Phew. Where to start. THis is my first time posting on this forum. I fell in love (quite literally) with Escape Artists three years ago and am quite honest about saying that EscapePod and PodCastle kept me sane when I was staying at home with our three children under three. You are/were my lifeline!
I am saddened to hear that Mur is leaving because she is wonderful, witty, honest, real and sincere. I created this account and joined the discussion to say that I'm sad to see her go....and very unhappy with the choice of her replacement. I am worried that we are going to have another Drabblecast. I tried to listen to Drabblecast, I really, really did. But found that the consistently over-the-top intros/outros were just too much for my "just get to the fiction!" brain to handle. Even Norm's post in this feed falls into the "over-the-top-too-much-info" theme that I worry about. REally, I neither want nor need to know about the "tiny catfish that swim up and get stuck in your peehole." Norm, please accept with my respect, some feedback that I would be quite happy to hear you turn down the volume on the strange-meter when you are hosting. Please don't mess with the great product that is EscapePod.
Hi South:)
I understand your concerns completely and you're absolutely right to be a little apprehensive based on those concerns.But one of the fun things about working for EA is I get to see behind the curtain,and there are a couple of things that may not be immediately clear that shouldallay those fears some;
-The same slush reading team is in place.Which means half the entire editorial process is exactly the same as it was under Mur's leadership. The same kind of stories are coming through and are stillbeing treated with respect and enthuiasm.
-A bunch of stories were already accepted when I stepped in as temporary editor and we're not close to working through them. When we are,and start moving across to the stories Norm's selected, you won't see a sudden change, for the reasons above.
-I'm co hosting Escape Pod,full time,as of January. That means I'm hosting two weeks out of every four,just like Norm did with Mur. So if you don't get on with Norm's hosting style, but like mine,check in with the back two weeks of every month. If you don't like mine eiether, that's fine,and my apologies:)
And no,in case anyone's wondering, that won't affect Pseudopod in the slightest. Endcaps are recorded up to the end of February and I aim to stay that far ahead all the way along the year:)