What is an Audio Drama?

I saw this question asked on Reddit some time ago, and the answers were predictably passionate. For some people an audio drama is specifically a dramatic presentation in audio that includes sound effects and dialogue, nothing else. No narrator. No descriptive elements. Just the audio doing all the work. For others, as long as a story was being told in audio format, it is an audio drama. This includes things like audiobooks. I have to admit that I embrace this broader definition.

If an audio drama is simply a narrative told in audio, then we are embracing a heritage that goes back to the oral tradition and ancient tales like Beowulf or The Odyssey, which were originally told around campfires by a single performer, who included copious narration. But it also includes thirties era audio dramas like The Shadow.

In this way, I think there is one broad genre that is audio drama, and within that there are various versions of audio drama. This can include audiobooks (and even audiobooks have different versions, from full cast to duet to single narrator), “traditional” audiodramas that are nothing but sound effects and dialogue, and more narrative “oral tradition” audio dramas. This isn’t even a complete list, but you get the idea.

In short, in my opinion, if a story is told only using audio, then it is an audio drama.

Writing the Thieves Guild

One of the questions I get every so often is “How can you produce not just one, but three audio dramas on a weekly schedule?” The short answer is that I’m cheating, but I don’t want to be glib, so I figured I’d provide a bit more detail.

I say I cheat because two of the current audio dramas–Artifacts of the Arcane & Thursday–are being fairly strictly adapted from already existing novels. They aren’t cut and paste adaptations, but it’s close. All I have to do is remove dialogue tags and adapt to small things that are really only applicable to prose. That doesn’t take much time, so there’s not much writing involved.

That’s not the case for The Thieves Guild. I finished adapting my existing work from the first two novels over four months ago. Ever since then I’ve been writing each episode every week. It’s a pretty strict schedule. I didn’t skip a week when my daughter got married in November, and I didn’t skip a week for Christmas or New Year’s. So, in a lot of ways, it’s just embracing the habit of writing.

The habit looks like this: On Tuesday or Wednesday I go over the past four to six episodes and which characters were the focused points-of-view. Generally speaking, I’ll choose the character who has had the longest wait for an update to their story and write about them. I don’t always do this. For example, this week I added a new point-of-view character. Also, sometimes I combine two characters in a single episode. I also did that this week. But, generally speaking, I’ll see which character is owed a story, and I write about them.

The next part of the process is pretty simple and one that terrifies some writers: With a Thursday deadline, I spend time on Tuesday and Wednesday thinking over what the episode will cover. That’s right: There is no outline for the Thieves Guild, and there is no specific medium-term plotting. In writing terms, we call this “pantsing,” as in “writing from the seat of your pants.”

To dig into that a little bit more: I do have some broad ideas on where I want to go, but that is informed by the on-the-spot decisions I’ve made over time. For example, right now I know what is going to happen with the politics of Ness. I know which characters are going to fall into which role. But I have no idea what is going to happen with the other cities, and I don’t know what role that Ralan will play long-term once things settle down in Ness.

And that leads me into the actual writing: I write the full episode, which is usually 1,500 to 2,000 words, on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. It is not difficult because, as I noted, I have an idea of where the scene will go but not what is happening in the scene. So the writing is actually quite fun. It’s like I’m actually reading a story that I’m interested in.

Once the story is written, it goes off to production, and I put the story aside, not thinking of it again until the next week.

A few things make this work for me:

The first is that I spent many years writing a 2,000 word column with a weekly deadline. So the idea of filling that much text in a week is something I have plenty of experience and comfort in.

The second is that I write fairly fast and fairly precise. I usually have an episode written in two or three hours. After that there is not much editing that needs to be done. Sometimes (oddly enough, like this week’s episode), I’ll be producing the audio and I’ll have a brainstorm about how the scene could go better. I’ll then rewrite it on the fly while in production. This is not unlike how some productions go in Hollywood, actually.

Finally, I’m one of those writers that can context switch easily. I can move from “domestic chore brain” or “work brain” to “writing brain” fairly easily.

A question I get rarely but I still get asked is how I’m able to create such a complex narrative, with different people plotting with different goals and with minor things from episode 2 suddenly showing up in episode 60. The answer is a bit of a cop out: It just seems to work. I can’t really explain it. Much of it is serendipity. For example, there is a major bombshell coming in the story. I’m hinting at it now, as the idea hit me a couple episodes ago, and when the bombshell drops everyone will say, “That makes so much sense! All the hints were there from the beginning! What an exquisite job Jake did plotting this!”

Not really. What I saw were a bunch of disconnected things that worked in the moment that I was able to stitch together into this cohesive story component that somehow works perfectly with all the things going on around it. There are examples throughout the series. Pietro’s books are the best example. They were a small setting detail to add ambience to Pietro’s basement quarters, but many episodes later they became much more. Rogers’ defense of the Pit was meant to just create some action, but it will turn out to be a major part of his story. And Rogers himself is a great example: He was a bit character that I didn’t intend to focus on for more than a short section of the series, but now he’s a major character.

And I think that kind of explains the whole process for me: I write the series like the listeners experience it. I discover new things. I let the story take me where it will. And I really enjoy finding little surprises.

My Dissonance With Social Media

One of the things that I constantly struggle with is that my usage of social media seems radically different than most other people. Generally speaking, I join a social network to interact with my friends and, in some instances, friends of friends. I’m not really interested in anything else. This is admittedly not at all normal.

When Bluesky launched I joined and followed a few people that I know. I expanded that list as more people I knew joined the platform. When I went to read posts on Bluesky I stuck to a custom feed called “OnlyPosts,” which showed only posts (no re-posts or “reskeets”) from people I followed. Today I use the “Following” feed, which is essentially the same thing… people that I follow. I don’t really follow people I don’t know, and I don’t subscribe to any other feeds.

This “friends-only” approach is the same way I used to use Facebook, only I was much more stringent with my friend choices. At the point I left Facebook, I had 117 friends, and I used to joke that it was 100 too many. On the content side, all my posts were set to private or “friends-only.”

On various forums and groups I’m part of things like “starter packs” and follow lists are used enthusiastically by people, and it is so alien to me. Why would I follow people that I don’t know? That sounds overwhelming and alien to me. And if the list is about a subject I’m interested in, why not just go to a forum or Reddit? Those are robust areas of finding discussions about an interest.

So, as I noted, my approach to social media is not normal. I get that. And I certainly don’t mean to imply it’s better or a more healthy way to embrace social media. In fact, it’s decidedly less social. But I do have to acknowledge that I struggle to understand the truly social approach. Why would I follow hundreds of people I don’t know? Is it because I’m old? Is it because I’m pathologically introverted? Is it because I’m arrogant and don’t care what others think? (It’s most likely not that, but it’s tough to be objective).

This all came to a head when I left Instagram and Facebook. What I loved about Facebook was its synchronous connections. If I set my posts to friends-only, people I interact with would have to be friends. Bluesky is not like that. If I post on Bluesky it is required to be public. So that intimacy is gone. I don’t have to read everyone, but I have to broadcast to everyone. Same with other social networks of any legitimate size. How can I have a smaller, intimate social connection online?

And I think that is perhaps the essence of my dissonance. For me, connections online are indeed close and intimate and deep. Is that true of everyone? If so, how do they share with their intimate friends in a social or group setting? Is that Facebook? Or do they not have an intimate group and just text or email? I really don’t know, but I’m definitely feeling that gap.

My current solution is to interact with friends via text or Signal or email. It’s one on one, which is obviously intimate and private. It is working, but I still feel there is that gap—that group gathering place where those friends overlap in a private place. This has been Facebook, but since I left Facebook I don’t know what it will be. Maybe it doesn’t exist.

So how about you? How does social media fit in your life and where are your intimate group settings? Is that Facebook? A Discord forum? Or do you not need such a place?

Off of Facebook & Instagram

I’m a fairly private person, and most of my social networking has been minimal outside of a controlled environment like Facebook. There I would have all my posts set to private, and I would interact with a limited group of friends. That said, I’ve always been unhappy with the state of social media. To me, community gatherings should never be controlled by corporations, whether its public parks or online social connections. The recent actions of various social media companies has made me even more sure of that, and due to that I’ve decided to go with my conscience and not support those locations. So I’ve left Facebook and Instagram.

I’ll be posting on this topic in more detail, but the result is that I’ll be communicating in a more open fashion here on my website. So this site, which was ostensibly just about my writing, will be much more wide-ranging in the future. I’m sure there are things that will interest some of you and some things that will bore you. Either way, you’ll be getting a community version of me that is at least a bit more open and less hidden by a corporate walled garden.

In a lot of ways that’s the price I’m going to pay. As I noted, I’m a private person, but if being social online requires that I be more, well, social, then so be it. For better or worse.

The Thieves Guild Listening Guide

Thieves Guild Audiobook Cover 2023 Edition

The Thieves Guild is an epic length serial that gets longer with every episode release. How epic? Well, the currently released episodes will fill almost three full novels and listening to it from the beginning will take more than 20 hours. Of course, that’s part of the appeal! Having a collection of characters you love working their way through challenges can be a wonderful visit every week. However, for new listeners I get that it can be a bit overwhelming. So, can you jump in at any episode and get caught up quickly? Or are there places where you can start that are later in the series? Let me give you some guidance.

Can I start with any episode and not get lost?

You can. The Thieves Guild is a lot like old soap operas from network TV. Soap opera story lines are complicated and twist and turn and go on for years, but if you start on a random episode you can pretty quickly get up to speed. The Thieves Guild is similar to that. If you start on a random episode, the nature of the character interactions and the clear goals they have should make it not too difficult to get caught up. You may be lost for a few episodes, but you’ll eventually get comfortable with the story.

If this is what you want to do, I would recommend finding a number of episodes that you are comfortable with as a time commitment and then starting that far back to get a sense of things. For example, if you want to start and feel like an hour commitment isn’t too much, you can go back five or six episodes, which would be about an hour to an hour and a half and start there.

One of the things that is helpful is that I tend to rotate the character focus on a fairly regular basis. That isn’t always the case, of course, but, generally speaking, if you go back five or six episodes, you’ll get an introduction to all the characters.

Are there specific points where I can start listening that start new story lines and are easier to follow?

There are! This is probably the best way to start listening to The Thieves Guild without getting lost. The good news is that I’ve written the series with various story lines that all have endings, even as the larger story continues. There are currently two points where multiple story lines converge and a new start is easier to follow.

Starting Point One: Episode 63

Without spoilers, I can say that episode 63 starts with the city-state of Ness in a state of stability. The machinations that worked through the first 62 episodes are resolved, and Ralan is set and accepted as the Guildmaster Thief. Things immediately go sideways with a new story line, and while some of the back story is in previous episodes you’ll easily be able to follow what’s happening as all the characters are trying to figure it out.

Starting Point Two: Episode 95

In this episode, the major story from episodes 63 to 94 has been resolved, and the focus changes to picking up the pieces after the violence and chaos. As you may expect, the aftermath of chaos is itself full of drama and chaos, and we’re off to the races with a new story line.

Okay, I’ve heard amazing things about the story and want to start on episode 1. Will I ever be able to catch up?

I have good news and bad news: The good news is that each episode is betwen 10 and 15 minutes, so binging The Thieves Guild is particularly easy. If you have a long drive or commute, you can quickly get through three or more episodes each listening session. The further good news is that I am currently releasing one episode a week, so getting caught up may take a while, but it is certainly achievable in a relatively short period of time.

The bad news is that there are more than 100 episodes, so even if you binge you have a lot of story ahead of you. But is that really a bad thing? 🙂

How Do I Catch Up or Read/Listen to The Thieves Guild?

The Thieves Guild epic fantasy audio drama podcast is becoming quite popular. It is also available as novels and also as a serial at Kindle Vella. With so many options across three platforms, how can you catch up if you’re interested? Let me give some recomendations.

You Want to Read The Thieves Guild

The Thieves Guild started out as a book series, and that will continue. However, the podcast and Vella are currently ahead of the book series. Basically, when there is a book’s length of material from the podcast available, I will publish it in book form. These will always be available for the lowest ebook prices available in Amazon, which is currently 99 cents. Additionally, the books are available in Kindle Unlimited as part of your free subscription.

However, the easiest and cheapest way to get caught up on The Thieves Guild is to join my mailing list. By signing up, you will be mailed links to download the ebook of The Thieves Guild and The Burning City for free. I will never sell or share your data, nor willI I spam you. The volume of emails will be less than once per month. You will also receive all subsequent volumes for free.

If you don’t want to sign up for my mailing list, here is how to read the series:

Episodes 1-99

You can find episodes 1 to 99 in two books: The Thieves Guild and The Burning City. Here are the links to buy them:

The Thieves Guild on Amazon

The Burning City on Amazon

Episode 100

Episode 100 is an interview with me and not available (yet) in text format.

Future Episodes/Books

Once I get to about episode 130, I’ll be releasing two books:

The Third book in The Thieves Guild series as a stand-alone novel. This will simply be a continuation of The Burning City and be similarly priced at 99 cents. This book will be available for free to my subscribers.

An omnibus of books 1-3. This will be a single volume of the first three books and be priced at $1.99.

You Want to Buy the Paperback or Hardback

You can currently buy the paperback version of both books of the series via the above ebook links. Click on the paperback box on the upper right.

You Want to Listen to The Thieves Guild

Podcast

All of the episodes of The Thieves Guild are available as a podcast on every major podcast provider. Below is a link to a page with direct links to nearly all of them.

The Thieves Guild podcast

Audiobook

The Thieves Guild is not available as an audiobook. I may release it as an audiobook in the future, but it is currently not being planned.

Find Me on Social Media

Beyond this website, there’s a few places you can find me in social media. Feel free to reach out to me, ask questions, or simply follow me if you want.

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jakedfw
Mastodon: https://kerr.social/profile/jake
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jake.kerr.social
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakedfw/

My Facebook profile is limited to close friends, but I occasionally publish publicly, so feel free to follow me there.

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/jakedfw/

Artifacts of the Arcane Podcast Coming

Season One Cover Image

I’ve had so much fun writing The Thieves Guild podcast as a serial story (with one chapter per week) that I’ve decided to launch another podcast with my friends at In Shambles Productions. This is an an adaptation of my Tommy Black series, which has been renamed for the podcast: Artifacts of the Arcane.

The podcast will have a very lengthy but still limited run, with each book encompassing a season. Season three will be all new material, so this will be quite exciting for the poor, patient fans who have been waiting on book three.

This will be a narrated audiobook-style audiodrama, so a bit unlike The Thieves Guild, which is full cast. I do love the narrator, however, so I think you’ll like how it is presented.

The podcast will be hosted by Speaker, but will be available via all major podcast platforms. The first episode drops on September 6.

The Thieves Guild Hits 100 Episodes!

The Thieves Guild, the audiodrama podcast written by me, has offiically reached 100 episodes. I’m quite proud of this podcast, as it’s a full cast production and is epic in scope, even as the characters are personal and easy to root for. I started writing The Thieves Guild as a serial and an homage to the pulp writers and nineteenth century writers that gave me so much joy. So this podcast is a way for me to honor them.

The 100th episode features an interview with me, and it does contain a few mild spoilers, so if you are interested in checking out the interview and the podcast, you should listen to the first 99 episodes first. Don’t worry, they’re all about 10-15 minutes long, so it’s not as much of a time commitment as you may expect.

If you’re interested, you can listen to the podcast below or subscribe via your favorite podcast app.

The Burning City Release Date is Tomorrow

Book two of my series, The Thieves Guild, is out tomorrow. All of the personal chaos that Ralan experienced in book one gets blown up into tons of political machinations. I hope you enjoy it. It’s titled The Burning City because, well, the city is burning. 🙂