Three Havok Flash Fiction Stories by Rachel Dib, Jennifer Dyer, and Ryan Bush
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show notes
In this episode you’ll hear three flash fiction stories centered around midnight or New Year’s. They’re published by Havok and written by Rachel Dib, Jennifer Dyer, and Ryan Bush. The stories are narrated by Paeter Frandsen and Karyne Norton.
Important Links:
The Authors:
Jennifer Dyer’s website, where you can snag The Midnight Disappointment for free
Ryan Bush’s website, where you can grab A Time Between Spaces for free
The Narrators:
Listen to Karyne’s other podcast: Blood of the Stars – a serialized fiction release of her debut novel
full transcript
Karyne (00:00:07) – Hi fantasy readers. This is Karyne Norton, your fellow book binger, and you are listening to the Finding Fantasy Reads podcast where you can test out a new fantasy story every single week to find your next favorite author.
For this last episode of 2024, you get three flash fiction stories published by Havok and written by Rachel Dib, Jennifer Dyer, and Ryan Bush. They all have midnight or New Year’s themes, for obvious reasons, so I’m excited to help you all ring in the new year. One is narrated by me, and two are narrated by Paeter Frandsen, host of Christian Geek Central. Stick around to the end of each story to see where you can find more from the authors.
This first one is by Rachel Dib, a stay-at-home mom of three small children. After marrying a soldier, she left her home state of South Carolina to live in random places across the United States. Her short fiction appears in anthologies published by Havok Publishing, Ye Olde Dragon Books, Iron Fairy Publishing, Bridget’s Gate Press, and The Last Line Literary Journal. So if you like this one, there’s plenty more to find out there.
Please enjoy The Midnight Snack, by Rachel Dib.
Paeter (00:01:29) – The Midnight Snack is read by Paeter Frandsen. Due to copyright, the full transcript of the story cannot be included here. Please go to gohavok.com to find this story among their archives.
Karyne (00:09:18) – I hope you enjoyed listening to The Midnight Snack by Rachel Dib, narrated by Paeter Frandsen of Christian Geek Central. Rachel was awarded Havok’s Most Prolific Author for 2022 and 2023, so she has several more short stories on Havok’s website in their archives. It’s only $5 for an entire year’s membership, so check that out at gohavok.com.
If you want to find the rest of Rachel’s short stories, follow her on Instagram @rj_dib and you can find links in her bio. But I’m also going to have a direct link in the show notes.
Next up, we have a story by Jennifer Dyer, an award-winning author who spent her childhood aspiring to be a ninja Jedi princess. She writes speculative fiction spanning from swoony, no-spice romantasy to cozy fantasy and thrillers. With a background in martial arts, Jennifer loves weaving action into plots filled with found family and second chances. In February, we featured her super fun story The Midnight Requirement, and I’m happy to tell you this flash fiction story takes place in the same world.
Please enjoy The Midnight Embezzlement by Jennifer Dyer.
Karyne (00:10:37) – The Midnight Embezzlement is read by Karyne Norton. Due to copyright, the full transcript of the story cannot be included here. Please go to gohavok.com to find this story among their archives.
Karyne (00:18:19) – I hope you enjoyed listening to The Midnight Embezzlement by Jennifer Dyer, narrated by Karyne Norton. If you want to read more by Jennifer, go to jenniferdyerbooks.com to get your free copy of The Midnight Disappointment. Two potions, a botched delivery, and a mess of spells to reverse before midnight? No problem. I’ll have a direct link for it in the show notes.
This last story is the most spot-on for New Year’s, though it might not seem like it at first, so listen close for the connection. It’s written by Ryan Bush, an archaeologist who loves digging up old stories almost as much as he loves writing new ones. Inspired by such varied literary influences as J.R.R. Tolkien, Alistair Maclean, and his own father, Ryan strives to craft entertaining, uplifting tales that stick in the mind long after the final page has been turned. Please enjoy Janus by Ryan Bush.
Paeter (00:19:25) – Janus is read by Paeter Frandsen. Due to copyright, the full transcript of the story cannot be included here. Please go to gohavok.com to find this story among their archives.
Karyne (00:26:04) – I hope you enjoyed listening to Janus by Ryan Bush, narrated by Paeter Frandsen of Christian Geek Central. If you want to read more by Ryan, go to ryanbush.substack.com, where he has occasional writing updates and free short stories. Right now, you can snag his short story, A Time Between Spaces. I’ll have the direct link in the show notes.
If you enjoyed listening to Paeter narrate these stories, you might also enjoy listening to his audio dramas at spiritblade.com or his podcast, Christian Geek Central, where he discusses movies, video games, and all things enjoyed by self-proclaimed geeks from a Christian worldview.
If you haven’t checked out my other podcast, Blood of the Stars, the new year is a great time to do it. So far, I’ve released 43 chapters of my epic fantasy novel, Blood of the Stars, on the podcast, which is over 13 hours of epic fantasy for free. And because it’s narrated by Paeter and me, I think you’ll find a comfortable familiarity to listening to that after listening to Finding Fantasy Reads. You can find it on all the same podcasting platforms under Blood of the Stars, or you can listen on my website at karynenorton.com/audio. I’ll also have easy links in the show notes.
I hope you all enjoy ringing in the new year this evening. Stay safe. As always, thank you all for listening and happy reading.
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Featured Authors
Rachel Dib is a stay-at-home mom of three small children. After marrying a soldier, she left her home state of South Carolina to live in random places across the United States. Her short fiction appears in anthologies published by Havok Publishing, Ye Olde Dragon Books, Iron Faerie Publishing, Brigids Gate Press, and The Last Line literary journal. She also was awarded Havok’s “Most Prolific Author” for 2022 and 2023.
Find her on Instagram.
Jennifer Dyer is an award-winning author who spent her childhood aspiring to be a ninja-Jedi-princess. She writes speculative fiction spanning from swoony, no-spice romantasy to cozy fantasy and thrillers. Her short stories have been featured in various publications, including the bestselling Meet Me at Midnight anthology. With a background in martial arts, Jennifer loves weaving action into plots filled with found family and second chances. When not writing, she bakes cookies and does the bidding of her greyhounds and cats. Her YA thriller duology featuring teen hackers comes out in 2026 from Quill and Flame Publishing. Connect with her at JenniferDyerBooks.com and on Instagram @JennDyerBooks.
Get your free copy of The Midnight Disappointment here.
Ryan Bush is an archaeologist who loves digging up old stories almost as much as he loves writing new ones. Inspired by such varied literary influences as JRR Tolkien, Alistair Maclean, and his own father, Ryan strives to craft entertaining, uplifting tales that stick in the mind long after the final page has been turned.
Get your free copy of A Time Between Spaces here.
Narrator
A fan of comic books, sci-fi, and fantasy since childhood, Paeter Frandsen is the owner and chief content creator of Christian Geek Central. He lives in Mesa, AZ with his wife and two sons.
Karyne Norton hasn’t found the key to time travel, immortality, or infinite lives, so she’s taking a break from nursing and photography to focus on raising four human beings while writing epic fantasy.
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