The Hidden Gems Podcast (Classic Tales & Original Short Stories)

Lions, and Tigers, and...Otters?

Hector Hugh Monru (1870-1916) chose his pseudonym "Saki" after a fictional character who was a cupbearer who was on a "joyous errand" to serve wine to guests in Omar Khayyám's Rubáiyát.

For more information about Saki, check out these articles:

Untameable Saki - One hundred years after Saki's death in the Great War, his stories are still wickedly funny. Written by Fatema Ahmed, Nov 16, 2016 https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/43602/untameable-saki

Saki: My Hero, written by Naomi Alderman. September 14, 2012. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/14/saki-my-hero-naomi-alderman

Saki. By Elizabeth Drew. The Atlantic, July 1940 Issue. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1940/07/saki/654050/

John Bell is our was our wonderful narrator and he is also the writer, producer, and actor on "Bell's in the Batfry" podcast, which can be found at http://thebatfry.libsyn.com/

I am Cathy McCarthy, your host, and I write under the name of C. Mack Lewis. You can find my books at https://cmacklewis.com/

Thank you for listening!

A roller-coaster ride on steroid-rails that explores the meaning of life, serial killers, and "an overhaul rethinking for the strategic management of the clown college" - because contemporary clown college is not your mother's clown college anymore!

Today's short story was written by Raymond King Shurtz who is a Director, Designer, Playwright, Teacher, Actor, and Musician. He was the Founder and Artistic Director of Playwright's Workshop Theatre in 1988 and he produced over 80 plays during his 12-year tenure.

From 1998 to 2008, Raymond was the director of theatre at Metro Arts Institute, in Phoenix, Arizona, while simultaneously producing new plays with Theatre 4S. After leaving Metro Arts in 2008, Raymond wrote, acted, and produced his one-man show, Bohemian Cowboy which was selected as the 'pick of the week' in the LA Weekly in Los Angeles. He also performed the show in San Francisco, Southern Utah, and Austin Texas, and is currently on hiatus before he tours the show again. As a playwright, Raymond has written thirty plays, all of them produced in various parts of the country. Three of his plays are published, one with Samuel French, and two plays with Dramatic Publishing/Anchorage Press. Raymond is the recipient of the 2002 fellowship for playwriting from The Arizona Commission on the Arts and, during the last 2 years, he is becoming known for producing plays in obscure places in his home turf of Boulder, Utah. His play, Under the Desert is produced on a high mesa to capacity audiences, who had to hike or four-wheel to the desert site to see the play. Raymond is also a singer/songwriter, and puts together bands to play old honky-tonk music and his music can be found on SoundCloud.

Currently, Raymond has embarked on a tour with his new one person show, Lounge, which is his personal riff on playing lounges for two years. Raymond plans to produce a full season of experimental theatre, with some classic theatre to give a different challenge to the company.

Follow Raymond on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/rkshurtz

Listen to Raymond's music on SoundCloud:
https://soundcloud.com/raymond-king-shurtz

Check out Raymond's book "Seven Plays of the American West" at:
https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Plays-American-Raymond-Shurtz/dp/0997045736

A big THANK YOU to John Bell for his stellar narration! For more of John's creative genius, check out his family friendly podcast at:
https://thebatfry.com/

For more information on The Hidden Gems Podcast or to submit your own short story for the opprotunity to be featured on this podcast, go to:
https://www.thehiddengemspodcast.com/

Did you ever wonder who is working behind the scenes to create the many sugary delicacies which are our annual expressions of undying love - or perhaps even temporary passion - for Valentine's Day? Meet Natalie.

Join Cathy McCarthy as she features the short stories, Mise En Place, written by Nathan Douglas Hansen. Nathan began his writing career in the Southwest, working as a feature writer and columnist for regional newspapers and magazines before attending Antioch University in Los Angeles where he received his MFA. After university, Hansen became a literature and creative writing instructor and he continued writing a column for various literary magazines until focusing on short stories and an upcoming novel. Nate is a full-time artist and veteran of the U.S. Army, and he now lives in Arizona.

Nathan is also an amazing artist and, in his own words, “The inspiration behind all of my art is a combination of the insatiable desire to express myself coupled with embracing the few things in my life that have been giving me purpose as of late, namely time in nature, the pursuit of fuller conscious moments, the healing of personal traumas, and the retelling of visceral personal experiences through abstract imagery which I hope can one day translate into broader stories for my family and friends."

You can view Nathan's artwork at: https://www.natehansenart.com/

John Bell is the narrator and he is also known for being the Producer/Writer/voice of the family-friendly The Bell's In the Batfry Podcast, which has previously won the Parsec award, which is a juried award for podcasts centered around speculative fiction. You can listen at http://thebatfry.com/

We are always looking forward to discovering our next writer, so if you are interested in contributing, please send us your short story of fewer than 5,000 words to [email protected]

For more information on my fiction, The Fallen Angels Detective Series, you can visit https://cmacklewis.com/

Until next time, keep writing, keep listening, and keep dreaming!

Exactly how far will Ralph the Exterminator go to get the perfect Christmas tree? And what IS the difference between robbing the homes of Republicans versus Democrats? Find out in today's short story!

Join us for Episode 9 of The Hidden Gems Podcast, which features the short story "The Christmas Tree" which was written by C. Mack Lewis. For more information and writing from C. Mack Lewis, go to https://cmacklewis.com/

Narrated by John Bell who is also the writer, actor and producer of The Bell's in The Batfry podcast, which can be found at https://thebatfry.com/.

Submit your own short story of 5,000 words or less for a chance to be featured on The Hidden Gems Podcast at: https://www.thehiddengemspodcast.com/

If you like this podcast, check out the Midnight Balloon podcast, which is a limited-series podcast of topics you were told you'd go to Hell for discussing. https://www.midnightballoon.com/