Author Archives

Melissahttp://www.missmeliss.com

TBM-1812.02 – DDOA-001: Breathing

by

anunay-mahajan-545899-unsplash

Description:

#Audio. #Essay. The Bathtub Mermaid muses about breathing and how it relates to reading, writing, and creativity.

Excerpt:

And breathing… breathing isn’t all the same. There’s meditative breathing, and contemplative sighing. There’s the sharp intake of breath when something surprises you (for good or ill) and the abrupt outflow of air when you express yourself with a hearty “Huh.” There’s the way we choke on breath when we experience sudden cold – that knife to the chest feeling – and the way overheated air makes us feel like there is no air to take in.

Links and References

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under some readings.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:50 — 10.5MB)

0447 - Not Pandora

TBM-1811.30 – Not Pandora

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0447 - Not Pandora

Description:

#Audio. #Flash-Fic A woman ponders all the boxes in her attic.

Excerpt:

She’s no Pandora, unable to curb her curiosity and inadvertently setting a mass of horrors loose upon the world. Her boxes aren’t metaphors for the trials and tribulations of daily life.

Links and References

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under some readings.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:38 — 7.6MB)

With Teeth

TBM-1810.31 – With Teeth & Other Stories

by

With Teeth

Description:

#Audio. #Halloween A collection of five short-short stories for the season. Read by the Bathtub Mermaid and Friends.

Excerpt:

I reach around him and grab the bottle from his far hand, then take a swig. “Not bad,” I said. “Tastes like a ninety-nine… maybe a two thousand. Virgin?”

“Virgin,” he confirms. “Two thousand. Carpathian blend. Shall I heat it for you?

“Please.” I go to the couch and wrap a cotton throw around my legs. He joins me a few minutes later, handing me my favorite mug – a smiley-face with fangs – full of steaming liquid. For himself, he’s got scrambled eggs and a hamburger patty. He says protein is essential.

Links and References

  • Bottled Up and With Teeth were read by The Bathtub Mermaid
  • Duet For Two Young Superheroes was read by Clay Robeson. Learn more about Clay: about.me/ClayR
  • Etiquette was read by Nuchtchas of Nutty Bites. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.
  • A Piece of Midnight was read by Jason Gregory Banks of Talk Nerdy 2 Me. You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter.
  • All of the stories in this episode were written by The Bathtub Mermaid for this year’s HorrorDailies challenge. Find this year’s archive at MissMeliss.com

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under some readings.
  • Incidental music for this episode is Ghost Dance by Kevin MacLeod, courtesy of the Free Music Archive

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:47 — 31.5MB)

Georgetown Reservoir

TBM-1808.31 – DDOP-031: Fool’s Gold

by

Georgetown Reservoir

Description:

#Audio. #ShortShort Nostalgia piece about a day of freedom in the seventies.

Excerpt:

The three of us went in different directions. Jeff went down the dirt road that led to the neighborhood tucked into the edge of the woods. I’d ridden my bike down that road after twilight once and had been convinced the Headless Horseman was chasing me the whole way. Never mind that the Headless Horseman lived in New York, and not Colorado.

Links and References

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under some readings.
  • Specific opening and closing music and one sound effect for this episode were shamelessly stolen from Chuck Tomasi, Kreg Steppe, and Nuchtchas.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:38 — 10.1MB)

284-Doggie

TBM-1808.30 – DDOP-030 – Just As It Should Be

by

284-Doggie

Description:

#Audio. #FlashFic A little girl meets her dog at the pound.

Excerpt:

But something about this poor creature, primate head, exposed skull, cybernetic attachments as well as prosthetic limbs, reptilian (well, almost avian) claws and a furry, wagging tail, pulled at the heart strings. Made you feel sorry for it.

Links and References

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under some readings.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:37 — 5.3MB)

43804508 - back view of a couple taking a walk holding hands on the beach

TBM-1808.29 – DDOP-029: Snapshots from the Shore

by

43804508 - back view of a couple taking a walk holding hands on the beach

Description:

#Audio. #FlashFic Snapshots from a life lived near sand and water.

Excerpt:

A rare combination of undertow and rip-tide. A moment when she has her back to the waves because he’s got the camera out and pointed at her, and just this once, she wants to be an active participant in his art.

The wave knocks her over and drags her backwards before she can surface. She is rolling in white-water and cannot track the bubbles to find which way is up. She does the one thing she has never done at the beach: she panics.

And then there are sure hands clutching at hers, strong arms pulling her back toward shore. Blindly, she lets him guide her back to the blanket, wrap her in towels, whisper soothing words into her ears.

Links and References

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under some readings.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:05 — 8.1MB)

0309 - Anchovies

TBM-1808.28 – DDOP-026: In Memoriam, National Geographic, July 2047

by

0309 - Anchovies

Description:

#Audio. #FlashFic Twenty years in the future, a diver is lost.

Excerpt:

In a recent paper Dr. Casey presented as biologist-in-residence at MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute), she theorized that the increased toxicity of near-shore ocean waters in tropical and subtropical climate zones had forced the former baitfish into new behaviors as a means of survival.

Links and References

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under some readings.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:03 — 3.9MB)

0345 - Porte

TBM-1808.27 – DDOP-027: Porte

by

0345 - Porte

Description:

#Audio. #FlashFic Finding love when you’re madness controls your power isn’t easy.

Excerpt:

On their third meeting, though, the moon had been high in the sky after the official festivities of the ball had ended, and she’d been edgy and cross all evening, for no apparent reason. He’d tried to break through her prickly mood with romantic advances – advances she would have welcomed on any other night – but instead, she’d let her dark emotions dictate her response, rather than letting her level head or empathetic heart take control.

Links and References

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under some readings.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:26 — 5.4MB)

0280 - CWG - Father and Son

TBM-1808.26 – DDOP-026: Conversations with Ghosts: Father and Son

by

0280 - CWG - Father and Son

Description:

#Audio. #FlashFic A father and son have a long-overdue conversation.

Excerpt:

“Why didn’t you ever play music at home? Katie would have loved your music. You know she’s at Julliard now? And Mom… she kept that piano dusted and tuned for you, not for us. Why did you hide that part of you? Why didn’t you come to our recitals? What closed you off from this thing that you loved?”

“Life, I guess.”

“Ironic.”

Links and References

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under the readings.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:02 — 6.9MB)

0328 - Kaleidoscope

TBM-1808.25 – DDOP-025: Kaleidoscope

by

0328 - Kaleidoscope

Description:

#Audio. #FlashFic A little girl spends some time using her imagination.

Excerpt:

Anisa peered through the cardboard tube expecting to see just the flesh of the orange, but her grandmother stroked her hair and reminded her, “Use your imagination!”

Links and References

Credits:

  • The Bathtub Mermaid: Tales from the Tub is written and produced by Melissa A. Bartell, and is recorded and produced using the BossJock iPad app and Audacity.
  • Bathtub Mermaid album art was created by Rebecca Moran of Moran Media
  • Music used for the opening and closing is a mix of Chris Zabriskie’s “The Oceans Continue to Rise” from the Free Music Archive and Kevoy’s clip of whales off the coast of French Polynesia from Freesound.
  • Chris Zabriskie’s song is also used under the readings.

Contact:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:23 — 4.6MB)