Forced War To Be Podcasted

Forced War Now Destined for Audio
By Sarah Macy and Susan Lee
Forced War is going to be podcasted starting this November or December! That is the big news that was released in RB's Blog this last Sunday (June 8th, 2008). In the same update RB told us that Lost Falchion has officially been demoted to a Novella rather then a fill length novel.

As soon as we read this we got Susan Lee on the line to get some face time with RB. This is what she sent us:

Unexpected Ramifications: So can you fill us in on the new direction you are taking the Empire Project?

RB: Well since making the decision to podcast the other projects of RB's Universe I was seriously thinking about why shouldn't I podcast Forced War as well. I mean it would get me more support for the novel and then I could work on getting more product out there.

UR: Then can we look forward to actually finding out how you have updated the story since we you gave us that original rough First Draft? Have there been any major changes to the story?

RB: Yes this will be the second draft so much better than that first but I am still looking for an editor so if there is anyone out there who wants to edit it and doesn't want to be paid very much then e-mail me. No there are no major changes to the story. There are some minor differences in progression and flow but nothing has been changed... additions though, there are some additions to the book.

UR: So how much longer is Lost Falchion going to be now that you have decided to cut it back to a novella? Did you have to change anything to achieve this goal?

RB: Lost Falchion will run for at least for more episodes then it will be finished. Depending on how it is lumped together this could be anywhere from 5 to 10 more chapters of the story. It may run for more than that. Maybe six more episodes but after it is done it will be put up on Podiobooks.com. No I didn't really have to change anything to achieve the scale back but it has made writing for ti much easier.

UR: Since you are in the process of editing Forced War why is it now tha you have decided to Podcast it? Why didn't you make it your first Podcast Novel rather than your second?

RB: Those are easy questions and the answers are: 1. It won't be considered a finished product until I finish editing it. and 2. It is my first Podcast Novel. With this scale back that changed LF from a Novel to a Novella this means that it is not the IEC's First novel but rather a novella meaning that Forced War will be my first Podcast Novel as well as my Debut Novel.

UR: You said in your blog that you are going to have a preview in the next episode of the IEC what is that going to be ore can you tell us?

RB: That is going to be the prologue of the novel fully recorded with music (I have already picked the theme music for the podcast) and all that joy that is going to kill you because you have to wait until December to hear the rest of it. I think that everyone will enjoy this little preview because it has a larger production value than LF. Back in Episodes 3 and 4 we experimented with our production of Later. It didn't turn out so well but that was because the music that was picked was not very suitable to the story. But this music fits and the production of it has now run up to about the $50 mark. This means that you are going to get a lot of content and value for free.

UR: So you have worked a new production status into the format is this going to be specific to Forced War or are you going to be showing this during the months to come?

RB: Well I won't be showing it off in LF. The production format is set and if it was changed now it would be disastrous for the novella. Right now the only pieces I have to rerecord are the Prologue and Chapters 1-3 but other than that the episodes are going quite well.

UR: But after Lost Falchion are you going to start using this in future short stories to end out season one with?

RB: Maybe. I have sent word and the story to Mur Lafferty for her approval and Narration and I will be sending off a story to Scott Sigler at the end of the summer. I don't think I will be using it for their productions of these stories but Possibly for a new segment coming up call the Imperial Historical Data Archive (or IHDA for short). I am not giving away what this is right now but it will be something for you that will be part of the podcast for the end of Season 1.

UR: This new project will then be produced in the same way as Forced War?

RB: Theoretically. But the problem is the Production Value of such a short segment drastically drops from the value of a long segment. IHDA will only have a quarter of the production value that LF has and LF only has between a third and half of the production value that Forced War has. This means that when you hit the $50 mark in a large production (i.e. Forced War) you are gaining (even when you are putting it out for free) but when you hit the $50 mark on a smaller segment (i.e. IHDA) you are losing money.

UR: Mainly because Forced War will sell books and IHDA won't?

RB: That is A reason but not the whole reason. But in the long run you have a lot to look forward too!

UR: Thank you RB.

There you have it. A new discussion with RB about what is coming up in the IEC and as part of RB's Universe in general. It is a good thing that we can look forward to so much content!