Podcast Blog

NEW BLOG!

In an effort to put off creating a website, I created a blog for the show.

https://twelvechimesradio.blogspot.com/

I'm so excited to have created ten episodes so far (9 stories and one OTR discussion), honestly never thought it'd last this long, but it's going strong!!

 And the artwork for season 2 is so amazing:

 * episodes 1 & 2 by Kirsten Tradowsky (http://kirstentradowskyart.com/)

* episode 3 by Jeff Heermann (repurposed with new color from Ghost Crush season 1)

* episode 4 by Arthur Kay 

Tomorrow we're recording Season 2, Episode 5 and got the rewrite for Episode 6 and will record shortly the new dialog! Yay!!!

Twelve Chimes It's Midnight, Season 2!!

It's been a while since I've posted to the ol' blog. I really should not neglect it so...

A lot has happened since I last wrote, a lot of creative work and fun!

Twelve Chimes It's Midnight completed season 1 in June and after three months hiatus to work on season 2, it launched today!!! We'll have a new episode the 4th Tuesday of every month through June.

And last week, I launched a new YouTube channel with all the season 1 episodes and new, fantastic art by friend Jeff Heermann!! So exciting and the art is so beautiful...so many thanks to Jeff.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuf7p8ERbRFsYBsSTKPgIng

I wrote all of season 1, but season 2 seemed like a good time to expand and spread the writing efforts, especially since the regular Twelve Chimes cast is chock-full of writing talent!!! Season 2, episode 1, "Superstitions," came from the pen of Brett Stillo. And the two episodes to launch in November and start out the holiday season right, "Nutmeg" and "A Modern Convenience," are by our narrator Josh Horowitz and cast member Beth Abdallah.

Lots of work, but sooooo fun getting the cast together, recording performances and sound effects, editing, social media publicity, creating a video promo piece for the YouTube channel, and lining up artists and musicians for season 2!

Yay!! Creativity happiness!!!!

Here are the all the links to the show -- available wherever people find podcasts!

Our links:

* Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/twelvechimesradio

* iTunes -- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twelve-chimes-its-midnight/id1202125388?mt=2 

* Stitcher -- http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=155672&refid=stpr 

* Google Play --- https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Ikd77xa3uzxa3mohv465l3fi6ei 

* YouTube -- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuf7p8ERbRFsYBsSTKPgIng 

* SoundCloud -- https://soundcloud.com/twelvechimesradio 

* Twitter -- https://twitter.com/12chimesradio 

* Player FM -- https://player.fm/series/twelve-chimes-its-midnight 

* Blubrry -- https://www.blubrry.com/twelve_chimes_its_midnight/ 

* Podbean -- thttps://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/yqewk-4e4a0/Twelve+Chimes+It%27s+Midnight  

Our supporters/partners:

* http://kirstentradowskyart.com/  

* https://www.oddsalon.com/

* http://www.ribak.com/

* http://jilltracy.com/jt/

* http://www.audio-drama.com/

* http://pleasingterrors.com/

* http://www.hillbillyhorrorstories.com/

* https://audiobliviousproductions.libsyn.com/

* https://naradaradio.libsyn.com/

* http://www.ghoulishdelights.com/series/themorls/
* http://5minutesoftrouble.com/

* https://www.facebook.com/AudiotainmentNews/  

Twelve Chimes Episode 3!

This morning I am a little sleepy, but coffee is helping (what would I do without coffee?!), and super excited/happy/satisfied, because I posted the latest episode (#3) of my podcast!!!!

Go Twelve Chimes, It's Midnight!!!!!

I was up late last night agonizing over the edit of the latest episode, Ghost Crush. Listening to it on iTunes this morning confirmed I posted the correct file (whew!).

This one was a bear to edit, so many sound effects and little changes. Posting episodes feels more final than most projects...once it's posted that's it...no going back! I've been surprised how cutting a line or moving a line here and there can change the feel of a scene--a fun discovery.

There are two more recorded episodes and I now have all the sound effects recorded, so my work is not done! And then there's season 2!!

Radio Drama Podcast Launches!

I'm so excited about my new old-time radio, drama podcast Twelve Chimes It's Midnight!!

Look at that great logo by Michael Dean!!

The show launched Thurs night (Feb 2nd) on SoundCloud... https://soundcloud.com/twelvechimesradio ...and so far it's been played 60 times (although 3-4 of those are mine :).

I posted about the launch on my Facebook and Twitter pages and started new ones for the show.

* Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/twelvechimesradio/
* Twitter - https://twitter.com/12chimesradio or @12chimesradio

I submitted to iTunes and to an active audio drama site called Radio Drama Revival. They have recent posts and seem to be very active.

I'll also be interviewed for a post by the author Varla Ventura for her blog. Yay!!!

Arch Obler, writer/producer of Lights Out,
and actress Nazimova, c.1940s

The inspiration for the show comes from old time radio shows, particularly Suspense, Adventures by Morse, and Lights Out, as well as 1940s-60s pulp novels and comic books, and b-movies.

It all started when I agreed to read an excerpt from one of my short horror stories at friends' bar -- Stookey's Club Moderne -- for a Halloween event on Sun Oct 30th (2016).

I chickened out (short story writing just not there yet), but I made a commitment and wanted to perform something to fill out 15-20 min for the afternoon event.

I decided to read from a Halloween-appropriate episode from Lights Out. I picked the episode called "Poltergeist," shortened it to 12 min, and reduced the number of characters to two. I enlisted the help of my friend Brett Stillo (who co-hosts the fabulous podcast 5 Minutes of Trouble, analyzing 5-min blocks of the film Big Trouble in Little China). 

Brett Stillo and me reading Poltergeist
at Stookey's Club Moderne 3.30.16

We read the play with a mic prop I created and some sound effects on my iPhone (hooked up to a small speaker) that I could call up with a tap. It was a resounding hit!

I was hit hard with a wave of inspiration...and three months later, I've written five plays, recorded two, edited and launched the first, and have another event scheduled at Stookey's, to perform and record the season finale (episode 5) on Sat Feb 25th with the Kirk Ribak Trio!!!

Aaron Seymour recording The Darkness

Arron and I recorded episode two, The Darkness, last weekend and I'll be editing this weekend. This is really happening!!

A huge thanks goes out to the sound engineering advice from Scott Louis and Marcus Marchesseault, as well as voice over talent Josh Horowitz (Brett's co-host for 5 Minutes of Trouble), logo design by Michael Dean, and to all the amazing, patient, and talented actors: Beth Abdallah, Audra Wolfmann, Scott Louis, Aaron Seymour, and Brett Stillo. Kiley Brokaw will be joining the group for episode #3. Also a huge thank you to my significant other who prefers to stay anonymous, he made a ton of great suggestions and bits of inspired story ideas! 💗💗💗

Scott Louis records sound effects
for The Darkness

Below are the launch dates for Season 1 -- a little sporadic, but tough to get everyone together, I'm just learning the audio editing software, and I have a demanding job. So I figured sporadic was better than not at all, right?!

2/2 -- Seance Games
2/16 -- The Darkness
3/23 -- Ghost Crush
4/6 -- Adopted Ghost
4/13 -- Chance Encounter (recorded live)

Now back to work editing The Darkness!!!

Fabric Painting & Printing

Last December I took a stab at linoleum block printing (actually I used some other material that was softer, recommended for beginners).

Walking to work today, I passed a card store and realized it's that time of year again to think about holiday cards and what my design might be this year -- more ambitious than the last of course, so I better get started early.

I just saw an inspiring 1955 Pathé film showing women painting and printing designs on fabric.

British Pathé 1955

Hum...perhaps I'll print on fabric and adhere to the front of the cards? Or maybe I'll skip the cards and print on fabric and make a skirt...or better yet, do both! Matching skirt and holiday cards -- BRILLIANT!

Writing with James Patterson...and Joyce Maynard

Despite not writing a blog post for, whew, almost a year, I have been writing. Writing a short story, a novel, and two plays. In all honesty, I've only tinkered around with everything with the exception of the short story.

That story I actually finished (go me!), and I'm in the middle of a second major rewrite after feedback from a few friends. This will be the first piece of fiction that I'll be submitting -- I'm really to start my collection of rejection letters!!

Maybe I'll soon have a rejection letter of my very own!

I think I might actually finish one of the plays too...it has a full outline and is coming along smoothly.

With all this writing practice and slow improvement, I figured this was the time to take James Patterson's MasterClass. This class seems perfect for me as I have no literary aspirations, but just want to tell a fun story. I am about halfway through watching the lectures. After that I plan on viewing them a second time and doing the writing exercises that come in the accompanying lesson plan.

He's a real sweetheart that James Patterson. He's so encouraging and is clear about what he thinks works -- and it must, the man sells a ton of books. But a better review than I could write, from a seasoned writer, is from Joyce Maynard. I've never heard of the woman, and I am a little embarrassed about that.

Joyce Maynard, photo by Micke

Joyce is charmed by Patterson, but I shouldn't paraphrase her -- simply reference her great article!

I now have read her Wikipedia page and know a bit more about her -- she wrote To Die For! I'm curious to read now to see how similar or different it is from Buck Henry's movie script. 

So although my work life is a bit nuts and less than inspiring at the moment, this month I hope to submit my first story, finish my little play, maybe complete Patterson's course, and start reading some Joyce Maynard. Wish me luck!

 

NaNoWriMo 2014

Once again it's November and time for me to, sort of, participate in NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month!

The goal is to write 50,000 in 31 days. 

The mission: "Make no mistake,  you will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create."

It's true that you can't edit your manuscript (to craft a finished novel) if you don't have any content. I love to think and think...and think, but that doesn't make for a lot of editable content.

The permission is to just write and get it all out. Just like the book says (NaNoWriMo's founder Chris Baty's book No Plot? No Problem!) I can see the results from not stressing about the story and not imposing perfection on my writing, the words start to flow and ideas end up on paper.

Do doubt it's true that 80-well...96.5% of the word combinations are...let's say, poor, there are some gems that wouldn't have been written if the writing was too constrained. Just like conversation, a lot is not very interesting (if written down), but sometimes in conversation a really good, witty comment appears, totally off-the-cuff. The kind of comment that takes you off-guard and leads you to think that you're smarter and sharper than you really are. But if you didn't do all that talking, that golden zinger might not have ever happened. Same with writing.

Carolyn Kellogg wrote a great article in defense of NaNoWriMo for the LA Times blog.

Anyway, I'll this said, my frustration with the process is my inability to write quickly. Writer-friends who participate (and successfully finish) say they can write their daily word count, around 1,600 words, in approximately 90 minutes. Really? I wrote today for about 2 hours and could only get to 1,200. I just can't think fast enough. I still want to participate to get the benefits of a deadline and increase my discipline by writing everyday, but I just can't commit to what I think would take me three hours a day.

I don't want to be left out though, so I've committed to an extremely modest target of 250 words a day. This way I get some of the benefits, but I don't have to forgo eating and sleeping in order to get in my daily word count. It being day 12, my target goal is 3,000 words and I'm up to 4,432. I'm averaging closer to 350 a day and this leaves me feeling accomplished instead of frustrated. And I'm having fun! Yay!

I love this photo! The writer shown here is Evadne Price. I'd love to be writing on my typewriter, but I haven't yet figured out how to re-ink the ribbon and I don't think the tapping would be well received at the cafes where I like to write. It would be fun though to sit in the middle of a sea of laptops and tablets banging away at a typewriter.

Stereoscopic Card in Wiggle-Vision

I wanted to try my hand at creating a wiggle gif of one of my stereoscopic cards.

It worked! How great to view and share one of the cards in my collection without the aid of the specialized viewer!

 An Optical Delusion. 1897

One end of the card reads "Underwood & Underwood, Publishers: New York, London, Toronto-Canada, Ottawa-Kansas" and the other end reads "Works and Sun Sculpture Studios: Arlington, N.J., Littleton, N.H., Washington, D.C." Beneath the title reads "Copyright 1897 by Strohmeyer & Wyman."

Projects Completed and in Progress

Well so much for New Year's Resolutions. How many times has it been said, so I don't feel so bad. I have been hoping to carve out time to blog more, although I have been keeping busy in 2012:

I've been attending a small writing club at least twice a month (been attending 2-3 times per month for four months now) with a small group of work-mates. It's been motivating and inspiring. I have not made a huge amount of progress on my writing progress, but I have been much more consistent, aka writing a little every week.

I completed an article for the Winter 2013 San Francisco Silent Film Festival. And I'm hard at work on a new essay for the Summer 2013 SFSFF! The program list will be announced on 5/23!

Helped Michelle for three of her four pop-ups, aka 20th Century Cafe preview

Teresa, Michelle, and me at the pop-up at State Bird Provisions

I read a bunch of books including the incredible memoir by Michael Tradowsky (found out about the book from his daughter Kirsten who I wrote about in this blog last year). His book is War Children is about growing up in a artistic, non-political family in Nazi Germany. I wrote a brief review on Goodreads.

I completed a video for Michelle's Kickstarter campaign. She reached her goal 12 days early! I received some nice compliments including one in the SF Weekly blog SF Foodie that said, "The Kickstarter page has more details about the café, but the real draw there is the sepia-toned, 1930's/40's video showing Polzine's trials and tribulations getting the place open. It's a fun watch that encapsulates the vintage feel she's trying to create in her café." Kickstarter page with video -- she's got 7 days to go...pledges over her goal will help buy an ice cream machine (you cannot believe the ice cream she makes!).

And I'm working on another video for her Kickstarter, for the last few days of the campaign - seriously, amazing ice-cream!

That's it for now.  A bit of catch up on my creative/project online diary...done and done!

Writing About Snow White

Who is Snow White? And what does she represent?

Reading up on her I read about innocence and the drama between the two female characters: one youthful and innocent and the other mature and strategic. There was things written about the fight for the love of the husband/father and other Freudian analysis. These ideas made me start thinking about The cultural and emotional significance and what thought jumps out me is it Snow White representing two stages of female life, perhaps from the perspective of the younger of the two. The older "witch" is what the innocent youth is afraid to become, she is afraid of all the things that signified her birth: the cold and immaculate white snow, the blood of a mature woman, and the black of death.

That's it for now...more thoughts on this tomorrow...I only have a week or so...

Project Update! Completed and published essay for the San Francisco Silent Film Winter 2012 Festival Program: Snow White (1916).

Staycation

Just taking a minute to think about my staycation goals...

Sitting in Cafes

 Writing

Reading

Sewing

Practicing

Watching Movies

Eating

Drinking and Socializing

Quality Time with My Man

Yep, I think that captures all the key goals. Done!

Amazing evening with my writers' club. It was originally co-workers and we set aside an hour a week during work hours to talk writing and write. Now it's expanded as one of the group has moved on to another job. It was a great and productive night, kicking off NaNoWriMo for two in the group.

I recently finished a short story for the Horror Fest: Bloody Parchment competition, for Halloween of course! Working on this story brought me a step closer to the process of just writing without worrying about every word, just getting it down, and then after writing, edit. The idea is to get some of the benefits of NaNoWriMo without the stress of trying to write a novel in a month (50,000 words, gulp!). I tried, but just can't commit to writing that much every single day, but I have enormous respect for those disciplined souls that can do it.

I did however write a solid 600+ words tonight for my...whatever it ends up being. I've been kicking around this ghostie idea for years. I've set myself a goal to complete at least 20,000 words (novella length) by at my birthday in late Feb.  I have played around with ideas for this story in short pieces, one I published as a Flash Friday entry. My obsession with ghosts mostly stems from the fact that the rational part of my brain does not believe in ghosts, but the ancient, fight-or-flight part of my brain is terrified by the idea and the image, so I must believe in them on some level. There is not one shred of hard evidence; scientists have found evidence of something as strange and small as quarks, but no real evidence of ghosts. It is the long standing battle within my brain and I find it fascinating.

As Dave Emory, who filled my head with lectures on political scandals and conspiracy theories as a teenager, said, "Food for thought and grounds for further research."

Painting Lesson

My goal for 2012 is "Make Every Day Unique," although two sub-goals are to focus on being at least a tiny bit creative each day and develop a more relaxed approach to creativity. I have been writing more lately and I'm just beginning to let go and not be so stymied by perfectionism. I would like to further develop that feeling in my writing and to extend it to sewing and other creative projects. 2010 was a great year for sewing and 2011 was a great year for writing and in 2012, I'd like to incorporate this and more into my daily routine!

A friend Kirsten is an artist. I knew this about her, but hadn't seen her work until last October's open studios weekend. I dropped by her studio for the first time and grilled her about her intention and process. Her work totally grabbed me. She is amazingly talented and I absolutely adore her work.



I was hoping she'd be willing to give me an introduction to oil paints, which on top of learning something new would give me another opportunity to learn about her creative process. Luckily for me, she was totally into it and we set a date.

Today was the day for my trip to Kirsten's studio to learn about oil paints.


Love this! Roll-up door on my walk to the studio.

Kirsten gave me a great introduction to oil painting. She started with a discussion about materials and safety. She gave me a run down of paints and quality and then described how to use and store linseed oil and turpenoid (or mineral turpentine).



She then introduced a basic starting process of mixing paints and the traditional underpainting technique.



She went on to show me how to use a towel dipped in turpenoid to wipe away strategically. She built up the beginnings of her latest piece. It was great to see the lines and a bit of color start to shape the object.





Then she set me loose. While making a few experimental paintings, or the beginnings of them, she showed me how to hold the brush in a more relaxed way and helped me have more fun with working the paint. She explained that applying the paint wasn't about stifling precision.

My first attempt was to identify shape and size with the underpainting and then build color over that. I painted circle/spirals as they are my favorite graphic element.



For my second attempt I wanted to add some color and dimension. This was on my own canvas, so I'll be able to let it dry and come back to it later to build up more color.



And we finished our session with how-to on clean up--the materials to use and technique.

Kirsten's intro, our great conversation, and my couple painting experiments has been a solid step toward being more relaxed and less up-tight about putting brush to canvas. Kirsten showed me that a painting builds and every brush stroke doesn't have to be perfection, nor should it.

Painting with oils has always loomed in the back of my mind; I've been curious, but intimidated. Oil paint is great! Yeah, you can't clean up with water and it's a bit toxic, so ventilation is good, but it was totally different than acrylic paint, which I know a bit. I can see how working with oil can become incredibly addicting.

Looking at her website again, I am amazed by her output. She is extremely dedicated and spends many hours working in her studio each week. She is a huge inspiration!