OMG, We’re IN THE STUDIO!

Hi.

I’m pleased to announce that recording has begun on the latest run of SuperHuman Times scripts!

I feel as if I should follow this announcement  with something Dave Barry often wrote when relating unbelievable tales: “WE ARE NOT MAKING THIS UP!”

I got this happy news last night from show director/Prometheus Radio Theatre brain trust Steve Wilson. He’s going about the recording process in a very systematic way. See, in addition to the six Times scripts, he has a host of others (including the remaining chapters of his audiobook, Peace Lord of the Red Planet) that need to be recorded. So, rather than assembling the cast of each and recording each script whole-cloth , he’s calling in individual members of our company – and, where dramatically necessary, small groups – and recording only their parts. Kinda like the way animated cartoon voices are recorded, but without the benefits of Paul Frees, Mel Blanc, and June Foray.

This may not seem like a big deal to you, but when you consider that all of us are doing this stuff in our spare time and have to be corralled into the studio according to our real-world schedules… well, it’s a minor Herculean feat. I bow to Mr. Wilson for pulling it off (even as the view count from my Wizard Universe “Pimp My Stuff” post about his interview continues to climb… I suspect shenanigans, but I’d like to think the interview is encouraging people to check out Times and Prometheus’ other offerings).

After recording all of us (yep, that means I’m on the mike for one story), he’ll edit everything together. Well, he and his brave producer/my dedicated wife. Since she won’t notice, I’m already making plans to be out of the house during her editing periods, depending upon how frustrated the tech demands of my scripts make her. I may take our son along, or at least our dog. We’ll try to return for the holidays.

With luck, SuperHuman Times will return by then, too.

Right now, I’m satisfied… and trying desperately not to start plotting the next round of scripts.

Thanks for reading, listening, and waiting.

-- L.

No Blog=More Clicks? WTF?!

Hi.

So, every week after posting the latest news and wit-drenched insights about SuperHuman Times here, I always hit the Pimp My Stuff message board at wizarduniverse.com to promote it. It's a well-traveled forum run by the good folks at Wizard Entertainment, the brains behind Wizard and ToyFare magazines, as well as the Wizard World Comic-Cons. It's a lively place, and since it's got the only comic fan-centric board with a forum where you can promote damn near anything, I figure it's perfect for promoting Times to an audience I'd really like to reach.

I don't know if the show's garnered any listeners from this, but the postings have been getting noticed. The first one, from May 2008 -- when "Dashing" began; can you remember back that far? -- has been viewed 155 times to date. But that's over a two-year period, so that's an average of, charitably, one per week, so it's not that impressive. But I'm gratified by the fact that 155 people have taken the time to check it out.

Now, a more recent one, from September 4 of this year, has been viewed 40 times in two weeks. Okay, that's nice. About three views per day. Again, gratifying that my latest ravings have attracted some attention.

But now I'm just baffled...

Last week's posting -- which promoted the fact that I would not be posting so that I could hawk Prometheus poobah/Times director Steve Wilson's interview on The Blowhard Experiment -- has generated more than 60 views in one week.

Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful to everyone who's been checking out the plugs. I just hope they've clicked through to the blog and, more importantly, to the podcasts. And I'm not jealous of what may be implied as Steve's appeal versus my own... on my own blog, MY OWN BLOG.

No, really, I'm fine.

It just reminds me of a time when Steve and I entered separately into a national screenwriting competition without realizing it. I made it to the quarterfinals before I was eliminated. I mentioned this to Steve months later... and he told me he'd made it one step farther to the semifinals before he, too was eliminated. And it's been that way between us ever since. He always ends up one step ahead of me. I'm used to it.

But come on, when a plug for a blog entry where I write very little (and Steve talks a lot) gets, on average, one of the highest responses to date, ya gotta wonder if I should just knock this off.

Then I remember that first 155. And the 40 from last week. And all the others from the Steve-less weeks inbetween. And you're mine, all mine! (Cue villainous laugh, because these entries should always have something to do with SuperHuman Times, which has, you know, villains as well as heroes. I'll stop reaching now.)

Someone's reading. Hopefully, someone's listening.


If it's you, on either count or both, thanks a lot.  

-- L.

Birthdays, Blowhards, and Steve Wilson

Hi.

With your permission, I'm going to forego my usual weekly post this go-round for a few reasons:

1) I don't have a lot to write about this week because we still have no new shows;

2) Today is my birthday, so I feel like relaxing a little; and

3) I'd rather let Prometheus Radio Theatre's own big cheese, Steve Wilson, do the talking in this online interview recorded last week on The Blowhard Experiment. (I kid you not.)

To be frank, Steve doesn't plug SuperHuman Times in the interview (that's why I do this stuff instead of him, and I AM available for interviews... uh-huh, I figured you'd say that), but if you want a better idea of what Prometheus is about, check it out if you have an hour to waste.

Uh, that is, kill.

Uh, I mean become informed. And enlightened.

Then go relive some old Times. I would consider it a wonderful birthday gift if you did.

Thanks for listening.

-- L.

Defining Times

Hi.

I thought about taking the holiday weekend off from blogging, mainly because I still have nothing to report on the Times front. But my discipline (or arrogance) deludes me into thinking that someone would notice if I didn’t show up this week, so here I am.

At this writing, Prometheus is taking a month off from ‘casting to get some new stuff in the can, presumably including the six new Times scripts. In the meantime, I’m still tweaking the website, which is still a modest web page.

For the Extras on what will be the Podcasts Plus page, I’m considering adding a Times glossary of characters, locations, and key events thus far as a downloadable PDF. I figure it’ll generate one of two responses from anyone who happens across it:

One, “Wow, this guy’s really created a neat little universe here. I should listen to the stories and check it out.”

Or, more likely, “This f*****’s delusional.”

If nothing else, a glossary would act as an ongoing series bible that I could refer to from time to time when I need to figure out when a story should occur in the overall history of the series. Yes, there’s a beginning and an ending to all of this. (I revealed how it all ends in the ’06 interview I had about the show with Steve Wilson before “True North” aired. Feel free to listen to it here if you can’t bear the suspense.)  The podcasts make up the juicy center. At least, I hope you find it juicy. Well, entertaining.

Back to the glossary idea. One reason I hesitate to put it together is because it’d be just words. True, this is a medium where you are supposed to supply the images to this audio comic-book of ours, but for a faux-print publication it would be fun to see how folks with artistic talent would interpret characters and scenes. If I had the money, I’d try to commission some comics pros to listen to an episode or two and render some key players. I'd love to pay someone like Phil Noto to draw a Dash Tarragon-style movie poster for "Dashing", or Thomas Boatwright to depict Knuckles Macnee from "Servant Problem", and I know of several artists I'd love to see draw Nataliya Tzone. That might grab the attention  of comic readers, an audience I'd love to expand.

Alas, home ownership, child-rearing, and the reality that they'd be too busy to do it make that kind of thing impossible. Maybe Greg will study art in college and draw stuff for me in exchange for his tuition. By that time, the new stories should hit the web. If you’re still alive, let me know if you think they were worth the wait.

Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend. And if you like the idea of a glossary, let me know here or via email.

-- L.