Union Dues on clonepod (reposted from Podcastle forum)

[stePH]

(Reposting this from the Podcastle area of the board because it is not the place to have this conversation...)

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.

Please reconsider having an older reader for the Union Dues story (for any story, actually).  I like the stories on your podcast but can barely tolerate the hosts with their chirpy kid voices and reading-an-unrehearsed-script delivery.  Currently they're still tolerable because it's all about the stories for me, but I would strongly dislike one of them reading the main content, particularly a story I'm anticipating as much as another installement of Union Dues.

[jrderego]

(Reposting this from the Podcastle area of the board because it is not the place to have this conversation...)

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.

Please reconsider having an older reader for the Union Dues story (for any story, actually).  I like the stories on your podcast but can barely tolerate the hosts with their chirpy kid voices and reading-an-unrehearsed-script delivery.  Currently they're still tolerable because it's all about the stories for me, but I would strongly dislike one of them reading the main content, particularly a story I'm anticipating as much as another installement of Union Dues.

Ahh, but you may be surprised. The series of stories that Clonepod is airing, the Team Shikaragaki stories, are all 1st person POV from characters aged 13-16. I approached Clonepod with these stories specifically because of Abby, Forrest, and Zack's voices. When I heard them I heard Kitty, Tam, TK, and Johnny.

Give the first one a shot, Abby is reading as Kitty Momoiro, a 13 year old super-agile girl.

I can't wait to hear it.

[Russell Nash]

Gotta say I'm siding with StePh on this one.  For the story to be listenable, the kids are going to have to step up their quality quite a bit.

[stePH]

Well, if the author is enthusiastic then I'll give it a chance.  But I'm not optimistic, as I already mentioned in another thread that I find the girl the most annoying of the three.

[EDIT]
PS, she sounds like a pre-teen to me.

[Russell Nash]

I listened to it today.  The girl really did step up her game.  She was better than I've ever heard her.  There were several editing problems though and her pronounciation was off on several words and a city.

[jrderego]

I listened to it today.  The girl really did step up her game.  She was better than I've ever heard her.  There were several editing problems though and her pronounciation was off on several words and a city.

I was thrilled with the read. I did notice the mispronunciations but that wasn't a dealbreaker. Abby really stepped up the plate and swung hard on this one and I am very happy with her presentation. Again, I'm biased, and sought her out because of her voice, but this was a very very good read.

[stePH]

I listened to it today.  The girl really did step up her game.  She was better than I've ever heard her.  There were several editing problems though and her pronounciation was off on several words and a city.

Well, I'll be listening tonight.  She'll probably exceed my expectations, as the bar is currently set so low that you could step over it.

[deflective]

i found the podcast through another thread so i walked into it with no expectations.

my thought process went from 'well, this isn't going to work' through 'ok, i see what they're going for' finally into 'there's some genuine synergy here.' some of the mispronunciations actually added to story (eg, 'stuffs' instead of 'stuff'), Abby naturalized the story to a younger vocabulary.

kudos for giving this a try. i look forward to the next installment.

[jrderego]

I listened to it today.  The girl really did step up her game.  She was better than I've ever heard her.  There were several editing problems though and her pronounciation was off on several words and a city.

i found the podcast through another thread so i walked into it with no expectations.

my thought process went from 'well, this isn't going to work' through 'ok, i see what they're going for' finally into 'there's some genuine synergy here.' some of the mispronunciations actually added to story (eg, 'stuffs' instead of 'stuff'), Abby naturalized the story to a younger vocabulary.

kudos for giving this a try. i look forward to the next installment.

Recording aside, what did you think of the story itself?

[stePH]

I listened to it today.  The girl really did step up her game.  She was better than I've ever heard her.  There were several editing problems though and her pronounciation was off on several words and a city.

I didn't hear her "game" stepped up at all.  As low as my expectations were, she failed to meet them.

I was thrilled with the read. I did notice the mispronunciations but that wasn't a dealbreaker. Abby really stepped up the plate and swung hard on this one ...

... but ultimately struck out, IMO.  The mispronunciations (including adding an extra syllable to "Shikaragaki") were the least of the problems; I could have accepted her reading if they were all that was wrong with it.  However, she also faltered through all but the shortest sentences, sometimes pausing a few seconds to where I thought the sentence had ended only to find that it did in fact continue.  Overall she sounded like she was seeing the story for the first time as it was being recorded.  There were also the mistakes-and-backtracking (which to be fair are the fault of the editor.  I've tried my hand at recording an audiobook and was frequently stopping to re-record passages that I'd fluffed.  Still, they pulled me out of the story as much as the bad reading did.)

Still, Mr. DeRego, you should be proud ... it's a testament to your story that I stuck it through to the end despite the painfully bad narration.  I hope that it's several years before I have to hear another Abby Kim reading, if ever.  I may end up unsubscribing to Clonepod if I hear her anywhere but the intro or outro again.

[edited to correct DeRego's name]

[deflective]

Recording aside, what did you think of the story itself?

it's an interesting addition to the union dues series. the strong presence of mind control in the last couple of stories is a can of worms that could be tough to handle. especially with super-tacticals coming up with ways to anticipate and counter the possibility of compromised memories.

a personal pet peeve is that, in short speculative fiction, conflict for female characters is almost always created by victimization from a male character. this isn't a general problem for union dues though so it's not a big deal. you can also get away with stereotypes a lot easier when writing for a younger audience.

as usual, union dues is vaguely depressing and distasteful but compelling. i'm always left wanting to hear the next one.

[jrderego]

Recording aside, what did you think of the story itself?

it's an interesting addition to the union dues series. the strong presence of mind control in the last couple of stories is a can of worms that could be tough to handle. especially with super-tacticals coming up with ways to anticipate and counter the possibility of compromised memories.

a personal pet peeve is that, in short speculative fiction, conflict for female characters is almost always created by victimization from a male character. this isn't a general problem for union dues though so it's not a big deal. you can also get away with stereotypes a lot easier when writing for a younger audience.

as usual, union dues is vaguely depressing and distasteful but compelling. i'm always left wanting to hear the next one.

The next one is 180 degrees different from Kitty Momoiro, in that it's a story about self acceptance and maturity. This tale is anything but depressing and/or dark. However, since the five characters introduced in Kitty Momoiro, each have their own story in this little series, there will be elements of each story appearing in each subsequent story so the character continuity will be a little stronger, and I hope, will drive interest in the subsequent tales.

The next story is called "The Saga of Tam Suji".

[DKT]

This was the first time I'd listened to clonepod, and I enjoyed it.  I thought Abby did a pretty good job reading it.  She could've done more with inflection -- adding some emotion to several points where instead t felt a little like a cold-reading, and there were a couple spots where the sound-editing could've helped her out, but I also understand why Jeff was so excited to have her read it.  Still, she's, what 13?  She did a pretty good job and should be proud. 

Also, I really dig what clonepod's trying to do in general.  Stories aimed at kids (that hopefully adults will dig, too), read by kids.  That's a really cool idea, and I hope they're successful with it.  And I hope it gets kids excited about stories, and gets their creative juices flowing.  I'm looking forward to hearing more stuff there.

[stePH]

Also, I really dig what clonepod's trying to do in general.  Stories aimed at kids (that hopefully adults will dig, too), read by kids.  That's a really cool idea, and I hope they're successful with it. 

This was the eighth or ninth story on Clonepod that I've listened to, but only the first to have been read by a child; the rest of the readers sounded like adults to me.  If the stories had all been read by kids, I probably wouldn't still be subscribed.

[jrderego]

This was the first time I'd listened to clonepod, and I enjoyed it.  I thought Abby did a pretty good job reading it.  She could've done more with inflection -- adding some emotion to several points where instead t felt a little like a cold-reading, and there were a couple spots where the sound-editing could've helped her out, but I also understand why Jeff was so excited to have her read it.  Still, she's, what 13?  She did a pretty good job and should be proud. 

Also, I really dig what clonepod's trying to do in general.  Stories aimed at kids (that hopefully adults will dig, too), read by kids.  That's a really cool idea, and I hope they're successful with it.  And I hope it gets kids excited about stories, and gets their creative juices flowing.  I'm looking forward to hearing more stuff there.

She's 11 and had just the right voice. When I heard her in a Clonepod intro I heard Kitty. Considering the content, she did a very good job, and there are several places in the story where she was very obviously into the character, her interactions with Sandy, and with Miss Jennifer outside her childhood home, and with her step father, were all very well done.

[goatkeeper]

I really enjoyed the story and the narration was really engaging and added so much to it.  Far from flawless but that only gets in the way if you focus on it.  I think clonepod has something special with this kids idea- it will most assuredly turn some listeners off but others, like myself, will really dig it.  It's also great hearing kids getting involved in podcasting/spec fic. These kids will only get better with the experience they gain listening to stories and reading themselves.  Hell, Abby's no worse than I was episode one of Drabblecast.

About the story:  Kitty is a neat character and I'd love to see her charatcer down the road as she ages in future stories.  JDR, the coolest thing ever is when Union Dues characters from one story make cameos or tie in different stories and the reader/listener gets to go "Ooo, I remember that story!"
Lookin forward to the next one.

[jrderego]

I really enjoyed the story and the narration was really engaging and added so much to it.  Far from flawless but that only gets in the way if you focus on it.  I think clonepod has something special with this kids idea- it will most assuredly turn some listeners off but others, like myself, will really dig it.  It's also great hearing kids getting involved in podcasting/spec fic. These kids will only get better with the experience they gain listening to stories and reading themselves.  Hell, Abby's no worse than I was episode one of Drabblecast.

About the story:  Kitty is a neat character and I'd love to see her charatcer down the road as she ages in future stories.  JDR, the coolest thing ever is when Union Dues characters from one story make cameos or tie in different stories and the reader/listener gets to go "Ooo, I remember that story!"
Lookin forward to the next one.

Thanks Norm, you'll see Kitty in every one of the Team Shikaragaki stories. She has a big supporting role in the next one, a little less in the third and fourth, but she's there. Since each of these stories is told from the POV of one of the kids, and then Miss Jennifer, and they are pretty much together all the time, there will be more overlap. There are also a few guest appearances from old friends, and a new character who isn't going to seem all that important, but tied in very closely with the first Union Dues series. But that is still in development. I've tried hard to keep the universe as consistent as possible, and one of the things I always liked about the comics I collected when I collected them (1983-1985) was running into Spider Man in a Fantastic Four book, or seeing Power Pack show up for a couple of panels in an Avengers story, so I've tried to duplicate that with these.

[Russell Nash]

I listened to it today.  The girl really did step up her game.  She was better than I've ever heard her.  There were several editing problems though and her pronounciation was off on several words and a city.

i found the podcast through another thread so i walked into it with no expectations.

my thought process went from 'well, this isn't going to work' through 'ok, i see what they're going for' finally into 'there's some genuine synergy here.' some of the mispronunciations actually added to story (eg, 'stuffs' instead of 'stuff'), Abby naturalized the story to a younger vocabulary.

kudos for giving this a try. i look forward to the next installment.

Recording aside, what did you think of the story itself?

I liked the story, but I wasn't compelled to keep the file.  I've kept every other Union Dues story, but normally keep about 10% of all EP stories.  I don't know if there is any real reason I didn't keep it.  Maybe it just didn't have that wow factor.

[Thaurismunths]

This won't come as a surprise, but I really enjoyed this UD story.

[Russell Nash]

This won't come as a surprise, but I really enjoyed this UD story.

Really??

You??

[Sandikal]

I listened to this story a few weeks ago.  I really enjoyed it and I thought Abby did a perfect job on it.  Whatever mispronunciations there were didn't even register in my brain.  I have an almost-13 year old son and that's just how kids talk.  Kitty's story just broke my heart and I think part of my reaction was due to Abby's reading.

[stePH]

I listened to this story a few weeks ago.  I really enjoyed it and I thought Abby did a perfect job on it.  Whatever mispronunciations there were didn't even register in my brain.  I have an almost-13 year old son and that's just how kids talk.  Kitty's story just broke my heart and I think part of my reaction was due to Abby's reading.

One would think she would at least learn to say "Shikaragaki" correctly since it's in the title of the series.

Yeah, I know I'm in a minority of one here.  I still think her reading sucked.

[Thaurismunths]

This won't come as a surprise, but I really enjoyed this UD story.

Really??

You??

Well, yeah. The rest were crap.

[Thaurismunths]

I listened to this story a few weeks ago.  I really enjoyed it and I thought Abby did a perfect job on it.  Whatever mispronunciations there were didn't even register in my brain.  I have an almost-13 year old son and that's just how kids talk.  Kitty's story just broke my heart and I think part of my reaction was due to Abby's reading.

One would think she would at least learn to say "Shikaragaki" correctly since it's in the title of the series.

Yeah, I know I'm in a minority of one here.  I still think her reading sucked.

You do realize that you are actually, literally, genuinely, really, truly, verily, in all honestly, with no exaggeration, picking on a little girl, don't you?

[stePH]

I listened to this story a few weeks ago.  I really enjoyed it and I thought Abby did a perfect job on it.  Whatever mispronunciations there were didn't even register in my brain.  I have an almost-13 year old son and that's just how kids talk.  Kitty's story just broke my heart and I think part of my reaction was due to Abby's reading.

One would think she would at least learn to say "Shikaragaki" correctly since it's in the title of the series.

Yeah, I know I'm in a minority of one here.  I still think her reading sucked.

You do realize that you are actually, literally, genuinely, really, truly, verily, in all honestly, with no exaggeration, picking on a little girl, don't you?

Yes, and I make no apology for it.  She very nearly ruined a perfectly good story.