Inner Peace Is For Losers

700 horsepower. Leather. Fusion-based drive system. And good intentions.

I wish I could come up with stuff like that. (Or that artwork, by Paul Drummond")

That's Jonathan C. Gillespie's intro to his new story, Best In Class, now live on the Variant Frequencies podcast.

Best In Class is so good, it's also in the new issue of Murky Depths. Another simultaneous release by VF and MD, in an inspiring act of brotherhood reaching across the Atlantic.

Rick and I were fortunate enough to meet Jonathan and his lovely wife, Michelle, this year at Dragon*con. It was one of the highlights of the trip to sit and chat with them. They are among the nicest people I know, and I'm happy to count them as friends.

Which is why it's so surprising (and a little alarming) to read some of his stuff, like Best In Class. Somewhere beneath that charming exterior, he's hiding a twisted streak.

So give it a listen, as Chuck Tomasi hits it out of the ballpark, and check out the print version in the latest issue of Murky Depths. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Now live on Variant Frequencies, Tex's Last Run by Jonathan Gillespie. It's a great story, and yeah, that's my voice in there. I sound awful, of course, and for that I apologize to the author. (Rick tells me just about everybody hates how they sound, but he's probably just being nice.)

Anyway. I really love this story. Give it a listen, and let Jonathan know what you think of it.

A new Variant Frequencies story is now live, titled "Spired" by Jonathan C. Gillespie and narrated by John Cmar (aka Cmaaaaarrrrr). As usual, produced by the wizard of GarageBand, Rick Stringer, whose sound effects and music add to the tension and danger.

What it's about:

Obsession is close kin to determination. For one man, an alien peak seems just another obstacle capable of being conquered with the right set of tools. But any climber will tell you — you don’t want to look back the way you came.

Also, go have a look at Apex Online, January issue. That's matt_wallace, who I may have mentioned a time or two, as the featured writer for January. There's a highly entertaining interview and a story by Matt. Go have a look, then say something nice to him about it, because he's very needy.