Guest Authors and their Stories
Starting in May 2026 Mixtape Stories has started to include professional guest authors and their stories. The following is a list of stories listed in order of podcast publication on Mixtape Stories.
Tim Melody Pratt
Bio: Tim Melody Pratt is the author of over 30 novels, including the upcoming The Jewel and the Comet. Pratt is a Hugo Award winner for short fiction, and has been a finalist for Nebula, World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Stoker, and other awards.
Three Petitions To the Queen of Hell
Synopsis
As the reigning Queen of Hell, Marla prefers her privacy. Unfortunately, her wife Zufi insists that they’ve got to keep the gates of hell open to petitioners to keep things real. Despite Marla’s best efforts to discourage seekers, one such mortal named Hannah has made it through the gates on a desperate, some say unhealthy quest. That’s fine. But Marla wants something in return.
John Leahy
Bio: John Leahy is the author of three novels — Harvest, CROGIAN, and Unity. He has received three Honourable Mentions in the Writers of the Future Contest, and his short story Singers appeared in Flame Tree Publishing’s 2017 Pirates and Ghosts anthology, alongside work by writers including Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, H. P. Lovecraft, and H. G. Wells. A past prize-winner at Listowel Writers’ Week, his story Do You Dream of Oil? has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He lives in Killarney, Ireland.
Leaking Progress
Synopsis: Being single in the city is difficult, especially when you and the rest of humanity is slowly transforming into petroleum-based life. Lance, an awkward New York schoolteacher, ventures into a speed-dating event where compatibility is measured as much by chemistry as by attraction, and meets Jo, a woman who sees evolution not as an ending but as an unfinished beginning.
Rod A. White
Bio: Rod A. White has operated a writing business since 2010, providing services to a global clientele. He is now semi-retired, producing more of his own works. Rod’s stories have been accepted for publication by Flame Tree Publishing, Crimson Quill Press, Dragon Soul Press, Inkd Publishing, and Wolfsinger Publication, among others. He has published two novels, with more in process, and numerous eBooks on the craft of writing, which can be found at Payhip dotcom slash Rod A White Storyworks.
A Grievance Of The First Order
Synopsis: Naomi Chen expected another day of mediating petty complaints aboard Europa Station, until a diplomatic grievance revealed that a human laugh had been mistaken for an alien declaration of war. With a fragile peace hanging by a thread, she teams up with an aging comedian and the ambassador's rebellious daughter to prove that humor is humanity's greatest bridge, not its greatest weapon.
To be published October 15, 2026