Taking off the radio drama hat for a second, this morning I was writing an article for my company’s Internet Marketing Blog on Building Community for your Blog (yeah, it’s the job that actually pays).  A couple of interesting things crossed my mind while writing on this subject and especially about building up liberal linking habits.

The importance of linking to other authors first hit me while working on the supporting materials for Day of the Dead.  One of my essays — the New Orleans one, I think — received a whole slew of red ink from my instructors after they read probably three to four pages of scholarship with limited citations.  Having spent five years in university, you’d think I’d have taken care of this poor habit (in my defense, it was a draft), but the tricky part with this essay is that I was writing from common knowledge.  Or, at least what I thought was common knowledge (based on chatting with any number of locals in French Quarter dive bars for the past couple years).

While most of what I wrote turned out to be close to true, it was still important to be able to validate my assertions beyond just “I told you so.”  This probably induces a “Well duh” from you, but the point is that linking to other websites is the equivalent technique in Internet terms.  Besides providing evidence that you’ve read about the subject (or at least spent a few minutes Googling it), links make it easier for people to sniff out your trail and follow it to distant reaches of the Internet.  And since a lot of these radio drama sites aren’t terribly, er, optimized for maximum search engine performance, linking is ever so much more important for us to keep interested listeners tuned in to the great diversity of producers that are actually out there.

So, inasmuch as I can, I hope to link here to all of the dramatists whose work I find inspiring, and words I find insightful.

In case you haven’t gotten wind of it already, the National Audio Theater Festival is coming up, June 23-30 in balmy West Plains, MO.  I, for one, will be there, and look forward to a variety of interesting workshops and especially the opportunity to network with other audio drama enthusiasts.

Especially exciting, if you happen to be theatrically inclined, is a narrator’s workshop aimed at teaching the rigors of professional narration both for dramatized works and traditional audiobooks.  Targeted for only twenty fine applicants, this workshop is lead by audiobook producer/director Paul Ruben and award-winning narrators Bill Dufris and Barbara Caruso.  In addition to teaching the actual performance work of narrating, the workshop will touch on the business of narration, building a demo CD and auditioning short performances.

I really have no idea which workshops interest me yet — I could certainly use a little coaching with sound effects and wouldn’t mind some critiques on my scriptwriting, but truth is it all sounds pretty good and the best part is always the after-parties.  I’m certainly looking forward to June, and hope to see you in Missouri!

Hey, you know that contest I told you about a couple weeks, whereby various public radio stations are looking for their next top host? Well, the contest is a’rollin and I have an entry up, the prospective show — you guessed it.  All about radio drama.

Here’s to a Foolproof cure for ennui, boredom, and general malaise

And it’s okay, you can be honest, too.

If my updates lately have been more intermittent, I can only account for my work re-developing the FinalRune Productions audio stories site to be completely managed using Wordpress as a CMS system.  While the existing website was pretty solidly coded in lean PHP, I wanted a lot of cool whizmos and whazzits which come with Wordpress as well as the great ease of use when adding content.  Plus the ability to add comments!  I have some great ideas for semi-controversial radio drama articles in the near future, and wanted the ability to engage my readers in a dialogue.

I think it looks pretty sharp, and now that (hopefully) I have the tech side squared away, I’ll be able to focus on my true passion, and that is telling stories.  And writing great stories about the stories.

While I’m perfectly happy reading and hearing words, it seems that a lot of people miss seeing pictures now and again.  To try and curb this trend, I’ve started snapping more pictures at my production sessions and have compiled what I have so far in a radio drama image gallery over at my sister site, FinalRune.com.

I’ve been focusing so much on producing new work and reviewing/listening/discussing other people’s that I’ve hardly thought about what people feel about mine. It’s kind of a vacuum, where I know people are listening to these podcasts and my stories over at FinalRune, but have heard very limited feedback except from my friends (whose compliments I love, God bless them, but don’t have the objective weight of a stranger’s). So I was utterly tickled when I got an email saying there was a Review of Drizzle over at PRX!

PRX, or the Public Radio Exchange, is a site where independent producers can post their work and radio stations across the country can audition it — the t
arget being public radio. I’ve never really had much faith my work would be picked up by NPR but since you can get a free demo account as a producer for a year, I tried it out. A few people have checked out Day of the Dead, The Blind Man’s Confession, and Drizzle, of which the reviewer, Hans Anderson, had to say:

The story is well-written, with good detail. I don’t live in the city, but this pretty much left me with an image in my head. There were a couple of times, especially around the subway scene, where the sound overpowered the narrator, but it didn’t detract very much.

Since I don’t live in a city either, if someone can be transported there, then I’ve definitely done a fair job! Sadly, I’ve run out of time on my trial account and can’t really afford to buck up the $50 for a year’s subscription. If out of the tenderness of your heart you want to help me get my work to a broader audience, feel free to

Anyways, thanks for the comments, Hans, and I look forward to producing more variations on the ol’ radio drama block. And if you missed Drizzle, it was featured in Radio Drama Revival! Episode 1.

Well, this week is Begathon at WMPG, the familiar fundraising week where we go on the air to plead for money from our listeners. To try and make things more interesting, I’ve written my first drama intended for live broadcast, assembled a great cast, and can’t wait to make some original radio tomorrow afternoon!

For all my podcast listeners, I will of course be adding it post-facto, but if you’re in the Portland, Maine area or close to a computer you can listen to the live show at 1PM EST. Stream by clicking the link above, or tune in at 90.9/104.1 FM.

It all starts as an ordinary day at the station, with Stephanie Sample in the studio to talk about her latest adventures. But, a rocket ship crashing outside with exiled space DJs makes things a whole lot weirder. A land where all the media has been consolidated in the hands of an evil empire, where proponents of free speech are imprisoned and have to flee for their lives to distant galaxies—what planet are these guys from?

A whole lot of laughs, and hopefully a few bucks for the station. And hey, call in to pledge your support for Radio Stories, and let people know I have an audience! I’ve got a big pile of double-CD sets of my FinalRune Productions audio stories for anyone who donates more than $30.

RDR gets a facelift and usability bounce this morning, thanks to a snazzy theme by Rob Goodlatte (hope that’s not a joke about fine coffees…). I felt the old theme was a little dark and the last vibe I want to get around here is one of despair. Anyone agree?

Well, looks like I’m on a roll this evening. I had the great pleasure of chatting with Jack Hosley, AKA “The Wander Wolf” from WanderRadio this afternoon and learning all about how he got into the niche podcasting market and the emerging media writers and actors he works with. Time allowed for a special presentation of “High Moon” by Great Northern Audio Theatre. Enjoy!

Radio Drama Revival! Episode 9

Hey, it’s a super long shot, but check it out — several public radio stations have gotten together to search for a host for a prospective public radio show.  It sounds a little too “American Idol” for me, but why not give it a shot?  Who knows, maybe someone will be inspired to hear some stories…