About Cold Cuts
I’m Tony Sarrecchia, a humorist, essayist, and storyteller in Atlanta.
My life has been a series of side quests. Over the years I’ve been a radio DJ, mobile DJ, telemarketer, club bouncer, newspaper columnist, technology writer, prepress manager, corporate IT guy, audio drama producer, and, briefly, a cab driver. Apparently I’ve never been very good at saying no to interesting jobs.
Every Wednesday, I publish Cold Cuts, a weekly essay about culture, technology, storytelling, middle age, and the everyday absurdities we’ve somehow agreed to live with.
Think of it as a weekly attempt to explain modern life before it files another software update.
One week I’m writing about why pulling out a notebook in public makes people nervous. The next, I’ll be wondering how America inherited the aristocratic lawn, why we no longer share a common culture, or what a dog can teach us about paying attention.
I like systems—especially the ones nobody notices until they stop working. The social rules, technologies, traditions, and habits that quietly shape our lives. Cold Cuts is where I poke at those systems with curiosity, skepticism, and the occasional bad joke.
If you’ve ever looked at some ordinary part of modern life and thought, “Wait…why are we doing it this way?” you’re probably my kind of reader.
Here on Substack, you’ll find my weekly Cold Cuts column: humorous essays about culture, creativity, storytelling, nostalgia, horror, technology, and the modern systems we all pretend are functioning normally. Some weeks it’s funny. Some weeks it’s dark. The best weeks are both.
I’m also a proud member of the Horror Writers Association and the Mystery Writers of America.
I grew up in New Jersey, spent time in Nebraska and Florida, and now make my home in Atlanta with my wife, and a rescue Staffy mix. My favorite breed of dog is “rescue” — and I always, always want to see a picture of yours.
Contact: tony.sarrecchia@gmail.com
Essential Cold Cuts
Please Stop Oversharing Near My Fountain Pen
The other day I was sitting in a coffee-shop when I did something that apparently alarms modern society.
Other Projects
Links to my audio drama and prose:
The Adventures of Scarlett Hood
The Long Version: I’m Bona Fide
For editors, producers, panel organizers, podcast hosts, and anyone else checking to see whether I’ve done more than annoy strangers on the internet.
Narration
Pseudopod 942: The Sound of a Jackknife
PseudoPod 822: The Experiment of Erich Weigert
Audio Drama
Lady Sherlock in the Case of the Woman in Red, audio-drama performed live by the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company at 221B Con, April 2019; the Hear Now Festival, Summer 2021; DragonCon, Labor Day Weekend 2021. Winner of the Platinum Festival Favorite at the Hear Now Festival.
The Adventures of Scarlett Hood; Produced by the Radio Theatre Project, Washington.
Jeremiah Willstone in A Choir of Demons, audio-drama adaptation of Anthony Francis’s short story ‘A Choir of Demons’. Currently in production with the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company.
The Probability Broach, audio-drama adaptation of L. Neil Smith’s novel The Probability Broach. Post production by the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company.
Harry Strange in the Metamorphs, audio-drama performed live at DragonCon. 2016.
Harry Strange, Where are You?, audio-drama performed live at Conjuration Convention, Atlanta, 2016. Cowriter Evan Brandonisio.
Harry Strange in Bippity Bopptiy, audio-drama performed live at Conjuration Convention, Atlanta, 2014. Also Producer/Director.
The Harry Strange Radio Drama, 52 episodes. 2011-2018. Creator/Producer.
TV/Film/Web
“Where the Walls Cry”, Feature, preproduction. Scary Times Productions
“Sunday Morning” episode 2 of Primrose Tales, horror short. Produced by Sawdust and Tinsel Productions.
Prose
“Grady’s Planation”, Short Story, published in the Georgia Gothic anthology, by the Atlanta Chapter of the HWA. November 2021.
“It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, flash fiction. Published/audio by The Wicked Library. 2018.
“The Future Behind”, short story. Published/audio by The Lift. 2017.
“Pop-Pop’s Gift”, a short story in the Harry Strange Universe. Produced for audio by The Wicked Library. 2017.
The Ninth Circle Vol. 2: Night of the Bloodthirsty Ghouls, novella. Published by Pro Se Press. March 2016.
“The Aquarium” published in Legends of New Pulp Fiction, anthology, by Air Ship 27 Press. January 2016.
Harry Strange in the Stones of Solomon the collected scripts of Season One of the Harry Strange Radio Drama. Pen to Parchment Press. May 2015.
“On the Road to Chattanooga” published in Fat Zombie, anthology, by Permuted Press. January 2015.
