Rish Outcast 59: Stormy Weather (Part 1)

So, sometime around the beginning of spring, Rish went for a walk and presented a story set in the dead of winter.  It's called "Stormy Weather," and it's been sitting around, waiting for the snows to come again.

Please forgive the incessant clicking and planes going on overhead.  Of course, 'twouldn't be the Outcast if the sound was excellent.

 

 *If you don't wanna wait to hear the rest of the story, go HERE to buy it, or HERE for the text version.

 *Rish 'n Big's "The Spirit of Christmas" episode over at the Dunesteef.

 *Music in this episode was "Ossuary (Air)" by Kevin McLeod of Incompetech.com.

If you feel up to it, go ahead and Right-Click HERE to download the episode.  And bundle up!

Rish Outcast 58: And Then What Happened?

In this episode, I talk about the idea of writing continuing series, a book every year or so, the further adventures of characters.  It's a tempting thought, though I don't know whether I'm capable of such things.

If I recall correctly, this episode was originally titled "Rish Outfield Will Return."  But that's just too positive for the likes of me, or at least it could be read that way.

If y'all fancy downloading this here episode, just Right-Click on Big Mister Link.

Rish Outcast 57: Rest Stop

Although it's easier (and takes less courage) to just produce episodes of me driving and talking about whatever comes into my head, I thought I'd present another story on the Rish Outcast.  This one is called "Rest Stop," and I highly doubt anybody will like it.  But hey, it's got a dog in it.  Dogs are cool, right?

Yes.  Dogs are cool. If you're up to downloading the episode, Right-Click on this here link.

Rish Outcast 56: The Big Release

Sometimes, you need to let off steam.  Some people do it by going to batting cages or shooting ranges, some people do it by video games or alcohol or loud music or hate crimes.  Me . . . I break things.  That's sort of what this episode is about.  Sort of.

Okay, here's a warning.  This is one of those episodes where I go maybe a bit deeper into myself than I usually do, in what's colloquially known as an overshare.

It's the first show I'm going to mark with a TMI alert.  And sadly, it won't be the last.



If you absolutely have to download this episode, well, you probably oughtta right-click HERE.

Rish Outcast 55: Into the Furnace - Post-Mortem

In this third, and final, episode about my novel "Into the Furnace," I let it all hang out.  This is the spoiler-cast, if you will, talking about the central conceit of the novel, and my decision not to reveal that.

Again, I'd like you to buy the book (at this LINK), or better, the audiobook (right about HERE).  If you've read it, this episode works better.



Oh, I just remembered, I was gonna call this "It Has A F**king _____ In It!"  Well, too late now.

Feel free to download the episode by Right-Clicking this LINK.

The Podcast That Dares Not Speak Its Name 16: Trick

Two Halloweens back, I wrote a little story in honor of the day.  Well, here I am "honoring" the day again.

"Trick" is a tiny tale about what I consider to be the greatest day of the year . . . but for an area dad, not so much.

Oh, and yes, I STARTED on an October Scary Story for 2016, but I have not yet completed it.  If I do, I've got something to not podcast next Halloween!

You've been to County before, you know the drill: to download the file, Right-Click HERE.

Rish Outcast 54: "Old Man River"

Okay, here's that story I've been meaning to get to.  At this rate, there will be a lot of story episodes down the road, but even more non-story ones.

"Old Man River" is the tale of a lonely gas station attendant, and a visit from an elderly man with a story to tell.*



As always, if you wanna download the episode, just Right-Click HERE.

*Boy, that description could be for any one of my stories, couldn't it?

Rish Outcast 53: Travels With Father

I meant to have a story this week, but I switched it with the next week's show. You understand.

Well, this episode is a tiny bit out of date now, but here you go.  I was driving along, and I thought I'd say a thing or two about my dad, who lost all his chickens, and who gave me a bit of fatherly advice concerning a new car.

"My father only gave me one piece of advice.  He said, 'Son, don't ever get married.  Go to sea.'"

Sting

If you'd like to download the episode, for some reason, Right-Click HERE.

Rish Outcast 52: I Can Try That!

A while back, I attended another writers conference, and was partly-inspired and/partly-intimidated by being around people who write for a living.  The next day, I recorded this episode.  Not sure what I did in the months since then.

And just between you and me . . . you can try that too.



Take a listen, or Right-Click HERE to download the episode to your de-vice.

Rish Outcast 51: Bob A. Duke

On a roadtrip, I got lost and decided to podcast while trying to get back to where I was going.  So I decided to talk about the horror film THE BABADOOK.  Enjoy?

If you feel up to downloading the episode directly, just Right-Click HERE.

Rish Outcast 50: Sequel of a Sidekick

Say kids, you remember "Birth of a Sidekick," the Western adventure I once shared with y'all?  Well, I wrote a sequel to it!  And what's more impressive . . . I actually published it.  What's more, Dave Krummenacher provided this (once again) excellent cover art:

"A Sidekick's Journey" is the second tale in what somebody somewhere is calling The Sidekick Chronicles, and is considerably longer than the first story, which I wrote in 2005.  This one takes place a few weeks after the first story, and continues to chronicle young Benny Parks in Trueno, Arizona, where he was left after the death of his mentor.  Though there are challenges in his life, it looks as though Ben may get a second chance.

It was a pleasure to get a chance to visit Ben again, and flesh out his world a bit.  If it's a pleasure to read as well, we may check in on him again before ten more years go by.  I'll try to come up with something.

This episode of the Outcast talks about the book, and is relatively spoiler-free.  You can, of course, go o'er to Amazon and purchase "A Sidekick's Journey, right HERE.

Or, if you really wanna be my friend, treat your ears to the audiobook performance, over on Audible.com at THIS LINK.



Don't forget, to download this episode directly, simply Right-Click HERE.

Rish Outcast 49: Grey Skies Ahead

Podcasting can be many things: a stage, a soapbox, a springboard for ideas, a confessional, an experiment, an artistic outlet, a pastime, a journal.  And, as I've said a time or two, free therapy.

There have been a couple of episodes I've recorded while in a bad mood--either angry or despondent--and used this little forum as a way to feel better.  I think this may be the first of those to actually get released.

Got something sunnier for you next time, though.



Don't forget, to download the episode, simply RIGHT CLICK HERE.

Rish Outcast 48: "Climb" Every Mountain

We interrupt our regularly scheduled podcast for a bit of exercise.  Too much?  You be the judge.

Shudder at the tale of Rish's recent brush with exercise.

Of course, you're free to download the episode by right-clicking HERE.

P.S.  As usual, I'm still after someone who can catalog all of Fake Sean Connery's songs, so I know which ones have not yet seen the light of day.

Rish Outcast 47: Ask Me No Questions (The Voyage Home)

Okay, last time.  This is your brain on drugs.

Rish finally gets to the end of Tom Tancredi's list of probing questions.  With these out of the way, maybe we'll be able to start doing story presentation episodes agai--

Nahh.



Feel free to download the episode by Right-Clicking HERE.

The Podcast That Dares Not Speak Its Name: Skipping

Recently, there was a contest of sorts over at the Paradise Lost forums, encouraging writers and would-be writers.

They were doing a sort of take on the Broken Mirror Story Events that Big and I did on the Dunesteef.  Only these guys called it a Broken Mirror Story Event.  The assigned premise: "As you skip the rock across the water, you are surprised to see it come skipping back."

I wrote this story for two reasons: one, to support fans of the show, who were influenced in a positive way by the Dunesteef.  And two, because why not write another story?  Why not . . . that would be a good motto to have.



If you wanna download the file, just RIGHT-CLICK HERE.

Rish Outcast 46: Ask Me No Questions (The Final Frontier)

Here I am, answering more of Tom Tancredi's probing questions.  Since recording these episodes, I discovered that Tom has a twin brother.  Maybe I ought to make a list of questions for him to answer ("Number 3: Have you ever hurt yourself or gotten some action, only to find that your brother felt it at the same time?").

You can also Right-Click RIGHT HERE to download this episode to your infernal device.

Rish Outcast 45: "I Think It's Your New Book!"

So, the audiobook version of my first novel "Into the Furnace," is now available over at Audible.com.  Here's a LINK to it, so you can rush over and buy a copy.  I know you want to.


Actually, I've no idea if you want to, but I did try to channel California Rish there.

I do the narration, and I worked very hard on it, so if you like my performances, that should make a difference.

I've also got another episode of the Rish Outcast here, where I talk a bit more about the production, and include a sample from later in the tale.

I try to remain spoiler-free here, but remember that it's a Weird Western, and that I wrote it, so you know what to expect.

Here is a a forum page I created if people want to talk about the book, and I think I'll do another episode of my solo podcast sometime later where I talk about the writing of the book, and include all sorts of spoilers in that one.  I'll warn you when it comes, but just to be safe, maybe you should buy the book, huh?

Thanks.



You can also Right-Click RIGHT HERE to download this episode to your dee-vice.

Rish Outcast 44: Ask Me No Questions (The Undiscovered Country)

In 2015, Tom Tancredi sent me a list of questions that I answered in a couple of episodes.  Now it's 2016, and it looks like Tom has some more for me to answer.

I'll probably break these up over several episodes, since the resulting answers ended up much more rambling than they did the first time.  But here is the first installment of those answers, and though I say I'll continue answering them "next week," I think I'll alternate between these and other episodes for the next little while.



If you're in the mood to download the episode, please Right-Click HERE.

Rish Outcast 43: Mary Sue Ex Machina

A while back, I was going to do an episode of That Gets My Goat where I complained about people overusing/misusing the terms "deus ex machina" and "mary sue."  But Big canceled on me, so we didn't.

Later, I was glad we'd not recorded it that night, since I was misusing one of them too.

Let's talk about it anyway, shall we?

Right-Click, you monkey.

Rish Outcast 42: "Oh Honey, Your First Novel!"

Here's another episode of my solo podcast, to announce the publication of my first novel, "Into the Furnace."

"Into the Furnace" tells the story of Sheriff Will Ford, who leaves a dead wife and a struggle with the bottle behind him, and moves out to New Mexico Territory to take over as the law in Bendo's Furnace, a small mining town that just keeps getting smaller.  It turns out that people (not to mention local animals and valuable livestock) just keep disappearing out there, and if anyone knows what's happening, they're not talking.

It's what I've been told is a Weird Western, which means a genre story (in this case, a bit o' Horror and Fantasy) in an Old West setting.  The text version is available on Amazon.com right now at THIS LINK, with an audio version to follow (I'll drop another blogpost/podcast when that becomes available).

I would greatly appreciate it if you'd go buy my book, and I'll put a discussion forum link HERE, just in case.

If you'd like to listen to the first chapter of the book, as well as hear me talk about it while trying not to spoil anything, here's another Rish Outcast:

 

 Or you can RIGHT CLICK HERE to download the episode for later consumption.

Rish Outcast 41: The Hocking Dead

This is a quick episode I scraped together to tell you a recent tale of happy fortune, sing a little song, and mention my latest story.

Next episode'll have to be about my book, I guess.

Or I could keep procrastinating.



HERE is where you'd Right-Click, if you wanted to download the episode directly.

Rish Outcast 40: Abram the Ghostly Friend

This is another storyless episode, kids.  In it, I talk about a horror movie I had rented (it's called THE AWAKENING, starring Rebecca Hall and Imelda Staunton), and then about an idea I had for my own ghost story.

I never did write it.  Although if you asked me to, I might just change my mind, and let you in my life forever.

Yeah, I still like Celine Dion.  Wanna fight about it?



If you want to download the episode, you might want to Right-Click here.  Then rethink your attitude.

Rish Outcast 39: The Trouble With Zara

This is a pretty strange episode.  You remember JURASSIC WORLD?  I know, it came out so long ago, half of you barely remember it, and the other half weren't born yet.  But Rish Outfield remembers it, and he wanted to talk about the one baffling/disturbing moment in that movie.  You know the one.

If you wanna download the episode, Right-Click right HERE.

Rish Outcast 38: The Ugly Table (Part Two)

Okay, here's the rest of "The Ugly Table."  If the story IS offensive, as I have suspected, well, here's your chance to hear me apologize.  Or . . . tiptoe around apologizing, at least.

If you're NOT offended by it, well, feel free to let me know in the comments.

If you're interested in my audio story "Lost & Found," here's the link!  And here's the text version on at this link



Feel freer to download the episode by Right-Clicking THIS LINK.

Music by Kevin McLeod of Incompetech.com.  And special thanks to good old Gino Moretto for the awesome Outcast logo above.  He does great work with no thought of reward, the bastard.

Rish Outcast 37: The Ugly Table

Okay, this one is long in coming (I was horrified when I saw the date on the finished episode).

In this episode, I'll present (some of) my story "The Ugly Table," which was previously published in a collection called "Pretty/Ugly," along with Big's "The Mirror Sometimes Lies."  Both stories had the same basic premise--that of a plain girl suddenly becoming beautiful.

I don't believe Big has ever shared or podcast his story, other than in that Amazon release, which you can purchase here, if you like.  I'll ask him about it sometime.

Warning: I believe this one has language.  Fucking foul language.



If ye want to download the tale . . . then right-click THIS!!!

(episode 36 was for donors only.  Ask me about it sometime)

The Podcast That Dares Not Speak Its Name 14: Quiddler's Menagerie

Rish tries his hand at entering a contest and shares the short story he wrote for it.  Um, there should be more to this, but I can't think of what it might be.  Sorry.

If you care download the file, please consider Right-Clicking on THIS LINK.

Rish Outcast 35: Schlontz . . . And Other Unforgivable Sins

Rish gets a bee in his bonnet about pseudoprofanity in a book he read, and speculates about deal-breakers in audio work and writing.

Warning: there's gonna be some real cursing in this episode.  It would be f**king shameful if there wasn't.  Oh, and Fake Sean Connery presents the only song he's ever given up halfway through.



Calamity, just download the episode by Right-Clicking HERE.  Sparks!


By the way, the actual word in the book was "slontz."  And that's SO very different.

This blog isn't really a blog

This was created just to house the various episodes of the Rish Outcast.

But I wonder what would happen if I actually treated it like a blog.  Would anyone notice?  Has anyone ever actually gone to this blog, and read the posts?

The other day, my buddy Merrill was talking about how his kid, who was potty-trained long ago (in just about the most horrible way imaginable, according to me), has started to defecate in his pants.  Not just once or twice, but every single time he takes a dump, he goes in his pants.  And the way he described it, it was every single day.  Merrill would be sitting on the couch, watching Blue Is the Warmest Colour with his kid, and suddenly, he'd smell something unbearably foul.  The child had decided he would rather brown his underwear than walk the fifteen feet to the bathroom.

He also told me they were going on a roadtrip, and the child, rather than saying something, simply soiled himself in the car, leaving his parents without a clean change of clothes and filling the vehicle with a noxious stench.  Merrill ranted and raved about it in a way that you would probably find unattractive, but that I found refreshingly candid.

So the next time I saw the child, I took him aside and said, "Hey kiddo, don't feel so bad.  I'm a middle-aged man, and I shit my pants all the time."

Apparently, Merrill did not find this helpful.

Thanks for your time.

Rish Outcast 34: The Terran Chronicles

A few months back, Rish went to see THE MARTIAN, then spent a while talking about it (and writing) with Big Anklevich.  Then he told you about it.  And about his first new project of 2016.  And a song?

Or download the mutha.

Rish Outcast 33: Beggar's Canyon Part 2

So, The Force Awakens came out,* and I managed to see it on opening day, even though I was pretty tired (my boss saw it the same night, but slept through parts of it). And while I quite enjoyed it, it made me realize that I'm getting old, and that I really ought to be writing more, seeing if I can't get better before the end, maybe say something that inspires or scares or moves somebody. It's not too late.

Which brings us to the matter at hand. The second half of "Beggar's Canyon" in this episode of The Rish Outcast. Like I said last time, it's easy to relate to young Luke Skywalker, who is stuck somewhere, feeling he should be somewhere, doing something, being important, but he isn't.  I can relate, and unless you're the Alpha of your particular pack (in which case, you wouldn't waste time reading this, I'm sure), you can too.

Who accomplishes everything they seek out to do? Who gets all their bucket list checked before the end? Who leaves something that will be remembered when they're gone?
Not me.


Luke Skywalker did, though. Just not at the time this story takes place.



So, feel free to Right-Click the link here to download the story . . .

. . . or you can hear Marshal Latham's edit of it (with Big, Bria Burton, Julie Hoverson, Marshal, Johnny Feisty, Mrs. Marshal, and your mama doing voices) right HERE.

In fact, look at his kick-arse episode art for the show:

Better than mine, sadly.

Rish

*And you know, I don't remember that line "Who are you?" "I'm no one," even being in the movie.  Guess I oughtta see it again.