Author Topic: PC390: Flash Fiction Extravaganza! Bears  (Read 4181 times)

Ocicat

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on: November 19, 2015, 10:55:07 PM
PodCastle 390: Flash Fiction Extravaganza! Bears

“The Sweet Life” by Aidan Doyle.
Read by Graeme Dunlop.
.

First appeared in Every Day Fiction in 2014.



“My Wife is a Bear in the Morning” by David Steffen.
Read by Sean D Sorrentino.


A PodCastle original!

See David’s Long List Anthology Kindle pre-order page. Availability on more sites coming soon!



“About The Bear” by Spencer Ellsworth.
Read by Cheyenne Wright.


A PodCastle original!



“The First Winter” by Renee Carter Hall.
Read by Jennifer Albert.


First appeared in Renee’s book Wishing Season.



“On Not Noticing A Bear” by Amy Sisson.
Read by Wilson Fowlie.


First published in Every Day Fiction in December 2014.

Have a look at the painting which was the story’s inspiration.



Rated PG

Listen to this week’s PodCastle!
« Last Edit: November 21, 2015, 12:08:06 AM by Varda »



Devoted135

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Reply #1 on: November 30, 2015, 02:32:37 AM
Flash is fun! ;D

The Sweet Life: A nice little story, even if the premise is a bit well worn. The rural/foreign people coming in to steal our jobs premise, not the employing honey loving bears premise. ::)

My Wife is a Bear in the Morning: I loved this one! Perfectly tongue in cheek and just the right length. I particularly liked the quibbles about the lease's terms regarding pets.

About the Bear: Had to go back and jog my memory, only a couple days after listening. Not my favorite, but I did like the swift turnaround when they head into war right at the end. That sudden reconciliation seemed real to me.

The First Winter: A fun tale, I can imagine a mother bear telling it to her cubs as they lay down for their first hibernation.

On Not Noticing a Bear: This one was great! So many fun little details, like how he kept guessing at what she was trying to tell him. A wonderful friendship in the making. :)



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Reply #2 on: December 01, 2015, 04:48:23 PM
The Sweet Life

Pretty clear metaphor in this one of claims about immigrants stealing jobs, but I liked it.

About the Bear

Fun story.   I particularly liked the bit where he finally admits the bear was actually smaller than him, and he offhandedly says "does that matter?" or something like it.  You know darned well it matters, and that's why you left it out!  Was very interesting and telling moment.

The First Winter

I like it, bear myths for the win.

On Not Noticing a Bear

Clever turns of phrase, and I love the title.



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Reply #3 on: December 01, 2015, 04:54:39 PM
Regarding my story "My Wife is a Bear in the Morning":

A friend challenged me to write a story about a bear.  I was surprised to realize that I have written about 80 stories, but not one of those stories has had a bear in it.  I like bears, so I'm not sure how that happened.   I wracked my brain for weeks trying to think of an idea I loved enough to write, but the only phrase that kept popping into my head was the expression "_____ is a bear in the morning" meaning someone who is grumpy and hard to deal with after they wake, often until they get some coffee or some other thing to get their day going.  But that's not a speculative story and that's not really about a bear.  Frustrated at lack of progress on brainstorming, I realized that if I simply took the phrase literally, that it does become a speculative story and it does become a story about a bear.  After that, the full outline of the story was in my head in a matter of minutes and I typed it pretty much fully formed (except I made the couple Chinese-Americans in one last edit so that could slip in the bit about the panda bear).

This one was a lot of fun to write, and was one of those rare cases where the writing just flows easily without much need to revise.


The name of the downstairs neighbor, Mr. Ellsworth, just happened to be the first surname my mind grasped at when I was looking for a name.  I wasn't intentionally tuckerizing Spencer Ellsworth, but he does happen to be the only person I personally know with that surname (though I have family living near Ellsworth Air Force Base as well).  I find it very amusing that this particular story shared a flash episode with a story by Spencer Ellsworth himself.  :)




Moritz

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Reply #4 on: December 06, 2015, 02:26:46 PM
I think the funniest part about The Sweet Life was that I am currently reading a book about Japanese business culture.

Overall, the stories were fun, though I don't really care for bears.



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Reply #5 on: December 07, 2015, 05:50:21 PM
Have only listened to the first one.  Very sweet.  I finished it just as I opened to the door to my office building and was greeted by these two bears.. ::)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/62549420@N00/23481114652/in/datetaken-public/lightbox/



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Reply #6 on: December 07, 2015, 09:19:30 PM
Have only listened to the first one.  Very sweet.  I finished it just as I opened to the door to my office building and was greeted by these two bears.. ::)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/62549420@N00/23481114652/in/datetaken-public/lightbox/

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cwthree

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Reply #7 on: January 03, 2016, 09:32:20 PM
As I listened to "On Not Noticing A Bear," I thought of James Christensen's painting. I was very pleased to learn that the painting inspired the story.