Thursday, February 20, 2025

My Voice on "Vega" By Jonathan Wilson

Not too long ago, a friend of the Dunesteef, Jonathan Wilson, contacted me, asking if I had any lines in stories for him to voice, since he missed those old days where we would have folks send us lines for characters in full-cast stories.  I don't tend to use any other voices in my stories (though I'm occasionally tempted with female characters), but I told him Big might have a slot or two for him on his show.

Not to be deterred, Jonathan has made his own show, written his own stories, and has been releasing them over on YouTube.  And now the worm has turned, as I'm voicing a couple of characters in Jonathan's story "Vega."  It's about a military listening post that gets a message from outer space, originating in the Vega star system.


I just watched it and . . . holy Aerosmith video-era Alicia Silverstone, he seems to have made some kind of animated motion comic, using uncanny valley A.I. character images that move their mouths when there's dialogue.  It's not like anything I've seen . . . and to my horror, I realized that Specialist Donaldson kind of looks like me, facial hair and everything! 

The future is here, kids. 

Check it out AT THIS LINK, if you dare. 

Monday, February 17, 2025

Rish Outcast 298: Balms, Sears, & Publishing

Rish talks about his longest work, the newly-released book "Balms & Sears." He talks about the idea behind it, the reason it got so long, and the many challenges of producing the audio.

You may buy the text HERE, and you may buy the audio version HERE!


If you want to download the episode, Right-Click HERE.

If you want to support me on Patreon, click HERE.

Logo by Gino "Balms & Jeers" Moretto.

Sunday, February 16, 2025

A Balm For What Ails You

Already up on Amazon, the audiobook version of my novel "Balms & Sears" is finally available on Audible.  

As you know (Diane), B&S tells the tale of Alec Ewell, who is a Balm, and has the ability to heal people who are injured, or sick, or suffering.  Alec just can't help using his power, prompting his grandfather to move him to a new town, like the one  in Colorado they just arrived in.  Gramps wants the boy to keep it a secret, to leave well enough alone, and just try to be a normal boy...something Alec finds impossible to do.

I do the narration/performance, and it's the longest work I've ever managed.  It took me a while to get it out there, trying to get it perfect . . . when I was fully aware it could never ever be.

To my delight (and hopefully yours as well), the final edit ended up at a very unusual/pleasing number:


Anyhow, art is never finished, it simply escapes, and you can buy it HERE!

Saturday, February 08, 2025

Rish Outcast 297: You're In Good Hands 4

So, here we are, the last segment of the 2019 "Lara & The Witch" novella.

Lara Demming has been targeted by a supernatural enemy, and what's worse, he now knows where she is.

Here's a link to the Collection Volume 1 audiobook, now available!


If you want to download the episode, Right-Click HERE.

If you want to support me on Patreon, click HERE.

Logo by Gino "You're In Wood Stands" Moretto.




Saturday, February 01, 2025

2024 Goals - How Did I Do?

Well, we're a month into 2025, and I had this post just hanging around . . . I might as well release it.

So, a year ago, I created my list of goals/New Year's Resolutions for 2024.  I did a couple of blog posts looking at how I was doing, but I should've done it more often (because out of sight is out of mind, and I am completely out of mind).  But the year is done, and so, let's see how I did.

1.  Exercise 222 Days
Hmm.  I managed to exercise 301 days in 2024.  By my math, that is 135% of my goal.  Not bad, kid.


2.  Put out 5th audio collection

Sure, that one's done.  And it's available to purchase AT THIS LINK

I got the introduction from Big, so that means it's all on me.

3.  Release "Balms & Sears" novel

Yes, and it was more work than I've ever done, both in the writing and the recording/editing, on a book.

You could buy it HERE.  If you wanna.

4.  Clear out my room . . . a bit
Epic fail.

5.  Finish "Melancholy Christmas Night" story
Yep, finished it in February. 

6.  Write "Sins of a Sidekick" novella
Yep, that one too.

7.  Write 10 stories (and finish them)

1.  Melancholy Christmas Night

2.  I Got A Secret

3.  The Day Before The Day Before Christmas

4.  Your Partner On The Road

5.  Happy Birthday Mister Cundy

6.  Witchcraft Fair Story

7.  Slightly Used/Slightly Cursed

8.  The Second Biggest Star Wars Fan In The World

9.  Faithfully 

10.  Family Christmas Story 2024

11.  The Grand Tour

12.  The Last Christmas

8.  Put out 10 episodes of The Podcast That Dares Not Speak Its Name
Yes, I did get ten episodes out in 2024.  On my Patreon.  All the more reason you should go HERE.

9.  Sell Trypticon

Nope.  I only went to four or so toy sales the whole year, and the one I took the big Transformer to, nobody was interested.

10.  Avoid retail price, wait for clearance
I didn't avoid it completely, but wow, way more than had been my track record.  Except for at Ross toward the end of the year, I'd say I bought fifty to sixty percent fewer toys in '24 than in '23 or '22.  Oh, and even though it was my goal last year and not this year, I bought so few G.I. Joes in 2024 that the number could be rounded down to zero.

11.  Do 3 things that scare me
a.  Putting out physical copies of my books scares me, so I think this qualifies.
b.  Applying for a new job, even though I didn't think I was qualified for it ABSOLUTELY counts.
c.  And along those lines, having to be an authority figure, having to tell homeless people not to lie on the floor, having to confront troublemakers, that has been scary to me, and it still scares me, but it's going to get easier the more that I do it.