The Shape of Death

The Shape of Death

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of childbirth and loss. Welcome back, we’re so glad you’re here for Season 3 of The Myth & Fiction Podcast!  This episode focuses on two female figures standing on the threshold of death. Grief is given shape in both stories, posing questions as to how we process the tragedy of mortality.  Featuring ‘The Wyrd Sister’ by D.L. Stille (05.40), read by Amanda Benzecry. A story from our brand new Myths, Gods & Immortals book, The Valkyries [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/the-valkyries-isbn-9781835627907.html], this one follows Skuld as she confronts the limits of her power and learns what it means to guide someone through an ending.  ‘Death and the Woman’ by Gertrude Atherton (28.30), read by Bea. From our Footsteps in the Dark [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/footsteps-in-the-dark-short-stories-isbn-9781839641879.html] short story collection, this is a claustrophobic and deeply Gothic story - all about the unbearable act of waiting beside someone you love as death slowly approaches. Biographies D.L. Stille writes speculative, thriller, and horror fiction. Having grown up both in the New Jersey Highlands and the foothills of the Appalachians, she has a special love for mountains, forests, and autumn. D.L. Stille has been previously published in Maudlin House, the Flame Tree Fiction Newsletter, 4LPH4NUM3R1C, Tales to Terrify, and Cosmic Daffodil Journal. To find out more and to stay updated on forthcoming projects, visit her website: dlstille.com [http://dlstille.com] Gertrude Atherton (1857–1948), who also wrote under the pseudonyms ‘Frank Lin’ and ‘Asmodeus’, was born in California. She wrote her first novel while living with her husband in the Atherton Mansion in San Francisco. Her family disapproved of her writing, which often featured independent, driven women. After her husband died at sea she moved to New York, and travelled in Europe. Her novel Black Oxen (1923) was made into a silent film, and her other supernatural tales include ‘The Striding Place’, ‘The Foghorn’ and ‘The Bell in the Fog’. Amanda Benzecry (voice actor) regularly narrates books for Audible, is on the panel for the RNIB and is a frequent contributor (both as a narrator and a writer) to TNF Soundings, providing audio material for the visually impaired. This episode was hosted by Olivia. ‘The Wyrd Sister’ is ©2026 D.L. Stille and appeared in The Valkyries (Flame Tree Publishing, 2026). ‘Death and the Woman’ was originally published in Vanity Fair (1892), but more recently appeared in Footsteps in the Dark (Flame Tree Publishing, 2019). ..................................................................................................................................... Music is an extract of Sunbeams by Allen Stroud, from his Fractal Series album, licensed courtesy of fpl-digital 2025. This podcast is hosted and sometimes narrated by Beatrix Ambery (also audio editor), Olivia Jackson (also podcast coordinator), Shilpa Varma and Nick Wells (also producer).  Chosen from hundreds of wonderful tales, short stories such as these are selected by our short window open submission process, giving opportunities to writers of all levels of experience, culture and location. Look out for our submission announcements, and see the full list here:  flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html [http://flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html] Our full range of thematic short stories, epic tales, mythology and folklore titles are available at all good bookstores, online and in retail, and at flametreepublishing.com [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/index.html]  Flame Tree Publishing, Independent Publisher of the Year 2024, British Fantasy Society. Beautiful Books, Timeless Storytelling, Fresh Perspectives. The Flame Tree Myth and Fiction podcast is created and © copyright 2025 Flame Tree Publishing Ltd.

The Sauútiverse

This week, Olivia sits down with two brilliant authors, Eugen Bacon and Cheryl S. Ntumy, to explore The Sauútiverse. If you caught our Sauúti Terrors episode a few weeks ago, you’ve already had a glimpse into the universe they helped build, but this time, we go deeper. Together, they unpack the imagination, themes, and creative vision behind their richly layered Afrofuturist universe. To learn more about The Sauútiverse pick up a copy of ‘Sauúti Terrors’ [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/sauuti-terrors-short-stories-isbn-9781835626405.html] or visit sauuti.com [http://sauuti.com] .  If you are interested in hearing a story from Sauúti Terrors, written by Eugen Bacon, our podcast episode featuring her story ‘The Rawness of you’ is available to listen to on The Myth & Fiction Podcast. [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/sauuti-terrors-short-stories-isbn-9781835626405.html] And if you are looking to hear some of Cheryl S. Ntumy’s work, her story ‘The Wedding Dress’ is featured in our podcast episode, Not Just Any Dress. [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2446704/episodes/17188916] To learn more about Flame Tree and our upcoming projects subscribe to the Fiction Newsletter or follow us on Social Media.  [https://linktr.ee/flametree?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=60550455-2998-4db8-9e64-3d4e4f1f3013] The Myth & Fiction Podcast returns on Tuesday, 2 June, with a new episode exploring The Valkyries [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/the-valkyries-isbn-9781835627907.html], one of our upcoming Myths, Gods & Immortals titles, published alongside Odysseus. [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/odysseus-isbn-9781835627914.html] Biographies Cheryl S. Ntumy is a Ghanaian writer of speculative fiction, romance and YA. She is part of the Sauútiverse Collective, which created a shared universe for Afrocentric speculative fiction, and Petlo Literary Arts, a creative writing organisation in Botswana. Eugen Bacon is an African Australian author. She’s a Solstice, British Fantasy, Locus, Ignyte and Foreword Indies Award winner, a twice World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson Award finalist, and a finalist in multiple awards. Eugen is an Otherwise Fellow, and was also announced in the honor list for ‘doing exciting work in gender and speculative fiction’. This episode is hosted by Olivia. ..................................................................................................................................... Music is an extract of Sunbeams by Allen Stroud, from his Fractal Series album, licensed courtesy of fpl-digital 2025. This podcast is hosted and sometimes narrated by Beatrix Ambery (also audio editor), Olivia Jackson (also podcast coordinator), Shilpa Varma and Nick Wells (also producer).  Chosen from hundreds of wonderful tales, short stories such as these are selected by our short window open submission process, giving opportunities to writers of all levels of experience, culture and location. Look out for our submission announcements, and see the full list here:  flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html [http://flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html] Our full range of thematic short stories, epic tales, mythology and folklore titles are available at all good bookstores, online and in retail, and at flametreepublishing.com [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/index.html]  Flame Tree Publishing, Independent Publisher of the Year 2024, British Fantasy Society. Beautiful Books, Timeless Storytelling, Fresh Perspectives. The Flame Tree Myth and Fiction podcast is created and © copyright 2025 Flame Tree Publishing Ltd.

Of Love & Dragons

If you joined us a couple of weeks ago for our episode featuring A Breath of Time, [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/a-breath-of-time-isbn-9781835627822.html] then you’ll already have had a glimpse into our brand-new Romantic Fantasy anthology series. And as promised, this time we’re turning to its fiery, ferocious, and, of course, romantic counterpart, Of Love & Dragons. [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/of-love-&-dragons-isbn-9781835627815.html]  In this episode, we bring you two captivating stories set against sweeping oceanic backdrops, where love and transformation collide in powerful and unexpected ways. Featuring 'We Are Not Them' by Georgina Kamsika (04.09), read by Sabrina Robinson. It’s an enemies-to friends-to lovers tale set against a vast, oceanic backdrop, where two women must confront the weight of their history. Found in our brand new Of Love & Dragons [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/of-love-&-dragons-isbn-9781835627815.html] anthology.  'The Water Kelpie by Rebecca Sophia Clarke (29.31), read by Bea. In this tale, we meet a kelpie - not quite a dragon, but a creature just as steeped in mystery, who draws a woman down into his underwater kingdom. From our Gothic Fantasy anthology, Shadows on the Water. [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/of-love-&-dragons-isbn-9781835627815.html] Biographies Georgina Kamsika writes about monsters and ghosts and aliens. Sometimes the people kiss. Sometimes the monsters do too! Georgina is currently writing an interactive fiction game for Choice of Games, but when the coding gets too much, she finds she must write a short story or two. This is one of them. For more information, find her at kamsika.com and @GKamsika on most socials. Writing as ‘Sophie May’, Rebecca Sophia Clarke (1833–1906) was a prolific and well-loved children’s author, best known for her ‘Little Prudy’ series. In contrast with her lively, quirky characters, she was personally quiet and unassuming. Apart from a few years as a schoolteacher in Evanston, Indiana, she spent most of her life in her birthplace, the tiny town of Norridgewock, Maine.  ‘We Are Not Them’ is ©2026 Georgina Kamsika and appears in Of Love & Dragons (Flame Tree Publishing, 2026). ‘The Water Kelpie’ by Rebecca Sophia Clarke was first published in 1866 in Fairy Book, but more recently appeared in Shadows on the Water (Flame Tree Publishing, 2024) ..................................................................................................................................... Music is an extract of Sunbeams by Allen Stroud, from his Fractal Series album, licensed courtesy of fpl-digital 2025. This podcast is hosted and sometimes narrated by Beatrix Ambery (also audio editor), Olivia Jackson (also podcast coordinator), Shilpa Varma and Nick Wells (also producer).  Chosen from hundreds of wonderful tales, short stories such as these are selected by our short window open submission process, giving opportunities to writers of all levels of experience, culture and location. Look out for our submission announcements, and see the full list here:  flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html [http://flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html] Our full range of thematic short stories, epic tales, mythology and folklore titles are available at all good bookstores, online and in retail, and at flametreepublishing.com [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/index.html]  Flame Tree Publishing, Independent Publisher of the Year 2024, British Fantasy Society. Beautiful Books, Timeless Storytelling, Fresh Perspectives. The Flame Tree Myth and Fiction podcast is created and © copyright 2025 Flame Tree Publishing Ltd.

Deconstructed

Life, deconstructed. The saying we’re all the same underneath, is it referring to blood and bone or something less tangible? A distinctly human essence perhaps or the concept of a soul? Today’s stories broadly look at creation but more importantly at what commonality connects us all together. Featuring  ‘Solar-Powered Buddies’ by Akis Linardos (03.09), read by Amanda Benzecry. From our Robots Past and Future collection, this story is set in a future where androids and humans exist at the same time and not necessarily happily. ‘The Mother of the World’ collected by James Athearn Jones (28.24), read by Olivia. Borrowed from our First Peoples Short Stories collection, this is a Native American creation myth story.  Biographies In a cove of a Greek island, Akis Linardos was born a rather peculiar infant and has only grown stranger every year. By day, he’s a researcher of biomedical AI and ethics, hoping there’s something less dystopian to come from this technology. His words have wormed their way into Apex Magazine, Gamut, Strange Horizons, previous Flame Tree anthologies, and Uncharted, among others. Visit his website for updates on his dreadful machinations: linktr.ee/akislinardos. Born in the state of Massachusetts in 1790, James Athearn Jones would go on to work as a lawyer and editor. It is for his work collecting Native American legends that he is best remembered, however, beginning in 1820 with Traditions of the North American Indians, or Tales of an Indian Camp, which featured stories told to him by an Indian woman of the Gayhead tribe who was employed as his nurse. Jones would write three volumes in the Traditions of the North American Indian series prior to his death in 1853. Amanda Benzecry (voice actor) regularly narrates books for Audible, is on the panel for the RNIB and is a frequent contributor (both as a narrator and a writer) to TNF Soundings, providing audio material for the visually impaired. ‘Solar-Powered Buddies’ is ©2023 Akis Linardos and was first published in The Colored Lens in 2023 but more recently appeared in Robots Past and Future (Flame Tree Publishing, 2025). ‘The Mother of the World’ from Native American Tradition was first published in ‘Traditions of the North American Indians’, by James Athearn Jones in 1830, but more recently appeared in First Peoples (Flame Tree Publishing, 2022) ..................................................................................................................................... Music is an extract of Sunbeams by Allen Stroud, from his Fractal Series album, licensed courtesy of fpl-digital 2025. This podcast is hosted and sometimes narrated by Beatrix Ambery (also audio editor), Olivia Jackson (also podcast coordinator), Shilpa Varma and Nick Wells (also producer).  Chosen from hundreds of wonderful tales, short stories such as these are selected by our short window open submission process, giving opportunities to writers of all levels of experience, culture and location. Look out for our submission announcements, and see the full list here:  flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html [http://flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html] Our full range of thematic short stories, epic tales, mythology and folklore titles are available at all good bookstores, online and in retail, and at flametreepublishing.com [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/index.html]  Flame Tree Publishing, Independent Publisher of the Year 2024, British Fantasy Society. Beautiful Books, Timeless Storytelling, Fresh Perspectives. The Flame Tree Myth and Fiction podcast is created and © copyright 2025 Flame Tree Publishing Ltd.

A Breath of Time

Part of the launch for our brand new Romantic Fantasy series, this episode features ‘A Breath of Time’, a collection which pits love and lovers against the greatest adversary of all: time.  Flame Tree’s Romantic Fantasy books are a captivating blend of our signature Gothic Fantasy collections with the passion and magic of Romantasy. This series is made up of stories selected from open submissions. As with our other series, this one is beautifully presented.  Featuring  ‘Stitching Time’ by AnaMaria Curtis (03.33), read by Sabrina Robinson. It’s a tale of two lovers who meet across two different timelines. The bond between the man - who is of course tall, dark and handsome & and woman - who possesses the ability to weave time, grows as they search for a way to tie their lives together. ‘Sonnet 12’ by William Shakespeare (35.48), read by Bea. This poem reminds us that time is relentless. It ages beauty, it moves fast, it’s merciless - but it also challenges us to create something lasting: love, virtue, and legacy.  Biographies AnaMaria Curtis is from the part of Illinois that is very much not Chicago, where she learned to be argumentative, competitive and nostalgic. She is the winner of the 2019 Dell Magazines Award and the LeVar Burton Reads Origins and Encounters Contest, and her work has been published in magazines including Clarkesworld, Uncanny and Strange Horizons. You can get in touch or find more of her work at anamariacurtis.com or on Bluesky at @anamariacurtis.bsky.social. William Shakespeare’s sonnets are amongst the most admired, complex and beautiful poems ever written. Sonnet 12 was part of his famed “Fair Youth” sequence, a series of 126 poems. Shakespeare is often considered the greatest writer of the English poetic form.  Sabrina Robinson is an award-winning American actress and lover of whimsical stories. She most recently performed as The Bride in Blood Wedding at Tower Theatre and in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Putney Arts Theatre. For her role in Breakfast of Champions (streaming on Amazon Prime), Sabrina received the Best Actress award at the ÉCU European Independent Film Festival in Paris. This episode was hosted by Olivia. ‘Stitching Time’ is ©2026 AnaMaria Curtis and appears in A Breath of Time (Flame Tree Publishing, 2026). ‘Sonnet 12’ by William Shakespeare was first published in 1609 by Thomas Thorpe, but more recently appeared in Sonnets & Poems of William Shakespeare (Flame Tree Publishing, 2022) ..................................................................................................................................... Music is an extract of Sunbeams by Allen Stroud, from his Fractal Series album, licensed courtesy of fpl-digital 2025. This podcast is hosted and sometimes narrated by Beatrix Ambery (also audio editor), Olivia Jackson (also podcast coordinator), Shilpa Varma and Nick Wells (also producer).  Chosen from hundreds of wonderful tales, short stories such as these are selected by our short window open submission process, giving opportunities to writers of all levels of experience, culture and location. Look out for our submission announcements, and see the full list here:  flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html [http://flametreepublishing.com/gothic-fantasy-book-series-list.html] Our full range of thematic short stories, epic tales, mythology and folklore titles are available at all good bookstores, online and in retail, and at flametreepublishing.com [https://www.flametreepublishing.com/index.html]  Flame Tree Publishing, Independent Publisher of the Year 2024, British Fantasy Society. Beautiful Books, Timeless Storytelling, Fresh Perspectives. The Flame Tree Myth and Fiction podcast is created and © copyright 2025 Flame Tree Publishing Ltd.