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Welcome to a new mini series of the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast

 This week we have short fiction from Welsh poet, novelist and short story writer Christopher Meredith.   The story you're about to hear is a seasonal piece set in the early 1960s in south Wales.  It's  called 'The Cavalry' and it's from Chris's brilliant collection 'Brief Lives' which is published by Seren.

You can order a copy of Brief Lives here https://www.serenbooks.com/book/brief-lives/

 Christopher Meredith is the award-winning author of five novels and five collections of poetry and also tranlsates Welsh to English. Prizes include an Eric Gregory Award, the Arts Council of Wales Young Writer Prize and the Fiction Prize for his first novel, Shifts. His second novel, Griffri, was shortlisted for the Book of the Year Award.  His collection of poems, The Meaning of Flight, was long-listed for The Book of the Year Award 2006.  He has given readings all over Britain and Europe as well as in Israel/Palestine and the USA.  Born and brought up in Tredegar, he was a steelworker and a schoolteacher before becoming a professor of creative writing at the University of Glamorgan. He lives in Brecon. A collection of six short fictions, titled Brief Lives, was released in 2018. 

Find out more about Christopher Meredith by visiting his website here https://christophermeredit9.wixsite.com/website

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Join us next week on the alternative stories and fake realities podcast for award winning audio drama.  The Angry House by Thomas Wrightson is a ghost story set in Cornwall in the late 1990s and it was the winner of the 2025 Pen to Print Audio play competition.  

Production, sound design and editing in this episode were by Chris Gregory.

If you'd like to support the work of Alternative Stories, gain early access to many of our podcasts and hear exclusive bonus episodes please consider joining our Patreon.  You can find a link here: https://www.patreon.com/AltStories

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In this episode of the Alternative Stories podcast we're chatting with poet, novelist and audio drama writer Madeleine F White about the two books she is publishing in the first part of 2025; the poetry collection 'The Horse and The Girl' and the verse memoir 'Maiden Mother Crone' 

 We have a full length interview with Madeleine and excerpts from the collections read by Madeleine.  We also hear a clip from Madeleine's audio drama 'The Ark' based on her debut novel 'Mother of Floods' and an excerpt from an episode of the 'Write On! Audio' Podcast. 

You can follow Madeleine f White on social media here 

https://bsky.app/profile/madeleinefwhite.bsky.social

https://x.com/madeleinefwhite

https://www.instagram.com/madeleinefwhite/

The Horse and The Girl and Maiden Mother Crone are both published by Sea Crow Press.  You can find out more and order copies here 

https://www.seacrowpress.com/

Find out more about the  Write On! suite of publications which Madeleine edits here

Write on! https://pentoprint.org/write-on-features/

Listen to the Write On! Audio Podcast from Pen to Print here https://open.spotify.com/show/4IG6ODY67eJjTXFmC5nFP5?si=3c9f3ebcfd9d4be3

If you have enjoyed this podcast you can listen to more from our production company Alternative Stories including our new science fiction drama 'Burnout' here https://linktr.ee/AlternativeStories

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In this episode we chat with fantasy author Alethea Lyons about her series of novels and short stories called The Seer of York.  We look at the influences on Thea's writing including the folklore of the British Isles and the inspiration that the City of York has been on her world.   Along the way we hear excerpts from Alethea's writing read by Emily Inkpen

Find out more about Alethea Lyons by visiting here website here https://alethealyons.wixsite.com/stories

Links to Alethea's social media channels and many other locations can be found here https://linktr.ee/alethearlyons

You can find out about Alethea's publisher, Brigid's Gate Press here https://brigidsgatepress.com/

If you'd like to find out more about our reader Emily Inkpen and hire her for your voice or writing project you can do so here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/

We mentioned Rhianna Pratchett's BBC series about creatures from British folklore and you can listen here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001tgpb

To find out more about Alternative Stories and our work you can follow us on social media
https://x.com/StoriesAlt
https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/
or visit our website https://alternativestories.com/
Contact us by email at office@alternativestories.com

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Having arrived in Devon to visit the mysterious Sally Whitehorn, Molly, Ealine and Katherine contemplate the invitation that brought them there and the meaning of the ancient hare folklore she invokes.  Can what she is proposing really be true and what will it mean for the women? 

Hare Spell is written by Terri Windling, Fay Hield , Sarah Hesketh and Sarra Culleno with additional material, editing and collation by Chris Gregory. 

You heard 
Amy Forrest as Molly
Sarah Golding as Sally
Stevie Skinner as Ealine
Nadia Wyn Abouayen as Katherine
Marie-Claire Wood as Amy
Chris Gregory as the hotel receptionist

Music was by Fay Hield and Inge Thomson

The songs "When She Comes" and "Hare Spell" are taken from the Topic Records album "Wrackline" by Fay Hield.  Copyright is held by Fay Hield under exclusive licence to Proper Music Publishing Limited.   We would like to thank Fay Hield, Topic Records and Proper Music Publishing Ltd for their kind permission to use these tracks.  

Musicians on Fay Hields tracks are Fay Hield, Sam Sweeney, Rob Harbron, Ben Nicholls and Ewan MacPherson with production by Andy Bell

The instrumental soundtrack recordings you heard are written and performed by Inge Thomson, copyright Inge Thomson and commissioned by the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast 

Direction, sound design and production of the audio drama is by Chris Gregory

Casting was by our writing team

 Sound effects are from freesound.org 

The presenters are Holly Sangster and Kelli Winkler

If you'd like to learn more about the participants in this drama the links below will point you to their websites or twitter feeds 

Fay Hield : https://fayhield.com/ 
Terri Windling : https://www.terriwindling.com/
Sarah Hesketh : http://www.sarahhesketh.co.uk/
Sarra Culleno :  https://twitter.com/sarra1978
Inge Thomson : https://www.ingethomson.com/
Amy Forrest: https://twitter.com/amyforrest26
Sarah Golding : https://twitter.com/SarahofGolding
Stevie Skinner: https://twitter.com/Stevieskinner_
Nadia Wyn Abouayen : https://twitter.com/NadiaWyn
Marie-Claire Wood: https://twitter.com/MarieClaireWood

and please follow Alternative Stories on : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt for information on past and future editions of the podcast. 

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When three women receive letters from a sender in Devon they are intrigued enough to accept the invitation within and set off to travel to Dartmoor to meet the mysterious Sally Whitehorn.  What will they find there and will Sally's outlandish claims prove to be true? Our story explores real folk stories about hares and the mythology associated with them. 

Hare Spell is written by Terri Windling, Fay Hield , Sarah Hesketh and Sarra Culleno with additional material, editing and collation by Chris Gregory. 

You heard 
Amy Forrest as Molly
Sarah Golding as Sally
Stevie Skinner as Ealine
Nadia Wyn Abouayen as Katherine
Marie-Claire Wood as Amy
Chris Gregory as the hotel receptionist

Music was by Fay Hield and Inge Thomson

The songs "When She Comes" and "Hare Spell" are taken from the Topic Records album "Wrackline" by Fay Hield.  Copyright is held by Fay Hield under exclusive licence to Proper Music Publishing Limited.   We would like to thank Fay Hield, Topic Records and Proper Music Publishing Ltd for their kind permission to use these tracks.  

Musicians on Fay Hields tracks are Fay Hield, Sam Sweeney, Rob Harbron, Ben Nicholls and Ewan MacPherson with production by Andy Bell

The instrumental soundtrack recordings you heard are written and performed by Inge Thomson, copyright Inge Thomson and commissioned by the Alternative Stories and Fake Realities Podcast 

Direction, sound design and production of the audio drama is by Chris Gregory

Casting was by our writing team

 Sound effects are from freesound.org 

The presenters are Holly Sangster and Kelli Winkler

If you'd like to learn more about the participants in this drama the links below will point you to their websites or twitter feeds 

Fay Hield : https://fayhield.com/ 
Terri Windling : https://www.terriwindling.com/
Sarah Hesketh : http://www.sarahhesketh.co.uk/
Sarra Culleno :  https://twitter.com/sarra1978
Inge Thomson : https://www.ingethomson.com/
Amy Forrest: https://twitter.com/amyforrest26
Sarah Golding : https://twitter.com/SarahofGolding
Stevie Skinner: https://twitter.com/Stevieskinner_
Nadia Wyn Abouayen : https://twitter.com/NadiaWyn
Marie-Claire Wood: https://twitter.com/MarieClaireWood

and please follow Alternative Stories on : https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt for information on past and future editions of the podcast. 

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Dressing For The Afterlife is the new collection from British Cypriot poet Maria Taylor.  Published by Nine Arches Press, the collection has been highly commended by the judges of the Forward Prizes for Poetry 2020.  In our podcast we feature nine poems from the book and an interview with Maria. 

In Dressing For The Afterlife you heard :

Prologue read by Marie-Claire Wood
Then I Reconsidered Prayer read by Tiffany Clare 
Ante read by Nadia Wyn Abouayen
And There She Was in the Shrunken Apartment like Joan Crawford, Toy Dog on her Lap read by Marie-Claire Wood
Learning the Steps read by Tiffany Clare 
I Began The Twenty-Twenties as a Silent Film Goddess read by Marie-Claire Wood
What it was Like read by Tiffany Clare 
Ophelia read by Phoebe Holmes 
The Floating Woman read by Phoebe Holmes 

The presenter and interviewer was Hollye Sangster
Music and soundscapes were by Chris Gregory
Sound effects were from freesound.org
Production and editing were by Chris Gregory

You can purchase Dressing For The Afterlife directly from Nine Arches Press via this link https://www.ninearchespress.com/

Follow Nine Arches Press on twitter here 
https://twitter.com/NineArchesPress

and you can find out more about Maria Taylor by following her on twitter where she posts 
as 
https://twitter.com/MariaTaylor_

Our preview was presented by Kelli Winkler.  
You heard a trailer for Hare Spell our new audio drama which you'll be able to hear on 18th September.  It is written by Fay Hield, Terri Windling, Sarah Hesketh and Sarra Culleno and features original music by Fay Hield and Inge Thomson.  You heard the voices of Sarah Golding, Amy Forrest, Stevie Skinner, Nadia Wyn Abouayen and Marie-Claire Wood. 

Hare Spell is based on and inspired by music from Fay Hield's new album Wrackline which is released on Topic Record / Proper Music Distribution on 11th September. 

You can purchase the album and find out more about it by following this link 
https://www.topicrecords.co.uk/2020/05/fay-hield-wrackline/

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Phoebe Stuckes is a poet living and working in London.  Her new collection Platinum Blonde is published this week by Bloodaxe Books.  We bring you 5 poems from the collection and an interview and thoughts on the poems from Phoebe herself. 

The poems you can hear are 
Bleach read by Marie-Claire Wood
Wet read by Tiffany Clare 
Paris read by Tiffany Clare 
Thus I Became a Heart Eater read by Marie-Claire Wood
and Confessional read by Nadia Wyn Abouayan

The presenters are Hollye Sangster and Kelli Winkler 

You can purchase Platinum Blonde directly from Bloodaxe Books via this link 
https://www.bloodaxebooks.com/

and follow Bloodaxe on twitter here  
https://twitter.com/BloodaxeBooks

Follow Phoebe Stuckes on twitter here 
https://twitter.com/phoebestuckes

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As lockdown eases in London a group of friends decide to meet up for the first time in three months.  As they travel they reflect on what lockdown meant to them.  This is a collaborative audio drama project with some of our actors writing and performing their own parts in the production.

Out of the Darkness was written by Katherine Priddy, Charis McRoberts, Marie-Claire Wood and Chris Gregory with additional material by Warren Graham.

Warren Graham played Michael
Katherine Priddy was Freya
Marie-Claire Wood played Georgia
Sophie Macnair was Alex
Chris Gregory played David

The presenter was Karen Cooper

Sound Design, soundscapes and production were by Chris Gregory
Sound effects were from freesound.org
The news clips were from public domain sources including Downing Street Press Briefings
The Song "Wolf" was written and performed by Katherine Priddy and produced by Simon J Weaver.
Additional music was by Chris Gregory

This podcast is dedicated to anyone who lost a loved-one, their job or livelihood during the pandemic.  Our thoughts are with you.  We are aware that many people were much more seriously affected by the events of the last few months than the characters in this drama.  The story is not intended to be representative of the entire population but merely to the experiences of the characters depicted. 

Katherine Priddy is a folk singer from Birmingham. You can find out more about her and her music by visiting her website  http://www.katherinepriddy.co.uk/ and you can buy "Wolf" and the EP it appears on by clicking on Store via this link.  There is also a video for the song which you will find by searching for Katherine's YouTube channel.
You can follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/KatherinePriddy
and Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/katherinepriddy/

Please follow our other actors on twitter to find out more about their work and upcoming projects and if you are an audio drama producer wishing to hire them
Marie-Claire Wood https://twitter.com/MarieClaireWood
Warren Graham  https://twitter.com/wg973
Sophie Macnair https://twitter.com/liloldsoph
and Charis McRoberts https://twitter.com/CharisMcRoberts

This is the final podcast in season 2 of Alternative Stories and Fake Realities.  Thank you to all the actors, writers, musicians and poets who have appeared in this series.

Thank you also to our loyal and valued listeners.  We do hope you have enjoyed this finale to the season and that you will join us again in season 3 which will be starting in September. 

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Undertow is a short story by Nicholas John inspired by and featuring music from British acoustic duo Show of Hands. 

Undertow is written and performed by Nicholas John with music by Show of Hands
Show of Hands are Phil Beer and Steve Knightley
The presenter of this edition of the podcast is Karen Cooper
Sound design and editing are by Nicholas John and Chris Gregory

Nicholas John is a writer and music journalist.  You can find out more about him by following him on twitter https://twitter.com/WordSong_

Show of Hands are a folk / acoustic duo from Devon.  The band comprises Steve Knightley and Phil Beer. You can follow them on twitter here https://twitter.com/showofhandsnews.
and visit their website here https://www.showofhands.co.uk/

Given events of the year so far it is more important than ever that you support musicians and performers  wherever possible.  Like all other forms of live entertainment revenue from gigs and performances has completely dried up for most bands and artists.   There is no better way of supporting the music industry than by ordering a CD, digital download or other item of merchandise from artists you enjoy.  If you've enjoyed this podcast please take a listen to more by Show of Hands and consider supporting them by ordering their new album from their online store.  https://smarturl.it/bfielddancefloor

Copyright on the story Undertow: Nicholas John

Publishing Copyright on the song Undertow: (Steve Knightley/MCPS Ltd)
Sound Copyright is owned by Show Of Hands and is used by kind permission of Hands On Music.
The original version of the song Undertow is taken from the Show Of Hands 2006 album 'Witness'

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Dex Industries' top scientist has developed a new weapon and it's about to be tested but how devastating will the new bomb be?  The Bomb is a prequel to The Blood Road series of novels by Emily Inkpen

In The Bomb by Emily Inkpen:

Warren Graham plays Tristan
Annika Kordes is Osa
Kelsey Griffin plays Isra
Lewie Watson plays Devek
Harri Rees-Jones is Varian
Charlie Richards plays Ren
Chris Gregory plays Nathaniel
Emily Inkpen plays "Auto"

The presenter is Hollye Sangster
Music, sound design and production are by Chris Gregory
Sound effects are from Freesound.org

You can find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by following her on twitter
https://twitter.com/emilyinkpen and at her website here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/

You can listen to an interview with Emily on our preview edition here
https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730/4641992-the-bomb-an-interview-with-author-emily-inkpen

Please follow Alternative Stories on twitter here https://twitter.com/StoriesAlt
and on instagram here https://www.instagram.com/stories.alt/

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