Aural fixations/The Story's the thing

(In stream of conciousness kinda writing, sorry if it jumps all over the place, just kind of the mood that I'm in right now.)

Commercial radio sucks. There, do you hear that, that's the death knell of any remaining visage of a commercial radio career for me. If you do know me, I have worked in radio in the following capacities. On-line host/DJ, News and Sports Reporter, Producer, Creative content/Writer, Sales, Janitor

My heart still remains in that field, but not the method unfortunately. If I were to go back behind a microphone, it'd be a lot different. It would definitely have to be in an XM/Sirius radio capacity. And I'd have to have enough material to carry through... more on that later. (Unless I actually get decent pay out of it, I'll probably won't return to the field. There will probably be another rant/musing about my past radio life later on.)

I've found more and more that I am listening to audio books and podcasts, with the proliferation of content, there literally is something out there for everyone. I am quite sure that if you look hard enough there will be Care Bear/Lovecraft slash fiction that has been done in audio or youtube format.

You may shudder now.

My first audiobook was Stephen King's The Mist, on casette tape, it cost 35 bucks of well saved up allowance money. It features "Kunstkopf" binaural 3-D sound. It's amazing, full environmental sound that literally puts you right there where it's happening. And they managed to do that on a casette.The full dramatic cast only added more to the story and environment. I got into more and more of the older radio theater productions, while I read Batman and the death of Jason Todd, I listened to the eerie haunting laughter of the Shadow. While Buck Rogers was on television, I was listening to X Minus One.

There are only a few other authors that I've listened to as their audio books read by some actor. My alltime favorite has to be James Marsters and the Dresden File books by Jim Butcher. Those words got me through some very long shifts of very monotonous work.

I got (re)turned onto Podcasts in the past year or so. Via City of Heroes (my mmo of choice), came Secret World, written by Mercedes Lackey. (http://www.secretworldchronicle.com/) It's great, I'd rather listen to any of that stuff than the inanities of the morning show or Drive home show.

(Besides, there are no rock stations in the town I am living in. They may claim to be, but they
aren't. There's another rant later on, all I can say is that streaming audio and podcasts are my savior.)

But the new media is the new way to go. These are the James Brown's of the Podcasting world. The hardest working authors out there. Why? Because they do their own promotions for their works. They keep in touch with their listeners and their fan base. And these authors are working their ever living (insert body part here) off, and you know what? The fact that they love to write and do these stories just adds a wonderful yummy flavor to every moment of their works.

scott sigler - http://www.scottsigler.com/
I have become a junkie, which is what his fanbase call themselves. I'm still on Infected audiobook, Earthcore is next, but I want to space it out, so I have a reserve of podcasts to fall back on. Listener discretion is advised, not for the squeamish. But could be used as a gift to that squeamish relative you really don't like. (Yes, I am a bastard.)

Mur Lafferty - http://murverse.com/
I should be writing - A must for any budding writer, family friendly podcast.
Playing for Keeps - Superhero's and Villains, but not quite the way the stereotypes go. You can easily imagine her characters choosing a specific brand of cola from the childhood they had.

JC. Hutchins - http://jchutchins.net/
Can't really comment on his stuff, I've heard that it's really good. It is on my to listen to list.

The above three are the crowning jewels of podiobooks.com, go out buy a bigger mp3 player. Buy the books from their respective sites, its really good stuff.

And for the full family drives after the kid has finished her dance lesson
Decoder Ring Theater - Full drama cast with various genres. Find your favorite.
( http://decoderring.libsyn.com/ ) So far my favorite is a toss up between Red Panda and Black Jack Justice

(Gotta love http://podiobooks.com/ , they have donation links, so if you like it, drop off a few bucks, I believe their policy is up to 70 percent goes back to author. But if you really love their
stuff, go buy their books!)

But as for keeping up with all things geek, I have to go with Big Kev's Geek Stuff.( http://www.bigkevsgeekstuff.com/ ) In jokes include playing a certain theme song from a Joss Whedon TV series whenver the show name is mentioned. I'm not so much with the action figure segment, even at times I'm thinking how much of a geek they are, and make me feel like I have a boring life. Oh well, still a good listen.

But this will never replace a book. I'm not saying that books are better, lets get that clear now.
There isn't the same tactile experience, the smell of a library alone should be done as a perfume/deoderant... It'd be the number one seller for all the boffin's out there, in the bar, trying to hook up with the throngs of singles, and then, there she was, and the smell of polished wood shelves and dewey decimal cards that gently wafted off her. (Some of you who think I'm a freak now, go right ahead, but I know there are a lot of people right now that are thinking that would be so sexy hot.)

I can foresee that the book will become a valued gift again, a printing with leatherbound. A
real investment into an experience, which is what all stories should be... whether it's words in my
ear, or on a page.

So with that, I am planning my own serial series. What genre? I'm not going to specify, but it will
most likely include all of them. Sci-Fi golden age style, fantasy for richness, horror for the
creepout/disturbing level. I think this is more to not limit the options that my characters run into.

If I find a good groove, then I'll start specifying the genre, or possibly do a genre per 'season'. Here's the general goal for this serial series, one post per week on the blog, one story taking up 4
or 8 posts. Planning for an entire year of posts. Sounds a bit intimidating, but I know I can do it,
if I get into a decent schedule.

Will these see the light of day? I'm not too sure. These will be submitted to a group of people for critiquing. And I am open to any/all opinions. The only setback is that with content changes. I won't have to rewrite a novel, but a small detail could rewrite a whole series. Anyways, if anything, it will be a decent method to use as a writing treadmill. The fat will melt off, as I need to loose some of the weight of non-consistent writing habits.

Besides, it's not like I post on a regular basis to this blog as it is. Wow, was that self depricating
or what... Dear blog, frownie face emoticon, my soul is a black pit of black-pityness of dark
emotions...I am teh suckzors... *snrk* Yeah, right.

While we are keeping it true, a quick flash from the meter...

I have been quit for 1 Year, 1 Month, 1 Week, 4 Days, 10 hours, 23 minutes.
I have saved $2,156.51 by not smoking 4,901 cigarettes.
I have saved 2 Weeks, 3 Days and 25 minutes of my life.
My Quit Date: 8/6/2007 9:20 AM

Had a major craving last week. Thought I was over that portion of the addiction. Seeing someone else smoke, and I wanted to smoke right along with them. Guess it was the stress from work piling up, needed a crutch or a release of stress. Found walking helped out. By the time I got home, I had another few chapters of Infected listened to. But I couldnt' stand the smell of my clothes, so off they went and into the shower I went.

Will I podcast the serial series... hoo boy. I figure I can, but I have to get the writing skills up
to par. Not be afraid of that dreaded second draft of ripping everything down and objectively looking at the story and seeing the general tone and flavor. But as Mur, Scott, and JC mention in Episode 99 of 'I should be writing' ( http://isbw.murlafferty.com/podpress_trac/web/279/0/isbw_show099_080828.mp3 ) , they do recommend having the book done first, and have at least 4 to 5 podcasts before promoting the book.

Good advice, and words to plan and write about. I estimate if I want to get a good base going, it will be 2 years to go, then promote the hell outta my stuff. At least by that time, the new holographic home animation kit will be out, and I'll be wondering what that next media will be for me to try my stories out on.

So current wish list is up on Amazon, and with any luck I should be able to get that home studio outfitted with the microphone, and sound buffer. Who knows maybe I could pimp myself out as a voice over actor in the meantime? Definitely have to source out a laptop, nothing too big on specs, just enough so I can write, listen to mp3 and watch the occasional video. Think I'm going to spec out either a low end 800 mhz + unit, or try out one of the MSI Wind or Asus EEE laptops. But until then,

I'm still here, and trying to write more,
Pike aka Pearce Kilgour