“Paperboxing” Set for Aug. 10 WFHB Radio Read

This is a slowly breaking story, that began, as I recall, with a notice from the Writers Guild’s Shana Ritter to the effect that local AM radio station WFHB was looking for stories (or essays, or excerpts, memoirs. . . .) of around 3000 words, for on-the-air reading. The program: SPEAKING OF STORIES, with Shana noted as a contact but otherwise information seemed sparse, but I kept it in mind.

So, not too long after, I also received a feeler from one Robert Shull from WFHB and — this still being a little under a month ago — I now wrote Shana. Then, with a little bit more information, I sent a 3200-word story, “The Last Dance” (also lead story in my collection AVOID SEEING A MOUSE, originally published in TOMBS: A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH, by Elder Signs Press in 2017), which came back with a note, via Shana, that WFHB thought it “might be too dark for our radio audience.” So, fair enough, except “dark” is what I write.

But anyway, not too long after that, I sent another from way, way back in NEW MYSTERY magazine, in Summer 1997 (and, subsequently, an “Anthony” award nominee for short mystery story that year), titled “Paperboxing Art.” And this one fared better. On June 18 Robert Shull emailed back: We would like to record and air Paperboxing Art. The next step is to sign a permission to air the story. Then we put you on the calendar for 8/10/24. . . .

And there you have it. I sent back that I would look forward to more information as it became ready, and finally, today, July 3, came the contract: WFHB likes to have written permission to air writers’ works.

Would you please sign and return the attached document.

Robert

So this afternoon I sent back the contract, signed, for as far as I know a presentation still slated for Saturday, August 10. With more to be here as it becomes known.