No Dragons Press

Episode 19: “The Point of an Arrow”

Show Notes for Episode 19

These are the show notes from No Dragons Press: Episode 19, “The Point of An Arrow”—also known as “The Yes Episode.” You’ll see why.

So. I pretty much had the greatest weekend ever. You’ve heard about my friend Lisa before, and if you’ve been following me on Twitter or Instagram (@nodragonspress) you know all of this, but—this past Saturday November 5th, Lisa and I went to Chicago to see Anderson, Rabin and Wakeman.

Anderson Rabin and Wakeman (ARW) at the Chicago Theater. OH MY GOD.

Quick bit of background info if you don’t know: these are all ex-members of Yes, which is an absolutely phenomenal band from the 70s that you absolutely 100% need in your life. Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman are what you’d consider “classic lineup” and Trevor Rabin had a shorter stint with them in later years when guitarist Steve Howe left for a while, but at that point Rick Wakeman was gone.

Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman. Being amazing.

It’s kind of long and convoluted and in retrospect it sounds a little strange, but over the band’s very long career they morphed and split and ex-members kind of morphed into side projects that were basically Yes, and that’s pretty much what this tour was, another “not quite Yes but basically Yes” band. I KNOW it sounds silly, but you know, individual members would leave for various reasons and they’d have to be replaced, and over the course of SEVERAL DECADES…

Rick being a boss, AND the Cubs win the World Series! What is this life??

Anyway, there was a point in I think the early 90s where the two parallel bands at the time kind of came together and did one giant album and tour, and as far as I am aware, that’s the only time Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, and Rick Wakeman have played Yes tunes together.

So this wasn’t just “members of Yes,” this was a really special combination of people for Yes fans from back in the day, and especially because just last year we lost Chris Squire, the bass player, who was actually the only member of the band who never left, never took a break.

Chris Squire. Is incredible.

Anyway, the concert was AMAZING, and they were all clearly having a fantastic time. Jon sounded as perfect as ever despite having recently turned 72, Rick Wakeman was wearing a fantastic cape (as were Lisa and I), and the rest of the band (who were not at any point members of Yes) fit right in: the drummer didn’t stop smiling once, the bass player did a phenomenally respectful and amazing job with Chris Squire’s parts.

Rick Wakeman and Lee Pomoroy. Amazing.

SO. Anyway, they played for about two hours, maybe longer, and they did a great sampling of material from all different eras, some expected and not-so-expected stuff from the early years and a bunch of later stuff that was a really good education for me, because I’m really not as familiar with 80s and 90s Yes, I’m pretty firmly 70s.

AND: Rick Wakeman walked out into the crowd with his keytar and came super close to us, and I only hope that at some point he saw two young women wearing sparkly capes absolutely losing their minds with joy.

No caption necessary *dies* #rickwakeman

A video posted by Maggie Gibbs (@nodragonspress) on Nov 5, 2016 at 10:29pm PDT

(Did I mention we were wearing capes? I wasn’t kidding.)

So I suppose, if your experience of Yes is limited to “Roundabout” and “Owner of a Lonely Heart” (yes, that was somehow mostly the same band), and if you want to learn a little bit more about them, and why Yes fans are so diehard, and why Rick Wakeman is SUCH a wizard, a good place to start might be The Yes Album, Fragile, and Close to the Edge, in that order.

There’s also really great concert footage out there on YouTube of a three-disc live album they recorded in the early 70s, I’ll throw a link in the show notes for Episode 19 on nodragonspress.com/podcast in cast you want to check that out. The sound quality isn’t astonishing, but the actual footage is an absolute treasure.

ANYWAY. Total whirlwind adventure in Chicago, amazing show, great time with Lisa. If you know nothing about Yes and this all meant nothing to you, or if you’ve only heard stuff from the 80s, check out the records I mentioned earlier and let me know what you think.

I literally do not know what I used to listen to before Lisa introduced me to progressive rock via Yes, they’re just one of those bands where you can listen to a record several times in a row and have a completely different experience each time depending on what you’re listening for and which instrument you’re focused on.

So! On with the episode…

Hey everyone, thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed chapter 19!

Episode 18: “Bliss and Ignorance”

Show Notes

Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope you have a spooooky day. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays just because any opportunity to wear a costume is a good one. I attended a phenomenal Pink Floyd tribute show over the weekend. (Their name is Dark Side of the Loon, which is HILARIOUS because the loon is the Minnesota state bird.). I was Chris Squire this year, the amazing and unforgettable bass player for Yes, and even though nobody knew who I was, I was really proud of myself, I looked fucking spot on.

A photo posted by Maggie Gibbs (@nodragonspress) on Oct 30, 2016 at 9:53am PDT

And I had the comfort that far away in a distant state, my friend Lisa was Rick Wakeman, again, although she doesn’t generally need an excuse for that.

Man, wouldn’t it be fun to have a giant party where everyone had to come dressed as a musical legend? I feel like it would be really cool if people didn’t really know each other super well and met in this crazy musical context. Plus it would be really fun to be able to hang out with a bunch of musical legends.

OK, switching track a little bit, serious question: Have you ever wished you were an old-time monarch or religious figure who had endless reserves of cash to commission giant pieces of art for your mansion?

Well, if you have, I have an exciting opportunity for you that gives you that same feeling of pride and patronage, without having to spend all the cash or pay heating bills on a drafty old mansion. You still get the art, you have plenty left in your pocket to support other writers and artists, and I get to write more bonkers stoner fantasy instead of painting virgins and carving saints.

Seriously though, I do have a really cool announcement to make.

No Dragons Press is now on Patreon!

Now, if you don’t know about Patreon, here’s a quick overview: you’ve heard of Kickstarter, which is a way of crowd-funding a project, breaking up the cost of production into tiny pieces that people interested in the projects can help out.

Patreon is kind of like that, but it’s geared more toward artists working on long-term ideas. The idea is that the artist (or author or podcaster) does what she loves, and consumers or listeners who choose to support contribute just a dollar a month to help make the work sustainable.

So, since this is officially the eighteenth episode of No Dragons Press, now seems like a good point to kind of stop and assess the situation.

One big thing with Patreon is consistency, and understandably so. They don’t want you to build a relationship with a community of readers and supporters and then suddenly disappear like four installments in and have all these weird unmet expectations. That’s why I waited to long to even entertain the idea of accepting this kind of support from you guys, because I wanted to be absolutely sure everything was working out and I wasn’t going to just suddenly ghost you.

And I think I’m on pretty solid ground on that front. Just to check in about the series, I’m planning five books and they’re all pretty much outlined. Book one is actually finished and maybe halfway through the first draft of book two, so that’s my progress. Now, there’s still a few things shifting around as far as scenes—last week you may have noticed that it was a little on the long side that was a result of me combining two scenes until 130 or maybe some more of that—but let’s say for the sake of my math abilities that we’re going end up with about 40 scenes. (I think it’ll be about 42 or 43 but 40 is easier to work with.)

So if we estimate the same number of scenes for each book, that’s 40 scenes times five books equals 200 total scenes for No Dragons Press. Seriously guys, that’s just under four years of once-a-week podcasting. Now, I can’t predict the future, so the frequency of that could change or this could move into some other format—I have no idea.

But I’ve kept it up for 4 1/2 months now, so given my current trajectory and the fact that I’m having a lot of fun, I don’t see why I wouldn’t just keep podcasting the entire series. But for the immediate future, I’m definitely going to be podcasting book one in its entirety, and I fully intend to continue it with book two, so buckle in!

Another thing with Patreon is building relationships with supporters. A lot of people who produce regular content like bloggers and podcasters also produce exclusive content just for their Patreon supporters; some creators make their entire body of content exclusive to supporters; it all depends on the individual artist and what makes the most sense for their work.

In my case, I think I want to just keep on keeping on, and keep bringing you a chapter a week at nodragonpress.com/podcast.

I love the story and I love the feedback I’ve been getting, and I really want to continue making it available freely to whoever wants to listen to it. I think that’s important.

But I do need to start thinking about the podcast as more than just a fun hobby and really look at making it sustainable for those 3 1/2, four years so I can keep making it available. You guys might not know this, and I don’t think I really fully understood it before I was balls deep in it, but it really isn’t cheap to run a podcast. There’s hosting for the actual episodes, and there’s website hosting, there’s a solid chunk of time that I spend every week recording, and editing, and putting this together, which doesn’t even touch my actual story-writing time.

Then there’s all sorts of business-type things that I haven’t even scratched the surface of, like expanded distribution, social media outreach, advertisements, eventually I need to look into transcription services so I can do more interviews and not have to type all the shit out myself—you know, there’s just a lot to do.

I’m really happy to do it, but that’s why Patreon is so amazing: it’s this way to open up a stream of support for people who are really positive about what I’m doing, and it only costs any individual person a dollar a month. You know, it doesn’t sound like a dollar could possibly be helpful, but if you think about it and do the math, you know, if I have, say, 25 people supporting me monthly, that goes along way towards helping me pay for at least the monetary costs I’m putting into it, which just makes everything a lot easier.

And it’s more than that. You know, it’s a way for people to go beyond feeling appreciation really feel ownership and pride. It’s a way for people who maybe really enjoy fiction but don’t have the time or inclination to develop a novel for themselves to feel like they’re helping to put something creative out into the world. It’s a way for – you know, I know I talk very lightheartedly about marijuana on the show and in this book, and if you haven’t gathered by now, I have a bit of an ulterior motive with how casually Addie treats smoking and being high.

There’s a lot of important policy decisions being discussed right now and a lot of knee-jerk reactions to media headlines, and I think a lot of what’s fueling those reactions and standing in the way of important progress is fear. I think our best way forward through all this shit is through education, and as advocates for the good that cannabis can do in the world, it should be our biggest goal right now to make people open and receptive to the science and the data and the financial experiences of legal states.

I believe a bumbling, sweet, wilderness-savvy young woman like Addie who is way more capable than she realizes can help change peoples’ minds and help break down these knee-jerk, unfounded negative ideas of what marijuana is and who is using it and what it can do, and to do that I need to be able to expand my outreach. With your support of one dollar a month, you will help give me the ability to invest in some of those important distribution opportunities and marketing strategies that are going to help get this project in front of more audiences.

So, in addition to helping me expand the visibility of this podcast, visiting patreon.com/nodragonpress and signing up to donate one dollar a month will get you access to an exclusive members area. I’m not totally sure yet what this will entail, and actually I’d love to hear from you guys about that, but for now I will do my best to thank you by sharing early versions, exclusive artwork – I have a few ideas and you can be sure that I will scheme up something.

Something else I want to mention: if you’re not feeling the financial support thing right now, that’s totally fine. I WANT you to keep listening keep enjoying the show keep telling your friends—that’s plenty of support, and I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to you every week and read you my story.

And if you understand appreciate what I’m trying to do and you want to help make the podcast sustainable, or if you’ve just been enjoying the story and want to show your support, head to Patreon.com/nodragonspress to be one of the very first special group of contributors to help No Dragons Press: A HIGH FANTASY Fiction Podcast reach new audiences and really level up in a big way.

Thank you all so much. I will not forget your support.

So! I’ll jump right into chapter eighteen, I think you’re in for a treat. And quick disclaimer: DON’T WORRY, this is not a romance novel. There are a few mushy bits to get past, but there is plenty of action and intrigue to balance them out, and I’m really excited about this chapter because maybe even more than Tristan’s bonkers electrical bubble, this is where everything changes.

Thank so much for listening to me talk about Patreon and tell you a little about the story. I always have so much fun. Now, I hope you enjoy Chapter 18: Bliss and Ignorance.

No Dragons Press

Episode 16: “Hunting and Gathering”

Hey, everyone! I hope you had a great weekend!

Awesome week, awesome music.

I spent pretty much the entire weekend hunkered down working on high-level business shit and listening exclusively to Gentle Giant, so today I’m feeling a little weird, but good. (And not just because of the Gentle Giant.)

Speaking of Gentle Giant. I did manage to escape for a bit yesterday, I went over to a friend’s house when he texted me that he had found something new to listen to that he thought I might be interested in.

To tell you a little bit about my friend first, he’s got the greatest record collection in the entire world. Well, probably not, but definitely in my experience outside of actual record stores. He’s literally got a music library in this house, and of particular interest to me, of course, is that a whole lot of it is progressive rock.

So, my friend is always picking up really weird finds at record stores. Sometimes he’ll recognize someone in the liner notes and just go for it sometimes he’ll be intrigued by the artwork or the studio blurb, whatever it is, maybe it’ll be awesome, maybe it’ll be terrible, but it’ll definitely be something he wouldn’t have heard if he hadn’t just picked it up.

First of all: Gently Giant is amazing.

He knows that what I am into is very specific: early- to mid-70s progressive rock, the weirder the better. I’ve already mentioned Gentle Giant, which—I’ll try to put some stuff in the show notes.

(Guys. Check out Gentle Giant:)

He knows I like really technical playing, you know, lots of crazy time signatures, I mean Yes is one of my favorite bands, so that should tell you something.

Raven: Unreleased mid-70s album

Anyway, the record he came up with was this band called Raven. It was recorded originally in 1976, but it was never released until 2013, but it’s entirely original. I guess they recorded this album and signed a record deal and then the label went bankrupt immediately.

Original 1976 progressive rock album, unreleased until 2013. Pinch me.

So we listened to it, and it was really good! Like, really talented people, crazy high vocals, a lot of technical stuff, you know, very kind of chugging guitars, you could hear a lot of 80s. Who knows what it would’ve turned into if this would’ve gotten released at the time? What what magazines would have sad about it, or reviewers?

It’s just really interesting that they never had the chance to fit into their contemporary landscape and see where that would’ve taken them, but it’s so cool that now, in 2013 they released like 500 copies. It just blew my mind that so many bands try to capture that vintage 70s sound and here we were sitting there listening to this lost treasure that almost never saw the light of day.

All your obscure unheard prog are belong to me

It made me wonder how much more there is out there from this era that I’m just obsessed with and kind of dismayed at how there’s a finite amount of it. It also made me wonder whether every writer has old, unpublished material they’ve abandoned along the way.

I mean of course everyone has the practice stuff that shouldn’t see the light of day, but I’m talking about fully fleshed-out or even completed stories, things we maybe didn’t feel were right for the time or didn’t have our shit together enough at the time to pursue.

In any case, hold onto that stuff if you have it, and take a look every now and then. Maybe there’s something in there that the world’s been waiting for.

You look like you could use some more Gentle Giant.

Have I mentioned Emily is amazing?

So! Onto the No Dragons Press front: I met with Emily last Friday to brainstorm some ideas for the artwork over on Ascraeus Press. I don’t know if you guys realize this but the picture she draws are pretty huge. She’s got them all in this giant binder and it’s always super fun to just page through them and realize—I mean, you guys, this is episode 16. That’s drunk! And like I told Emily, without her enthusiasm and her help, I really don’t think I would be doing this.

And you guys, too—I just saw another spike in the podcast stats, and that’s just so awesome to see, thank you guys so much. You know, I don’t have the greatest outreach still, but I think more importantly, I’m still seeing that people who start with episode one tend to keep going, and I’m really encouraged by that.

So really, if you’re listening to this episode 16, I’m so happy you’re still with me. thank you.

Thanks for listening, you guys. Hey, so my studio is usually pretty good at blocking out the sound—eveywhere but the roof. And even though it was the end of October, there was a freak rainstorm in Minneapolis, so that’s what you heard a little bit of toward the end. Sorry if it was super obnoxious.

Thanks, and have a great week!

No Dragons Press

Episode 15: “Righteous Anger”

Hey guys, thanks for listening.

I don’t know if you guys saw the debate, but, I have just two quick things to say.

Be good role models.

And fucking vote.

With that out of the way, please enjoy chapter fifteen, Righteous Anger.

[AND, make sure to check out Emily’s incredible illustration for chapter fifteen. She’s always incredible, but this one is truly special—I know you’ll love it, so check it out now on Weekly Illustrated Fiction at Ascraeus Press!]

No Dragons Press Episode 14: “The Fabric of the Universe”

Show Notes for Episode 14

These are the show notes from No Dragons Press: Episode Fourteen: the Fabric of the Universe. (I start reading chapter 14 around 4 minutes in, if you want to skip.)

Hey everyone, thanks for listening!

Hanging with family is awesome, challenging, and mostly awesome.

So I went to a [family] wedding this past weekend and first of all, there is nothing like a good old-fashioned wedding dance party. You know, you get cousins and aunts and uncles and everybody all together drinking old fashioneds and dressed all pretty and you know what can possibly be better than that?

I have just a ton of cousins and it’s always so much fun to connect with them as adults, these people who—we all shared so much of our childhoods with each other and watched each other grow, and there’s people we remember as kids just a few years ago who are growing up into absolute gorgeous and wonderful little adults, and welcoming new boyfriends and girlfriends and seeing how they handle our good-natured but decidedly raucous brand of getting together for a family bash…

My family’s from a really small town and I live in Minneapolis now and I don’t see them a lot. So I’m seeing a lot of these people for the first time in many months, some of them maybe a year or two years, it was just really incredible. I just I love my family. I mean, I know that some people had it pretty rough at home, and I can’t say anything about that, but I think in general a lot of it is how you choose to look at the differences that come out when we get together.

I think it’s easy as adults to kind of separate ourselves from the people we used to be, but I feel like it’s just so important to, you know, check in on where you’re from every now and then. It can be really humbling to be faced with who you used to be and how people remember you and what you used to be like, but it’s also a great way to see you how far you’ve gone and where other people gone and just touch in and remember all the things you have in common or used to have in common, and most importantly remember how special and unique your little clan is in the world.

I think that’s really the best way to get a good humanizing look at whatever we each like to call the other side in this in these turbulent political times. So often we just live in an echo chamber of media and friends and there’s a lot of self-affirming stuff going on but there’s not a lot of honest looks at the other side

I think family in all its different facets is a way to put a human face on that again and really remember that most sides of any issue just is not a good against evil thing as far as general people go, and a lot of the really deep differences the media would like to like us to think we have are sometimes just tools of people who want us all distracted and pissed off at each other.

Neil deGrasse Tyson is always right

You know, there are good people and there’s bad people, and I think we all have a tendency to seek out those things that affirm what we want to think we know rather than honestly trying to learn. I Neil deGrasse Tyson earlier had a tweet that sums this up pretty well, I’ll make sure to find that and put it in the show notes.

Well, last week saw Addie finally getting a handle on herself after the complete weirdness of what she and her friends are dealing with, and this week we see her finally stepping up a little bit, which is cool.

And I’m really excited because they’re just starting to put together a plan for what to do next, which is always fun because nothing ever goes as planned, and I’m really looking forward to getting into the heart of what’s really going on here and what’s at stake.

That’s about all I’ve got in me—I hope you enjoy Episode 14, and thanks!

Thanks for listening, you guys. Hey, and if you haven’t checked out what Emily’s been doing in a while, make sure to check out our WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED FICTION SERIES over at ascraeuspress.com/nodragons. Thanks so much for listening!