Calling 2 Update

If you are sick of me pulling a George RR Martin on "The Calling: Reunion," well, nobody's sicker of it than me.  I sat down to record Chapter 26 (of around 30) last night, when I discovered that midway through that chapter . . . the file just ends.  There's no "the end," there's no Chapter 27, heck, there wasn't even the end of Chapter 26!

So, I looked through my notebooks (thank Bossk I still have them) and found the handwritten story from years ago, and sat down to type it all up*, until I ran out of juice.  I have been pretty close to unprofessional about this project from the get-go, and I guess it's time for me to make a little admission to you that may explain why . . . I'm not a professional.

I don't know what I'm doing.  I don't actually write, publish, or do audiobooks for a living.  Hence, my enormous sales numbers, I suppose.  And further hence, it explains why I began to suspect, halfway through recording this, my second-EVER novel-length work, that it might not be all that good.

But hey, I always suspect that, to one degree or another.**

So, not only do I have to retype the rest of the story (which, to be fair, is only twenty pages or so), but I can't really record any more of it until I do so.  And furthermore, I decided to expand Chapter 23 today, so that a character that dies in Chapter 27 gets a final scene before it happens.

I did that tonight instead of editing, but hey, it added another 600 words to the already 50,000 word story!  Oh, but I digress.  The reason I was writing this blog post was so that could say the above, AND say that, regardless of the quality of the finished product, there is one bit in "The Calling: Reunion" that I consider quite good.

And that's the bit where Josh goes to a church meeting of the McGinty family cult.  I thought it would be entertaining to write a hymn that they sing to start out the services, and when I did the audio, I thought it would be fun to make up a tune for it.

And that worked remarkably well.  So well that, when I sang it through a second time (just for the performance's sake), I remembered the tune pretty exactly.

I'm gonna share that bit with you now, since I'm pretty impressed with myself, if I may be so bold, sir (or ma'am).  Here you go:



Of course, your mileage may vary.  But then, it always has.

I wonder, in editing this little bit and putting it out there, if I didn't subconsciously steal the tune from an actual hymn that I heard in my youth.  If you recognize this little ditty, please let me know what it is in the comments below.  Of course, if you don't recognize it, then let's just chalk it up to my genius, shall we?

Anyhoo, "The Calling: Reunion" will be available soon.  Just not as soon as I was hoping.

Rish "Heed To The Voice" Outfield

*Again.  Or, hey, maybe I never actually typed it up in the first place.  Maybe I got through most of that chapter and said, "Okay, I'm calling it a day," and never went back to transcribe the rest.

**Though not usually to this degree.

Are You Enough?

I went to the library today, as I do every Saturday afternoon in my pointless attempts at self-expression (got another 1100 words done on the next overlong "Dead & Breakfast" story).  When they flashed the lights to warn us that the library still closes ludicrously early on the one day people could stay later, I logged off the public computer and headed for my car, my mood as grey as the sky above.

In the corridor, however, I stopped.  Somebody had left a postcard-looking mural with a rainbow colors and the message "You Are Enough" on one of the walls.

I stopped and looked at it for a moment.

You are enough.  That's the whole message.  And what does that mean, exactly?

Well, I suppose it could be a song title or a line from a YA novel nobody over twenty has ever read.

It could also be PART of a message, one that continues elsewhere in the library (perhaps asking Bailee Aimes Donavan to the prom), but I was only seeing one of them, so it was totally out of context.

I guess it could mean that, despite my usual proclivity for banging skanky crystal meth-addicts I meet in truck stops and at Denny's at four am, well . . . you are enough to make me settle down, Melinda.

Or, it might mean that, whoever it was meant for is this person's daughter or gay son, and gosh darn it, despite our differences, and the argument we had about global warming . . . you're okay in my book.

Or more probably, it's a phrase of encouragement, intended to say, "Hey, I know you're down on yourself, and feel like you'll be buried under the weight of your practically limitless failures . . . but you're still you, and that's pretty darn good."

Or, having noticed the web address conspicuously present on the art, it might mean that there's a website out there where you can create an image with whatever writing you like on it, print it out, and maybe inspire other people to do likewise.

Could be anything.

But for a moment there, as I trudged out to my car, thinking about that girl that recently makes me feel both childlike with wonder and unspeakably old, about the almost laughable history of mistakes in my past, and about the grim, Hieronymus Bosch-like future that awaits me, I wondered if, maybe . . . I was enough.

Enough to be happy.  Enough to be successful.  Enough to reach the finish line in some kind of position other than last place.

Some stranger wanted me to know that I'm not alone.  That he (or more likely, she) has felt the way I do, and is in my corner.  And if that's the case, then you know what?  YOU are also enough.

No matter what the bastards say.

No matter what you sometimes say.

We are enough.

And yeah, yeah, I looked it up, and its source is a website where you're supposed to create art, put a message with it, and then, and I quote, "Find a place to leave your art in public where someone else can find it.  Hopefully finding your art piece will be the highlight of that person's day!"  Then you're urged to post it to social media with a hashtag.  But you know, I'm going to choose to take it in the best possible spirit and think that there could still be a happy ending to this story called life, even if logic (and history) say otherwise.

Rish #sharingartmatters Outfield

Rish Outcast 161: Hello Laptop, Goodbye Home

Okay, here's another TMI show.  Sorry.

In this one, I talk about getting a new laptop and saying farewell to my childhood home.  Exciting, no?



To download this episode, Right-Click HERE.

To support me on Patreon, go on over HERE.

Logo by Gino "Good-Hell" Moretto.

12 Goals For 2020 - January

I thought it might help me to post a list of these (maybe print it out), and hold myself accountable each month, giving updates where they might happen.  If this doesn't interest you, nothing to see here.

1.  Publish "The Calling: Reunion."
    I'm deep into this, and wow, has it been arduous.  I've been updating Big A. on my progress, and right now, I'm at 38,954 words of recorded audio.  If it weren't so exhausting, I would've been finished months ago.

2.  Do Dunesteef Patreon with Big.
3.  Find Out Who Sings "I'm A Bad Liar" Song.
   This would take three seconds.  Hmmm.
3a. Put Out "Tales of eBay Horror" Episodes.   I recorded a new one of these, just with audio, to see if it could work.  Editing will be slow, though.

4.  Finish "Balms & Sears" Novella.
5.  Publish EITHER "A Sidekick To Miracles" or "YIGH" (Lara and the Witch 2).
6.  Finish "Podcatcher" short story.
7.  Do BOTH "Empire Strikes Back" and "Death Star Day" Episodes of "Delusions of Grandeur." 
   Recorded "Death Star D. Day" this week. I may ask Renee to do the female lines.

8.   Publish EITHER "My Friend of Misery" or audio version of "A Lovely Singing Voice."
9.  Do "Till Death Do Us" Episode With Marshal Latham.
10.  Put Out Christmas Story Collection.
11.  Put Out Audio Collection 4.
12.  Put Out TWO New "Dead & Breakfast" Stories.
    I finished up (the mediocre) "The Old Man & Me" this week, and would have published it already if I didn't think it was mediocre.  I asked Gino to do me a new cover for it.  Maybe I'll just put it out now with a temporary cover, and swap it out when I get a better one.  As far as the audio goes, maybe I'll put out the first four stories as a little collection, and the only way to get TOMAM would be buying that.  Hmmm.

Twilight Groan 2: To Serve Man

Rish Outfield and his ginger niece Cathexis talk about the classic Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man."  

Anyone else hungry?



If you'd like to download the episode, just Right-Click HERE.

If you'd like to support us on Patreon, just Left-Click HERE.

Next up, Bill Shatner is too Shat to fly!

Rish Outcast 160: 12 Goals For 2020

So, it's a new year (according to some, a new decade), and I thought I'd make a list of five goals for 2020.  Then that list became ten.  And here is an episode where I talk about my even dozen goals for the year.

I'm putting them out here so people will hold me to them.  Perhaps there's entertainment value there too.



To download the episode, Right-Click HERE.

Logo by Gino "The 13th Goal" Moretto.

Again, I'd really appreciate it if you'd support me on Patreon (even for a dollar an episode).  They got a longer version of the episode, with a short "Lara & the Witch" vignette at the end.

A Flattering Discovery

So, I was on Instagram today, trying to find somebody's account like a silly teenager* when I made the titular discovery.  I don't know if you remember my tale "Rest Stop," about the guy whose dog runs out into the snow and he encounters . . . someone while looking for the dog.

But in 2017, someone named Reuxben listened to my story on the Rish Outcast . . . and I guess it excited them enough to do some fan art for it.

But wow, they didn't stop there.  There were various sketches and works in progress on the guy's blog (could be a girl's too, I dunno).  This is his rough sketch:

I love that (hey, I love all of this) "Know me" is written under the title.  If I recall, the malevolent being out in the snow said that.

In this one, he seems to have painted the face of "The Hag" in the snow.  Reuxben called her "The Hag," but it makes me want to go back and call her that if I didn't.

Then, he added the hair, and some shading over the main character.

This is one of two finished products, with all the elements together.  This is my preferred version (and note that now it says, "No.  Stay."), which absolutely has to be dialogue from the story.

I have to say, it makes me feel great to discover this.  That a stranger liked something I created enough to create something I like that much.

Like Admiral Kirk said . . . "I feel young."

Rish Tiberius Outfield

*I swear, I'm getting less mature every day.  For example, yesterday I lost a snowball fight to a twelve year old.

The Twilight Groan 1: Introduction & Legacy

Hey there, kids.  My niece often asks me about the stories I'm writing, and she used to provide a voice here or there for my podcast.  But recently, I asked her if she'd like to do a podcast with me, where we talk about a topic we have in common.

She was agreeable, and we decided it would be on the original "Twilight Zone" television series.

So, as the TZ celebrates its sixtieth anniversary, Cathexis and I are presenting our new podcast, The Twilight Groan.  In this episode, we talk briefly about the show and its legacy, and hopefully open the door for many more conversations in the future.

So, which episodes of TTZ should we review first?  Next up will be "To Serve Man."

To download the episode, Right-Click HERE.

As always, to support me on Patreon, go to THIS LINK.

(The Rest of) "Most Feared In The Galaxy" On Delusions of Grandeur

Marshal Latham was quick to post the second half of my Star Wars-related story, "The Most Feared In The Galaxy," and the two of us managed to talk about three more episodes of "The Mandalorian" before THE RISE OF SKYWALKER came out.

I don't know if I'll write a follow-up to this story.  I do have an idea about how a sequel would end, but I don't imagine I'll put forth the effort (I've got soooo many projects either in mind or in mid-stream right now) unless people demand it.

Even so, I'm happy with this little tale, and if you want to hear it, with Marshal himself voicing droid 0-KE, then check it out HERE.

Rish Outcast 159: Choice of a Sidekick

Happy Christmas, Ron.

This was last year's holiday episode, which I was unable to get out there in time.

 I'm presenting the Benny Parks prequel story "Choice of a Sidekick," but be warned, the sound quality is decidedly un-Christmasy.



Download the episode directly by Right-Clicking HERE.

To support me on Patreon, go HERE.

Logo by Gino "He Chose . . . Poorly" Moretto.

Music was "Americana" (of course) by Kevin McLeod of Incompetech.com.