Showing results by narrator "James Patrick Kelly" in All Categories

Jack is having an affair with Suzanne. He invites her to lunch to tell her that he's leaving his wife so that they can be together. But just before Suzanne arrives, a stranger approaches Jack and asks for help - a stranger whom no one can see but Jack.

Waiting in a doctor's office sure can suck the life out of you. Unless...."Could Be Worse" is a never-before-published story, written and narrated by Hugo and Nebula Award-winner James Patrick Kelly.

The aliens have made contact with us, and they're very alien indeed. What's worse, they bring news that will shake the world's religions to their core. Who will stand up to them? Saint Theresa believes God has called her to do so in this novelette, a Nebula Award finalist.

In this wild and funny tale, a sentient television show is struggling to survive the death of her main character. Her ratings are plummeting, her live audience is comatose, her new star has stage fright, and her guest star is gleefully upstaging her entire cast. What's a show to do? Maybe cut a deal with the devil?

In the future people will live for a very long time; but they must periodically "recast" themselves to maintain their sanity. They might change their sex, add another head, or re-engineer themselves to live in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter.

A young man signs up for a writing class because he thinks it will be a good place to meet women. The woman he does hook up with tells him a fantastic story and gives him more than he bargained for. A horror story for English majors.

Murph lives on an ocean liner which has been set down in the corn fields of Kansas. He works as a security op and plays dangerous games in a virtual reality called Way Out. But Murph is lonely and wants to meet his online lover, Cat, in person. But who is Cat, exactly, and what secret is she keeping from Murph?

Mike has it all: a loving wife, a bright son, a steady job, and a house on a lake. Then why does he feel as though he had locked himself in and thrown away the key? And what is the meaning of the disturbing dream that haunts him night after night, the one in which he is revealed to be a coward? In a horrifying moment that shatters his tranquil life, his courage will be put to the ultimate test.

A man in a bar has a headache, but it's not from drink. Rather, it is because in the distant future, a collective consciousness is experimenting with his cryogenically-preserved corpse. What's the cure for being dead?

Welcome to a survivalist's nightmare. On the day a nuclear war is threatening to break out, his wife's car dies 20 miles away from the bunker he has so painstakingly prepared. He has to go get her, but what price is he willing to pay to keep his family safe in the face of the impending holocaust?

Here's a cautionary tale about a day in the life of a baby boomer in the not-so-distant future. Climate change has led to economic collapse and social unrest, and yet Ruth lives comfortably enough. But when she sets off on a simple trip across town to visit her friend Matt, she comes face to face with the grim reality of the world she has helped to create.

An alien has crash landed in a sleepy country town, and its ship stands guard over the fallen spaceman. When some unlikely townsfolk happen upon the site of the tragedy, what began as a game turns into a deadly first contact - with consequences for all humankind.

In a future where virtual reality shows are the dominant entertainment form, a damaged young woman has the uncanny ability to impersonate the dead celebrities of the late 20th Century, bringing them to life once again for the nostalgia market. A bittersweet tale of fame lost and found, with an ending you'll never guess.

A revolutionary young woman and her sentient spaceship have the technology to travel through time. In the aftermath of a space battle they are hurled 20 million years into their future and stranded there. When they find that civilization has all but vanished, they set out to learn why. This pyrotechnic space opera was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula awards.

Children fighting on the front lines? Maybe in some other country. But things have gone from bad to worse in the U.S. as the South American war drags on. Now the government has hatched a scheme to attract teens and even preteens into the army: they are offering kids a chance to be the star of The Johnny America Show, a reality show set on the battlefront. In a country wracked by shortages and draft sweeps and despair, maybe picking up a gun isn't such a bad idea after all.

In which your StoryPod author and narrator, James Patrick Kelly, has an unexpected encounter with an old friend and sees his mundane life pushed off the edge of reality. REMINDER: this is a work of fiction.

Phillip Wing is the architect of one of the Seven New Wonders of the World: the Glass Cloud. But construction has fallen behind schedule, costs have skyrocketed, and the project is suddenly in danger of being canceled. The mysterious alien Messengers step in to save the Glass Cloud but at a terrible cost to Wing and his wife, Daisy.

A career woman, wracked by guilt over the death of her young daughter, begins to find toys scattered around her house. Is she being haunted or going mad? Her psychiatrist insists that it's all in her mind but the truth is far stranger - and emotionally wrenching.

What if God decided to try again in the Garden of Eden? Humanity 2.0 turns out to be more to the Deity's liking. But of course, the eternal Adversary must always have his say. A comic remake of the book of Genesis - with a sting.

A young girl makes a bizarre sacrifice. Buried alive in a pyramid, she waits for a mystical experience. You will not guess the ending of this story, which was selected as one of the best fantasies of 2002.