Episode 91: “Never Leave the House Without your Purse” by Karl Dandenell
R. B. Wood
“Sudden Fiction” is defined as flash fiction of between 750-1000 words that tells a complete story with a twist ending. Various artists share a new original prompt-based Sudden Fiction each week.
R.B. Wood hosts the podcast.
Host: R. B. Wood
Mike Allen wears many creative hats, at least one of them tailor-made by his wife and partner-in-crime Anita. An author, editor and publisher of science fiction, fantasy and horror, Mike has written, edited, or co-edited thirty-nine books, among them his sidearms, sorcery, and zombies sequence The Black Fire Concerto and The Ghoulmaker’s Aria, his forthcoming dark fantasy novel Trail of Shadows, and his newest horror collection, Slow Burn.
Unseaming and Aftermath of an Industrial Accident, his first two volumes of horror tales, were both finalists for the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Story Collection, and his dark fable “The Button Bin” was a nominee for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. Another collection, The Spider Tapestries, contains experiments in weird science fiction and fantasy.
As an editor and publisher, Mike has been nominated twice for the World Fantasy Award: first, for his anthology Clockwork Phoenix 5, the culmination of the Clockwork Phoenix series showcasing tales of beauty and strangeness that defy genre classification; and then, for Mythic Delirium, the magazine of poetry and fiction he edited for twenty years.
He’s a three-time winner of the Rhysling Award for poetry. His six poetry collections include Strange Wisdoms of the Dead, a Philadelphia Inquirer Editor’s Choice selection, and Hungry Constellations, a Suzette Haden Elgin Award nominee.
With Anita, he runs Mythic Delirium Books, based in Roanoke, Virginia. Their cat Pandora assists. You can find him on Instagram at @mythicdelirium and Bluesky at @mythicdelirium.bsky.social.
Host: R. B. Wood
Karl Dandenell is a graduate of Viable Paradise and a Full Member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. He and his family, plus their cat overlords, live on an island near San Francisco famous for its Victorian architecture and low speed limits. His preferred drinks are strong tea and single malt whiskey. Apart from Sudden Fictions, Karl’s work has appeared in such places as Fireside Fiction, Metaphorosis, DreamForge, Little Blue Marble, Speculative North, and the anthologies Abandoned Places and The Science Fiction Tarot. He counts Roger Zelazny, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Patricia McKillip among his early influences.
