At (very) long and (truly) last, Alderpod #32 is live. There were a few reasons that it took so long, and most of them have to do with having a three-year-old, writing other stuff, working as a freelancer, and technical issues. I literally recorded this a total of five times, with tons of takes in between. Either I kept getting interrupted, the pro…

Chapter 28 – As It Goes; Chapter 29 – Fire & Rain Well. There you go. The last two chapters in one long podcast. The reason? I was definitely in a groove recording this, and I wanted to keep that energy going throughout the recording. Since the two chapters are connected to one another, simply a continuation of the scene, I thought I’d read it all …

Chapter 27: Precipice I’m just crankin’ these out, huh? Well, finally (finally!) the audio issue is resolved. The setup works, and works so much better than what I had before. I cannot tell you the frustration! I hope you’ll hear the difference in the podcast, as I didn’t have to mask the track with a million filters to keep out the background nois…

Chapter 26: Preparation Once again, here we are. I’ve been having a little bit of frustration with my recording equipment, and hopefully by the end of this week I’ll have a totally new setup: phantom power here I come! I’m working on ways to keep background noise to a minimum, which has been an issue throughout the podcast, but I did my best. As I …

Alderpod #28 – Chapter Twenty-Five: Lost and Found Without further ado, here is Chapter 25. Once again we are back at Vezina Ranch with the Order of the Oak, and Cora and her friends. I’ve got a few notes at the end of the chapter as usual, so I’ll leave you to listen. Just a few more chapters to go……

Chapter 24: In the Belly of the Beast Yes, another chapter! I had meant to get this out on my birthday, the 14th, as a sort of hobbitish mathom gesture. But that didn’t quite work out. I’m in the process of editing #29, so look for that in a few days (or even earlier, depending on the cooperation of my child!).…

Alderpod #26 – Chapter 23: Betrayal in the Key of G I am just about back on a biweekly schedule again with the remaining chapters of The Aldersgate! This is cause for celebration. Up to Chapter 23 already, which is a scarce six from the Very End. How’d that happen? I hope you do enjoy! (Yes… I realized I said “chapter 24” instead of “chapter 23” – …

Alderpod #25 – Castledeck and the Arabella No, don’t adjust your feed. You’re reading it right: twenty-five episodes and counting! *throws confetti* It just so turns out that today’s Alderpod is a little divergence from the norm, but within the realm of the Aldersgate Cycle nonetheless. It is a reading, or I should say performance, of my short stor…

Alderpod #24: Chapter 22 – Lady Vezina Finding a little time on my hands this rainy day, I have recorded Chapter 22, Alderpod #24. I am trying hard to make up for lost time, and now that the book is creeping toward the final climax, that’s only fitting. So, without further adieu!By Natania Barron

Alderpod #23 – Chapter 21: Kaythra Bav After much delay, Alderpod #23 is here. The lateness is regretful, but necessary. As you may have read, my sister is fighting Hodgkin Lymphoma, so I–as well as my family–have been out to California. I’ve been twice since March, and my parents have been going on alternate weeks. That said, there’s been little t…

Alderpod #22 is live! Huzzah. I was going to do a special video podcast of this one, but that did not pan out. Instead, it only delayed the finishing of this one. Grr. Ah, well. What can be done? There are a few short noes at the end of this (Brick) chapter, but hey–there’s only ten more chapters to go until the end. Exciting, exciting. The first A…

Alderpod #21: Chapter Nineteen – Princess, Priceless Alderpod #21 is live! Huzzah. I had this all but uploaded right before I left for the West Coast, and then my son spilled (more) ice water on the MacBook, and we had to let it dry. Unfortunately by the time I left, I had not had a chance to finish it. As per usual, I also recorded #22, or Chapter…

Chapter Eighteen: Departure This is the real Alderpod #20–forgive me if anyone accidentally ends up with doubles, but there was an issue with iTunes taking the song .mp3 rather than the podcast. If anyone is having issues still, please let me know. Remember you can always find the entire archive at Alderpod.…

Alderpod #19 – Chapter Seventeen: Welcome Huzzah! Another chapter done. Instead of putting my notes here, I decided to go ahead and babble a bit at the end of this one. So stay tuned at the end for ramblings and insight (hopefully…haha). I’m also going to be releasing some bonus tracks in the next few weeks, where I profile the characters for you, …

Alderpod #18 – Chapter Sixteen: Tarnish Back to the castle, and the doings of Sylvan and Ellinora (yes a chapter with two…two…TWO PoVs!). News of the dissolution of the Order of the Asp has arrived, and Libby is not happy. Meanwhile, Ellin meets the new Alderdaughters finally arrived from the Territories and beyond, and she even makes a little vial…

Alderpod #17 – Chapter Fifteen: Figments No, you did not read this wrong. Yes, I’ve recorded another chapter. Sure, part of it is because I feel bad I haven’t been able to do the whole biweekly thing with the cold, but more than anything it’s because the chapters meld into one another. It’s a continuation from the last chapter, and I thought since …

Alderpod #16 – Chapter Fourteen: The Nithings Yes, I totally say “fifteen” and “thirteen” at the beginning of this. I will fix. Numbers confuse me even when my mind is running at full capacity. – Yay fixed!! After a lengthy, and unintentional break, Alderpod is back! Coughing, sputtering, and sneezing are hardly conducive to a successful episode, s…

Chapter Thirteen – Initiation Rites Don’t think this is going to be a habit or anything, but here’s the next Alderpod. Yes, indeed–and in spite of the sniffles! We join up once again with Brick and the Order of the Asp and learn about some of their rather… well, let’s say “unique” practices. This is a chapter that, for some reason, has seen an inor…

And chapter 12, aka, Alderpod #14… I discovered cabernet sauvingnon to be a good accompaniment to this particular piece. And I will admit to you two things: the beginning is a little wonky, but bear with me–I spliced two chapters together and combined them for brevity, etc; and also, the pacing is a little on the slow side. But this is intrigue peo…

Chapter Eleven: Dalliance Huzzah! After hitting 25K for NaNoWriMo, and the official halfway point, I celebrated by recording Chapter Eleven of The Aldersgate. I won’t be able to stay away come December, I tell you. I’m just itching to get back, though I have to admit I’m very pleased with where Pilgrim of the Sky is at the moment. This is a Sylvan …

Chapter Ten: Fiddles in the Dark, aka, Alderpod 12 is now live! Into the Nithings we go, and we learn more about what it is that the Sibs are, and what exactly our bard thinks of Cora Grey.By Natania Barron

Alderpod 11 – Chapter Nine: Remembrance Yay! Alderpod #11 is alive and kicking. I must say, due to variety of characters in this particular chapter, I had more fun reading this than any other of the chapters to date. As someone who’s always loved the banter between knights, and the whole concept of a group of traveling companions (who doesn’t, hone…

Alderpod #10: Chapter Eight – Below Podcasting has been moving at the speed of light as of late; not only do I have #10 ready, but I also have recorded and finished #11, and #12 is just awaiting editing. Funny what happens when you don’t have work every morning. Haha. A little bit about #10. First of all: how awesome is it that I’ve hit double digi…

I now introduce to you, officially, Sylvan DeLoire, bastard nephew of Queen Maelys, assassin, and ladykiller (figuratively, and occasionally literally). And, by way of a strange little old woman, the Aldersgate, too. Sylvan is one of my favorite characters to write, not in the least because he’s so unapologetically selfish. I suppose writing withou…

Alderpod I present to you now Alderpod #8 – Chapter Six – Man of the Open Road, mostly completed… There are sections of this that may or may not be in the final version… but I have always liked this chapter as it is all about Emry; he’s the only one with dialogue in the whole thing, and most of it involves talking to himself (a habit I took from my…

Alderpod Chapter Five, Alderpod #7 (or six… if you start at 000…) is live! Shoot-outs and airships are just the beginning. This chapter introduces one of my favorite characters to date, Sir Gawen of Fenlie. His analogue is, of course, Sir Gawain, of the Greene Knight fame. I’ve always had a soft spot for that Orkney lad, and well… here he is. The R…

Alderpod - The Aldersgate Cycle Podcast Huzzah! Alderpod #6 is up, and it takes off where #2 left off, with Cora Grey returning home just as the Order of the Oak arrive in Vell during the Blooming Day dance. This one took a while to get together, as yours truly is an occasional technological nightmare. I’ll be posting a .pdf to accompany it, as wel…

It’s here! Alderpod #5 – Chapter Four: The Bard I am super excited about Podcast #5. I’m learning as I go along here, and have a new microphone that, at first was more headache than anything. But now, with a pop screen I think the quality is much better. This is the introduction of Emry Roy, the bard in my story. Now, of all my characters, he’s clo…

I present Alderpod #4 which contains lots of babbling and chattering on my behalf, and relatively little in the way of story (and is listed as #3, but is really #4… or the fourth… if you count the first as zero). I’m hoping to record Alderpod #5 tonight tomorrow night (way too much drama with the nearly two-year-old) which will be Chapter Three, an…

In which we meet our other hero… of a sort. Brick is the son of the local town smith, Jeck–and as we’ve learned in the first chapter, his relationship with his best friend Cora has, well, changed some. This is also our first foray into Professor’s workshop, and the introduction of some of the more steampunk elements in this novel. I don’t purport t…

I’ve always loved reading aloud, and being read to. As part of my own writing process, I read and record chapters, mostly to feel out how the writing is working, and to judge the overall flow of words. After sharing these chapters with my husband and best friend, and judging their reactions, I decided it would be worth my while to put something tog…

I had one crazy weekend, but I finally have a version of my first podcast for AG. I run the risk of being a huge geek doing this, but that, of course, has never swayed me before. Take a listen! Look for more posts soon. Listen to Alderpod #1 Here!By Natania Barron