Escape Artists
PodCastle => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Ocicat on September 19, 2017, 05:32:42 PM
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PodCastle 488: Crossing (http://podcastle.org/2017/09/19/podcastle-488-crossing/)
by A. C. Wise
read by Chloë Yates
hosted by Matt Dovey
First published in Lamplight Vol. V Issue III (http://lamplightmagazine.com/volume-v-issue-iii/)
Rated PG-13.
Emma Rose is four years old the first time she enters the ocean alone. All her life, she’s lived with the beach at the end of her street. Her parents carried her into the waves the week she was born. When she learned to stand, they taught her to float. Older still, they showed her how to stretch her body out long, how to reach, and turn her head to breathe, letting the water guide her like a friend.
Click here (http://podcastle.org/story-texts/crossing-by-a-c-wise/) to continue reading.
(http://podcastle.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ACWsmall.jpg)
A.C. Wise’s fiction has appeared in publications such as Tor.com, Clarkesworld, and The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, among other places. She has two collections published by Lethe Press, The Ultra Fabulous Glitter Squadron Saves the World Again and The Kissing Booth Girl and Other Stories, which was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist. In addition to her fiction, she writes a “Women to Read,” and “Non-Binary Authors to Read” series on her blog and contributes a monthly short fiction review column to Apex Magazine. Find her online at www.acwise.net (http://www.acwise.net) and on twitter as @ac_wise.
(http://podcastle.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/IMG_3180-e1505155627637-768x1024.jpg)
As well as narrating, Chloë Yates writes odd tales. She has written many short stories and some poetry for the British Fantasy Award winning independent press Fox Spirit Books (www.foxspirit.co.uk (http://www.foxspirit.co.uk)), and is currently working on bigger things for them. English born, she lives in the middle of Switzerland with her bearded paramour, Mr Y, and their disapproving dog, Miss Maudie.
(http://escapepod.org/wp-images/podcast-mini4.gif) Listen to this week’s PodCastle! (http://media.rawvoice.com/podcastle/media.libsyn.com/media/podcastle/PC488_Crossing.mp3)
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This story was line after line of vivid imagery. I particularly enjoyed Emma Rose's fascination with the color of people's eyes. I kept thinking it would turn out Emma Rose was somehow a mermaid or similar sea creature and was pleasantly surprised Wise didn't take the story in that direction. I do wish we had found out what the woman was, but I'm still happy with the overall journey and ending. Yates' narration was also very pretty. The only problem I had was sound continuity. There were several points where one clip of audio didn't flow into the next. It was very chopping and distracting when it happened.
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This was a beautiful tale. I like happy endings, and I like them even better when they aren't predictable.
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I agree, very beautiful imagery. I don't know if the water woman was real or not. I'm not sure what it means that the woman became less human looking as the story progressed.