Jared AxelrodWriter of Adventure

Fables of the Flying City, Episode 6 “The Consequences of Soup”

Scene: The much-discussed Officer’s Dinner

Characters involved: Ashe, Tolban, Captain Sarawasu, Group Commander Hindinu, and the irrepressible Hanner Gatling. Cerranah Hindinu is discussed, but does not actually appear.

References: The behavior and tenor of the Officer’s Dinner comes from descriptions of meals from Fredrick Libby’s fantastic memoir of being an RAF Observer and Pilot in WWI, Horses Don’t Fly. The menu is based on an actual RAF officer’s dinner menu, altered for Amperstam’s resources and tastes.

Notes: This is our introduction to Group Commander Hinidinu, one of those characters who has a novel of her own, somewhere. Fables of the Flying City is a “lower decks” sort of story, focusing on the trials of Ashe and her similarly low-rank friends and rivals. So we won’t get too much of her backstory beyond the odd hint and reference. She’s one of the few characters who had a life off of the Flying City, which makes it both ridiculously compelling and, unfortunately, unnecessary for the story I’m trying to tell. Maybe one day I’ll reveal Hindinu’s days as a Calvary officer, and how she almost killed Cerranah’s future father. Maybe. It’s really a story for another time.

I wrestled a great deal with rank names in AAG. In all fantasy worlds, it’s very tempting to call everything a different name, and thereby make something normal seem all foreign and exotic. But at the end of the day, if it takes the reader a moment to figure out what the heck you’re talking about, you’re working against the original intent of immersing the reader in a new world.* So I used took the basic rankings of private, sergeant,  lieutenant, captain, and called it done. Hindinu’s rank of Group Commander is a nod to the RAF’s rank of Group Captain. Keeping with history, sergeant is a non-commissioned rank, which is why Slanger isn’t eating with Sarawasu and Hindinu.

I think this is the first episode where Ashe’s impulse-control issues don’t get her in any sort of trouble.

*My one concession to this: the coins in Amperstam are called “krulls.” While they are indeed named after my friend Manning Krull, they were called that long before he made the awesome Fables of the Flying City website.

Photo by szeing

A Time of Extreme Reality properly introduces one of my favorite characters in the whole story, renegade journalist Hanner Gatling. We’ve already had her voice in the story back in Episode 3 (voiced by the astounding Jennifer Summerfield, no less), but this is the first time she’s been a physical presence, wandering around and interacting with the characters, dropping pearls of wisdom and cannonball of malice and madness.

She is, as you might imagine, a joy to write.

So much so that she has her own Formspring page: http://www.formspring.me/HannerGatling where she will answer any and all questions posed. She’s already got a few responses up already. Two gems:

What was your favorite book as a child?

We were not allowed books as children. My mother felt that learning made a child willful and prone to violence, and saw to it that reading materials were kept as far from her offspring as she could muster. And she was exacting, with eyes like a torch at dawn, blistering away the fog that might be thrown up to confound her.

Though, it must be said that however sharp her eyes were, the woman had short arms. The top shelf was beyond her reach, and therefore beyond her purview. So it was there my siblings and I stashed out bounty of words and phrases, scrabbling up the shelves like monkeys so that we might learn how to me more than mere apes.

My favorite book of these purloined and hidden gems will always be Hypatia’s HISTORIES AND LIES. Hypatia never differentiated between the two, which is where she and I part ways.

What is your weapon of choice?

The Truth, darling. Always the truth. The truth can destroy armies, lay waste to cities, bring the strongest man to his knees and weep at your feet. Always the truth.

That said, I keep a wickedly curved hunting knife lashed to my thigh at all times,.Because while the truth is powerful, it is can slow to work. The truth works like a poison, a virus, worming its way through hearts and minds. It is effective, but there are times you need to cut a bastard and run for the hills. For those situations, I have the honesty of a sharp blade against soft skin.

Hanner makes a marvelous entrance in Episode 5. Give it a listen.

Photo cropped from Woman with her pipe, Butbut, Tinglayan, Kalinga 1954 by Eduardo Masferré

Soldiers’ Mess brings in a whole host of new characters, as we learn more about the pilots and observers Ashe is going to be spending her time with. The planes of Amperstam are not unlike the first ones used in WWI, with a pilot driving and an observer looking at maps and firing guns. For those keeping score at home, here is what position the characters hold, and who they fly with:

Ashe -  Observer,  Tolban Rinks - Pilot
Jobrani Naz- Observer, Amphodora Mari- Pilot
Ceranah Hindinu- Observer, Castine “Ace of the Air” O’Neil - Pilot
Gisgard “Bug“ Fawnderelle - Observer

Bug’s pilot does not appear in this episode. I imagine he’s a fellow who keeps to himself, and does not get involved with the shouting matches and food fights that everyone else gets into.

Ashe drawing by Steve Walker

Yes, yes, new episode of the podcast. But before I get to that, Vivid Muse has put up some great pictures from the Launch of Fables of the Flying City. If you missed the event and wondered what Jennifer Rodgers, Russell Collins and J.R. Blackwell wore, or what the model demonstration with Christiana Ellis looked like, that’s the place to be.

She also got the only picture of me with my sword, which I took off because it kept knocking into things. Too bad.  It looks super cool, as you can see. But back to the podcast…

Episode 3 of Fables of the Flying City takes a slight left turn, as we temporarily abandon Ashe in favor of Hanner Gatling, a renegade journalist and truth seeker. As the episode is not part of the story proper but instead a newspaper column from the world of the story, it seemed weird to have me read it. Gatling is  kind of a crazy woman, but in a wise, insightful way; Molly Ivins as Hunter S. Thompson. Originally, I was going to read her columns,  but I thought it would be better if I had a talented actress read them instead. Luckily, I know an unspeakably talented actress.

Jennifer Summerfield, whom you may have seen as Olivia in Curio Theater’s recent steampunk production of Twelfth Night, was more than happy to lend her voice to the character. And she does a fantastic job bringing Gatling to life.

But no need to take my word for it, you can listen for yourself.

I’ve also decided that Formspring.me would be an internet contrivance that Ms. Gatling would approve of, so I went and set one up. You can now ask Hanner Gatling anything: http://www.formspring.me/HannerGatling She will answer, some of which may end up in a future episode.

Also, it appears I’m finally able to a weekly podcast. So that’s awesome.

pring is once more upon us, inviting us all to lay back, gaze longingly at our loved ones, and remark how pleasant everything is (even when it is not) It is a time of rebirth. We’ve had our chance to regroup, to start over. Now is the time to show what we’ve done with this new chance life has given us.

The flowers are out, man. Nature’s done her part. What are you doing with your spring?

Well, I’ve got a couple books out. So that’s something.

Matthew Wayne Selznick’s “Sovereign Era” started with his seminal novel Brave Men Run, (why, yes, I did do the cover for that, how sweet of you to remember) and continues on in The Sovereign Era: Year One. Matt was kind enough to let me, J. R. Blackwell, P. G. Holyfield, J. C. Hutchins, Mur Lafferty, Nathan Lowell  and Matt Wallace play around in his sandbox, crafting new stories in the Sovereign Era world. Matt’s is a “Sovereign Era” a little bit  X-Men, a little bit Breakfast Club. My story, Can’t Get There From Here, is perhaps more John Sayles than John Hughes, but it’s got unconventional superpowers and charm to spare. If you ever wanted to know what it might be like to have psychic connection to machines in rural North Carolina, that there’s your story.

The other stories are great, too. But then, with an author list like the one above, you knew that.

Also recently released is Podthology: The Pod Complex, from the fine folks over at Dragon Moon Press. Like The Sovereign Era: Year One, this anthology is an embarrassment of riches, consisting of stories by Scott Sigler, Tee Morris, Phil Rossi, and a host of other podcasting luminaries. I’ve got two stories in this bad boy, What The Damned Owe and The Curse of the Forward-Thinking Gentleman. Damned is amusing meditation on demons and taxes, and Curse has the distinction of being my first steampunk story in print. Which is nice to be finally able to say.

Both anthologies now have a snug place on the sidebar. Feel free to click’n'buy.

But the real blossoms of Spring happen at the end of May. You know what I’m talking about: Balticon! Lots of fantastic stuff happening at Balticon this year: I’ve got two panels–one about the current steampunk trends running through new media, and another where I intend to lie about THE TRUTH–and a reading. But the jewel of the schedule is as follows:

Tea On The Flying City

A Launch Event for Jared Axelrod’s New Podcast, “Fables of the Flying City”

Saturday, May 29, 2:00pm Chesapeake

Join “Aliens You Will Meet” & “Voice of Free Planet X” creator Jared Axelrod as he launches his new steampunk adventure podcast, “Fables of the Flying City.” Learn how Ashe, a young woman from the streets of the flying city of Amperstam learns what it takes to be a member of the Aerial Guard. The first episode will be read, live! Tea will be served! Prizes will be won! YOU could be in the story!

That’s right. I am returning to podcasting. And with my triumphant return comes a fantastic bit of news that I will not spoil here, but rather wait until it the Live Launch itself, where it can be presented in the fullness of time. Suffice to say, it is both awesome and life-changing.

As for the launch event itself, it is going to be a not-to-be-missed spectacle, in the thundering tradition of my Aliens You Will Meet live shows (though there will be no puppets…this time). I’ll be posting teasers of what you can expect from the podcast and the launch itself all month until the con. Because this is not something you want to miss.

Spring has arrived. And I’ve only just begun to bloom.

Download here

The Jugulites will not allow you to land on their planet, as they have a deep-seated distrust of off-worlders. Despite your best efforts, the Jugulites will fire on your diplomatic vessal, severely damaging it beyond repair. As you float aimlessly through space with only the barest of life-support, the Jugulites will apologize but will not help you, as they will say that your ship started it, by looking at them funny.

Download here

The pleasure planet of Orlandeer offers many delights for the weary traveler. It is recommended that you not spent too much time in the soothing Orlandeerian Mud-Pits of Relaxation. While the Orlandeerian mud will be soothing and stimulating, the noxious smell will follow you long after the relaxation has faded

Download here

If you had asked me 3 years ago if I was ending the Voice of Free Planet X on Episode 160, I’d probably be impressed I stuck with it so long.  Its not been perfect—there’s some loose ends here and there, I’ll do my best to address them in other formats.  But the experiment that was the Voice of Free Planet X is over, and I call it success.  I set out to bring my fiction to a new audience, and while I did that, the downside was that I wasn’t writing as much fiction as I wanted.  So I’m ending the podcast, so I can do what I was doing before the podcast: writing stories.

The Voice of Free Planet X has allowed me to meet a variety of people I would have never met otherwise, some of whom I now count as close friends.  It’s allowed me to play with formats, to listen to new music, and to make things I never would have otherwise.  And for all these things and more, I am grateful.

More than that, it allowed me to connect with one of the most erudite, humorous and dedicated audiences in all of the podiosphere—this is true; I’ve listened to other podcasts feedback episodes.  Thank for listening.  All of you.

This archive and feed will remaining up, as Aliens You Will Meet will continue.  Any guest appearances on other folks shows will appear here, as well.  And, when it’s ready, the first season of Free Planet X TV will be here as well.

As always, thank you for listening.

The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.
–Neil Gaiman

The Voice of Free Planet X theme was written and performed by Russell Collins of www.clockworkaudio.net

Download here

Voice of Free Planet X, Episode 159: Meet Wigwam Bam from Jared Axelrod on Vimeo.
Tee Morris provides the talent and the skill to bring to life Wigwam Bam, one of the many alien puppets who will be at Aliens You Will Meet LIVE at Dragon*Con ‘08.

Thanks, Tee.

Tee Morris can be found at teemorris.com

More aliens can be found at aliensyouwillmeet.com

Title footage taken from the public domain film “Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe.”

The Voice of Free Planet X theme was written and performed by Russell Collins of www.clockworkaudio.net

1) Mur Lafferty’s PLAYING FOR KEEPS debuts on Amazon today, so now’s your time to get a copy. You may remember JR and I doing artwork for the podiobooks version awhile back, which I think speaks for itself as to the quality of this work.

Go on, buy a copy if you haven’t already. You won’t regret it.

2) Voice of Free Planet X has just gone video:
The Voice of Free Planet X, Episode 158: Gimmie Shelter from Jared Axelrod on Vimeo.This episode explores the experimental zombie-apocalypse role-playing game “Shelter In Place.” The game’s creator, J.R. Blackwell, is interviewed along with footage of the very first round of this scary, cinematic game.Watch it, and let me know what you think3) In addition to the Aliens You Will Meet LIVE show (Sat 05:30 pm at Rockdale) and the “Long and the Short of It” panel (Sun 04:00 pm at Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong) I’m also doing a reading on Saturday at 11:30 am in the Williams roomWhich is pretty awesome.

Trouble is, I have no idea what to read. “Grayson Boys?” “Even In Arcadia?” “Amelia Effective, Young Girl Detective?” Bits from “Way of the Dodo?”Any requests?