Rish Outfield's Blog, page 4

Big 'n Rish Finally Confront The Elephant In The Room

 For the past few months, Big Anklevich has been running his beefy novella, "The Elefante in the Room," on his podcast.  I wasn't really involved, except to talk about his brief Eurotrip*.  But now, the story is finished, and it's time for us to talk about it.  So, you might as well listen to the whole darn thing (that's what I did).

A teen boy discovers some kind of alien-looking egg about to hatch in his room and uncovers a conspiracy that goes all the way to Selena Gomez.  Oh, and the President.  What is going on, and who will be next, and how can he possibly stop it?  

Anyhow, he had me on for the last episode.  We talk about the source of the idea, whether it's about what you think it's about, and would Big end it in the traditional Anklevich way?  Find out the answers HERE.

*R.I.P. Michelle Trachtenberg.

Podcast That Dares 57: The Three D's

Rish shares the (very) short 1957 story "The Three D's" by well-known poet Ogden Nash.

If Victoria is going to join a select group at her school, she must do something Daring, Deadly, and Done-never-before.

To download the episode, Right-Click HERE.

To support me on Patreon, click HERE.

Logo by Gino "In Three-D" Moretto.

Too Much Time On My Hands?

It might have been last year, it might have been ten years ago--that's how these things work--but I grabbed a couple of Star Wars guys and did repaints on them, just for fun.  Now, Big Anklevich is finally creating his space station, and I thought I could make a couple of repaints for him to have walking around his station.  The movies have shown us that the R2 unit and Protocol Droid designs are so good that you can paint them practically any color (or combinations) and they will look good, so I am going to test that theory.

Here's my first one:

This is just a standard late 90s/early '00s R2-D2 with the third leg.  It has a chromed dome, so I put tape over it to protect it from the grey primer that I've been told you should use first, so the paint sticks better to the figure.

I didn't take a photo of him when he was grey, whoops (but I did on the next one), but I decided to put black where there had been white and green where there had been blue (plus a little extra).

It did NOT come out great, but as I said before (and will continue to say as I do more of these), the droids look pretty good even with a crappy paintjob, partly because of the great design, but also because of Lucas's idea of a "used universe," where things were old, beat-up, or falling apart.

Above is the finished product.  It looks awful to my eye, but Big Anklevich, whom I gave it to, said it would be a fine addition to his space station.  Which was nice.

Rish Outcast 302: In Security 2

It's time for some more library security guard stories, including helping an old woman, the homeless guy role call, including the guy ranting about Taylor Swift and the dude who really loved the libary.

Note: I edited this one on my desktop, with no access to my usual sounds, and had to make do with what I had at hand.

If you'd like to download the episode, Right-Click HERE.

Come support me on Patreon HERE.

Logo by Gino "In-Secure-Kiwi" Moretto.

Public Notice: Lost Dog

If you recall my life's philosophy, everything takes longer than you think that it will.  And that includes  writing stories, and finishing them, and rewriting, and finally, publishing.

But I got one done finally.  It's the most recent "Lost & Found" story, "The Case of the World's Oldest Dog," the series where Will Choner, the teen who can teleport, tries to find lost objects.

Will Choner and the Treasures Regained gang are hired by a wealthy man, Jordan Lamont, to find his lost dog, Geronimo. But while Will attempts to find the seemingly-immortal German Shepherd, Beth Reilly gets to know the dog's owner, and finds he has a story almost as strange as Will's own. 

I have no idea if this will be the last Will Choner story I write (I did start on a sixth one, but abandoned it early on), but hey, you feel free to scoop it up HERE.

Rish Outcast 301: The Bad Man In Room 2

It's a Dead & Breakfast story, about an unpleasant dude named Garrett Delvecchio, who comes to the Noble Oaks Bed & Breakfast on the worst possible night. Or the best?

To download this episode, Right-Click HERE. 

To support me over on Patreon, click HERE.  Bad men need not apply.
 Logo by Gino "Plaid Man" Moretto.

2025 Goals - The Road So Far

Wow, we're a quarter of the way through this new year (is it even a new year anymore?), and I guess I'd better take a long look at my goals in a mirror.  Oh, and shave.  I ought to shave.

1.  Exercise 250 Days

I got in 23 in January, 24 in February, and 26 in March, so I'm on my way (73).

2.  Write 25 stories (and finish them) in '25

-1. On Your Side
-2.  Fairest (magic mirror story)
-3.  Plans Best Laid 
-4.  Door Number Three (reimagining)

3.  Put out 6th audio collection
Nyet.

4.  Publish 23 stories on Amazon

I have been very lax on this one.  This is what I have so far:
-1. Reply Hazy
-2. Christmas Day of the Dead

5.  Finish 2 "Lara & The Witch" stories (included in the 25)

-1. On Your Side (whoa, halfway there)

6.  Release "Sins of a Sidekick" novella

7.  Release "A Sidekick To Miracles" novella

8.  Write and produce three sketches ("Webtattler?")
None--didn't even finish the old one.

9.  Put out "Geriatric Protagonist"
Maybe I'll start on it next.

10.  Put out Christmas collection  
It's close to done, I just can't motivate myself to get it across the finish line.

11.  Put out 10 episodes of The Podcast That Dares Not Speak Its Name

-1. The Three D's
-2. A Notebook Found In A Deserted House

12.  Produce some paperback books and take them to a toy sale
Uh oh, I need to do this soon.  Okay, I just ordered some.

13.  Watch 50 Horror movies

Oddly, this one will be the easiest to achieve, even more than exercise (since I can watch a movie with no shoes on).
-1.  Nosferatu (2024)*
-2.  Village of the Damned (1960)*
-3.  Children of the Damned (1964)
-4. 13 Ghosts (1960)
-5.  Hell's Trap (1989)
-6.  Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984)
-7.  Food of the Gods (1976)
-8.  The Ghost Ship (1943)
-9.  The Leopard Man (1943)*
-10.  Talk To Me (2022)*
-11.  Heart Eyes (2025)*
-12.  The Monkey (2025)
-13.  The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959)
-14.  The Thing From Another World (1951)*
-15.  Squirm (1976)
(*Denotes particularly good)

Podcast That Dares 56: Town Where No One Got Off

Rish presents Ray Bradbury's 1958 short story "The Town Where No One Got Off." Perhaps you won't either.

A man decides to get off a train at one of those stops where no one ever goes, just for the experience. But what experience awaits him?

Dear stranger, to download this episode, Right-Click HERE. 

To support me over on Patreon, click HERE.  Come on, nobody will ever know.
 Logo by Gino "The Bloke Where No One Got Off" Moretto.

Book 'em, Dano

Alright, alright, alright, I've finally got physical, paper copies of my novel "Balms & Sears" for sale, to those among you who, I dunno, enjoy reading or something.  This is that book about the boy who is able to heal and the grandfather that thinks it's a bad idea.

Thanks as always to the madness of Big Anklevich for formatting them for me.  Once he's gone, I'll likely never publish again.

Scoop up the PAPERBACK HERE or the HARDCOVER HERE . . . then do with them what you like.

"It was a pleasure to burn."Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

What's Today, My Fine Fellow?

Probably the horror film that made the biggest impact on teenaged me was DAWN OF THE DEAD.  The concept fascinated me, not just of the dead coming back to life, but the end of civilization with all the trappings of civilization still being there.  Some of the first stories I wrote as a teen were of me and my friends hunkered down at our school or in a shuttered spook alley (sorry) or the barn near Steven's house, while the zombies took over the world outside.

I have written a couple since then, such as one set when I worked in a call center, one set in a Toys R Us, and this one, "Christmas Day of the Dead," set in a sporting goods store.*  It's another of those tales where the POV character is a girl, which pretty much guarantees I'll never narrate it for my podcast, but I did sit down and record it for inclusion in my first Christmas story collection.
If you're inexplicably interested, check it out HERE.
*It's the one with the name that best describes the drivers of Cybertrucks, though I never spell it out in the story.