Alternative Stories and Fake Realities

Send us Fan Mail In this edition we chat with historical novelist Fiona Mountain about her forthcoming novel and audio drama “The Keeper of Songs”.  We include excerpts from the audio drama of and from some of her other novels and talk about the role of music in inspiring Fiona, her historical research and the effects of the pandemic on her creativity.   This edition features excerpts from the for...

Send us Fan Mail In this edition we look at new books from two exciting British writers, poet Lisa O'Hare and novelist and short story writer Alexandra Beaumont.  We have extracts from each book and interviews with their authors. Thank you to Lisa O'Hare and Alexandra Beaumont for taking part in this podcast.  The presenter of this edition has been Sally Walker-Taylor The interviewer was...

Send us Fan Mail Emily Inkpen is a a British science fiction writer and audio dramatist.  Her drama The Bomb was one of our most popular podcasts of 2020.  In this edition we talk to Emily about world building for Sci Fi writers, her working practice, the influence of writing audio drama on her prose work and her forthcoming audio drama The Hunt.  We hear extracts from her novel The Blood Road and...

Send us Fan Mail  Chris Beckett is one of the UK’s leading science fiction writers.  His novel Dark Eden won the prestigious Arthur C Clarke Award for the best UK published science fiction novel of the year in 2012 and his latest novel Two Tribes was published to considerable critical acclaim in 2020.  In this podcast we have an interview with Chris and extracts from his novels.  Listeners are adv...

Send us Fan Mail As a historian in the bleak, climate-ravaged twenty-third century, it's Zoe's job to record and archive the past, not to recreate it. But when she comes across the diaries of Harry and Michelle, who lived two hundred years ago, she becomes fascinated by the minutiae of their lives and decides to write a novel about them, filling in the gaps with her own imaginings.  List...

Send us Fan Mail Since Alternative Stories started almost two years ago we have produced a number of audio dramas based on episodes from folklore.   This discussion edition looks at the ways in which folklore continues to inspire writers , academics, musicians and podcasters.     This edition is presented by Marie-Claire Wood  Production and music are by Chris Gregory Our guests in this edition ar...

Send us Fan Mail In this edition we speak to poet Katrina Naomi about her life and writing.  We feature six poems from Katrina's collection Wild Persistence (Seren Books 2020) and hear Katrina's recommendations for other poets we should read. The presenter of the podcast is Tiffany Clare Poems are read by Katrina Naomi, Laura Dunnion and Nadia Wyn Abouayen The interviewer is Chris Gregor...

Send us Fan Mail In a small alpine village Stella contemplates her strange life and origins as a number of mysterious events unfold around her.  Stella's Constellation is a magical realist story by Swiss American author TAK Erzinger. In Stella’s Constellation by TAK Erzinger you heard  Sadie Pepperrell as Stella, Simone Low as the Narrator Marie Claire Wood as Lagrimas Rhys Anderson as Jurgen...

Send us Fan Mail Brida is the daughter of the goddess Callie and  bound by a spell her mother has cast, she is held captive beneath Callie's mountain fortress.   Longing to escape so that she may travel freely around the world,  Brida has tried many ways in vain to break the spell but the  visit of a  prince from the world beyond the mountain may suggest ways in which her captivity can be end...

Send us Fan Mail Brida is the daughter of the goddess Callie and  bound by a spell her mother has cast, she is held captive beneath Callie's mountain fortress.   Longing to escape so that she may travel freely around the world,  Brida has tried many ways in vain to break the spell but the  visit of a  prince from the world beyond the mountain may suggest ways in which her captivity can be end...

Send us Fan Mail In this short preview edition presented by Kelli Winkler we look forward to some of the drama and poetry productions we'll be bringing you as part of season 4 of the podcast.  The preview includes A trailer for Daughter of Fire and Water, and audio drama by Lyndsey Croal starring Kelsey Griffin, Lewie Watson, Peter Forbes and Simone Low and with music by Cameron Mackay A trai...

Send us Fan Mail Four friends have their Christmas travel plans disrupted by Covid but resolve to spend the holiday together sharing stories, customs and traditions from their homes.   Snowed In is an audio drama for this unique festive season by Charis McRoberts and Signe Maene In “Snowed In” you heard  Charis McRoberts as Aine Lewie Watson as Jamie  Jackie Jorgenson as Beth Amy Forrest as Olivia...

Send us Fan Mail In this edition we look at Nine Arches Press, an independent poetry publisher from Warwickshire.  We feature poems from 3 Nine Arches poets,  Gregory Leadbetter, Rishi Dastidar and Geraldine Clarkson and have insight and recommendations from  Editor and Director Jane Commane. The poems featured in this podcast are "Optics"  by Gregory Leadbetter from the Nine Arches Pres...

Send us Fan Mail In Black Box, based on the novel by Kevan Manwaring, mankind is looking to the stars to find solutions to the failing climate on planet Earth.  In episode 3, Lake must try to get the space berg back on course for the Arkship Ithaka after the accident which sent it off course. Content warning; Swearing, drug references, peril, sexual references. Black Box Part Three: The Shadow On...

Send us Fan Mail Invisible Borders is a collection of poetry and short fiction by women writers with a connection to the county of Cornwall.  It is published by the Hypatia Trust and this podcast celebrates the release of the audio book version of the collection which has been produced by Alternative Stories. In this podcast we celebrate the launch of the audio book version of Invisible Borders a...

Send us Fan Mail In Black Box, based on the novel by Kevan Manwaring, mankind is looking to the stars to find solutions to the failing climate on planet Earth.  In episode two we meet Commander Boone and Dr Massimo from the Europa Mission. Black Box Part Two : Europa, was written by Dr Kevan Manwaring,  adapted from his original novel. In this episode you can hear: Danyelle Ellett as Comamander Bo...

Send us Fan Mail In Black Box, based on the novel by Kevan Manwaring, mankind is looking to the stars to find solutions to the failing climate on planet Earth.  We follow Captain Lake and Commander Boone on their missions.  Content warning; Swearing, drug references, peril, sexual references. Black Box Part One : Ithaka, was written by Dr Kevan Manwaring, adapated from his original novel.  In this...

Send us Fan Mail In a future London ravaged by the effects of climate change, a company is busy harvesting memories to build  virtual versions of the world before "The Withering".  But there are parts of her past Laura would rather forget.  This episode contains swearing and accounts of emotional abuse.  Listeners are advised to avoid this story if they are likely to be offended by eithe...

Send us Fan Mail In today's podcast we look at the genre of climate fiction or "Cli Fi" and preview two upcoming audio dramas we'll be sharing as part of our Autumn climate season.  We talk to the authors of the two pieces, Anna Orridge and Kevan Manwaring and get their views on Cli Fi, writing in general and the stories that inspired our upcoming dramas. In todays' podcas...

Send us Fan Mail In this edition of the podcast we look at spoken word poetry.  We feature a new project from Kent: a music and poetry collaboration by Nancy Gaffield and The Drift.  We look at spoken word record label Nymphs and Thugs and we hear from Lisa Mead, CEO and Artistic Director of Apples and Snakes.  The presenter is Marie-Claire Wood There is some swearing and references to suicide and...

Send us Fan Mail In the aftermath of her husband's death Martha and her teenage children Emmy and Henry are struggling to adapt to life without him.  Strange things are happening in their lives and whilst things may be starting to look up no one is quite sure what is causing these coincidences.  Please note : some strong language in this audio drama. The Ark is written by Madeleine F White. ...

Send us Fan Mail The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe.  In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries.  This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the last episode of our four part story....

Send us Fan Mail The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe.  In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries.  This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the third of four parts. Almost a year s...

Send us Fan Mail The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe.  In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries.  This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the second of four parts Almost a year s...

Send us Fan Mail The year is 2029 and the effects of climate change are taking hold all around the globe.  In one small coastal community in eastern England waves of migrants are coming ashore to escape the wars and famine the climate crisis are causing in their own countries.  This is the story of three women whose lives are affected by the crisis. This is the first of four parts. Almost a year s...