Tag Archives: Podcast

Psuedo-mood

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One of my favorite authors once said, “I don’t have a muse, I have a mortgage”.

I struggle with this constantly. I really am a mood based writer. It’s terrible because there are times when something springs forth from my forehead as if a Greek god headache has produced something whole and complete. There are other times when I simply can not force myself to sit at the keys and work.

I think that’s a significant part of this. It IS work. There is time and effort and a willingness to give up a piece of yourself to the consumption of others. It is draining to me. I’ve heard of others that are energized by the completion of some piece of their art but when I am finished working on something like this I am spent. Pouring out some of myself onto a page is a challenge, but I really do love to tell a good story.

I’ve got a story that’s been “in production” for a quite a long time now. No, not the 2 novels that I’ve been so called writing for a decade now. A story. I know there’s a seed of a good idea in this story, but it’s just not working.

Today I think I caught a little of the right mood. I listened to a scary story. I know – sounds childish to say it that way, but that’s what it really is. It’s a scary story. There are a large number of other scary stories where I found this one. The particular scary story I found happened to be ‘Take a Walk In The Night, My Love‘. It’s from the podcast Pseudopod as presented by Escape Artists ~ folks who deliver some genuinely excellent content all the time. I mean consistently over years. Go, support them.

I’ve never been good at telling a scary story. I’ve got an excellent handle on the ridiculous. That’s easy, I just have human interaction, mess it up the way I normally do and then write that down. Easy. Scaring somebody? Scaring somebody is a far more challenging concept ~ at least to me.

So here, on a bright, sunny summer afternoon I sit behind the keys and attempt to tell a scary story. I’ll let you know if it turns out to be as scary as I hope.

Podcast and Promotion

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As it turns out, I am terrible at self promotion. I have now added to my list of things to take care of here on the site ‘update where people can find your work’.

I thought of this because I have been asked to participate in a podcast. I”m a bit nervous about being recorded. Not something I’ve really done before. I suspect I’ve been recorded at conventions I’ve been a speaker for, but not with the purpose of being ‘featured’ if that’s even really a thing. I look forward to the experience and then breaking down how it all went on here later.

IF you’re so inclined, you should check out the podcast! The homepage for them is here.

Late To The Party

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Somewhere beyond the ringing in my ears there was purple and giggles. This indicated popularity and enjoyment and avoidance of the dog park but I had no knowledge of the dog park. I did not know about Night Vale. You should know about Night Vale.

IF you enjoy weird, horrifying, wonderful, random things then I suggest you tune your dial dear listener to the community radio for Night Vale. There are many things to recommend this, not the least of those things being the penalty for being caught not listening to the mandatory broadcasts or the court ordered amputations for overdue library books. These are important things. These are lovely things.

I strive to catch up. I started way back at the beginning so my time line will be different than your time line but there should be points where these intersect and an understanding can be made.

I have only ever liked the weather once. All of the other weather would have been better if replaced with a constant low moan with static in the background. Nobody is perfect. Except perhaps Carlos.

Even when the weather is bad, it is still better than Desert Bluffs. Those guys are awful.

Go to Night Vale. Listen. Learn. Enjoy.

NightVale

International

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I’ve posted on here about podcasts before, but I’m going to put this one up here for more than just the podcasting aspect.

There has been more than one discussion at a Watch The Skies meeting (you should stop by if you’re in the area) about finding top quality fiction from places beyond that published by / for / in America. Getting a different point of view or a style that is something other than your ‘normal’ is important. It’s also refreshing and interesting. Hearing a voice that isn’t a homogenized version of every other voice tell you a story is no small part of the entertainment of the story.

That international flavor and alternate point of view is on display over at Escape Pod. The story is certainly worth the half hour to listen to, and particularly entertaining if you’re a fan of steampunk. Head over HERE and check it out.

EscapePodo

Semaphore

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I’ve posted before about podcasts. I think they’re a wonderful part of this golden age of fiction we’re living in right now. I found another podcast story the other day that is absolutely worth your time.

The Semaphore Society is a story from the point of view of a character that is disabled. The story handles this differently than I have ever seen it handled before.

Escape Pod is part of the Escape Artist family of podcasts. There are ones I’ve mentioned before PodCastle for fantasy and PseudoPod for horror. They are worthy of your time and if you’ve got the money they could definitely use your support. Check them out!

EscapePod

A Pseudo-mention

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A lot of the time lately I’ve found the internet to be a frustrating and mean place. I try to stay away from the most negative aspects of it, but I’m not always successful. The longer it goes, the more I understand the usefulness of Facebook as a tool and the more I hate the way it is handled. I have started to stay away.

Today I was surprised by something small and personal, but very cool and positive. I have a story in an anthology called TV Gods. I really like my story. While I was listening to Pseudopod I heard TV Gods called out. The narrator for the episode is also a fellow author! I was very excited. I realize it’s not a big deal to other people, but I really enjoyed it.

IF you like horror, please go and listen to Pseudopod. I am not particularly a fan of horror but this podcast really is excellent. The stories are frequently visceral and distressing – but isn’t that the point of horror?

The mention is right at the start of episode 444 “Boys Will Be Boys”. It is an uncomfortable story with genuinely horrible things in it. It is read by Keven M. Hayes – who really nails the mood and tone.

Well done. Well done. Go – check it out!

Par-what?

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Parsec. A CELEBRATION OF SPECULATIVE FICTION PODCASTING.

I know a lot of people that like to listen to audio books while they work at whatever they do. I enjoy that as well, but I always thought of audio books as somewhat limiting. No, I don’t know why, but I did. Enter this new thing called Podcasting a few years ago. I took a spin at figuring it out and was part of an abortive attempt at getting one started. There’s a recording floating out there someplace with my voice on it. I have no idea where it ever went. Making a podcast is not easy.

Correction – making a podcast is easy. Making a GOOD podcast that doesn’t pod-fade after three weeks is really tough. I have a great appreciation for the art form.

I’m really on the outside looking in here, but I’m just close enough to know a number of serious players in the realm of podcasting. I think the folks who create and get their work out there deserve support. I have given money when I was able, I have posted about some of my favorite podcasts before, but now there’s something else I can do – and you can too!

The parsec awards are now accepting nominations. I’ve gone out and put in my nomination for what I believe is a truly excellent long form podcast. If you know about podcasts, you should head out to their site (Here) and see if your favorite is on the list. If it’s not, what are you waiting for? Nominate it! If you don’t know about podcasts, go there and check out the list. I bet you’ll find something you like.

Old Timey

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Do you like old time radio shows? If you do, there’s a podcast out there you should dig up and listen to. Hidden Harbor Mysteries. I’m going to cheat and let them do the description part:

Hidden Harbor, a small city with big problems. The criminal element strikes by night and blends into the population by day. One woman has the guts and the power to stand up to the enemies of Hidden Harbor, both foreign and domestic.

Hiidden Harbor Mysteries is a full-cast audio drama serial that uses modern technology to re-create a sound and feel from the golden age of radio.

The vocal talent here is great. I love listening to the voices. The story is neat and different from things I’ve heard before. It’s fun – and most importantly, it’s in bite size chunks. The episodes run in the area of about 20 minutes – so you can always squeeze one into your day someplace.

They’ve even got sponsors:

EagleBrand_VintageAd

Just a sip

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So, the weekend is on the way. A great time to consider having a drink with a friend among other things… other things like listening to a great Podcast.

It has taken getting laid off and having a lot more time on my hands than ever before to allow me to actually catch up with some of the great Podcasts out there. One I particularly enjoy is PodCastle. It was recently spotlighted on another site I read – SF Signal. I don’t know if I agree with the author’s picks for “best” but that’s the beauty of it. There are over 300 episodes. There is something there for everyone.

One in particular jumped out to me as I listened to it yesterday – Episode 330 DRINK ME! I particularly enjoyed the “sponsor’s” advertisements. It is worth the time to check it out.

Have fun listening, and tip one back with friends.