Changes To The Blog

Starting this week there will be some changes made to the weekly blog. Not to worry the main content won’t be changing in fact I hope to expand it with contributions by you or our guests. The biggest change is that I won’t be providing a calendar any more. This was becoming just link to old podcasts. It will be replaced by upcoming events. This will include events not only for the podcast, but appearances I make on other shows. I did not implement it this week, but look for it next time.

I received this Email from David Larsen: I looked for the podcast survey on my mobile device, however I couldn’t find the link. On further inspection I looked on my computer, and low and behold there it was on the sidebar. So, I think if you had another hyperlink to it that could be accessed from a mobile device you might get a more people to take it – David.

Thank you for that David! You are quite right about that. It is there on your phone, but you have to scroll through every episode on the site to get to it. That is over 200 hundred shows and that will not do. So starting this week you will see a link in the blog and show notes for the survey in the credits section. My apologies for that.

-Ron

This Week’s Podcast:

On the podcast this week we are loaded with stories. We will continue with Anything You Can Do read by Mark Nelson and Growing up with Tom Wilson. We have three brand new listener tales and much more. You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from iTunes, stream it on Stitcher Radio or on the mobile version of Spotify. Do you prefer the radio? We are heard every Sunday Night at 8:00 PM (PST) on AMFM247.COM. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link.

Ron’s Amazing Stories is produced and hosted by Ronald Hood:
Email: ronsamazingstories@gmail.com
Blog Page: https://ronsamazingstories.blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ronsamazingstories/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RASpodcast
Helpful Links:
Podcast Survey – Help the podcast by taking this survey.
Story Submissions – Use this link to submit your stories to the show.
Podcast Archives – Looking for the first 100 episodes of the podcast?

RAS #339 – Backyard UFO

On Ron’s Amazing Stories this week we have what I think is the funniest story we have ever had. Add to that a UFO story, a history lesson from New England and Tom is back with Growing Up – A Short Story. Also, we continue with the Randall Garrett novel Anything You Can Do and of course a Five Minute Mystery.

Featured Story – Chapter 4 of Anything You Can Do?

On last week’s podcast we listened to chapter two of Anything You Can Do By Randall Garrett. I asked the question if we wanted to continue the book or move on to something else. I received several responses from folks that said that we should continue with the book. This is a classic science fiction story written by Garrett and published in 1963.

In the story so far we met an alien called a Nipe. He had his first encounter with human kind in form of a park ranger by the name, Wang Kulichenko. Who the Nipe quickly killed. In this episode, the authorities discuss the Nipe and the findings so far.

If you want to listen to past recordings of the story you can find it here.

Ron’s Amazing Stories is produced and hosted by Ronald Hood
Email: ronsamazingstories@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ronsamazingstories/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RASpodcast

Spotlight – Randall Garrett

If you have been listening to the podcast lately you know that we are reading a complete novel, chapter by chapter, each week. The book is called Anything You Can Do, and was written by Randall Garrett. I thought it would be a good idea to take a blog moment and throw the spotlight on this amazing writer.

Randall Garrett (1927 – 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author. He contributed to the science fiction pulp magazines of the 1950s and 1960s. Garrett is best known for his work on the Lord Darcy series. Darcy is a detective in an alternate history, created by Garrett, where things are governed by the rules of magic rather than physics. These novels are rich with jokes, puns, and the main character is the stuff of Sherlock Holmes.

Garrett was a storyteller at heart and was highly sought after as a speaker or presenter for science fiction conventions. He was a complicated man. Although cherished by his friends, he horrified many women, to whom he routinely introduced himself with obscene propositions. Isaac Asimov once referred to Garrett offending Judith Merril enough that she emptied an ashtray over his and Garrett’s heads.

Garrett became ill in the summer of 1979 and spent the last eight years of his life in a coma. He was married to fellow author Vicki Ann Heydron who, while Garrett was comatose, largely wrote the Gandalara Cycle fantasy series. She credited the series to the both of them.

This Week’s Podcast:

On the podcast this week we probably the funniest listener story to date. It is a UFO story and should not be missed. You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from iTunes, stream it on Stitcher Radio or on the mobile version of Spotify. Do you prefer the radio? We are heard every Sunday Night at 8:00 PM (PST) on AMFM247.COM. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link.

The Calendar:

July 19 – RAS #337 – Growing Up 2!
July 26 – RAS #338 – Terror At Alamo Lake
August 02 – RAS #339 – Backyard UFO
August 09 – RAS #340
August 16 – RAS #341
August 23 – RAS #342
August 30 – RAS #343

RAS #338 – Terror At Alamo Lake

On Ron’s Amazing Stories this time we have tales about space monsters, a back eyed kid and other mysteries. Also, we have another installment of growing up with Tom Williams and a special state of Washington edition of “Johnny Is It True?”

Featured Story – Chapter 3 of Anything You Can Do?

In the story so far we met an alien called a Nipe. His spaceship was struck by an object and crash-landed on a distant planet. He had his first encounter with humankind in form of a park ranger by the name, Wang Kulichenko. Who the Nipe quickly killed.

If you want to listen to the recordings of chapter one and two you can find it here.

Ron’s Amazing Stories is produced and hosted by Ronald Hood
Email: ronsamazingstories@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ronsamazingstories/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RASpodcast

The Stuff Of Dreams

Did you know that some of the best stories that have been written were from the stuff dreams by their authors?

One of the most famous of these is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. It was first published in 1886 and the idea for the story came from a dream. Upon awakening, he took that inspiration and used it for scenes that would appear in the story.

Another author that has her dreams to thank was Mary Shelley the creator of the classic tale Frankenstein. This book is often cited as the world’s first science fiction novel, but did you know that it was inspired by a vivid nightmare. She experienced what she described as a waking dream:

“I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for supremely frightful would be the effect of any human endeavor to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world” – Mary Shelley

Not all stories that are the stuff of dreams have a scary theme. Stuart Little by E B White stemmed from a dream he had in the 1920s, although it took him nearly two decades to convert his notes into a novel. The result is one of the most beloved children’s stories ever written.

So why I am I taking the time to share these facts? I believe that dreams are a wonderous thing. For years I have kept journals of my own and I have to say there are some pretty good story ideas in those writings. Have you ever thought about tracking your dreams? If not…why not?

This Week’s Podcast:

We have another story filled podcast this week. We have a rare Black Eyed Kids story, Mark Nelson continues to read the book, Anything You Can Do, and we have a new installment of, Johnny Is It True? You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from iTunes, stream it on Stitcher Radio or on the mobile version of Spotify. Do you prefer the radio? We are heard every Sunday Night at 8:00 PM (PST) on AMFM247.COM. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link.