P.G. Holyfield the man that drug me into my podcast fiction addiction.

http://www.pgholyfield.com/maah/
http://www.pgholyfield.com/
http://deadrobotssociety.com/

That’s right P.G. Holyfield I blame you!!!! I Blame you for introducing me to a rich world of awesome content Fiction, and help with writing.

I started listening to podcasts actually by listening to the Dragon’s Landing Inn a gaming podcast that was pretty much the only podcast I listened to. They played a promo for Murder at Avedon Hill, I heard the promo a few times so I finally bit and gave it a listen and was hooked fairly early on.

I normally really don’t like Mystery stories they’re usually either too blatantly obvious or to convoluted and mire me in details that I really don’t give a flying fig about. I was very leery coming into Murder at Avedon Hill because it was a murder mystery. I was very pleasantly surprised within the first couple episodes and I forgot completely about it being a mystery and just got sucked in to the wonderful story telling and fantastic voice cast. I’ve prolly mentioned this before (and likely will again so get used to it)I have a three hour one way commute. P.G. along with many of the others that I’d be exposed to because of MaAH almost made my commute feel like it was over too soon.

I wasn’t in on MaAH from the start I got to it a few episodes in but I quickly caught up and sat staring at Itunes every couple days waiting for the next installment. I faithfully waited for the remainder of the 2 years that it took for MaAH to finish. Let me state this I’m an impatient person and usually if I have to wait I say fuck it it’s not worth it. P.G. managed to get to me so that I couldn’t say no, I couldn’t walk away “DAMN YOU HOLYFILED!!” became my cry after each episode because yes you got more info on A, B and C, but the groundwork was being laid for D, E, and F.

For those that haven’t had the pleasure of listening to Murder at Avedon Hill – It’s a murder Mystery set in a fantasy world. The world and characters can quickly make you forget that you’re in a murder mystery and just suck you in. I gave it a second listen through just after it finished up so I could give the story a straight listen from start to finish and was still sucked in even though I already knew what was coming.

Through P.G. I was introduced to Scott Sigler from a story so far that Scott had did, I loved the ranting lunatic style so gave his stuff a listen to and it snowballed from there as I added J.C. Hutchins, Mur Lafferty, Chris Lester, Nathan Lowell, Christiana Ellis, Phil Rossi ( I still blame Phil for scaring the crap out of my last ipod so badly with Crescent that it went into hiding), etc… to the pool of Podcast authors I listen to. I came to one of my favorite podcasts about writing fiction because of P.G. as well – The Dead Robots society. I started giving them a listen after seeing an update on P.G.’s facebook about how he had now joined the DRS crew hosting the podcast.

If it weren’t for P.G. I never would have been exposed to the vast sea of podcasts that I listen to now. I also never would have given audio fiction a second look.

Dumbassitude in Pimpage.

Well I just realized that I’ve been lax in my pimpage I haven’t been leaving URLs for people to go check out the pimpage yes I admit I am a dumb ass.

Guys and Gals and those that shall remain unclassified due to the shortcomings of science in the early 21st century I am so sorry about forgetting to post links to your sites during your pimpage.

Random Pimpage 1 Pimping those who help.
Dead Robots Society http://deadrobotssociety.com
I Should Be Writing http://isbw.murlafferty.com
Tale Chasing www.talechasing.com
Writing Excuses www.writingexcuses.com

Random Pimpage 3 J.C. Hutchins and Phil Rossi making you scared of the dark.
J.C. Hutchins http://jchutchins.net
Phil Rossi http://crescentstation.net

Random Pimpage 5 Our FDO General Siglerisimo – Scott Sigler
Scott Sigler www.scottsigler.com

Our FDO General Siglerisimo – Scott Sigler

P.G. Holyfield may have gotten me started listening to Podcast fiction but Sigler got me hooked. – So I’m guessing that Holyfield was my pot and Sigler was Heroin using that analogy….

Scott Sigler is what I truly look for in an author. He’s one of the best authors out there as far as I’m concerned. Stephen King prepare to be dethroned. Seriously Sigler pays great attention to detail, he does a good job of representing hard science in his fiction, there are likely a few points of contention that experts in the field will have but as far as the general layman reader it makes more than perfect sense. But what makes him one of the greats in my book (no pun intended) his ability to not only paint a scene you can almost reach out and touch, but to bring that emotion that the characters are feeling and infect you with it. In Nocturnal there is a scene early on with a gang of bullies picking on a kid. They do something pretty awful to the kid and I’m not going to spoil it here but when they did it… I felt it like I was there like it was happening to me. My brain told me that I was in pain, I dropped my ipod.

Sigler is a true hero too. In the midst of a lot of personal drama last year and early on this year he not only managed to publish 2 hardcover releases (one of which made the NY Times best sellers list) but podcast with only moderate delays and interruptions.

Sigler has a whole stable of Podcast fiction
Earthcore Freaky Aliens deep underground in the Utah badlands.
Ancestor – Genetics gone bad gone very bad – Currently being rewritten for release in hardcover for 2010 I believe through Crown – an imprint of Random House
The Rookie – He describes it as “Any Given Sunday meets the Godfather meets Star Wars I describe it as freaking awesome thought I wasn’t gonna like it because of the football, it actually made me semi interested in the sport I don’t find football nearly as irritating now – Soon to be in print self Published by the FDO preorder now and it shold be on your threshold on or damned close to NFL Season opening day.
Infected – Alien invasion from the inside – Formerly Infection – Released April 1st 2008 through Crown – an imprint of Random House
Contagious – Sequel to Infected – Infected was so well received that instead of a 2009 release they moved it up to December 2008 through Crown – an imprint of Random House
Nocturnal – Monsters stalk the streets of San Francisco – Too damned big to be released by Crown at this juncture – But Sigler is working on getting this one in print for us.
Bloodcast Season 1 and 2 – Short Fiction
The Crypt New Podcast fiction developed with help from other Authors / Podcasters – Basically I think this would equate to Scott Sigler’s imagining of how Battle Star Galactica or a dysfunctional Star Trek would be.

All in all I have no idea why the hell he isn’t a household name. Right now there are a fair number of podcast authors that are finally starting to get their due in print, and I think it’s a shame no screw that no thought involved I know it’s a shame. Which is why I started Random Pimpage in the first place. Too many awesome things out there that are not getting their proper due respect.

Scott Thank you for hours of entertainment and more than a few sleepless nights. (Especially after the Snipe Hunting short fiction in the Bloodcast season 1 and Eusocial Networking from J.C. Hutchins’s 7th Son Obsidian).

Bow down to the FDO and let them Plaid Tanks roll

Edit – 11:14 AM CDT 7-21-2009
Like a dumbass I forgot to post a link to Scott’s Website -

To check out Sigler’s work for yourself please visit http://www.scottsigler.com/

Pimping….

If there’s something you’d like me to pimp drop me a line @ behindthe8@gmail.com or leave me a voicemail at 206 203 2165 – This serves as my voicemail for all my blogs and the podcast. You can also hit me up on twitter – @BT8Podcast or my regular twitter feed @RAsplundJr.

I’ll check out whatever you want me to Pimp and if I dig it and think others will enjoy it as well I’ll pimp it.

There’s too much cool crap out there for me to know everything that’s going on.

By pimping I mean going out there and shouting (well typing) to the world how cool something is not pimping stuff out to make it cooler.

Most of my pimpage will likely be podcast and podcast fiction oriented (along with those authors’ print releases) but I don’t have a problem with tweeting, blogging, or podcasting about other cool things that don’t get the time in the spotlight that it rightly deserves.

TV Pimpage.

TV – The internet has really done a number on TV, With the ability to download your fave programs or use sites like HULU and the networks own websites to view episodes you’ve missed (not to mention DVRs and for the truly old school VCRs) TV is more accessible than ever. So I got to thinking there are shows out there that people have no excuse to miss.

I don’t have the chance to watch much TV anymore… work, 3 hour commute (one way), working onthe fiction, working on the Blogs, and working on the podcast on top of trying to find time for my wife and three kids is kinda hectic, so a lot of my TV viewing is done barely paying attention to the TV. There are a few shows out there however that I make sure get some time to themselves, and a few that used to hold that slot that are slowly and surely falling out of my MUST watch TV.

*** Lie to Me – Fox – I freaking love this show. Doc Lightman and his team try to crack at least one mystery each week through body language. Likely one of the contenders for the “Could happen” award. I honestly don’t know that much about psychology, it’s impact on our physiology and body language to know how much of the science in the show is real or crap, but I think it’s well written and well acted enough for me not to really care about the hard science behind the premise.

** Chuck – NBC – Yeah I mainly love this show because the geek is the hero. The stories are WAY out there beyond any kind of plausibility but it’s still a fun romp.

* Heroes – NBC – Okay I wish it could still be included here but man the show has gotten almost as convoluted as Lost. Sorry Heroes you’re dropped to second string.

* Smallville – CW – As much of a comic book geek as I am I have a hard time watching this past season 4… It’s a Herculean effort to just turn the show on….

*** Fringe – Fox – Fringe sciences and conspiracies have always interested me, I think had the X-Files been more like this I’d have watched it more often. The major drawing factor for me for this show is Joshua Jackson he gets the best lines in the entire series, followed closely by John Noble (who plays his mad scientist father)it’s a good balance of mad science action and humor I’ve seen on TV in a while.

Sadly these days a lot of my TV viewing is Veggie Tales, Wonder Pets and Teach my kid how to speak foreign languages kiddie cartoons because of the Little Demon Monkey (aka my youngest who’s about 1 1/2 at the time of this posting)

Reading through I noticed I don’t seem to have the umph I usually put into my pimpage posts I apologize for the lack of enthusiasm in today’s post been working a lot of OT and the baby has been cranky means Richie is getting nil for sleep and is low on batteries…

J.C. Hutchins and Phil Rossi making you scared of the dark.

Two great story tellers bringing back fear of the dark.

J.C Hutchins (@JCHutchins on twitter) is a fantastic storyteller, and podcaster that had his print debut June 9 2009. Personal Effects:Dark Art hit the streets shelves and mailboxes running. I haven’t been able to score my copy yet the damn bills keep piling up. Responsibility sucks. I have seen the first 4 chapters and I’m loving it.

Phil Rossi (@PhilRossi on twitter) has his debut of Crescent coming out in just a couple days here on July 9th, 2009 – I’m currently listening (well once I locate my Ipod again) to this in podcast form and I think that’s why I can’t find my Ipod because Phil Rossi scared the hell out of it and it doesn’t want to play any more of crescent – Crescent is a nicely done sci-fi story that will keep you up as much from fueling a fear of the dark as wanting to know what happens next.

Remember to support Hutch and Rossi both by purchasing their books wherever you may find them – Though we do have a Special note – Phil Rossi is trying the ever popular Amazon rush, and he requests that you don’t pre-order the novel but rather participate in the rush on July 9th and storm Amazon.com (hopefully Amazon will have their act together and it won’t end up repeat of May 15th for Christiana Ellis)

Thank you both for creating some awesome fiction to keep me up into the night, oh and my wife has a few words for you too, but they’re not the happy kind as I kinda get wrapped up in listening and forget to come to bed…..

Edit – 11:44 AM CDT 7-21-2009
Like a dumbass I forgot to post a link to Hutch and Phil’s Websites -

To Check out their work for yourself please visit their sites below
J.C. Hutchins http://jchutchins.net
Phil Rossi http://crescentstation.net

Those that protect our collective asses.

This last weekend we celebrated Independence day here in the US, non US Citizens would remember it as Saturday.

In light of this holiday and what it means I want to throw out a random pimpage for our men and women that serve and protect our asses on a daily basis.

To our men and women who have served in the past, are currently serving, or will one day serve – Thank you from the bottom of my heart for having the courage ad strength to do something that I physically (and likely emotionally and psychologically) could not endure. Thank you for defending our freedom, thank you fro protecting our way of life, may you come home safe to your family and friends.

To those in the emergency services (Police, Fire, and EMS) Thank you for being here to pick our asses up after stupidity (our own or that of someone else) comes rushing like a freight train into our lives. Thank you for being here to help pick up the pieces and set us back on the path.

To those who have lost a loved one in the line of duty – my heartfelt condolences at your loss, and my thanks for their service.

Too often these heroes get overlooked and ignored, or spit upon while they’re doing their jobs to keep our ingratious asses safe so that we have the privilege to spit in their faces. To those that too often mock these brave men and women I hope one day you don’t have to look into their eyes as they pull your ass out of harms way. Because I know I wouldn’t be able to bear the shame if I treated these folks like that.

God bless the men and women who keep us safe both on foreign soil and our own. Thank God for the bravery the blood the sweat and the tears these folks shed every day so we can sit and whine about petty things in our air conditioning and coffee shops.

Please keep our protectors safe and let them come home to be with their family, I can’t wait for the day when we grow up enough so that we don’t need their services anymore, but until we arrive at that day thank God we have people willing to serve. I know it’s a dream but that is a dream worth having and a dream worth striving for.

Usually I’m a smart ass and a cynical jerk – But this is one thing that I hold very dear to my heart and I don’t think our protectors get nearly enough credit that they deserve. I am lucky enough to have many friends in Law Enforcement, EMS, Fire, and the Military and I used to take those professions for granted but knowing some of what these great people have to endure to keep us safe I know that I can never thank them enough. But I have to try to thank them as much as I can.