Episode 10: Oxygen

Episode 10: Oxygen. It's Steven J. McDermott coming to you from the Panic Room with the Winter of Different Directions podcast. This week's story is "Oxygen."



"The place I've picked is off Burrows Island, along Rosario Strait. It's not the ocean, but I'm sure he'd understand. He used to pass by there on his way from Fisherman's Terminal in Seattle to La Push, Neah Bay, Alaska.
   —There's a lighthouse there, I say to the skipper of the island ferry, a barge shuttling around the San Juan Islands.
   —I know the place, he says.
   He's only a few years older than me, blond and bearded like a viking. I'd expected someone older, someone who'd devoted a life to the sea, someone who would understand.
   —Would it be possible for you to stop there, offshore, so I can— "

Listen to the episode: download the mp3 (21:17 mins 14.7 mb)
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In addition to the podcast, I've posted commentary on the story over in the Storyglossia litblog. In a feature I'm calling "The Story Behind the Story" I give you some history on where the story came from, why I wrote it, how it changed in its various revisions, as well as discuss—in true Storyglossia fashion—some of the craft issues I was working on in the story. So check it out after you listen to "Oxygen."

Next up, in Episode 11, I'll be reading "Enter Wheelchair Man."

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