Hiding Behind the HEAR Now Audio and Arts Festival

The HEAR Now Audio Fiction and Arts Festival is a neat thing: a festival in the middle of the country dedicated to audio storytelling (and the people making the tales). It’s a reminder that before television, people gathered around radios to hear serialized stories. Even when television became king (and the Internet), large groups of people never gave up listening to stories. (One look at BBC Radio schedules over the years is a good reminder that for many, audio stories are still akin to movies.)

Official Selection

I’m happy to announce that “The Hidebehind” is an official listening selection for this year’s festival.

“The Hidebehind” is the first horror story I’ve written in decades. It is the first story I ever submitted to an audio festival. I think that’s neat because…

The first story I ever submitted for publication in my early 20s was a horror story accepted in an anthology.

(Perhaps I should set literary aspirations aside for things more creepy…)

Unfortunately…

Unfortunately, because of some upcoming [routine] medical things and some day-job instability (waves of layoffs — I’m safe so far), I’m not going to be in attendance. It’s a shame because there are people in the area I’d love to see. (I spent many summers — and my sixth grade year — in the area.)

Still…

It’s an honor to have a story selected, and I hope things are a bit less hectic next year when the festival rolls around.