After the Apocalypse

...

Two more suicides.  

(One breath pause)

The small, electric lamp cast a dull, industrial, patch of light across the desk blotter where Mags worked on paperwork.  

The desk was cluttered.  

She was very tired.  

She lifted her hands and rubbed her tired eyes with balled fists. She was feeling worn out and knew she should probably get some sleep.  

...

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(Janet thinking) “Damn that old man is a machine!”

(One breath pause)

Janet took a deep breath in through her nose and blew it out her mouth. She was struggling and the old man was pulling ahead.

She straightened up and pushed her hips forward into the hill. She pulled another large breath in through her nose so that it filled her lungs and expanded her abdominal cavity. She blew it out and focused, squaring her shoulders and bringing her hands up higher towards her ears and relaxing into the effort. 

They were running hard towards that opening in the woods they had seen from the water tower. 

Moving fast to gain an advantage over the person on the bike. 

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...

The old man sat on the metal grating of the water tower walkway. His feet dangled over the edge. He stared out into the morning landscape, lost in thought, like a medieval gargoyle brooding over a Paris bawdy house. 

...

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Cyktrussell at gmail dot com

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...

A rider in black stops hard on the gravel road.

A well-used, flat-bottom Vans shoe slaps the ground and takes his weight.

The big, knobby back tire bites and slides before grinding to a halt.

Dust rises.

He dismounts from the bike with the fluidity and grace of an athlete, lays it down gently on the shoulder and stands up straight. 

He is hard and lean from both his youth and his months of riding.

...Links...

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...

Bill stood guard over a cowering bundle of misery. The man had greasy, shoulder-length hair that hid his face in dangling matts like a dinghy washed up on the shore by storms, buried in seaweed, forlorn and abandoned. 

He wore dirty and frayed workpants that looked like they had not been changed since the apocalypse began.  Out of these pants jutted scuffed boots with worn heels. 

A loose, tattered winter jacket capped off his sartorial splendor. It fit like a trash bag and hung open to reveal a stained black sweatshirt with a picture of a cartoon rabbit that might have been the March Hare from Alice in Wonderland.

...

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After the Apocalypse

A pandemic survival story

...

The afternoon sun pulsed orange behind distant clouds as it sank toward the horizon like blood draining from a wound. 

There was an earthy, sickly-sweet smell that lingered across the plaza, chased by a lackluster breeze.  

“Yeah, we got some strange shit here,” the old man said, as he examined the bone monument in front of the town courthouse. 

“Agreed,” Janet confirmed as she stole glances around at the quiet buildings. “Something doesn’t feel right.” 

...

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The old man rolled over and brushed his head against the side of the nylon tent. It took a moment to shake off the velvet fog of a good night’s sleep and remember where he was.

He shook the sleeping bag off and curled forward, grabbing clumsily at the zippered entrance. His stiff hands and knees protested as he crawled out to where he was clear enough to stand. He unfolded upright with a customary grunt and grinding of joints. 

He stretched his arms over his head to lengthen his spine, inhaled deeply of the cool morning air and looked at Bill the dog.

“It’s not the Marriott,” he said to the dog, who was eying him from a guard position outside the tent, “but it beats sleeping in the mud with the chiggers.” 

...

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Hello my survivor friends. Welcome back to season 3 of after the apocalypse. Did you enjoy your vacations? Did you miss me? 

Have seen the new subscription option on Acast plus?  

You can pay me a pittance to get the shows early and/or ad-free now.  

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After the Apocalypse, A Pandemic Survival Story Presents, Episode 2 of the Alien Schizoid story narrated by Mike Darling.  

https://theapocalypsepost.podbean.com/

...

Hello my survivor friends. 

Thanks for listening through the 2nd chapter of the alien schizoid story. First some quick announcements and then I’ll talk a little bit about just what the heck we mean when we say ‘noir’.

Thanks Mike. The links to Mike’s podcast “Tales from the Wasteland” on the “Apocalypse Post” feed are in the show notes. And Wasteland Weekend is coming up soon – so go check that survival fun out.

Season Three of our After the Apocalypse narrative with the old man will start again at the end of this month, which for you time travelers is August 2022. I’ve got the first episode written and in production with Robert as we speak. 

I’m creating an ad-free and early release subscription option on Acast. More details on how this will work mechanically are forthcoming, but this will allow you to get the shows without the annoying insurance ads from Acast AND get the shows a week earlier than the general public. 

I’m just setting this option up because it’s a new feature from Acast and I’ll have instructions soon. There should be a link inserted into the show notes for the landing page to take advantage of it. 

This should make it easier for you survivors to binge listen.

Thank you for letting me take the summer off to explore some other stuff and I’m excited to get back to it.

…

Let’s talk about ‘noir’.

Noir is French for black. When people refer to a book or film as ‘noir’ they are generally referring to the style or tone. That style is a ‘dark’ tone. 

“Film Noir” is where the film has a black, or dark atmosphere. This originally was applied to hard-boiled detective and gangster dramas in the 30’s and 40’s but the approach is broader than that. 

It generally describes narratives where the atmosphere is more important than the plot. In a noir novel that atmosphere is created by detailed description and characters. In a film it is created by detailed and immersive cinematography. For example think of a long dark close up of a brooding character’s face with no other dialogue. 

If you think about it this way, many of the films you love are done in a film noir style.

Think about the dark atmosphere of a Blade Runner film. Many if not all apocalypse stories and films have a noir aspect to them to set that dark atmosphere. 

After the Apocalypse sets that dark atmosphere through the descriptive language and use of dark vocabulary. 

A good way of thinking about noir is the mood the piece creates.

For my homework this summer I read the two most famous books of this genre.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler 1939.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashell Hammett 1930

Think about all the films you’ve seen and where the ‘noir’ element of atmosphere setting and descriptive camera work come to the fore. 

I love the noir style. In this Alien Schizoid series I’m writing it in a full-on noir style on purpose and for fun. 

I hope you enjoy it.

Talk to you soon,

And keep surviving. 

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Hello my survivor friends,

What follows is an interview I did for a podcast called “Oh My Word!”, it’s a literary podcast where they talk about writing. I am interviewed by Esther who is a lot of fun. 

Again – if you don’t want to listen to these, you can leave now before the plane takes off. Season 3 should be back at the end of August with the main Narrative. I’m clearly labeling these interviews and extras for your convenience.

To prepare for these interviews I subscribed to the podcasts and listened to a few of them. It helps me meet the interviewers where they are and makes me a better guest. I guess I’m a bit of a chameleon in that way – I try to be the guest they want, while still being myself. 

I’ve been having a good summer and getting a lot of work done. One of my fun projects is I’m training to ride my bicycle across Massachusetts the long way at the end of August. The means I have a lot of time out on long rides. 

And, of course I fill this time listening to podcasts. And I know many of you are serial listeners as well so I’m going to give you some, not reviews, but the shows I’m listening to that you might be interested in and some color around them. 

These are just the Audio narratives, or Story Podcasts, that I listen to, I also listen to a bunch of other stuff. I will build a list with the names and links for you and insert it here in the show notes and also post on the Book of Faces page. See the show notes or the Facebook Page

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So that’s how I’ve been wiling away the time on my bicycle this summer.  I figured I’d share because I know many of you are serial listeners. 

As for the show, we’re on track to start Season 3 in a few weeks. I’ve started working on the episode flow and hope to get a head start on writing in August.

I’m also working my way through the season one manuscript and will be working on fleshing that out for a book if I can swing it.

And, I have finished writing the second episode of the Alien Noir series that I hope to have Mike read for us for next week – with any luck.

I have a bit of a “too many projects” problem going right now. But, the fastest way out it through so I’ll keep pushing.

And you, my survivor friends, enjoy your summers, keep your heads down and Keep Surviving.

/MD

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Hello survivors – this is Chris,

Heads up – what follows is episode 19 of the GeekZip podcast that contains an interview of me about the After the Apocalypse podcast that starts about 32 minutes in. So if that is NOT something you’re interested in get off the bus now. We’ll be back with Season 3 of the narrative in September.

The GeekZip podcast is a show where two guys from West Virginia talk about Comic books and wrestling. I had a blast talking to these guys. Fair warning there is also some cussing and off-color humor. 

I started podcasting in 2007. Back then you had to explain to people what podcasting was!

There are many shows like this, where a couple of friends get together and talk about some shared passion. There are a couple movie review podcasts that I listen to that are like that. 

I think it’s the defining characteristic of independent podcasting is that you can find a couple hundred people who share your hobby and talk to them. 

Anyhow, I’m still doing interviews to see if we can’t expand the podcast’s reach.

Don’t forget to write a review in whatever the podcast app is that you use to listen and tell a few friends!

And keep surviving!

IRCTt9CTzCozkbKOgv12

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