I thought that listeners might like to see our recording studio. As you can see we are quite a professional outfit đ
As you can see we record in the wardrobe… Using blankets for sound dampening, and a digital Dictaphone… One day I dream of having a top notch microphone and a spare room, where I can really set up a better booth…
Here it is, episode four…
Gurt and Fursk chat with Sapphire’s mother, before heading home. Gurt is unable to sleep and heads to his favourite bar.
It’s been quite a ride so far this podcasting business… I think it’s rather exciting to think that people are listening to your writing, and hopefully enjoying it. đ
It’s probably a little neurotic, but watching the statistics for downloads is really exciting. Especially seeing all the different locations around the world where my story now sits on some bodies computer, or MP3 player.
I got a real buzz when we went over 1,000 downloads. It’s not a great deal in the scheme of the things, but it felt good. Especially as it happened in day two of release.
What a rush!
And now episode three:
Fursk and Gurt find out a bit more about the dead girl before heading to see her family.
Episode two of The Spiral Tattoo.
Fursk and Gurt visit the Spiral Tattoo and start to learn about the tattoos and Sapphire the girl who died…
Episode one of The Spiral Tattoo is now available.
We find our heroes, Fursk and Gurt, in a darkened alley. They have been sent to investigate the report of a body, and find the body of a naked, tattooed girl laying in the mud. Who is this girl? What is the significance of the strange tattoosâŚ
Itâs less than twenty-four hours until The Spiral Tattoo gets released on Podiobooks.com and I am both excited and really nervous. I hope people like it. đ
In a lead up to itâs release here is a shoutout to my favourite podiobook authors, the ones who really switch me onto this media.
First up is Nathan Lowell author of the âShare seriesâ. This is science fiction at itâs best, and probably the series I have re-listened to the most. When the first one hit the dead tree format I ordered as soon as I could and bought in hardcover, as I will for the rest.
Then there is Scott Sigler. I love his Galactic football series, which is sort of The Godfather, meets Alien, meets Any Given Sunday. I have the first two in hardback. Interesting I read the second, but the podiobook version hasnât been released, and I didnât enjoy it as much. I think for the third I will buy and then lock away, so I can listen first. đ
Philippa Ballantine is a kiwi author based out of Wellington who has managed to hook a book deal from EOS [now Voyager]. Her new novel Geist comes out internationally in October, and she is the one who gives me hope that I too can get the book deal and be published in a major way.
There is a whole heap of stories waiting to be discovered at Podiobooks.com, so go check them out. I would also look for P.G. Holyfield, Tee Morris, Derek Gilbert and J.C. Hutchins.
It’s just on two weeks until the podcast of The Spiral Tattoo is released. Here, then is chapter one…
Chapter One
The breasts were rather perky.
As soon as I had the thought, I regretted it. It was a tasteless thought, considering the owner of the breasts was dead, and she was lying in mud and rubbish. She was also in an alley in one of the worst parts of town. I comforted myself with the thought that at least this time I hadnât said anything out loud, and that Elanore would have no cause to look at me reproachfully, or worse, let rip with her rather caustic tongue. I glanced sideways at her and saw that she was looking at me with arched eyebrows. That was all rather difficult to do since I was perched on her shoulder.
âWhat?â I think I sounded whiny, but then I was feeling like I had been caught out in some terrible act. My partner Corporal Elanore Fursk, a Troll who I felt thought she was an Elf, was prone to making me feel that way. Sure I had the better education, the better breeding, the higher intellect, all by virtue of being Eleniu. Even with my family background and the training provided by Royal Magic Academy, she still always had a way of making me feel like the uneducated monster.
âI didnât say anything.â I said defensively.
âNo, but you were thinking it,â disapproval dripped from her every syllable. How does she do that I wondered?
âLast time I checked, Trollâs, even as unusual as yourself, are not mind-readers.â What a lame comeback I thought and snorted. What had I been reduced to.
âI donât need to be a mind-reader to know what youâre thinking.â She returned, her eyebrows raising up and down expressively.
Elanore and I have been partners for nearly five years, walking the streets of the fair city of Delvenport as members of the City Guards, so I didnât doubt it. I generally knew what she was thinking too, so that makes it fair. She had joined the guards in an effort to gain some respectability. She was unique for a Troll. Somehow her brain had made connections no others had. She had learnt to read, not only common, but several other languages. Where and how she wonât say. She could converse on the various philosophical debates with insight and most alarmingly humour. She also enjoyed live theatre, which was quite frankly bizarre. How anyone could like theatre I donât know. No wonder that when she arrived in civilisation she baulked at the offered job opportunities. Being a hired thug just didnât fit. Her acceptance into the city guard a decade ago was something of a legend now.
My first novel, The Spiral Tattoo, will be coming to a computer near you soon.
When you’re six inches tall and fly, life can be tough in a big persons world. What better then than to be partnered with a seven foot troll. Sheâs the brains and Iâm the brawn, and if you believe that I have a castle to sell you. Iâm Gurt and sheâs Elanore Fursk. Donât forget it.
The Spiral Tattoo. The exciting new podiobook by Michael J. Parry from Podiobooks.com
In the darkened alleys of Delvenport the discovery of a naked corpse sets off a surprising chain of events. Leads will seem to unravel at every turn, although Elanore appears to know what going on. I just tag along for the ride. With the rising tide of drugs, magic and ambition that threatens to engulf our city, trouble will lurk in our every shadow. But as long as no-one puts a knife in Elanore, or calls me a girly voiced fairy then the bodies wonât be piled too high.
Otherwise all bets are off!
The Spiral Tattoo, a tale of Fursk and Gurt, written by Michael J. Parry and read by Kylie Parry. Now available from podiobooks.com.
I am podcasting it via podiobooks.com. Many of you will know what podiobooks are, and others won’t. So first up what are podiobooks.
Podiobooks are an audiobook version of a book, released on the internet as a podcast serial. Sometimes they are read by the author, other times by a guest narrator, and other times the author has managed to pull together a cast of people to read the work. And best off all they are released free! Â Although you can donate to the author at podiobooks.com
The Spiral Tattoo has a release date on podiobooks.com of the 13th of September. It will be read by my partner in crime Kylie Parry, otherwise know as my Editor In Chief. She does a fabulous job at the narration and I am really lucky to have her support in this project.
If you want to listen to the novel you will be able to subscribe via the Itunes store, or at podiobooks.com. I will also be linking to them from here as well. đ
The cover art for The Spiral Tattoo is supplied by Flynn-The-Cat: You can see some of her stuff here and also here.