Podcastle guest host Kelly Robson, the Toronto SF writer, admitted – as a former Pacific Northwest resident – she was “especially excited” to introduce Stay. She called it, “gentle and sweet-natured, with webs of love and care connecting everyone.”

Thank you, Kelly, that’s exactly what I intended. I’m excited you believe I hit the mark.

And thanks to Tina Connolly, who writes ripping-good SF in Portland, for such a fantastic reading. Tina, you sound exactly as I imagined Cait Stihl.

Stay is urban fantasy set in Seattle, and features Emma Stone and Caitlin Stihl, a lesbian couple who work as private detectives.

Stihl and Stone Security often turn up the more personal details of a case, but this time the investigation digs a little too close to home. The story considered how love binds people together, and can push them apart, and examines all the permutations of that simple four-letter-word – stay.

It is the final entry of Podcast’s month-long Artemis Rising 3, which spans all five of the Escape Artists sites. It has been a month of fantastic stories, whether you enjoy science fiction, fantasy or horror.

I hope you enjoy this story, Faithful Reader. It’s one of my personal favorites.