Thu, 22 March 2007  We want to thank you for choosing to listen to Variant Frequencies. We have now completed our move to Farpoint Media. We are sorry for any inconvenience, but we will no longer be updating this feed. To continue receiving Variant Frequencies stories, please go to www.variantfrequencies.com and subscribe to our new rss feed there. We are looking forward to sharing many more stories with you.Comments[0] |
Sun, 18 March 2007  Get Scott Sigler's "Ancestor" as a FREE PDF file!http://media.libsyn.com/media/scottsigler/Ancestor_ScottSigler.pdf Then buy it on April 1, 2007. Comments[0] |
Sun, 11 March 2007  For street mediators and their watchers, life and death lives in a shot glass placed over a smashed steel slug. Only one among their ranks can wrap up the story of the Failed Cities. The Maven is about to have the last word, and if you've come this far, you owe it to yourself to listen...**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Jan Dalton http://www.variantfrequencies.com (c)2007 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace Comments[0] |
Sun, 4 March 2007  War remains a constant throughout human history. How we wage war does not. When a man that has battled with Spartans, Celtic barbarians, and Mongol hordes joins today's techno military, the question becomes: Is there a place for warriors among soldiers? And when you've seen the rise and fall of a thousand nations and empires, can war still hold any meaning?*** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Rick Stringer Promos Wander Radio http://www.wanderradio.com/ 7th Son http://www.jchutchins.net (c) 2007 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace http://www.variantfrequencies.com Comments[0] |
Thu, 22 February 2007 A good hustler knows when to get out of town. A good con woman leaves on their own terms. And a femme fatale does it in style . . .**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Stacey Griffith-Livingston http://www.variantfrequencies.com PROMOS Slice of SciFi http://sliceofscifi.com/ Podiobooks.com http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=110 (c)2007 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace February 2007 Comments[0] |
Fri, 9 February 2007 What's the difference between being heroism and self-preservation? Just ask Valeri Klimenko. While the whole city celebrates him as the man who caught notorious serial killer The Conductor, the constable-turned-detective sits in his darkened apartment with a glass of scotch, taking solace only in the fact that he's lived through the week with a few scars and a few more nightmares...**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Anton Buntic http://www.variantfrequencies.com PROMOS Geek Fu Action Grip http://www.geekfuactiongrip.com/ The Sonic Society http://www.sonicsociety.org/ Podiobooks.com http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=110 (c)2007 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace February 2007 Comments[0] |
Sun, 4 February 2007  "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." But for a man who lives outside the fringe of society, there's never been a choice. Time is all he's got, and he's serving a life sentence of a different kind.*** Written by Anne Stringer Narrated by Jeff Frank Promos Podiobooks.com http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=110 (c) 2007 Rick Stringer and Anne Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com Comments[0] |
Sun, 28 January 2007 Fera's past is written in her own scarred flesh. Tonight, watching her lifeblood run slowly into the gutters of the Failed Cities, hear that history recounted by Fera's own mind as she battles the one enemy that has threatened her for so long like no other: Death . . .**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Maia "KnitWitch" Whitaker http://www.variantfrequencies.com PROMOS Billibub Baddings http://www.teemorris.com/billipodcast/ Podiobooks.com http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=110 Sound Effects from The Freesound Project http://freesound.iua.upf.edu (c)2007 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace January 2007 Comments[0] |
Thu, 18 January 2007 Tonight's the night. Truck's sharpening his blade to a razor edge, and a chance meeting with the reluctant Detective Klimenko has provided the set-up for him to carve out the revenge he's been chasing after at a 100 miles an hour . . .**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Ian Jones http://www.variantfrequencies.com PROMOS Billibub Baddings http://www.teemorris.com/billipodcast/ Podiobooks.com http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=110 (c)2007 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace January 2007 Comments[0] |
Fri, 5 January 2007  One
unusually warm winter morning, she wakes up and finds that something
she took for granted -- about the entire universe -- has radically
changed.
It is either the end of reality -- or the beginning of a new one... ****Written by A.R.Yngve Narrated by A.R.Yngve http://www.variantfrequencies.com http://yngve.bravehost.com PROMOS The Sci Fi Podcast Network http://www.tsfpn.com/ The Failed Cities Monologues http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=110 Variant Frequencies (c)2007 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace See (c)2007 A.R.Yngve January 2007 Comments[0] |
Fri, 29 December 2006 Tonight,
as street preachers poise for war, Rastafarian soldiers pray for
battle, and The Stacks prepare for Judgment Day, Sterne is just trying
to write the end of his novel before The Feral Twins write the end on
him. And it's anybody's guess who'll get the last word . . .
****
Written by Matt Wallace
Narrated by Tom Rockwell
Music: Spherical by Evan Tate
PROMOS
Silent Universe
Podiobooks.com
Sound Effects from The Freesound Project
(c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace
December 2006 Comments[0] |
Sun, 17 December 2006 Sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes dead wrong. But for the first time in their storied and bloody careers, Ferus is the one making decisions for The Feral Twins. His strength has always been their deadliest weapon, but only when guided by his sister's hand. Tonight, if they're going to get out alive, Ferus will have to find a new strength . . .**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Neil Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com PROMOS Destructomundo http://destructomundopodcast.com/ Planet Retcon Radio http://www.planetretcon.com/ Podiobooks.com http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=110 Sound Effects from The Freesound Project http://freesound.iua.upf.edu (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace December 2006 Comments[0] |
Mon, 4 December 2006  A traveling salesman learns that a story or two can help ease the
burdens of a post-apocalyptic world—not to mention push a sale or two.
But, of course, some stories don't always turn out the way you
think.... PROMOS
Sound Effects from The Freesound Project
Variant Frequencies (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace
Comments[0] |
Sun, 26 November 2006 There's no chapter in the Steel Gospel on the apocalypse, but that's exactly what the street preachers are facing tonight: Their own personal end of times. As blood and fire threaten to engulf Ethan, his brethren, and their city, the question isn't whether or not they'll survive to see the dawn, but whether or not the dawn will come at all.**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Rick Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com PROMOS The Daughter of the Sun http://www.LonnieEzell.com Podiobooks.com http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=110 Sound Effects from The Freesound Project http://freesound.iua.upf.edu My Odeo Channel (odeo/23331af1006b52db) (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace November 2006 Comments[0] |
Sun, 12 November 2006 You're not the only one invested in the story of The Failed Cities. The Nicodemus Consortium is very interested in what's been happening on both sides of the river, and one of their best operatives is about to give them a full report. Be warned that the Consortium protects their secrecy with a vengeance. Eavesdrop at your own risk . . .**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Benjamin Grundy http://www.variantfrequencies.com http://www.sohpodcast.com/mu/ PROMOS Scott Sigler's The Rookie http://scottsigler.podshow.com Podiobooks.com http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=110 (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace November 2006 Comments[1] |
Thu, 2 November 2006  I've heard that the body becomes lighter at the moment of death. Just a little, but enough to measure. As if the soul could be weighed, its departure verified. I look closely, to see if I can detect its ascent...*** Written by Anne Stringer Narrated by Jan Dalton Promos StarShipSofa http://www.starshipsofa.com Lipstick Aliens Podcast http://lipstickaliens.libsyn.com/ (c) 2006 Rick Stringer and Anne Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com November 2006 Comments[2] |
Thu, 26 October 2006 What do you do when your life and your livelihood both depend on words and your voice has been locked away inside your own head? For The Maven, the answer to that question lies inward. And the only thing worse than searching for it is finding out what's waiting when he finally opens his eyes . . .**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Jan Dalton http://www.variantfrequencies.com 7th Son http://www.jchutchins.net (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace October 2006 Comments[0] |
Sun, 15 October 2006 Interlude or prelude. When it's a romantic encounter with d'Anger you can never be sure which you're caught up in. Learning about her past, however, you might know which to expect . . .**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Stacey Griffith-Livingston http://www.variantfrequencies.com Dateline Jasoom http://www.panthanpress.com/ (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace October 2006 Comments[0] |
Tue, 3 October 2006  It's October, and in the spirit of the month we're turning our dial to horror with a story written just for All Hallows Eve. This frightening frequency is the tale of two strangers who meet on a lonely night in a grand old hotel. They're about to learn that sometimes it's better to stay home and weather the storm, and that it's all well and good to go looking for ghosts . . . until you actually find one.**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Rick Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com The Time Traveler Show http://www.timetravelershow.com Variant Frequencies (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace October 2006 Comments[5] |
Wed, 20 September 2006 A new detective's shield, an old suit, and a lethal case no one else wants. It's not the way Valeri Klimenko, the former constable, wants to start out his night. But they may have all underestimated this simple young man from the Ukraine, who's been pushed just about as far as he's willing to go by the powers that be.**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Aleksey Raskhodchikov http://www.variantfrequencies.com http://v-frequencies.livejournal.com/ PodcastPEN http://www.tsfpn.com/ The Time Traveler Show http://www.timetravelershow.com/ (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace September 2006 Comments[0] |
Wed, 13 September 2006 Fera and her brother have murdered, maimed, and massacred on every continent across the globe, but it's the hard, ugly lessons she learned as a girl that command Fera's pathology. When her intended victim for the night is snatched away by a resourceful pit fighter, it sparks a recall that can only lead to blood.**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by KnitWitch http://www.variantfrequencies.com http://v-frequencies.livejournal.com KnitWitch Zone http://www.knitwitchzone.com Evan Tate http://www.evantate.com Spherical (c)2006 Evan Tate Variant Frequencies and The Failed Cities Monologues (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace September 2006 Comments[0] |
Thu, 7 September 2006  Life on the very edge of the solar system is a bleak nightmare, punctuated only by the blissful euphoria afforded by the drug, trace. Andi is a trace addict. Trace is Andi's only escape from his crushing life. But a new drug is taking hold of Andi. Cell is strong, addictive and, above all else, the cell is being hunted.**** Written by Darren Reid Narrated by Rick Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com http://www.myspace.com/darrenreidcell Skepticality http://www.skepticality.com Variant Frequencies (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace Cell (c)2006 Darren Reid September 2006 Comments[0] |
Wed, 23 August 2006 Truck lives for the action, for life on the edge of a blade. But when a routine pick-up goes a hundred miles south of wrong, that pace comes to a crashing halt...**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Ian Jones http://www.variantfrequencies.com http://v-frequencies.livejournal.com Sundown Lounge Podzine http://www.larrywinfield.com/sundownlounge.htm (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace August 2006 Comments[0] |
Sun, 13 August 2006 Jump into the story with Sterne. He's about to live one of his own pulp adventures, but unlike Curly, his fearless juggernaut alter ego, Sterne is going to find out that the real bad guys don't wear hats. And his instructors for the evening? The Feral Twins . . .**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Jason McDowell Music: Spherical by Evan Tate http://www.variantfrequencies.com http://v-frequencies.livejournal.com http://www.evantate.com/ (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace August 2006 Comments[0] |
Tue, 8 August 2006  Every season it grew stronger.
Every season more children vanished.
Every
season the gardeners dwelling grew, forcing the village to retreat its
borders, until at last it could shrink no further...
****
Written and Narrated by Adrian Grey Marsden
http://www.variantfrequencies.com
http://www.adriangrey.com/
The Dark Harvest (c)2006 Adrian Grey Marsden
Variant Frequencies (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace
August 2006 Comments[1] |
Sun, 16 July 2006 Boredom's
a dangerous thing when you're one of The Feral Twins, and not even
arson, kidnapping, and back alley crucifixions can relieve it. Ferus
just wants one worthy opponent before the night is through. He's
forgotten what the Chinese say about what you wish for...
****
Written by Matt Wallace
Narrated by Neil Stringer
(c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace
July 2006 Comments[0] |
Tue, 4 July 2006  Spend a night in the far reach with Sherk Maxwell, doctor of broadcast journalism. Sherk is humanity's last voice of dissent, set forth on a mic and beamed out across deep space to every rift-tripper and manic ET roaming the great void. But as the same slimy threat that evacuated Earth encroaches on Dr. Maxwell's weird corner of the big black, will it signal the final broadcast of mankind's last frequency? You'll have to tune in to find out...**** Written by: Matt Wallace Narrated by: Evo Terra Music by: Cagey House, Neil Stringer & Greg Seaman, Rick Stringer, and The Traverse Symphony Orchestra http://www.variantfrequencies.com http://v-frequencies.livejournal.com http://www.podiobooks.com http://www.sliceofscifi.com http://www.myspace.com/cageyhouse http://www.tso-online.org http://www.gregseamanmusic.com Variant Frequencies (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace July 2006 Comments[2] |
Sun, 25 June 2006 Reverend
Ethan is a man who likes to keep things simple: a collar, a street to
keep, a stick to keep them with. But tonight, with war looming just
around a battered brick corner, things are about to get complicated. A
missing mediator, a fallen street preacher left as a message, a
mysterious lady of quality bearing a warning and a gift. And that's
just the beginning...
****
Written by Matt Wallace
Narrated by Rick Stringer
(c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace
June 2006 Comments[0] |
Thu, 15 June 2006 If
you're new to the Failed Cities, there's only one place to go if you
want to be in the know, and it's not some digital Orwellian
info-matrix. It's a tiny tarot den in the shadiest part of town.
Psychic Sally is a palm-reader with a third eye on all the action, and
for a fiver she'll give you a glimpse into what's happened so far on
both sides of the river...
****
Written by Matt Wallace
Narrated by Maia "KnitWitch" Whitaker
(c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace
June 2006 Comments[0] |
Sat, 3 June 2006  Pohraen's childhood was dominated by the interminable war on her planet; only the music of the 100th Day gatherings could lift her mood. Then, in a last desperate arms race, a bizarre turn of events sowed the seeds of change.**** Written by DJ Burnham Narrated by Rick Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com http://www.djburnham.com http://v-frequencies.livejournal.com/ Variant Frequencies (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace The Spoils of War (c)2006 DJ Burnham June 2006 Comments[0] |
Sat, 27 May 2006 When fevered streets reach their boiling point, you bring in a mediator. When it's looking like back alley war, you need a maven. Tonight was already going to be his toughest mediation yet. Then his throat got put on the bargaining table...**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Jan Dalton http://www.variantfrequencies.com (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace May 2006 Comments[0] |
Sun, 14 May 2006 In the
Failed Cities, being beautiful can make you a victim. Being beautiful
and smart can make you dangerous. d'Anger has a flawless form, a
Botticelli face...and an IQ of 175...
****
Written by Matt Wallace
Narrated by Stacey Griffith
(c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace
April 2006 Comments[0] |
Fri, 5 May 2006  Every
night I strolled the same path, looking for him. The nights were
getting colder. Even in the short time I was out, my fingers were
aching from it, and I worried that he was frozen somewhere. I didn't
know where to begin to look...
****
Written by Anne Stringer
Narrated by Heidi Jones
Music performed by Neil Stringer
Music composed by Greg Seaman http://www.variantfrequencies.com
(c)2006 Rick Stringer and Anne Stringer
May 2006 Comments[0] |
Sun, 23 April 2006 Constable Valeri Klimenko, whose father and grandfather were both Heroes of Ukraine, never had any intention of living up to his family's legacy. Now he's been made a detective and forced onto the trail of the most feared and talked about serial killer in the city's history. If it weren't for that damned Reuben sandwich...**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Aleksey Raskhodchikov http://www.variantfrequencies.com http://v-frequencies.livejournal.com/ (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace April 2006 Direct download: FailedCitiesMonologues06-ConstableKlimenko.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 9:56 PM Comments[0] |
Tue, 11 April 2006 Fera, alpha female of The Feral Twins. Death lives inside her, and it's a reality she shares with all those she meets, whether they want its secrets or not. But is Fera a predator...or just the ultimate survivor?**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Mel Hall http://www.variantfrequencies.com (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace April 2006 Comments[0] |
Sat, 1 April 2006  In the 1930's 52nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue was home to the speakeasy. In the 2030's it's all about the breakdowns, where they mix biochem cocktails and spark the Ash of the Dead, sucking its acrid smoke through bone pipes. The big ticket is, of course, shooting distilled endorphins. Yes, they'd found the last fix, and it was inside the human body all along.**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Anne Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com (c)2006 Rick Stringer, Anne Stringer, and Matt Wallace April 2006 Comments[0] |
Sun, 19 March 2006 The news webs call him The Conductor. He's responsible for the disappearances of at least thirty young women, all prostitutes. Their bodies are never found. And oh, yes, you're about to discover why...**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Ian Jones http://www.variantfrequencies.com (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace March 2006 Comments[0] |
Thu, 9 March 2006 Walk the streets between the Stacks with Sterne, a pit fighter that splits his nights between brawling for cash and spinning tales of old school tough guys and detectives. The Stacks is considered nothing more than a neo hippie ghetto. But to the folks that live here, the eve trippers and broken artists and freaked out Rastafarians, it's a dreamland. And Sterne has his tiny crumbling place in it, filled with obsession, imagination, and some fresh wounds waiting to scar....**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Rick Stringer Music: "Caution" by Rick Gerics http://www.variantfrequencies.com (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace March 2006 Comments[0] |
Wed, 1 March 2006  At least Mom doesn't walk me all the way to the door. That would be so embarrassing!... They can be stolen away and terrible things can be done to them... I used to be that little girl, the one walking with her mom... What does she think is gonna happen in this dumb neighborhood?... I think she watches the kids walking to school... I wonder if I'll make it until spring....**** Written by Anne Stringer Narrated by Stacey Griffith http://www.variantfrequencies.com (c) 2006 Anne Stringer and Rick Stringer March 2006 Comments[0] |
Tue, 21 February 2006 Within social circles linked by blood The Feral Twins are more than assassins, they're celebrities. A predator pack of two that bring animal spectacle to murder, they have no past, just question marks that hang like sharpened sickles above their heads. Ferus is silent death, his sister's single-minded enforcer. But there's the voice of a young boy in his head that tells a very different story...**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Neil Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace February 2006 Comments[0] |
Tue, 14 February 2006 Two cities separated by 16 miles of river. One side has been written off, zeroed out by its elected caretakers. Now men with white collars and nighted sticks patrol the streets. They're peacekeepers, following a new gospel, the Steel Gospel. Ethan is one of them; part clergy, part lawman, part soldier. A shepherd in a concrete pasture, watching over hophead flocks by night. He's also a believer. Ethan knows that nobility and justice are the cross and shield of the street preacher. But power corrupts, and in a city that has downsized police and
politicians the street preacher's power is 100 proof...**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Rick Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace February 2006 Comments[0] |
Sun, 12 February 2006  I'd spotted Carey. He heard the Whirring too. He'd grabbed my baseball bat out of the front seat, and now he was standing, braced against the open passenger side door, in his best Sammy Sosa stance. I couldn't believe it, not even after knowing the guy for two years. He was actually going to try to tee off on the lo-gi.**** Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Rick Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace February 2006 Comments[0] |
Sun, 12 February 2006  You thought that was the sun rising over Saturn and ain't that a sight when really a superflare of magnesium was covering the approach of a creepy-creeper. And by the time the light dissipated they were right on top of you.**** This is the second of a two-part podcast. Written by Matt Wallace Narrated by Rick Stringer http://www.variantfrequencies.com (c)2006 Rick Stringer and Matt Wallace January 2006 Comments[0] |
Sun, 12 February 2006  They weren't family in the office. It wasn't a brotherhood. They weren't even friends. But they'd all been assigned a singular shitty fate, and that made them the same. When Management descended to rob a corpse of that departed man's few meager possessions it didn't stand with the other postmen. One day all of them would be that corpse.
And there were some actions even dead men jerked at. Comments[0] |
Sun, 12 February 2006  Variant Frequencies - Your speculative fiction dial. Find us at www.variantfrequencies.com
Variant Frequencies is a podcast that stretches the entire bandwidth of genre fiction, modulated by a constant element of the fantastic. Every month we give you a new story.
Our goal at Variant Frequencies is to entertain and expose you to our work, and we work hard on every story you will hear. So tune in, turn the volume up, and let some of our weird carrier waves distort your reality....for just a little while. Comments[0] |
|
