This week's episode is a special feature that may be some of the best comedy writing I've ever done. "The Box with No Name" created title character Dick Winchester, a protagonist so zany and fun that he in turn inspired me to create the Dick Winchester Adventures, a series that just debuted with Book 1: The Opening Salvo.

"The Box with No Name" kicks off as Dick receives an anonymous package delivered to his doorstep by drone. No return address. No shipping label. A package on a one-way trip that ends with him.

As the box starts ticking in his hands, will Dick solve the mystery of what the package holds in time?

This story is featured as Chapter 1 of The Opening Salvo, now available on Amazon and Audible:

• Amazon: https://amzn.to/4h312Ho
• Audible: https://adbl.co/4f085Pk
• Book page for more details: https://stephenaroddewig.com/the-opening-salvo/

Thank you for joining Arlington's most-ruthless small business owner on his debut adventure and for supporting the series!

Cover image designed by Brigitte Criqui Wild

This week's episode is a special feature near and dear to your author. "Sinking Prospects" not only netted me my first ever Vocal challenge win, Runner Up in the Vocal Ship of Dreams Challenge, but it also inspired an entire series around our indomitable protagonist Martin Williams that is now Stephen's first-ever book.

"Sinking Prospects" follows Martin as he fights to focus on his assignment while most other passengers of the ship aboard the sinking RMS Titanic are preoccupied with survival. His bosses at the Firm have marked a wealthy passenger for death. No matter the fact that everyone is about to drown, Martin must ensure Richard Oblensky joins them. After all, professionals leave nothing to chance, and Martin is the top of his field.

This story is featured as Chapter 1 of A Bloody Business, now available on Amazon and Audible:

• Amazon: https://amzn.to/4aohXzU
• Audible: https://adbl.co/3vr3VPc
• Book page for more details: https://stephenaroddewig.com/a-bloody-business/

Thank you so much for joining Martin on his lethal escapades and supporting a first-time author!

Cover image designed by Brigitte Criqui Wild

This week's episode follows a fictitious figure during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Though our protagonist Ezra and his actions are the product of the author's imagination, they are based on the real heroes who fought back against their Nazi captors in the dark days of 1943. You can read the episode transcript as well as the Author's Note on Vocal to learn more about this event: https://vocal.media/fiction/he-who-fights

Cover photo by unknown author and licensed through Wikimedia Commons.

This week's episode follows the sailors of Oyster, a lifesaving ship stationed on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. When a distress call goes out that a merchantman is sinking in a winter gale, Oyster's crew jumps to, unaware that they will soon come to face with the United States' newest enemy: a hunter that prowls the depths and claims its victims from beneath the waves. View the episode transcript and Author's Note on Vocal for additional context: https://vocal.media/history/sasha-s-sacrifice

Cover photo by Willy Stöwer and licensed through Wikimedia Commons.

This week's episode presents Stephen's first and only fan fiction to date. Inspired by his editing work on Book 2 of the Echoes trilogy, he set out to predict how it would all end in the third and final installment. Along the way, he had a heck of a lot of fun introducing time travel to the series and thrusting the series protagonists Laura and Maverick up against the nefarious Dr. Alice and her new-found partner J. Edgar Hoover.

The year is 1937. And their location? The Hindenburg.

You can read the episode transcript on Vocal: https://vocal.media/fiction/memoria-d725rq07p2

Read Heroes to see how it actually all ends:

• Book 3: https://www.amazon.com/Heroes-Echoes-Trilogy-Book-3/dp/1957204060
• Full series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TMBSKTZ

Cover photo by Vitold Muratov and licensed through Wikimedia Commons.

This week's episode features "The Rocks," a nautical tale of stoicism and faith in the face of a withering storm set in the 17th century.

This story was written for the Vocal Painted Prose challenge and placed 2nd overall. As part of the challenge, "The Rocks" is based off a real painting: Ships in Distress off a Rocky Coast by Ludolf Backhuysen (1667). The author was lucky enough to see this composition in the National Gallery of Art back in 2015, and eight years later knew instantly what piece his story would take its inspiration from. You can view the full painting as well as the episode transcript on Vocal: https://vocal.media/art/the-rocks-knqz0vem

Cover photo is a cropped excerpt of the painting by Ludolf Backhuysen, which is in the public domain.

We're so back (⌐■_■)

Jon reads "Beyond the Cape," a tension-filled story of a lighthouse keeper on the rocky shores of Maine and his only companion: a shark. View the original story on Vocal to read along: https://vocal.media/history/beyond-the-cape Cover photo by Daniel Gregoire and licensed through Unsplash.