Author Topic: So here's the deal... (Read 50188 times)

Hinzelmann · **Reply #25 on:** April 10, 2010, 06:56:12 PM

They say a man who can catch a fly with chopsticks can do anything. So Steve, when did you first catch one? Because what you've done with Escape Pod is nothing short of astonishing. You've nurtured a vibrant SF market from nothing and turned it into a pillar of Podcasting, even of the SF community in general. The entire family of Escape Artists podcasts have introduced me to consistently good stories which have shaped the way I think about storytelling in a major way.

I'll miss hearing your voice on a regular basis. It's just so friendly and energetic. I hope you'll continue to visit conventions, especially Balticon. Good luck with all your endeavours, and thank you.

kevlar · **Reply #26 on:** April 10, 2010, 08:19:39 PM

Well OK. Can't say it was a big surprise. Seems like this has been coming for a while now. Firstly, I would like to say thank you. I have been listening for two years now and I have heard some amazing stories. You have made my hour long commute these past two years much more enjoyable. Your life and well being should be the most important thing so I support your decision fully. I am sorry if this next thing I have to say sounds insensitive or uncaring but, you have let me down. I have supported you for a while now and I don't think you have treated me properly. Please invest in a mass email system. People who donate to your site on a regular basis should be informed as to the status of this podcast. Sorry Steve, I know you have made great personal sacrifices to make this podcast what it is. I hope things are well with you now and best of luck in your future endeavors.

oddpod · **Reply #27 on:** April 10, 2010, 11:29:46 PM

thanks for everything steve,
you have opened a galexy of new worlds to me.

madmatt · **Reply #28 on:** April 11, 2010, 01:39:18 AM

Wow, we have baby number two along in a few months also and I've been told I'm in for a shock, and that you aren't a real father until you have two etc. Now I'm really worried!

Seriously though, family is number one! And thank you so much for what you have done.

Thomas · **Reply #29 on:** April 12, 2010, 12:29:17 AM

I have not commented here before, never felt the need. until now.

Well, Steve, I have enjoyed Escapepod immensely since I started listening during its' second year. Escapepod was the first anthology podcast I subscribed to. Thanks to you and Escapepod, I have been introduced to Sigler, Hutchins, and a world of other podcast fiction authors. Although reluctantly, I also started listening to Psuedopod about the time Mur gave up the reigns to Alisdair (whom I adore). Been very happy with my decision to subscribe there. I am also pleased with the host of authors Psuedopod has introduced me too. I am and will always be a fan of yours, Steve Ely, from the stories you brought to us, to the little glimpses of your life (totally miss the updates on how your son has changed your life, those were most insightful and reminded me of my own revelations with my own children, my youngest just turned 15). Your decision to step down from Escapepod is a difficult one, but totally understandable. You will be missed. Know that you are loved.

davedoty · **Reply #30 on:** April 12, 2010, 02:31:28 AM

I'm glad you're making choices for the best of your family. I'm sure the vast majority of us will be happy with whoever replaces you on EP, and we'll all accept whatever time frame is required to make those changes happen.

All of which I write to make clear that the following question (to whoever can answer it) is meant only as a request for clarification, NOT an attempt to be pushy for new content...

Does this mean we should view Escape Pod as on hiatus until a replacement is found and in place, or is there a hope that we may see stories, even if at a reduced pace, resume at some point during the interim? I'm fine with it is the situation forces it to be the latter, but I must confess I'll find it a little easier to be patient if I already know the short-term resumption isn't going to happen.

SFEley · **Reply #31 on:** April 12, 2010, 03:23:10 AM

Quote from: davedoty on April 12, 2010, 02:31:28 AM

Does this mean we should view Escape Pod as on hiatus until a replacement is found and in place, or is there a hope that we may see stories, even if at a reduced pace, resume at some point during the interim?

Great question. I can't give you a solid "This is The Plan" answer because there isn't one yet; but I think it'll depend at least in part on how long it takes to get a new team up and running. Good progress was made this weekend -- nothing's confirmed enough yet to give any names, but when we can, I think it'll be names familiar to the EP community.

At the very least I owe a metacast pretty damn soon. Beyond that -- well, if it looks like getting a new ball rolling would take a couple months or something, then yes, I'll push some stories out from inventory so that the feed doesn't get eaten by a grue. If the timeframe's more like 2-3 weeks, then we may use that inventory to speed the transition instead.

I wish I could be more specific than that, but the truth is I just don't know enough right now. What I can tell you is that I'm involved and hands-on again -- and that I'm reading this thread, so feel free to keep asking questions like this. >8->

SFEley · **Reply #32 on:** April 12, 2010, 03:27:13 AM

Oh -- and also, thanks to all of you for the well-wishes and kind words. You all rock.

Harper thinks you rock too. See?

alllie · **Reply #33 on:** April 12, 2010, 12:55:17 PM

Since I don't have the "babies are cute" gene all I can say is NO NO NO.

You know that will grow up to be, don't you. And you know what many of them are like.

I just wish I could get you one of those MacArthur Foundation Genius Grants so you didn't have to make this choice.

And Anna needs to sue that employer of hers. Firing someone two weeks before they are due to give birth. That sounds bogus to me. Capitalist.

But thanks for the memories. Will miss you a lot.

lowky · **Reply #34 on:** April 12, 2010, 02:51:24 PM

Quote from: SFEley on April 12, 2010, 03:27:13 AM

Oh -- and also, thanks to all of you for the well-wishes and kind words. You all rock.

Harper thinks you rock too. See?

The 'Solid' from Harper and Harper herself also rock. (You too, but you didn't post a picture of yourself Steve).

SFEley · **Reply #35 on:** April 12, 2010, 08:49:19 PM

Pictures of me:
http://www.okcupid.com/profile/SFEley/pictures

SFEley · **Reply #36 on:** April 12, 2010, 09:05:49 PM

Quote from: alllie on April 12, 2010, 12:55:17 PM

And Anna needs to sue that employer of hers. Firing someone two weeks before they are due to give birth. That sounds bogus to me. Capitalist.

Believe me, we looked into it. A lot of people had the same reaction. I don't think there's a case there though, because A.) they laid off other people the same day, and B.) there's no evidence (nor any way we can think of to collect evidence) that whomever made this decision back at the corporate office even knew she was pregnant.

Also: if laying her off just before maternity leave was supposed to be an Evil Capitalist money-saving move, it was a stupid one. They paid her 10 weeks of severance plus unused vacation and some other minor benefits. Her maternity leave would have used up her vacation and then come out of short-term disability, which is essentially an insurance policy. They lost money on that maneuver.

It was definitely heartless, and Anna reports from lunches with her former coworkers that morale there has effectively dropped to subzero and everyone's getting their resumés out. Laying off the pregnant woman who was good at her job is a pretty clear statement that the company doesn't give a crap about any of them. But that's par for the course in large enterprises. The timing almost certainly didn't come from strategic malice. Just a typical lack of beneficence.

jrderego · **Reply #37 on:** April 12, 2010, 09:23:09 PM

Quote from: SFEley on April 12, 2010, 09:05:49 PM

Quote from: alllie on April 12, 2010, 12:55:17 PM
And Anna needs to sue that employer of hers. Firing someone two weeks before they are due to give birth. That sounds bogus to me. Capitalist.

Believe me, we looked into it. A lot of people had the same reaction. I don't think there's a case there though, because A.) they laid off other people the same day, and B.) there's no evidence (nor any way we can think of to collect evidence) that whomever made this decision back at the corporate office even knew she was pregnant.

Also: if laying her off just before maternity leave was supposed to be an Evil Capitalist money-saving move, it was a stupid one. They paid her 10 weeks of severance plus unused vacation and some other minor benefits. Her maternity leave would have used up her vacation and then come out of short-term disability, which is essentially an insurance policy. They lost money on that maneuver.

It was definitely heartless, and Anna reports from lunches with her former coworkers that morale there has effectively dropped to subzero and everyone's getting their resumés out. Laying off the pregnant woman who was good at her job is a pretty clear statement that the company doesn't give a crap about any of them. But that's par for the course in large enterprises. The timing almost certainly didn't come from strategic malice. Just a typical lack of beneficence.

You still might want to check if they violated the Family Medical Leave Act. If Anna had put in a request for FMLA time following the birth of Harper and they cut her anyway, it's potentially illegal and often treated as a human rights issue.

lowky · **Reply #38 on:** April 12, 2010, 10:19:22 PM

Quote from: SFEley on April 12, 2010, 08:49:19 PM

Pictures of me:
http://www.okcupid.com/profile/SFEley/pictures

While there is no deny you rock, I think we need a "Solid" pose from you for proper comparison to Harper

lorax · **Reply #39 on:** April 13, 2010, 07:24:53 AM

Steve, it is sad to see you go! But, having just had our second child in october, it is understandable. My Children bring great joy into my life, but they don't leave alot of time for the extras. It is good to see a dad choosing to put his family first. If I remeber right I have been listening to your show since episode 118 the veteran, and have greatly enjoyed the show since.

washer · **Reply #40 on:** April 13, 2010, 12:14:29 PM

Hey Steve, I hope everything works out and that I still get to hear you do an intro every now and again. I got very bored one night and went looking to read all the Hugo-award winning stories I could find. I found a lot of them in text form, and then I found that I had to listen to your podcast in order to hear Ted Chiang's "Exhalation." I grumbled, and downloaded the episode, and tuned in at work that night when I rather would've listened to music. That was almost precisely a year ago, and now I find that I listen to little else besides podcasts. I came into this game late, but you really made a difference in my life. Work used to be a slog, and now I look forward to being able to listen to my podcasts there.

I hope you and your wife and your two beautiful children are doing great, and that you all continue on in blissful fashion in perpetuity.

On a side note, the OKCupid link threw me. 36? OK, sure. Male? Assuredly. Polyamorous & bisexual? Hey, what now?! When I saw you with a beautiful lady on either arm at Dragon-Con, I said to myself, "This man is the master. I must become the student."

Unblinking · **Reply #41 on:** April 13, 2010, 01:58:08 PM

Hey Steve,
I'm both sad and relieved to hear your decision.

Sad because I've spent the last 4 months listening to Escape Pod's backlog, and I'm pretty sure your voice is oozing out of my ears. Escape Pod without Eley will be decidedly weird. I'll be very curious who steps up to take the reins. Hopefully they have a similar taste in stories as you have, because EP has been the SF publication, bar none, that most consistently wows me with the stories it runs. Even a lot of the stories run in the Big Three I find rather boring, and though I've had a few episodes of EP that I've skipped, and that's no surprise because I have grown very impatient when it comes to fiction I'm not enjoying, the ratio of skipped:enjoyed is the lowest here.

And I'm relieved because it sounds like this is really the best choice for you. Taking care of yourself and your family has to take priority, and I'm glad that you're taking steps to hand the podcast off to other capable hands. I don't think that anyone else could've started this venture as well as you did, but now that it's got a solid audience, and really kickass authors sending stories in, I believe that someone else can take over and do great things with it as well.

Escape Artists' 'casts will always be special to me because my sale to Pseudopod was my very first fiction sale, after years of trying. I'd been despairing "What if I NEVER make a sale?" and had started to wonder if I should just take up pottery or something instead to satisfy my urge to create. The acceptance email from Ben Phillips was such a great moment, and you're one of the major factors responsible for setting the events in motion that made that happen by the creation of Escape Pod in the first place. Once I made that first sale, a few others have followed suit, and it feels like that first one was what really got the rest going.

I'd been intending to write up some fan mail to send your way to say all that, but I was waiting until I finished listening to the backlog and had written up my Best of Escape Pod post. Since you've announced your departure this is as good a time as any. You've made my (self-appointed) task of picking Escape Pod's top 10 extremely difficult. I could easily pick a top 50 that I could be proud of, and it's going to be tough to narrow it down to a mere 10.

I'd like to meet you at a con sometime as well, so I hope you'll still be traveling for those from time to time. I haven't actually made it to that many cons because, well, because I'm a cheap bastard. But I'm trying to get out there more and see the con scene, and it'd be cool to have lunch with you or something.

Anyway, keep in touch and take care!
,David Steffen

SoSouthern · **Reply #42 on:** April 13, 2010, 02:45:41 PM

Steve,
First of all, I'm glad to hear that you and your family are doing well. You got me worried!
Second, I've enjoyed every minute of what you've done with Escape Pod and its siblings. I'd love to be able to listen to your creation forever, but understand that you have a life

and that pet projects do tend to grow heavy on their creator's shoulders after such a long time.

Also, we are a bunch of self centered, pompous, know-it-all bitches who can't agree on a comma, so good riddance

Do drop by to update us on whatever you're doing, please? I've enjoyed your "personal stories" as much as the literary content.

All the best

Cecilia

alllie · **Reply #43 on:** April 13, 2010, 03:14:09 PM

Quote from: Unblinking on April 13, 2010, 01:58:08 PM

Escape Pod without Eley will be decidedly weird. I'll be very curious who steps up to take the reins. Hopefully they have a similar taste in stories as you have, because EP has been the SF publication, bar none, that most consistently wows me with the stories it runs.

Ditto on that. While I enjoy Steve's narrations and intros etc what I enjoy most is his choices. I've enjoyed plenty of escapepod stories that someone else narrated but as long as Steve was the executive editor I found I liked the choices, almost always.

I wish that Steve had the time just to okay the final stories, not to narrate them or do the audio work, just to put his seal of approval on the choices. Like when Jeremy was doing it, he seemed like a great guy, very enjoyable, but I found I didn't enjoy the stories he choose as much as I enjoyed the stories that Steve chose.

Oh, well, life movies on.

Best wish forever, Steve.

oyetkin · **Reply #44 on:** April 13, 2010, 05:17:31 PM

Steve,

I wish you the best of luck with the next phase of your life, and (selfishly) hope that you find someone soon to fill your shoes!

The podcast has made my daily commute bearable and gotten me back into Sci-Fi short stories.

Oğuz
P.S. I'm also impressed that you guys were able to maintain such high audio quality compared to the rest of what's out there...

stePH · **Reply #45 on:** April 13, 2010, 08:39:59 PM

Quote from: washer on April 13, 2010, 12:14:29 PM

On a side note, the OKCupid link threw me. 36? OK, sure. Male? Assuredly. Polyamorous & bisexual? Hey, what now?! When I saw you with a beautiful lady on either arm at Dragon-Con, I said to myself, "This man is the master. I must become the student."

I'm mostly going to miss Eley's unforced, natural-sounding style as host. Not everybody can pull that off, though Alasdair on PP is getting there.

Ray Shaw · **Reply #46 on:** April 13, 2010, 10:47:01 PM

I've listened to all the Escape Pod episodes, and you have brought much to my life through your selection of works and your comments and thoughts during your podcasts. I wish you the best of fortune with your family and know that you are doing the right thing. Technology careers often demand a lot of your time. My daughter's wedding was a short while ago and she has moved from our home to live in the U.K. with her new husband (a fantastic young man and his whole family are Science Fiction fans!). I'm delighted she has found such a perfect partner. But the 22 years we had her here have been way too short, and I regret every minute I've had to spend away from her, my other daughter and my wife due to the demands of work. Enjoy more time with your family. Unlike work, life is not going to wait for you to find the time for it.

Teriblkev · **Reply #47 on:** April 13, 2010, 11:05:47 PM

Nightfall was bundled into some freeware I downloaded,it introduced me to Escape Pod and Steve Eley;it reminded me of my love for short S.F. and got me looking into other podcasts,now that my addiction full blown,you desert me.Putting your own family before my selfish needs after supplying my first fix free.Still,forgiveness may come someday,as for now well ...time will tell.

Ben Phillips · **Reply #48 on:** April 14, 2010, 02:11:26 AM

Quote from: Teriblkev on April 13, 2010, 11:05:47 PM

Nightfall was bundled into some freeware I downloaded,it introduced me to Escape Pod and Steve Eley;it reminded me of my love for short S.F. and got me looking into other podcasts,now that my addiction full blown,you desert me.Putting your own family before my selfish needs after supplying my first fix free.Still,forgiveness may come someday,as for now well ...time will tell.

Just out of curiosity, what software was that? (CC licensing means no one has to notify us about stuff like that, and this is the first I've heard of it.)

wb9rro · **Reply #49 on:** April 14, 2010, 02:21:51 AM

Steve,
Congrat's on the family. I can only echo that you will be missed. I wish the best for you and your family. They grow up way too fast. Enjoy the journey! Maybe pop back with a geek dad intro once in awhile..