#beermoney

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #213: Musical Interlude – I Try to Finish a Chiptune Track I Started Years Ago!

Episode #211: Musical Interlude – I Try to Finish a Chiptune Track I Started Years Ago!

https://archive.org/download/podcast213_201909/Podcast%20213.mp3

This week, I’m finishing a track I started several years ago.  When a sibling of one of my friends got engaged, I said I’d make a music track for them to commemorate the occasion.  And then … well, fast forward a few years.  Still not done!  All excuses aside, today is the day.  I’m keeping my promise and finishing it.  It’s made with Auxy, like the track I finished last week.  The draft (90-95% done) plays at the end of the episode.

In the meantime, this page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards.  Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so!  Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities.  Use the code “Thirteen” when you sign up to get 300 extra points.  The Thirteen Hour Podcast is now on BONUS this week, so you can earn more than normal (1.5x).

Speaking of music, if you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I have been working on the past year, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #212: Musical Interlude – Chiptune Flying Track 2

Episode #211: Musical Interlude – Chiptune Flying Track 1

https://archive.org/download/podcast212_201909/Podcast%20212.mp3

This week, I’m adding to the track I started back in Episode 208.   I think it will eventually be used as accompaniment for flying sequence music videos or a video game with a flying pixelart Logan:

logan lightning animated

For now, though, I’ve made a little pixelart still that I edited in Photoshop that will be the cover art for the track:

sunset chiptune

A game is a long term project.  For now, I’ll probably just be making the musical tracks.  In the episode, I also have a few updates on two other musical pieces I’ve been working on.

In the meantime, this page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards.  Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so!  Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities.  Use the code “Thirteen” when you sign up to get 300 extra points.  The Thirteen Hour Podcast is now on BONUS this week, so you can earn more than normal (1.5x).

Speaking of music, if you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I have been working on the past year, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #211: Musical Interlude – Chiptune Flying Track 1

Episode #211: Musical Interlude – Chiptune Flying Track 1

https://archive.org/download/podcast211_201908/Podcast%20211.mp3

This week, I’m using the iOS app Auxy to work on a variation of the synth track I started back in Episode 208.   I think it will eventually be used as accompaniment for flying sequence music videos or a video game with a flying pixelart Logan:

logan lightning animated

That, however, is a long term project.  For now, I’ll probably just be making the musical tracks.  In the meantime, this page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards.  Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so!  Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities.  Use the code “Thirteen” when you sign up to get 300 extra points.  The Thirteen Hour Podcast is now on BONUS this week, so you can earn more than normal (1.5x).

Speaking of music, if you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I have been working on the past year, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #205: “Empty Hands” Behind the Scenes Part 1

Episode #205: “Empty Hands” Behind the Scenes Part 1

https://archive.org/download/podcast205_201907/Podcast%20205.mp3

This week, we’re discussing “Empty Hands” behind the scenes, specifically the idea of creating an audio-visual experience for the reader to mimic what you might find in a movie.  One of these days, I’ll have to just do a plain vanilla book with no illustrations or music (it sure would be easier to market and print), but, for the foreseeable future, most of the projects I have on the back burner (sequels to The Thirteenth Hour, hand- casted resin figures from the books, comic book that will probably become a visual novel, a Thirteenth Hour game, etc) straddle multiple genres or disciplines.
But I suppose a book with a soundtrack is about as close as to how I originally envisioned these stories (interactive books more akin to the experience of video games in the form of a physical book). At least, it’s the best I can do for now. I’ve written about the dilemma of envisioning something that doesn’t exist yet in researching flexible material that could hold data to trying to create a pixel art adventure game / interactive story form of The Thirteenth Hour.
So, yes, for now, a short fantasy novel with mostly pixel art illustrations and an associated synth soundtrack that you can read on your phone might be as close as one can get … but I bet, one day, there might be something akin to what I’m thinking of.  I’d buy it!
If you like thinking about the creative process, I’d highly recommend checking out the interview with game designers Lori and Corey Cole on the Classic Gamers Guild podcast (e.g. listen here on Podcoin – https://podcoin.app.link/4YzrseqhhY).  The show’s awesome to check out anyway, though this one goes into game making and story telling in a level of detail that fascinating for anyone who does something creative.

—————–

In the meantime, this page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards.  Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so!  Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities.  Use the code “Thirteen” when you sign up to get 300 extra points.  The Thirteen Hour Podcast is now on BONUS this week, so you can earn more than normal (1.5x).

 

Empty Hands, the synth EP soundtrack to the novella, Empty Hands, is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

empty hands ep cover_edited-2.jpg

Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #204: Musical Interlude – “A Place of Our Own” Part 3

Episode #204: Musical Interlude – “A Place of Our Own” Part 3

https://archive.org/download/podcast204_201907/Podcast%20204.mp3

This week, I finished “A Place of Our Own” and experiment with distilling it down to a few key notes to make a theme for Aurora, one of the main protagonists for The Thirteenth Hour books.

In other news, Empty Hands has an official launch date – 7/13/19!  I’ll probably be doing a little pixel art music video to go along with the launch of the album as well.

In the meantime, this page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards.  Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so!  Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities.  Use the code “Thirteen” when you sign up to get 300 extra points.  The Thirteen Hour Podcast is now on BONUS this week, so you can earn more than normal (1.5x).

Speaking of music, if you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I have been working on the past year, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #203: Musical Interlude – “A Place of Our Own” Part 2

Episode #203: Musical Interlude – “A Place of Our Own” Part 2

https://archive.org/download/podcast203_201906/Podcast%20203.mp3

This week, I’m working on the musical piece I started last week, “A Place of Our Own.”  I’m just playing through it, working out the kinks, mistakes and all.  Typically, it takes many, many takes and a fair amount of practice to get a piece to a point where I can record it without mistakes (or, at least, minimal ones that I can adjust to or work around).  So this week’s episode is a mostly unedited window into a little of that process.   Stay tuned over the next few weeks for additional progress.

In other news, Empty Hands has an official launch date – 7/13/19!  I’ll probably be doing a little pixel art music video to go along with the launch of the album as well.

In the meantime, this page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards.  Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so!  Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities.  Use the code “Thirteen” when you sign up to get 300 extra points.  The Thirteen Hour Podcast is now on BONUS this week, so you can earn more than normal (1.5x).

 

 

 

 

Speaking of music, if you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I have been working on the past year, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #202: Musical Interlude – “A Place of Our Own” Part 1

Episode #202: Musical Interlude – “A Place of Our Own” Part 1

https://archive.org/download/Podcast202_201906/Podcast%20202.mp3

Ideas for songs sometimes come at the most random times and places.  I think the idea for this little instrumental track came when I was cooking dinner or putting my kids to bed.  I remember humming a voice recording to myself since I didn’t have time to work on it at the time and didn’t want to forget it (my phone is full of similar such recordings; I used to use a tape recorder but this is one area where modern tech has made life a lot easier).  I’m tentatively calling it “A Place of Our Own.”  It will go to the next Thirteenth Hour book where the main protagonists, Logan and Aurora, will be building a house for themselves on an island – a kind of sanctuary for themselves away from the turmoil of the world (at least temporarily).  The essence of it will probably also form a theme for Aurora (like in Peter and the Wolf, how each character has a musical theme).   Stay tuned over the next few weeks for additional progress.

In the meantime, this page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards.  Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so!  Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities.  Use the code “Thirteen” when you sign up to get 300 extra points.  The Thirteen Hour Podcast is now on BONUS this week, so you can earn more than normal (1.5x).

 

 

Speaking of music, if you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I have been working on the past year, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #201: Musical Interlude – “And Now, We Are One” Part 3

Episode #201: Musical Interlude – “And Now, We Are One” Part 3

https://archive.org/download/Podcast201_201906/Podcast%20201.mp3

This week, I add the guitar, synth, and vocals to “And Now, We Are One,” the last track on the last Empty Hands track, which is an ode to the ending themes of 80s action movies as well as the intros (and sometimes closings) of 80s Saturday morning / after school cartoon shows.  I don’t really possess the Sammy Hagar / Freddy Mercury / Stan Bush type pipes to do the vocals the way I envisioned them, so I just recorded myself several times singing the same vocals so it sounds like a chorus of men singing, which a lot of old cartoons (esp 70s and 80s anime) tends to do in their intros anyway.  Aside from a few electric guitar bits and the solo, the track is basically done.  That plus final Empty Hands edits mean that it should be out in a few weeks (hopefully)!  The pixelart coverart for the song is below – 8 bit figures (I used the guys from the NES game Kung Fu as a sort of template), Tron grid, and pastel colors in all their 80s glory:

754314c7-595a-46af-81c7-f81bfc9fa668

In the meantime, this page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards.  Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so!  Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities.  Use the code “Thirteen” when you sign up to get 300 extra points.  The Thirteen Hour Podcast is now on BONUS this week, so you can earn more than normal (1.5x).

 

Speaking of music, if you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I have been working on the past year, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #199: Musical Interlude – “And Now, We Are One” Part 2 and Many Miles Update

Episode #199: Musical Interlude – “And Now, We Are One” Part 2 and Many Miles Update

https://archive.org/download/Podcast199_201906/Podcast%20199.mp3

This week, I continue working on the last track on the last Empty Hands track, which is an ode to the ending themes of 80s action movies as well as the intros (and sometimes closings) of 80s Saturday morning / after school cartoon shows.

Next week, stay tuned for episode 200!

In the meantime, this page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards.  Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so!  Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities.  Use the code “Thirteen” when you sign up to get 300 extra points.  The Thirteen Hour Podcast is now on BONUS this week, so you can earn more than normal (1.5x).

Speaking of music, if you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I have been working on the past year, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #198: Musical Interlude – Starting on “And Now, We Are One”

Episode #198: Musical Interlude – Starting on “And Now, We Are One”

https://archive.org/download/Podcast198_201905/Podcast%20198.mp3

This week, instead of focusing on “Many Miles,” which I’m still working on, I thought I’d do a little intro to the last Empty Hands track, which is an ode to the ending themes of 80s action movies as well as the intros (and sometimes closings) of 80s Saturday morning / after school cartoon shows.  In other words, its cheesy as hell, but in the right spirit, hopefully it will be fun.  The lyrics hark back to the elemental philosophy discussed in the book (earth, wind, water, fire, and void), itself taking inspiration from Japanese esoteric Buddhism.

NEW!  This page formerly had what I affectionately dubbed a “starving artist” section on little side hustles you could do (mostly on the internet, often with a phone) to make a few bucks here and there, often in gift cards.  Well, now you can listen to this show (as well as other podcasts) and get paid to do so!  Check out https://www.podcoin.com/ to listen to the show and start earning points that you can redeem for gift cards (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, etc) or donations to a number of charities.

If you haven’t checked out “Arcade Days,” the song and video Jeff Finley, Brent Simon, and I have been working on the past year, click on the link below to do so!

You can find more pictures and preview clips of “Arcade Days” on IG as well as this podcast’s FB page.

Between Two Worlds, the synth EP follow up to Long Ago Not So Far Away is now out for streaming on Bandcamp.  

The bonus track, called “Flight of the Cloudrider” has a 80s movie mashup music video (see if you can identify all the movies!) which is available on youtube.   This app was largely created with the iphone app Auxy.

between 2 worlds EP cover 2

Stay tuned.  Follow along on Spotify!  There is also a growing extended Thirteenth Hour playlist on Spotify with a growing number of retro 80s songs.

Check it out!

As always, thanks for listening!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #45: Lightning the Hoverboard

Episode #45: Lightning the Magical Hoverboard from The Thirteenth Hour

https://archive.org/download/13thHrEps16On/Podcast%2045.mp3

Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) riding a hoverboard in Back to the Future 2.  Clicking on the picture links back to its source page, which is about how Lexus is supposedly designing a real life hoverboard that we can only hope is a piece of valid journalism.  Anything less would be a cruel joke, people!

The Silver Surfer on his surfboard, courtesy of Marvel and this image’s host site 

ezgif.com-video-to-gif

George Jetson’s collapsible car

ezgif.com-video-to-gif (1)

The intro to Talespin, which had a character with a collapsible gliding jetski

LightningWM

Lightning from The Thirteenth Hour

lightning folding.gif

An animated .gif of Lightning collapsing into a portable package.

The Thirteenth Hour Trailer

Logan riding on Lightning.

logan lightning part2 pic

Lightning’s invisible airshield to protect her rider can be glimpsed here at her nose, where you can see the air currents.

output_B3j4UO

Lightning can expand to fit another passenger.

Created with Microsoft Fresh Paint

Logan and Aurora fly off on Lightning to find their place in the world.  Clicking on this picture takes you to the 80s new wave style song “Searching For Forever,” which is essentially about flying on Lightning.

ifa2

As shown in the picture above and faintly here, when Lightning flies, a rainbow of exhaust is emitted.

Logan's EDC_edited-2

Lightning all folded up (#1 in this picture of Logan’s everyday carry)

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Starving Artist Section: where I talk about making a few bucks on the internets!  This week’s app is Receipthog, which pays you (via Paypal or Amazon gift cards, albeit very slowly) to take pictures of your receipts, which generates points you can eventually cash in.  Learn more here.

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As always, thanks for listening!

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  • QR code email signup Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast and a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour!
  • Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s instagram pages: @the13thhr and @the13thhr.ost for your daily weekday dose of ninjas, martial arts bits, archery, flips, breakdancing action figures, fantasy art, 80s music, movies, and occasional pictures or songs from The Thirteenth Hour books.
  • Website: https://13thhr.wordpress.com
  • Book trailer: http://bit.ly/1VhJhXY
  • Interested in reading and reviewing The Thirteenth Hour for a free book?  Just email me at writejoshuablum@gmail.com for more details!

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #35: Interview with Author Angela B. Chrysler

Episode #35: Swords, Flux Capacitors, Norse Myths … Interview with Angela B. Chrysler

https://archive.org/download/13thHrEps16On/13th%20hr%2035.mp3

Angela, the creator of the Brain to Books cyber blog tour, took time out of her busy schedule to talk for an hour.  We covered a vast amount of info: Back to the Future Delorean shirts, why having a flux capacitor is a good life decision, the Moon Patrol soundtrack, how her personal collection of weaponry influences her writing, why all the fuss about book reviews from the point of view of a reader and author, how persistence factors into writing, publishing, and life, and much, much more.

 

 

Email Address: angelabchrysler@yahoo.com

Website:  http://www.angelabchrysler.com/

Author Bio:

 Angela B. Chrysler is a writer, logician, philosopher, and die-hard nerd who studies theology, historical linguistics, music composition, and medieval European history in New York with a dry sense of humor and an unusual sense of sarcasm. She lives in a garden with her family and cats. Read More

Social Media Links

Official Site
Amazon Author Page
Goodreads Profile Page

Twitter
Pinterest
Facebook
Google+
Story Time on YouTube – if you ever have have had a desire to create a podcast, consider doing what Angela is currently doing, as referenced on the how to create a podcast post done for Kelly St. Clare’s blog.

Dolor and Shadow (Tales of the Drui Book #1) Official Page
Fire and Lies (Tales of the Drui Book #2) Official Page
Broken Official Page

Books Discussed on the Show

DOLOR AND SHADOW (TALES OF THE DRUI BOOK #1 … BOOK #2 TO BE RELEASED 7/1/16).

 Dolor and Shadow Large

Genre: High/Epic Fantasy

YouTube Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovHqM9cHGDE

Summary:

 

As the elven city burns, Princess Kallan is taken to Alfheim while a great power begins to awaken within her. Desperate to keep the child hidden, her abilities are suppressed and her memory erased. But the gods have powers as well, and it is only a matter of time before they find the child again.

When Kallan, the elven witch, Queen of Lorlenalin, fails to save her dying father, she inherits her father’s war and vows revenge on the one man she believes is responsible: Rune, King of Gunir. But the gods are relentless, and when a twist of fate puts Kallan into the protection of the man she has sworn to kill, Rune obtains a power he does not understand.

From Alfheim, to Jotunheim, and then lost in the world of Men, these two must form an alliance to make their way home, and try to solve the lies of the past and of the Shadow that hunts them all.

BROKEN

 Broken by Angela B Chrysler 1600x2500

Genre: Memoir/Psychological Thriller/Non-Fiction

Awards: Finalist of the 2015 Wishing Shelf Awards

YouTube Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqfR928fpWE

Summary:

And Death it calls as the stone crow breaks. Streaks of blood malform its face. Death becomes its withered eyes and the shadows whisper, “Lies.”

When a young journalist, William D. Shaw, seeks out Elizabeth, an acclaimed author, in hopes to write her biography, the recluse grants him twenty-four hours to hear her story. What unfolds are events that teeter on the edge of macabre and a psychological thriller.

While toggling the lines of insanity, Elizabeth examines her past filled with neglect, rape, abuse, torture, and pedophilia. The more Elizabeth delves into her psyche, the more William witnesses the multiple mental conditions Elizabeth developed to cope with a life without love, comfort, protection, trust, physical human contact, affection, therapy, or medication.

With the use of existentialism, I wrote Broken in an attempt to philosophical determine what I had become and why. Instead, I found the awareness I needed to seek help. Broken is the road map I took to arrive at “Awareness” and seek medical attention.

Angela B Chrysler BUSINESS CARD back

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Starving Artist Section: where I talk about making a few bucks on the internets!  This week’s app is Nextrack, which pays you (via gift cards, albeit slowly) to work out.  It works via mpoints/mplus points, which is a point system used by a number of other games and apps.  You can only redeem so many per day, but you can also earn free coupons and such.  Nice little bit of positive reinforcement for maintaining an exercise habit.  Available for Android and iOS.

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Schedule for the next few weeks:

4/18/16: Episode #36: a conversation with author George Sirois

4/25/16: Episode #37: fantasy author Kelly St. Clare

5/2/16: Episode #38: knife throwing

Thanks for listening!

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  • QR code email signup Signup for the mailing list for a free special edition podcast and a demo copy of The Thirteenth Hour!
  • Follow The Thirteenth Hour’s instagram pages: @the13thhr and @the13thhr.ost for your daily weekday dose of ninjas, martial arts bits, archery, flips, breakdancing action figures, fantasy art, 80s music, movies, and occasional pictures or songs from The Thirteenth Hour books.
  • Website: https://13thhr.wordpress.com
  • Book trailer: http://bit.ly/1VhJhXY
  • Interested in reading and reviewing The Thirteenth Hour for a free book?  Just email me at writejoshuablum@gmail.com for more details!

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #29: Censorship, Children vs. Adults, and Raffle Winner

Episode #29: What age group is The Thirteenth Hour for?

https://archive.org/download/13thHrEps16On/13th%20hr%2029.mp3

-I get asked this question occasionally and am still refining my answer, which is generally, “adult, though teens over 16 may enjoy it as well.”  The only ones who generally seem interested in the answer are parents or grandparents not interested in the book for themselves but as a present for the children in their lives.  I feel it’s better to let them know what to expect first rather than have them surprised when little Johnny lets them know that someone in the book said, “oh, shit!”

That said, there are no f-bombs (sort of the king of English curse words), but, in the fine tradition of the 80s movies from which it drew inspiration, there are a few four letter words sprinkled in the text for emphasis.  No one has sex, either on or off the page.  No one loses a head or has organs ripped out.  But there are some fight scenes, as well as some introspective narrative passages on more adult-oriented things like growing older, waxing nostalgic for the seeming simplicity and innocence of childhood, the inevitable regrets along the way, the aftermath of traumatic experiences, the complicated and halting way romantic relationships start, and the struggle to become one’s own person … stuff that may not necessarily be the most interesting to an eight year old.  I sometimes say that if it were a movie, it’d probably get a PG-13 rating, which coincidentally, is what the movie The Martian is rated, and that does have a few f-bombs 🙂

Anyway, sometimes I think we protect children in very weird ways (e.g. banning books and other kinds of media).  But that is a different topic altogether and dangerously close to real world activism, which this corner of the internets strives to steer away from.

Onto other things …

-Although I’ve had guests on the show before (e.g. authors Lo-arna Green and Coreena McBurnie), I’ve not had live guests yet.  That is, until next week, when my brother, who writes about video games, will be joining me live!  We’ll be discussing the video games we tried to make when we were kids (as I discussed previously in this post which has a collection of Tomb Raider sprites I made for a game I never finished).

–Starving Artist section: make some passive $$ by watching videos on your phone (you don’t have to watch ’em!) on Swagbucks!  See this guide on Reddit for the apps you’ll need to get in order to maximize your points:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SwagBucks/comments/229bf6/detailed_guide_about_swagbuckscom_for_the_newbies/ 

-Lastly, today I announce the winner of last week’s raffle hosted by Kelly St. Clare, chosen at random by the gods in the Rafflecopter machine:

Jeremy J., you’re the big winner! (You’ll be receiving an email from me with more info).  Congratulations!

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #28: 80s Movies Part 2 – Teen Movies

Episode #28: 80s Teen Movies, Author Coreena McBurnie Reading

https://archive.org/download/13thHrEps16On/13th%20hr%2028.mp3

Man, this was a super long episode.  I guess I got carried away talking about the 80s teen movies 🙂  Anyway, these were all influences, one way or another, for The Thirteenth Hour and the themes running through the book (i.e. figuring yourself out while straddling the line between childhood and adulthood, then trying to find your way in a seemingly inhospitable world).

-More on the writer of many of these films, the late, great John Hughes, as remembered by a teenage penpal he kept correspondence with for a number of years.

-Movies discussed (that link to Youtube clips):

—Sixteen Candles 

-always loved the song at the end (done by The Thompson Twins)

—The Breakfast Club

–great scene – Bender falls through the ceiling – cracks me up every time!

—Some Kind of Wonderful

-Ahh, first kisses.  Something special about them, especially when it’s with a longtime friend.

-As an aside, the John Hughes film Pretty in Pink was similar in some ways, but the genders were switched and had a great ending song by OMD.

—Real Genius

-The great ending song by Tears for Fears

-Speaking of ending songs, The Thirteenth Hour is getting its own 80s-style ending song soon!  Details to come.  Watch for it on the soundtrack page on bandcamp!

-Ever want to learn to throw playing cards?  Now you can learn to throw like Logan from The Thirteenth Hour with, well, a handmade Thirteenth Hour throwing card kit.  Available on eBay.

–Kelly St. Clare, who recently wrote a post here about her experiences with the social media crowd blasting site Thunderclap, has been kind enough to host a raffle for free copies of The Thirteenth Hour on her site starting 2/22 (today)!

-Guest reading by historical fantasy author Coreena McBurnie from Prophecy, a novel about Antigone, from the Greek myth Oedipus Rex.  Welcome to the podcast and thank you for sharing a segment of your work!

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-Starving Artist section: make some passive $$ by watching videos on your phone (yo udon’t have to watch ’em!) – Checkpoints

As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #26: 80s Movies Part 1

Episode #26: 80s Movies Part 1

https://archive.org/download/13thHrEps16On/13th%20hr%2026.mp3

-News: Upcoming radio show appearance on 2/16: Email the host, Wayne, with questions or comments for a chance to win a copy of The Thirteenth Hour.

–http://waynebarbersauthorshour.blogspot.com/2016/01/brand-new-radio-show-authors-hour.html

–Event Details (Live at 1380 AM WNRI or livestream, 9 AM EST 2/16/16)

-More News: brand new audio page for songs on Bandcamp – two new songs in the works!  Stay tuned for more info.

-Even More News: Read most of The Thirteenth Hour ebooks for free!  The standalone prequel, A Shadow in the Moonlight, is free on Amazon and Smashwords.  The standalone epilogue, “Falling Leaves Don’t Weep,” is now free on both Amazon and Smashwords.  And, you can get about 25% of The Thirteenth Hour free when you join the reader’s group.  WIN!

-Film influences for The Thirteenth Hour – this is a big topic that will probably take at least two episodes.  This post I did about a year ago is an outline of some of what I talk about on the show.  About the same time, I wrote an Amazon listmania about some classic 80s fantasy movies.  Amazon doesn’t use these anymore, but the post is still up on the internets:

–http://www.amazon.com/So-You-Want-to-Watch-an-80s-Fantasy-Movie/lm/R1H34IQ5YOD1PV/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full 

-Check out this podcast preview on Bandcamp that talks about 80s fantasy films and the nostalgia coming from rewatching these films, flawed as they often are.

-Featured Author Section: Epic Fantasy Author Malinda Andrews

-Read an excerpt from Through the Mountains

coverTtMtns

-Starving Artist Section:

–Bing Rewards – get gift cards for searching the internet!

-Referral link: https://www.bing.com/explore/rewards?PUBL=REFERAFRIEND&CREA=RAW&rrid=_0ff6bda3-4386-4da3-b4f8-61f9628e1bc6

-As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #25: Why so White?

Episode #25: Why so White? Illustrating the Thirteenth Hour Characters, Racial Stuff, and More

https://archive.org/download/13thHrEps16On/13th%20hr%2025.mp3

-This morning I randomly woke up to theme music of one of my favorite movies of all time, The Last Starfighter, playing in my head.  Probably not a surprise, since it was an inspiration for The Thirteenth Hour and always had a kickass theme song to boot.  Here’s a little dose of morning 80s inspiration: https://youtu.be/BSf5tx4e_PA

The Last Starfighter main characters: Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart) and Alex (Lance Guest).  Of note, Catherine Mary Stewart was in a number of other great 80s movies, like Weekend at Bernie’s and Night of the Comet, both of which I’ve seen innumerable times.  Click on the picture above for a great review of The Last Starfighter. 

-In other news, the radio show appearance I mentioned last week was rescheduled due to a station conflict.  It’s later this month.  More details in the links below.  Email the host, Wayne, with questions or comments for a chance to win a copy of The Thirteenth Hour.

-Author’s Hour show details:

http://waynebarbersauthorshour.blogspot.com/2016/01/brand-new-radio-show-authors-hour.html

–Event Details (Live at 1380 AM WNRI or livestream, 9 AM EST 2/16/16)

-By the way, Happy Groundhog Day!

-If you want to learn to throw playing cards like Bill Murray does in the movie, check out this card throwing how-to:

–https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2015/11/24/ever-wanted-to-be-like-gambit-card-throwing-101/

-Stay tuned for Thirteenth Hour throwing cards in the near future!

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-Writing and Drawing the Main Characters (Logan and Aurora) from The Thirteenth Hour: where I try to deconstruct the thought process behind creating the world these characters live in, why they were drawn the way they were, and why fantasy novels have been a predominantly Western European, white affair.

-We obviously all have prejudices and biases, and I think the thing is not the total eradication of these parts of being human, just an openness to try to understand these aspects of ourselves and see the world from the points of view of others.

-I will say, however, it would be refreshing to have more ethnically diverse characters in fantasy stories, but not just to make a social statement as the token ethnic character.  Let them be more than just a color, to paraphrase Michael Jackson.

-As an aside, this topic refers back to these post:

–https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/writing-the-main-characters/

-There’s a question in the interview below about which Hollywood actor I’d cast to play Logan and Aurora if the movie were one day turned into a film.  Even though I pictured the book being more a cartoon, the question still stands:

–http://www.angelabchrysler.com/featured-reads/the-thirteenth-hour/

-#NYNB2016 Epic Fantasy Author Feature: Joe Jackson – reading an excerpt from White Serpent, Black Dragon.

-Be sure to check of Joe’s blog for an impressive amount of background history he created for the world in his books.

-Follow Joe on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShoelessAuthor

-Easy Dinero Segment: Check out the Techslugs channel on Youtube for much more info and reviews of apps and programs to help you make some cash to support the starving artist lifestyle!

-As always, thanks for listening!

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The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #24: The Last Unicorn

Episode #24: The Last Unicorn and #NYNB2016 Author Lo-arna Green

https://archive.org/download/13thHrEps16On/13th%20hr%2024.mp3

After hearing enough people say I should find out more books like The Princess Bride and The Last Unicorn, I finally sat down with my daughter to listen to an audiobook of The Last Unicorn, read by the author, Peter S. Beagle.  Later, I watched the cartoon, which, by the way, has a great voice acting cast.  So in this episode, I talk a little about this fairy tale fantasy classic.  I thought it would be an appropriate follow-up for last week’s discussion on what makes a fairy tale fantasy.

Quotes:

You have all the power you need if you dare to look for it.

Then what is magic for?  What is the use of wizardry if it can’t even save a unicorn? … That’s what heroes are for.

The Last Unicorn

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On a different note, as mentioned, over the next few weeks, I’ll be featuring the same New Year New Books 2016 blog tour authors I talked about on this site.  This week, we’ll hear from author Lo-arna Green.  Please see her feature from last week here.

Interestingly, she wrote that her books started as a story she began mainly for a writing contest: “I entered chapter 1 as a short story to a competition with a publisher and couldn’t stop thinking about what I could write next after I sent it off. So I decided to give up my place in the competition (I know, I know) and finish the book so I could get some peace.”  Isn’t it funny how that works?

#NYNB2016 BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAYS

Don’t forget you can still sign up at the Rafflecopter link below for a chance to win some free stuff supplied by the blog tour authors themselves.

https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/6ac455060/

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Before I forget, I’ll be appearing on local radio show (1380AM WNRI) this Tuesday, 9AM EST.  In a twist or ironic humor, I’ll be talking about a podcast on a radio show, and it should all be good fun.  You can listen live over the internet as well.

Lastly, for anyone (but especially you aspiring authors out there), from here on out, I’ll occasionally talk about some ways to make a few bucks online.  There are many sites out there that basically pay you to watch videos (in reality, watch ads), and they tend to pay in gift cards.  It can be handy to have some money in your Amazon account to be able to send books to friends, family, reviewers, and giveaway winners and offset the cost of buying the books yourself.  One such site is earnhoney.com, which you can use on your computer.  If you’re interested in learning more, check out this channel on youtube for more info.  Good luck!

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