[Totally Fantastic Title]

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Serialized fiction read by its writer, with life in between.

The gist

Krista Wallace reads her own fiction aloud. Several consecutive episodes carry the numbered serial Griffin and the Spurious Correlations, about a guitarist torn between two bands as odd things pile up, and before each reading she talks about her own life, from the dogs she has looked after to why Kenny G is not jazz.

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About [Totally Fantastic Title]

Totally Fantastic Title has a simple core: Krista Wallace reads her own work aloud. Several consecutive episodes carry a single numbered serial, Griffin and the Spurious Correlations. Griffin tells it in the first person. Griffin plays guitar, teaches lessons, takes complaints from a student's impatient father, catches buses and keeps muttering 'that was weird' as the days fill with things that do not add up. The show is billed as fantasy, but much of Griffin's story plays out in rehearsal rooms, at bus stops and in lesson rooms, and the strangeness seeps in around them. The band plot is the engine. On one side is the group Griffin shares with Calvin, the drummer and best friend. On the other is a second lineup involving Mateo, whose dig at Calvin lands badly. Loyalty, jealousy and the rare worth of a solid rhythm player all get argued out in dialogue. Romance runs through it too, with Griffin replaying a kiss and lighting up at a 'Hey, beautiful' across the rehearsal room. Then come the odd edges: two police officers, Walker and Hendricks, holding Griffin at a bus stop, and a wave of dread at an apartment door. The narration is brisk and self-mocking, full of lines like shaking like a human earthquake. The frame around the fiction gives the show its shape. Wallace opens with something from her own life before the story starts. The subjects wander. There is the pandemic that finally pushed her to read her work aloud, the dogs her family has looked after, her struggle to loosen a black-and-white way of judging things, a used-CD bin that filed Kenny G under jazz, and what a first baby taught about responsibility. One preamble recalls a memorial for a young basketball player, held on the court behind her house. The closings are just as personal. She points to a Ko-fi page she calls her virtual guitar case and thanks family members by name and Phil for a guitar solo. Sometimes she adds a word on voting, on manners in her Facebook comments, or on story tropes and her hope that Griffin steers clear of the tired ones. The sign-off keeps landing on the same line: 'Now, go be fantastic.' What a listener gets is a serial told in its writer's own voice, along with a running sense of the person who wrote it.

Made for: Suits a listener who enjoys serialized fiction read by the person who wrote it and is happy to hear some personal chat before the story begins. The band-life setting fits someone drawn to stories about musicians, friendship and rehearsal-room politics.

What sets it apart: Here the writer is also the reader, and she stays present outside the story. Each installment comes with her own anecdotes, opinions and thank-yous, so the fiction and the person behind it arrive together.

In their own words

They say, "Write the story you want to read." Krista Wallace reads her Fantasy fiction. One chapter per episode. Short fiction and chats with other authors and cool folk.

Why you'd press play

A dragon answers Bianca's song; you get a fantasy encounter built around a nervous heartbeat.

Press play if you want

  • to hear Bianca sing before she risks moving closer to a dragon
  • to follow Griffin through kitchen logic where red-onion jelly wins applause and shortbread doesn't
Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
Griffin and the Spurious Correlations serialBands, rehearsals and divided loyaltiesFriendship, jealousy and romanceStrange happenings amid everyday routinePersonal reflections on family, pets and parentingOpinions on music and genreWriting craft and story tropesCivic and community moments

Talks about

Best episodes of [Totally Fantastic Title]

Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.

77 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 19Oct 20, 2021

A warm band reunion turns darker when Rickenbacker's letter pulls the contest back into view.

Episode 77 brings together Krista Wallace's candid account of Totally Fantastic Title's move into audio and a tense return to Griffin's world.

76 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 18Oct 13, 2021

A tender story about Tucker gives way to Griffin's backstage heartbreak, where humiliation has to wait until after the show.

Krista Wallace's episode begins with a soft, anxious story about caring for Tucker, a tiny fearful dog, then turns toward Griffin trying to steady herself before going onstage.

75 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 17Oct 6, 2021

A candid episode where ethical reflection, wedding chaos, and Thanksgiving gratitude sit in the same room.

The episode sets black-and-white thinking against the slower work of widening perspective, beginning with the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, call 80, and the history and legacy of residential schools.

73 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 15Sep 22, 2021

Griffin's ordinary disasters repeat until deja vu starts looking like a clue.

Griffin's world begins to fold in on itself through small, bruising moments: Mateo slighting Calvin, a late bus, an irritated father, and Brian's accusation about a child's intelligence.

Podcasts like [Totally Fantastic Title]

Episodes

  1. 1

    Ep 78 - Bonus Gatekeeper‘s Key release

    Nov 30, 2021·3m
  2. 2

    77 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 19

    Hidden gem

    ["Krista Wallace reads the final chapter of Totally Fantastic Title, \"Griffin and the Spurious Correlations,\" with Griffin trying to recover from the contest over roast beef, wine, and a gas fireplace.", "Calvin's voicemail and doorway confession turn the chapter into a romance payoff, and he says Griffin was the girl who knew \"Spirit of Radio,\" liked Doctor Who, and made him feel less alone.", "Rickenbacker's letter later denies responsibility for Jillian's misery, encloses the unedited SD card recording, and frames the whole contest as his specialty at Salamander University.", "By the end, the bank shows $450,000, management says $4,500 of rent was overpaid, Jillian gets her prima roll back after Paul Webb's extortion story, and Petra is ready to play guitar."]

    Oct 20, 2021·46m·3 clips
  3. 3

    76 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 18

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens with Tucker, a small gray poodle-cross who fought paw-drying after rainy walks, then became a dog who followed her everywhere and died in her arms.

    Oct 13, 2021·41m·2 clips
  4. 4

    75 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 17

    Totally Fantastic Title opens with Krista Wallace arguing that Justin Trudeau should not have taken a family vacation to Tofino on September 30, 2021, the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, after Call to Action 80 from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

    Oct 6, 2021·48m·3 clips
  5. 5

    74 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 16

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens with Kenny G, the jazz-bin argument, and the choice to play “Songbird” on The Tonight Show instead of the vocal track managers wanted.

    Sep 29, 2021·26m·1 clip
  6. 6

    73 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 15

    Hidden gem

    ["Krista Wallace opens by saying that after her first pregnancy, she and her partner realized 'every single thing we do is teaching' their children something.", "Chapter 15 of The Spurious Correlations follows Griffin through a Thursday of auditions, band tension, and a first week with Mateo after his kiss in the kitchen.", "Phoenix orders Griffin to make baklava, Griffin refuses with the line 'I am making nothing,' and Mateo walks in, kisses her, and leaves Phoenix wordless.", "By the end, Griffin notices the same accusations and reactions repeating from last Thursday, then Rickenbacker and Phoenix discover that their own instructions to Mateo created the romance they were trying to control."]

    Sep 22, 2021·32m·2 clips
  7. 7

    72 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 14

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens Totally Fantastic Title’s “Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 14” with Karen Kwong’s Port Coquitlam basketball-court memorial and a reflection on terminal illness.

    Sep 15, 2021·45m·3 clips
  8. 8

    71 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 13

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace contrasts two wedding gigs with the jazz pianist “James”: one at the Surrey Arts Centre treated musicians like guests, while a South Surrey reception supplied plastic-wrapped sandwiches and delayed payment.

    Sep 8, 2021·47m·3 clips
  9. 9

    70 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 11 and 12

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens with her parents’ shift from basement ashtrays to outdoor smoking rules, then connects that boundary to Vancouver’s July 2000 public smoking ban and British Columbia’s January 2008 province-wide ban.

    Sep 1, 2021·1h 1m·4 clips
  10. 10

    69 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 10

    Hidden gem

    Chapter 10 follows Griffin Wallace through May 12, when a knife replaces her hairbrush, a yoga gathering occupies her music store, and a fourteen-year-old student vomits after drinking a liter of bourbon.

    Aug 25, 2021·38m·2 clips
  11. 11

    Ep 68 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 9

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace’s “Ep 68 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 9” follows Griffin as strange disruptions spread through her music-store conversations, phone calls, and coffee-shop encounters.

    Aug 18, 2021·25m·1 clip
  12. 12

    Ep 67 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 7 and 8

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace's 'Griffin and the Spurious Correlations' follows Griffin through May 9 and May 10 as she works at Salamanders, rehearses with Mateo's band, and prepares for an evening gig.

    Aug 11, 2021·57m·3 clips
  13. 13

    Ep 66 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations - 5 and 6

    Krista Wallace’s Totally Fantastic Title combines chapters five and six of Griffin and the Spurious Correlations with an opening critique of strangers commenting on women’s appearance at work.

    Aug 4, 2021·59m·4 clips
  14. 14

    65 -Griffin and the Spurious Correlations 4

    Krista Wallace’s “Griffin and the Spurious Correlations 4” follows Griffin as she joins Mateo’s band while continuing her job at a music store.

    Jul 28, 2021·43m·3 clips
  15. 15

    64 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations 3

    Krista Wallace continues Griffin’s encounter with Rickenbacker Topiary, who introduces her to Mateo McCallum and the band the Spurious Correlations.

    Jul 21, 2021·42m·2 clips
  16. 16

    63 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations 2

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens Totally Fantastic Title with a complaint about a car-service survey that treats any score below 10 out of 10 as failure.

    Jul 14, 2021·23m·1 clip
  17. 17

    62 - Griffin and the Spurious Correlations 1

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace begins Griffin and the Spurious Correlations with Griffin Trowbridge’s disastrous wedding-band performance, where Jason turns a planned first dance into a fifteen-second guitar meltdown.

    Jul 7, 2021·25m·1 clip
  18. 18

    61 - Gatekeeper FanCon 2021 - 2

    Hidden gem

    Totally Fantastic Title’s “Gatekeeper FanCon 2021 - 2” is a listener-question panel about Krista Wallace’s Gatekeeper trilogy, its characters, and its future editions.

    Jun 30, 2021·32m·2 clips
  19. 19

    60 - Gatekeeper FanCon 2021 - 1

    Hidden gem

    Dave Lees hosts a virtual Gatekeeper FanCon panel with Krista Wallace and characters from Totally Fantastic Title, including Valraker, Derry Morant, Acadia, and Kier Haladin.

    Jun 23, 2021·35m·2 clips
  20. 20

    59 - Sampler of Gatekeeper's Revelation and Griffin & the Spurious Correlations

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace samples scenes from Gatekeeper’s Revelation, including Duchess Tanis Malfi’s soldiers discovering that Dregor’s army abandoned its camp overnight.

    Jun 16, 2021·26m·1 clip
  21. 21

    58 - Gatekeeper's Deception 35 - I Don't Need Glory

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace narrates Chapter 35 of Gatekeeper's Deception, where Derry Morant receives a knighthood and Kier Halladon rejects Kian Barthelen's offer.

    Jun 9, 2021·47m·4 clips
  22. 22

    57 - Gatekeeper's Deception 34 - To Call You My Friend

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens with the discovery of 215 children's graves at Kamloops residential school, linking that history to her own childhood stress-related stomach aches.

    Jun 2, 2021·43m·3 clips
  23. 23

    56 - Gatekeeper's Deception 33 - Her Very Soul Seeping

    Totally Fantastic Title presents chapter 33 of Krista Wallace’s Gatekeeper’s Deception, where Kier faces accusations while Kian’s order against Gareth and Della threatens her family.

    May 26, 2021·37m·2 clips
  24. 24

    55 - Gatekeeper's Deception 32 - If Only She Would Recover

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace’s “Gatekeeper’s Deception 32 - If Only She Would Recover” follows Kier as Derry confronts her with Alon Mare’s mirror, a necklace, and the rules of gating.

    May 19, 2021·41m·3 clips
  25. 25

    54 - Gatekeeper's Deception 31 - a Family Called Halidan

    In Totally Fantastic Title’s “Gatekeeper’s Deception,” Chapter 31 follows Derry Morant, Kierre Halladon, Kian Barthelen, and Valraker as Alon’s gold mirror is found in Kierre’s saddlebag.

    May 12, 2021·36m·2 clips
  26. 26

    53 - Gatekeeper's Deception 30 - He Must Find Some Way

    Totally Fantastic Title marks its one-year anniversary before Krista Wallace resumes Chapter 30 of Gatekeeper’s Deception, where Kierre wakes injured at Barthelen Castle after the cave mission.

    May 5, 2021·35m·2 clips
  27. 27

    52 - Gatekeeper's Deception 29 - It's All Very Complicated

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace introduces Chapter 29 of Gatekeeper's Deception, where travelers pursued by elves attempt to reach Barthelen Castle while Alon Maer's unborn child's heartbeat grows fainter.

    Apr 28, 2021·32m·2 clips
  28. 28

    51 - Gatekeeper's Deception 28 - Here in the Middle

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace narrates Chapter 28 of Gatekeeper's Deception, where Fennel's exhausted party crosses a mountain trail while pursued by wood elves.

    Apr 21, 2021·36m·2 clips
  29. 29

    50 - Gatekeeper's Deception 27 - a Bad Feeling

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens with a parenting account in which her children controlled their own rooms and eventually chose when to clean them.

    Apr 14, 2021·36m·2 clips
  30. 30

    49 - Gatekeeper's Deception 26 - How He Felt About Her

    Totally Fantastic Title presents Chapter 26 of Krista Wallace’s Keeper’s Deception, where Derry cares for the injured Kier while traveling through a mountain pass.

    Apr 7, 2021·30m·2 clips
  31. 31

    48 - Gatekeeper's Deception 25 - Only Time Would Tell if he Was Right

    Totally Fantastic Title, Chapter 25 of Gatekeeper’s Deception, follows Derry’s injured party toward Barthelen Castle while Fennell, Frederick, Janik, and Harley separate to seek sap from the Tree of Life.

    Mar 31, 2021·39m·2 clips
  32. 32

    47 - Gatekeeper's Deception 24 - Though at Enormous Cost

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens with an angry explanation of when “I before E except after C” applies, using “receive,” “believe,” “weird,” and “species” as examples.

    Mar 24, 2021·39m·2 clips
  33. 33

    46 - Gatekeeper's Deception 23 - A Cry, a Clang of Steel

    Krista Wallace reads chapter 23 of Gatekeeper's Deception, where Kierre escapes ghostly beings and reaches a battlefield outside the Indon Caves.

    Mar 17, 2021·38m·2 clips
  34. 34

    45 - Gatekeeper's Deception 22 - What are we Doing Here?

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace reads Chapter 22 of Gatekeeper's Deception, where Derry's party climbs toward the Indian caves while Kier searches underground for dust from dark-elven gem-polishing machines.

    Mar 10, 2021·39m·2 clips
  35. 35

    44 - Gatekeeper's Deception 21 - Determination Won

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens with a Paris anecdote in which a hotel worker lends strangers a corkscrew, while a cheese shop refuses to cut a small portion from a nine-inch round of blue cheese.

    Mar 3, 2021·51m·3 clips
  36. 36

    43 - Gatekeeper's Deception 20 - On Proving Herself

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace’s “On Proving Herself” follows Kier after Derry accuses her of putting personal desires ahead of the company’s mission to save Alon Mare.

    Feb 24, 2021·41m·2 clips
  37. 37

    42 - Gatekeeper's Deception 19 - Why Don't You Trust Me

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace narrates Chapter 19 of Gatekeeper’s Deception, where Kierre visits Major Gilvray to obtain the round stone marked with five-colored gems and ancient runes.

    Feb 18, 2021·44m·3 clips
  38. 38

    41 - Gatekeeper's Deception 18 - This Burning Betrayal

    Krista Wallace opens Episode 41, “This Burning Betrayal,” with an Osoyoos gas-station mistake to argue that accountability and repair make forgiveness possible.

    Feb 10, 2021·37m·2 clips
  39. 39

    40 - Gatekeeper's Deception 17 - Especially When They're Lying

    Totally Fantastic Title's “Gatekeeper's Deception 17 - Especially When They're Lying” follows Kierre as she returns late to the inn with information about a rune-covered stone key needed to enter the Indan Caves.

    Feb 3, 2021·42m·3 clips
  40. 40

    39 - Gatekeeper's Deception 16 - I Must Plead Again for Your Secrecy

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens with her publication history for “To Serve and Protect,” contrasting Casey Dyer and Colleen Anderson's praise with Jordan's criticism before describing its publication by Bundoran Press.

    Jan 27, 2021·46m·3 clips
  41. 41

    38 - Gatekeeper's Deception 15 - Her Motive was Assurance

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens Totally Fantastic Title's “Gatekeeper's Deception 15 - Her Motive was Assurance” by reading Stephen King's account of being shamed for rewriting Edgar Allan Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum.

    Jan 20, 2021·48m·3 clips
  42. 42

    37 - Gatekeeper's Deception 14 - Dangerous Times

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace reviews the Netflix series Dash and Lily, focusing on its red-notebook premise and a confrontation built around the line “I was only 12” / “So was I.” An audiobook excerpt follows Kierre’s company to Seaview during an annual fish fry while they search for the white trefoil Talima, needed to save Alon Mare’s life.

    Jan 13, 2021·43m·3 clips
  43. 43

    36 - Gatekeeper's Deception 13 - The Only Plan that Matters

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace reads Chapter 13 of Gatekeeper's Deception, where Kier must care for Janik, Fennel, Duskellen, and Derry after all four become violently ill in the mountains.

    Jan 6, 2021·44m·2 clips
  44. 44

    35.5 - Bonus episode: F**king up 2020

    Jan 2, 2021·8m
  45. 45

    35 - Gatekeeper's Deception 12 - Renewed Purpose

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace opens with her first Christmas spent with only Matt, then reads Chapter 12 of Gatekeeper's Deception, where Kierre follows Frederick after hearing him speak her unknown language.

    Dec 30, 2020·45m·3 clips
  46. 46

    34 - Gatekeeper's Deception 11 - Someone Else Knew

    Hidden gem

    Krista Wallace's Totally Fantastic Title episode “Gatekeeper's Deception 11 - Someone Else Knew” opens with an argument that people should not apologize for crying or expressing sadness, fear, and heartbreak.

    Dec 23, 2020·43m·3 clips
  47. 47

    33 - Gatekeeper's Deception 10 - What Have You Done Now

    Totally Fantastic Title, Episode 33 follows Kier and her companions from an arrow attack near an earthquake fissure into mountains leading toward the Sea of Khun.

    Dec 16, 2020·50m·3 clips
  48. 48

    32 - Gatekeeper's Deception 9 - Call Me the Guardian

    Krista Wallace's Totally Fantastic Title presents Chapter 9 of Gatekeeper's Deception, where Bianca Ardra searches for a way to help the damaged village of Hrath.

    Dec 9, 2020·49m·3 clips
  49. 49

    31 - Gatekeeper's Deception 8 - Their Only Chance

    Krista Wallace's "Gatekeeper's Deception 8 - Their Only Chance" follows Kier's party from Kami's Tower toward the Cold Fells in search of Falander lichen.

    Dec 2, 2020·46m·3 clips
  50. 50

    30 - Gatekeeper's Deception 7 - Their Mission Must Fail

    Totally Fantastic Title’s “Gatekeeper’s Deception 7 - Their Mission Must Fail” follows Kier and her companions after Kami offers her comfort, knowledge, and a life beside him.

    Nov 25, 2020·44m·3 clips