Fan festivals for creators – a SiglerFest2k18 recap

StorySmack Episode #41

Our big party is over. The FDØ and ARealGirl recap SiglerFest2k18, the biggest SiglerFest yet.

Fan appreciation is a major part of the business for some creators. This episode provides insight as to what goes into a fan appreciation event, and how creators can manage such events when growth drives attendance far beyond expectations.

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/41_StorySmack_41_-_SiglerFest_2k18.mp3

And hey, you ready to sign up for next year soirée, SiglerFest2k19? Click here, sucka!

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode brought to you in part by our GoDaddy Coupon page.  

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EARTHCORE Episode #18

Connell Kirkland, Veronica Reeves, Sanji Haak and descended the three-mile deep elevator to see something that mine engineer Mack Hendricks claimed had to be seen to be believed. What will he show them? O’Doyle is already down there, looking for the missing miner Brian Janson. And what is the source of that strange, metallic clicking echoing through the caverns?

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/18_EARTHCORE_Episode_18.mp3

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode is sponsored in part by our GoDaddy Coupon page, which features the 99-cent new dot-com code CJCSIG99C.

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TREMORS, A Horror/Comedy Classic

StorySmack Episode #40

Recorded live at SiglerFest2k18 in Las Vegas: Diseased Penis Teeth Monsters. The Bacon Number. A script that took five people to write. Fred Ward. A well-armed Mr. Keaton from FAMILY TIES. Reba. Egg from BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. Land Sharks. The glory of this flick goes on and on. Join AB Kovacs and Scott Sigler for a delightful review of this campy classic.

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/40_StorySmack_40_-_Tremors.mp3

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode brought to you in part by our Audible Free Trial page.  

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EARTHCORE Episode #17

Brian Janson fell into a shaft and broke his leg, forcing his partner Keith to hike back up the cave system to get help. Janson waits, alone, for rescue. Meanwhile, Katarina Hayes is trying to figure out what produced “the line,” a miles-long rectangle that seems to have been sliced into the mountain itself.

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/17_EARTHCORE_Episode_17.mp3

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode brought to you in part by the Galactic Football League, a hard-hitting space opera book series.

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EARTHCORE Episode #16

The EARTHCORE miners, led by Mack Hendricks, are are finally ready to explore the caves, but small, unexplained ground tremors threaten lethal danger to anyone who enters. With Angus Kool and Randy Right the victims of lab sabotage, can Katarina Hayes find the source of these tremors before its too late? That’s not her only problem — Hayes is trying to find a reason for an inexplicable miles-long line that runs across the mountain, and goes down so far they can’t measure the depth. What caused it? What does it mean?

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/16_EARTHCORE_Episode_16.mp3

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode also sponsored by the Stamps.com promo code page.

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BLUE BALLS, a Very Special Episode …

StorySmack Episode #39

If you’ve read my novel NOCTURNAL, you may recall the character Pookie Chang’s idea for a cop show. Like HILL STREET BLUES, BLUE BLOODS, NYPD BLUE, ROOKIE BLUE, SHADES OF BLUE, etc., Pooks decided his show should have that color as a titular part of the title. Hence, BLUE BALLS.

In NOCTURNAL, Pookie might be considered the sidekick to Bryan Clauser’s lead character. In BLUE BALLS, which Pookie writes as a spec script to sell to network TV, he is the heroic lead, and Bryan is the bumbling also-ran. Pookie’s buddy cop script plays on many cop-show tropes.

For the past three SiglerFests, we’ve live-recorded a portion of Pookie’s script for Season One, Episode 2, titles “Dolla Dolla Bills, Y’All.” Attendees get to read most of the parts. My plan was to release them as individual episodes leading up to SiglerFest2k18, but I screwed up last year’s recording (I paused it at one point, then forgot to continue it), and for the life of me I can’t find the SiglerFest2k16 recording.

So, my pal Stephen King (no, not that Stephen King, and yes, that is his name) gathered up some of his actor pals and we recorded the entire pilot script as a live table read. Many props to Iceberg, our editor, for putting this together.

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/39_StorySmack_39_BLUE_BALLS_S1E2.mp3

If you know screenwriting, you might notice some painful script clichés in here. Blame it on Pookie — he’s an amateur.

This script is off-color (no pun intended) and rather “blue” (pun intended) in its humor. We hope you enjoy it.

We’ll be recording Part I of BLUE BALLS, Season One, Episode Three at SiglerFest2k18.

Where is Episode One, you might ask? You’d have to ask Pookie. Maybe you buy him some Kung Pao shrimp and a nice bottle of bubbly, and you can talk him into it …

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode is brought to you in part by our Stamps.com promo code page.

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EARTHCORE Episode #15

Archeologist Veronica Reeves begins to put the evidence together, and it points to an unprecedented discovery — a culture that once spread at least from Utah down to the tip of South America — the largest pre-historic culture ever. And, she’s discovered signs that this culture, this violent culture, was still active well into the 19thy century. Meanwhile, the vertical shaft is nearing the end, when the Earthcore miners will finally be able to enter the massive network of tunnels. Are they just a few days, or even hours, from reaching the platinum motherlode?

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/15_EARTHCORE_Episode_15.mp3

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode is also brought to you in part by Audible Free Trial.

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RUSH HOUR Twentieth Anniversary

StorySmack Episode #38

In these trying political days, sometimes you want some good old-fashioned fun. StorySmack aim’s to please, which is why were talking about the 20th anniversary of the Chris Tucker/Jackie Chan buddy-cop flick RUSH HOUR. Can you read the words coming out of this screen?

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/38_StorySmack_38_-_Rush_Hour.mp3

Not only did this box-office beast firmly establish Chan as star of American movies and catapult Tucker into super-stardom, it featured two minority leads long before the birth of social media. RUSH HOUR spawned two sequels (and perhaps a third, listen in!). We had a blast re-watching, join us for a conversation about this killer flick.

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode brought to you in part by our Audible Free Trial page.  

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EARTHCORE Episode #14

A lab accident has injured Angus Kool and Randy Wright. Could it be sabotage? Could outside forces be trying to derail Earthcore’s dig, or could it even be an inside job? Meanwhile, Sonny McGuiness is closing in on finding yet another dark secret of the desolate peak in the Wah Wah mountain range. But this secret looks … lethal.

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/14_EARTHCORE_Episode_14.mp3

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode is sponsored in part by our GoDaddy Coupon page, which features the 99-cent new dot-com code CJCSIG99C.

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My “The Problem With Apu” script

Written for a Simpsons spec script contest

TL:DNR SUMMARY

If you’re a Simpsons fan (or you have spent basically any time on social media, ever), you might be familiar with controversy over the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon from THE SIMPSONS.

Apu, the operator of the famed Kwik-E-Mart, is a …

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EARTHCORE Episode #13

Angus Kool has been plotting for a chance to slip away from the Earthcore camp and test the tech that will let him explore the tunnels before anyone else, but he doesn’t know that ex NSA agent Kayla Meyers is watching their every move. And so has Sonny McGuiness, who is looking for a way to cash in himself. Meanwhile, Veronica Reeves’ objection to EARTHCORE’s mining is eroding in the face of the company’s resources and technology, which is letting her discover the long-hidden horrors of the dig site.

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/13_EARTHCORE_Episode_13.mp3

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode is also sponsored by the Stamps.com promo code” page.

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EARTHCORE Episode #12

Complications in the mine drilling have caused critical slow-downs — Connell Kirkland doesn’t accept slowdowns. What will he do to motivate Mack Hendricks and the other to work faster? And it’s about to get worse, as a huge delay drives right up to the mine’s front gate.

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/12_EARTHCORE_Episode_12.mp3

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode is also brought to you in part by Audible Free Trial“.

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EARTHCORE Episode #11

Connell Kirkland has just learned that EARTHCORE’s camp is sitting above a four-mile-long, half-mile wide chunk of solid platinum. Now he must share that information with EARTHCORE owner Barbara Yakely, who is back in Denver. The two of them will figure out what comes next. Meanwhile, Angus Kool and his assistant Randy Wright are looking to sneak away and explore the mountain’s tunnel complex. Will they be the first humans to discover unseen passages?

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/11_EARTHCORE_Episode_11.mp3

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode is sponsored by our “Space Opera” series THE GALACTIC FOOTBALL LEAGUE.

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EARTHCORE Episode #10

The Earthcore camp is supposed to be a secret, but ex-NSA agent Kayla Meyers is damn good at uncovering secrets. She’s discovered the camp location, and now must learn all she can. She will be watching from afar when Connell Kirkland finally arrives on-site, and is welcomed in by head mining engineer Mack Hendricks. Angus Kool is already on site, and has been hard at work — what has he discovered about the massive platinum deposit?

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/10_EARTHCORE_Episode_10.mp3

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EARTHCORE Episode #9

Sonny McGuiness and Cho Takachi have been researching the history of the Wah Wah mountains and the Silver Spring, the find that put EARTHCORE on the hunt for the biggest platinum deposit ever discovered. They have found a disturbing artifact, a deadly artifact, and must learn more. Meanwhile, Connell Kirkland must find a mining engineer that can dig to a world-record depth of three miles underground. Mack Hendricks is that engineer — can Connell convince him to join the project? And all this time, disgraced NSA agent Kayla Meyers has been digging for a different kind of treasure — the secret of the hidden mine’s location, and how she can turn that into a new life for herself.

http://media.blubrry.com/scottsigler/media.libsyn.com/scottsigler/09_EARTHCORE_Episode_9.mp3

Don’t see a “play” button above? Click here to download. This episode also sponsored by the Stamps.com promo code page.

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