Dan Dan The Art Man

Movie Memories guest blog post by Dave Robison brought to you by www.DanDanTheArtMan.com Download the .mp3“The Man Who Would Be King” or How John Huston Saved My LifeBy Dave Robison John Huston saved my life. It was 1982 and I was flailing my way through my freshman year of college at the University of Michigan, wondering what the hell I was doing. I was studying theater because I was good at it (like the Latino kids taking Spanish as their foreign language in high school back in Cheyenne), but I didn’t have a plan. I figured I didn’t need one. Someone would see just how charming and talented I was and I wouldn’t have to actually work again. That was my goal... to not do anything I didn’t want to do. To achieve that goal, I’d emotionally sabotage any project or goal that involved more work than my feeble commitment could endure or investing the bare minimum effort that would allow me to move forward. Life beyond next week was uninteresting and irrelevant so I never really looked beyond the next few days. My check book was overdrawn (again) and the bank fees for all the bounced checks I’d been writing totaled in the hundreds of dollars. That old joke, “I can’t be overdrawn, I still have checks” was the gospel truth for my freshman self. When money came from home, I’d settle my accounts and be broke again, thus rebooting the whole vicious cycle. I’d just donated plasma and had ten bucks in my pocket and a fresh pack of Marlboro Lights (I couldn’t even commit to smoking full cigarettes). I was feeling flush but, as I walked down State Street, the grey chill of the day made me huddle in on myself. My mind followed my body’s lead. Thoughts turning inward are never a good idea for someone as messed up as I was. I knew what I was doing, recognized the patterns of shallow destruction I was wrecking on my life. College was an opportunity, an expensive opportunity, and my parents had sacrificed a lot to make it possible. I remember physically wincing at the thought, and guilt hollowing out my insides. I flinched away, shaking it off, and looked up. It was early afternoon, but the clouds had dimmed the light enough to trip the sensor on the sign over the State Street Theater. Bulbs glowed warm and the marque shown in white neon relief. Michael Caine Sean Connery The Man Who Would Be King 2 6 It was just before two o’clock, I had money, lungs full of nicotine, it was cold and I was feeling sorry for myself. I flicked the cigarette into the gutter, hoping I looked like James Dean, knowing I didn’t, and went inside. The State Street Theater was an old theater with thick carpeting, lots of columns and dark wood panels and brass accents. Everything was worn and a little threadbare, tarnished and sagging under the burden of its long tenure as a movie theater, but I liked that. The discolored edges of the brass meant a thousand hands had worn away the factory gilt over the years to expose the metal underneath. The shoes scuffing the carpet, shoulders brushing the textured wallpaper, spilled drinks, faded colors... it gave the place substance and validated its existence. Look at all I’ve endured and I’m still here. My ticket purchase broke the ten dollar bill into a smaller stack of ones. It had more substance but I felt significantly less flush so I strolled past the concessions counter and went straight to the theater. One theater, not a partitioned multiplex of cinematic indulgence, single tall wide screen rising against a sea of velvety maroon seats. There were maybe twenty people in the entire theater. I sat in the precise middle seat and waited. The theater dimmed to dark, the screen flickered with light, and the movie began. To sum up without spoilers: A couple of rogues (Peachy Carnehan and Daniel Dravits) feel the British Empire had gotten too small for the likes of them and strike into the heart of unexplored India to become kings. They’re tested in many ways, achieve their goal, discover an even more mind-boggling opportunity, se

Movie Memories guest blog post by Dave Robison brought to you by www.DanDanTheArtMan.com

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“The Man Who Would Be King” or How John Huston Saved My Life

By Dave Robison

John Huston saved my life.

It was 1982 and I was flailing my way through my freshman year of college at the University of Michigan, wondering what the hell I was doing.

I was studying theater because I was good at it (like the Latino kids taking Spanish as their foreign language in high school back in Cheyenne), but I didn’t have a plan. I figured I didn’t need one. Someone would see just how charming and talented I was and I wouldn’t have to actually work again.

That was my goal... to not do anything I didn’t want to do. To achieve that goal, I’d emotionally sabotage any project or goal that involved more work than my feeble commitment could endure or investing the bare minimum effort that would allow me to move forward. Life beyond next week was uninteresting and irrelevant so I never really looked beyond the next few days.

My check book was overdrawn (again) and the bank fees for all the bounced checks I’d been writing totaled in the hundreds of dollars. That old joke, “I can’t be overdrawn, I still have checks” was the gospel truth for my freshman self. When money came from home, I’d settle my accounts and be broke again, thus rebooting the whole vicious cycle.

I’d just donated plasma and had ten bucks in my pocket and a fresh pack of Marlboro Lights (I couldn’t even commit to smoking full cigarettes). I was feeling flush but, as I walked down State Street, the grey chill of the day made me huddle in on myself. My mind followed my body’s lead. Thoughts turning inward are never a good idea for someone as messed up as I was. I knew what I was doing, recognized the patterns of shallow destruction I was wrecking on my life. College was an opportunity, an expensive opportunity, and my parents had sacrificed a lot to make it possible.

I remember physically wincing at the thought, and guilt hollowing out my insides. I flinched away, shaking it off, and looked up. It was early afternoon, but the clouds had dimmed the light enough to trip the sensor on the sign over the State Street Theater. Bulbs glowed warm and the marque shown in white neon relief.

Michael Caine Sean Connery The Man Who Would Be King 2 6

It was just before two o’clock, I had money, lungs full of nicotine, it was cold and I was feeling sorry for myself. I flicked the cigarette into the gutter, hoping I looked like James Dean, knowing I didn’t, and went inside.

The State Street Theater was an old theater with thick carpeting, lots of columns and dark wood panels and brass accents. Everything was worn and a little threadbare, tarnished and sagging under the burden of its long tenure as a movie theater, but I liked that. The discolored edges of the brass meant a thousand hands had worn away the factory gilt over the years to expose the metal underneath. The shoes scuffing the carpet, shoulders brushing the textured wallpaper, spilled drinks, faded colors... it gave the place substance and validated its existence. Look at all I’ve endured and I’m still here.

My ticket purchase broke the ten dollar bill into a smaller stack of ones. It had more substance but I felt significantly less flush so I strolled past the concessions counter and went straight to the theater. One theater, not a partitioned multiplex of cinematic indulgence, single tall wide screen rising against a sea of velvety maroon seats. There were maybe twenty people in the entire theater. I sat in the precise middle seat and waited. The theater dimmed to dark, the screen flickered with light, and the movie began.

To sum up without spoilers: A couple of rogues (Peachy Carnehan and Daniel Dravits) feel the British Empire had gotten too small for the likes of them and strike into the heart of unexplored India to become kings. They’re tested in many ways, achieve their goal, discover an even more mind-boggling opportunity, seize it, and then fall from grace. It’s a tragedy, a cautionary tale of the dangers of hubris.

Connery and Caine were their usual selves. I don’t consider either of them brilliant actors, but they are honest actors and that honesty and authenticity is, I suppose, a kind of brilliance. It was while watching this movie that they were added to the (very short) list of my favorite actors.

I related to their characters as only an arrogant college freshman can. “That’s me,” I remember thinking as the plot of the movie was revealed, “The world is too small for me, too,” even though I had yet to accomplish anything more significant than debt and a few roles in some academic stage productions.

But Huston’s gift as a film maker was the authenticity with which he told his larger-than-life stories. As the saga unfolded across stark sweeping vistas, scenes barely framed by the enormous screen threatening to burst the edges with their grandeur, my post-adolescent hubris was silenced by a beautifully told story.

To become truly lost in something – to the extent that your entire sense of self is extinguished for a time – can be a powerful and liberating experience. I think we all acquire emotional “gunk” as we go through our lives. Comfortable repetitions, even more comfortable lies and delusions, little tiny compromises and concessions we make all build up gradually, coating the framework of who and what we are... or are trying to be. Some of it might grease the machine, but most of it hides the shiny foundational gridwork that lies at our core.

In those moments immediately after losing yourself utterly, you are given a fleeting moment of clarity. The coat of gunk has been lifted off you and now, as you return to yourself, you can see and feel it settling back, filling the crevasses of your spirit, coating once more the gleam of your best parts.

I’d love to say that I was like Scrooge after his visitations, that I cast of my Gunk Coat, leapt from my seat, called my parents begging their forgiveness, took two jobs to pay my debt, and still finished college with a 3.8 GPA. I didn’t. I let that coat of emotional self-gratifying indulgence settle back over me like an addict welcomes the drug.

But I saw it. I saw the gunk, I saw what it was and what it was doing to me. And I briefly saw the gleam that it had hidden.

John Huston showed me two criminals who – through sheer determination and belief in their personal mythology of glorious destiny – stumble upon a profound truth only to lose it and be damned for it. In telling that story, Huston gave me a chance to look at mine.

Seeing this movie was my first realization that we all have might and glory inside us, that the key to our destiny lies squarely in the choices we make and our reactions to the hardships we face. With that conviction, I found a small bit of solid ground to stand upon. With that fragile foothold, my life started to move towards what it has become.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bio:

Dave Robison has indulged in creative pursuits his entire life.  His CV includes writing Curious George fan-fiction at the age of eight, improv theater at age ten, playing trumpet at age twelve, as well as a theater degree, creating magazine cover art, writing audio scripts, designing websites, creating board games, hosting mythological roundtables and generally savoring the sweet draught of expression in all its forms.  His years of exploration give him a unique, informed, and eloquent perspective on the art of storytelling. He is also a co-host of the Roundtable Podcast where he, his co-host Brion Humphrey, and a guest author listen to a guest writer spin their tale and then work shop it until they've achieved literary gold. Dave is also involved with the super fun Protecting Project Pulp, 

Movie Memories guest blog post # 5 by Sally Preston brought to you by www.DanDanTheArtMan.com

My earliest memory of a movie is epic, towering, massive. It includes innocence, a sense of peace, tragedy, horror and yes even a high-speed chase!

Picture it, June, 1981. I was four, those who know me best won’t have any trouble picturing what I looked like and my general demeanor. For those of you who don’t, think Shirley Temple if she were very precocious.

My parents, very involved in their church had volunteered to chaperon a Luther League trip to see Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. My parents, who must have figured I would sleep through most of it anyway, brought me along.

And they were right.... mostly.

I was thrilled! I got to go to a movie! There was popcorn, Mom, Dad and a theme song that would make anybody want to go out and buy a Fedora!

Shortly into the start of the movie, as predicted I fell asleep. Comfy, napping, content ... and then it happened ... I woke up.

Exactly as the faces were melting!

Not only did the entire theater get what I’m sure was an earful of a scream, but I took off running! Through the theater, out the theater and down the mall! I didn’t get very far, naturally my folks were right on my heels, I was instantly comforted and calmed down.

But as I look back, I picture a four year old me, a head full of Shirley Temple Curls, wearing the infamous brown fedora, running through the mall in slow motion, villagers chasing after me, lead by my parents; all the while the wonderful orchestrations of John Williams play the theme song that says it all.

“C’mon, short round!”

Bio:

Sally Preston is a wife, music teacher and mother of three. She currently resides in Des Moines, Iowa where she enjoys soaking up the rich cultural events Des Moines has to offer. She also is an avid scrapbooker and most of all enjoys spending time with her family.

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I have already shared about this exciting news on all my social media feeds, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, but I wanted to let you know about it here as well. The amazing couple at Every Photo Tells published a reading of my story Stuffed Monster on their website. I have them to thank for the origin of the story. If you're not familiar with the awesome website, they put up an awesome photo every month and invite writers to use it as a story prompt. You write a short story inspired by their photo and send it in to them. If they accept it they will create a recording of it and put it on their site and in their podcast. How cool is that? Yeah, I know - really cool! So check out my podcast feed, snag the audio in the .mp3 link below, or visit the page with my story on the Every Photo Tell's website.

Download the .mp3

eBook

Also, as you may know, the story is available in all the eBook formats for FREE over at Smashwords.

A HUGE thank you to the fine folks at Every Photo Tells, Katharina Bordet and Mick Bordet, for doing such an amazing job on the reading of my story. They made it sound so much better than it does in my head. Have a listen, be inspired, then check out their website and write a short story of your own inspired by their latest photo.

Find them on Twitter:

Movie Memories guest blog post # 4 by Donald Conrad brought to you by www.DanDanTheArtMan.com

The Red Pill

Trinity puts her hand on the phone booth’s glass wall as her face is lit but by the headlights of the garbage truck speeding at her. This is the moment that defines the Matrix for me. I remember this moment like it happened yesterday. I sat in a darkened theater with my mouth hanging open. She was not in the wreckage of the phone booth, the strange guys in the suits were stating that she “Got out”

WHAT? How do you get out of being run over while standing in a phone booth? I went into The Matrix with no knowledge of what it was. I had to pull myself away from video games long enough to see this movie my brother refused to stop talking about.

I looked over at him and by the flicker of the screen light I could see he was looking at me, grinning. He knew the ride I was in for, I on the other hand, had no clue. Little did I know that I was about to witness the movie I would come to compare all others to.

The Matrix did something I had never seen in a movie before. It fully transported me into it’s fiction. Lovingly crafted to weave the story with the visual effects in a way that made them a bold feature and an important story telling device.

The impact the Bullet Time effect had on me still occupies me to this day. I wait for Hollywood to bring that feeling back up. It was more than a visual effect. It was a total bending of reality. I sat in the theater watching the world in a way I never thought would be possible. Reality was slowed and I had a front row seat by a camera that defied everything. It was showing me a movie set in ways that could easily be called “impossible” at the time.

Beyond at the mind bending visuals the story held it’s own weight. If I may be totally honest with you for a moment, I did not really absorb the story the first time I saw the movie. I went back to the theater seven times. It was insane how every moment seemed deliberate. Every shot was expertly crafted to give you, the viewer, the best seat in the house.

I remember watching the entire credits roll as I sat stunned. I wanted to see all the names go by. I owed each and every one of those people that.

I am still waiting for a film to give me the rush that The Matrix did so long ago. To be honest, I really don’t think it’s going to happen. I am grateful that I was there for that moment in movie making history. That I got to enjoy it on the big screen in all it’s glory. To this day I will go out of my way to see it in a theater that is having a late night showing. Every time I sit in a darkened theater watching I am transported back to that first time. The movie asked me to “Dodge this.” I failed. The Matix hit me hard.

Now If you'll excuse me, I have a blu-ray to go watch.

Bio:

Donald Conrad is an artist, writer, and blogger who writes about video games, family, and many other things. He is a devoted husband and loving father of four. You can find his hilarious and well written posts over at his website www.did-not-finish.com. Donald is also the co-host of a podcast with me called Pen Fights Gamepad. We talk video games, writing, movies, being dads and so much more. Donald posts regularly on his site, his posts are great and you can follow him on Twitter here: www.twitter.com/ConManEd

Stalling For Time While Submissions Come In

This week I didn't have any guest posts come in because I didn't plan the timing out very well. So instead of leaving you with nothing I share two of my favorite movie memories from my college years. I talk about going to see The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers on opening night in a po-dunk town because I forgot to get tickets in time - and going to see a midnight showing of Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut. As promised in the recording, here is a picture of Frank the bunny from the movie. I accidentally called him "Fred" the bunny in the podcast. (see blog post at: http://www.dandantheartman.com/2012/10/movie-memories-03-dan-absalonson.html )

Look for my latest short story "Stuffed Monster" to hit the podcast feed in audio soon. For now it's available as a free eBook in all the formats you need at Smashwords. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week. Until next time, see you at the movies!

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Movie Memories guest blog post # 2 by Jeff Hite

When I was too little to remember where I lived, or who I was with I got to go to the movies for the first time. This experience changed my life forever for some obvious and not so obvious reasons. I always think that it is strange that my movie going experience is more about what happened during the movie than what happen in the movie.

That first movie was the Muppet Movie, but I don’t remember many of the details of Kermit and Fozzie and their cross country adventure. What I do remember was that it was something special. And that I was little enough that whoever took me had to put their purse on the seat next to me so the seat would not fold me up in it.

That experience shaped much about what I think of the movie experience. Things have changed over the years but I still think of going to the movies as a very special treat that I only get to do every so often.

A few years after I got to see my first movie, my parents piled my brother and I in the back of the station wagon and we went to our first drive-in movie. Again as interesting as the movies were, we saw Condroman and The Last Flight Of Noah’s Ark, what I remember about that movie was the Japanese Satellite that burned up as it re-entered the atmosphere as we watched. It streaked across the sky for what seemed like a really long time.

When we moved to Germany going to the movies again changed. The on base theater was always packed so the experience was as much about getting through the huge line and sitting in a theater with hundreds of other people as it was about watching the movie. Also there was the fact that we never got to see movies when they first came out, they were almost always a year late. But I do remember seeing Ghostbusters with my brother sitting next to me and thinking it was very cool.

Fast forward a half dozen years or so and the first real date I went on with my wife-to-be was a movie, I think it might have been Sibling Rivalry but I don’t know for sure. What I do know was who sat next to me and how that made me feel. Between that time and the first time I took my wife to a drive-in, when my wife told my mother that it didn't matter what movie we were going to see, I don’t remember going to the movies at all. It is possible that I did, but it must not have been a very memorable experience. By the way, that time we saw Dragon Heart and Rob Roy.

Since then and now, I have gone to the movies a few times, the greatest times are always the first times with each of the kids. We saw the first Vegitales Movie,  Kung Fu Panda, Toy Story 3 and Despicable Me, and several others in the middle each time for the first time with a new kid. Watching them see a movie on the big screen for the first time is always something special.

Most recently I went to a movie for the first time where it was the movie I was really after and not the experience. I went to see Brave, a fantastic movie by the way, but again this turned out to be one of those experiences anyway. I went to see it with my wife instead of with my kids. This is something kind of new for us since our oldest is finally old enough to stay with the younger kids for a couple of hours. We sat in the theater and held hands like we were a couple of teens again.

But as in the past this movie experience ended up being as much about the experience as it was about the movie. For the first time ever, I went to see a movie more than once while it was still “In the theater.” The second time I took the kids to see the movie and I am glad that I did because that movie was really something special.

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Bio:

Jeff Hite is primarily a husband and father, but when he is not at home playing with the ever growing number of kids he is an IT professional by day. In his "spare time" he is a writer, one of the co-founders of Flying Island Press, and a co-editor of A Method to the Madness a Guide to the Super Evil. He lives by the motto: "I am a pirate your rules don't apply." You can find out more about him and his rather crazy life at http://jeffhite.com. Something I've been enjoying on his site is his Stories 365, where he is writing a story bit by bit for a year. Pretty cool idea, and one that inspired me to upload the pages of my novel The Meadowhill Ghost as I write them longhand. A big thanks to Jeff for kicking this off with the first submission.

Brought to you by: http://www.DanDanTheArtMan.com

Ninjas on the Big Screen

Well, it’s that time again. Time to reach out and ask others to share their memories with us. I really enjoyed all the posts from the previous two guest blog posts series, video games memories and tv memories. It is really cool how different the guest blog posts are. Reading and listening to the posts was kind of like hanging out with friends and reminiscing about some of my favorite things. So what are we going to share about this time around? Well movies of course! Here are a few of my favorite movie memories. As you’ll see I’m not going to be reviewing the movies, but talking about what it was like to watch them, and how I remember it. Why watching it is a fond memory I have. So here we go.

The first time my two brothers and I saw The Three Ninjas, it was just about all over for us. The characters matched us so well. I’m pretty sure the movie wouldn't hold up if I went back today to watch it, but when I was in elementary school my brothers and I thought it was the coolest movie to hit the big screen. The characters were perfect for us because they were three brothers just like us. So when we played ninjas I was Rocky, my next bro was Colt, and our little brother was Tum Tum. We laid waste to so many bad guy ninjas, we probably couldn't have even counted that high back then. I know I haven't seen a movie lately that left me planning my free time around acting out as the characters. Let’s face it though, when you’re a little boy, heck a grown man, ninjas are cool.

This brings me to my next movie memory, seeing the first live action Ninja Turtles movie at the theater. My brothers and I thrived on the cartoon show. I remember talking about the latest cartoon episode with all my friends for the entire recess in first grade. We had tons of action figures too. Later on some of the best Nintendo games would turn out to be Ninja Turtles. It was like having the arcade game on your TV at home. An amazing experience back then. The Ninja Turtles were our favorite. They were so cool. As a very young child, going from the cartoon show to a live action movie on the big screen was a big deal. The Ninja Turtles looked real to me! My eyes were glued to that screen for every second of that movie. Seeing all the fight scenes go down like that - it mesmerized me. Nothing could have been cooler to my elementary school brain. You better believe my friends and brothers and I all left that theater even more excited to act out scenes of fighting Shredder or his evil foot soldiers. We would unscrew the ends of mops and brooms to have a staff like Donatello. We would bust out our plastic Katana’s our parent’s bought us at the fair and rock it like Leonardo. We would swing whatever was around like nun-chucks and pretend we were Michelangelo  or swing something shorter and act like we were wielding sais like Raphael. Our playground, our backyard and the McDonald’s play place were the streets of New York full of the foot clan. While these movies may or may not be worth watching again these days, not many movies impact me in that same way now. The mind of a child is a precious thing and I remember sitting in the theater watching ninja fight scenes and being amazed. Three kids like my brothers and I, or our heroes the Ninja Turtles - showing us how it's done.

Alright, now it’s your turn. I know you can write a better post than that one! Get your fingers on the keyboard and send something my way. Your guest post doesn't have to be very long, just a great memory you have that has to do with watching movies. It can be about one movie, or a few. What fond memories do you have of watching something on the silver screen or at home? I’m guessing th ere is going to be at least one post about seeing the original Star Wars: A New Hope for the first time so I chose to go in a totally different direction with my post, but if some of your best movie memories have to do with Star Wars go ahead and write it! Even if the last two guest posts were about Star Wars, we want to hear what your memories are because they’re going to be different and awesome. I’m excited to get a new list of movies to watch because there are many classic action and sci-fi movies I've never seen. Most of the ones you’re thinking of, yes I really haven’t seen Alien, or Robocop, or even Terminator. I was too young to see so many classics when they came out and for whatever reason I never went back to watch them so I with my co-host Donald Conrad of www.did-not-finish.com have started a list of Things Dan Needs To Watch. It's part of a podcast I'm doing with him called Pen Fights Gamepad. We talk about video games, movies, writing, and being dads - plus a whole lot of other fun stuff. Oh yeah, we joke and laugh a lot too. It's a good time. You can check it out at www.penfightsgamepad.com. I’m sure I’ll get some gems out of this guest blog post series, so come on and share your movie memories with us.

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This is my reading of chapter 1 of a work in progress novel I had the privilege to work shop with the guys at The Roundtable Podcast www.roundtablepodcast.com, and guest author Dan Wells www.fearfulsymmetry.net. Sound effects used from www.freesound.org, music used by Kevin MacLeod at

www.incompetech.com.

There's a new writing podcast in town called The Roundtable Podcast http://www.roundtablepodcast.com/, and it has become one of my favorites. Know what the best part is? I had the privilege of being on the show http://www.roundtablepodcast.com/2012/08/workshop-episode-23-guest-host-dan-wells/ as a guest writer! The two hosts Dave Robison https://twitter.com/writerspodcast and Brion Humphrey https://twitter.com/brionhumphrey invite a guest writer on the show, and they along with an author guest host listen to the guest writer's story, and then work shop it. They asked me who I would want as the guest host author for the episode I would be on, and I told them to try and get Dan wells. Dan Wells http://www.fearfulsymmetry.net/, author of the John Cleaver trilogy http://thedanwells.com/titles/ianask.html published by Tor, Partials http://thedanwells.com/titles/partials.html a apocalyptic YA published by Harper Collins, The Hollow City http://thedanwells.com/titles/the-hollow-city.htbml a dystopian story about a paranoid schizophrenic published by Tor, and other stories.

Not only was it an honor and a blast to be on the show, it was very valuable for me as well. I believe the story we work shopped, working title The Truth About Zombies, will be the best book I have written yet, and I think the reason is because it was work shopped. I have found in finally giving a full novel to a bunch of beta readers that A LOT of problems with the story slipped past me. Many of these are problems I could have avoided if I would have work shopped the story. If you're a writer there is some great stuff in the episode, and you'll get to hear my next novel being formed between me and the three other awesome dudes. Check it out! I'll be putting in my podcast fiction feed, but you should click on the link at the top of this post "being on the show" to check out their site so you can leave comments there when you're done listening. Thanks for stopping by.