The Trolls of Lake Maebiewahnapoopie

Hey folks,

The news is that The Trolls of Lake Maebiewahnapoopie is now appearing at Podiobooks.com.

This is pretty exciting.

There are a couple of things to know:  I am re-recording the entire book for its podiobooks version.  This podcast was created on-the-fly, as I was writing the novel.  It was an interesting experiment.  I learned a lot.  This version is the more exuberant of the two, the more lively, the more personal.  I stand by it as the best I can do.  Feel free to listen if you like.

For the podiobooks version, though, I’m focusing only on the production.  No longer am I scribbling new lines as I podcast, and changing diction, and rewriting dialogue.  Well, not much    So the new recording is the final version of the book, and will be a bit cleaner in terms of production values.  These differences may or may not matter much to the casual listener.  Still, I recommend that you opt for one version or the other, and not try to mix the two.  If you’re listening via Podiobooks.com, you won’t want to download these. 

When the podiobooks version is complete, these files will go away.  Then, there will be only one extant version of the audio book.  Right now, however, this page underlies the listing at iTunes and other directories; I don’t want to get rid of it and leave those faithful listeners without their fix. 

Thanks to all who have been supporting this podcast by listening regularly, and especially those who took the time to write and tell me about it.

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Epilogue:  The Trolls of Lone Tree High

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Chapter 35:  The Trolls Check Out an Above-Ground Cave

Chapter 36:  Fred Chickweed Delivers some Pizzas

Chapter 37:  The Trolls Bar the Door

Chapter 38:  Fred Chickweed Saves the Day

Well, folks, The Trolls of Lake Maebiewahnapoopie is nearing completion. 

As is so often commented regarding these adventures, “What a long strange trip it’s been.”

When will it be done?  I don’t know.  One podcast remains.  Perhaps two podcasts.  The thing isn’t written yet.  If you were reading the completed book, though, you’d be holding only a few pages between your fingers and thumb on your right hand.  The bulk of the book is behind us.

I know it’s been a damnably long time bringing this thing to completion.  Believe me, I know.  As I look down the right side of the blog page, I see that I’ve been at it for quite a bit more than a year now:  several months longer than I originally foresaw.  I can only tell you that this is what I do for fun.  I won’t force it, I won’t work to a deadline, I won’t stint on quality.  (Surely some out there believe I already have done so; I refer only to my personal best.  I can believe that the writing is good, even though I know that such folks as John Irving and Larry McMurtry and Donald Harington, all much better men than I, are out there writing too).

One thing I learned is that I can’t write while I’m working as a supervisor to 30-odd folks during my daytime hours.  The kind of interaction necessary to such a position sucks every bit of creative energy right out of me.  That will have to explain the months of silence from the trolls.  Sorry about that.  I didn’t enjoy it either. 

I have already begun other projects; they of course are demanding my time.  One is a podcast of a young adult novel called Bump; another is a novel based on a rather theatrical rock album that came out more than 20 years ago.  Please don’t ask; I’m not prepared to talk about it yet.

One thing you can count on is that you’ll hear the last burp from the trolls within the next couple-three weeks. 

Thanks to all who have faithfully listened as the episodes have been released.  That list contains, so far as I know, only my mother.  But maybe there are others as well.  If so, I hope you’ve found something of interest within my little story.

Oh.  And feel free to send along a note if you like.  I’m jeff (at) spiritofeducation (dot) com.  I enjoy a bit of human interaction, despite my trollish tendencies…and despite the fact that I removed the functionality of the comments sections to all my sites a few months ago.  When our species is evolved enough not to flood the ‘net with spam shilling every kind of nonsense, I’ll reinstate them.

TTFN.

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Chapter 32:  Ferdy Chicken Gives Up

Chapter 33:  Schmoozeglutton Ponders the Fickle Finger of Fate

Chapter 34:  Fred Chickweed Searches for a Pencil

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Chapter 31:  Lone Tree Learns the Truth

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Chapter 28:  The Trolls Reunite

Chapter 29:  Ferdy Chicken Utilizes his Tools

Chapter 30:  The Trolls Catch Up

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Chapter 26:  Ferdy Chicken Rides Again

Chapter 27:  Brumvack Learns a Thing or Two

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Chapter 24:  Schmoozeglutton Discovers A Meal

Chapter 25:  Mrs. O’Leary Burns Up the Phone Lines

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Interlude, Part II:  A Long Time Ago:  The Dark Water Horror

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Interlude, Part I:  A Long Time Ago:  Schnottweiper’s Practical Joke

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Chapter 22:  Oreo and Oleo Find Moon Park

Chapter 23:  A New Regular at the Outlaw Saloon

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Chapter 20:  Brumvack Learns the Consequences of Jobs Half-Done

Chapter 21:  Ferdy Chicken Meets the Threat Face to Face

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Chapter 18:  Ferdy Chicken Stays the Course

Chapter 19:  The Trolls Discover the Joys of Shopping

Okay, folks, I’ve had untold frustrations with this blog structure.  Everything blew up a couple of weeks ago; every time I tried to update the thing, something went afoul.  And, the feeds haven’t been working with any consistency.  This is a problem, of course, because actually very few people actually come to this site to get access to the Trolls podcasts; most go to iTunes or any of a variety of podcast directories to find them.  When the feeds ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.

I finally came to the regretful conclusion that something deep in the code had been corrupted.  So, I excised the thing entirely from the website, and started again from scratch.  Hopefully, everything will now work as it is supposed to.  (One regretful consequence of this is that any comments y’all made have gone the way of stray electrons everywhere).

Feedburner, for the present, reports that everything is cool…we’ll hope it stays that way.

Sorry for any frustration that may have come with the tech problems. 

Onward!

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Chapter 16:  Gasbag Proves his Bravery

Chapter 17:  Schmatzenbladder and the Canine Menace

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Chapter 13:  Brumvack’s Retribution

Chapter 14:  The Trolls in Lone Tree

Chapter 15:  Ferdy Chicken Answers the Call

Okay, there have been a few questions about “Why don’t these files work?  I download them, and all I hear is a buzzing noise.”

In every case so far, there hasn’t been a technical problem.  The problem is one of experience.  The introduction to these episodes is the sound of a didgeridoo.  A didgeridoo, for those not aware, is a 20,000 or so year old instrument developed by the aboriginals of Australia.  It’s made out of a longish hunk of a Eucalyptus tree that has been hollowed out by termites.

So, when you hear the “buzzing noise,” you can substitute in your mind something like this:

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale

A tale of a fateful trip

That started from this tropic port

Aboard this tiny ship

Or maybe,

Come and listen to a story ’bout a man named Jed

A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed

And then one day he was shootin’ at some food

And up from the ground come a bubblin’ crude.

That sort of thing.  Except this is instrumental theme music, more like, say, M*A*S*H. 

Some folks say that didgeridoo music changes one’s consciousness.  It’s used by shamans to enter nonordinary reality.  And if The Trolls of Lake Maebiewahnapoopie is anything, it’s nonordinary reality.  So sit back and listen.  You’ll come to like it.  It’ll be good for you. 

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Chapter 11:  The Trolls Emerge

Chapter 12:  Fred Chickweed Delivers a Pizza

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Chapter 9:  Klieglight’s Quest

Chapter 10:  Brumvack Cogitates

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Chapter 7:  Elsewhere in Lone Tree

Chapter 8:  Schmoozeglutton Offers the Challenge

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Chapter 6:  Lone Tree High School

Jeezum, people, this is scary.

For those who don’t know, I’m not just recording this podiobook over the course of the next several weeks; in many ways, I’m writing it. I have before me a 115 page draft that I wrote sometime during the last century; I’m about 42 pages into the draft as I’m rewriting, and have something like 80 pages of manuscript.

A lot changes in a writer in 15 or so intervening years. I know a little more than I did then. But not a more; I’m not sure I know enough, for example, to pull this off. Hence, the fear.

I have only a vague notion about where this novel is going. I have a solid view of the beginning of the piece (as do you), and a pretty solid view of its end. Between here and there, I don’t quite know what’s going to happen.

This isn’t a problem, when one is simply writing a manuscript. If something goes afoul, you simply go back a few pages, change some details, and move on. Or toss a handful of pages into the fire. Or say “screw it,” and give up, get onto the next piece.

All of which leads me to a thought: This is a particularly public mode of failure I’ve chosen here, isn’t it? Most writers get to fail quietly at home; I’m right here in front of y’all.

I’m finding that I have to look ahead with far more clarity than I usually do. The work is solidifying behind me as I go. No chance to give it the good old editorial red line. I have to know what’s going to happen, sometimes, before I discover what’s going to happen. I can’t just write merrily along, pleased with the process of exploration. Constructing a novel in such a way is not unlike trying to put together every piece of a jigsaw puzzle simultaneously.

Right now, the episodes you’ve heard put us about 24 pages into the book. They’re done. They ain’t changing. The next 25 or so pages (the next two podcasts) are more or less solid. They can change, at this point, only in minor details of editing. As they get recorded they’ll of course solidify into final form as well. The next 25 pages are somewhat rough…though will basically be read and reread and put into more or less final form within the next couple of weeks. I have no idea how long this novel will be when I’m done…perhaps a couple hundred pages? Nor do I have any idea how many podcasts it will take to get there.

Who knows what form these artifacts of my work will take? I do, vaguely, and I’m still committed to a more-or-less regular schedule with this baby, but performance anxiety is mounting! It feels as though there is little room for the typical sorts of examination and rewriting that happen as a matter of course as one makes one’s way through the writing of a book.

Dickens must have felt such a thing as he wrote his long novels, the first installments of which were published and read long before he reached any sort of conclusion. But then, he was Dickens, fergawdsake.

An interesting experiment, huh? I hope you’ll find it to be an enjoyable one.

In any case, I’ll be recording the next podcast tomorrow; if I can get it edited and ready, you’ll find it here by mid-afternoon. Otherwise, Tuesday.

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Chapter 3:  The Discovery of the New World

Chapter 4:  Photographic Evidence

Chapter 5:  Slimegobbler Finds a Stash

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Prologue:  A Long Time Ago

Chapter 1  Present Day: Lone Tree

Chapter 2  Present Day:  The Trolls