Outlandish Voices the podcast: sitrep

A sitrep, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a situation report. An update, in simpler terms, but I rather like saying "sitrep." It sounds so brisk and...and...obscure. Mysterious.

Anyway, here's the sitrep on Outlandish Voices the podcast: three stories are recorded. One more is on its way from Thailand, but I need to find an actor to read it. I haven't decided which of my own stories I want to read (producer's prerogative — I get to post my own stuff).

I'm currently learning how to edit and mix sound files, which is both more straightforward and more complex than I would have predicted. More straightforward in that, if you know how to edit graphics files (for example, if you've done anything more than the basics with Photoshop, and I have to an extent), editing sound files feels familiar. More complex in that I still have to learn a whole lot of new terms that don't mean what I think they should mean (like compressor, leveller, normalize) and think about the files in time rather than in visual space.

It's fun, because it's my idea, my project, my legwork and mousework and brainwork pulling it together. And because the authors who have agreed to read their stories (or given me permission to have them read) are all really cool people and really good writers. And because I actually don't mind the endless, fiddly detail work to get it as good as I know how to get it; that's the editor's brain at work after all. And because I'm learning a new skill, which always makes me happy. And because the process is also requiring a lot of bizarre old skills, which I didn't think would ever come in handy, such as a familiarity (albeit very basic) with linguistics and acoustics.

Do you (or did you ever) live or work in the Wollongong area? Do you (or can you) write good science fiction and/or fantasy? Would you like to submit a story for Outlandish Voices the podcast? Here is the Facebook group with the submission guidelines. If you don't have or refuse to get a Facebook account, email me at outlandishvoices -at- gmail -dot- com and I'll send them to you.