June 6, 2019

We Would Love To Hear From YOU!

We Would Love To Hear From YOU!

Dear FC Coffee Club members and visitors to our ‘zine, For many years, we weren’t able to permit unfettered comments from you, our members, because the gate to the Comments section was wide open to spam – and boy, did we get it. With the new version of WordPress software, this is no longer the problem it was. Where before you had to have a WordPress account, login and password, now you don’t. We would love to hear from you! All you have to do is drop down to Leave a Reply and type away in the Comments box below. (Don’t forget to click the Post Comment box.) We’ve been testing it, and it works great. The only thing that would make it better is the involvement of our treasured Coffee Club members. So don’t…

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May 25, 2019

“Superguy” Part IV, The Saturday Podcast

“Superguy” Part IV, The Saturday Podcast

Dear FanGirlz and FanBoyz, tonight we present Chapters 7 and 8 of Kurt Clopton’s outrageous and funny novel, Superguy. Yes, originally written as a novel, the story of Superguy was transformed into a audiobook by Ruby Fink and her talented voiceover artists at Faux Fiction Audio. You won’t see it as a choice on Amazon just yet, but you will, soon. If, after listening to these first eight chapters, you simply can’t wait another minute to hear the rest, you can find the complete audiobook here on SoundCloud. Please click the arrow below to listen to Chapter 7 of Superguy. Please click the arrow below to listen to Chapter 8 of Superguy. A few words about audio production and the team at Faux Fiction Audio. The act of creating characters in audio recordings is called…

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May 18, 2019

“SuperGuy” The Third Saturday Night Podcast

“SuperGuy” The Third Saturday Night Podcast

Hey Podcast Fans, herewith two more chapters from “SuperGuy!” We hope you’re enjoying this zany novel. In case you need a refresher, Oliver is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin desk (not disk) jockey who suddenly finds himself transformed into a superhero. If you’re a desk jockey, you can probably tilt back in your faux Aeron, close your eyes and totally imagine what this feels like. If not, perhaps at least you’re wondering what it would feel like? Well, here’s your chance, and instead of having to read about it on your Kindle, lucky you! Listen to it right here, exclusively on the Fictional Café. If you missed Chapters 1 and 2, click here. Chapters 3 and4 are here. Please click on the arrow below to listen to the Chapter 5 of SuperGuy. Please click on the arrow…

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May 4, 2019

“SuperGuy” The Podcast, Part II

“SuperGuy” The Podcast, Part II

We hope you joined us last week and listened the first two chapters of “SuperGuy,” from the novel written by Kurt Clopton and realized as an audiobook by Ruby Fink and the actors at Faux Fiction Audio. If you missed them, click here to catch up. But right now, it’s on with the show! Please click on the arrow below to listen to Chapter 3 of SuperGuy. Please click on the arrow below to listen to Chapter 4 of SuperGuy. We’re SuperGuys’ Happy Hearts Band [lala, la la] and we hope you have enjoyed the show. We’ll be right back here next Saturday night with two more chapters.

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April 27, 2019

“SuperGuy” The Saturday Night Podcast

“SuperGuy” The Saturday Night Podcast

We’re very fortunate to have a brand spanking new novel to begin podcasting tonight: SuperGuy by Kurt Clopton. Oliver is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin desk jockey who suddenly finds himself transformed into a superhero. If you’re a desk jockey, you can probably tilt back in your faux Aeron, close your eyes and totally imagine what this feels like. If not, perhaps at least you’re wondering what it would feel like? Well, here’s your chance, and instead of having to read about it on your Kindle, lucky you! Listen to it right here, exclusively on the Fictional Café. At least for the next four weeks, as we present two chapters each Saturday night. Enjoy! Please click on the arrow below to listen to the first chapter of SuperGuy. Please click on the arrow below to listen to…

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April 6, 2019

“The Maltese Goddess”

“The Maltese Goddess”

Third and Final Episode Here we are folks, as promised, at the same time and same station, headphones poised to listen to the last episode of our mystery-adventure in 3-D sound from our friends and fortunately frequent contributors at ZBS. I do want to give them a great big fist bump from Fictional Café and a nudge for you to go check out their site, because it is full to overflowing with great stories and tales for listening. You’ll recall that “‘The Maltese Goddess’ is “a detective story set in the 1930s, with voodoo, mobsters, goddess worshippers, a snake cult, and an ancient, priceless, statue from Malta.” And, as you remember, it won first prize in the Prix Italia audio arts contest a few years ago (you’ll hear about this again in the Introduction). It’s…

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March 30, 2019

“The Maltese Goddess” Part 2

“The Maltese Goddess” Part 2

Saturday Night at the Podcasts As promised, here’s the second episode of ZBS Media’s incredible noir detective opera. If you missed Part 1, you should definitely click back through the slider on our home page and listen to it first. There is one more episode, which will “air” here next week. Or, as we used to say in radio, “same time, same station.” As we did last week, we’re also posting the Introduction as a separate audio file. There’s a technical, not aesthetic, reason for this. Because “The Maltese Goddess” was produced in 3-D sound, these episodes are large files. So large, in fact, that they exceed WordPress’s size limit. But through the miracle of audio editing technology, we were able to separate the intro from the story itself and . . . Voila! Here…

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March 23, 2019

“The Maltese Goddess”

“The Maltese Goddess”

Saturday Night at the Podcasts We are so delighted to welcome ZBS Media back to The Fictional Cafe with “The Maltese Goddess,” an entertaining and original takeoff on Dashiell Hammett’s novel, The Maltese Falcon. Not only is the script first class, but the ZBS Artistes have added two extraordinary aspects to this storytelling. One, from time to time the main characters break into song. And not just any song, like a pop diva, but operatic song in which the character is singing their lines from the script! They call “The Maltese Goddess” a detective opera. It’s just great, and even if you don’t think you like opera, I think you’ll like this. Two, the entire three-episode production is recorded in 3-D sound. What in the heck is that? you may be asking, so I thought…

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January 19, 2019

For Your Listening Pleasure, The Saturday Night Podcast

For Your Listening Pleasure, The Saturday Night Podcast

Good evening, listeners! Tonight we welcome back to the Café another podcast from Jack J. Ward’s Electric Vicuna Productions, and a second thoughtfully curated old time radio show for your entertainment. From EVP’s Deadline Anthology Series, our first offering is “Clay Pigeon Shooting.” Don (John Bell) takes his employee Andrew (Cayenne Chris Conroy) out for a friendly weekend hunting. The game is something more elusive than deer. Something of an hommage to “The Most Dangerous Game.” Next, we offer for your listening enjoyment an episode of a rare radio show from the mid-10940s, “The Avenger.” It has two earmarks of all crime-fighting radio plays of the era: one, the message is always “crime does not pay” and two, a creaky old organ providing the musical background and scene segues. That said, this is a good…

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January 12, 2019

Tonight, Podcasts Return to FC!

Tonight, Podcasts Return to FC!

Ruby and Jack are pleased to bring you some new audio arts dramas tonight, courtesy of our friends at Electric Vicuna Productions. There are many people out there who work tirelessly, without compensation and often without praise, creating great audio content for our enjoyment. Jack J. Ward is one of those people; see his bio at the bottom of this post. But now, please enjoy the Electric Vicuna production and re-creation of one of the most famous radio dramas ever written or aired [thanks so much, Lucille Fletcher]: “Sorry, Wrong Number.” We’re also including the original version, which was broadcast on the CBS radio show “Suspense” on May 25, 1943 — then again, and again, due to its popularity. It starred Agnes Moorhead, and some years later was made into a film starring Barbara Stanwyck….

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