Happy Tuesday, TSR readers!
Today we’re here with a brand-new interview with TSR fave, Jesse Haynes, who will be returning to our shelves soon with a fiery new trilogy! (I’ve got to tell you, it sounds AMAZING and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.) So without further ado, here we go!
Greetings, readers–
The first time we here at The Spork Review reviewed the Mazie Meadows Morning Show it was still a brand-new podcast with only 2 episodes having been released. Since episode 12 has just been freshly dropped as a special Veteran’s Day bonus, we’ll be making our way back to the Meadows for our very first re-review!
If you’re not familiar with the Mazie Meadows Morning Show, check out my initial thoughts HERE.
This is one active little town! Since we were last in Mazie, we’ve met more residents, stumbled across more dead bodies, (not all of which I believe are TOTALLY dead), had a golf tournament, went looking for Bigfoot in the woods, and as of episode 11, witnessed an amazingly epic talent show. In fact, once you’re done listening to the talent show episode give the 2 original songs featured in the episode a download here. I’ve caught myself humming “A Little While” on multiple occasions, and Uncle Rick’s Chicken Rap is one of the best things I’ve ever heard.
The latest episode, a Veteran’s Day bonus, features the return of Frank Arlo, the founder of the Mazie Meadows Morning Show.
It’s a great bonus episode that has just enough humor sprinkled in with a whole lot of appreciation for all those who have served in our military.
Wise words, Uncle Rick. Wise words.
I didn’t think it was possible, but the show has gotten funnier & funnier with each new release. The townsfolk are all enjoyable to listen to, even the ones you love to hate (I’m looking at you, Zac Verral). The co-hosting chemistry between Charlie and Nick is excellent and the jokes are on point. I’ve had several close calls with beverages almost getting accidentally inhaled or spit out from laughter while listening to a new episode.
The show has definitely managed to hold other listeners’ attention as well: now a top 40 podcast with over a million downloads, several podcast award nominations, and even a section on the MMMS website dedicated to fan art it looks like the MMMS will be on the air for a long time.
Updated rating: Still 5 Medowian Sporks
You can find the Mazie Meadows Morning Show online at https://www.maziemeadowsmorningshow.com/, follow the show, Charlie, & Uncle Rick on Twitter at @MazieMeadowsMS, @CharlieMMMS, & @UncleRickBerlyl and subscribe via either iTunes or Android. Look for new episodes on the 1st & 15th of every month.
Hi everyone!
Long time, no blog post — but I’ve got a good reason!
I’ve been hard at work planning the Teen HQ at the Louisiana Book Festival, and boy do we have an amazing lineup of authors & panelists this year. On the MG & YA front, we have:
We’ll also have a podcasting panel featuring Kassiah Faul of the Swoony Boys Podcast, Jesse Haynes of the Mazie Meadows Morning Show, and Nicole Jorge of the Alexandria Archives, moderated by Katherine Downey of the Swoony Boys Podcast. Finally, we’ll have an #OwnVoices panel featuring Laurent Linn, Caleb Roehrig, and Jasmine Warga, moderated by Brendan Kiely.
Just a few of the amazing books we’re featuring this year.
Join us on October 28th in downtown Baton Rouge! For more information and to check out the full schedule, go to http://www.louisianabookfestival.org.
The “Wall of Awesome”. See how many MG & YA titles you can spot!
In other news, I’m very excited and pleased to announce that I’m starting a podcast on youth services in libraries with the amazingly awesome Nicole Jorge! We’ll be discussing programs and services for kids and teens, featuring tips and tricks on how to score various goodies such as ARCs and even author visits, as well as featuring the occasional author interview! The show won’t premiere until mid or late November, but we’ve already hard at work and will be announcing the title soon. If children & teen librarianship floats your boat, keep an eye on this blog for more information and also follow Nicole over at That Girl Jorge!
Till next time!
Hello readers!
Today we’ll be bringing you an interview with Jesse Haynes, YA novelist and podcaster extraordinare.
The Spork Review: You got your creative start as a young adult author – how did you get into podcasting?
Jesse Haynes: Hmm… great question. A lots of little parts working together, I suppose. I’ve been listening to podcasts for a good while. Since 2011, I believe. That being said, I never actually considered creating one until my high school principal started one and I saw the potential that iTunes and free content offered.
TSR: You’re also a full-time college student – how do you find the time for everything? Your schedule must be very busy!
JH: It really is quite a busy schedule, but I try to pick classes that help me with my writing and podcasting, so occasionally I can kill two birds with one stone. For example, I actually made an “independent study” class with one of my professors last semester, and that is how we created The Others. It was actually worth 3 hours credit! Whoo!
TSR: Can you tell us a bit about your writing process?
JH: Definitely. I’m a very methodical writer. Too much so, I will be the first to admit. My mother and I were talking last week about how she doesn’t think I’m “flexible” enough. Whether I am writing books or podcasts, I like to create a very detailed outline with all the major plot elements before I ever write a word of the actually work. Many argue that isn’t creative, but I’ve never been one to just sit in front of a blank screen and begin typing out super creative stuff while aimlessly pecking away at a keyboard, y’know?
TSR: Where is your favorite place to write?
JH: I try to find silence. I used to write in a chair in the corner of my living room by choice, but I have gravitated to a quieter chair in a back room of my house now. That said, I have also typed in a high school basketball stadium before a game, on long car/bus rides, or even during a slow lecture. (Shhh, don’t tell.)
TSR: Your newest book, Special, releases in August. Can you tell us a little bit about it?
JH: Special is a book that I never thought I would write but I’m very glad I did. It’s a story about an unlikely friendship between a cheerleader and boy with Downs Syndrome, and it teaches about bullying and why we should respect others who are different from us. It’s a story that needed to be told, and I’m happy to be the one to tell it.
TSR: Who has been your favorite character to write so far?
JH: Oh goodness. I have two. For novels, my favorite character is Shafer McCartney. He’s a little bit of all of us—the good and the bad. The sassiness, the bravery, the love—everything that makes us human has gone into Shafer. His story is a long one that I recently finished telling (at least the first part), but the world has not met him yet though, so that’s all I will say for now.
For podcasting, my favorite character is Uncle Rick. He’s the stereotype of “that crazy guy who is nobody’s biological uncle, yet claimed by all.” Is that even a stereotype? Uncle Rick was the product of actually my friend Mitchell’s imagination at about 1:30 AM, and a 3 page short story has blossomed into a full-fledged character that slowly is building a fandom. (I’ve had a 12-year-old write a letter to Rick.) Mitchell says some of the wildest things, and many of Rick’s lines are actually things that have come out of Mitchell’s mouth, so there are a decent amount of inside jokes with that character, but everybody can laugh with and at him.
TSR: I hear that The Others has been a huge success – congratulations! What can we expect from season 2?
JH: The Others was 100 percent intended to be a standalone series of one season, but I had a company approach me about buying a second season. That being said, if a second season does turn up it will probably be in late 2018 or early ’19 and will explore the backstory of the island a little more thoroughly while offering an escape.
TSR: Which other podcasts would you recommend to listeners who are all caught up on Cryptid Creatures, The Others, and Mazie Meadows?
JH: Oh goodness. These are hard questions, ha! My personal favorite is the Thrilling Adventure Hour, which is no longer being produced. But there are about 250 episodes that follow four or five common storylines (my personal favorites are “Sparks Nevada” and “Beyond Belief”), and they are brilliantly written and performed. I started podcast listening with WTNV for a while but can only handle so much absurdity, and I have followed a few other shows for a while but eventually lost interest in most of them as well. I tend to favor the cleaner shows, and that’s hard to find—so I’m making them myself.
I like radio drama like the Alexandria Archives and King Falls, but I’m not even caught up on the latter because I eventually just got tired of the storyline. I will occasionally listen every now and then though, for sure. The production is great. I’m not sure how TAH has kept my attention for so many episodes.
TSR: What’s up next for you?
JH: I’m going to study carpentry.
Joking, of course. I have a new series of books I am writing—YA Action and Adventure—and I foresee a good amount of Mazie Meadows in the future. When I first created a podcast, a show like MMMS was my goal, but I didn’t think I could get there with my first attempt at podcasting. I knew nothing about it, so I took the unconventional route of both a historical series studying myths followed by a short audio-drama series to learn enough to pull off a fictional radio show.
TSR: What piece of advice would you give an aspiring writer?
JH: “Never stop chasing your dreams.” Then I would wince because I am super cliché. Maybe I would actually say something like “Don’t feel like you have to stick to the industry standards.” That just doesn’t sound as good when you’re talking to an eight-year-old.
Here’s the deal: none of my books have been traditionally published, but they are doing well enough to create a little word of mouth buzz, at least in this general geographical reason, and I’m very blessed for that. But I’ve learned that maybe the ideal way to make a living writing is to sign a million dollar contract and turn your work over to a publisher, but that is not the only way.
And this is sad, but I foresee a near future when fiction books are nearly obsolete. There just aren’t as many people willing to put down a tablet or phone and read, and most of the people that are willing to do so are older than me. That being said, no way do I feel bound to print and binding fiction now. I’m a story-teller more than a novelist, and through ads and downloads I think I might be able to support myself just as well with (free) podcasts than by selling books. Crazy how the digital world works.
But at the end of the day, if I’m telling stories and people have eyes (or ears) on them, then I’m happy. That’s what it’s all about—enjoying what you do. I’d tell the aspiring writer all of that and hope he/she is not in a big hurry.
Lightning round:
TSR: Do you have any hidden talents?
JH: I actually am not the super stereotypical sci-fi novelist, or at least I hope not. I was an all-state basketball player in HS along with winning several visual art awards (a Scholastic Gold Key, if that means anything to anybody). Oh, I also can eat a lot in one sitting. Like a lot.
TSR: What is something no one else knows about you?
JH: I have a mixed relationship with golf. I love it but it frustrates me to no end. Also, I have five cats and wear a size seventeen shoe. Only a few people know that.
TSR: What is one thing you never leave home without?
JH: Clothes.
But also my computer. I typically have my laptop on me, or at least in my car, at most times.
TSR: Favorite thing to do to relax?
JH: I loooooooooooooove hot tubs. Just don’t have one. Yet. That’s a future goal. I also really enjoy typing to relax—surprise!—and occasionally I will watch TV.
TSR: If you were stranded on an island with The Others, what 3 things would you like to have with you?
JH: Duct tape, sunscreen, and LeBron James.
You can do anything with the duct tape, I’m snow white and would die of sunburn in 3 minutes and 12 seconds without sunscreen, and it would be really great to meet LeBron. Plus, he could probably fight off the Others if need be.
Thank you Jesse for that sporkeriffic interview! I must say that I’m thoroughly enjoying the MMMS. Looking forward to the new broadcast!
Do you hear that, readers? It’s the sound of our next review – the creator of which will seem familiar from hit audio drama The Others and podcast Cryptid Creatures. Jesse Haynes’ latest venture, the Mazie Meadows Morning Show, is a new podcast done in the form of a small-town radio show.
This is no ordinary small town, however; Mazie Meadows is home to some very interesting denizens. There’s Charlie, the host of the Mazie Meadows Morning Show, his brand-new co-host Nick, Uncle Rick, owner of Uncle Rick’s House of Chub and frequent caller, and Leroy, owner of a goat farm known as the Triple G. Of course, that’s just a few of the human inhabitants…
The first episode begins with Charlie’s former co-host, Frank Arlo, retiring. This sets up the main storyline as well as revealing that Charlie is getting a new co-host named Nick, who is introduced in episode 2. I can’t talk about too much detail without giving away any spoilers, but I will say that while I love all of Jesse’s podcasts, I really think that Mazie Meadows will be my favorite. The show, while being a paranormal mystery, is hilarious. It’s pretty family-friendly; there’s some jokes in episodes 1 & 2 that will go over the younger listeners’ heads while entertaining the adult listeners, but there’s nothing too risqué. The entire cast is funny, but Uncle Rick & Leroy especially crack me up with gems like this quote from episode 1:
And this one from episode 2:
The dynamic between Charlie & Nick is great; Charlie is adorably awkward when confronted with having to give up solo hosting duties and Nick just fits in so seamlessly despite being new to the area. The mystery gets set up nicely in the first episode and makes you eager to get to the next to find out more. The show is well-written – Jesse can write sci-fi, humor, drama, horror, and mystery & make them all so different yet so right. The voice actors all do a phenomenal job with their characters – their line delivery is perfect. I sincerely hope that we’re able to continue going to Mazie Meadows for a long time.
Final rating: 5 Meadowian Sporks
You can find the Mazie Meadows Morning Show online at https://www.maziemeadowsmorningshow.com/, follow both the show & Charlie on Twitter at @MazieMeadowsMS & @CharlieMMMS, and subscribe via either iTunes or Android. The show is set up on a bi-monthly schedule – episodes will be released on the 1st & 15th of every month. In between, however, there will be new blog posts, which can be found at https://www.maziemeadowsmorningshow.com/blog/ on the 8th & 24th of every month.
For more information on Jesse Haynes, check out his website at http://www.jessehaynesauthor.com.
Holy buckets, 2 reviews in 2 days?!
Yep, looks like it!
While we’re on the subject of podcasts, I’d like to direct your attention to the Cryptid Creatures podcast, which is written, produced, and recorded by the multi-talented Jesse Haynes.
Cryptid Creatures is a 12-episode podcast (thus far) with each episode featuring a different American mythological (or ARE they mythological???) being.
Ranging from lesser-known creatures such as the Ozark Howler to the more widely famous Bigfoot, Haynes has definitely done his research on each creature, finding actual reports of sightings. My favorite of these reports comes from episode 11 – the Mothman. It literally gave me chills, although my favorite episode of all is episode 7 – there’s nothing more chilling than true tales of what one human being will do to another.
Season 2 promises to go international, so I’m looking forward to seeing which creatures are covered in future episodes. (I’m looking at you, chupacabra!)
Final rating on Cryptid Creatures: 4 Sporks
Next we have Haynes’ 2nd podcast, The Others.
With the very first episode freshly dropped as of the time this review is being posted, The Others is an audio drama written and produced by Haynes and voiced by Ron Taylor.
When Aaron Winchell’s plane goes down and he is washed ashore on an uninhabited island, the quest for survival begins. The strange island offers challenges for a man on his own… and then even more challenges for a man who realizes he might not be alone, after all.
Sounds spooky, doesn’t it?
While I can’t judge the podcast on a whole based solely on 1 episode, I can say that episode 1 definitely left me awaiting episode 2. I hit the Subscribe button, and I think you should too.
Rating for The Others (thus far): 4 Sporks
You can find Cryptid Creatures online at http://www.cryptidcreaturespodcast.com, The Others online at http://www.theotherspodcast.com, or follow each podcast on Twitter at @cryptcreatures & @theotherspod, and subscribe via either iTunes or Android. For more information on Jesse Haynes, check out his website at http://www.jessehaynesauthor.com. (Yep, he’s a Young Adult author too, but that, dear readers, is a review for another day.)
Pop in your earbuds and crank it up to 11, readers, because today we’re reviewing our first podcast – The Alexandria Archives, written & produced by Nicole Jorge, Aaron Redacted, and Uri Sacharow.
Self-billed as “The South’s answer to Miskatonic University”, the Alexandria Archives is a weekly podcast done in the form of a midnight radio show broadcast from the fictional Alexandria University – home of the Wendigos – and hosted by Morning Wood (voice of co-creator Nicole Jorge). Each episode begins with Morning Wood taking a few callers (all with their own special brand of crazy) or having a special guest in the studio.
(My personal favorite of these callers is a semi-regular named Gore. I won’t tell you why he’s my favorite, but luckily for you, he shows up in the very first episode.)
After taking a few callers, Morning Wood introduces a tale from the Alexandria Archives themselves – each ranging from the spookily macabre to the disturbingly macabre. (I’m side-eyeing you, episode 2.) While some of the stories from the Archives are better than others, the podcast overall is definitely worth hitting the Subscribe button.
If you’re a fan of horror podcasts such as Welcome to Night Vale, Lore, Limetown, or The Black Tapes, or are a fan of H.P. Lovecraft (ESPECIALLY The Re-Animator), then this one’s for you.
Final rating: 4 Sporks
You can find the Alexandria Archives online at http://www.alexandriaarchives.com, follow it on Twitter at @whausignal and @Whaumorningwood, and subscribe on on ITunes and in the Google Play store.
Ia, Ia, Wendigos!
The Spork Review 