While I’ve been waiting for confirmation about a possible deal surrounding
the Visions of Sarah screenplay, I haven’t been ignoring other irons in the
fire. And, the one heating up at the moment is getting redder and redder.
Last year, I broached the subject of doing an audio anthology with Hacker’s
Source editor and fellow author, Frank Wales. We batted around the idea a
bit when Frank and Jacki, his wife, were visiting here for the weekend,
checking out the (at the time) new homestead. Things happened, both of us
got way busy, but now with things settlin’ down, we’re back on it, and just
the other day I set up a meeting with some voice talent to begin exploring
what we can do, when we can start doing it, etc. Frank and I are both pretty
excited about it. We’ve been in touch with some pro voice actors, and people
involved in the Florida theatre scene, and right now we’re looking to have
three to five different narrators come on board for the recordings, which I’d
like to begin around the end of February.
The task at hand now is juggling my freelances, completing the two
screenplays I’m working on, negotiating the sale of Visions, and squeezing
in a short story I might want to use for the audio book, while revisiting
all the stories in the To Be Considered… pile. Some have been around for
quite a while, and probably need some updating. I know for a fact that
‘Walkers, if it makes the cut, needs some edits and tightening up.
Bottom line? Lots of stuff to decide, a lengthy list of past & present
fiction to pare down, and then Frank and I will need to compare what we
have, so we don’t tread too much on one topic/sub-genre. I know we both have
a werewolf story (or two), although I don’t see any reason we can’t include
two in one anthology. Especially since we’re not really worried about
limitations on our content. Since we’re not going to accompany this with a
print version, if we decide to run 400 pages? So what? We’ll do it. And,
unless Frank’s got more werewolf than I know of at present, neither story is
remotely like the other. But it’s one example of the kinds of things we need
to work out before putting together a final list of tales, since we can’t
logistically release a thousand page audio book, even using MP3 format. We’re
going with MP3 because it’ll cut down on the amount of CDs-something that
*kills* traditional audio book publishers. In standard format, a 500 pg.
book requires at least 8 CDs, and sometimes more. By going with MP3 format,
we can fit a ton more content on far fewer discs, thus keeping the price
down and replication costs at a minimum. That’ll help us out when it comes
to shipping ‘em, too, storing ‘em, etc. Far simpler, and just about
everybody has MP3 now. As well, we do plan to have a release that could be
made available via ITunes (I hear they’re selling audio books now, as well
as music), which is cool because then we don’t need to ship or package
anything.
The whole thing is long overdue, and I’m glad Frank and I have gotten the
project back on track. Regardless of what happens with either the Visions of
Sarah script or Skin Flick, putting time into this is something I’ve been
looking forward to. If a directing gig comes up and interrupts, it still
shouldn’t delay the release indefinitely. Once the stories are assigned and
the recording location set, working around everyone’s schedule is something
we’d planned on having to do anyway, back when we first began exploring the
idea.
And that’s what’s happenin’ around the Chanting Monks/Sight Unseen compound
this week. Writin’, writin’, writin’ is about to become writin’, readin’ and
more writin’ real soon.
Unless the cold weather down here gives everybody laryngitis. *That,* of
course, wouldn’t surprise me at all…
* * * * * * * * * *
Currently listening to: Remorse by Bella Morte
