StarShipSofa

Guido Eekhaut is a European writer of weird, speculative fiction, crime and literary fantasy, residing in Spain and Belgium; Dutch-, English and French-speaking, published 70 books and 180 stories in several languages, awards and nominations mostly for crime writing, no cat (likes cats, does not have one, but has a lot of books).This story is original to StarShipSofa.Narrated by: Will StaglWill Stagl lives in his adopted home of Tucson Arizona where he is a creative professional by day and proudly recruits talented voice actors for StarShipSofa whenever duty calls. He shares a birthday with Mark Twain, Billy Idol and Winston Churchill, who will all be raising a pint together at the end of this month in celebration.

Eris Young is a transgender writer of speculative fiction. Their work has appeared in publications including Escape Pod, GigaNotoSaurus, Small Wonders, and the Immigrant Sci-Fi Short Stories anthology from Flame Tree Press. Their novel-in-progress, Idomeneja, was longlisted for the Cheshire Novel Prize. They are fiction editor at Scotland's science fiction magazine, Shoreline of Infinity, which won a 2024 British Fantasy Award for Best Periodical.This story is original to StarShipSofa.Narrated by: Katra Ariello Katra Ariello is a 35 year old Italian-American trans woman, voice actress and audiobook narrator based in New Jersey. She debuted in February 2022 as the audiobook narrator for Manhunt by horror novelist Gretchen Felker-Martin, and she was also the narrator for Wrath Goddess Sing by Maya Deane. Additionally, she recently launched her own independent audiobook production company called Golden Apple Audio to help fund and produce audiobooks for queer and trans authors who otherwise cannot afford to have audiobooks made.Fact: Looking Back At Genre History by Amy H Sturgis

Main fiction: "The Şehrazatın Diyoraması Tour"Selena Chambers is the author of Babes in Toyland’s Fontanelle for Bloomsbury Academic’s 33 1/3 series, and the Weird short story collection Calls for Submission from Pelekinesis. Her writing has been translated in five countries, as well as published in the U.K. and Australia. Nominations include: the Pushcart, the Colorado Book Award, the Best of the Net, as well as the Hugo Award and World Fantasy Award (twice). For more info, check out: www.SelenaChambers.com.This story originally appeared in Steampunk World, Sarah Hans, ed. (2014).Narrated by: Christina M. RauChristina M. Rau, The Yoga Poet, leads Meditate, Move, & Create workshops for various organizations in person and online. Her collections include How We Make Amends, What We Do To Make Us Whole, and the Elgin Award-winning Liberating The Astronauts. She moderates the Women’s Poetry Listserv and has served as Poet in Residence for Oceanside Library (NY) since 2020. Her poetry airs on Destinies radio show (WUSB) and appears in various literary journals like fillingStation and The Disappointed Housewife while her prose has appeared in Punk Monk Magazine and Reader’s Digest. During her downtime, she watches the Game Show Network.http://www.christinamrau.com

Main fiction: "The Godfall's Chemsong"Jeremiah Tolbert is a web designer and writer living in Lawrence, Kansas with his wife and son.He writes science fiction and fantasy. His work often places an emphasis on working class characters and how genre elements impact their lives. It’s predominantly optimistic about science, and is often set in the Midwest, generally, and his home state of Kansas, specifically.This story originally appeared in Interzone #244, October 2009.Narrated by: Doni NicollDoni Nicoll-Duir (nickel-dar) is originally from the Western Slope of Colorado. He has lived in and out of Arizona his whole life and now finds himself settling down in Tucson, AZ. Doni works in the renewable energy sector as a design engineer and permitting specialist. When Doni isn’t working on saving the planet, one rooftop at a time, or trying to keep up with his teenage daughter, he can be found cooking, hiking or playing board games with his friends at one of the local breweries. This is his first narration for StarShipSofa.Fact: Looking Back at Genre History by Amy H Sturgis

Main fiction: "When Dessa Danced"Donyae Coles is the author of Midnight Rooms, has a variety of puffy princess dresses and one cat but she wants more of both. She has traveled the world four times over and may do so again. Her short work has been published in a variety of horror and other speculative fiction anthologies and magazines such as Nightmare Magazine, Pseudopod, and All These Sunken Souls. When she's not writing, she's telling her stories with a paintbrush. Her website is www.donyaecoles.com.This story originally appeared in The Future Fire, #2018.45Narrated by: Stacey HartStacey Hart lives in Southern Arizona. She is the creator of EDICO Designs—a design and web development firm specializing in donating websites, graphic designs, social media content, branding, and video editing services to non-profits and small businesses. When away from the computer, Stacey is a drummer for the band The Liquid Centers with her bandmate Will Stagl, and adores spoiling her black chow chow, Billie. This is her first podcast narration for StarShipSofa.Fact: Looking Back At Genre History by Amy H Sturgis

Antony Paschos is a Greek author with short stories in Interzone, Galaxy’s Edge, ZNB Presents, Giganotosaurus, James Gunn’s Ad Astra, and other magazines. He has published three books in Greek and one in French. His work has been translated into four more languages. He is a member of the Athens Club of Science Fiction, and lives in Athens.This story originally appeared in Interzone #298, March 2024.Narrated by: Kalia MolesKaila Moles is a Pacific NorthWest native who relocated to Tucson, AZ in 2019. She is a mother to one beautiful daughter and spends her days working with her patients who struggle with trauma. She is a psychotherapist who specializes in trauma, addictions and postpartum diagnoses. In her free time, she enjoys baking, dancing and writing music and poetry. This is her second narration for StarShipSofa.

Main fiction: "Not Responsible! Park and Lock It!" by John KesselBorn in Buffalo, NY, novelist and story writer John Kessel is emeritus professor of literature and creative writing at North Carolina State University, where he taught courses on literature and creative writing and helped found the MFA program in creative writing.His fiction has received the Theodore Sturgeon, Locus, James Tiptree Jr./Otherwise, Ignotus, and Shirley Jackson awards, and twice received the Nebula award. The Dark Ride: The Best Short Fiction of John Kessel, was published in 2022, and his The Presidential Papers appeared in PM Press’s Outspoken Authors series in 2024. He lives with his wife, the novelist Therese Anne Fowler, in Raleigh.This story originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sept 1981.Narrated by: Will StaglWill Stagl lives in his adopted home of Tucson Arizona where he is a creative professional by day and proudly recruits talented voice actors for StarShipSofa whenever duty calls. He shares a birthday with Mark Twain, Billy Idol and Winston Churchill, who will all be raising a pint together at the end of this month in celebration. Fact: Looking Back At Genre History by Amy H Sturgis

Main fiction: "Spintered/Splintering" by Rhiannon RasmussenRhiannon Rasmussen is an author and illustrator of dark speculative works, not all of which involve exoskeletons. Rhiannon’s fiction has appeared in venues including Lightspeed Magazine, Diabolical Plots, and as Magic: the Gathering official web shorts. Visit rhiannonrs.com or @charibdys on Bluesky.This story first appeared, in a slightly different form, as a download via Gumroad and itch.io, 2022.Narrated by: Diane SeversonDiane Severson is a lyric soprano specializing in Early Music, specifically Baroque and medieval music and loves her work teaching people to sing. She has narrated for Escape Pod, PodCastle, Cast of Wonders, Pseudopod, and Tales to Terrify. Diane has been involved in the Speculative Poetry Scene since 2010, she is membership chair of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association and is a passionate promoter of genre poetry. The best place to find her is on the web because she tends to pick up and move to another country at the drop of a hat. She and her family currently reside in Buckinghamshire, England.

Main fiction: "Quirks" by Marie VibbertHugo and Nebula nominated author Marie Vibbert’s short fiction has appeared in top magazines such as Nature, Analog, and Clarkesworld, and been translated into Czech, Chinese and Vietnamese. Her debut novel, Galactic Hellcats, was long listed by the British Science Fiction Award and her work has been called “everything science fiction should be” by the Oxford Culture Review. She also writes poetry, comics, and computer games. By day she is a computer programmer in Cleveland, Ohio.This story first appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, November 2017.Narrated by: Mark NelsonMark Nelson began audiobook narration in 2006, and now has over 180 titles at LibriVox, and recording as “Harry Shaw,” more than 100 for Audible. While Mark mainly records sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles, he has also ventured into the classics, including Hugo and Dostoyevsky.Fact: Looking Back At Genre History by Amy H Sturgis