Not About Lumberjacks

Be mighty, and keep your axes sharp!

Christmas Miscellany 4

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For the fourth year in a row, it’s a handful of stories (five, in fact) to make your holidays merry and bright! This year’s lineup:

Tracks – A tale of drifting teenage friendship.

Homecoming – Callan returns home for his annual visit with his father.

The Last Wish – If a genie grants you three wishes, and the first two don’t work out as planned, what should you do with the third?

Monkey-Wrenching Suburbia – A story about misplaced teen angst in 80s suburbia.

Christmas in Kansas – Most people reach an age when they recognize their parents’ flaws. Is it a gift, or a curse?

Blooper Reel – Yep, you read that right! Stick around until the very end for a gift many have requested.

Content Advisory: Some swearing, family loss, alcohol consumption, vandalism, divorce, and minor gore.

Also, I mentioned that I’d leave a link to Jennifer Moss’s novel, TOWN RED. Here it is!

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Credits:

Music: Theme – Ergo Phizmiz. Story – Johannes Bornlöf, licensed through Epidemic Sound.

Stories: Christopher Gronlund.

Narration: Christopher Gronlund.

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The Cold of Summer

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Four strangers come together when they contract a mysterious illness from an old woman in line at a pharmacy.

Content Advisory: This story deals with illness, including mentions of COVID-19. It’s also not without moments of anxiety, regret, abandonment, nightmares, and even death. I know that makes it sound like it’s a rough tale, but this is still a story of hope.

Oh—and just like almost every episode—there’s some swearing…

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Credits:

Music: Theme – Ergo Phizmiz. Story – Oscar Colling, Ethan Sloan, and Sionya (featuring Emmi), all licensed from Epidemic Sound.

Story and Narration: Christopher Gronlund.

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Behind the Cut – Pepper

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My good friend, Curtis Hart, requested this episode. He wanted to know why sometimes I tease an episode…only to release it much later — sometimes even releasing multiple episodes before it.

He gets his answer in this behind-the-scenes look at what goes into an episode of Not About Lumberjacks.

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Pepper

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A father returns as a reincarnated, talking dog in an attempt to make amends with his estranged son.

Content Advisory: Language, some [gloriously] crude humor, and discussions about the death of a family member from cancer. Yeah, Pepper dies, so it’s technically a dead-dog story…but it’s the protagonist’s dad.

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Credits:

Music: Theme – Ergo Phizmiz. Story – Chad Crouch.

Story: Christopher Gronlund.

Narration/Voices: Christopher Gronlund, Rick Coste, Cynthia Griffith, and Mandie Coste.

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Under the Big Top

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An FBI agent nearing forced retirement races to solve the case that’s haunted him for years. Will he find the break he needs at a traveling circus?

Content Advisory: Swearing, mention of child abduction, mention of sexual assault, mention of child murders, eating disorders, and violence (fighting and a shooting). Cannibalism.

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Credits:

Music: Theme – Ergo Phizmiz. Story – Howard Harper-Barnes, Christian Anderson, and Gavin Luke, licensed through Epidemic Sound.

Story: Christopher Gronlund.

Narration: Christopher Gronlund.

Episode Transcript Coming Soon >>

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Christmas Miscellany III

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For the third year in a row, it’s a handful of stories — instead of just one — all to make your holidays merry and bright! This year’s lineup:

My Grandmother Wrestled Bears – A drifter returns home to her grandmother’s house for the holidays.

The Beast in the Back – The truth behind the success of BigBoxMart. (You might remember BigBoxMart — and the manager, Susan — from last year’s Christmas episode.)

Lost and Found – A family finds more than memories when the family patriarch passes on before the holidays.

Content Advisory: Some swearing, family loss, poverty, and human sacrifice. (But humorous human sacrifice, perhaps? Up to you!)

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Taller Than The Moon

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A trip home to visit his parents brings with it a flood of memories for Michael Stokowski.

[Random side notes: I believe this is the first true short story I ever wrote. Also, it is the only story I can think of inspired by one of my dreams…]

Content Advisory: A family deals with the fallout of a suicide. Mention of drug addiction following serving in the Vietnam War.

Episode Transcript >>

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Credits:

Music: Ergo Phizmiz and Kai Engel.

Story: Christopher Gronlund.

Moon Image: Luca Huter.

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Behind the Cut – Episode 20: 7 Stories

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A red Christmas ornament - Behind the Cut – Episode 20: 7 StoriesThe last episode was a bit of a departure, with seven bits of micro-fiction. The most fascinating thing was hearing which stories people loved most (“Vlad Stovepipe” won).

So…for this episode of Behind the Cut, a bit about each of the stories…

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