You can see the photos on my flickr feed. I made a set of the photos to document the work.

It’s difficult to take pictures inside the finished booth because it’s just so small. Inside it’s only 3′ wide and about 5′ deep. I have a small stand inside with room for a large flatscreen monitor and my netbook. The mic and boom stands beside it and holds the mic right near my forehead (pointed down) and lets me stand much closer to it in this configuration than before.

All in all, I’m pleased with the way this came out. The sound is much better and the only things I might have done differently is spend the extra $50 and put solid backs on the shelf units (so I have a better surface to mount the foam on – and more stable shelves) and added a top foam sheet to cap the ceiling sound.

The total cost for the rehab was something under $200. The booth itself was relatively cheap and I needed some new bookcases anyway.

For those interested in the technical details, I use a Rode NT-1A condenser mic getting power from a Prosonus Tubepre pre-amp. The output from the amp goes into my Zoom H4 recorder. I bit the bullet and upgraded the firmware in the recorder today which allows the H4 to recognize SD HD cards. I can now record for most of a day before I run out of storage space. Of course, my voice gives out after about three hours so I have to pace myself … read a little, edit a little, write a little, sleep a little.

With a new production coming out soon — Michael J. Sullivan’s Crown Conspiracy — you’ll get a chance to hear how it sounds soon. Release date on Michael’s book is Monday, July 12th.

Bear with me while we fumble under the hood.

[Update]: I recovered the list of addresses and I’ve installed a new list. You should be getting email from me tomorrow. I wanna make sure it’s actually doing what I think it is before I send out a message.

He’s also an author and has just made one of his short stories available as a chapbook. You can find it at JustinMacumber.com. If you’re looking for something to read while I finish up the last few chapters in Captain’s Share …

BaltiCon 43 was a blast and I can see now that I didn’t write anything about it.

Bad author. Bad. No cookie.

The upshot is that I’ve committed to getting Captain’s Share out this summer. No I don’t have a date, and I expect it’ll be at the last possible minute, but I’ve got what I hope is a nice tale lined up that will set up the final chapter of Ishmael Wang so we can tie off the series soon. Maybe as early as the end of the year.

Today I’m working on a ‘day job’ journal article. It’s going badly but it has to be done so hang in there.

I’m also going to record and post the short story that I read at the Short Fiction Jam at Balticon. It’s not science fiction, not set in the Golden Age, and it’s just a tad blasphemous (in the technical sense, not figuratively). It may not be something everybody wants to hear, so when it comes out, keep that in mind. That should be available in the next couple of weeks.

So, please forgive me for not writing more here. I’ll try to do better with keeping everybody up to date.

If you didn’t know, that’s why the fast packet in the beginning of Double Share is named the Christiana Ellis.

Today is the latest in a long line of pod-to-print debuts as Nina Kimberly is released in paper from Dragon Moon Press. In honor of that, Christina has asked all her friends in the podosphere to offer this free PDF version on their blogs and feeds today.

Enjoy this and, if you like it, please support Christiana and the rest of the pod-to-print authors by buying a copy in your choice of format.

I’ve ordered my copy. And I’m gonna get it signed when I see Christiana next week at BaltiCon!

The Prophet of Panamindorah is from one of the “new kids” coming along in the Podiobooks block and I think she’s produced a really nice fantasy novel here. If you like fantasy, give her a try. Her reading is pretty darn good and the audio quality is certainly a step up from the average first time PodioAuthor.

Updated: Oops! Jack called me on the lack of link love for the title. I figured everybody must have Podiobooks on a bookmark at this point but for those who don’t, you can find the book at Podiobooks.

Hang in there.

UPDATE: 8/5 9:50 PM EDT – They’re restoring data and rebuilding databases. They anticipate being back up later today.

UPDATE: 8/6 8:05 AM EDT – They’re back!

It was a pretty exciting event with names from across the podosphere dropping in to chat, hang out, and help boost the release of Brave Men Run.

What happened today, with almost 100 people chatting, watching, and listening to Matt do live readings of the stories, boosted Brave Men Run from obscurity into the limelight — at least for one day — on Amazon.com. As of a few minutes ago, the book was #65 on the best sellers list and #3 on the Genre Fiction for Action and Adventure. That happened because people bought the book, left reviews, ranked the title, and just generally supported the release.

It’s important because, once more, a “podcast-to-print” book has had an amazing showing on Amazon against the thousands of titles available there. By supporting Brave Men Run and Swarm Press (his publisher), we’ve helped push the model of publishing that much closer to a new way of doing business and I’m thrilled to have participated.

Matt announced that the stories will be made available in an anthology and published later this year on Podiobooks.com and that the archival recordings of his readings will be available on Ustream. Check out his site at Brave Men Run for information.

A Traders Tale from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper : Book 4

When he graduates from the Academy at Port Newmar, Ishmael Horatio Wang reports for duty in his first assignment as an officer. When he gets to his new ship, he finds things are not exactly the way he’d learned in school. The coffee tastes like used engine oil, the ship has no heart, and the nearest decent tailor is two quadrants away. What’s a new Third Mate to do? Will he be able to trust Billy?

Cover Art: Hubble Site – Antennae Galaxies
Music: “Jigs: Eavesdropper’s / Both Meat & Drink / Off We Go” by Great Big Sea – Available at music.podshow.com

Podcaster’s Promo: “All hands report to download stations”

Hang in and I’ll get it taken care off ASAP

Update: I think I’ve got the holes, links, images, and uploads all put back where they belong.

If you find something hosed, leave a comment here or on the fan forums which are *still* at http://durandus.org/fans – at least for the moment.