Karyne (00:00:06) - Hi fantasy readers. Nope. Let's do this over.
Hi fantasy readers. This is Karyne Norton, your fellow book binger, and you are listening to a bonus blooper reel episode from the Finding Fantasy Reads podcast.
If you're listening to this, it means you've either just signed up to get episodes straight to your inbox, or you've been getting them for a while now. Can I just start off by saying thank you? Thank you so much for your support. I have been blown away by people's excitement for this podcast. I think this project has been one of those things that sounds super fun when you're putting it together, but there's always this niggling doubt that it's not as interesting as you think it might be - that you're the only one who really caress. But you have all made it clear that you're loving it, and it makes me that much more excited to keep finding new stories and new authors to share.
I love blooper reels. Sometimes I enjoy watching blooper reels from a favorite show more than the actual show. With that in mind, I have diligently set aside bloopers from each episode, hoping they would eventually amount to something worth sharing, but never quite sure if they'd be funny enough. Several of them require context, so I'm mixing them in with a bit of a behind the scenes look at the podcast.
Finding Fantasy Reads may have launched on June 6th, 2023, but it has been in the works since the spring of 2022. When I first had the idea, it sounded like something good for someone else to do as most time consuming and start from scratch projects do, and I shoved it aside, but the idea would not leave me alone. There were so many reasons not to do it. First and foremost being the fact that I can't stand listening to my recorded voice.
*Oh, that was the same terrible voice I did the first time.
I still don't love it, but you'd be surprised what a good microphone and headphones can do, especially after you're forced to listen to yourself over and over and over. It magically gets you past that pride hurdle.
*enclosed. I don't know what the heck that was.
The other big obstacle was that I couldn't record all of the stories. Well, I could, but I prefer listening to men read stories told from a man's perspective, and I figure other readers do too. So everything hinged on finding someone to help me out. Someone who could read stories in an engaging way.
My brother was the obvious choice, and thankfully he said yes, because I hadn't come up with any backup options. And to be honest, I'm not sure I would've gone through with this if he had said no. He's been my cheerleader and my idea bouncer and so generous with his time. We've always been close, but this is the first time we've worked on a project like this together. It's really found the sweet spot to bridge my literary world with his podcasting world, and it's made the whole experience 10 times more fun.
* Paeter burping* That's for you.
So that summer I ordered the equipment I needed and I used the 30 day free refund period to experiment for a week because then I got sick and lost my voice.
*About once a year I get super sick and my voice ends up sounding like this, which is super frustrating when I'm trying to finish recording a story.
And after listening to the little bit I'd recorded, I determined I would only embarrass myself, and I returned everything.
*Yes. This is terrible. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh, what did I get myself into with this?
That's right. The podcast almost didn't exist, but the idea still kept coming up. I found stories that would be perfect, and I found myself mentally curating a list of who I'd contact first. Randomly, at the same time, my husband and I were assigned a book to read as volunteer youth leaders at our church, and my husband is not a quick reader, so I ended up recording myself reading the chapters for him. Even though I wasn't really aiming for any kind of quality with those recordings, it helped me get more comfortable with the idea of reading and recording myself.
So when Black Friday rolled around and the equipment I had previously returned went on sale, I bit the bullet and I tried again. Maybe my voice changed or maybe I just got over it. I don't know. For whatever reason, this time I felt good about it, and I sent a sample to a few of my friends, and the podcast was born.
At first, I set up all my equipment in my closet because that's apparently the thing to do to keep your sound cleaner. But there's no AC in there and no plug for the computer. And one afternoon I found myself so distracted by the need to clean out my closet that I recorded nothing and did that instead.
*Orien - Okay. Yeah. Honey, I'm in my closet. Hi. Hi. Can I have a snack? Yes, you can have a snack. Wait, did I forgot to eat lunch? No. You ate lunch bunch at school. Oh.
I tried moving out to our bedroom, but our house is louder than I thought and I had to pause every few minutes to wait for the planes to go overhead.
When I'm editing, I typically have a handful of bloopers, all from a few basic categories. The first being phones. Apparently Paeter and I set more alarms than average. And we never remember to silence our phones.
* But we fill it with good.
* What is that supposed to mean? Dang it, my sister.
* Ah! I did not turn off my phone again.
Any guesses what another common category is? I bet you didn't think it was words we don't know how to pronounce. Yeah, I thought it was just my problem, but apparently it's genetic.
*I find a passageway street with Azer Light. Azure, Azure, Azer, Azer, I don't know how to say that word. How do you say azure? Azure. Azure. Azure. I like the color. Don't know how to say it.
*Of all - oh, I don't know that word. I gotta look that up.
*Dang it. I gotta look that one up.
*Making the swat, Swat, Suave. Sua, swathe. Good thing I looked it up. Okay.
*As they neared...crystalline...as they near their crystalline lilac eyes, sparkled,
*How do you say mischievousness? Mischievousness. That is that same English lady. And I want the American version. Mischievousness. Mischievousness. Okay.
*Rose to a dais. Is that what that is? I gotta look that up.
*Rather than the shiny black bas- basal- I don't know these words. How do you say basalt? Basalt. That's how you say it. Okay.
*I don't know how to say that word. And if I try, I think a bad word will come out.
*The red glow of the scorpion fish kept the die-us. Dais, why do I always say that word wrong?
*Family members in quarter cordier courtier?
*That out to make him shiver like a go - what's a gobe? I said it right. What is a gobe? A common name for many species of small to medium sized ray fin fish normally with large heads and tapered bodies. Huh. Learn something new every day.
*Wizard's Soul Blade by Jeffrey L. Kohaynick by Jeffrey L. Kohahneck by Jeffrey L. Kohenuck. If it's not one of those, let me know and I can rerecord it.
I cringe at the thought of people catching something I've missed, but for some reason when I edit something out and save it for later, it has the complete opposite effect, which is why Paeter and I invite you to laugh with us - or at us. It's honestly all the same when it comes to the rest of these bloopers, which are full of Paeter's weird vocal exercises, random noises we make between takes and our general failure at attempting to talk.
*The remaining bloopers can't be transcripted because there are too many partial words and sound effects. Please listen to the episode for maximum entertainment.
I hope you found this mildly entertaining. If not, put it on double speed and listen to it again. I always find when that chipmunk effect is added in, everything's a little more fun. I hope to put out bonus episodes like this every six months or so, partly because Paeter and I aren't learning how to talk any better, so the bloopers keep piling up, and partly because I like finding ways to connect with my core listeners.
I'll probably try to make the next one more of an FAQ set, or maybe I'll rope Paeter into sitting down to chat with me about podcasting as siblings, because I found a lot of people are curious about that dynamic. If you have any burning questions, shoot me an email. Not only will I respond to you, but it may end up as a question on the next blooper reel.
Once again, I can't thank you enough for your support. I hope you continue to listen and enjoy Finding Fantasy Reads for many more episodes. As always, thank you for listening and happy reading.
