Post-Farpoint

Hi.

Well, I set out fliers and lanyards at Farpoint last weekend. As always, the con was well-managed and intimate, and the fellow podcasters I mentioned in the last post were extremely interesting. Their command of the technology and the scope of what they're doing absolutely staggered me. I felt supremely outclassed (not because of any attitudes toward me on their parts).

Nevertheless, I put out the fliers and the lanyards. For a good chunk of the weekend, most of the lanyards were being worn by friends. and those were seen by strangers, and they were curious, and they wanted their own. They stopped by and I gave them a lanyard and a flier, and I told them about the show. Hope it helps get us a few more downloads.

Next? Well, I have lanyards left, so I'm hoping to hit a couple of more conventions, preferably some with a bigger comic-reading contingent. The Baltimore Comic Con is a given, but I'd also like to see if I can get anything going at Wizard World Philadelphia in June or Dragon Con in Atlanta in September. Money will probably be the biggest hurdle to attempting that kind of mini-campaign, though. Ads on the con's websites may be all I can do.

But I have all these people screaming in my head, telling me their stories. I'd like for someone to hear them. And, maybe, read this, too, someday.

-- L.

Farpoint: Preparations & Plugs

Things are usually hectic around here before Farpoint because Cindy's getting ready for the convention's Art Show (which she runs), while we simultaneously celebrate our son Greg's birthday (he's 7 years old today, and seems to add a year every February around this time). This year is even more hectic because I've been making the promotional materials for the podcast.

One of the linchpins of the whole "campaign" arrived today: the lanyards. Gorgeous yellow lanyards with the logos of the show and Prometheus on them. They cost a good chunk of change. I'm giving them away to spread the word about the show. I'm an idiot. I'm also desperate. Between those, the fliers, the stickers and the podcast panels, the word should be adequately spread. We'll know one way or the other if it works if listenership to the pilot increases after the con.

No matter how the lanyards fare, I urge you to check out www.lowcostlanyards.com if you have similar needs. Warning: The lanyards are made in China, so if you need them in a hurry or have political leanings against doing business with that nation (I didn't know that's where they were being made until they shipped), go elsewhere. Otherwise, their sales reps (located in this country) are first-rate, so on that basis I recommend their service highly.

Speaking of the con, let me toss in a couple of courtesy plugs here for some fellow podcasters I'll be hanging with this weekend. I've just been introduced to their work and it's worth sharing.

- Jared Axelrod is the highly impressive master of The Voice of Free Planet X on libsyn.com, which also hosts Prometheus' shows. To call what he presents dramatic readings would be an understatement and disservice. Using words and music and precious little time, he creates -- no, becomes -- complete characters and worlds. I've heard only two stories from his site so far -- "What Mechanics Do" and "Saturn Swallows Its Children Whole" (performed by his equally talented partner in crime JR Blackwell, of Voices of Tomorrow). I get to open the podcasting panel with him at 10:00 on Saturday morning. I doubt I'll be as impressive. Hell, I doubt I'll be awake.

- Tee Morris is an accomplished podcaster, writer and actor whose talents are constantly on display at his nifty website, TeeMorris.com. When I heard the prologue from one of his major works, MOREVI: The Chronicles of Rafe & Askana, it conjured images of Captain Blood as if it were painted by the Brothers Hildebrandt. Your visions may differ, but the important thing is: it conjures images, which is always the sign of a good storyteller. I'll be staffing the podcasters' table with Tee on Saturday morning, but if you go, you'll probably see him there throughout the weekend. Steve tells me he's a tireless self-promoter in the best possible way. Stop by and find out.

One last Farpoint-related callout: my thanks to my pal Marc B. Lee for singling me out to potential attendees as a convention guest (or, to use his questionable estimation, "writer extraordinaire"). I knew I had a purpose in life.

While I try to figure out what it is, I'll go back to work. Lanyards, lanyards, lanyards...

-- L.

Back to the Present

Hi. This post officially brings us back into "real time."

I'll explain: If you look at the prior three posts, each one starts with a parenthetical stating "(Originally posted on...)" That's because my first posts to this blog were on Blogger before it was absorbed by Google. What you're reading now, after trials and tribulations I'd rather not go into, is the "Google Edition" of the blog. Unlike the preceding posts, today really is February 4, 2007, and that's when this is being posted. Welcome back.

That said, you haven't missed much. I'm preparing for the Farpoint convention in nearby Cockeysville, MD, which will be held two weeks from now. (Well, two weeks from this moment, it will be over; you know what I mean.) In addition to ordering 250 lanyards with the Times and Prometheus Radio Theatre logos, I've worked up a sign to promote them at our podcasting table (which we're sharing with several esteemed fellow podcasters), printed a ton of color fliers to introduce the series, cranked out some business cards to pass out, and created a couple of stickers to slap onto my photojournalist vest (I don't think they're gonna work out, but I can't afford embroidery, so I try). I don't expect the masses will storm "True North" to check it out after they get their lanyards and read their fliers, but ya have to start somewhere.

In the meantime, I've been informed that good ol' Mr. Wilson is going to submit "True North" to this year's Mark Time Awards. As you may recall, Prometheus took a Silver Medal in this competition with the three-part Arbiter Chronicles episode, "A Man Walks into a Bar." If you've never heard it, check it out, along with the other Arbiter episodes. I hope you'll be as impressed by my friends as I am.

As for Times, I'll let you know what happens. Better yet, if you pick up a lanyard or a flier and you visited the site to get here, you let me know, okay? I'll be here.

-- LW

Yup. Still Here. Still Writing.

(Originally posted on January 20, 2007)

Howdy.

A friend of mine recently told me on good authority that people were actually reading this blog, and that it might be wise/nice to update it once in a while, even if nothing special was happening with the series.

Well, I did promise a "behind-the-scenes" perspective on the show, even if it is just my own. So, in that vein, here's what I've been up to since the last post:

"Risk Management" - The second story of the series, a three-parter, goes into the studio this month. We're hoping to post it in March.

"Dashing" - I'm in the middle of writing this one, another three-parter. Part One's done, and the wife likes it, so that's a good sign. I have to start Part Two after having taken a few weeks off for holiday recuperation and home improvements. With luck, this will hit during the summer months. Since it's a riff on Bond movies, that would be appropriate.

I'm also putting the finishing touches on the outline of what I think will be the fourth and final story of Season 1, "Servant Problem." I want this two-parter to be a lot of fun for whoever ends up acting in it, because I want it to have the feel of a 1930s screwball comedy. With superhumans.

And on top of that, I came up with two stories for what I hope will be future seasons. Both are love stories of different kinds. I don't know which one I'll attempt first, but when an idea hits, I always try to flesh it out immediately, so I can come back to it later with a lot of the initial details already worked out. But it's usually rolling through my head while I'm working on other stories.

It's just that I started this whole thing with ideas for about 15 stories. Now I have more than 20, I think.

When you figure that the Prometheus gang is also working on The Arbiter Chronicles and its series of folk tales, and we're going to try and post the Times episodes on a quarterly schedule, that translates into requiring about five years to tell all the stories I want to tell (Steve and the gang willing).

Two of my all-time favorite shows -- The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Twilight Zone -- each ran for five years. If we could attain that goal, we'd be in good company.

But first, I have to write the episodes. And plug the hell out of them. (I'm trying to find good comic-book venues for online ads, ideal conventions for program book ad/flier placement, etc. Any suggestions?) And in between all of this, I'll update you as to what's going on. I hope to have much to report.

Thanks for reading, and listening. Back to work.

-- LW

At Long Last, News!

(Originally posted on December 20, 2006)

Greetings!

I wanted to take a moment to let you know a few items of potential interest:

1) Prometheus Radio Theatre has given the green light to a full season of SuperHuman Times! We are shooting for producing multi-part stories on a quarterly basis, with the next one hitting in March. "True North," the pilot, counts as the first story of the season. Following that...

2) The next story, "Risk Management," will start production after the holidays. This will be a three-parter featuring the Tzones, a family of sorceresses led by the most powerful sorceress on the planet. After the Big Shakeout, she started her own security firm. Now, she's planning to hand the reins of the firm over to her two gifted daughters... if they don't screw up their latest assignment. It was fun to write, and I'm hoping it'll be fun for the actors to play and for you to hear. And following that...

3) "Dashing," the season's third story, is currently in the outline-to-script stage. If you've seen my profile photo, you know I have a James Bond complex that manifested itself long before midlife. That's served me well for this story, which follows an action movie star with the ability to heal rapidly as he's forced to swap places with an amnesiac who thinks he's the superspy character the actor plays. I really hope you'll like it because it took more than 20 years to get it to production. But that's a story for later. Hopefully, this will hit in the summer.

That will, hopefully, be followed by one more story in the fall and -- if I can talk Steve Wilson and the Prometheus gang into letting me do it -- a holiday quickie. But we'll see.

Anyway, we're chugging along, and I hope you'll stay aboard for the ride.

-- LW

Let the Good (I Hope) Times Roll!

(Originally posted on November 18, 2006)

Hello, and welcome to just what the web needs: another blog.

But this is a special blog, at least to me.

My name is Lance Woods, and I'm the creator of SuperHuman Times, the latest radio series from the Mark Time Award-winning Prometheus Radio Theatre. That's me in the formal straight jacket.

This blog presumes three things:
1) that you have some idea of what SuperHuman Times is about (if not, click here); and/or
2) that you may have actually listened to our pilot episode, "True North" (if not, click here); and/or
3) either or both of these things interested you enough to check out this blog.

"True North" was posted on libsyn.com and iTunes on November 3. As with any pilot, we've been monitoring the number of downloads closely to determine whether we should try to make it a full-fledged series. I'm pleased to report that audience response (in terms of downloads) has been very encouraging, so we plan to proceed with more Times stories on a (hopefully) quarterly basis.

I'll use the Comments pages for each episode on libsyn to post information or background material about them. That way, people can learn more about the stories without burdening themselves with this place. This is more of a journal where I'll express additional thoughts about each story, the series, the cast, the characters and other things that have to do with the series.

Don't expect any behind-the-scenes dirt, though; I'm cursed with nice friends. Sorry. I have no plans to write "All About Steve" (Wilson, that is, the founder and driving force of Prometheus who approached me about turning this would-be comic book into an audio series; thanks for the opportunity, Steve).

I also don't expect to be posting on here with any great frequency. I have to write the bloody episodes, y'know.

Then again, I am a writer, so don't be surprised if I hang out here anyway. And if you're hanging out here -- more importantly, if you're hanging out here because you've heard SuperHuman Times -- please say so. I'd enjoy reading something other than my own words on this blog.

-- LW