October 3, 2016
hughjodonnell
Podcast
Fiction, Podcast, Scott Roche, Tara Campbell, The Way of the Buffalo
The Way of the Buffalo podcast is proud to present “The Real Stuff” by Tara Campbell!
Today’s story is read by Scott Roche.
Click HERE to listen!
Today’s promo is for The Voice of Free Planet X.
Music is today’s podcast was provided by Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech.com.
If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please share it, or leave a review on iTunes. You can also support Hugh on Patreon for early content and other cool bonuses!
Thanks for listening!
This podcast originally appeared at The Way of the Buffalo on Saturday, October 1, 2016.
April 9, 2016
hughjodonnell
Podcast, Uncategorized
Fiction, Podcasts, The Freelance Hunters
You can’t take it with you in “The Gold Equations,” A Freelance Hunters Adventure written and performed by Hugh J. O’Donnell.
Click HERE to listen.
This episode was originally posted at TheFreelanceHunters.com on September 9, 2015. Click on the link for more Freelance Hunters stories in audio and digital formats.
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it or leave a review on iTunes. You can also support me on Patreon for more content.
April 2, 2016
hughjodonnell
Podcast, Uncategorized
Every Photo Tells, Fiction, Katharina Bordet, Mick Bordet, Podcasts, The Freelance Hunters
In this story performed and produced by Katharina and Mick Bordet of the Every Photo Tells podcast, The Freelance Hunters must sneak into an impregnable castle to prevent an international incident. Easy enough, but there’s just the tiny matter of the goblin war band standing in their way…
Click HERE to listen online.
This podcast was originally posted at Every Photo Tells on October 8th, 2013. Visit their site for more excellent audio fiction and inspiring photo prompts.
You can find more Freelance Hunters fiction and audio at TheFreelanceHunters.com.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it, or rate and review iTunes! You can also support me via Patreon for more content.
January 25, 2016
hughjodonnell
Podcast, Uncategorized
Blocked, Fiction, Podcast, The Freelance Hutners
Today’s podcast is “Blocked!” a Freelance Hunters short story that originally appeared at TheFreelanceHuters.com on June 30th, 2015.
Click HERE to listen online.
If you enjoyed this story and want more content, please visit my Patreon page to help support the podcast. Patrons of $1 a month or more get exclusive podcasts and short fiction as well as early access to podcast episodes.
October 28, 2015
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Fiction
cooking, Fiction, HLF, Hugh Likes Fiction, Matt Wallace, SF, Sin Du Jour, Weird Fiction
Envy of Angels
Written by Matt Wallace
Published by Tor
What would you do for your dream job? Two struggling line chefs are forced to grapple with that question when they are hired by Sin Du Jour, a very exclusive catering company with a most unusual clientele.
Sin Du Jour caters for demons. And goblins, and a host of other supernatural creatures that the rest of the world thinks are myths. But when Sin Du Jour is contracted to serve a post-treaty signing banquet for warring demon tribes, the menu might be more than they can stomach.
Filled with quirky characters, shocking twists, and clever high concepts, Matt Wallace’s Envy of Angels is a delightfully weird novella. He has a wonderful talent of pulling out a new reveal just when you think the story has gone as far as it can. It’s not an adventure so much as it is a magic show. You keep turning the page less to see if the heroes will make it than to see what kind of three-headed fire-breathing rabbit Wallace will pull out of his hat next.
He mixes this with an ability to draw out sympathy for his characters in remarkably efficient language. He can make you hate a character and then deliver a get-punch you never saw coming in the space of a single paragraph. It makes for a fast read that is difficult to put down.
This brief and blustery novella might not be for everyone, however. The short length and large cast means that as much as I was rooting for these characters, I didn’t get to know them quite as well as I’d have liked to. We get one or two details, then the book barrels onward. Much of the second act is also set away from the kitchen, which puts supposed main characters Lena and Darren out of the reader’s eye to follow another team of Sin Du Jour employees. It still makes for an interesting read, but it isn’t a traditional narrative by any stretch. The ending also feels a bit abrupt.
Even though it doesn’t quite fill the belly as much as a novel, Envy of Angels is a satisfying first course in Matt Wallace’s “Sin Du Jour” series. Check it out in print or ebook!
If you enjoyed this article, please share it! Or support me on Patreon for more content!
September 17, 2015
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction
Drabble, Fiction, Sci-Fi
The message was short, and at first, puzzling. It boomed in every local language from anything with a power source and a speaker. There should have been a mothership, a miles long modern sculpture hanging over a major metropolitan center. That was the alien invasion Hollywood promised us. But the skies were clear. All we got was the message, delivered in a smooth, emotionless baritone.
“The test begins now. You have eight minutes. Good luck.” At first, this contact was met with confusion. We only understood it when the sun went out.
And by then, it was far too late.
April 24, 2015
hughjodonnell
Uncategorized
announcemnts, Fiction, promotion
I am pleased to announce that my story “Prompt Succor” is included in the new anthology Dirty Magick: New Orleans edited by Charlie Brown!
DM: NO is a collection urban fantasy stories with a noir twist, all set in The Big Easy. It includes fiction from Mike Plested, Scott Roche, and a whole host of other outstanding writers!
“Prompt Succor” is a story about “Sharp” Terry O’Byrne, an Irish ex-patriot who sees spirits and works for bootleggers. When Terry gets a visit from the Catholic Church, he’ll have to solve a hundred and ten-year old mystery to accomplish something he’s never done before: putting ghosts to rest.
Dirty Magick: New Orleans is now available as an Kindle-exclusive ebook, and will be appearing in print later this month
November 4, 2014
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, Drabble, Fiction, Frank, Norm, Renee, The Bank Job, The City
The shoebox apartment wasn’t much to look at. It didn’t even have a window. It was just a single light bulb, a card table, and a phone. The only thing she had to look at was Norm pacing and mumbling to himself three feet away. She knew enough about virtual architecture to know that this room could be any dimensions, filled with whatever they could imagine. But they needed to remain anonymous and inconspicuous. Breaking The City’s rules would bring notice. The phone rang and she answered.
“I understand. The meeting’s tonight. You know where.” She hung up. “Frank’s in.”
November 3, 2014
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, Drabble, Fiction, Frank, Nick, The City
After Julia cleared him to leave, Frank still had to meet with his manager, Nick. He was in no mood to deal with the weaselly paper pusher.
“How the hell could you screw up like this, Frank?” The little toad asked.
“She shouldn’t have been able to do that. I was going the right speed.”
“But you hit her anyway, just like you hit that kid…” Frank got up and decked him. His avatar registered the hit and collapsed. Nick didn’t feel it, though. Frank was too angry to care.
“That was the last straw, Dumbass! You’re suspended, without pay!”
October 31, 2014
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, The City
140 Characters, Drabble, Fiction, Julia, Marcy, Nick, Sandra, The City
Marcy, along with Commissioner Jenkins and a delegation of IT and QA people met Julia and the corpse in the City Morgue. As far as she knew, it was the first time it had ever been used. After pleasantries, one of them played coroner and conducted a thorough examination. Aside from its already missing head, the corpse remained intact.
“Well, it’s certainly malicious code,” he said.
“Can you ID her?” Marcy asked.
“No, her credentials have been scrambled. This is nasty stuff.”
“Can we boot the user?” Jenkins asked.
“The eject code isn’t responding.”
And then the corpse sat upright.
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