coach of Life" by Alexander Pushkin

Years ago, when I still thought international law was where I was going (I now shake my head in wonder at that notion) I studied Russian, and my dear college roomate Jeri landed me a bunch of book on Russian literature.  The yen for the dashing legal life passed, disabused by the call to the arts, but the books remained and years later I discovered the loveliness of Pushkin's prose and poems.  Thanks Jeri!

Everything else I looked at this morning was far more "spookable" and we have a lot of month before us, so I chose this one.  It's a little more reflective, but still in good tone for the season.  Enjoy!

The Coach of Life by Alexander Pushkin

Recording (c) 2012 Judith Cullen
NOT for Commerical Use

OCTOBER 1: "The Stolen Child" by W.B. Yeats



"The Stolen Child" by Telzey

A new month and a new project.  Have a platter full of recording to do this month. I decided just this morning that doing a short "wake up" track each day was just the way to get warmed up and motivated.  Plus, it's a great month for stories and poems of the mythic and super natural!

So, let's begin the "spookable month" with a favorite! 

The Stolen Child by W.B. Yeats

Recording (c) Judith Cullen 2012
NOT for Commerical Use

Great News! More Audio Books!

I am pleased to announce that not only am I working on Author Rae Lori's A Kiss Of Ashen Twilight audio book (Go Rae!) which is Book one in her Ashen Twilight Series ....

And not only have I been contracted to do the audio book of Marie Shore's lovely short story Master of My Heart ...

But I am officially doing the audio book of friend MJ McGalliard's first novel Beggar's Day, Book One: The Beggar Prince which I read selections of in Second Life (c) in May and June, the five sessions  available on the Seanchai Library YOU Tube Channel.  NOW we can here ALL the good parts and none of the introductory "ummmms"!

AND there are a couple of more promising projects in the offing.
HUGE thanks to MJ McGalliard, Shandon Loring, Jeff Lombardi and Lachy McCurdy for the continual support and encouragement!

"Sera's Punishment" An Original Short Story

A friend introduced me to the literature of author John Norman last Fall, and his "Gorean Chronicles."  It turned out to be the fodder for many interesting conversations.  I have to confess I find I can't read any of the work without reaching for a big red pen and a pair of sharp scissors.

None the less, this Spring I found myself struck with the notion of combining elements of his world with a favorite of mine, the work of C.S. Forrestor and his Horatio Hornblower series.  Sera's Punishment is the result. 

It is about punishment, yes.  But it also about what happens to a person in isolation: how they lose themselves in a kind of precursor to death.  It should be ambiguous what the protagonist's final words really mean.  What do you think?
CLICK HERE to listen.  Enjoy!

(c) Judith Cullen 2012

Drabble! Drabble! Drabble!



Photo Courtesy of Crap Mariner - 100W Story PoohBah

 Wikipedia defines it thus: "A drabble is an extremely short work of fiction of exactly one hundred words in length, not necessarily including the title. The purpose of the drabble is brevity, testing the author's ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in an extremely confined space."

I have been dabbling with drabbling the last month or so through my friend Laurence Simon's 100 Word Story Podcast and his Sunday Weekly Challenge.  He doesn't get his knickers in a bunch about it being exactly 100 words.  But those of you who have been on the receiving end of one of my more epic emails know that brevity is a very good exercise for me.  I have enjoyed the creative economy of it.

Here are three of my Weekly Challenge submissions.  Click on the key word and follow the link to hear the audio clip.  Enjoy!

• CARD
• SPARKLE
• NOTHING

(c) Judith Cullen 2012

"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.