I’m not going to lie: I was pretty cranky this morning. My ‘man, my allergies are really acting up’ became ‘motherfucker, I have a cold,’ and consequently I got three and a half hours sleep, a red nose, and even paler skin than normal, which kind of shouldn’t be possible. However, my spirits were lifted by StarShipSofa.

For those unfamiliar: StarShipSofa is a Hugo Award winning podcast that narrates various science fiction stories by all kinds of great authors. And today, I have a story there — specifically, “This Villain You Must Create,” first printed in Lightspeed last year. Which, basically, makes me the most awesomest person ever, even if I do currently look like a sickly, spiky haired Rudolph.

If you’re interested in hearing the story read aloud, go here. Or even if you’re tired of this story and want to hear other stories by other people, still go here because there’s a lot of other cool work to listen to.