We did it!

Oh my god, we finished it.

In July of 2008, Jason and I got together at a sandwich shop and started brainstorming ideas for an audio drama podcast. We had this ridiculous notion that we could actually pull something like this off. Two years and a bottle of champagne later, we have completed all of the scripts and sent them off to a dear friend who is a professional editor, and who has graciously agreed to edit them for us. (Let it be said that we hope she will remain a dear friend once she realizes what she got herself into.)

We still have the original brainstorming list from that fateful summer day. I just looked it over, and absolutely none of it applies to our current story. Well, I take that back. There are three things:
1. A magician
2. Madame (now Aunt) Olga
3. The magician's hacker friend

That's pretty much it -- the rest really isn't worth recapping. I'm not sure how the heck we got from that list to the story we have now, but I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with what we did with it. I hope you will be too.

Well, once we release it, that is. There are still many, many steps between now and the release of the first episode. Some of those are very exciting steps -- but there are many of them. We'll be sure to keep you updated.

Meanwhile - want to be a part of it? We are still looking for cast members (particularly men, but we still have a few roles for women available as well) - and we still have episodes that need album artwork. Contact either one of us for more details. Tell your friends.

Oh? And by the way... the show has a name now. It's called Escape Clause. We need to change the blog subhead one of these days.

As Viper would say, "Dude. We totally did it. This is so freakin' awesome!"

Indeed, my friend. Indeed.

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!

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.