Category: Podcast

great flash fiction from escape pod

Posted on By Wil

I loved this story at Escape Pod:

“Hey, tell me, this look like Jesus to you?”

I come to Tito’s Tacos for a lot of reasons. The freeway overpass
ambience, the way the old men in the kitchen wrap the burritos tighter
than Cuban cigars, the shiny Kennedy 50-cent pieces you always get as
part of your change. A lot of reasons. But conversation isn’t among
them. Nonetheless, I dutifully look up from my lunch to see what the
guy at the next table over is talking about.

It's flash fiction, so it's just three minutes long. If you can find three minutes today and spend them listening to this story, I think you'll be glad you did.

ETA: I didn't know this when I posted earlier (the joys of quickly posting while I'm on a deadline) but I should point out that Taco was written by Greg van Eekhout, who has a recently-released novel called Norse Code that's getting some nice reviews. Greg says, "You can find some preview chapters online: chapter 1 at Tor.com, chapter 2 at Suvudu, and chapter 3 at Suvudu"

his. name. is. AEOFEL!

Posted on By Wil

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I announce the release of the final D&D podcast in season two:

"Here we go, folks – the final episode in our second series of podcasts with Acquisitions Inc. How will it end? The necromancer has the party on the ropes… can they hold him off? Or will they simply surrender in ignominy?"

After you've listened to the podcast, take a look at this. I believe it will amuse you as much as it amused me.

The number one FAQ about the D&D podcasts is some variation of, "Will you do more of these?" I don't have the authority to give a definitive answer, but I think it's pretty safe to say that all parties concerned are amenable to the idea.

“Can Jim Darkmagic hang upside down from a rope ladder and cast spells? Fuck yeah he can.”

Posted on By Wil

Episode three of the Penny Arcade/PVP/Me D&D Podcast is online!

Part 3 continues with a visit down the hole in the broken tower….

Something is waiting for them (and their rope ladder), but who (or what)? First down, Binwin the dwarf… where he discovers a room that was never finished, though it is occupied.

It's time for doughnuts, rope ladders, hanging from the ceiling—and for Binwin to drop into the midst of more followers of Orcus. How do things go? Well, here's the last line of the episode: "That is as bad as it could possibly be."

Several astute listeners have pointed out that I made an epic – and I mean eh-puh-hic fuck up when we played – I failed to account for Aeofel Elhromanë's weapon proficiency bonus, and his magic longsword, which means that should have added +4 to … a lot of rolls. We realized this shortly after the final encounter, and I felt incredibly stupid. In fact, I still feel incredibly stupid; I should have known better. Believe it or not, I was so excited to play 4E, so excited to play my Avenger, and so excited to be playing with my friends, I just overlooked it.

Anyway, in this episode, I confessed to everyone playing that I loved listening to the first series of podcasts (not much of a confession, really, because I'd mentioned this at PAX, at Comic-Con, at Emerald City Comicon, and then at PAX again) and pointed out that, as a fan of the original, I knew what it was like to hear them talking about cool stuff, without actually describing to us what the cool stuff was. So for the rest of the day, I gave little descriptions of what we were all seeing, so listeners would have some extra information to use when they imagined what it would have been like if they were in the room with us.

Extra-astute listeners may notice that the donuts arrive, and I actually eat one. Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of donuts, but from time to time, even I fail my save versus devil's food with rainbow jimmies.

operation crazy idea presents: the criminal minds production diary – the audio version

Posted on By Wil

I spent much of today recording and mixing an audio version of my Criminal Minds production diary. It's available as a DRM-free MP3 for just $5.

The fundamental concept behind Operation Crazy Idea is to publish more things, more often, at lower price points. The simplicity and immediacy of POD technology, the Long Tail, and Kevin Kelly's 1000 True Fans Model (I hate that term, but I love the idea behind it) have all worked together to make the first effort in Operation Crazy Idea, Sunken Treasure, a huge success.

This morning, I got a genuinely Crazy Idea that I've spent much of today creating: An audio version of my Criminal Minds production diary.

"Why aren't you just doing an audio version of the whole book?" You may ask.

"Well," I would say, "because that wouldn't be a Crazy Idea."

What is a Crazy Idea, though, is recording the whole production diary, adding in the usual asides and extras, ending up with something that's about 78 minutes long, and selling it on Lulu for $5.

"Why $5?" You say.

You ask a lot of good questions, person-who-I-made-up-who-is-different-from-the-person-I-made-up-yesterday.

It's probably worth more than that, but since the audio quality isn't as produced as the Happiest Days or Just A Geek audiobooks, I thought it was a fair price. Besides, I've learned from the PDF sales of Sunken Treasure that it's possible to reach a lot of people at a very affordable price point and still get a decent return on my investment. I'm not getting rich off of this stuff, but I'm hopeful that if I do enough projects like this, that are affordable and easy to purchase, over the course of a year it will add up to me supporting my family. If that happens, this officially becomes Operation Awesome Idea. If I earn enough to buy some toys, it's Crazy Awesome.

I decided to do this particular project today (total time from inception to completion: about 5 hours) because my episode of Criminal Minds is airing tonight, and I thought it would be cool to do this version right now, instead of waiting until I could book studio time for the full audiobook.

If you're interested, you can head over to my Lulu storefront to pick it up right now. If you're not convinced, and would like to hear a preview, you can download this excerpt, which tells the story of the audition.

in which i send a naughty d20 to the “fuck off” bag

Posted on By Wil

The second episode of the Penny Arcade D&D podcast is online, so if you've been shivering with antici…pation since we rolled for initiative last week, grab yer boots and get ready to dance:

Part 2 continues with a roll for initiative!

Acquisitions Inc. gets the drop on the sheltering guards (with faces painted like skulls), opening up with a brutal tide of iron.

But the armed guards are not without their backup, and soon enough the fight is joined in full. Overwhelming strike, (Jim's) magic missile, scorching burst, and even the legendary d12 are all employed in the battle… to various degrees of effectiveness. How well does the newest member of Acquisitions Inc. perform? Well, everyone has trouble their first time.

But in the end, they learn how fast minions fall… and why you bring Jim Darkmagic to the party!

If you're subscribed to the podcast in iTunes, you won't miss a single episode, but if you don't go to the homepage at WotC, you'll miss the awesome artwork that Mike and Scott have made to go with each episode, and nobody wants that.