Originally, this episode was not going to be the Season 2 finale. There were a number of threads I meant to wrap up before Season 3, at which time there would have been plenty more seeds planted. That didn’t work out. I had planned to take a month break and continue Season 2 until the spring. Life had other plans, which I’ll touch on in the next entry within the next week, as there’s a few things I want to say. All things considered, if the season had to end on any “note”, I think this is a great one and I’m glad that I reached ‘The Captain’s Understudy’, which I had been anticipating for over a year.

As for the future and when a Season 3 will happen, I’ll touch on that in the later entry. I will be working on material for Season 3 in my spare moments, of course. I’ll also be adding series extras and stuff like that. I am a compulsive, non-stop creative person, so have no worry about that. It’s a force of nature that can be counted on. It’s a matter of physics.

However, technical production work–which entails a downright obscene amount of hours to maintain the standard of this show–is out for the summer. At least. I fully intend a Season 3. I’ll find a way to make it happen, but there are other things I need to focus on first, such as building a new life from scratch. It’s a tall, tall order. My greatest challenge of all.

Cheers, everyone. I hope you enjoy the show and if you do, and if you can, spread the word.

Don’t let this note go unheard.

–Jack Kincaid

There were a number of things that went wrong and challenges which caused delays with these two episodes. That’s why some time has passed since EP205 – “Banisher”. There have been a few behind-the-scenes changes and the episodes coming out this month ended up needing to fulfill much more for the story than originally intended.

Now, a few words about EP206 – “The Captain’s Understudy (Part 1)”.

I don’t make it a habit to make commentary on the episodes, because I feel they should speak for themselves and the interpretations of the listeners, how they relate to the material, is paramount to my own. In the end, my own doesn’t matter. It just doesn’t matter.

However, my first listeners of EP206 independently advised me that I should not release it without saying *something*. This is in reference to one scene in particular.

Sigh.

Okay.

Writers grow and change over time–their choice of metaphor, the things which they not just want but need to express. The environment changes over time, too. Or so we can hope.

To use an example that is available (and thus useful), if I were a still practicing novelist and tackled the story of Hoad’s Grim, I would approach it differently. That story went to some extreme and gory places. It wouldn’t have … had a sordid succession of horror editors not repeatedly critiqued that my work wasn’t “terrifying” enough. “Not scary” enough. Not sick enough. I knew these people were incurable idiots, so you understand, but I wanted to be published. Thus, I was a bigger idiot. So I starting taking my fiction into some horrible, icky places, but in an effort to compensate and stay within my principles, I had to make the light of the story even brighter to compensate. To balance. Hence, the incredible contrast of it.

But back to this episode, just released:

It did go to a place I wouldn’t have chosen to go now, mostly because I don’t *need* to go there.

However, when I created Edict Zero and the character of Captain Socrates, there was a vision. It would be irresponsible now to the material and to the character to side step it, simply because it’s something I’m done with or it would make me feel uncomfortable to listen to. I would do that no more than suddenly decide that, because it’s bothersome to me, Agent Garrett should stop … oh, I don’t know … assuming the ignorance of the person he’s talking to on any subject, regardless of their credentials. That’s part of his character. I have a responsibility to the characters.

Those listeners who are writers may identify well with one of the Captain’s components: Oliver Dooley. I don’t know whether I need to say this or not, but in the interest of acting responsibly, let me advise not to identify too deeply. Be mindful of the surrounding context. After you listen to the episode, you will understand why I say this.

My actor self didn’t have to re-route much emotionally for it. I only had to open that compartment of memory, of experience. This is still a work of fiction. Some of the variables were different, which is one of the reasons I’m still around to be able to reflect on it. Draw from it. Emotionally and in Oliver’s rationalizations, it’s damn close. I don’t mind making that admission.

Also, this is not a “stick it to them” event, as it pertains to Big Publishing, but I do thank them for the memories.

Whatever extra power that scene might wield comes from it.

To end this entry on a brighter note…!

Those who are fans of the pan-wielding amalgam that is Captain Socrates will be delighted to know that Part 2 has him in glorious abundance.

You’ll find one good quality dose in Part 1 though, which I expect will be the worth the price of admission.

Cheers, everyone. I hope to release a preview for Part 2 in about a week. We can hope I’ll be able to release the episode shortly after.

Until then.

It’s back to work for me.

Enjoy the show.

Click here to jump to the website.

–Jack Kincaid

Two episodes of the usual length will be released this month, Part 1 and Part 2 of “The Captain’s Understudy”. Originally, it was going to be one double-long feature, but I was convinced to split it into two, so this will be EP206 and EP207.

I’m setting the release date for EP206 as May 16th. Two weeks from now. As always, if it’s done sooner, listeners will have it sooner.

Coinciding with that release, I’ll announce the release date for Part 2 which may be at the end of the month. It could be sooner than that though. I’ll know more then. I also have some commentary about the episode, which I’ll share with you then.

You can expect a preview for Part 1 in about 6-8 days.

Final layering for that episode begins tonight.

Also, for any interested, I’ve become the host of the story podcast for Lightspeed Magazine. That began with the April issue. That’s my other gig at the moment. If you like science fiction and fantasy short stories, Lightspeed Magazine serves them up for free on the website, so do check it out.

Okay. That’s all for now. Back to work, I go!

I wasn’t able to release on the 1rst of March as I had hoped, but these features have become increasingly demanding–creatively, technically, on pretty much all fronts. I think that’s as it should be and remains in agreement with one of my core philosophies when I began this: if you create something of enormous quality, it needn’t be current to be relevant. It’s a gift that keeps on giving to all involved. The eyes of time see quality and couldn’t care less about frequency of releases during its production life. Quality. Quantity. If you must choose between them, choose wisely. I’ve said enough.

The next episode will be EP206 – “The Captain’s Understudy”. That is going to be a large episode, probably the largest so far. It might even be split into two, although released at the same time if that’s the case. It’s with the scope of the feature in mind that I plan for its release, not in April but in May.

I also need the recharge of sanity time. I’ve recovered my health almost completely and I want to enjoy that. Also, a lot has changed in my life and it’s a great time in it. It’s good to be alive. Being able to think straight helps too.

Back to Edict Zero matters. Releases may come a little less frequently, yes, but that should be a more agreeable situation with the new arcs to these features. Also, I will be producing Season 2 until the end of 2012, at least. There won’t be a summer break, as there was for Season 1 (which ended in May and didn’t return for almost half a year, during which I had various life-changing misadventures). I’m at a point in my weird existential journey when I need to keep things moving, because there are uncertainties that linger in mid-2013. I’m unsure as to what my situation will be then. I intend to make the most of my time before then … by entertaining the bejesus out of you.

That’s all for now.

I hope you enjoy “Banisher”.

Cheers.

–Jack Kincaid

Once again, the cast did a fabulous job and the show wouldn’t be what it is without their talents and the experienced craft they bring to their characters. I realize I am also among the cast, but when I refer to “the cast” I’m referring to the cast without yours truly. I don’t know that I can be entirely objective about my own performances and thus I’ll refrain from commentary on it. Nonetheless, when I write entries here, I’m talking chiefly as the show’s producer. The hats of producer and director still feel a trifle ill-fitting to me, but it’s all a learning experience. I’m getting the hang of it.

As for future episodes of the show, I expect EP205 to fall in March. Once again, out of prudence, I’m going to set the release date as the 15th. This time, for EP204, I was able to release on the 1rst, rather than the 15th. That’s the desired schedule. However, February is a shorter month and EP205 looks to be an especially demanding production endeavor, calling for additional sound design and musical work. I was also just hammered with the cold from hell (fortunately, after EP204 was finished). All things considered, the release may be a lot closer to the projected 15th of March. I guess we’ll see.

A few answers to commonly asked questions.

Do I hold auditions? No. I don’t have the time to be a casting agency and wouldn’t be comfortable as a judge of talent in such a process. More precisely, I wouldn’t be comfortable as one who has to reject talent. I know how that feels too well. I don’t want to be the cause of that feeling. I may not be able to avoid that forever, but for now, I can avoid it and do.

I will give this tip on voice work: I gravitate to working with people whose abilities are already well demonstrated, as they have been involved in other things. In other words, I already know what they can do going in.

Am I going to write any more novels? No plans for that. No point. The dynamic of what I’m doing now is more fulfilling to me. Is it *possible*? Anything’s possible. But is it probable? I would wager against it given the present environment in publishing. I also don’t play lotteries or rigged games. Most don’t have the luxury of another option. I’m grateful to be in a position where I do. It’s extremely liberating.

I believe in talent and ability.

Here I can employ it, sans bullshit.

Hope you enjoy “Red Lines”!

You can jump to the website here .

It’s back to work for me.

Cheers, everyone.

The plan to move to two thirty minute episodes a month has been thrown out the window for the time being. My writer self, for Edict Zero, has become comfortable with 40-50 page scripts, which translates into about an hour.

One major difference moving ahead, however, is that the episodes have reached the point where they can almost stand-alone with their own arcs. I think this is going to be a very good thing for the show and it also means that if there ever is another pause (for me to breathe) during the rest of Season 2, the listener will be rewarded with a semblance of resolution and won’t be left hanging off a cliff. The episodes will be individually rewarding. We’re going to be moving in a much more episodic direction, rather than the segmented story structure. Season long and series long arcs still apply, of course.

I’m also looking forward to taking up something new with each episode and moving away from the “paradox artifacts” after the next few episodes. The artifacts are one mythology that received a lot of air-time in part, I think, because they’re just so much fun. Some resolution about those can be expected in the next few episodes too.

That’s all for now. Expect a preview for EP204 in a week or two.

It’s almost 4 in the morning after a solid day of production. I need unconsciousness now.

Cheers.

–Jack

I consider Edict Zero to be a success and well ahead of where I expected the level of exposure to be by now (as these things take time).  There was a time when I was going to use the download count at Edict Zero’s Internet Archive Page, as a barometer for interest, and said that if there weren’t at least 10,000 downloads, I wouldn’t go through with a second season.  I didn’t realize then how the download count at the Internet Archive worked and that it only provides a minimum-of-all-possible download count (multiple files by the same IP on the same day count as one, for example).  Between this, file-sharing, numerous sites which have mirrored the files, etc, there’s no way of knowing just how many downloads the show has actually received.  It’s a matter of speculation!  I’m quite all right with that.  Although I was pleased to see that the internet archive count did surpass the 10,000 mark recently. I would like to think that this is a small fraction of actual downloads it has received.

As for the rest of Season Two, I would have liked to make the next release in January, but I do not see that happening.  Production of EP204 has already begun.  However, the progress is slow, due to cutting back work hours (as I mentioned in a previous post).  There was also a life event this past month in December, which is no minor thing, and this had put me in a funk for some weeks, during which creative thought was strained.  Serious gravity involved here.  Reality and fantasy seem to have a mutually toxic relationship.  Anyway, this event is a gigantic thing that will affect the rest of my life.  My future will be very different from what I’ve known, for worse in some areas but for so much better in others, and the next year and a half or so will be a transitional phase.  I choose to adopt optimism and a sense of adventure about the matter.

Meanwhile, I’m certain that we’ll be looking at a February release of EP204 and I will do my best to maintain some kind of regularity thereafter until the end of the second season, which I expect to continue all the way to the end of 2012, providing that Murphy’s Law doesn’t come to bite me any more.  This next month I will be returning to full-time Edict Zero work and anticipate going into turbo mode, providing I can keep my head on straight in my present environment. I look forward to the new dynamic of the episodes, their new arcs, and even the chance to do some off-beat episodes in the future so as not to lock into any formula.  You can also expect the descent down the rabbit hole of Edict Zero to accelerate.  It’s a long, long way down to the bottom.

I hope to have fun getting there.

That’s all for now and that’s the end of 2011, but I will post again in January when I announce new release dates.

Wishing you all the best for 2012.  Cheers.

EP203 is the final episode for 2011 and end of the first wave of releases. I believe it’s the perfect episode to precede a break in releases in that it sets the stage for the remainder of the second season and also doesn’t leave the listeners hanging off a cliff. It’s a nice, clean spot to do it. I’m confident enough about the quality of show at this point to believe that those who have journeyed with the story thus far will return for more when it resumes. Should you stray, I wish you well, but I need some recharge.

The second season will resume in late January or in February, I expect. Yes, I know. I’m contradicting earlier statements. I have a bad habit of making premature declarations. Predicting myself is a bit like predicting the weather; it’s a fuzzy science. Rather than set any dates, I’ll commit to announcing a new game plan on New Year’s Day. I won’t be breaking from production, except for a handful of days, but I will be cutting back my production work hours during December for the holiday season. Up to now, it’s been constant since September. There are matters of family and chopping wood I’d like to tend to (although the gibgoblin count is fairly low these days). There’s lots of stuff I’ve been putting off that I need to get to. There are also many other E-Z related things I want to work on, such as sorting out script stuff, the glossary (about which I receive patient and polite emails) and the characters page. I have also been itching to work on more remixes and original music (with much heightened technical capability than before). I need to get to a lot of things. I don’t have a budget or staff, so I appreciate the patience. I’m just one person. Physically anyway.

This show remains my number one creative priority. I find the work on it fulfilling and though it’s an incredible amount of work, to the point of treading that burn-out line a lot, it really is worth it. You, kind listeners, make it worth it. This is the best relationship that you and I can have with each other. It’s good from my end and I sincerely hope that it works for you too, because that’s all we’ve got.

I will try to post again later in December.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the show!

And the ride down the Edict Zero rabbit hole.

There are no spheres.

Cheers to all.

You can jump to the entry by clicking here.

The cast did a fantastic job, and the time I spent producing it … well, it’s almost unfathomable, particularly under the strain that health issues imposed on me. It was a grueling environment I pushed through. It was a new chamber of hell to claw my way out of, as if I hadn’t seen enough of them already. Thankfully, the health issues are mostly gone, but boy did it put me behind my desired schedule. Also, the episodes are taking that much more to produce now that I’m rising on the upward curve, compelled to challenge myself.

As much as I don’t like to admit to hitting limits, I am extremely overextended right now, and this is a big reason why I decided not to continue my personal twitter account or my personal blog. There was no associated melt-down. It was nuts to put more on my plate when it was already overloaded. I apologize to anyone who may have begun reading my now nuked blog, but, as I said, I’m overextended as it is. To have it makes me feel obligated to feed it. One more thing on my to-do list? Not if I can help it. My time is better spent with stuff for the show and, oh, maybe that personal life thing. I’m not sure it’s still there. I may have to hire a search party.

I have set a date for the release of Episode 3, “The Road Not Taken”, for December 15th. That’s a whole month from now, and if the wait is at all upsetting, I apologize. If before that date, I finish the production of the episode to my satisfaction and find the time to run a build, do post-production stuff, etcetera, I will release it early. I won’t sit on it, so cross your fingers. There won’t be a preview to EP203 tacked onto the end of EP202. I expect I will release one separately after the Thanksgiving holidays.

EP203 will be a very cool episode and worth waiting for. Promise.

To address a few common questions/concerns…

Why don’t I split up the hour-long episodes into 30 minute segments to spread them out? Well, it’s an artistic thing. The easiest way I can think to put it is : each episode to me is like a sentence, and the scenes words of that sentence. It feels absurd to me to release half of a sentence, wait fifteen days, and release the second half of that sentence. That may not make sense to you, but, to bottom-line it, it just feels weird and wrong for me to do so. It would make me crazy. Okay, okay. It would make me crazier.

Next question: Why don’t I produce an entire season and then machine-gun episodes out? For starters, I need a little gratification after about two decades of, ermmm, next to none. It’s surely not easy gratification and I don’t think it qualifies as the instant variety either, not with the insane workload that comes with it and the weeks that feel like months. But it’s something. Whatever it is, I like it and it keeps my machine well-oiled. Furthermore, I would be ultimately less productive if I sat on episodes for periods of time, because I would be compelled to meddle with them, trying to achieve some level of perfection that doesn’t even exist. My producer self is already obsessed with making each episode a masterpiece, so let’s not exacerbate the problem.

Next question: Will you listen to my show/podcast/whatever? You are more than welcome to draw my attention to it, but, honestly, after all the hours I put in with Edict Zero and other sound work, can you guess the absolute last thing I want to be doing during my recreation time?

Anything that involves headphones.

I hope you understand and don’t think badly of me for not hopping right to it if you ask.

Anyway … I think that’s enough for this entry!

Cheers to all visitors.

Hope you enjoy the show.

–Jack Kincaid