What if Heaven turned out to be just as dangerous as Hell?

That’s part of the premise of STRING OF PEARLS, a new 3-volume ebook series that takes us on a world-shattering adventure through the Afterlife—revealing Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory in a way never before dared. 

Overview:

A troubled adventurer, Dayson Snow, who’s taken much of his life for granted, dies in a mysterious accident, only to awaken in an Afterlife that’s even more of a mess than the world he left behind. Desperate to return to his old life and his one true love, he descends into Hell to find answers to a crisis that has the Afterlife reeling—a crisis in which the existence of every soul that’s ever lived now hangs by a thread.

A Word from the Author:

So what is STRING OF PEARLS? Well, it’s a confection of myth, philosophy, and adventure. A thriller. A mystery. A work of literary fiction. A Brave New World set in an Afterlife unlike any ever imagined.

I wrote the story because the subject seemed overripe for literary treatment. Little had been done regarding the Afterlife as a whole since Dante and the 14th century, and with an open field like that, it gives you plenty of room to work with. After all, just what would Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory be like, given who we are? And considering our psychology, quirks, and failings… how might we affect it? STRING OF PEARLS is an attempt to answer those questions in an epic, and hopefully profound, way. And with any luck, an exciting way, too. (Check out the audio promo on this page for a better idea of the story.) The books use Dante’s traditional structure of the Afterlife in a brand new fashion, taking the Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory framework and revealing its raw spots, blind alleys, and inherent contradictions. But it’s the more human aspects of the story—the romance of it, the longing, the hope—revolving around that “troubled adventurer” mentioned above, that hopefully ground the tale and make it more memorable.

In some ways, the books could be seen as “It’s a Wonderful Life” meets Indiana Jones… in Hell.

All 3 volumes of STRING OF PEARLS are now available as ebooks at Amazon.com and Smashwords.com (in pretty much every ebook format out there), along with other novels and stories of mine. A much more comprehensive synopsis of the series can be found at the page for Volume 1 of STRING OF PEARLS on Amazon.

About the Author:

Michael McGee is an award-winning San Francisco area writer who’s been lucky enough to travel the world and work with elephants in the jungles of Thailand, live with the Bedouin in the deserts of Arabia, and dance with Geishas in Japan. His work has appeared in various books, magazines, and newspapers. He’s also the host and author of two audio podcasts, “The Theater of the Midnight Sun,” featuring full-cast radio-play productions of his sci-fi/fantasy stories (some of which have aired on radio stations in Canada and the US), and “The Great Big Bungalow,” a travel story podcast showcasing cultural tales like those mentioned above.

Listen to the Promo here:

Listen now:

or download Podioracket Ep-11.

INTERVIEWS

Stacey Cochran

Stacey Cochran’s Main Website: http://www.staceycochran.com/
His writing site http://www.howtopublishabook.org/
Email Stacey: http://staceycochran.com/_wsn/page5.html

J.P. Moore

J.P. Moore’s Website – http://www.jpmooreonline.com/
Contact J.P. through his website: http://www.jpmooreonline.com/contact
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JPMoo

NEWS

Chasing the Bard was awarded New Zealand’s top honor for science fiction and fantasy works! Congratulations, Pip, on getting the coveted Sir Julius Vogel Award.

We’ve had some fantastic interviews with Podiobooks.com authors, and learned even more in the extended Blog Talk Radio LIVE interviews. They’re in the archive for you to enjoy authors such as J.C. Hutchins, J.D. Sawyer, and many others. If you haven’t already, check out Rhonda and Cyrus A. Webb, the producer of the television reality show The Write Stuff, in an interview now available exclusively at the Podioracket.com Blog Talk Radio Extension.

And a quick ‘Thanks’ to Jack of Wanderradio for placing our Podioracket banner on his site. If you check out his show, you may just hear a few familiar voices. Did you know we do bumpers? Just ask!

CONTESTS

Philippa Ballantine has extended her Weather Child contest until July 1. Write a review or blog about the book and let Philippa know with an email to pip@pjballantine.com. Your name will go into the hat for a huge collection of New Zealand goodies.

Contest number 9 has been announced in The Mark of a Druid 2009 Contest series. Kidnap the Trailer. Go to http://www.themarkofadruid.com snag the trailer and put it on your blog, twitter the link and talk it up, then click participate on the book site and give Rhonda the link. Every time you talk it up add to your participate list and your name will go in the drawing each time you let her know you kidnapped the trailer. Contest details located here.

New Releases

• A Coffee Crusade by Theodore Isaac Erski Fiction
• Biography of a Grizzly by Ernest Thompson Seton Historical Fantasy
• The God Conspiracy by Derek Gilbert Thriller
• Ancient Rising – Rise of the Ancients Book 1 by JC De La Torre Fantasy
• Heaven – Season Five: War by Mur Lafferty Magical Realism

Now Completed

• Blood Witness by Dave Hitt Horror/Dark Fantasy
• Theater of the Midnight Sun by Michael McGee Audiodrama
• Contagious by Scott Sigler Horror/Dark Fantasy

We have a new contest announcement from Abigail Hilton and news on J.C. Hutchins. The episode is just under 20 minutes long:

Or download Podioracket Ep-03

See our previous post or the Show Notes page for all the links, covers, and details to accompany the episode!

SHOW NOTES – Supporting links & details

Episode 3: Michael McGee, David “Grizzly” Smith, & E.G. Talbot

This is a great episode.  Check the RSS feed or our subsequent post for the audio of this podcast.  Here you will find the accompanying links, book covers, and info to make your experience complete.

Interview with Michael McGee

Rhonda interviewed Michael McGee about his short story audiodramas in Theater of the Midnight Sun.
Rhonda thoroughly enjoyed the time he graciously spent with her in the interview. In addition to what you can hear in the podcast of Podioracket.com Episode 3 Rhonda also learned that he will be featuring an award winning story in his new podcast Great Big Bunglow. Encounters With the Middle East  was awarded the Lowell Thomas Best Travel Book Award in 2008. Congratulations from Podioracket.com! Keep up the fantastic work!   

Contests

Abigail Hilton is holding a contest for people who have listened to the Prophet of Panamindorah books. Review Prophet (iTunes, Podiobooks, Goodreads, your own blog etc.) then email hilton@fauness.com. The contest is retroactive, so even if you already posted a review you may still send an email saying where you reviewed the book & mentioning this contest.
Haven’t heard the Prophet books? Grab a banner from the web site and display it, then send an email so Abigail knows.
The prize! The prize is a vignette, about the character of your choice from Prophet. She’ll podcast the story on her feed, so everyone will get to enjoy it, but the winner picks the character. The contest end on April 24th.
Reminder, Drew Beatty’s contest closes with the last episode of Lost Gods and it’s only a few weeks away!
 
 
 
A new contest will be announced on April 13th at the all new website for the Mark of a Druid 2009 contest series. Check it out!
 

News

Art Therapy for the patients at J.C. Hutchens virtual asylum…

Yes J.C. Hutchens is asking you to play along for his new release Personal Affects, Dark Art where you could become a mental patient. Joining up with J.C. on this project is the alternate reality gaming guru Jordan Weisman.

Hutchens’ Seventh Son Series led him to a deal with St. Martins Press. Preorder is available now for his print release of Personal Effects: Dark Art in June 2009. It will also be available on Podiobooks.com. But even before it hits the bookshelves J.C. Hutchens is giving the listener a podcast-exclusive prequel novella due out at Podiobooks.com in May entitled Personal Effects: Sword of Blood. There is also talk of a second prequel novella before the June print release. In grand Hutchens style he wants his reader involved. Check yourself into Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital for a little art therapy with Zachary Taylor. The scope of this project is insane!

Will you surrender?

Nina Kimberley the Merciless has demanded the surrender of Podioracket.com. We will meet with her scribe, Christiana Ellis, but we fear that this child barbarian will not see reason and withdraw her raving demands to seize the listenership of all free podcasters throughout the realm of the Internet! Look for our call to arms in an upcoming blog.  

Tips and Scoop From Experienced Authors

David “Grizzly” Smith, podcaster of Grizzly’s Growls, provides a brief article about submitting Public Domain works on Podiobooks.com.  His newest offering, Wild Animals I Have Known, was uploaded in its completed form on March 30th.
 
 
E.G. Talbot, author of  Intercast Season One and New World Orders, took a stand on the proper microphone to use when recording a podcast.  How do you feel about USB microphones?

Newly Completed Works

Fried Green Zombies By John Allen is now available in full in the ‘humor’ section of Podiobooks.com.
 One listener, David Redding, says, “I’m loving this book! Love the wacky story line with the perfect amount of dark underlining humor…..A killer addition to Podiobooks.”
 
 
 

Newly Released Works

 
Just released in Fantasy is Serving Worlds by John Mierau.

In Historical Fantasy J.P. Moore has launched Toothless.