Radio FreeWrite

The Cru welcome back PC Nottingham and introduce Beanbag, the prodigal son of the pod. Our thrilling, chilling autumn continues with spooky tales of mushrooms, Felacius Suckarus, the hubris of the fae, a last motorcycle ride, the hopefulness of good works, and Grief, who comes for us all.  From  The Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend:  banshee Literally and originally, a woman...

Puppies, Spiderman villains, chicken wings, broken hearts, and goblin blood: this week's episode has it all! The Cru launch Spooky Season- their month of monster stories- with some extra panache for y'all to enjoy as the leaves change, the air crisps, and the cider floweth freely. From The Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend: Goblin A household spirit who plays the sam...

The Cru pay homage to Salman Rushdie in this week's episode, discussing his oeuvre and his literary hallmarks.  Stories feature the fury of womanhood; the first day of college; a Little America located far, far away; and God observing His creation.  From   Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable:  Uroboros (Greek (drakin) ouroboros, (snake) eating its tail’). A circular symbol of eternit...

The Cru welcome The G from @storywarsCLE for an episode of girl talk, superheroes, college shenanigans, and pirate abductions.  From  Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable : Thaumaturgus (Greek, ‘wonder-working’). A miracle worker, a name applied to saints and others who are reputed to have performed miracles, and especially Gregory, bishop of Neocaesarea, called Thaumaturgus (c.213-.270),...

We all have weeks that are rough on both body and soul, that wear us down and make us yearn for the comfort of warm blankets and warmer tea.  The Cru had a week like that, and still brought their A-game for their stories (but the banter... well, it takes a hard turn towards penises at one point, and it never really recovers.  You have been warned.).  Stories feature a man reflecting if his life&ap...

The Cru tackle Silvanus, the Roman counterpart to the Greek Pan, in this week's episodes. Stories feature snipe hunts, haunting tunes, meditations-turned-arctic-expeditions-turned-meditations, and... squirrels with hangovers? From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Silvanus (Latin, ‘(creature) of the woods’). An ancient Roman woodland deity, identified with the Greek PAN. He probab...

We really packed a punch for our season 2 premiere!  This episode has it all: Soviet heroes; the invasion of Taiwan; rodent warriors; a bar that's really purgatory; a bar that's really just a bar; a bakeshop poltergeist; period-tracking apps; and so much more! PC is back to share some exciting author news before we launch into discussing the writing challenge of the evening: experimentin...

This is the final re-release of the summer; Season 2 begins next week! One of the tales from this episode influences the premiere, so be sure to listen and enjoy our work influenced by the Russian master of short fiction, Anton Chekhov.  From dancing rivalries to the shadows of war, our stories abide by no laws as imagination flies and flourishes in homage to a man who is truly the greatest of all...

Murph, Krispy, and WebEater recount the last days of their writers' retreat to the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Regular episodes resume 2 September, 2022! Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!   Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's y...

Krispy, Murph, and WebEater are deep in the wilds of upstate New York, climbing the Adirondack mountains and recording from the High Peaks Wilderness. We are joined by Dave, an English teacher who overheard our conversations on the trail and (with some coaxing) hopped on during our recording.  This is a single mic recording; cut us a little slack, we were deep in the mountains and far from any sou...

The Cru continue to read from the personal projects on which they are working this summer (or, in The Lotus' case, back in High School). Regular episodes return in September. Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!   Be sure to follow us on Instagram (i...

If you're just joining us and looking for a place to start, check out this Cru-selected episode from Season 1. We will be choosing a few more of these to examine during the summer, so be sure to check back in.  Enter bat country! The Cru take inspiration from the work of the late great Hunter S. Thompson this episode. A mouse's journey, a bad trip involving orcs and elves, drunken deep s...

Krispy, Murph, and WebEater recount their recent adventures into the wild.  Brewery? Check. Writing? Check. Lighthearted competition with other writers? Check check. Scottish accents, one-sided conversations, animal sidekicks, exclamations in ancient Aramaic, and trips to the principal's office? Checks runneth over. Check out @storywarscle  for a great time, and join us at the next event!  Re...

The Cru continue to read from the personal projects on which they are working this summer. Regular episodes return in September. Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!   Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send u...

If you're just joining us and looking for a place to start, check out this Cru-selected episode from Season 1. We will be choosing a few more of these to examine during the summer, so be sure to check back in. (There are some kick-ass stories here as well, so if you've been around for a while you may enjoy revisiting them!) Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as liste...

The Cru read from personal projects. Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!   Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along, which we hope you will do. Episodes of Radio...

The Cru read and discuss their entries to the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Contest. Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!   Be sure to follow us on Instagram (if that's your sort of thing). Please do send us an email with your story if you write along,...

The Cru are taking a summer break from podcasting so they can spend their time... writing, of course! Check in every week to see where they are in their personal projects. Regular episodes resume in September. Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!   Be sur...

The Cru present their polished work from the past season.  Radio FreeWrite is taking a summer vacation. We will still be dropping episodes; we'll just be reading from our own projects throughout the summer.  Regular episodes will resume in July. Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from th...

In this penultimate episode of Season 1 we take a look back at the stories each Crumember is polishing to premiere in next episode's Finale.  These are the rough drafts from prior episodes; tune in next time for the finished product! Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, a...

On this Dark and Stormy Night the Cru tackle the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest , writing atrocious first sentences for different genres, including: adventure, young adult, crime/detective, dark&stormy, fantasy/horror, historical fiction, purple prose, romance, scifi, vile puns, and westerns. This is a weird episode full of horrid writing, and we hope you enjoy it. Fair warning, some of these g...

Tonight the Cru use the Storymatic- a deck of cards that each serve as a writing prompt.  All stories feature a Waiter who is the Object of a Crush, but the Storymatic threw each of us some curveballs as we wrote. Like this weeks episode and wish you could read as well as listen? Subscribe to our Substack for a summary of our opening discussion, a story from the episode, and a writing prompt!   Be...

Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges was known as a writer of mirrors and labyrinths, and this week we take a look at his work while using his short stories as inspiration for our own. Like Pierre Menard, this is the Cru writing Borges (or, at least in the style of Borges). Listen for strange and fantastical tales, nos ficciones increíbles.  From  Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable :  Ki...

Parandrus 2: Electric Boogaloo  The stories this week are not raw. Nor are they fresh, or unedited - for the most part. In this episode we focus on the editing process, taking stories we wrote back in episode 8 (Parandrus) and, having spent time polishing them, read these edited stories and talk about how the editing process works for each of us, including what tools and processes we make use of t...

This week the Cru attempt to read one another’s stories! We have islands of lost saints, burrowing to China, and all sorts of other madness in our tales - with the added twist of each of us trying not to get tongue-tied reading the stories the others have written. This episode is sponsored by The MacBath - Literary Soaps for the Discerning Geek.  From  Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable:...