WizCast: Podcasts from the Young Wizards Universe

After a long quiet time...new podcasts coming

2007-02-14T08:59:00.000-08:00

A lot of business started to get in the way after this blog opened up and we did our first podcasts. Now it's time to get them running again.

Within the next couple of weeks we're going to start doing podcasts of early chapter material from A Wizard of Mars. Stay tuned...

Initial "Wizards at War" podcast re-rescheduled

2005-08-31T04:06:00.001-07:00

A note from DD:

"Folks, I'm sorry to have missed the August 20th date for posting our new podcast. The leg injury I incurred earlier in the month meant that much necessary work did not get done for the first couple weeks of the month -- so I had to turn my attention to cleaning that up first.

"I expect to be posting that podcast sometime in the first week of September. Please check here for information on the exact date.

"Apologies, and thanks again."

Initial "Wizards at War" podcast re-rescheduled

2005-08-31T04:06:00.000-07:00

First "Wizards at War" podcast postponed

2005-08-13T04:24:00.000-07:00

Due to Diane Duane's recent accident at Dublin Airport, the publication / airing of the first reading from Wizards at War is being postponed until approximately August 20th. DD apologizes for the delay, and also thanks all the nice people who've sent her get-well wishes.

Please check here late next week for an update.

New Q&A podcast now up

2005-07-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

It's about twenty minutes long, featuring questions from Peter Murray, Mitchy, and Nathan.

First "Q&A" podcast airs Thursday, 28 July

2005-07-26T00:32:00.000-07:00

DD is presently recording the first podcast answering some questions submitted by readers and fans via email. It should be posted around 1800 UT on Thursday, 28 July.

Something useful: Podcast player at Podnova.com

2005-07-16T06:36:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't have podcast-receiving software (or are having trouble getting yours to work), Podnova has something handy: a Flash-based podcast player on the directory page for each podcast.

When you search for WizCast there, this page comes up and presents you with the player. Click on the podcast you're interested in hearing, and it starts to load.

We'll see if we can install something similar here.

Better version of "Uptown Local" goes up

2005-07-16T04:24:00.000-07:00

DD says: "I've resampled the audio of the original recording to a higher bitrate: there should be some improvement. Please ask people to leave a comment and let us know how it sounds. ...But in future, for readings, we'll use the Really Good Mike and sample pretty high to start with, using the big machine's sound card for recording. (This recording was made on the little Sony digital recorder.) The 'chat and Q&A' podcasts, because they'll be more informal, can stay at the lower bitrate and use the Sony.)"

Comments are now enabled (at least, until the comment-spammers find us...): so please take a moment to let us know how the sound quality seems to you. We'll be doing at least a couple more test recordings to implement our listeners' suggestions within the next couple of weeks.

Sound quality problems

2005-07-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

DD says: "I'm not wild about the sound quality on the upload of 'Uptown Local': it sounds like I'm in a bucket. I'll generate a higher-bitrate version in the morning."

In the meantime, the story is still available on the RSS feed as of now, though none of the podcast directories will be pinged until a version with better sound goes up.

"Uptown Local" reading goes up today

2005-07-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

DD has finished editing her test recording of the Young Wizards short story "Uptown Local", and will be podcasting it later today. Check the RSS feed (or ask your podcasting client to do an update) in about four hours from this message's posting time.

Second test podcast goes up

2005-07-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

Within an hour or so of this message being posted, "Some Thoughts On Fan Fiction" will be available for download from the WizCast podcast link. The podcast contains a brief (ten minutes or so) discussion by DD of some of her thoughts about fanfiction in the YW universe and elsewhere. In case the "interior" link in the podcast doesn't work, check this blog link for the earlier article she's referencing.

The podcast/reading of "Uptown Local" will be posted in the next day or so as DD continues to alternately cajole and bitch-slap her recording equipment into behaving properly.

Questions to be handled in upcoming podcasts

2005-07-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

We'll add them to this post as they come in.

From Mitchy:

"I've noticed two alien types that re-occur in your books: The multi-tentacled species called Sulamids (from various ST books and at least one Wizard book that I can recall) and walking, talking Christmas trees (the Lahit in "Doctor's Orders" and Filif from "Wizard's Holiday"). I was just curious as to how these guys came about. I'm assuming you're very fond of them as they keep cropping up and I don't blame you: they're pretty nifty cool :)"

From Peter Murray:

"1) Was Michael already within Ronan before his Ordeal? We were discussing in chat if he went from what happened in HW to Ronan, or if it's the non-sequential time thing again.

(DD) -- >PM -- Good question. I'll look into it.
(PM) I wondered if you were likely to answer in the Concordance.
(DD) --> PM -- Might make sense.

I don't know if this was a "think about it" one, or if that's the definitive answer :) :

2) Did Annie and her grandmother each know the other was a wizard?

(DD)--> PM -- Good question...I have No Idea.

New:

3) When was the Song of the Twelve first sung? It was more than ten thousand years ago, and it says maybe two million in DW somewhere."

First podcast is up

2005-07-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

DD's reading of the afterword from the 20th-anniversary edition of So You Want to Be a Wizard is now located here:

http://wizcast.youngwizards.net/wizcast.rss

The reading of the short story "Uptown Local" will be added to the same site tomorrow.

Test podcasts air today or tomorrow

2005-07-08T04:13:00.000-07:00

Depending on editing time, DD's first couple of podcasts -- a pair of equipment tests -- will be available today or tomorrow. As an introduction, she'll be reading the afterword to the twentieth-anniversary edition of So You Want to Be a Wizard, and the accompanying YW short story, "Uptown Local". The two podcasts will run about twenty minutes each.

Something new at YoungWizards.net: Podcasting!

2005-07-06T05:04:00.001-07:00

Starting in August 2005, Diane Duane will begin regular podcasts for readers of the best-selling Young Wizards series.

In each podcast, DD will answer questions from readers and fans, talk generally about the series, and -- starting in mid-August -- will read material from the new YW novel presently in progress, A Wizard of Mars. This material will not appear "in print" on either of the Young Wizards websites until late in 2005, well after the October release of Wizards at War.

Wizcast.youngwizards.net will be the home of the podcasted files. Information on how to find and download the podcasted audio files will be posted here as it becomes available. The podcasts will be made available through iTunes, and linked to in numerous other podcasting directories and venues.

The first podcast is presently scheduled for release on August 1, 2005. If you want to participate by asking a question or suggesting a topic you'd like to hear DD discuss, send your request to:

wizpodcast@googlemail.com

Questions will be posted here on the WizCast blog as they're received, and listeners will be emailed to let them know if their question's going to be handled during a given podcast.