Season one, Episode Fifteen, “Not-So-Innocent”

Season one, Episode Fifteen, “Not-So-Innocent”

After the ApocalypseA pandemic survival storySeason one, Episode Fifteen, “Not-So-Innocent”

A sharp wind evaporated the sweat from Janet’s arms. She felt a chill, like a passing ghost. Her heart settled from a hard drumbeat in her chest to a low rhythmic thump as she walked, recovering from her run.

She felt cleaner now.

Refreshed.

The familiar ache of bone and muscle comforted her.

She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt and looked ahead at the vehicle in the road.

What was going on with this overheated camper van?

It was an older, boxy model. The hood was propped open, and she could smell the metal of the overheated radiator.

Janet could hear snippets of argument as she cautiously approached.

It was hard to get all of it. The wind was gusting, creating white noise that washed out the voices, making them fade in and out like a bad phone connection.

She approached the van on the opposite side from where the people were arguing. Better to stay unnoticed. Was this even something that she wanted to get involved with?

...

Episode Commentary Season One, Episode Fifteen – “Not so Innocent”

Hello and welcome back my survivor friends. How are we all doing? How’s the apocalypse treating you?

What did you think of the episode? Frankly I struggled writing this one and my editing team helped A LOT! Thank you Duane! If anyone wants to help with writing or editing please feel free to reach out.

I didn’t want to just have action. The action turns into “he-said-she-said” type motion-without-meaning after a while. And that get’s boring.

There are no stakes. Not snakes, stakes. You always have to ask and answer that question: what are the stakes here?

On the flip side you don’t want to bulk up with too much exposition and emotions – because that gets boring too.

The key is to marry the exposition and stakes with the action. Have what the characters do and say make your points for you.

Language is a powerful thing. Story telling is a basic, human, powerful thing.

So – long story short (pun absolutely intended) I had to wrestle with that in this episode.

I wanted to make sure that we were understanding the motivation of the characters and moving the broader narrative forward and even exploring some deeper themes.

And, as it turns out, this is a common theme in apocalyptic literature – how does your current pre-apocalypse skill set translate into a post-apocalyptic world? It’s not just preppers and backwoodsmen who will do well. It’s also the resilient, the fast, the smart and those willing to lead.

And to show this we take individuals out of the real world and drop them int the apocalypse – in our case Janet the type-A lawyer and the old man, a disgraced doctor turned ultra-runner.

That’s the theme that I’m trying to play with. And that’s what makes science fiction so much fun. Because you can create these mashups and play with them. What would a pre-school teacher do in an alien invasion? What would the ballet-teacher do in an alternate universe? I don’t know but you could write that story.

One of my favorite versions of this is when Rod Serling dropped a book loving bank teller into the apocalypse in episode 8 of the original Twighlight Zone titled “Time Enough at Last”. First aired in 1959 and based on a story by Lynn Venable.

In this episode Henry Bemis played by Burgess Meredith,. loves books yet is surrounded by those who would prevent him from reading them. (You know Burgess Meredith as the original Penguin in the Batman TV series and as Rocky’s crusty old coach Mickey in the Rocky movies.)

The episode follows Bemis through a post-apocalyptic world, touching on such social issues as anti-intellectualism, the dangers of reliance upon technology, and the difference between solitude and loneliness. In the end he breaks his glasses so he can’t read the books even though he’s the last one alive.

This was one of the most popular episodes of the original Twilight zone.

Anyhow, that’s an example of how you can make an episode compelling without much action at all.

Congratulations to all of you my surviving friends in the apocalypse. We are over 5,000 downloads strong now. Let’s push it to a million! Tell some friends, keep it moving. Post the link to the show in your social. You my friends are our personal agents of chaos spreading the apocalypse love.

I do need more of you to join the patreon page as members. I want to be able to keep the storygoing. And you can help me survive with your support.

As Patreon Members you get full access to scripts and show notes.

But I am going to sweeten the pot.

If you go and join Patreon at any level I’m going to give you special, members only episodes.

https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypse?fan_landing=true

Starting with this one here from one of my other apocalypse universes.

Insert clip here.

So if you want to hear more of that, and get other shows I’m going to drop go join the patreon page so I can keep the show going.

Thank you all very much and until next time…Keep Surviving!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(118)

Season two, Episode Seven “Industrial”

Season two, Episode Seven “Industrial”

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode Seven “Industrial”It was slippery and tough going in the industrial rubble by the river’s edge. The old man pulled himself up over a concrete slab that blocked the trail. The slab had rebar sticking out of it like the broken bones of an old corpse that had been torn open by wolves. ...Hello survivors. Happy Thanksgiving! Let me say, first of all, that I have been dying to use the phrase “Arms akimbo” in a story my whole life. Akimbo is an interesting English word that means "with the hands on the hips and the elbows bent outward at sharp angles". They think the word akimbo has some relation to the word ‘bow’ like ‘bow and arrow’ – because the arms are bent like a bow. The first recorded usage was by Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales in the 1400’s. I’m going to stop right there before I start waxing poetically about Richard III and Henry IV and Iambic Pentameter. All in good time. Back to the story… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

27 Nov 202126min

Season two, Episode six “Scorpion”

Season two, Episode six “Scorpion”

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode six “Scorpion”…Bill the dog was attuned to gunfire. It did not bother him as much as it heightened his senses to what was going on around him. Bill was trained to save lives. He was trained to sense danger and do what he could to protect the lives of his squad. He was a soldier first. He didn’t think. He acted in accordance with his training. He had no sense of bravery or heroism – only a burning sense of duty.The safety of the squad was his first priority. ...Outro S2 E6 – ScorpionThe patreon page -> https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypseThe FaceBook Group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypseThe Show on Acast -> https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypse11/10/2021Hello survivors. Here we are, Episode 6 of the 2nd season of After the Apocalypse a Pandemic Survival Story. And we have our friend Bill back in play, so you can stop with the angry messages. But, we’re not out of the woods yet. We left you with a cliff-hanger! Or more like a grassy-knoll hanger. https://flashfictionmagazine.com/blog/2021/09/26/writing-tip-23-never-kill-the-dog/Learned a couple things this week. First, and I already knew this, but it was hammered home by some comments on our Facebook page, is that when you’re reading or listening you create a picture in your head from what the author is telling you. That is the magic of reading or listening. That’s the advantage of reading or listening over TV or movies. You get to create your own visuals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

12 Nov 202127min

Season two, Episode five “Forage”

Season two, Episode five “Forage”

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode five “Forage”Janet braced herself against the doorway of an old brick mill building. She had worked her way through the back streets and vacant lots to the river’s edge. From this vantage point, downriver, she could see the bridge and the river foaming around it. She held her breath as the shuttle bus punched into the water and bounced unsteadily across the span. Janet uttered a small prayer as the men in the Humvees arrived and started firing on the bus from the bridgehead. Adrenaline mixed with fear and anger as she searched her mind for any action she could take to help them. ...Outro S2 E5The patreon page -> https://www.patreon.com/AftertheApocalypseThe FaceBook Group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldmanapocalypseThe Show on Acast -> https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypse10/29/ 2021 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

30 Okt 202129min

Season two, Episode four “Empty”

Season two, Episode four “Empty”

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode four “Empty”Mags watched the old man slump into an overstuffed, coffee-stained chair in the teachers’ lounge. It smelled like cigarettes and moth balls. Decades of stale smoke wrapped in tweed jackets with elbow patches. Undoubtedly, it had been the treasured refuge of some crusty old academic with only a few years left to retirement. This old chair his redoubt from the squalling of adolescent rage. That person was gone. Their jaded, dusty dreams swept away with the apocalypse. Now this chair was empty. Now it made a good place to temporarily store this old man. ...S2 E4 OutroHello survivors! Welcome back! Picking up steam in Season 2 now. How do you like our new characters? I like the Mags character. I hadn’t pre-planned to write her this way but she just naturally turned into a strong person. The kind of person you need in the Apocalypse. I did have several people threaten to unfriend me over at the Facebook group after episode 3. Have patience. And, if you need to yell at me you can join us at the after the apocalypse Facebook group. And, if you want to hire Robert for something, I don’t know, maybe to record the message on your voicemail, you can find him at Command Voices. Wouldn’t that be great? “Welcome to the Apocalypse, We’re tied up surviving at the moment. Please leave a message. We’ll get back to you, if we survive…” …Our tribe is growing nicely. We are at 28XXX downloads and running between 100-400 per day. Thank you to those of you who have subscribed in your apps. And thank you for sharing with you friends, enemies and total strangers. It looks like it’s working. Keep it up! Just drop the link shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypse into Facebook, twitter, whatever. We are word of mouth so keep making words with you mouths in the direction of other people. Also thanks to new Patreon member Corby who threw me a couple bucks. I appreciate the help. …Feel free to reach out to me with any suggestions or comments. I am having a blast writing and producing this – and I hope you are too. If we have brightened your day even a little bit with our story telling it makes us happy. We appreciate all your help and attention – and whatever you do – keep surviving. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

16 Okt 202132min

Season two, Episode three “The Hungry River”

Season two, Episode three “The Hungry River”

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode three “The Hungry River”Janet glared through the sleet, up the hill, searching for the Humvees that she expected to appear over the crest at any moment. “Persistent deadbeats…” She swore under her breath as the chain saw chattered in her hands. She knew if she could slow them down, even for a minute, it might give the bus enough time to escape....Outro S2 E3https://shows.acast.com/after-the-apocalypseHello and welcome back survivors. Here we are, episode 3 of season two and it feels like we’re hitting our stride.This was a fun episode to construct. I love the visual of the river devouring the bridge. Just a great picture in my mind’s eye. The other thing that happened here, not to give you too much of the sausage-making, was a roller coaster ride. It’s a series of tension builds and releases, where we are just letting you off the hook and we slap you again with a new shock wave. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Okt 202124min

Season two, Episode two “Pursuit”

Season two, Episode two “Pursuit”

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode two “Pursuit”KJ clutched the knife in one cold hand, lowering the heel of her other hand to the ground for support.She was in a full crouch now. Just a few yards away she could see the hooded man on the bench, under the portico, and he looked to be dozing.“If he’s a guard, he isn’t a very good one,” She thought. Something about him didn’t fit. A moment ago, as she was sneaking along the wall, she had glanced into the window of the resort and saw some of the thugs.The King’s soldiers were no better at guard duty. They lay sprawled and asleep on the lobby furniture, surrounded by trash and bottles, no doubt sleeping off another hard debauch. ...Outro Episode 1 Season 2 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

18 Sep 202134min

Season two, Episode one “The Gathering Storm”

Season two, Episode one “The Gathering Storm”

After the ApocalypseA Pandemic Survival StorySeason two, Episode one “The Gathering Storm”“Geez-Us”, the old man swore, looking out the window. “Is this ever going stop?”Janet just looked at him. She didn’t feel like beginning another conversation about the weather. It had been raining for at least five days straight. Some sort of late season not-so-tropical storm remnant had wheeled up the Gulf and parked over the Southeast. The weather was strange. Something about the abrupt cessation of human activity on the planet had thrown everything into chaos. Once again, Janet thought, the irony was thick and steady in the apocalypse. ...Outro – S1 E2Stranger in a strange land. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4 Sep 202129min

Book One - The Old Man

Book One - The Old Man

Book One - The Old ManAvailable at WWW.Booklocker.com...Hello Survivors – This is Chris from the future! Yes indeedy – I am speaking to you from Groundhog Day 2025 – with an update! If you are listening to The After the Apocalypse Podcast series and have gotten to this point that means you are at the end of season one. And I have teleported in from the future to let you know I have now published the novelization of season one. It’s a real, 362 page book, with great writing and great story telling and the characters you love. This book covers the same narrative as What you have just listened to, but has been greatly refined. There are new chapters and new sequences and lots of filling in the blank where things were brushed over in the podcast. So if you are a reader of books, first of all congratulations, because you’re part of the 5% who are, and second of all go buy and read a leave a review of my first book in this series, “After the Apocalypse, A Pandemic Survival Story, Book One – The Old Man. You can find it at any book seller but the best place is at my publisher’s website www.booklocker.com.Or, if you want some special love, I have some physical copies and will gladly sign and inscribe one and send it to you, just reach out to me by email at cyktrussell@gmail.com.Thank you so much for your support, And as you lock and dead-bolt the bunker door and settle down to read your new book by the flickering candle light, don’t forget to keep surviving! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3 Sep 20212min

Populært innen Fiksjon

snipp-snapp-snute
uvirkelig
erotikkpodden
skrem-deg-bort
rss-privatgranskeren-2
edgar-allan-poes-skrekkverden
rss-smaltalk
litteraturhusets-podkast
aslak-nore-en-norsk-spion
basil-maaruds-podkast
rss-skrekk-historier-av-norske-forfattere
rss-snorksnakk
trude-teige-noen-vet
jediradet-en-star-wars-podcast
rss-krakadal-radio
rss-nilsons-verden
god-natt
22-juli-hvordan-kunne-det-skje
rss-plotkast
rss-nodsamtaler