Author Topic: Comments? Questions?  (Read 30703 times)

Rachel Swirsky

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on: September 13, 2007, 04:10:34 AM
Start 'em coming!

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Reply #1 on: September 13, 2007, 12:52:43 PM
Well, you know my first question...  ;D

But beyond that, what do you think the average rating of a Podcastle story will be?  G, PG, PG13, R?  I'm not talking about the occasional "Squonk" or something similar, but I mean... okay, Fantasy is a wide-ranging genre full of its own subgenres, including scary, uplifting, swords/sorcery, steampunk/Mieville, pirate, etc... and some of the best fantasy I've read hs been rated R.  I'm not saying I necessarily want any type, but do you have a read on what kinds of stories you're more prone to saying "yes" to?

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Russell Nash

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Reply #2 on: September 13, 2007, 02:28:56 PM
Will the feed be set up a couple of weeks before the first episode, so we can all be ready and waiting?



Rachel Swirsky

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Reply #3 on: September 13, 2007, 06:30:26 PM
I'm not doing the tech stuff, so we'll have to get Steve in here to answer about the feed. Or one of the other women who's working on the podcast, for instance Justin Staley.

Re: rating:

It's a bit hard to say at this point, since things are so new. Steve picked out 6 or 7 stories for the podcast to start with, and most of those are of the rip-roarin' adventure variety. So far, I've made offers on four stories. None of them have steamy sex scenes. I'd say they range from G to R, with a sweet spot at PG.

I wouldn't say that's necessarily indicative of my whole editorial style, though. Right now, I'm not acquiring new work (though I'm still reading slush and putting the best stories on hold) until the podcast starts, so it's hard for me to give you more specific examples of my editorial hand.

In general, I'd say that I prefer more modern, sophisticated fantasy, which will certainly be open to any kind of rating that occurs. Most of the readers of Escape Pod seem to like stories that are idea-driven, and I'm no exception. The fantasy stories I'm most strongly drawn to are those which show me something new.

However, one of the podcast's editorial goals is to include a large range of fantasy, so we'll have adventure tales too. We'll draw from all the subgenres of fantasy as we get appropriate work from them. Hopefully, there will be something for everyone.



Rachel Swirsky

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Reply #4 on: September 13, 2007, 06:31:35 PM
By the by, the four stories I've made offers on so far:

"The Dead Girl's Wedding March" by Cat Rambo
"The Dog Prince" by Sarah Prineas
"The Girl with the Sun in Her Head" by Jeremiah Tolbert
"The Ant King" by Benjamin Rosenbaum



Listener

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Reply #5 on: September 13, 2007, 07:26:42 PM
Will you be buying Flash Fiction?

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Rachel Swirsky

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Reply #6 on: September 13, 2007, 07:33:03 PM
When good stuff comes down the transom.



FNH

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Reply #7 on: September 13, 2007, 08:12:54 PM
A Techy note about the website.  I view the web with images turned off in my browser.  Odd I know, but I'm not alone in this.  The point is that the podcastle web site is near impossible to read if you have images turned off in your browser.

It's for reasons of disability-compliance I mention this.  So many web sites forget the impaired that I like to mention it when I have the oportunity.  Especially when its about audio, it's so much more important to those with poor sight.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

p.s. Looking forward to this 'cast!


Alasdair5000

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Reply #8 on: September 13, 2007, 10:06:46 PM
Start 'em coming!

--Rachel / Palimpsest
Submissions Editor, PodCastle
http://podcastle.org

Hi Rachel:)

   Just curious but are you guys open to fiction series?  I only ask because fantasy seems to lend itself to 'the continuing adventures' a lot better, in many ways, than the other genres.



Rachel Swirsky

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Reply #9 on: September 14, 2007, 01:51:39 AM
"Just curious but are you guys open to fiction series? "

Not at this time, no.

FNH, maybe start a website thread? I'm not responsible for that aspect of the 'zine.



Loz

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Reply #10 on: September 16, 2007, 09:31:01 AM
I'm looking forward to this, though I am rereading my copy of 'The Tough Guide to Fantasyland' in preparation.  ;D



Planish

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Reply #11 on: September 22, 2007, 10:01:25 AM
I do luvs me Urban Elves (a la Mercedes Lackey) I does.
'Specially Elves on Harleys and the like.

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Rachel Swirsky

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Reply #12 on: September 22, 2007, 09:49:17 PM
Quote
I do luvs me Urban Elves (a la Mercedes Lackey) I does.

This is specifically a pet peeve of mine, which isn't to say I wouldn't buy an awesome story in that vein if it came my way.



Planish

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Reply #13 on: September 23, 2007, 01:13:04 AM
Quote
I do luvs me Urban Elves (a la Mercedes Lackey) I does.
This is specifically a pet peeve of mine, which isn't to say I wouldn't buy an awesome story in that vein if it came my way.
Ah well. I can only hope that when they do come along, they will indeed be awesome.

[edit - other comments moved to http://forum.escapeartists.info/index.php?topic=1056.0 ]
« Last Edit: September 23, 2007, 01:17:26 AM by Planish »

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Rachel Swirsky

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Reply #14 on: September 23, 2007, 01:36:49 AM
You oculd always pick out your favorite and send it to me, if you can find it online. Then if I fall in love, I can solicit from Mercedes Lackey (or whoever).



Steven Saus

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Reply #15 on: April 06, 2008, 01:25:56 AM
This a really generic comment, not something about a specific episode (hence the not-a-new-thread despite the big red text at the top of my screen).

I want a tagline.   It's a ritual thing for me - whether it's "It's story time!" or "...I promise you it's true.", the tags get me pumped for the story itself.  It provides a sense of continuity across time.

If I remember correctly, "I promise you it's true" was almost an accident at first, but it just fit so well.   I imagine that "it's story time" started in the same way. 

Taglines (and headlines, for that matter) are a weak point of mine.  The few I've tried to think of for PodCastle are klunky, awkward, and even my son thinks are lame.   ("But I promise you it's a story time long long ago?" No....)

Anyway, think about.  Especially with different editors, I think that concept of an audio tag would make a great thread to make it all coalesce for listeners.

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BasicJim

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Reply #16 on: April 10, 2008, 03:00:30 PM
Hi Rachel!

PodCastle needs a Steve Eley.  Not that the Escape Pod stories don't stand on their own, but it's nice to hear from Steve again.  After a year or so, you get to feel like you know him and he is a friend with mostly good taste in stories that he recommends to you.

Maybe you could spend a minute or two before or after the story and talk a little about you?  I think getting to know the host breeds loyalty.



Darwinist

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Reply #17 on: April 15, 2008, 11:49:29 PM
What the heck is going on with I-Tunes?  Anyone else having problems getting the new episode?  I had a downloading error this morning and now the new episode is not even showing up on the PodCastle page.  I'll have to go through the Podcastle site I guesss.  Arghhhh, I was looking forward to listening on my doggy walk!   

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


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Reply #18 on: April 16, 2008, 12:43:36 AM
Hi Rachel!

PodCastle needs a Steve Eley.  Not that the Escape Pod stories don't stand on their own, but it's nice to hear from Steve again.  After a year or so, you get to feel like you know him and he is a friend with mostly good taste in stories that he recommends to you.

Maybe you could spend a minute or two before or after the story and talk a little about you?  I think getting to know the host breeds loyalty.
I don't mean to be rude, and obviously Ms. Swirsky is able to answer on her own, but I disagree with that (kind of). I think Escape Pod needs Steve Eley, and while PodCastle is still getting its legs under it, it seems to be going in a direction all its own (Swirsky's Moving PodCastle?).  Also, it's easy to take for granted that everything you know about Steve has happened over 150+ episodes, getting small nuggets each week, or in a constant flow by listening to the archives. We're only on episode 3 with PC. I'm sure Rachel, and our other hosts' personalities will come out in time.

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Rachel Swirsky

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Reply #19 on: April 16, 2008, 02:00:32 AM
Sorry I-Tunes is being crummy, Darwinist.

There are definitely tid-bits of my personality upcoming in future episode intros. I've been pondering how to get out information within our format, and I think what I may do is excerpt or link to some of the interviews that people have asked me to do with them up on the podcastle site, once they're complete. There's supposed to be an upcoming spotlight in a writing magazine and a podcast for the World Fantasy convention.



Opabinia

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Reply #20 on: April 16, 2008, 05:23:09 AM
As far as the iTunes problem, I actually had an episode disappear on me as well. Not the most current one; that one loaded fine, but episode 2. If you go back to the iTunes store and find the podcast again, you can download individual episodes (they all seem to show up there,) and they will appear in the correct list and all that. No idea why this happened, but it's obviously not a problem with the content providers, it's with the distribution system.



Darwinist

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Reply #21 on: April 16, 2008, 01:18:53 PM
As far as the iTunes problem, I actually had an episode disappear on me as well. Not the most current one; that one loaded fine, but episode 2. If you go back to the iTunes store and find the podcast again, you can download individual episodes (they all seem to show up there,) and they will appear in the correct list and all that. No idea why this happened, but it's obviously not a problem with the content providers, it's with the distribution system.

I've also had that happen and went back in to the store and re-downloaded the missing file.  I tried on this one and I-Tunes does not have it listed.  I checked again this morning and nuttin!  I'll keep watching for it.

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


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Reply #22 on: April 16, 2008, 03:48:50 PM
One thing I find helpful when this happens is to unsubscribe from the feed, exit iTunes completely - by which I mean rebooting or manually shutting down all the iTunes processes - just closing the windows is not enough, and then restarting iTunes and re-subscribing. That usually restores missing episodes.

Btw, I'm currently in the process of experimenting with some iTunes alternatives as I have grown sick and tired of how crappy a piece of software it is (on a PC. I heard it's pretty good on a Mac). If I end up finding a better alternative, I'll report back here.



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Reply #23 on: April 16, 2008, 04:27:04 PM
Mac user here—I've had no problems. I don't think it's possible for an episode that you have downloaded to disappear in our environment (the podcast is "physically" on your computer). It surprises me that it's not the same for a PC.



Darwinist

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Reply #24 on: April 16, 2008, 06:53:32 PM
Mac user here—I've had no problems. I don't think it's possible for an episode that you have downloaded to disappear in our environment (the podcast is "physically" on your computer). It surprises me that it's not the same for a PC.

I should clarify - that episode showed up in my I-Tunes podcast list but when I went to transfer to the IPod it gave me that irritating "!" error symbol that you get when I-Tunes can't find the source.  So I went to the Pod Castle I-Tunes page and it wasn't even listed under Pod Castle content.   Hell, I'll just shut up now and listen from the website and hope for better luck next week. 

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


Opabinia

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Reply #25 on: April 16, 2008, 08:50:52 PM
Ya know, I just went back to the iTunes store and found that the newest episode isn't on the list there. Weird, since it automatically loaded into my playlist. Technology is awesome.



Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #26 on: April 20, 2008, 12:59:31 PM
Hi Rachel!

PodCastle needs a Steve Eley.  Not that the Escape Pod stories don't stand on their own, but it's nice to hear from Steve again.  After a year or so, you get to feel like you know him and he is a friend with mostly good taste in stories that he recommends to you.

Maybe you could spend a minute or two before or after the story and talk a little about you?  I think getting to know the host breeds loyalty.
I don't mean to be rude, and obviously Ms. Swirsky is able to answer on her own, but I disagree with that (kind of). I think Escape Pod needs Steve Eley, and while PodCastle is still getting its legs under it, it seems to be going in a direction all its own (Swirsky's Moving PodCastle?).  Also, it's easy to take for granted that everything you know about Steve has happened over 150+ episodes, getting small nuggets each week, or in a constant flow by listening to the archives. We're only on episode 3 with PC. I'm sure Rachel, and our other hosts' personalities will come out in time.

Also, bear in mind that Steve started EP as a "guy in his basement talking to no one" project.  PC is being launched as a much-anticipated, closely scrutinized spin-off.  Anything the hosts "try" to do is going to come off as forced and unnatural. 

Give them time to find their own "Steveness", and instead of "unnatural", we might get "supernatural" - which is *why* this podcast was so anticipated in the first place, right?

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nojojojo

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Reply #27 on: May 05, 2008, 01:24:25 AM
OK -- I've given PodCastle a few weeks now to find its legs, and will be giving it more; it took awhile for Escape Pod to hook me too.  (Not Pseudopod, but that's because I missed the first 10-15 weeks and just happened to pick an incredibly scary story for my first exposure.)  But I've been increasingly frustrated by PC, and since I'm a psychologist that sends me into self-assessment mode.  Sharing my thoughts here in the hopes that Rachel and the other PC editors may find it useful.  Please note that these are not necessarily critiques; they're more observations on what might be causing this weird reaction in me.  (And it is weird, because I am an intense fantasyphile and have been eagerly awaiting PC; I shouldn't be this frustrated.)  Some of the weirdness stems from me bringing my own baggage to the table; some is nitpicky unimportant bits that I'll probably just get used to eventually; some consists of things that I think are just part of starting up a new magazine; and some are things that I hope the editors will consider changing, especially if they get other feedback along these lines. 

1) It's not Escape Pod.  Took me awhile to realize that this is what I was "missing", but it has to be said:  I'd expected PC to be an all-fantasy version of EP, and it's not.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  But it's one of the reasons for my frustration -- I expected something different from what I'm getting.  This is why I find myself comparing Rachel's intros to Steve's, for example, which I simply shouldn't be doing because they're not different issues of the same magazine, they're different magazines.  (Note:  I did this with Pseudopod too.  But I'm not all that interested in horror and I had to push myself to try PP, which is why it took me 10-15 weeks to hook into it.  I think that with PC, I feel more of a vested interest.  I want to like this podcast so bad.  So I care more.)  I'll just keep repeating to myself that "it's not EP", and I think that will sink in eventually.  =)

2)  That said:  the intros.  I'm not fond of intros in general; I almost always skip over authors' forewards, coming back to them only after I've read the story (if at all).  When I do read them, I prefer an "editorial" style intro (on genre issues, current events in relation to fantasy, personal experiences related to fantasy, whatever) to the ones I've heard on PC, which either gush about how much the editor(s) loved the story or talk about the story itself.  I don't need you to say that you loved the story; you bought it, which pretty much says all I need to know.  This doesn't bug me, though.

What does is this: please please please for the love of the gods stop "explaining" the stories beforehand!  I just listened to "Pahwahke" and was actively annoyed by the lengthy lecture on American history, culture-specific interpretation of events and human actions, and the story's inspiration/origins.  I have always preferred to discover a story's content, style, and visible/hidden themes for myself; this intro pretty much spoiled that experience for me.  There was also the didactic way in which the lecture was delivered.  There are sometimes good reasons to do this --  like for teaching purposes, when you're dealing with an audience which isn't familiar with the material or the ways in which it can be interpreted.  For a story that doesn't derive from the Western canon, and an audience that's mostly (assuming it mimics the usual demographics of the English-language fantasy community) white and of European descent and probably not too familiar with Pacific Northwest Native American/Canadian folklore, I can see why it might be a good idea to explain some things.  But I think this kind of explanation would have far greater impact if it was done after the story, when the lecture serves to illuminate by providing context.  Coming before the story as it does, the lecture imposes boundaries on the story, forcing the listener towards a single interpretation that they might not have otherwise come up with on their own.  I can't speak for anyone else, but this makes me feel like I'm back in high school English class, being told the "right" way to interpret a given work so that I can pass the AP exam at the end of the year.

If you folks must continue to deliver this info before the story, please start off the podcast by giving the minute/second mark where the story begins, so that those of us (like me!) who generally prefer to skip intros can do so.

3) The music.  Dear gods, how I hate it.  The first time I heard it, I thought, "Xena!"  Which would be great, except I hated Xena.  (Well, OK, "hated" is too strong.  It had its moments, especially early on.  Then it got stupid... but I digress.)  However, I'm not tuning in for the music, so this is no big deal.

4) Rachel.  Please note that this is not a personal attack.  But it's something I've specifically noted with her, so I'll just say it:  I don't like the way she sounds.  Too "airy" and distant, as if she's speaking in a large empty room, sitting far away from the microphone.  Too stilted and formal, as if she's reading off a cue card.  I'm not good at articulating this.  But the bottom line is that it's hard to tell if she cares about this stuff.  I know she does.  No one spends months working on something if they're apathetic about it.  But it just doesn't sound like she does.  The decision to treat the intros as informational as opposed to editorial feeds into this; between the lecturing tone and the distant formality, she feels like a professor studying fantasy, not a fan sharing love with fellow fans.

I wrestled a lot with whether to say this, because I like Rachel (hi Mandolin!). But it does affect my enjoyment of the podcast, because I prefer podcasts that have a "fannish" feel.  I'm also saying it because I think it's probably fixable, but in order to fix it you need to know that the problem exists.  There has to be a way to fix the "airyness" through sound editing, or maybe a better microphone or something.  She'll probably get more comfy doing intros with practice, which might fix the stiltedness.  And I've already offered a suggestion about the content -- maybe if she unleashes her inner fangirl, that might help.  =)

5) The content.  Much as I like "Come Lady Death" as a story, I'd read it before, so I wasn't really happy with your choice to lead with such a well-known tale for several reasons.  First, the lead story sets the tone of the whole magazine, IMO, and by choosing a story that was widely-known and much beloved, by an established author, struck me immediately as a "safe" decision.  And all the stories since, with the possible exception of "Run of the Fiery Horse" (which had some sexual content) have been almost painfully "safe", even tame. 

This is a personal taste issue, but I don't like "safe" fantasy.  There's too much of that readily available in all the usual places -- Realms, F&SF, etc.  Whenever a new fantasy magazine comes online I yearn for it to be different in some way.  I know that PC has to balance this carefully; you've got to try and appeal equally to an audience of formulaic doorstopper-lovers as well as slipstream stylophiles.  But I'm desperately hoping to see PC stories in the future that contain more daring content.  Note:  I love the consistent inclusion of well-drawn, multidimensional female characters.  Thank you; it's a relief to see, and one step in the right direction.  But I want more.  I want stories that make me gasp, or cry, or blush, or salivate, or recoil in disgust.  I want to read something that makes me angry, not because it's a bad story but because it's just that good.  We've had 6 weeks of G and PG stories now; I think it's time for an R or an X.  (Disclosure:  I have a story in the PC slushpile that's probably X-rated.  I don't care whether you publish mine, so long as you publish someone's.)  Toss us some genrebenders that ignite raging "this isn't fantasy, it's got a spaceship in it!" flamewars on the forum.  And so on.

So going forward, I'll just say:  please consider being more provocative.


All this said -- I'm 90% happy with PC thus far.  It's clearly got a good crew of people behind it, and I've enjoyed some of the stories that have run (favorite was "Run of the Fiery Horse"; I liked "Come Lady Death" already).  I just want it to be better.  Please take these comments in that spirit.



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Reply #28 on: May 05, 2008, 03:53:49 AM
You just angered the elephant. :D
that said, i agree to some extent with a lot of what nojojojo (interesting screen name) said, and especially point 2.  This was also said in the episode comments for "Pahwahke".  While i do appreciate Rachel trying to give us more insight and be helpful with our experiance with the story, it seems that most of us would like to wade through the waters of uncertainty and find our own island of interpretation (sorry for the dumb metaphors, but i had to! :D).

However, it did take EP and PP a while to catch on, and i think listener comments like these will help it evolve.  It has only been 5 weeks, and i am confident everything will sort itself out.

and THAT said, i am 95% happy with PC so far! :)  Keep up the good work!

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Reply #29 on: May 05, 2008, 11:19:11 AM
I would really like it if you weren't talking over the music for your intros/outros.  It's really distracting.  The theme song you have chosen is strong and attention getting with all the semi-yelling in it and trying to follow someone speaking over it is just drowned out. 


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birdless

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Reply #30 on: May 05, 2008, 07:39:26 PM
I have to support nojojojo's Point 2, as well. I'm not necessarily completely on board with anything else (I like Rachel's voice! and her comfort level with the intros will increase as the podcast matures; and I don't hate the music; and as for content, we're still brand new—be safe, get established, then work in whatever at a casual pace), but, yeah, in Pahwahke, I would have preferred that come after the story. Don't get me wrong: I am glad you mentioned it! It's just a matter of placement.



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Reply #31 on: May 13, 2008, 10:14:59 PM
Hello,

My name is Patty Kim and I help run clonepod.org (which is modeled after escapepod's site- but we do illustrations and are pg13 and have my two children and a friend do the intros/outro and my dauther is reading an upcoming Union Dues story for us.

We orginially asked Jim Hines to podcast his story Goblin Lullaby - but you beat us to it.  He instead gave us the story Goblin Hunter which is about the baby character Jig in Goblin Lullaby grown up.  We were wondering if you could mention that there is a sequel available on our site when you run it and if you are very kind run a promo for us written specifically for your site.

Hope to hear from you!
Patty Kim

Listen to sff stories at my podcast, clonepod.org


Chey

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Reply #32 on: May 14, 2008, 04:48:26 PM
I third nojojojo's 2nd point.  If you feel the story needs explaining, do an outro instead.  It really ruins the story for me when what I'm supposed to be looking for and thinking is already layed out.  If I don't see the points the person in the intro saw, I feel like I've missed part of the story.  For instance, I downloaded PRI Selected Short's Lots of Laughs collection.  The first story was a horror story.  Total confusion for me.  I'm looking for the humor and the protagonist is having potatos growing out of his ears.  Runied the story.  I'd have loved it if I had not expected it to be humor.
I want to like or dislike the story on it's own merits, not what someone has told me I should think about it. 

I also agree with the music, can't stand it.  Must just be a personal preference thing.

I'd also like some edgier stories. 

But then I'm starting to sound like a really picky wench, and not the happy Escape Artist addict I've been for the past couple of years. ;)



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Reply #33 on: May 14, 2008, 05:12:23 PM
I also agree with the music, can't stand it.  Must just be a personal preference thing.

I personally don't think much of Daikaiju, but it's a part of the whole Escape Pod gestalt so I just live with it.  It's all about the stories anyway.  (I actually like the music used for Podcastle.)

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birdless

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Reply #34 on: May 14, 2008, 06:08:45 PM
I also agree with the music, can't stand it.  Must just be a personal preference thing.

I personally don't think much of Daikaiju, but it's a part of the whole Escape Pod gestalt so I just live with it.  It's all about the stories anyway.  (I actually like the music used for Podcastle.)
Seriously. I mean, the music is there for, what, about an average of a twentieth or less of the whole episode? It's honestly not even something that occurred to me to complain about on EP (not a huge Daikaiju fan, either). It's just signaling that the show is about to start, or about to end. And since the greater part is being spoken over, it's pretty much a non-issue for me. Not like the beginning of RadioLab where the guy says "dooublle-uuu ehnnnn whyyyyy seeeeeeeeeee" which literally makes my teeth hurt it annoys me so much (that's "WNYC" spoken extremely slowly for those of you who may have had trouble figuring that one out). I try to skip over the first 10 seconds, but skipping 10 seconds on an iPod is harder to do than skipping 30 seconds. :-\



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Reply #35 on: May 14, 2008, 06:26:15 PM
Seriously. I mean, the music is there for, what, about an average of a twentieth or less of the whole episode? It's honestly not even something that occurred to me to complain about on EP (not a huge Daikaiju fan, either). It's just signaling that the show is about to start, or about to end. And since the greater part is being spoken over, it's pretty much a non-issue for me.
I agree with this psot.

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Reply #36 on: May 20, 2008, 03:03:50 AM
I love EP's music, like CP's and wish I could do a better job with music on my podcast.  I think it speaks to uniqueness of EP's music that some of you really really dislike it.  When I hear it is like smelling dinner cooking - I am ready to be dished up a serving of solid entertainment!  Steve has me trained : ) . Now I just hope CP will deliver the same Pavlovian experience - time will tell.

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Reply #37 on: May 21, 2008, 11:59:14 AM
I love EP's music, like CP's and wish I could do a better job with music on my podcast.  I think it speaks to uniqueness of EP's music that some of you really really dislike it.  When I hear it is like smelling dinner cooking - I am ready to be dished up a serving of solid entertainment!  Steve has me trained : ) . Now I just hope CP will deliver the same Pavlovian experience - time will tell.

Apologize for the derail (it's sorta related, I promise!): something clonepod did in its last outro which I thought was a stroke of genius was mention what stories were coming up in the next few episodes.  I've been meh on the quality of the clonepod stories so far, but I loved loved loved Williams'  "Incarnation Day" and got a special thrill out of hearing it's upcoming on clonepod and am eagerly looking forward to it .  I'm not sure what you can spoil in a mostly reprint market by telling us what stories we'll be in store for coming up, and I don't think it would hurt PC (or EP or PP, for that matter) to mention authors and/or titles that we can expect to see from time to time.  I probably wouldn't want this every week, but perhaps once every three or four podcasts would be cool.  I can't see how building a sense of anticipation for specific stories could be a bad thing.

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Reply #38 on: May 21, 2008, 01:24:47 PM
I love EP's music, like CP's and wish I could do a better job with music on my podcast.  I think it speaks to uniqueness of EP's music that some of you really really dislike it.  When I hear it is like smelling dinner cooking - I am ready to be dished up a serving of solid entertainment!  Steve has me trained : ) . Now I just hope CP will deliver the same Pavlovian experience - time will tell.

Apologize for the derail (it's sorta related, I promise!): something clonepod did in its last outro which I thought was a stroke of genius was mention what stories were coming up in the next few episodes.  I've been meh on the quality of the clonepod stories so far, but I loved loved loved Williams'  "Incarnation Day" and got a special thrill out of hearing it's upcoming on clonepod and am eagerly looking forward to it .  I'm not sure what you can spoil in a mostly reprint market by telling us what stories we'll be in store for coming up, and I don't think it would hurt PC (or EP or PP, for that matter) to mention authors and/or titles that we can expect to see from time to time.  I probably wouldn't want this every week, but perhaps once every three or four podcasts would be cool.  I can't see how building a sense of anticipation for specific stories could be a bad thing.

That's true.  I remember when Ben Phillips said we were going to be getting another book collector story next week on PP (a while back) and I started salivating, because I liked the first on so much.  It makes a lot of sense, I think.  Whenever I see teaser spots for next week's episode on TV, it usually gets me chomping at the bit, wishing the week would go by faster.


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Reply #39 on: May 21, 2008, 02:19:40 PM
We've periodically announced such things on our livejournal, and here in the forums.

We have three weeks left of our initial arc, which started with high fantasy and is now in urban fantasy with Greg van Eekhout's "Osteomancer's Son." Over the next three weeks, we'll be looking at contemporary fantasy, magical realism, and finally surrealism, with:

(flash) "Hippocampus" by M. K. Hobson (author of "Hotel Astarte)
"Wisteria" by Ada Milenkovich Brown
"Magic in a Certain Slant of Light" by Deborah Coates
"Fourteen Experiments in Postal Delivery" by John Schoffstall
(flash) "Directions" by Caleb Wilson

And just in case you're the sort of person who hates contemporary fantasy, magical realism, and surrealism, rest assured: we'll be back to Peter Beagle after our initial arc is over.
« Last Edit: May 21, 2008, 02:22:00 PM by Rachel Swirsky »



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Reply #40 on: May 21, 2008, 02:51:41 PM
I like surrealism.  My favorite painter is Salvador Dali; there's a print of "The Face of Aphrodite in a Landscape" hanging in my home.

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Reply #41 on: May 21, 2008, 03:39:26 PM
We've periodically announced such things on our livejournal, and here in the forums.

We have three weeks left of our initial arc, which started with high fantasy and is now in urban fantasy with Greg van Eekhout's "Osteomancer's Son." Over the next three weeks, we'll be looking at contemporary fantasy, magical realism, and finally surrealism, with:

(flash) "Hippocampus" by M. K. Hobson (author of "Hotel Astarte)
"Wisteria" by Ada Milenkovich Brown

"Magic in a Certain Slant of Light" by Deborah Coates
"Fourteen Experiments in Postal Delivery" by John Schoffstall
(flash) "Directions" by Caleb Wilson

And just in case you're the sort of person who hates contemporary fantasy, magical realism, and surrealism, rest assured: we'll be back to Peter Beagle after our initial arc is over.

Hey Rachel, I was looking way back at the blog and I noticed that there were supposed to be stories by Jeremiah Tolbert and Cat Rambo coming that didn't come.  I figured they just got pushed back a little (not complaining at all, especially after this past story), but now I don't know.  Are they still going to run? 

(Apologies if this has been addressed somewhere else and I missed it.)


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Reply #42 on: May 21, 2008, 05:02:34 PM
Yes, they were pushed back. They'll still run. Both are recorded and intro'd; they're just waiting for new dates. :-D

Speaking of which, if people are jonesing for a Cat Rambo fix, her story "The Dead Girl's Wedding March" is online:

http://www.darkfantasy.org/fantasy/?p=38

Jeremiah Tolbert's "The Girl with the Sun in Her Head" is not online yet -- but it's great. I first read it in 2003, and when I started editing podcastle, it was one of the first stories that I went to an author to request submission of. (That's a terrible sentence, but hopefully gets the point across.)
« Last Edit: May 21, 2008, 05:07:16 PM by Rachel Swirsky »



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Reply #43 on: May 21, 2008, 05:10:32 PM
Cool, thanks!  I'm looking forward to them.


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Reply #44 on: May 21, 2008, 10:41:31 PM
We have three weeks left of our initial arc, which started with high fantasy and is now in urban fantasy with Greg van Eekhout's "Osteomancer's Son." Over the next three weeks, we'll be looking at contemporary fantasy, magical realism, and finally surrealism, with:

(flash) "Hippocampus" by M. K. Hobson (author of "Hotel Astarte)
"Wisteria" by Ada Milenkovich Brown
"Magic in a Certain Slant of Light" by Deborah Coates
"Fourteen Experiments in Postal Delivery" by John Schoffstall
(flash) "Directions" by Caleb Wilson

And just in case you're the sort of person who hates contemporary fantasy, magical realism, and surrealism, rest assured: we'll be back to Peter Beagle after our initial arc is over.

Cool.  How quick and obliging of you, Rachel.  I'm uhhhh hit or miss on the livejournal, but I do chex the forums.  Looking forward to all of these.  PC has been good to me so far, and I haven't even gotten to this week's (*squee*  * faint*) Eekhout story yet. I'm delighted at the prospect of having two potential audio venues through which to mainline Eekhout.

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Reply #45 on: July 16, 2008, 10:51:11 PM
I have to start out by saying this is my second favorite podcast behind Escape Pod.  I am a huge fan of fantasy.  I must admit that I like the mindless action based magic using, sword slashing monster hunting story and would love to see more of that ilk.  (Although I have liked all of the stories in the podcast except for Wisteria, which I BARELY got through). 

I agree with a few of nojojojo's comments...
A)  I kinda don't like the music, but that's not a big deal at all.
B)  I do like Rachel's voice, however, I do hear an echo sometimes...Kind of like talking into a tin can.
C)  And Finally, I wish the intro's had more personal stuff...I know it's totally weird, but I used to skip Steve's intro's and went right to the story, but after 5 or 10 of them, I became just as hooked on them as I am on the story. 

Those are my only complaints and I hope they do not overshadow the compliments, because I LOVE this podcast.  I just wanted to put my 2 cents in.  My favorite stories in order of awesomeness have been:

Osteomancer's Son
The Spell of the Sparrow
Barren's Dance
Fourteen experiments in Postal Delivery       (for hilariousness)
Come Lady Death                                   
Magic in a certain slant of light                 
For Fear of Dragons                                 
The Ant King, A California Fairy Tale
Fear of Rain
Run of the Fiery Horse
Hotel Astarte










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Reply #46 on: July 21, 2008, 06:56:30 PM
Hi all,
I'm new to posting messages, so bear with me. I hope I did it right!
I really like PodCastle, it's been really fun to listen to it as a supplement to Escape Pod.
I had one comment/suggestion that I wanted to mention. Does anyone else feel this way too?

I've noticed that as the story ends, I'm craving more of a pause before the talking starts.  I really like taking a bit of time to digest the ending of the story. Escape Pod has a few seconds of music, and I like that because it gives me the chance to reflect on the story before hearing feedback from other stories, etc.

Thoughts?

Also, I'm a good month behind in my listening, so if this is something that has already been talked about and I just haven't gotten to it yet, disregard my message!
Thanks!



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Reply #47 on: August 03, 2008, 05:15:09 PM
I actually agree, especially since PC's outro's always go straight to the subject of a different story.  Which, to be clear, I don't mind at all... it's just a little too quick to change gears mentally.  A nice music break would help.



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Reply #48 on: September 29, 2008, 04:53:30 AM
I would like to start off by saying that I am really liking the podcast and I'm not the worlds greatest fantasy lover, but you are making a good case for it.

Right now the only thing that is sticking out to me is the wide variations in the sound quality of the readings. It ranges from open reverb with the reader sounding like they are in the rafters to a tight right on the mic quality that nearly blinds me every time an "s" is uttered (this one happens with PP to). I know that I am a borderline obsessive compulsive person when it comes to sound editing and quality issues (way to many years in recording studios). I would suggest that you have all the readers use the same open source recording utility and supply them a template project file. Even with mic variations it will bring the readings into a similar quality envelope.

Just an observation and I offer it as a humble and respectful fan.

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