The SFFaudio Podcast #071 – TALK TO: George Zarr

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #071 – Jesse and Scott talk with audio dramatist George Zarr!

Talked about on today’s show:
George Zarr of Seeing Ear Theatre fame, SciFi.com (aka Syfy.com), Brian Smith, John Colluci, RealAudio, NPR, Satellite Radio, “doing your laundry by flushing it down a toilet”, seeing the power of a budget, what audio drama should be and how you should do it, Zippr, the most common error people make on their scripts, adapt first, the baby analogy, how Seeing Ear Theatre worked, Andrew Joffe, Tony Daniel, writing and casting, “I’ll do the Canadian accent eh?”, experimental, Too Late An Experiment In Sound, National Audio Theatre Festivals, Meet The Neighbor, silent pictures for radio, teaching audio drama Columbia College Chicago, a textbook for audio drama, the three building blocks for audio drama (voice, sound effects and music), the Swedish rule, Babylon Wisconsin, adapting short stories to audio drama, tips for writing with kids, the 10,000 bad drawings inside me, writing original stories vs. adapting existing ones (for audio drama), narration in audio drama, A Good Knight’s Work adapted from the story by Robert Bloch, Sherman Oaks, California, Tony Danza, Simon Jones, “Brooklyn vs. Eaton”, John Ritter, Henry Winkler, Sirius Satellite Radio, Three’s Company, Snow Glass Apples by Neil Gaiman, Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman, Two Plays For Voices |READ OUR REVIEW|, Dove Audio, Bebe Neuwirth, Brian Dennehy, The Omen IV, Voices In The Wind, Every Now And Then, School Spirit, recording live, David Farquhar, Jake Sampson: Monster Hunter, Tales Of The Gold Monkey, Indiana Jones and The Mummy, Splendid Your Honor, Vlad Tepes: Dracula by Tamora Pierce, The Adventures Of Sexton Blake |READ OUR REVIEW|, Sarah Montague, WNYC, Marcie Mancotti, Barbara Rosenblat, Small Town by Lawrence Block, The Moon Moth adapted from the story by Jack Vance, X-Minus One Project, LibriVox.org, copyright and public domain, adapting Science Fiction, Time In Advance by William Tenn, Child’s Play, Kindred, adapting longer materials (novels), making a sequel to a classic audio drama, Sorry Wrong Number, Jumping Niagara Falls, murder never smelled so good, Fred Greenhalgh and field recorded audio drama, zombies work well as audio drama, Tales From The Crypt |READ OUR REVIEW|, J. Michael Straczynski’s City Of Dreams, the campaign to get CBC to release The Adventures Of Apocalypse Al, EC Comics, By The Fright Of The Silvery Moon, Don Knotts, Don Knotts as a guest on Scooby Doo, Fare Tonight Followed By Increasing Clottiness, Keith David, Aasif Mandvi, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, vampires, van Helsing, Campbell Scott, Carrion Death, This Trick’ll Kill You (the never released on CD episode of Tales From The Crypt), H.G. Well’s The Time Machine adapted by Charles Potter, Humphrey Bogart, Lux Radio Theatre, The Death Of Captain Future based on the story by Allen Steele, Marina Sirtis.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #070

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #070 – Jesse and Scott talk about the most recent arrivals and the latest audiobook releases!

Talked about on today’s show:
The Big Time by Fritz Leiber, public domain, Brilliance Audio, Audible Frontiers, Scott Danielson’s Audiobook Fix, Fafhard And The Grey Mouser, Death’s Excellent Vacation, a new Sookie Stackhouse book, Charlaine Harris, True Blood, HBO, George R.R. Martin’s blog, A Game Of Thrones, “fat fantasy”, The Stand by Stephen King, the preface to The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition, Stephen King’s version of Hansel And Gretel, “getting lost in the world”, reading for ideas, characters are not ideas, The unexpurgated version of Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger In A Strange Land, novelists are writing to the width of the supermarket paperback rack, Allan Kaster, as ebooks become more common book lengths will vary more, Outlaw Of Gor by John Norman, the movie version, Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente, the meaning of palimpsest, Aasne Vigesaa, Day By Day Armageddon: Beyond Exile by J.L. Bourne, The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison is coming to audioook!, funny old Science Fiction, comics, Crossed: Volume 1 by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows, George Romero’s The Crazies, the 2010 remake of The Crazies, the “trixie virus”, the Reavers from Firefly, The Omega Man, I Am Legend, The Last Man On Earth, Upcoming Readalongs:, Assam And DarjeelingEarth Abides by George R. Stewart, Connie Willis’ introduction to Earth Abides, The Dying Earth by Jack Vance, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, going off the rails, the Michael Caine version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Wayne June, Charles McKibben, The Essential Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: The Definitive Annotated Edition edited by Leonard Wolf, Scott’s Pick Of The Week: Netflix Streaming, Netflix is coming to Canada, there should be a Netflix-like service for comics, Jesse’s Pick Of The Week: Crossed: Volume 1, (get issue #0 FREE online |HERE|) you have to slowly build up your tolerance for Garth Ennis, “horrifically visceral”, DC Comics Hitman, DC Vertigo’s Preacher, War Story, Battlefields, The D-Day Dodgers, Neil Gaiman, The Sandman.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #069 – TALK TO: Allan Kaster

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #069 – Jesse and Scott are joined Allan Kaster, the editor of Infinivox’s new audiobook anthology: The Year’s Top Ten Tales Of Science Fiction 2.

Talked about on today’s show:
Infinivox, Summer, the first time we had Allan Kaster on the podcast, The Year’s Top Ten Tales Of Science Fiction, Great Science Fiction Stories, Audible.com, Cibola by Connie Willis is going out of print, modern audiobook contracts, Kindle eBooks, The Year’s Top Ten Tales Of Science Fiction 2, the influence of Audible.com’s credit system, the influence of podcasts, the FREE On The Human Plan by Jay Lake MP3, Ted Chiang, transformation, The Island Of Doctor Moreau, Clarkesworld, Subterranean Online, Lightspeed Magazine, Jim Baen’s Universe, Tor.com, what makes Infinivox a different audiobook company, Aliens Rule edited by Allan Kaster, We Robots edited by Allan Kaster, Microcosmic God by Theodore Sturgeon, Thunder And Roses by Theodore Sturgeon, The Fluted Girl by Paulo Bacigalupi, Pump Six by Paulo Bacigalupi, investing in authors, A Colder War by Charles Stross, Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette, the “inspired by Lovecraft” sub-genre, A Walk In The Sun by Geoffrey Landis, Rammer by Larry Niven, the possibility of a Ted Chiang short story collection, BoingBoing’s interview with Ted Chiang, Infinivox is all Science Fiction all the time, Fantasy, A Song Of Ice And Fire, George R.R. Martin, Scattered Suns by Kevin J. Anderson, Saga Of The Seven Suns, the pronunciation of saga, Vanessa Hart, a cross between Homicide: Life On The Street and Frederick Pohl’s Heechee, the proper pronunciation of “Lagrange“, ZZ-Top, “feral”, Erosion by Ian Creasey, Ian Creasey, Mongoose by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette, Boojum Universe, upcoming from Infinivox: Starship Vectors edited by Allan Kaster, Boojum, Nancy Kress, Charles Coleman Finlay, Stephen Baxter, what “Boojum” means (it comes from Lewis Carroll), H.P. Lovecraft, plush Cthulhu, remixing Lovecraft, A Story With Beans by Steven Gould, As Women Fight by Sara Genge, feminist Science Fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin, post-singularity stories, body switching stories, Mindswap by Robert Sheckley, Passengers by Robert Silverberg, Peter Watts, “the Earth is dying”, dying earth, Shine: An Anthology Of Optimistic Science Fiction edited by Jetse de Vries, dystopia, the Jackaroo sequence, The City Of The Dead, the return of the fix-up novel, Jack Vance, Ian McDonald, River Of Gods by Ian McDonald, Cyberabad Days, ebooks, “I like Audible much more than I want to”, Amazon’s announcement about Kindle sales exceeding hardcover sales, Fictionwise.com, getting used to the digital universe, from scrolls to books, clay tablets to scrolls, “download it to your brainstem.”

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #068

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #068 – Scott and Jesse talk about recently arrived audiobooks.

Talked about on today’s show:
Recent arrivals, Penguin Audio, The Books Of Elsewhere: The Shadows by Jacqueline West, The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, TheBooksOfElsewhere.com, inherited books, The Green Knowe series, kids love series, Nelson DeMille’s The Lion, Lion’s Game, Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges, The Gospel According To Mark by Jorge Luis Borges, Gene Wolfe, George Guidall, Anne McCaffery’s Dragonriders Of Pern: Dragon Girl by Todd McCaffrey, Mexico, Mexico City, “turista”, Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey, the thread threat, the Honor Harrington series, Mission Of Honor by David Weber, Paul W. Campbell, On Basilisk Station by David Weber |READ OUR REVIEW|, Lois McMaster Bujold, Full Cast Audio, The Unicorn Chronicles: Book 4: The Last Hunt by Bruce Coville, Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo, Mobile Infantry vs. the immobile infantry, re-write Starship Troopers as Warehouse Troopers, Water Steps by A. LaFaye, Sense And Sensibility And Sea Monsters for kids, Spaceship Rat, baby rat trauma, capybara, Brilliance Audio, The Deed Of Paksenarrion: Book 2: Divided Allegiance by Elizabeth Moon, The Sad Tale Of The Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bulington, The Vampire Earth: Valentine’s Rising by E.E. Knight, space vampires, Graphic Audio, The Immortals: Book 4: The Realms Of The Gods by Tamora Peirce, More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon (read by Stefan Rudnicki and Harlan Ellison), gestalt, fix-up, Baby Is Three by Theodore Sturgeon, Caedmon, H.G. Wells, Microcosmic God by Theodore Sturgeon, Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold (read by Grover Gardner), The Reader’s Chair, Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold |READ OUR REVIEW|, Paul Is Undead by Alan Goldsher (as read by Simon Vance), zombies, has the public domain classics remixed with supernatural horror jumped the shark?, A Picture Of Dorian’s Gray, Quirk Books, “paranormal romance has got completely out of hand”, Dark Shadows, soap operas, Soap, M*A*S*H, Three’s Company, Bosom Buddies, Blackstone Audio, the Newford series, Widdershins by Charles De Lint, urban fantasy alert, Mindswap by Robert Sheckley, Tom Weiner, Altered Carbon, A Galaxy Trilogy: Volume 3, Giants Of Eternity by Manly Wade Wellman, The War Of The Worlds, “standing on the shoulder of giants”, The Girls With Games Of Blood by Alex Bledsoe, The Return: Book IV of Voyagers by Ben Bova, “sensawunda”, first contact, the Grand Tour series, the Asteroid Wars series, the 2006 Harlan Ellison interview, City Of Darkness by Ben Bova |READ OUR REVIEW|, Neil Gaiman, Around The World In Eighty Days by Jules Verne (as read by Jim Dale), Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy: Live In Concert, Footfall by Larry Niven by Jerry Pournelle, Audible Frontiers, Police Your Planet by Lester Del Rey, Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp, The Sword Of Shannara, The Elfstones Of Shannara, Neal Stephenson, Anathem, Boneshaker, The City And The City, Julian Comstock by Robert Charles Wilson |READ OUR REVIEW|, Palimpsest, WWW: Wake, The Windup Girl, ebooks, Fictionwise, PaperbackDigital, Kelli Stanley, The Functional Nerds Podcast interview of Mike Resnick, Pump Six and Other Stories by Paulo Bacigalupi, The Alchemist And The Executioness by Tobias S. Buckell and Paulo Bacigalupi, Scott’s Pick Of The Week: Despicable Me, Jesse’s Pick Of The Week: Police Your Planet by Lester Del Rey, Zombie Astronaut, The Frequency Of Fear, The Frequency Lite.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #067 – TALK TO: Dan Carlin

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #067 – Scott and Jesse talk to Dan Carlin, of the Hardcore History and Common Sense podcasts!

Talked about on today’s show:
Hardcore History, Common Sense, the Rashomon effect, Gilligan’s Island, Fox News, MSNBC, ABC, defensive reporting, nuance vs. talking points, BBC, NPR, PBS, Wikileaks, Common Sense Show #179 – GenX Journalism, the Martian political position, comics, What If…, Niall Ferguson, “counterfactual history“, “how different would voting be if there were no money impacting the political system at all?”, the toothless United Nations, the Canadian political system vs. the U.S. political system, the Congress Of Vienna, WWI, WWII, the Napoleonic Wars, the Rwandan Genocide, the Korean War, the Gaza flotilla incident, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq War, unilateral action, Panama, NATO, imagine if the United Nations wasn’t toothless, Wikileaks’ “Collateral Murder” video, Grenada, a “muscular” foreign policy, “air on the side of reality”, Julian Assange, unreleased Abu Ghraib prison video, podcasting, “how cool is it to have an international program?”, Pierre Trudeau, “we live in reaction to you”, U.S. foreign policy, Barack Obama, first contact in Science Fiction, first contact in history, Despoilers Of The Golden Empire by Randall Garrett, Fransisco Pissaro, United States expedition to Korea, “Korea is a dagger, in the hand of China, pointed at the heart of Japan”, Globalization Unto Death, “the hermit kingdom”, Magellan expedition, Steppe Stories, an island off the coast of India, Commodore Perry‘s expedition to Japan, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Civilization (board game), Sparta, the freedom of podcasting.

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #066 – TALK TO: Harlan Ellison

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastThe SFFaudio Podcast #066 – Scott talks to Harlan Ellison, in the vintage 2006 interview, about audiobooks and audio drama.

Talked about on today’s show:
SFWA, Harlan Ellison’s Grand Master of Science Fiction award, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Alfred Bester, Repent Harlequin Said The Tick-Tock Man, A Boy And His Dog, Shatterday, Alternate World Recordings, Shelly Levinson, Roy Torgeson, The Prowler In The City A The Edge of the World, Yours Truly Jack The Ripper by Robert Bloch, Dangerous Visions, The Bloody Times Of Jack The Ripper, radio drama, Orson Welles, reading your own work aloud, Joseph Patrich, in the tradition of Geoffrey Chaucer, Ovid, Plato, auctorial performance, teaching English at universities, autodidact-ism, the Harlan Ellison Recording Collection, Caedmon, Harper Audio, The Ellison Audio Archipelago, Stefan Rudnicki, Dove Audio, A Sinner In The Hands Of An Angry God by Jonathan Edwards, Guglielmo Marconi, Voices From The Edge: I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison |READ OUR REVIEW|, Audio Literature, Blackstone Audio, Deep Shag Recordings, On The Road With Harlan Ellison series, Jack Williamson, Robert A. Heinlein, performing an audiobook, reading for the blind, Scott Brick, the wonderful voice of Stefan Rudnicki, City Of Darkness by Ben Bova, A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin |READ OUR REVIEW|, Ben Bova’s writing style, Mars by Ben Bova (read by Harlan Ellison), cryonics vs. cryogenics, fixing mistakes in other people’s books, the popularity of Science Fiction in radio’s heyday, Mysterious Traveler, Suspense, Lights Out, X-Minus One, Dimension X, I Love A Mystery, War Of The Worlds, 1950s “giant ant movies”, Galaxy Magazine, Radio Yesterday, Sea Legs by Frank Quattrocchi, the radio serials: Space Cadet, Superman, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, 2000X, the man Harlan Ellison won’t mention the name of (Yuri Rasovsky), Robin Williams, By His Bootstraps by Robert A. Heinlein, Richard Dreyfuss, NPR, the sense of belonging, The Green Hornet, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (Tertiary Phase), Douglas Adams.

Posted by Jesse Willis