Kung Fu Action Tales

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Episode 01- Hot Soup!

Hi All! Rob here.

This is the first episode of Kung Fu Action Tales, KFAT’s newest monthly Podcast where we will explore new realms of Asian Historical Adventure Fiction.

As you may have heard, KFAT has recently made the jump from an audio drama production group to prose fiction, and in keeping with the KFAT theme I wanted to shift the podcast feed over to something that reflects our new style. On this podcast I hope to have new stories of action, adventure and intrigue set in old Asia, but perhaps also moving into other areas as the podcast evolves- we’ll see as we go.

And I do mean we’ll see!

This podcast isn’t intended to be just me, but I hope it will become a community project similar to Podcastle or Escape Pod where each show has new writers and new storytellers showcasing their visions of Asia and beyond. If you’re a writer, and you’re interested in submitting a story, please check the submission guidelines on the KFAT homepage or write to me at [email protected]. We’re not recruiting readers yet, since many of KFAT’s actors have been willing to donate their time to do readings for this podcast, but if we do need them in the future I’ll be sure you let you know.

Okay, now on with the show!

Tonight’s very special adventure is a fitting one. I say that because KFAT’s very first audio drama was Little Gou and the Emperor’s Cousin, and tonight’s story, Hot Soup, is an adaption of that very tale. Of course, some of you may have already heard the original Audio Drama, but don’t worry, this adaption takes the story to new heights and new directions with the power of prose.

Don’t believe me?

Then sit back, relax and enjoy Hot Soup. The very first Little Gou short adventure story.

Rob

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Episode Two- The Man Who Was Never Afraid/ Shrouded Path

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Hello everyone, and welcome to the second episode of Kung Fu Action Tales!
I’m your host, Rob Paterson, and tonight we’re bringing you not one, but two tales of adventure from Old China. The first is a short story called The Man Who Was Never Afraid, and the second is a sample from a recently published new Young Adult WuXia novel called Shrouded Path.


A few notes:


1. First, I’d like to thank the people who have been submitting stories to KFATales, it’s great to see that people out there are interested in exploring the wonders of old Asia. That said, we’re always looking for new stories, so please, if you have a tale of Asian adventure you’d like us to help share with the world- send it in! And we’re not just stories set in China or Japan, either! If you want to show us the adventure possibilities in old Indonesia, or the Philippines or Mongolia, then take this as your chance to show it to the English speaking world. I know that most Asian cultures had rich martial traditions, I’d love to hear some of their tales, and I know many of your fellow listeners would too! So get to work people! Time’s a wasting!


2. Speaking of listeners, I’d love to have some feedback from you lads and ladies about the stories we present here on KFATales, and I’m sure the other writers would too. So please feel free to drop by the website and post your comments on our shows, or send us an audio message at [email protected] and I’ll even play it on air during the next episode and do my best to answer any questions.


3. And third, as always, KFATales is brought to you by KFAT’s own line of e-books which can be found on the Kindle or other major e-book retailers.


Alright- on with the show!


Opening Music- Mystic Asia by Dj Svenzo


Our first story is called The Man Who Was Never Afraid


The author, Brian Dolton, describes himself as an Englishman, now living in New Mexico, and writing stories which are mostly about an imaginary China. This makes perfect sense to him. He’s had work published in the Intergalactic Medicine Show, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Fantasy Magazine and many more – but says for those who find Yi Qin an interesting character the best place will be upcoming issues of Black Gate magazine. Issue 15 is due out early this year and will contain one story, and others are already slated for issues 16 and 17. As for this story itself, it was published at Abyss and Apex, issue 20, October 2006.


The first reader, Fiona Thraille is a talented actor and writer who hails from the United Kingdom and has been heard in our audio dramas as Sister Cat in the Little Gou adventures and Lady Whitcombe in the Twin Stars series. Outside of KFAT, she’s had numerous roles with Pendant Productions, and written and produced her own mystery audio drama series entitled Red Sands.

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Our other author of the evening is Aron White, who will be reading an excerpt from his new novel Shrouded Path.


According to his blog at aron-white.blogspot.com, Aron lives in Seattle and assumes his secret storyteller identity whenever possible. Originally from the Motor City, he’s always had a soft spot for Chevys, enjoys collecting vintage movie posters and is a member of Knights of Columbus. Some day when his regime comes to power he plans to require society to read more books and watch less television.


His first novel, Shrouded Path, is a young adult adventure set in 16th century China, and tonight we’ll be hearing the prologue and the first chapter. Enjoy!


Alright then. I do believe that brings this month’s exploration into the worlds of Asian Adventure to a satisfying close. As always, thanks for listening, and tune in next month to hear Winnie Khaw’s entrancing story of the fall of a dynasty in The Paper Dragon Breathes Fire.

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Episode 3- The Paper Dragon Breathes Fire

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Hi everyone and welcome to the third episode of Kung Fu Action Tales, I’m your host Rob Paterson and I’m here to take you on a journey into the realms of Aisa that might have been or never were. This week we’re experiencing a new realm in Asian adventure stories courtesy of author Winnie Khaw, who has kindly offered one her stories for our listening pleasure.

Winnie herself is a developing writer at the age of twenty-one, but hardly an inexperienced one, having had one of her original plays performed at an awards show while still in high school and having been accepted into the Orange County Playwright’s Alliance in 2008 for her adaptations of the Chinese classics The Love of the White Snake and The Butterfly Lovers. She also presented an original Chinese Fantasy Novella in 2009 at a California Honors Symposium held at Stanford University- not bad at all! I think we can expect to hear her name a lot more in the future as well, as she’s currently a junior creative writing major at Chapman University.

Winnie’s story, the Paper Dragon Breathes Fire, will be read tonight by Ty Konzak, who like last month’s Fiona Thraille has been one of the hearts of Kung Fu Action Theatre’s audio dramas over the years. Ty spends his days in his secret identity as a mild-mannered Oncology Technician in Fargo, North Dakota, but when the sun goes down and the moon is high he turns into the voice acting machine spoken of in reverent whispered tones we know today as Aramek. Ty has done more voices for KFAT than I can list, from his first roles as Malarek in D-Ranger and Rong Li the Master of Thunder in Little Gou’s adventure of the same name, to his recurring role as Kip in Twin Stars. Listening to Ty work the magic voice he developed over 3 years of radio has been one of my great pleasures when doing audio editing, and I never cease to be amazed by the variety of voices he can come up with. He says he loves to do villains and silly voices, but I have yet to hear anything Ty couldn’t pull off.

And this is why I chose Ty for tonight’s reading.

The Paper Dragon Breathes Fire is a hard story to explain. My first thought would be to compare it to King Lear, and I think the Shakespeare analogy aptly fits Winnie’s incredibly dense and magically poetic style of writing in this story. But, there’s more to it than that. Winnie has captured the essence of a dynastic change, something that occurred frequently in Chinese history, and while such events are often times of triumph they are also equal parts tragedy caused by the all too mortal failings of man.
I must confess, when I first started to read Winnie’s story I was a little overwhelmed and not sure what to make of it, but as it went on it all began to make sense and I by the end I was touched by the elegance of the whole thing. Perhaps you will have a similar experience....enjoy!

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Kung Fu Action Tales Episode 4

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The Inuyama Rebellion, Part 1- The Two Samurai

The Sengoku Jidai was an age of nearly constant warfare in Japanese history, clans struggled endlessly against other clans and today’s ally might be tomorrow’s enemy. The proud Inuyama clan, once driven nearly to the brink of extinction by their hated rivals the Kurokawa clan, have finally grown in strength enough to face their enemies in a battle for their freedom. But this freedom will have many costs, for the peace that bought them the time to secretly rearm was paid for with the clan lord’s own sons- held hostage by the Kurokawa in a bargain of peace. Knowing that the declaration of independence will surely bring the deaths of her sons, the clan lord’s wife, Lady Murasaki, has secretly dispatched two of the clan’s samurai -the elder Jiro and his apprentice Masato- to Kurokawa lands in an effort to rescue the boys. But even now as the two men leave the castle on their mission, in other parts of Inuyama castle a shadow falls over Hasagawa Yohei, trusted minister of Lord Inuyama…

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Listen Here

This month on KFATales, we’re taking a trip back to Old Japan, but leaving the intrepid Jiro and brave Masato for a time to look instead at one of the legendary Samurai from Japanese history- Gen San-Mi Yorimasa. This story is from the collection Warriors of Old Japan and Other Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki, which was published in the early 20th century. KFAT did a reading of the stories of this book in 2009, and this was one of my personal favorites.

This particular story is read by Richard Bartok III, who many of you may know as Brad Ryans in the KFAT series D-Ranger, and who is also the writer/creator of the webcomic Clockwork Gods.

Ms. Ozaki’s bio can be found on the KFAT website, and I highly recommend listening to it.

The Inuyama Rebellion will return next episode!