The Seanachai -

So the first subscriber-only post is up. So if you think you should be able to see it and can’t, please email or comment and we’ll straighten it out as quickly as possible.

The post presents a bit of work in progress. It’s a draft of a screenplay from 1999 called 86 Nickels. It was the start of what originally became Death of a Dishwasher. From a movie standpoint, it’s not really very good. Screenwriting is a pretty intricate, structural art. And the more TV spots I’ve done, the more I realize how different (and constrained) visual storytelling is. Audio is wide open because you can use the tricks of visual storytelling, but still dip into all the cool stuff that prose can do that film, just can’t

Anyway, there are some great scenes and lines in the script and it’s well worth a peruse if you liked Death of a Dishwasher (here’s a link to that Parsec Award-winning series) or you are interested in process at all.

A tip of the hat goes to John August for developing the Scrippet plug-in that I used to display this page of the script. He’s an awesome screenwriter (Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and his blog (www.johnaugust.com) is tremendous. He really goes out of his way to answer questions and help people understand his craft. In an industry known for the freaky and the mean, he’s a class act. So if you have screenwriting questions, check out his blog.

And check out this badass little formatting plug-in.

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It’s that most Turkey-filled time of the year.

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 Fun with the Bird [9:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1520)

So, we’ve officially launched our membership system. This means a couple of things: first of all it means that, in return for donating to The Seanachai, not only do you get to help us keep the lights on and servers up, we’ll also be capable of giving you stuff in return –members-only content. Think of it like the gift you get for donating to NPR, but more often, and in the form of extra Podcast episodes.

Some things to know:

1) if you’ve donated, and you are registered on the site, you should have member status. We’ve migrated all the donations we’ve received to the new membership system. Members should see, in the right-hand-side of the header graphic, text that reads “Thanks for donating! Your membership expires on…”; if you’ve donated and don’t see this text, post a comment and we’ll figure out what went wrong.

2) Members hath their privileges. Now that we have the model and the technology all figured out, there will be member-only content and episodes; there will also be time-delayed content. That is to say, a multi-part series might only come out once a month, but if you are a member, you’ll get all the episodes much, much faster (probably all at once).

So a great big “Thank you!” to all our members current and future! If you’re not yet a member and would like to become one, first register on the site using the links at the top of the page; once you’re registered and logged in you should see a “Become a Member” button appear on the top-right of the header graphic. Click it to become a member!

In which epithets are hurled at me from a powerchair

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 Cracker [7:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1494)

Well, things are going well. At least I think things are going well. There are some donations. Episodes are going up on a regular basis. I don’t feel like I’ve hit any of the new ones out of the park, but I’m hitting some solid doubles.

What’s lacking, of course, is fiction. And I’ve got lots of that coming. I’ve been working on something with PG Holyfield (of Murder at Avedon Hill) and I’m really happy with it. It’s a multipart series that’s got everything really. Golf, Death, Honor, friendship, betrayal,  the Mayan Apocalypse and a vengeful god disguised as a pickup truck. Scott Sigler’s even helping us out with one of the voices.

It’s called Flinchy and the Mexican Show Truck.

I’m also working on something called Unkillable. It’s a tale of revenge told from the perspective of a guy who is killed and turned into well, basically a Zombie. I’m really happy with it as well.

So, friends of the Seanachai, here’s the question — how do I roll these multipart series out? All at once, or do I alternate episodes between a little one-off or essay and an episodic piece?

What about making them available for purchase before they’ve all gone out on the feed? That is to say, if you listen and you just can’t wait until next week (or next month) you can buy the rest of the episodes right then and there.

The poor man had been over-run. By gibberish.

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 Actually, Absolutely [9:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1782)

Even though the Seanachai is parsed out in 5-7 minute increments, the entire podcast is more than 8 hours of finished audio. This tends to make it daunting for new listeners. So to enhance the accessibility, and more effectively suck people in, I’ve compiled a brief introduction. It includes some of my favorite episodes (and some explanation of why) but it’s by no means comprehensive.

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And soon the craziness will be behind us.

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 I voted? [6:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1775)