Huzzah! Eight years - almost to the day - after I first started podcasting it, I've finally finished Dracula.
This is all thanks to you, my patrons here at Patreon. You wanted it, you kept me going when I couldn't face it, and now, thanks to you, it's done.
My huge thanks to you all. Not just the people who wanted it, but all of you for supporting me here and making it possible. The Dracula podcast, off Patreon, has become the biggest driver of new listeners to U&F I have out there. Without it, I'd have A LOT fewer listeners - and patrons - than I do today. So thank you all.
Because I wanted to get this up here for you today, this recording is the same version as the one in my public feed.
And if you want to listen to the podcast of the whole novel on your favourite podcast app, you can find links for it at my websites, or here: https://draculanovel.libsyn.com/website
Hello Patrons! In this episode of Meanwhile I'm joined by Pauline for a chat about my news, including developments in the U&F TV project; the end of my Dracula podcast; and a potential... no, probable, course change for events in U&F Legion and Still of the Night.
We also mention a few TV shows that you may want to check out if you've not seen them already:
Here's the latest - no doubt controversial - entry into the current U&F cover series.
You have David on the right (as last seen on the cover of U&F 1), and the other two people (no spoilers for those who haven't yet gone far enough into the podcast to know) are the people you probably think they are. Clue, no, the woman isn't Redmond.
This will be the cover, whether you love it or hate it, because I need a cover and I need one that continues the design theme of the previous two. One day, hopefully, this decision will be with some fancy publishing house and they'll change them completely, but for now, while the decision is with me, I do the best I can.
As always, the elements in the cover are there according to my request. I found all the images in this cover as I did in the others. But no, I don't necessarily feel that any of the faces depicted exactly represent the people they are supposed to; however, one has to go with the faces one can find in online photo stores - most of which, when searching my criteria, are either beautiful models grinning to camera, or ludicrous people with plastic fangs stuck in their gobs.
I do hope you like it, obviously, and I welcome constructive criticism of it because you may see flaws I've overlooked which I can then pass on to the designer. For example, I think the tunnel is a bit too bright. It's that way because if it's too dark, you can't see what it is when reduced to the tiny size they use for Amazon Kindle etc. But I still think it needs to be a bit darker.
So what have I been doing this month? Taking the broken down, clapped out, not fit for purpose thing that was my free podcast feed and making it awesome, that's what. Listen to hear how my feed first became cr*p, and how I just rebuilt it; also to find out what's in my fridge, my dogs' DNA breed results, and some pretty revealing stats from my free podcast feeds. I know, I know, it's not an adrenaline-fueled ride through hyperspace, but it's, well, it's my life, man :-)
And if you don't already have it, here are links to my free podcast's feed:
This podcast is the one you didn't want to see and I didn't want to make, but sadly here it is anyway.
Due to the amount of work I have to do at present, not including writing and podcasting new episodes, I'm going to have to go back on a U&F podcast hiatus. I give you the details in the episode, but it basically boils down to the fact that this other work just needs to be done, badly, and now, and it requires my full and undivided attention.
This hiatus won't be baled out on after a couple of months (like the last one), I'll be sticking to it for at least six months so I can get U&F Underground edited, finished, and published as both an ebook and audiobook. Then I need to get Legion written out in first draft, so I can make it the best novel it possibly can be, and a fitting finale to the Underwood and David series. And then, once those things are all in the bag, I can resume podcasting Legion here. And it'll be worth it, believe me (I know what happens).
I do apologise for this, it's not what I want, and I know it's not what you want, but it is just an unavoidable part of the (good) novel creation process. I hope you understand.
p.s. I repeat myself a bit in the podcast. I would have edited and rerecorded it, but I wanted to get this episode up today so you can absorb the news and decide whether or not you want to lower your pledge, or cancel it, before the end of the month. I hope you don't, but I completely understand if you feel you do.
In case you haven't noticed, all my podcasts have vanished from the Internet - with the exception of my personal podcast feed. Find out why in this podcast insight into why I'm doing what I'm doing.
I think it's his best one yet. The idea is to make new listeners understand from the get-go that U&F is more than one book these days; it's a saga. The amount of people who listen to Book 1 and don't go on to Book 2 is considerable. I talk about that problem in the podcast, too, and why my new plan should hopefully fix it.
Not of interest to most peeps, perhaps, but I was chatting to a patron today and he wasn't aware I had a second dog (Billy, the smaller of the two, we rescued him in 2019). I was surprised because I thought you all knew about him, but I realised then that I've neglected to mention him here at Patreon. So, just to keep you in my canine loop, here's Billy, and Pippa, having fun at the beach :-)
Don't worry, I won't spam you with dog updates, but one every few years isn't bad, is it?
Welcome back, Patrons! The hiatus is over and we're back in the skies of the U&F saga once again. In this episode we learn something of our destination, and the in-flight conversation turns to a matter of life and death. But who's life and death? Get your earbuds in and find out :-)
Hello there. This is the last entry into the Hiatus Diaries because I'm going to resume U&F podcasting later this month. Why? Because ... Well, I explain why in the episode. There's also an updated scene from U&F Underground, and news about the U&F TV series. All in all it's 17 minutes well spent :-)
Music on the podcast:
"Night in Venice" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Merry Christmas, Patrons!! In this episode I rope Pauline into asking a range of questions that I've been asked recently online. I also take a look in my fridge to see what festive delights await us in the coming days.
Thanks for all your support and good cheer in 2020. You've been absolutely awesome. Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year to you all!!!
My editing process. Not the most exciting podcast I've ever produced, I admit, but I'm in lockdown, in winter, and with nothing else going on, so this is my news.
If you don't have time to listen, here's a quick summary of the key content:
- My central heating boiler has died.
- I've been matching the first draft text of Underground to the podcast episode audio (second draft version), and then editing the result into a third and final draft. This will be the definitive text.
- I give a few examples of things I've changed in the first ten chapters of Underground.
And that's about it.
Thanks so much for supporting me here at Patreon this month. I'm steadily getting the work done on Underground.
As for writing, the plot of the first part of Legion (the historical backstory) is now completely worked out. The main part of the story (what happens when Underwood and Flinch's plane lands) is proving more complex. However, this is to be expected, there's a lot at stake. I've worked out a few versions, but not found the magic one yet. It's hard coming up with something that hasn't been done before, that's unpredictable despite the need to fulfil the expectations of the genre and storytelling in general. But with your continued support, I will get there.
Here it is, finally, Dracula Chapter 24. I avoided it for ages because Van Helsing's weird English is a nightmare to read aloud - and I mean worse than usual. I've done the very best I can to apply the cadences and inflections of normal speech, and I hope that, as a result, you understand him as if he were a normal (albeit slightly eccentric) person. Bon apetit :-)
An update on what I said in my podcast of the other day (the previous one in my feed).
I also talk about my characters and their potential casting in any U&F TV show that may happen, and share some of the feedback I've recently received on the subject in my Facebook group.
A quick Q&A podcast for you. The questions answered are:
1) When you originally wrote the first U&F book did you plan to have Damo play such a large part in the following books or did his character develop naturally?
2) As you have been re-editing the original books is there anything you would change if you could?
3) Where did you come up with the names "Underwood" and "Flinch"?
Another straight-from-the-hip update on what's going on - and I'll warn you in advance, it's not a lot. Mine is not the most action-packed of lives, but at least I don't tell you about what groceries I bought at the supermarket today (although I can if you're interested).
If you want to save time and just want the bullet points, this episode includes:
The U&F audiobook is not a disaster after all (phew!)
Audible's weird process for how to fix a single MP3 that needs to be replaced.
U&F Underground Episode 3 has been replaced. What changes are in it, and why I made them.
The recording of Dracula Chapter 24 is now in progress.
And that's about it. Oh - and my beard's growing back. I'm starting to look like myself again.
Music on the podcast:
"Night in Venice" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Hey! Thank you for still being here at the $3 level, you lovely person, you!!
Here's the first of those podcasts I promised you that will give you updates on what's going on with me during the hiatus. This is a completely off-the-cuff podcast in which I talk about ... well, what's going on with me during the hiatus. Specifically on November 1st 2020. It's a diary.
I talk about:
The last episode of U&F Legion
Why I'm going to have to start my U&F audiobook all over again (ARG!!)
Episode 4 of U&F Legion arrives, and in it we return to that plantation we heard about at the end of Episode 3. No spoilers, but I do hope you enjoy it.
This podcast will be initially released at the $1 level because some patrons have dropped their pledge level prematurely - no doubt as a precaution in case they forget to do it later today. The podcast will return to its $3 status in a few days' time.
And to that point, if you are planning on lowering or cancelling your pledge because of the U&F podcast hiatus, don't forget to do it before tomorrow when Patreon will automatically deduct your pledge. Best thing to do would be listen to this tonight - or download it - and then make the adjustment straight after.
Obviously I'd prefer you to stay right where you are, but I do appreciate that you may not feel the same way.
And for those of you who are staying, HUZZAH!! and thank you! You make the rockin' U&F world go round!!
P.S. I say at the end that I'm going to update the bumpers, but instead of doing that, I uploaded the first Hiatus Diary podcast, which does the same thing :-)
Here's the news I'd prefer not to have to deliver. Short version for those who don't have time to listen to the audio: There's going to be a hiatus on new U&F production.
I need to go back and revise and re-edit U&F Underground before I can go forward with any new episodes in the U&F saga. I then need to re-edit the Underground podcasts so the audio matches the new text. Then I re-post the whole thing here at Patreon.
Then the hiatus continues as I write the remaining Underwood and Flinch volumes, Legion, and Still of the Night, and once they're done, I resume podcasting.
Blimey! Says you. That's likely going to be a long hiatus. Yes, it is. I may only write Legion to fullness before resuming podcasting, but ideally I'd do both books as they're intertwined. We'll see. The plan is flexible.
There will be an episode of U&F Legion later this month, but that will be the last one for a while.
I explain in more detail, plus give other news, in the podcast, so do give it a listen.
So I’ve some bad news / good news. I’ll give you the bad news first.
For reasons that I detail below, I have had to instigate a short writing hiatus, so there won’t be a second U&F episode this month as I’d hoped. Sorry about that, but I’ve a good reason - and that’s the good news.
I’m not sitting here with my feet up, my friends, oh no. Since I posted Episode 4 of Still of the Night I’ve been working every day on the creation of the audiobook version of the original U&F novel.
It’s a big, fiddly, time-devouring job. So much so that I’ve been putting this job off since 2012 because I - a) couldn’t face into it, b) knew the job would take ages, and that to do it properly would halt all work on anything else I was doing, and c) up until now I didn’t see it as necessary because, after all, the podcast is out there.
However, now, I really have to do it; there’s no more kicking it down the road and telling myself I’ll do it eventually. Why? Because sometime in the not-too-distant future, there’s going to be a studio announcement about the U&F TV series in the Hollywood trade press.
It’ll just be a notice to say that the companies involved are in the earliest stages of developing it, but when that happens, there’s going to be a surge of interest in the book / podcast, largely because of the people involved in the show (and I still can’t say anything about that). So I need to be ready for that surge, because it won’t last long. It’s like I’m a surfer, paddling offshore, waiting for a once-in-a-lifetime wave to come in. And to catch that wave, I have to get U&F on Audible, ASAP, because many of those whose attention the story attracts will want to check it out in audiobook format. I’ll have their interest for a few seconds - as long as it takes them to click the link to my website. If the Audible link is there, I may have a new listener, but if it’s not, I’ll probably lose them.
And so, that’s why at the moment I’m working all day, every day, on polishing up the old podcast audio, removing all the music, re-recording scenes that currently have bed music under them, and so forth, to make U&F an audiobook that will pass Audible’s quality control hurdles first time.
I’ll then have to do the same with Blood and Smoke, but that should hopefully be a faster process because I didn’t use any bed music on that recording.
Then, once I have both books up on Audible and all the other audiobook marketplaces, I’ll resume writing new U&F and podcast production. I’m almost done with the first book and hope to have it submitted to Audible and the other stores this week. Blood and Smoke should be quicker, and I’m hopeful that it’ll be done by the middle of October. And then we’ll be back to business as usual.
So, that’s what’s going on.
I apologise for the disappointment I know this news will bring, but sometimes I just have to do other work related to getting U&F out to the wider world, and now is one of those times.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support and patronage, which makes all U&F - not just the new chapters, but now also the availability of the saga on audiobook platforms - possible. Without you guys, the saga would have stopped half-way through the writing of Blood and Smoke, and none of this - any of it - would be happening.
You are the wind beneath my leathery bat-like wings, and I thank you.
Once upon a midnight dreary ... It's The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe! Why? Well, that's a good question, and I answer it in the podcast, but here's a clue: I also refer to my reading of Dagon, which was made into a video by Smile Titans.
Episode 4 of Still of the Night. This is the second part of the chapter I began in Episode 3 and follows straight on from it ... although it's actually set just before it. Confused? Don't be. This is what happened between Coleridge and Larry Beck before Larry got into the car with Twomey. Still confused? Ahh, just listen to the episode ;-)
This episode also contains a promo for Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff's Hello Stupid podcast . Stay tuned right to the end.
Back to London for Still of the Night E03. This time we renew our acquaintance with Larry Beck, the guy who was Claire Redmond's partner in the early episodes of U&F Underground. Larry seems to be privy to some news that's soon to be released to the public regarding what happened in the London Vampire affair. Although to you and I, it may sound a little ... fake.
Okay, so it takes me a while, but that's because I put my back into it. Festina lente!!
This whole chapter episode sees the return of the Count, and Mina being just about the most revered woman ever. Can she get any more dear / good? There are still 4 chapters to go, so, probably.
If you've already listened to Legion episode 3 and missed my bit of chit chat at the end, despair not - I've now written and added bumpers to the episode and re-posted it.
However, for those of you who don't want to have to listen to the whole thing again just to get to that outro, I've added this extra podcast which contains the outro bumpers only (the intro is bit is just a brief catch up, so you don't need that).
This podcast will be deleted in a few days or so, once anyone who needs it has had a chance to listen to it.
... p.s. Just a last (obvious) point. This isn't how I like to do things, it's just that I had no choice if I was to get the U&F Legion content out on time. Bumpers also take time to write, record, and edit, and I was all out of time on deadline day :-)
Ebook chapters 1-2 of U&F: Still of the Night in epub and Mobi (for Kindle) formats. Ever wondered what happened in London after U&F Underground ended? Read on, reader, read on!
