The Hope and Red Podcast Is Live
The grand experiment has begun! After a bit of a bumpy start, the Hope and Red serial podcast has officially launched with episode 1, “Murder and Abduction”. As I mentioned in the previous newsletter, you can search for it on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen, and subscribe for free. A new episode (usually two chapters) drops every Friday.
This whole serialized podcast idea is completely new for my publisher, and in the beginning there was a bit of a learning curve. But I’m really happy with the final result. If you agree, please rate and comment on the podcast. It would not only help me out, but also encourage my publisher to embark on similar projects in the future.
In other Hope and Red news, I just got the Chinese cover for book three of the trilogy, Blood and Tempest. As always, my publisher Chongqing made a stunningly beautiful cover.
Nine Takes: A Global Music Experiment
I thought I’d do something a little different for my music recommendation this time. My friend, musician and composer Russ Kaplan, just announced a fascinating new project that begins this Friday. I’ll let him explain it:
I woke up one day in March in our distant new world, with a crazy idea for something beautiful and positive...
I found some strangers who make music, from different corners of the globe.
We each wrote a tune.
We shared our sheet music with each other.
We did NOT play them for each other.
And we each recorded a full concert of all nine compositions.
See the results starting this Friday with Nine Takes, a concert mini-series that celebrates trust, creativity, and individuality. I hope you can join us!
WHEN: Each day at 9 AM (Live) or 5 PM EDT (re-broadcast), including interviews and commentary by the artist-of-the-day.
Russ Kaplan | New York City | July 10
Ernest Ikwanga | Lausanne, Switzerland | July 11
Yasushi Karasawa (aka N’Sawa Saraca) | Tokyo, Japan | July 12
Aidan Thorne | Cardiff, Wales | July 13
Lisa Marie Simmons | Lake Garda, Italy | July 14
Erik Deutsch | Mexico City, Mexico | July 15
Andrea Molinari | Rome, Italy | July 16
Alexander Flood | Kingswood, Australia | July 17
Padraig Rynne | Dublin, Ireland | Date TBD
And that’s it for me. For some reason the newsletter has been getting flagged by a lot of spam filters (including my own!), so I’m starting to experiment with format to see what’s tripping it up, including trying out other services. So things may look a bit weird from one newsletter to the next. I promise it will stabilize. Eventually.
Anyway, I know things are bananas out there. Stay safe, stay sane. Talk soon.
_j