Against his will, Bob*, an unsuspecting patron at a Chicagoland Panera was subjected to the rough readthrough of Episode 2 last night. I watched Bob out of the corner of my eye as he craned his neck to see what crazy hijinks were happening two tables down. Bob tried a couple of times to put on his headphones, but decided against it and kept trying to hear what was going on. We weren't that loud. I wonder if his iPod had stopped working or something. Poor guy.
Three things are notable about Bob:
1. He seemed genuinely interested. Whether that interest was getting to hear the episode or trying to figure out a way to get us to shut up, I don't know.
2. Whatever his reasons, he did not run screaming from the restaurant. I'll consider that positive feedback.
3. He also didn't laugh at some seriously funny lines. I'm not sure what's wrong with Bob's sense of humor. Then again, he was a couple tables away. Maybe he really couldn't hear us. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
What Bob might have heard, had he been really listening, was the readthrough we often do with a completed episode to check for timing. Episode 2 is a bit longer than some of the others, since we have to do quite a bit of setup in a short amount of time. (Jason has a little song that he sings when we write episodes like these... "Exposiiiiiiition!" That's really the only lyric, but he does jazz hands and everything. It's like he's looking for three other guys to join his barbershop quartet. It's cute in a sad sort of way.)
Bob would also have heard Jason reading Alex's lines, and me reading everyone else's... which in Episode 2 includes Viper, Olga, Klaus, Mags, and a brand-new character I just made up called Mr. Ranalli (who is named for my favorite pizza place.) Mr. Ranalli helps provide a little backstory and character development for Alex. "Exposiiiiition!" So Bob would have heard me having long conversations with myself, sometimes with a fake Russian accent and sometimes using the word "Dude!" excessively - and Jason interjecting a comment here and there.
I love it when we do readthroughs - particularly when I can get over my initial embarrassment about doing a silly Russian-ish accent in a public place. And you know? I think we're getting better not only at the writing, but the acting as well. Jason is going to rock at being Alex, and I'm not just saying that because I want him to finish up Epsiode 6. (Which I do, but that's beside the point.) It's really fun to listen to him "get" the character. We've known Alex for a while now. It stands to reason that his voice would become more and more familiar as we go.
Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having with this project? I totally am.
So thanks to Bob for being our first listener. Thanks to all seven of you readers for your patience as we work to complete this little hobby-project. And thanks to Panera for not kicking us out.
*Not his real name. Or maybe it is. I have no idea. I just think he looked like a guy who could easily have a name like Bob. His name could be Xerxes, for all I know.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Turkey, Rewrites, and a Donkey
What better way to climb out of a post-Thanksgiving turkey-coma than write a blog post? I hope all of you who celebrate Thanksgiving had a lovely one. I spent mine with about 40 of my closest relatives in Omaha. There were no Reubens present, but the food was still pretty fantastic, and I had a great time with the family. It's been a nice visit home.
In between waiting for pies to finish baking and turkeys to roast, I spent some time script-writing. Actually, if you want to get all technical about it, I was rewriting. And hoo boy... I guess one of the good things about taking so frickin' long to write the scripts for this show is that we were bound to improve as we went along. This is a good thing for the last half of the season, but it's almost embarrassing to read parts of the first couple of episodes. Part of it is that the story has shifted dramatically since we first started writing - in a good way, I think. But part of it was the fact that we didn't quite have the knack of this all-dialogue-all-the-time style yet.
I think we've managed to get the knack. Or at least borrow the knack from someone else who has it. Or maybe... never mind. I have no idea what I'm talking about. Suffice it to say that we get what we're doing now, and we're trying to get the first couple of scripts to reflect our new-found knowledge and experience.
Meanwhile, the search for recording equipment and sound effects continues. I think I have discovered the microphone brand I want to use, and I've been playing with sound editing a bit. Also, my nephew (who is four years old) told me today that he is excellent with sound effects. He demonstrated everything from a propeller plane to a donkey. The kid ain't bad. Makes me want to figure out how to include a donkey in Episode 6 just to be able to use him.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend everyone!
In between waiting for pies to finish baking and turkeys to roast, I spent some time script-writing. Actually, if you want to get all technical about it, I was rewriting. And hoo boy... I guess one of the good things about taking so frickin' long to write the scripts for this show is that we were bound to improve as we went along. This is a good thing for the last half of the season, but it's almost embarrassing to read parts of the first couple of episodes. Part of it is that the story has shifted dramatically since we first started writing - in a good way, I think. But part of it was the fact that we didn't quite have the knack of this all-dialogue-all-the-time style yet.
I think we've managed to get the knack. Or at least borrow the knack from someone else who has it. Or maybe... never mind. I have no idea what I'm talking about. Suffice it to say that we get what we're doing now, and we're trying to get the first couple of scripts to reflect our new-found knowledge and experience.
Meanwhile, the search for recording equipment and sound effects continues. I think I have discovered the microphone brand I want to use, and I've been playing with sound editing a bit. Also, my nephew (who is four years old) told me today that he is excellent with sound effects. He demonstrated everything from a propeller plane to a donkey. The kid ain't bad. Makes me want to figure out how to include a donkey in Episode 6 just to be able to use him.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend everyone!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Wherein River admits she was wrong
Okay. I was wrong. I'll admit it. The podcast is funny.
Now that we're several scripts in and have a good chunk of the finale written, I have to admit - it's not nearly as serious as I thought it might be when I wrote this post. That's not to say that there aren't some poignant moments. We just wrote one this afternoon. But by-and-large, we're not taking ourselves all that seriously, and it's turning out to be... not a comedy, per se... but fun. Lots of fun.
At least for us. The jury is still out on the rest of you folks.
I'm also excited to report that we're nearing the home stretch with script-writing. We opted to jump ahead and write the finale, which is one of the best decisions I think we've made as a writing team. Having a stronger sense of how the story ends helps us make the rest of it better and more relevant. I'm finding myself much more motivated to finish editing Episode 2 now that I know where these original conversations and confrontations will ultimately lead.
We're also at a place where we can start weaving in other resources to help us make the show even better. I happen to live with an amateur-but-should-be-professional-because-he's-that-good composer, and he's agreed to start writing a soundtrack. (Yes!) Another good friend of mine is a former DJ and used to do a great radio sketch-comedy show a few years back. He's helping us with recording advice and equipment. It's good to have a well-rounded group of friends that we can exploit ... er... help them to express their creative gifts in new and interesting ways. That's it.
I have to admit, the last couple of writing sessions have really rekindled my excitement for this little project - and now that we're able to visualize the finish line, I'm totally psyched. More soon!
(Also, thank you for not mentioning the fact that our last blog post was in September. October was a rather busy month.)
Now that we're several scripts in and have a good chunk of the finale written, I have to admit - it's not nearly as serious as I thought it might be when I wrote this post. That's not to say that there aren't some poignant moments. We just wrote one this afternoon. But by-and-large, we're not taking ourselves all that seriously, and it's turning out to be... not a comedy, per se... but fun. Lots of fun.
At least for us. The jury is still out on the rest of you folks.
I'm also excited to report that we're nearing the home stretch with script-writing. We opted to jump ahead and write the finale, which is one of the best decisions I think we've made as a writing team. Having a stronger sense of how the story ends helps us make the rest of it better and more relevant. I'm finding myself much more motivated to finish editing Episode 2 now that I know where these original conversations and confrontations will ultimately lead.
We're also at a place where we can start weaving in other resources to help us make the show even better. I happen to live with an amateur-but-should-be-professional-because-he's-that-good composer, and he's agreed to start writing a soundtrack. (Yes!) Another good friend of mine is a former DJ and used to do a great radio sketch-comedy show a few years back. He's helping us with recording advice and equipment. It's good to have a well-rounded group of friends that we can exploit ... er... help them to express their creative gifts in new and interesting ways. That's it.
I have to admit, the last couple of writing sessions have really rekindled my excitement for this little project - and now that we're able to visualize the finish line, I'm totally psyched. More soon!
(Also, thank you for not mentioning the fact that our last blog post was in September. October was a rather busy month.)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Too wonderful not to post here...
I've been spreading this one around since I love it so much.
Rather than spend months trying to painstakingly work out a plot for the sequel to Season 1 of the podcast, I believe that Jason and I will just use the handy Electro-plasmic Hydrocephalic Genre-Fiction 2000, described in Wondermark, one of my favorite web comics.
Besides, it will save us a few bucks on giant Post-it notes.
And just when I thought we couldn't get any lazier, a brilliant man named Liam Cooke designed an Automatic Fiction Generator.
So here's the plot for Season 2*:
*(Hell, it might even be the plot to Season 1, if we don't get in gear and finish this sucker before 2017.)
Rather than spend months trying to painstakingly work out a plot for the sequel to Season 1 of the podcast, I believe that Jason and I will just use the handy Electro-plasmic Hydrocephalic Genre-Fiction 2000, described in Wondermark, one of my favorite web comics.
Besides, it will save us a few bucks on giant Post-it notes.
And just when I thought we couldn't get any lazier, a brilliant man named Liam Cooke designed an Automatic Fiction Generator.
So here's the plot for Season 2*:
“The Astrodroids”
In a leather-clad Japan, a young journeyman inventor stumbles across a magic diadem which spurs him into conflict with an army led by a sadist, with the help of a leather-clad female in shades and her discomfort in formal wear, culminating in a heroic sacrifice that no one will ever remember.
*(Hell, it might even be the plot to Season 1, if we don't get in gear and finish this sucker before 2017.)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Back to basics
As a writing team, River and I have a love-hate relationship with technology. Or perhaps it's more appropriate to say that technology has a love-hate relationship with us. Using Google Docs to share scripts and comments is pretty integral to our process, and certainly being able to look up an obscure fact about one of the Slavic gods in the middle of a writing meeting has allowed us to track down some very cool things about the story we're writing.
Of course, on the other hand...well. Let's just say that sometimes we can get hung up in the details and lose sight of the bigger picture. Like, y'know, the plot. So during a long car trip a few weeks ago, we decided that what we really needed was to put the plot down on paper without all the pretty flourishes (like the witty one-liners that we seem to excel at), so we could really see the gaps and what needed to be filled in. By mutual agreement, we vowed to leave the laptops out of this meeting, and to work with Post-It flip chart paper and markers instead, hoping to eventually end up with the whole story up on River's wall.
This conversation led me to a couple of observations:
Of course, on the other hand...well. Let's just say that sometimes we can get hung up in the details and lose sight of the bigger picture. Like, y'know, the plot. So during a long car trip a few weeks ago, we decided that what we really needed was to put the plot down on paper without all the pretty flourishes (like the witty one-liners that we seem to excel at), so we could really see the gaps and what needed to be filled in. By mutual agreement, we vowed to leave the laptops out of this meeting, and to work with Post-It flip chart paper and markers instead, hoping to eventually end up with the whole story up on River's wall.
This conversation led me to a couple of observations:
- It is probably rather telling that we hadn't done this already. That's not to say that we hadn't talked about the plot before, but the story has drifted quite a bit from our original discussions (mostly in good ways, I think) and we hadn't really updated our mutual expectations accordingly.
- It says something about us that we were really excited by the idea of using the giant post-it notes and markers. I don't think this says anything particularly good about us, mind you, but it does say something.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Thunder and Cattle-Rustling
A few nights ago, Jason and I got together for our first writing meeting following our summer hiatus. Our break wasn't necessarily planned, but with Jason getting all married and stuff, it seemed like holding off on script-writing for a couple of months was a good idea. It felt great to get back in the swing of things... reacquainting ourselves with our characters while eating homemade pizza, doing a read-through for timing and remembering just how much we're going to have to practice before we record this sucker... I really enjoyed myself. It was enough to make me remember why I'm doing this in the first place - creative projects of any kind bring meaning to my life - and I've been blessed with several opportunities lately.
Enough of all that. It's time to talk about Slavic gods.
(Why yes, making smooth and relevant transitions is one of my primary talents. Thanks for noticing.)
We realized about halfway into the writing process that we needed to widen our scope a bit, and create more of an origin story for Alex, Uncle Fedyenka, Aunt Olga, and the rest of the characters that are tied up in this mess. Since our story centers around members of a Russian family and Jason and I both dig mythology - why not throw some old Slavic gods into the mix? Without going into too much detail about the plot, it just so happens that Russian myth sets us up very nicely for a battle between two warring factions.
Depending on who you ask, the head dude in Slavic mythology is generally agreed to be Perun. He's a thunder god, not unlike the Norse god Thor. Another striking similarity between Slavic and Norse mythology is the existence of a World Tree which holds all of the realms of reality in place. (The connection isn't all that surprising, considering the Russians and the Norse have similar roots.) Perun sits at the top of the tree as the ruler of the living world - sky and earth. He's often symbolized by an eagle that watches over everything.
Perun's enemy is Veles, a trickster god who is often symbolized by a dragon or serpent. He lives at the roots of the tree, aka, the underworld, and basically lives to piss Perun off. He loves to cause trouble by stealing Perun's cattle (you know, like you do), his children, or even his wife. Perun retaliates by trying to zap him with lightning bolts and thunder. I'm making light of what the Slavs saw as a big cosmic battle between two major forces - but that's basically how it went. When Christianity came to Russia, the battle between the Devil and God fit very nicely into this pre-made package.
The Wikipedia entries for Perun and Veles are a fun read - and there are plenty of other sources out there. If you're as much of a mythology geek as I am and want to read more, let me know, and I'll pass along a reading list.
As we did our research, it became more and more evident that this was the perfect backdrop for our story. We're working on weaving in elements of the battle between Perun and Veles, as well as this idea of a World Tree that holds reality in place. There are so many different cultures that identify with a World Tree, why does there have to be just one? What if reality was held in place by a sort of cosmic orchard of World Trees? What if you could get to one through that storage closet in your basement? And what if you suddenly found yourself in charge of keeping it safe and unsullied by mortal desires? You might see where this is going.
The story is getting really fun to write - particularly as we near the end and have to tie all the loose ends together. And seriously... Slavic gods? What could be more fun than that?
Enough of all that. It's time to talk about Slavic gods.
(Why yes, making smooth and relevant transitions is one of my primary talents. Thanks for noticing.)
We realized about halfway into the writing process that we needed to widen our scope a bit, and create more of an origin story for Alex, Uncle Fedyenka, Aunt Olga, and the rest of the characters that are tied up in this mess. Since our story centers around members of a Russian family and Jason and I both dig mythology - why not throw some old Slavic gods into the mix? Without going into too much detail about the plot, it just so happens that Russian myth sets us up very nicely for a battle between two warring factions.
Depending on who you ask, the head dude in Slavic mythology is generally agreed to be Perun. He's a thunder god, not unlike the Norse god Thor. Another striking similarity between Slavic and Norse mythology is the existence of a World Tree which holds all of the realms of reality in place. (The connection isn't all that surprising, considering the Russians and the Norse have similar roots.) Perun sits at the top of the tree as the ruler of the living world - sky and earth. He's often symbolized by an eagle that watches over everything.
Perun's enemy is Veles, a trickster god who is often symbolized by a dragon or serpent. He lives at the roots of the tree, aka, the underworld, and basically lives to piss Perun off. He loves to cause trouble by stealing Perun's cattle (you know, like you do), his children, or even his wife. Perun retaliates by trying to zap him with lightning bolts and thunder. I'm making light of what the Slavs saw as a big cosmic battle between two major forces - but that's basically how it went. When Christianity came to Russia, the battle between the Devil and God fit very nicely into this pre-made package.
The Wikipedia entries for Perun and Veles are a fun read - and there are plenty of other sources out there. If you're as much of a mythology geek as I am and want to read more, let me know, and I'll pass along a reading list.
As we did our research, it became more and more evident that this was the perfect backdrop for our story. We're working on weaving in elements of the battle between Perun and Veles, as well as this idea of a World Tree that holds reality in place. There are so many different cultures that identify with a World Tree, why does there have to be just one? What if reality was held in place by a sort of cosmic orchard of World Trees? What if you could get to one through that storage closet in your basement? And what if you suddenly found yourself in charge of keeping it safe and unsullied by mortal desires? You might see where this is going.
The story is getting really fun to write - particularly as we near the end and have to tie all the loose ends together. And seriously... Slavic gods? What could be more fun than that?
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Podcasts I like.
Since you're waiting for us to get ours out... and truly, you are the most dedicated fans of a non-existent creative project I have ever seen... I thought I might recommend a few other shows to tide you over.
It's no secret that I'm an NPR-junkie. I can name ten reporters off the top of my head and tell you what region and beat they cover. I'm a member of my local public radio station, WBEZ, and I have the biodegradable corn-based mug with the logo to prove it. (And two messenger bags.)
While you really can't go wrong with a public radio show, here are a few of my favorites:
Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!
This American Life
Fresh Air
To the Best of Our Knowledge
Radiolab <-- stellar. One of my all-time favorites. If you listen to nothing else on this list, listen to this show.
Other shows that I listen to on a regular basis, and can definitely recommend:
The Savage Lovecast
I think everyone who likes to have sex, wants to have sex, or is having sex needs to listen to this show. It's not for the easily offended -- it's Dan Savage, after all. But I guarantee that you'll learn something in every episode.
The Moth
Quite possibly the best show out there - in my humble opinion. The Moth is a non-profit organization dedicated to storytelling. Folks (some famous, some not-so-famous) tell true stories, live and without notes. It's awesome... you need to check it out if you haven't already. I secretly dream of being on this show someday - but mostly I just love hearing stories.
The Biography Podcast
This is a relatively new podcast I just discovered, thanks to the magic of iTunes. The host, Chris Gondek, interviews biographers about their subject and the art of writing a biography. I've quite enjoyed learning about Lord Byron, Hunter S. Thompson, and Flannery O'Connor. If anything, you'll be a hit at cocktail parties.
Escape Pod
For you science fiction geeks out there, this podcast magazine features short stories by established authors. The stories and narrarators can be hit-or-miss, but when they're on, they're on. I really appreciated them featuring each Hugo Award nominee this year. I recommend you skip back a few shows and check them out.
Yes, I actually do keep up with all of these shows. I have a long commute to-and-from work, and I take several roadtrips a year. What can I say? Plus, I'm an auditory learner. This format really works for me.
I'm sure I'm even missing a show or two. In fact, I know I am. But this is enough to get you started - and will likely keep you busy until we actually have a podcast for you to put at the top of your own "Most Recommended" lists. Soon my friends... soon.
I'm also looking for recommendations to add to my list. What about you? What are you listening to?
It's no secret that I'm an NPR-junkie. I can name ten reporters off the top of my head and tell you what region and beat they cover. I'm a member of my local public radio station, WBEZ, and I have the biodegradable corn-based mug with the logo to prove it. (And two messenger bags.)
While you really can't go wrong with a public radio show, here are a few of my favorites:
Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!
This American Life
Fresh Air
To the Best of Our Knowledge
Radiolab <-- stellar. One of my all-time favorites. If you listen to nothing else on this list, listen to this show.
Other shows that I listen to on a regular basis, and can definitely recommend:
The Savage Lovecast
I think everyone who likes to have sex, wants to have sex, or is having sex needs to listen to this show. It's not for the easily offended -- it's Dan Savage, after all. But I guarantee that you'll learn something in every episode.
The Moth
Quite possibly the best show out there - in my humble opinion. The Moth is a non-profit organization dedicated to storytelling. Folks (some famous, some not-so-famous) tell true stories, live and without notes. It's awesome... you need to check it out if you haven't already. I secretly dream of being on this show someday - but mostly I just love hearing stories.
The Biography Podcast
This is a relatively new podcast I just discovered, thanks to the magic of iTunes. The host, Chris Gondek, interviews biographers about their subject and the art of writing a biography. I've quite enjoyed learning about Lord Byron, Hunter S. Thompson, and Flannery O'Connor. If anything, you'll be a hit at cocktail parties.
Escape Pod
For you science fiction geeks out there, this podcast magazine features short stories by established authors. The stories and narrarators can be hit-or-miss, but when they're on, they're on. I really appreciated them featuring each Hugo Award nominee this year. I recommend you skip back a few shows and check them out.
Yes, I actually do keep up with all of these shows. I have a long commute to-and-from work, and I take several roadtrips a year. What can I say? Plus, I'm an auditory learner. This format really works for me.
I'm sure I'm even missing a show or two. In fact, I know I am. But this is enough to get you started - and will likely keep you busy until we actually have a podcast for you to put at the top of your own "Most Recommended" lists. Soon my friends... soon.
I'm also looking for recommendations to add to my list. What about you? What are you listening to?
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
A brief update
Where have we been the last couple of weeks?
Preparing for a wedding. Jason's wedding, in fact. I was there. It was great. He looked fantastic, his lovely bride was absolutely radiant, the setting was gorgeous, a good time was had by all.
But now, he should really get back to work and write some scripts. Don't you think?
Preparing for a wedding. Jason's wedding, in fact. I was there. It was great. He looked fantastic, his lovely bride was absolutely radiant, the setting was gorgeous, a good time was had by all.
But now, he should really get back to work and write some scripts. Don't you think?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Reader Question Wednesday #3!
Happy Reader Question Wednesday! We had four questions this week... all from the same person... but that's okay. That's nearly 35% of our readership. (Okay, not really. But I'm really bad at math and prone to hyperbole.)
Anyhow - thanks for the questions! I've set my Pandora radio to a "music to blog to" station, so let's get right down to it. Answers will come in the order the questions were received:
1) What DOES Jason want for his upcoming birthday, now that you mention it?
Jason is a little busy right now, as he is getting married in a little over two weeks - and has been extremely busy pulling together all of the last minute details. However, I made a few not-so-subtle threats that I would make up a birthday list for him that included expanding his Precious Moments collection - aka, horrifying figurines of sad-eyed children. And no one wants that.
(Did you know that there's actually a Precious Moments chapel? And it's in Missouri... where Jason happens to be from. Connection? You decide.)
Unfortunately for me, my threats worked. Here's his actual birthday list:
"Jason's greatest desire, of course, is for world peace and understanding, so if you can hook that up, that would be great. As an alternative, funny t-shirts from www.thinkgeek.com are always welcome."
2) What's the timeframe on the podcast? When can I expect to hear an episode, in other words? I'm droolin' here!
Well, wipe yourself off. That's unseemly. And may I remind you that patience is a virtue?
I would love to say that you would be able to download an episode by Labor Day... but I've always been one for unrealistic dreams. (Ergo, I'm writing scripts for an audio drama podcast.) But if we manage to pick up the pace again after Jason and his lovely bride are married and sufficiently recovered from their wedding... I would hazard a guess that we will have the first episode sometime this winter. Watch the blog for a casting call sometime in the near future if you'd like to audition to be a part of it!
3) So what sort of music would Alex listen to? How about Viper? What's on their most-frequently-played list?
I've been racking my brain all day to come up with something to answer this question, and I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't been able to pin Alex down. I'm hoping Jason has some ideas - and that he might post them.
Viper, though... assuming you could even find his apartment, and then crack his encrypted files to get to his music collection - would probably have the following playlist:
4) What's Alex's sign anyway?
I'm thinking Taurus. Alex is a little slow to act at the outset of our story ... but once he sets his mind to his task, he displays an inordinate amount of perserverance.
Thanks for the questions! As always, feel free to ask us questions or make comments at any time.
Anyhow - thanks for the questions! I've set my Pandora radio to a "music to blog to" station, so let's get right down to it. Answers will come in the order the questions were received:
1) What DOES Jason want for his upcoming birthday, now that you mention it?
Jason is a little busy right now, as he is getting married in a little over two weeks - and has been extremely busy pulling together all of the last minute details. However, I made a few not-so-subtle threats that I would make up a birthday list for him that included expanding his Precious Moments collection - aka, horrifying figurines of sad-eyed children. And no one wants that.
(Did you know that there's actually a Precious Moments chapel? And it's in Missouri... where Jason happens to be from. Connection? You decide.)
Unfortunately for me, my threats worked. Here's his actual birthday list:
"Jason's greatest desire, of course, is for world peace and understanding, so if you can hook that up, that would be great. As an alternative, funny t-shirts from www.thinkgeek.com are always welcome."
2) What's the timeframe on the podcast? When can I expect to hear an episode, in other words? I'm droolin' here!
Well, wipe yourself off. That's unseemly. And may I remind you that patience is a virtue?
I would love to say that you would be able to download an episode by Labor Day... but I've always been one for unrealistic dreams. (Ergo, I'm writing scripts for an audio drama podcast.) But if we manage to pick up the pace again after Jason and his lovely bride are married and sufficiently recovered from their wedding... I would hazard a guess that we will have the first episode sometime this winter. Watch the blog for a casting call sometime in the near future if you'd like to audition to be a part of it!
3) So what sort of music would Alex listen to? How about Viper? What's on their most-frequently-played list?
I've been racking my brain all day to come up with something to answer this question, and I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't been able to pin Alex down. I'm hoping Jason has some ideas - and that he might post them.
Viper, though... assuming you could even find his apartment, and then crack his encrypted files to get to his music collection - would probably have the following playlist:
- When he's hacking a government agency or financial institution, I think he plays electronica รก la VNV Nation or something that makes him feel powerful.
- I think he has a special playlist for "the ladies" that includes Barry White, among others. He hasn't played anything off this list in at least two years.
- But I really think what he loves to listen to when no one else is around... maybe not even Alex... is anything off of Dr. Demento's playlist. If you go back far enough in the archives, there's even a song called "If You're a Viper" ... coincidence?
4) What's Alex's sign anyway?
I'm thinking Taurus. Alex is a little slow to act at the outset of our story ... but once he sets his mind to his task, he displays an inordinate amount of perserverance.
Thanks for the questions! As always, feel free to ask us questions or make comments at any time.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Questions, anyone?
It has come to my attention that we have a handful of new readers here at podcast-blog-central. Either they're just telling me this to be nice - or to placate me - or to stop me from talking about the podcast already -- or they actually are reading.
So... in honor of our new readers, and because I'm in the mood for it, I'd like to announce that Wednesday, July 15, will be the next installment of Reader Question Wednesday.
Ask us anything... about the scripts, the storylines, the characters, the blog, what Jason wants for his upcoming birthday, my favorite color, how to conjugate a particular Russian verb... whatever. We'll answer it. Please send us your questions in a comment or via email. We'll answer them in one fell swoop next Wednesday, much like we did in this post.
Or I will, since Jason didn't really agree to this. But hey, that's how I roll, baby.
So... in honor of our new readers, and because I'm in the mood for it, I'd like to announce that Wednesday, July 15, will be the next installment of Reader Question Wednesday.
Ask us anything... about the scripts, the storylines, the characters, the blog, what Jason wants for his upcoming birthday, my favorite color, how to conjugate a particular Russian verb... whatever. We'll answer it. Please send us your questions in a comment or via email. We'll answer them in one fell swoop next Wednesday, much like we did in this post.
Or I will, since Jason didn't really agree to this. But hey, that's how I roll, baby.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Cream or sugar?
I was scrolling back through the characters that we've introduced you to thus far, and I think we've hit just about all the major ones... or at least the ones that will have the most impact on the plot. However, I think we have committed a gross miscarriage of justice by not introducing the most important character in the entire series. Before Viper, before Olga, before even our hero Alex... there exists a towering personality. This character is archetypal in sweep - pulls the entire plot together, and delivers the story to its exciting and inevitable conclusion...
I speak, of course, of the Waitress.
Waitresses, actually.
Okay, I might be exaggerating a teeny bit. The Waitress, while often pivotal in that she provides an opportunity for Alex to give or receive information, is not the most important character in the show. But she and her many incarnations sure show up a lot.
What can I say? Alex likes to eat. We have already established that he likes Reubens. And he is on the road an awful lot throughout the entire series. He's going to end up at diners, bars, and coffee shops across the country. I am often on the road for work -- and while I should be better about packing food in advance for a roadtrip, I rarely do. And I end up at diners, bars, and coffee shops across the country. Alex has to leave town in a bit of a hurry, and even though Viper is a good friend... I doubt that he packed him a cooler full of lunch meats and Doritos.
Jason and I often joke that if Alex is at a diner, bar, or coffee shop at one point in the episode, it's probably one that I wrote. This is not always true of my scripts, to be fair. But there is some truth to it.
Could it be that at the time of this post, I am doing the voices for all of the Waitresses that Alex meets as he travels across the country... many of which allow me to speak in my own accent? Maaaaybe. This is not to say that if the right person walks through the door when we begin our audition process that is perfect for the Waitress in Minneapolis, we wouldn't give it to her.... or him for that matter.
But for now, I get to ask how you like your coffee.
How do you like your coffee, anyhow?
I speak, of course, of the Waitress.
Waitresses, actually.
Okay, I might be exaggerating a teeny bit. The Waitress, while often pivotal in that she provides an opportunity for Alex to give or receive information, is not the most important character in the show. But she and her many incarnations sure show up a lot.
What can I say? Alex likes to eat. We have already established that he likes Reubens. And he is on the road an awful lot throughout the entire series. He's going to end up at diners, bars, and coffee shops across the country. I am often on the road for work -- and while I should be better about packing food in advance for a roadtrip, I rarely do. And I end up at diners, bars, and coffee shops across the country. Alex has to leave town in a bit of a hurry, and even though Viper is a good friend... I doubt that he packed him a cooler full of lunch meats and Doritos.
Jason and I often joke that if Alex is at a diner, bar, or coffee shop at one point in the episode, it's probably one that I wrote. This is not always true of my scripts, to be fair. But there is some truth to it.
Could it be that at the time of this post, I am doing the voices for all of the Waitresses that Alex meets as he travels across the country... many of which allow me to speak in my own accent? Maaaaybe. This is not to say that if the right person walks through the door when we begin our audition process that is perfect for the Waitress in Minneapolis, we wouldn't give it to her.... or him for that matter.
But for now, I get to ask how you like your coffee.
How do you like your coffee, anyhow?
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Call me Viper. It's my hacker name.
Everyone should have That One Friend.
That One Friend is the guy you call when you’re lost in the middle of Amarillo and need someone to look up directions to your hotel. She’s the friend who calls you on your shit when you can’t see past your own nose to the obvious solution that’s right in front of you.
Maybe, just maybe, he’s the friend you turn to when the world is ending.
In our story, That One Friend is named Paul. You can call him Viper. Viper Apex.
If Alex is the hero of our story (and ultimately, he is), then Viper is his sidekick. He’d describe himself as Obi Wan Kenobi, but let’s be honest – he’s probably more like Jar Jar Binks.
(Just kidding. Nobody in this story is like Jar Jar.)
Viper, it must be noted, can be a complete idiot. He’s a computer geek, a science fiction geek, a roleplaying geek. He’s usually the smartest person in the room, if only because he’s often the only person in the room. He claims that he’s not allowed to leave the state due to some “outstanding legal issues that led to his unfortunate incarceration some time ago.” In truth, he’s still on probation for hacking the university mainframe in an effort to change a girl’s GPA. He not only got caught, the girl never even knew his name.
So, yeah. He’s that guy. But he’s a solid friend, and he always has been. When Alex needs help, he knows that Viper is the one person he can turn to without hesitation. They’ve been friends for almost 20 years, and honestly I don’t know how they originally met. River and I were talking about this relationship a while ago, and it occurred to me that if they’ve been friends since they were 10…well, you don’t really need a reason for being friends at that age. That’s one of the best parts about being that age.
He fills an interesting role in our universe. It's been said that everyone is the hero in his (or her) own story, but I'm not so sure that this is true for Viper. He's one of those rare people who is content to be a supporting character. He's like the character actor who always plays That One Guy - you might not remember the actor's name, but you'll remember that you liked him in that one movie that you can't reliably remember the name of.
The thing is, Viper may be bad with women. He may be a complete dork. He may speak in codes that only he understands. But in his way, he's incredibly competent. That "Call and ask for directions in the middle of Amarillo" thing? That's the tip of the iceberg. If you want to know where something is, you call Viper. If you want a 2 minute summary of the best way to lose someone tailing you, you call Viper. If you need to borrow his truck on no notice because it's time to hit the road and find someone to sucker into taking over the job that you were born to do, Viper will give you his keys without a second thought. His ideas might be brilliant or they might get you into more trouble than you were in to begin with, but he'll always be able to tell you which episode of McGuyver he stole the idea from.
From a storytelling standpoint, Viper is a great character for one simple reason. We like Viper, a lot. River and I are both a bit more like him than we should probably admit, and that makes him pretty easy to write, and our readthroughs with him are great fun. We're also very protective of him - as we would be in real life, come to think of it - and I suspect that choosing someone to voice Viper will be a challenge. I suspect this will be the only character for whom we would not accept bribes in exchange for serious consideration for the role. It's good to know that we have some standards, anyway.
That One Friend is the guy you call when you’re lost in the middle of Amarillo and need someone to look up directions to your hotel. She’s the friend who calls you on your shit when you can’t see past your own nose to the obvious solution that’s right in front of you.
Maybe, just maybe, he’s the friend you turn to when the world is ending.
In our story, That One Friend is named Paul. You can call him Viper. Viper Apex.
If Alex is the hero of our story (and ultimately, he is), then Viper is his sidekick. He’d describe himself as Obi Wan Kenobi, but let’s be honest – he’s probably more like Jar Jar Binks.
(Just kidding. Nobody in this story is like Jar Jar.)
Viper, it must be noted, can be a complete idiot. He’s a computer geek, a science fiction geek, a roleplaying geek. He’s usually the smartest person in the room, if only because he’s often the only person in the room. He claims that he’s not allowed to leave the state due to some “outstanding legal issues that led to his unfortunate incarceration some time ago.” In truth, he’s still on probation for hacking the university mainframe in an effort to change a girl’s GPA. He not only got caught, the girl never even knew his name.
So, yeah. He’s that guy. But he’s a solid friend, and he always has been. When Alex needs help, he knows that Viper is the one person he can turn to without hesitation. They’ve been friends for almost 20 years, and honestly I don’t know how they originally met. River and I were talking about this relationship a while ago, and it occurred to me that if they’ve been friends since they were 10…well, you don’t really need a reason for being friends at that age. That’s one of the best parts about being that age.
He fills an interesting role in our universe. It's been said that everyone is the hero in his (or her) own story, but I'm not so sure that this is true for Viper. He's one of those rare people who is content to be a supporting character. He's like the character actor who always plays That One Guy - you might not remember the actor's name, but you'll remember that you liked him in that one movie that you can't reliably remember the name of.
The thing is, Viper may be bad with women. He may be a complete dork. He may speak in codes that only he understands. But in his way, he's incredibly competent. That "Call and ask for directions in the middle of Amarillo" thing? That's the tip of the iceberg. If you want to know where something is, you call Viper. If you want a 2 minute summary of the best way to lose someone tailing you, you call Viper. If you need to borrow his truck on no notice because it's time to hit the road and find someone to sucker into taking over the job that you were born to do, Viper will give you his keys without a second thought. His ideas might be brilliant or they might get you into more trouble than you were in to begin with, but he'll always be able to tell you which episode of McGuyver he stole the idea from.
From a storytelling standpoint, Viper is a great character for one simple reason. We like Viper, a lot. River and I are both a bit more like him than we should probably admit, and that makes him pretty easy to write, and our readthroughs with him are great fun. We're also very protective of him - as we would be in real life, come to think of it - and I suspect that choosing someone to voice Viper will be a challenge. I suspect this will be the only character for whom we would not accept bribes in exchange for serious consideration for the role. It's good to know that we have some standards, anyway.
Monday, June 29, 2009
On bats and rhubarb
Hey, y'all. It's my birthday. I have officially arrived at the midway point of my 30s. Jason will arrive here six weeks from now - which, as I often remind him, makes me six weeks wiser than he is.
My friend M. gave me a fantastic book called The Bathhouse at Midnight: Magic in Russia, by W.F. Ryan, as a birthday present. It's part of the "Magic in History" series by Penn State Press, which makes it rather respectable. The language is definitely academic and research-based, but that doesn't make it any less of an interesting read - at least in my admittedly biased opinion.
I couldn't believe our luck! This was the perfect gift as far as the podcast is concerned. Recently, Jason and I decided to devote more of the story mythos to Slavic mythology. Alex and his family are Russian after all, and there really aren't all that many stories out there that work with this particular pantheon or world view. Plus, Russians are just plain awesome when it comes to sympathetic magic. What other group of people would have you wear a hawk's head next to your belly in order to win the affections of the one you love? This is only slightly less complicated than Plan B: "...you can take a bat, put it into a new pot, cover it with a new cloth, put the pot into an anthill, go home without looking back and with your ears stopped so as not to hear the squeaks of the bat, and return after three weeks for the bones, with which you will be able to draw the object of your desire to you."
Yeah, but who has that kind of time?
(Let it be said that my ancestors, the Czechs, used a frog instead of a bat, and that a similar process is used to make yourself invisible.)
The herbal magic section has all sorts of great suggestions. Rhubarb, for instance, has been known to roar and groan at sunset. (Now I have to go over to my friend J's house sometime in the early evening to listen to her garden, since I don't recall this happening in my grandmother's rhubarb patch. But maybe I wasn't listening hard enough.) You can do a lot with rhubarb... if you take some in your mouth, you can easily swim against the current. If you meet someone blighted by the Evil Eye, give them some rhubarb, and they have to reveal who blighted them. In the same regard - feed it to your wife and she'll tell you the names of her lovers. It's also a powerful laxative... but that doesn't seem quite as exciting or relevant.
Expect to see some of this stuff like this pop up throughout the podcast - especially where Olga is concerned. My mind is already swimming with possibilities of where to add bits and pieces of this treasure trove of information. (Thanks, M.!)
Meanwhile, if you're looking to get me a birthday gift, please avoid the following: bones of any kind (particularly bat), your sweaty clothes (apparently perspiration magic was big... big enough to be banned by the church), or a bouquet of rhubarb.
My friend M. gave me a fantastic book called The Bathhouse at Midnight: Magic in Russia, by W.F. Ryan, as a birthday present. It's part of the "Magic in History" series by Penn State Press, which makes it rather respectable. The language is definitely academic and research-based, but that doesn't make it any less of an interesting read - at least in my admittedly biased opinion.
I couldn't believe our luck! This was the perfect gift as far as the podcast is concerned. Recently, Jason and I decided to devote more of the story mythos to Slavic mythology. Alex and his family are Russian after all, and there really aren't all that many stories out there that work with this particular pantheon or world view. Plus, Russians are just plain awesome when it comes to sympathetic magic. What other group of people would have you wear a hawk's head next to your belly in order to win the affections of the one you love? This is only slightly less complicated than Plan B: "...you can take a bat, put it into a new pot, cover it with a new cloth, put the pot into an anthill, go home without looking back and with your ears stopped so as not to hear the squeaks of the bat, and return after three weeks for the bones, with which you will be able to draw the object of your desire to you."
Yeah, but who has that kind of time?
(Let it be said that my ancestors, the Czechs, used a frog instead of a bat, and that a similar process is used to make yourself invisible.)
The herbal magic section has all sorts of great suggestions. Rhubarb, for instance, has been known to roar and groan at sunset. (Now I have to go over to my friend J's house sometime in the early evening to listen to her garden, since I don't recall this happening in my grandmother's rhubarb patch. But maybe I wasn't listening hard enough.) You can do a lot with rhubarb... if you take some in your mouth, you can easily swim against the current. If you meet someone blighted by the Evil Eye, give them some rhubarb, and they have to reveal who blighted them. In the same regard - feed it to your wife and she'll tell you the names of her lovers. It's also a powerful laxative... but that doesn't seem quite as exciting or relevant.
Expect to see some of this stuff like this pop up throughout the podcast - especially where Olga is concerned. My mind is already swimming with possibilities of where to add bits and pieces of this treasure trove of information. (Thanks, M.!)
Meanwhile, if you're looking to get me a birthday gift, please avoid the following: bones of any kind (particularly bat), your sweaty clothes (apparently perspiration magic was big... big enough to be banned by the church), or a bouquet of rhubarb.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Ist gut, ja?
As Jason said when he introduced the world to his GPS, our characters are not based on real people. Or if they are, we don't know them.
Rather, we create characters when the plot demands it... or, more often than not, one of our friends has a silly personality quirk and we feel a need to immortalize it. (Or even more often ... one of the two of us has a personality quirk that we want to exploit. See the post about Aunt Olga to understand what I mean.)
Klaus, the owner of the rival magic shop, was created solely because my friend Doug can do an awesome German accent - and sustain it well for a long period of time. I know this because Doug and I have a long-standing Sunday morning tradition. We meet at a coffee shop in our neighborhood, have fantastic coffee, and do the New York Times crossword together. (My love of Reuben sandwiches is only surpassed by my love of puzzles.) Inevitably, we get a little silly while doing the puzzle together... and often end up doing the last half while speaking in a number of ridiculous accents.
No, really... we think it's fun.
Once, Doug tried out his noticeably fake French accent for a while. About 10 minutes later, we both realized that the three women at the end of the long table where we were sitting were all actually speaking French. I don't think they noticed, and we weren't deliberately trying to mock them. But what are the odds??
Anyhow, I digress.
Klaus was originally more of a side character, and while critical to the storyline, not all that involved with the larger story. Then, he started to become a bit more insistent, and demanded to play a more pivotal role. I'll admit that he started out a bit campy, but now he is becoming a really intriguing figure, and I have much more respect for the man. I'm kind of anxious to see where he ends up.
Klaus is also an opportunity for us to fold in a bit more of the esoteric and magical aspects of the story and the mythology behind it. I'm not sure why, but we'd been shying away from it a little - even though the entire plot has a rather magical premise. I don't think it was intentional - I just think we needed some time to figure out how this alternate world works. Klaus is helping us understand it. He's got a background in ceremonial magic - although his magic shop is of the card trick and rabbit-from-a-hat variety, just like the shop owned by Alex's family. But Klaus has a wealth of knowledge and experience that is quite different - and he's opened the door for that kind of mystery to come through.
I think I'd like to add that Klaus is extraordinarily good at crossword puzzles, but that might be pushing it. I can only get in so many quirks, after all.
By the by... in addition to being able to do silly accents, Doug is also an amazing collage artist based here in Chicago, whose work is getting quite a bit of well-deserved buzz these days. Check out his online gallery.
Rather, we create characters when the plot demands it... or, more often than not, one of our friends has a silly personality quirk and we feel a need to immortalize it. (Or even more often ... one of the two of us has a personality quirk that we want to exploit. See the post about Aunt Olga to understand what I mean.)
Klaus, the owner of the rival magic shop, was created solely because my friend Doug can do an awesome German accent - and sustain it well for a long period of time. I know this because Doug and I have a long-standing Sunday morning tradition. We meet at a coffee shop in our neighborhood, have fantastic coffee, and do the New York Times crossword together. (My love of Reuben sandwiches is only surpassed by my love of puzzles.) Inevitably, we get a little silly while doing the puzzle together... and often end up doing the last half while speaking in a number of ridiculous accents.
No, really... we think it's fun.
Once, Doug tried out his noticeably fake French accent for a while. About 10 minutes later, we both realized that the three women at the end of the long table where we were sitting were all actually speaking French. I don't think they noticed, and we weren't deliberately trying to mock them. But what are the odds??
Anyhow, I digress.
Klaus was originally more of a side character, and while critical to the storyline, not all that involved with the larger story. Then, he started to become a bit more insistent, and demanded to play a more pivotal role. I'll admit that he started out a bit campy, but now he is becoming a really intriguing figure, and I have much more respect for the man. I'm kind of anxious to see where he ends up.
Klaus is also an opportunity for us to fold in a bit more of the esoteric and magical aspects of the story and the mythology behind it. I'm not sure why, but we'd been shying away from it a little - even though the entire plot has a rather magical premise. I don't think it was intentional - I just think we needed some time to figure out how this alternate world works. Klaus is helping us understand it. He's got a background in ceremonial magic - although his magic shop is of the card trick and rabbit-from-a-hat variety, just like the shop owned by Alex's family. But Klaus has a wealth of knowledge and experience that is quite different - and he's opened the door for that kind of mystery to come through.
I think I'd like to add that Klaus is extraordinarily good at crossword puzzles, but that might be pushing it. I can only get in so many quirks, after all.
By the by... in addition to being able to do silly accents, Doug is also an amazing collage artist based here in Chicago, whose work is getting quite a bit of well-deserved buzz these days. Check out his online gallery.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
A little help here?
As we get closer to actually having something to record, it's becoming more clear that we need to have something to record on and with. My computer went brain-dead last week (which sucks rocks, let me tell you) but it also provides me with a unique opportunity to find a new machine and software that will best suit our recording needs.
Not that the podcast is my #1 priority for buying a computer, mind you. But it does rank up pretty high up there - and recording music is on the top of my priority list, which dovetails pretty nicely into any sort of audio recording. Also on my priority list is graphic design capability, and a need to play stupid computer games while I'm procrastinating on recording or writing.
So... any tech gurus out there that might be able to help a not-as-tech-savvy-as-she-once-was girl out? If you could buy any recording equipment, software, hardware... what would you get? Why do you prefer that set-up over another?
Thanks in advance for any help you're willing to give.
Not that the podcast is my #1 priority for buying a computer, mind you. But it does rank up pretty high up there - and recording music is on the top of my priority list, which dovetails pretty nicely into any sort of audio recording. Also on my priority list is graphic design capability, and a need to play stupid computer games while I'm procrastinating on recording or writing.
So... any tech gurus out there that might be able to help a not-as-tech-savvy-as-she-once-was girl out? If you could buy any recording equipment, software, hardware... what would you get? Why do you prefer that set-up over another?
Thanks in advance for any help you're willing to give.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
We're still alive, if not kicking.
My, it's been a while since we've posted. Our abject apologies. Both Jason and I have been prepping for and attending a leadership intensive at a retreat center we occasionally frequent -- and life has been a bit hectic. Not much has happened in podcast-land, but that's about to change.
Jason and I had the opportunity during this week-long intensive to sit down and hash out the episode list for the series. We've mapped out all twelve (yes! twelve!) episodes of the podcast, and I have to say, I'm pretty excited about the trajectory. No comments necessary about the fact that we should have done this say... 6 or 7 months ago when we started writing scripts. We've got it now, we know who is responsible for which episode and which piece of character development, and the momentum is starting to pick up once again.
More from us soon. The next couple of days will be an act of reacclimating to life in Chicago. This crazy-podcast train will start up again very, very soon. Stay tuned!
Jason and I had the opportunity during this week-long intensive to sit down and hash out the episode list for the series. We've mapped out all twelve (yes! twelve!) episodes of the podcast, and I have to say, I'm pretty excited about the trajectory. No comments necessary about the fact that we should have done this say... 6 or 7 months ago when we started writing scripts. We've got it now, we know who is responsible for which episode and which piece of character development, and the momentum is starting to pick up once again.
More from us soon. The next couple of days will be an act of reacclimating to life in Chicago. This crazy-podcast train will start up again very, very soon. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The post River might later regret
This is me. (Photo by Cathryn Montoya):
This is Madame Olga. (Photo by Jenny Brown) She's reading cards for unsuspecting bystanders. She looks surprisingly like me, but more embarrassing:
This is my cat reading cards. (Photo by me) It has nothing to do with this post. I just think it's adorable.
When Jason and I first started envisioning this story, we knew that we had to weave together a number of different elements, such as: two magic shops that happen to be remarkably near each other, Reuben sandwiches, and Olga. I'm still not sure how I agreed to this, but I did -- and Aunt Olga was born. (And yes, despite these story ingredients, I still maintain that we are not writing a comedy.)
Madame Olga and Aunt Olga are completely different characters. Madame Olga is someone who appears on an annual basis and gives horrible tarot readings to people at the retreat center where Jason and I met during a leadership training intensive. There's one night that is devoted to this sort of silliness. I get all gussied up, grab a deck of cards, and insult people in a poor excuse for a Slavic accent. I sort-of-kind-of speak passable Russian, have a very Slavic family, and have traveled extensively through Eastern Europe, so for the untrained ear - I can pull it off. And we've worked in a reason why she might not sound quite Russian, in order to avoid comments from the purists out there. But you'll have to listen to the show to find out what I mean.
Aunt Olga is a distant cousin of Madame Olga. However, there are some striking similarities: she speaks in a poor excuse for a Slavic accent and she insults people. Namely Jason. I mean... Alex, whose voice is provided by Jason. But that's about where the similarities end. In our story, she lives in the magic shop, likes her vodka, doesn't get out much, plays the ponies, and swears a lot.
On second thought, maybe they are the same.
They do dress differently though... and Aunt Olga actually looks like she's in her 80s. Not a woman in her mid-30s who appears to have lost her mind... or at least her self-respect.
I'm actually looking forward to playing Olga -- and not just because she gets to insult Jason... I mean, Alex. (Sheesh! I keep doing that!) Olga speaks to the part of me that loves to make a fool out of herself and have a blast doing it. And really, that's what this whole project is about for me... having a blast while feeding my need for a creative outlet. It's not necessary, it's not going to help the world, it's not even going to make money... but damn, I am enjoying the process.
I'm looking forward to introducing you all to Aunt Olga. Please excuse her for being rude. She's had a rough century.
This is Madame Olga. (Photo by Jenny Brown) She's reading cards for unsuspecting bystanders. She looks surprisingly like me, but more embarrassing:
This is my cat reading cards. (Photo by me) It has nothing to do with this post. I just think it's adorable.
When Jason and I first started envisioning this story, we knew that we had to weave together a number of different elements, such as: two magic shops that happen to be remarkably near each other, Reuben sandwiches, and Olga. I'm still not sure how I agreed to this, but I did -- and Aunt Olga was born. (And yes, despite these story ingredients, I still maintain that we are not writing a comedy.)
Madame Olga and Aunt Olga are completely different characters. Madame Olga is someone who appears on an annual basis and gives horrible tarot readings to people at the retreat center where Jason and I met during a leadership training intensive. There's one night that is devoted to this sort of silliness. I get all gussied up, grab a deck of cards, and insult people in a poor excuse for a Slavic accent. I sort-of-kind-of speak passable Russian, have a very Slavic family, and have traveled extensively through Eastern Europe, so for the untrained ear - I can pull it off. And we've worked in a reason why she might not sound quite Russian, in order to avoid comments from the purists out there. But you'll have to listen to the show to find out what I mean.
Aunt Olga is a distant cousin of Madame Olga. However, there are some striking similarities: she speaks in a poor excuse for a Slavic accent and she insults people. Namely Jason. I mean... Alex, whose voice is provided by Jason. But that's about where the similarities end. In our story, she lives in the magic shop, likes her vodka, doesn't get out much, plays the ponies, and swears a lot.
On second thought, maybe they are the same.
They do dress differently though... and Aunt Olga actually looks like she's in her 80s. Not a woman in her mid-30s who appears to have lost her mind... or at least her self-respect.
I'm actually looking forward to playing Olga -- and not just because she gets to insult Jason... I mean, Alex. (Sheesh! I keep doing that!) Olga speaks to the part of me that loves to make a fool out of herself and have a blast doing it. And really, that's what this whole project is about for me... having a blast while feeding my need for a creative outlet. It's not necessary, it's not going to help the world, it's not even going to make money... but damn, I am enjoying the process.
I'm looking forward to introducing you all to Aunt Olga. Please excuse her for being rude. She's had a rough century.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
It's not funny!
One of the phenomena I am noticing when I tell people that Jason and I are writing scripts for a podcast is that most folks tend to assume it's a comedy. It isn't. Although we may be deluding ourselves about this -- the story is actually meant to be fairly serious.
That's not to say there aren't some funny moments. There have been several instances where we will laugh out loud as we read over each other's scripts - particularly when we get to write lines for our mutual favorite character -- Alex's best friend, Paul. (I'm sure we will each write a character sketch for him in upcoming posts since we both love him so much.) And cracking each other up is one of the best parts of the writing process for me. In fact, this whole "co-writing" process is a blast. Jason and I have a pretty compatible style both in characterization, dialogue, and plot development. And when we do write the funny stuff - we definitely have similar senses of humor.
Let's face it. People assume that we're writing a comedy because we're pretty damn hilarious. And also humble.
But no, it is not a comedy - although if our mad writing skillz fail us, then it might become one. I have to admit, I'm a little afraid of that. In the aforementioned Awful Audio Drama Podcast That Shall Not Be Named, the writers tend to take themselves much too seriously, and the story comes off as a caricature rather than the riveting adventure it advertises itself to be. I don't want that to happen to us. But I suppose actually finishing the thing should come before worrying about how it will be received. First things first, and all that.
Because we are who we are -- we are planning some super-secret bonus material after we get this series written and recorded. And yes, if all goes according to plan, it will be quite funny... for the two of us, at any rate. I'm not sure about the rest of you.
By the way - we've had a few suggestions for what to name the show - and we'd love even more. Hopefully the extra context helps. You could also ask a question about the show for a future Reader Question Wednesday. We really do love to hear from you.
That's not to say there aren't some funny moments. There have been several instances where we will laugh out loud as we read over each other's scripts - particularly when we get to write lines for our mutual favorite character -- Alex's best friend, Paul. (I'm sure we will each write a character sketch for him in upcoming posts since we both love him so much.) And cracking each other up is one of the best parts of the writing process for me. In fact, this whole "co-writing" process is a blast. Jason and I have a pretty compatible style both in characterization, dialogue, and plot development. And when we do write the funny stuff - we definitely have similar senses of humor.
Let's face it. People assume that we're writing a comedy because we're pretty damn hilarious. And also humble.
But no, it is not a comedy - although if our mad writing skillz fail us, then it might become one. I have to admit, I'm a little afraid of that. In the aforementioned Awful Audio Drama Podcast That Shall Not Be Named, the writers tend to take themselves much too seriously, and the story comes off as a caricature rather than the riveting adventure it advertises itself to be. I don't want that to happen to us. But I suppose actually finishing the thing should come before worrying about how it will be received. First things first, and all that.
Because we are who we are -- we are planning some super-secret bonus material after we get this series written and recorded. And yes, if all goes according to plan, it will be quite funny... for the two of us, at any rate. I'm not sure about the rest of you.
By the way - we've had a few suggestions for what to name the show - and we'd love even more. Hopefully the extra context helps. You could also ask a question about the show for a future Reader Question Wednesday. We really do love to hear from you.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
No, really, what's this thing about?
As previously noted, we fail at coming up with a good tagline for this story of ours.
Actually, let's be clear. Jason fails at coming up with said tagline. River, on the other hand, just sent me this wonderful (and wonderfully cheesy) "dustjacket summary" of the plot. I am quite taken with it.
Actually, let's be clear. Jason fails at coming up with said tagline. River, on the other hand, just sent me this wonderful (and wonderfully cheesy) "dustjacket summary" of the plot. I am quite taken with it.
Alex Kirunov barely remembers the night his life changed. A simple act of teenage rebellion made him the heir to one of the universe's greatest secrets -- a secret he didn't even know existed until ten years after the fact. Now Alex is traveling the country, desperate to find the person who will take on the responsibility he never wanted -- to be the guardian of a source of power which, if ignored, could tear the very fabric of reality apart. Along the way, Alex must avoid shadowy enemies who want access to that power at any cost. With a little help from a haunted GPS, a computer hacker of a best friend, and a cranky-yet-mysterious great aunt, Alex must find the person that will save us all - even if we didn't know we needed saving.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Reader Question Wednesday -- #2!
I've been out of town for the last several days, and Jason has been busy writing a script, so we've been a little lax on the blogging front lately. Our apologies.
However, as promised... this is Reader Question Wednesday. We only had one question for this installment, from my (ahem) best friend whom I have known for nigh-upon 20 years or so. While I am grateful that she is being totally supportive by reading the blog -- she is also corny as the corned beef on my favorite sandwich. (And of course, I adore her and say that with complete and utter love.)
Her question: I'd really like to know how you (and your theoretical podcast) feel about Peter Paul Rubens, the 17th century Flemish painter.
Because I am thorough, I dug up a little information on Rubens. Here are some interesting facts that I learned:
Now, since no one else asked a question, I'm going to make a couple up:
What sound recording equipment will you be using for the podcast?
That's a truly excellent question, River. Unfortunately, we don't know yet. We have been doing some limited research, including picking the brains of friends who have experience in audio recording and editing, but at this point - we're still on the clueless side of the spectrum. If anyone out there has any ideas for the best way to record a multi-voice audio drama without losing the "drama" part of that equation, and keeping in mind we can only pay our actors in Chicago-style pizza and beer, please contact us and let us know.
Do you have any theme music?
Not entirely. I've messed around with a couple sample tracks that we could possibly use for opening and closing credits, but we're still far away from a final version. I happen to live with a pretty stellar musician and composer, and he has agreed to help out with the music - for which I am eternally grateful. He will also receive pizza as payment. And if it's really good, I might even do the dishes.
River, I've been dying to ask ... are you single?
Well, aren't you sweet? I am not currently commited to anyone. Thanks for asking.
We'll announce another Reader Question Wednesday sometime in the future. Please feel free to send your questions anytime, and we'll be sure to include them. Otherwise, we're just going to make up questions again, and nobody wants that.
However, as promised... this is Reader Question Wednesday. We only had one question for this installment, from my (ahem) best friend whom I have known for nigh-upon 20 years or so. While I am grateful that she is being totally supportive by reading the blog -- she is also corny as the corned beef on my favorite sandwich. (And of course, I adore her and say that with complete and utter love.)
Her question: I'd really like to know how you (and your theoretical podcast) feel about Peter Paul Rubens, the 17th century Flemish painter.
Because I am thorough, I dug up a little information on Rubens. Here are some interesting facts that I learned:
- His birthday is the day before mine.
- He spent time in Antwerp, my favorite Belgian city.
- His painting, Massacre of the Innocents, currently holds the record for bringing the highest price at auction of 49.5 million pounds in 2002.
Now, since no one else asked a question, I'm going to make a couple up:
What sound recording equipment will you be using for the podcast?
That's a truly excellent question, River. Unfortunately, we don't know yet. We have been doing some limited research, including picking the brains of friends who have experience in audio recording and editing, but at this point - we're still on the clueless side of the spectrum. If anyone out there has any ideas for the best way to record a multi-voice audio drama without losing the "drama" part of that equation, and keeping in mind we can only pay our actors in Chicago-style pizza and beer, please contact us and let us know.
Do you have any theme music?
Not entirely. I've messed around with a couple sample tracks that we could possibly use for opening and closing credits, but we're still far away from a final version. I happen to live with a pretty stellar musician and composer, and he has agreed to help out with the music - for which I am eternally grateful. He will also receive pizza as payment. And if it's really good, I might even do the dishes.
River, I've been dying to ask ... are you single?
Well, aren't you sweet? I am not currently commited to anyone. Thanks for asking.
We'll announce another Reader Question Wednesday sometime in the future. Please feel free to send your questions anytime, and we'll be sure to include them. Otherwise, we're just going to make up questions again, and nobody wants that.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Name That Show!
Here's a hypothetical situation for you all to ponder...
Suppose you're writing this podcast. (I know - this is a stretch, but work with me here.) It's somewhere between an urban fantasy/alternate history/buddy story kind of thing where an ordinary guy finds himself in an extraordinary situation. With me so far? I don't think I'm giving away too much to say that said situation involves a bit of magic, ancient forces that shape and hold reality together, and a twisted version of the hero's journey.
The question we have for you is this: What would you call it?
We've been writing scripts for several months now. We know our characters pretty well, have a fairly good idea of how the story ends, and we've even started exploring theme music. But we don't have the foggiest idea what to name the show. And we need ideas.
This is where you come in, dear readers. Please help us out by suggesting a name or names for our show. We can't guarantee that we'll use any of the suggestions - but we will seriously consider all of them - and if your idea is the one we go with, then we will write you into one of the scripts as a character that Alex meets on the road. That doesn't mean you'll be doing the voice, necessarily -- but you will be guaranteed fame among our 7 other listeners.
So leave us a comment or two. Help a couple of struggling writers out, yo.
And announcing the next installment of Reader Question Wednesday a week from tomorrow - on April 22. Send us an e-mail or drop us a comment with your questions about anything - podcast-related or not (there is a precedent now), and we'll gladly answer them. Well, we'll answer them... "gladly" is a relative term.
Suppose you're writing this podcast. (I know - this is a stretch, but work with me here.) It's somewhere between an urban fantasy/alternate history/buddy story kind of thing where an ordinary guy finds himself in an extraordinary situation. With me so far? I don't think I'm giving away too much to say that said situation involves a bit of magic, ancient forces that shape and hold reality together, and a twisted version of the hero's journey.
The question we have for you is this: What would you call it?
We've been writing scripts for several months now. We know our characters pretty well, have a fairly good idea of how the story ends, and we've even started exploring theme music. But we don't have the foggiest idea what to name the show. And we need ideas.
This is where you come in, dear readers. Please help us out by suggesting a name or names for our show. We can't guarantee that we'll use any of the suggestions - but we will seriously consider all of them - and if your idea is the one we go with, then we will write you into one of the scripts as a character that Alex meets on the road. That doesn't mean you'll be doing the voice, necessarily -- but you will be guaranteed fame among our 7 other listeners.
So leave us a comment or two. Help a couple of struggling writers out, yo.
And announcing the next installment of Reader Question Wednesday a week from tomorrow - on April 22. Send us an e-mail or drop us a comment with your questions about anything - podcast-related or not (there is a precedent now), and we'll gladly answer them. Well, we'll answer them... "gladly" is a relative term.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Drive 3.4 miles and jump off a cliff
A few people have asked if our characters are based on anyone from our real lives. While I think any writing endeavor leads to some overlap, for the most part we’re making these characters up from whole cloth with just a few quirks added from ourselves or our friends. (Some people would call this “lazy,” but I call it “efficient”)
There’s one notable exception to this rule, though – one character that’s absolutely based on a real entity. It’s Mags, the haunted GPS.
A little background might be in order: A few years ago, my job involved quite a lot of local travel. I had 11 locations throughout the Chicago suburbs that I was responsible for, and they were spread out enough that I often didn’t know the best route between them off the top of my head. To keep myself from going insane, I bought a GPS unit for my car, programmed it with all of those locations and used it pretty extensively until I knew the lay of the land. I was pleased to note that the model I bought offers two accents: “American” and “English”. Being who I am, I felt like it would be more amusing to have the machine talking to me with a bad, robotic English accent, so that’s the one I selected. Overall I was quite pleased with the thing.
One thing I noticed about the GPS, though. It’s a fickle, fickle piece of technology. When I go off-route, it seems to get annoyed and will take an inordinate amount of time before it deigns to tell me how to get back on the right path. And if I ask it to find me a bowling alley or a miniature golf course? Well, that’s an exercise in futility. I’ve been sent to bars, vacant buildings, miniature golf courses that closed 5 years ago, and most notably the middle of a corn field while in search of these plebian entertainments.
Obviously, my GPS unit is possessed by a snooty English ghost.
So, too, is Alex’s. Her given name is Lady Margaret something or other, but we just call her Mags. As our story develops, she begins to take on more and more personality, and eventually will move beyond “technological foil” and into a character in her own right. She has her own motivations, and a bit of a jealous streak as well.
Mostly, though, Mags provides an opportunity for River to abuse me verbally. For some reason she enjoys saying things like, “Turn left and drive 300 miles…you idiot.”
There’s one notable exception to this rule, though – one character that’s absolutely based on a real entity. It’s Mags, the haunted GPS.
A little background might be in order: A few years ago, my job involved quite a lot of local travel. I had 11 locations throughout the Chicago suburbs that I was responsible for, and they were spread out enough that I often didn’t know the best route between them off the top of my head. To keep myself from going insane, I bought a GPS unit for my car, programmed it with all of those locations and used it pretty extensively until I knew the lay of the land. I was pleased to note that the model I bought offers two accents: “American” and “English”. Being who I am, I felt like it would be more amusing to have the machine talking to me with a bad, robotic English accent, so that’s the one I selected. Overall I was quite pleased with the thing.
One thing I noticed about the GPS, though. It’s a fickle, fickle piece of technology. When I go off-route, it seems to get annoyed and will take an inordinate amount of time before it deigns to tell me how to get back on the right path. And if I ask it to find me a bowling alley or a miniature golf course? Well, that’s an exercise in futility. I’ve been sent to bars, vacant buildings, miniature golf courses that closed 5 years ago, and most notably the middle of a corn field while in search of these plebian entertainments.
Obviously, my GPS unit is possessed by a snooty English ghost.
So, too, is Alex’s. Her given name is Lady Margaret something or other, but we just call her Mags. As our story develops, she begins to take on more and more personality, and eventually will move beyond “technological foil” and into a character in her own right. She has her own motivations, and a bit of a jealous streak as well.
Mostly, though, Mags provides an opportunity for River to abuse me verbally. For some reason she enjoys saying things like, “Turn left and drive 300 miles…you idiot.”
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Reader Question Wednesday! - #1
Hello and welcome to our first installment of Reader Question Wednesday! Thanks to everyone who contributed. If you missed out on asking a question, no worries. While we can't guarantee that every Wednesday will be Reader Question Wednesday, this is certainly a tradition that we wish to continue.
Without further ado ...
First, questions answered by me:
We'll start with the all-important Reuben-related questions first. Priorities, and all that.
So, at what age did you actually encounter your first reuben sandwich? Was it love at first bite?
Honestly, I can't remember the first Reuben (and yes, it is capitalized) - but I do remember that I didn't like it. It's an acquired taste. Yes, I am from a large Czech family who eats sauerkraut at every meal, but I didn't enjoy any of the ingredients until I did my study-abroad in the Czech Republic back in college (lo, these many years ago...) I learned to like rye bread and sauerkraut over there (and beer, incidentally) and it just seemed right and proper that I should fall in love with Reubens. My grandfather would be proud.
I cannot believe I just answered a question about the evolution of my love for a sandwich.
If a sandwich consists of turkey, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and brown mustard can it still legitimately be called a reuben? If not, how narrow is the definition of a reuben? Is it the thousand island dressing? The corned beef? The Rye?
No! Impostor! Infidel!
*ahem* I mean, no. A reuben is corned beef, swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and a touch of thousand island dressing between two lightly-grilled pieces of rye (ideally marble) bread. We will accept no imitations. While I still haven't found the perfect "10" - the best one is at Irv's Deli in Fremont, Nebraska. I found my #9 there about 12 years ago. Although Irv calls it "special dressing," not thousand island - so maybe that's the key.
And now, the questions that are not Reuben-related:
So, are you actually creating a backstory "Bible," to flesh out and keep track of the details you know but haven't used yet (i.e., Alex's 2nd grade teacher's name)? Or is this backstory just theoretical?
We don't really have a "Bible," per se -- but we do have copious amounts of shared Google docs with lots of story trivia that are ridiculously disorganized. Occasionally I have to refer to older summaries to remember things like, "How old is Alex again?" and "Did Jason really think that idea would work?" I'm actually quite impressed that we're able to recall quite a few obscure details at will. I think it's a hallmark of the geek brain. "What episode did we discover the identity of the 5th Cylon?" is about the same kind of question as "When did Alex move to Omaha?"
Is this tacit permission to shout out if the backstory's too unwieldy? :)
Sure. Did you actually want us to do anything with that information, though? :)
Did Jason ever bring his two good ideas last week?
He brought one pretty spectacular idea, so I let him off the hook for two. One word: Carnies.
And now, Jason's contributions to Reader Question Wednesday:
Jason, weren't you supposed to finish those tweaks to Episode 2 last month?
Actually, given the recent additions we've made to the story, many of the tweaks I was supposed to make to Episode 2 are now moot. So it's actually a good thing that I didn't do them then, because it would have been wasted effort. Ah, I love the smell of a rationalization in the morning. It's the smell of victory.
So, are you two writing in coffee shops? (I'm at least assuming you're not recording there, though that could be HILARIOUS, frankly.) Or over reubens?
Great question. Our first podcast meeting was at a sandwich joint, and I think we've been back there two or three other times. We've also met at...another sandwich place, and two (I think) coffee shops. The majority of our recent meetings have been at one of our homes, though. We prefer to have the following easily to hand when we're writing together:
Thus far, there have been no reubens in the creative process.
Is there going to be some kind of casting call for your loyal followers to participate in the podcast when it gets around to recording time?
Well, I keep telling River that she can do *all* the voices, but she refuses. So...yes, we will be soliciting voice talent when we get to the recording phase. No word yet on how the casting process will work, but my guess is that bribes will be both accepted and encouraged.
Who is the better lover, Batman or Superman?
Batman.
Why?
I really think Larry Niven covered this ground fairly well in 1971.
Thanks again! We'll announce the next Reader Question Wednesday soon. Meantime, comment or e-mail us to ask a question. It will most likely appear in a future installment.
Without further ado ...
First, questions answered by me:
We'll start with the all-important Reuben-related questions first. Priorities, and all that.
So, at what age did you actually encounter your first reuben sandwich? Was it love at first bite?
Honestly, I can't remember the first Reuben (and yes, it is capitalized) - but I do remember that I didn't like it. It's an acquired taste. Yes, I am from a large Czech family who eats sauerkraut at every meal, but I didn't enjoy any of the ingredients until I did my study-abroad in the Czech Republic back in college (lo, these many years ago...) I learned to like rye bread and sauerkraut over there (and beer, incidentally) and it just seemed right and proper that I should fall in love with Reubens. My grandfather would be proud.
I cannot believe I just answered a question about the evolution of my love for a sandwich.
If a sandwich consists of turkey, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and brown mustard can it still legitimately be called a reuben? If not, how narrow is the definition of a reuben? Is it the thousand island dressing? The corned beef? The Rye?
No! Impostor! Infidel!
*ahem* I mean, no. A reuben is corned beef, swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and a touch of thousand island dressing between two lightly-grilled pieces of rye (ideally marble) bread. We will accept no imitations. While I still haven't found the perfect "10" - the best one is at Irv's Deli in Fremont, Nebraska. I found my #9 there about 12 years ago. Although Irv calls it "special dressing," not thousand island - so maybe that's the key.
And now, the questions that are not Reuben-related:
So, are you actually creating a backstory "Bible," to flesh out and keep track of the details you know but haven't used yet (i.e., Alex's 2nd grade teacher's name)? Or is this backstory just theoretical?
We don't really have a "Bible," per se -- but we do have copious amounts of shared Google docs with lots of story trivia that are ridiculously disorganized. Occasionally I have to refer to older summaries to remember things like, "How old is Alex again?" and "Did Jason really think that idea would work?" I'm actually quite impressed that we're able to recall quite a few obscure details at will. I think it's a hallmark of the geek brain. "What episode did we discover the identity of the 5th Cylon?" is about the same kind of question as "When did Alex move to Omaha?"
Is this tacit permission to shout out if the backstory's too unwieldy? :)
Sure. Did you actually want us to do anything with that information, though? :)
Did Jason ever bring his two good ideas last week?
He brought one pretty spectacular idea, so I let him off the hook for two. One word: Carnies.
And now, Jason's contributions to Reader Question Wednesday:
Jason, weren't you supposed to finish those tweaks to Episode 2 last month?
Actually, given the recent additions we've made to the story, many of the tweaks I was supposed to make to Episode 2 are now moot. So it's actually a good thing that I didn't do them then, because it would have been wasted effort. Ah, I love the smell of a rationalization in the morning. It's the smell of victory.
So, are you two writing in coffee shops? (I'm at least assuming you're not recording there, though that could be HILARIOUS, frankly.) Or over reubens?
Great question. Our first podcast meeting was at a sandwich joint, and I think we've been back there two or three other times. We've also met at...another sandwich place, and two (I think) coffee shops. The majority of our recent meetings have been at one of our homes, though. We prefer to have the following easily to hand when we're writing together:
- Free outlets for our laptops
- Caffeine
- Potato chips (most recently the Lays kettle chips which are oh my god good)
- Wi-fi so we can a)Look up interesting things like a hacker name generator, and b)Easily share our updates via Google Docs in realtime.
- Enough space to actually spread out a bit.
Thus far, there have been no reubens in the creative process.
Is there going to be some kind of casting call for your loyal followers to participate in the podcast when it gets around to recording time?
Well, I keep telling River that she can do *all* the voices, but she refuses. So...yes, we will be soliciting voice talent when we get to the recording phase. No word yet on how the casting process will work, but my guess is that bribes will be both accepted and encouraged.
Who is the better lover, Batman or Superman?
Batman.
Why?
I really think Larry Niven covered this ground fairly well in 1971.
Thanks again! We'll announce the next Reader Question Wednesday soon. Meantime, comment or e-mail us to ask a question. It will most likely appear in a future installment.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
The Death Star and the creative process
Highlights of my script-writing adventures this week:
1. Getting to look up the 10 most awesome movie explosions. (They're not what you might think - although #1 was the Death Star. I totally called that one.)
2. Getting to use a "What's your motorcycle gang member name?" generator to come up with a character name. I'm not sure if I'm glad that "Strangle Face" was the best one of the bunch - but whatever. I haven't been to Sturgis lately, so I'm not up on the lingo.
3. Learning that writing an action sequence with nothing but dialogue and sound effects is a heck of a lot harder than I thought. But fun. Totally fun. I almost wish we recorded the first read-through. We do this to time the episode more than anything else -- but there are 5 characters in the scene and only 2 of us, so hearing us bounce back and forth between characters can be pretty funny. And totally embarrassing... so maybe I should take back the whole "let's record this" thing.
Jason and I had a great writing meeting this afternoon, and both of us agreed that the podcast is regaining some of its original momentum. I think we've found a pattern that really works for us. We trade off bringing either a Really Good Idea or the script from the last meeting's Really Good Idea. This week it was my turn to write the script, and Jason's turn to bring the Really Good Idea. Mission accomplished. Now it's on Jason to flesh out the next script, and I get to relax and imagine for a while. It's a good trade.
Meanwhile, while he's busy writing dialogue -- I'd like to announce our first "Reader Question Wednesday" - wherein we answer questions that you either leave in the comments or e-mail us. There are already a couple of them floating around to get us started -- but if you have a question other than "When is the podcast coming out?" (Answer: We don't know. Soon. Quit asking.) then please, send it on in. We'd love to hear from you!
1. Getting to look up the 10 most awesome movie explosions. (They're not what you might think - although #1 was the Death Star. I totally called that one.)
2. Getting to use a "What's your motorcycle gang member name?" generator to come up with a character name. I'm not sure if I'm glad that "Strangle Face" was the best one of the bunch - but whatever. I haven't been to Sturgis lately, so I'm not up on the lingo.
3. Learning that writing an action sequence with nothing but dialogue and sound effects is a heck of a lot harder than I thought. But fun. Totally fun. I almost wish we recorded the first read-through. We do this to time the episode more than anything else -- but there are 5 characters in the scene and only 2 of us, so hearing us bounce back and forth between characters can be pretty funny. And totally embarrassing... so maybe I should take back the whole "let's record this" thing.
Jason and I had a great writing meeting this afternoon, and both of us agreed that the podcast is regaining some of its original momentum. I think we've found a pattern that really works for us. We trade off bringing either a Really Good Idea or the script from the last meeting's Really Good Idea. This week it was my turn to write the script, and Jason's turn to bring the Really Good Idea. Mission accomplished. Now it's on Jason to flesh out the next script, and I get to relax and imagine for a while. It's a good trade.
Meanwhile, while he's busy writing dialogue -- I'd like to announce our first "Reader Question Wednesday" - wherein we answer questions that you either leave in the comments or e-mail us. There are already a couple of them floating around to get us started -- but if you have a question other than "When is the podcast coming out?" (Answer: We don't know. Soon. Quit asking.) then please, send it on in. We'd love to hear from you!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
So there's this guy, right?
I have always marveled at writers who become consumed with their characters. I've heard story after story from authors who claim their characters begin to speak to them on a regular basis - and then their stories begin to write themselves. I don't think we're necessarily at that point - although the story has definitely begun to take on a life of its own, and I certainly have started to develop quite a soft spot for some of our main characters. Admittedly, these guys tend to hang around in my brain for a while after one of our writing meetings. I have only recently begun to experience the whole "characters talking to me" thing in a couple of other writing projects I'm working on, and I'll be honest... it kind of freaked me out. I never 100% believed in it before ... but it happened. And now I am really looking forward to the day that it happens with the podcast.
Maybe it's already started. Who knows? What I do know is that I like our characters. I want them to succeed. Not that I want to make it easy for them, because how boring is that? But I'm pulling for them.
Our main character is a guy named Alex Kirunov. Mid-twenties, Chicago native, although at the opening of our story we discover that he's been out of town and out of touch with the family for a while. And even though the other characters play some pretty major roles, this is ultimately his story.
And as I've said before, I like Alex. Were he a real person I think we'd be friends, although I think I'd probably worry a bit about his lack of ambition. But he's a good guy nonetheless. We have a little bit in common... we both love Reuben sandwiches. Remarkably, we both use the same rating scale. We have both spent a lot of time in Omaha, some of it against our better judgment. We both have many Slavic relatives. Mine are Czech and his are Russian - but let's not split hairs. We both know enough Russian to be dangerous - although I bet he knows more than I do, and I think he could teach me some choice words. I'm sure he's been sworn at more than once by certain family members. And we both have seriously geeky friends.
He also sounds remarkably like Jason. It's weird.
I mentioned before that we have a handful of scripts written, and Alex is starting to become a real person to me. I'm really looking forward to seeing how he continues to develop, and who he's going to become when this whole mess is over. If it ever truly ends. And if we ever truly get off our asses and start recording.
Which we will. We promise.
Maybe it's already started. Who knows? What I do know is that I like our characters. I want them to succeed. Not that I want to make it easy for them, because how boring is that? But I'm pulling for them.
Our main character is a guy named Alex Kirunov. Mid-twenties, Chicago native, although at the opening of our story we discover that he's been out of town and out of touch with the family for a while. And even though the other characters play some pretty major roles, this is ultimately his story.
And as I've said before, I like Alex. Were he a real person I think we'd be friends, although I think I'd probably worry a bit about his lack of ambition. But he's a good guy nonetheless. We have a little bit in common... we both love Reuben sandwiches. Remarkably, we both use the same rating scale. We have both spent a lot of time in Omaha, some of it against our better judgment. We both have many Slavic relatives. Mine are Czech and his are Russian - but let's not split hairs. We both know enough Russian to be dangerous - although I bet he knows more than I do, and I think he could teach me some choice words. I'm sure he's been sworn at more than once by certain family members. And we both have seriously geeky friends.
He also sounds remarkably like Jason. It's weird.
I mentioned before that we have a handful of scripts written, and Alex is starting to become a real person to me. I'm really looking forward to seeing how he continues to develop, and who he's going to become when this whole mess is over. If it ever truly ends. And if we ever truly get off our asses and start recording.
Which we will. We promise.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
It's an urban fantasy! No, it's a road story! No, it's a buddy movie!
One of the most often-asked questions about this project, of course, is "What kind of a story is this going to be, anyway?" (Incidentally, the most often-asked question is, "Jason, weren't you supposed to finish those tweaks to Episode 2 last month?" but that's neither here nor there.)
It's a good question, really. The first, not the second. The second question sucks, truth be told, and I'm getting a little tired of answering it. Just back off, okay?
Ahem. Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.
So, what kind of a story are we telling? This is a seemingly simple question that actually trips me up sometimes. As River already said, it's certainly an urban fantasy - that is, it's set in generally present times and contains magic, myth and other fantastical elements. So, yeah. It's an urban fantasy.
Looking at it another way, though, it's also a coming-of-age tale. Our hero isn't a bad guy by any means, but he has a lot of growing up to do when we open the story. On some level we're telling a story about one guy figuring out what he wants - or needs - to be when he grows up. The fact that what he needs to be is something he had never even heard of before the story begins is rather beside the point, as it turns out. So it's a coming-of-age story.
Of everything we've written so far, I think my favorite parts are the dialogue between our hero and his best friend. The rhythm feels right - objectively, I think we're doing a good job capturing the sense of their history as friends without the dreaded flashbacks that seem so popular in audio dramas (and I'm sure we'll have one or two of them at some point despite our best efforts). And looking at the arc of the story, the main character would be totally screwed without his friends. Those relationships are pretty critical to the story - and one might argue that they're sort of the point of the whole thing. So I dunno, maybe it's a buddy story.
At the end of the day it probably doesn't matter what neat box I can put the story into. I'll let the as-yet fictional legions of listeners argue about that in the as-yet fictional forums that will surely spring up across the internet for discussion of these issues.
It's a good question, really. The first, not the second. The second question sucks, truth be told, and I'm getting a little tired of answering it. Just back off, okay?
Ahem. Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.
So, what kind of a story are we telling? This is a seemingly simple question that actually trips me up sometimes. As River already said, it's certainly an urban fantasy - that is, it's set in generally present times and contains magic, myth and other fantastical elements. So, yeah. It's an urban fantasy.
Looking at it another way, though, it's also a coming-of-age tale. Our hero isn't a bad guy by any means, but he has a lot of growing up to do when we open the story. On some level we're telling a story about one guy figuring out what he wants - or needs - to be when he grows up. The fact that what he needs to be is something he had never even heard of before the story begins is rather beside the point, as it turns out. So it's a coming-of-age story.
Of everything we've written so far, I think my favorite parts are the dialogue between our hero and his best friend. The rhythm feels right - objectively, I think we're doing a good job capturing the sense of their history as friends without the dreaded flashbacks that seem so popular in audio dramas (and I'm sure we'll have one or two of them at some point despite our best efforts). And looking at the arc of the story, the main character would be totally screwed without his friends. Those relationships are pretty critical to the story - and one might argue that they're sort of the point of the whole thing. So I dunno, maybe it's a buddy story.
At the end of the day it probably doesn't matter what neat box I can put the story into. I'll let the as-yet fictional legions of listeners argue about that in the as-yet fictional forums that will surely spring up across the internet for discussion of these issues.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Backstory and the impending apocalypse
We've all done things we regret. I know I'm making a gross generalization here, but I'm willing to bet that everyone reading this has at least one, if not hundreds of moments in the past that you wish had gone a bit differently. I'm even willing to go out on a limb and say that for many of us, a large percentage of these moments happened before the age of 20. I know that for me, there are lots of things I wish I could hop in the Wayback Machine and go back and at least attempt to make a different choice. Still, many of the moments in my past shaped who I am today -- and without them, I wouldn't be sitting here in Chicago, writing a blog about writing a script for a podcast. And when I put it that way, perhaps I am not the only one who should be regretting those choices. My apologies, dear readers. But I digress...
Chances are you didn't make a choice at age 13 that could potentially impact the very balance of the universe and cause a future apocalypse. (But hey, I'm willing to be wrong. Hope you worked it out if you did - and if not, let us know. It would save us a lot of time trying to figure out which recording equipment to use if the world is going to end in a few days.)
Our main character on the other hand, did make a rather stupid choice when he was a teenager. He has only just become aware of how something as innocuous as writing his name in a place he probably shouldn't has unalterably changed the course of his life, and has the potential to impact millions of other lives. I won't give away too much here - but the story itself is about an ordinary guy who finds himself in an extraordinary situation, and has to come up with some pretty creative solutions to get himself out of a mess he didn't even know he created.
Herein lies one of our more difficult challenges: backstory. There's a lot of it. We have managed to construct a pretty complex plot - which, while admittedly I think it's pretty cool, is damn hard to reconstruct in a way that doesn't sound completely contrived and boring. I mention this because one of the motivations for embarking on this little project was listening to another audio drama podcast currently in production that does the whole backstory thing very, very badly. (Which Jason and I will both completely own as our own opinions, even though I won't name any names.) I remember saying in a very haughty and arrogant voice, "We could totally do a better job than they ever could." And thus, we got on this crazy rollercoaster ride.
And I have to admit, it's no small feat. I find it particularly challenging to tell a story that requires a bit of exposition to make sense, when my only storytelling tool is dialogue. I really don't want any of my characters to be in the middle of an action scene... for instance... a zombie attack... and suddenly stop to say, "You know, this reminds me of that time three years ago when..."
But oh, the danger looms. I actually relish the challenge however, and I'm enjoying the opportunity to hone my writing skills by working hard to make the dialogue count. The last thing I want to do is insult our listener's intelligence with unnecessary and unwieldy monologues about events that have only a passing relevance to the current scene. So far, I think we've managed to avoid the *insert name of bad podcast here* style of writing - but I can see how easy it would be to slip into that mode.
Just something to keep us on our toes.
Chances are you didn't make a choice at age 13 that could potentially impact the very balance of the universe and cause a future apocalypse. (But hey, I'm willing to be wrong. Hope you worked it out if you did - and if not, let us know. It would save us a lot of time trying to figure out which recording equipment to use if the world is going to end in a few days.)
Our main character on the other hand, did make a rather stupid choice when he was a teenager. He has only just become aware of how something as innocuous as writing his name in a place he probably shouldn't has unalterably changed the course of his life, and has the potential to impact millions of other lives. I won't give away too much here - but the story itself is about an ordinary guy who finds himself in an extraordinary situation, and has to come up with some pretty creative solutions to get himself out of a mess he didn't even know he created.
Herein lies one of our more difficult challenges: backstory. There's a lot of it. We have managed to construct a pretty complex plot - which, while admittedly I think it's pretty cool, is damn hard to reconstruct in a way that doesn't sound completely contrived and boring. I mention this because one of the motivations for embarking on this little project was listening to another audio drama podcast currently in production that does the whole backstory thing very, very badly. (Which Jason and I will both completely own as our own opinions, even though I won't name any names.) I remember saying in a very haughty and arrogant voice, "We could totally do a better job than they ever could." And thus, we got on this crazy rollercoaster ride.
And I have to admit, it's no small feat. I find it particularly challenging to tell a story that requires a bit of exposition to make sense, when my only storytelling tool is dialogue. I really don't want any of my characters to be in the middle of an action scene... for instance... a zombie attack... and suddenly stop to say, "You know, this reminds me of that time three years ago when..."
But oh, the danger looms. I actually relish the challenge however, and I'm enjoying the opportunity to hone my writing skills by working hard to make the dialogue count. The last thing I want to do is insult our listener's intelligence with unnecessary and unwieldy monologues about events that have only a passing relevance to the current scene. So far, I think we've managed to avoid the *insert name of bad podcast here* style of writing - but I can see how easy it would be to slip into that mode.
Just something to keep us on our toes.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Who are you again?
Being the intelligent, astute, and undoubtedly attractive readers that you are, I would imagine that you have a few questions. Such as:
1. Where is the podcast and how do I download it?
2. Who are you people?
3. What does an audio drama podcast, or blog about an audio drama podcast, have to do with a Reuben sandwich?
4. Are you really that good-looking in person, River?
I will do my best to answer your questions in the order that they were received:
1. The podcast does not exist yet. Emphasis on the word yet. We have written scripts for a handful of episodes, and will begin the recording process shortly. We decided that writing a blog about our process might keep us from losing momentum and slacking off (a talent that both Jason and I share), as well as provide a forum for ideas and suggestions from you, dear readers. More details to come in future updates.
2. We're just a couple of aspiring writers in Chicago who decided to add one more project onto an already full plate. Er... plates. A couple of fun facts: I am a pretty decent drummer, Jason excels at Rock Band. I love to play games, Jason designs them. I completed my writing goals this week, Jason did not. Just sayin'.
3. The Reuben sandwich actually does play a fairly significant role in the podcast. When it finally comes out, you'll understand. You'll probably shake your heads ruefully and say, "What the hell?" but you will understand. Suffice it to say that I love Reubens. They are my favorite sandwich. I even have a rating scale. I have never found the perfect "10" - but I will one day. A girl's gotta have dreams. Also, believe what you will, but I am absolutely convinced that the Reuben was invented in Omaha. Although I'm currently living in Chicago, I am an Omaha native, and damn proud of our sandwiches.
4. Yes.
Please feel free to comment with more questions about us, our process, or the podcast itself. We'll continue to update on a semi-regular basis. Next up will likely be some information about the premise for the show, as well as some background info about the characters.
1. Where is the podcast and how do I download it?
2. Who are you people?
3. What does an audio drama podcast, or blog about an audio drama podcast, have to do with a Reuben sandwich?
4. Are you really that good-looking in person, River?
I will do my best to answer your questions in the order that they were received:
1. The podcast does not exist yet. Emphasis on the word yet. We have written scripts for a handful of episodes, and will begin the recording process shortly. We decided that writing a blog about our process might keep us from losing momentum and slacking off (a talent that both Jason and I share), as well as provide a forum for ideas and suggestions from you, dear readers. More details to come in future updates.
2. We're just a couple of aspiring writers in Chicago who decided to add one more project onto an already full plate. Er... plates. A couple of fun facts: I am a pretty decent drummer, Jason excels at Rock Band. I love to play games, Jason designs them. I completed my writing goals this week, Jason did not. Just sayin'.
3. The Reuben sandwich actually does play a fairly significant role in the podcast. When it finally comes out, you'll understand. You'll probably shake your heads ruefully and say, "What the hell?" but you will understand. Suffice it to say that I love Reubens. They are my favorite sandwich. I even have a rating scale. I have never found the perfect "10" - but I will one day. A girl's gotta have dreams. Also, believe what you will, but I am absolutely convinced that the Reuben was invented in Omaha. Although I'm currently living in Chicago, I am an Omaha native, and damn proud of our sandwiches.
4. Yes.
Please feel free to comment with more questions about us, our process, or the podcast itself. We'll continue to update on a semi-regular basis. Next up will likely be some information about the premise for the show, as well as some background info about the characters.
It all started so innocently
...no, really, it did. Over brunch last year, River mentioned casually that there are two magic shops in Chicago located within about 3 blocks of one another. A couple of weeks later, we were discussing our favorite sandwiches and she pointed out that her favorite, the Reuben, was invented in Omaha.
(A tip, good reader: Don't mention the possibility that the Reuben was in fact invented in New York in 1914.)
A couple of weeks after that, we were sharing our favorite podcasts and realized that there is something missing in the world. Something important. Something epic. Because at this moment, there are no podcasts about magic shops, reuben sandwiches, and the end of the world. Not one.
Clearly, something had to be done.
And so, we began.
(A tip, good reader: Don't mention the possibility that the Reuben was in fact invented in New York in 1914.)
A couple of weeks after that, we were sharing our favorite podcasts and realized that there is something missing in the world. Something important. Something epic. Because at this moment, there are no podcasts about magic shops, reuben sandwiches, and the end of the world. Not one.
Clearly, something had to be done.
And so, we began.
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