Frankenstein: Redux
Audio Book:
Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’
TLDR: As a VAULT Keyholder, you may listen to and download the entire Frankenstein audio book created and released to Patreon in October 2020 via the supplemental Playlists page, or via the playlist embedded below, or download an MP3 or WAV version using the buttons above directly to your device. Regarding how this came to be, read on…
Last year to celebrate Halloween, I had this “brilliant” idea to tackle a huge project (the likes of which I had never done before), at the last minute, giving myself a very unreasonable amount of time to complete a colossal undertaking (Have I learned my lesson? If the last year would serve as good indicator, apparently not.): record, edit, and release a chapter each day to culminate in an audiobook of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” for my Patrons at Patreon as a Halloween gift.
In re-sharing this work with you, I have to say: I am SO FREAKING PROUD that this exists, and that I managed to get it done despite all odds…
A reasonable, well-organized person would have had the idea (on October 4th, mind you) to do this, and thought: “That would be a great idea for next Halloween! In August, I’ll start recording, and after a few weeks, I can edit it. At the beginning of September, I can gather all the assets and schedule out all the posts. Then, all I need to do in October is participate with my audience and do a little social-posting-promo and the like, or refocus my energy on a Halloween promotion.” Is that how I did it? NOPE. I still did a Halloween promotion (several giveaways and a sale of some sort for “Alone on Halloween” if my memory serves me correctly). I still tried to promote the Frankenstein audiobook on socials (poorly, because I did not have enough time or energy).
But, each day, I was also pre-reading each chapter and doing research (making sure I knew the pronunciations and definitions of any new or forgotten words, plus pronunciations of foreign words/towns in Europe I wasn’t 100% about), then recording a chapter (I’d try to do this before 8am if possible to avoid street and neighbor noise. Of course, this would often require multiple takes, and then precursory editing, or “comping”). Often I would get stuck doing other work for the meat of the day, and then have to spend the later hours of the evening actually editing, mixing, and mastering the audio… creating artwork for each chapter, and then creating its post at Patreon. Creating this content, depending on the length of each chapter, realistically probably took 4-8 hours each day.
While I was recording this (8 hour!) audio book, new neighbors moved in with like 10(?) barking-all-day chihuahuas (and the special baby boy dachshund mix that would become my 🖤Pepe🖤) that lived outside… and said neighbors undertook a pretty serious construction process while I was trying to record this as well. The 400sf house where we lived had basically no insulation so I was really fighting street noise and neighbor noise and it was a constant struggle. I was so excited to start the project, but was also experiencing some bad burnout… presumably from trying to promote and finish up (the first version of) “Alone for a While,” but still, despite the exhaustion I trudged on. Then, about halfway through, when it was down to the wire and already challenging enough, my audio interface crapped out. So I had to troubleshoot/diagnose that, then try to find a replacement… each day that it didn’t work out I was falling behind a chapter.
Somehow I pulled through, and, to my recollection, got the final chapter uploaded on Halloween day as promised. It was a tumultuous and grueling experience, but again, I’m happy it exists.
I really wanted to create a similar piece for you this year, but unfortunately with everything else I’m behind on, and with the upcoming wedding, I just couldn’t get my act together in time. I do have something for you though and that is forthcoming…
For now - to all new Keyholders who weren’t around for the full chapter-a-day process last year, or for those of you who didn’t have a chance to listen last year, may I present: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein!
I am in the process of backdating old Patreon posts but… guess what I’m going to say? It’s taking longer than I expected. I did recreate the first few Frankenstein-delivery posts, but I fear that if I attempt to get them all posted here before I leave Saturday morning for my wedding, I will quite literally not sleep.
BUT, now that we have The Vault I can do fun stuff like this and post an entire playlist for you here (in this post, and also at the supplemental playlist page. You can also download individual tracks from the embedded playlist below, or download zip files of MP3s or WAVs and import them into your native music player or device manually using the links above).
If you have a chance to listen to it this year, I hope it brings you some fun escape… I love this novel because while certainly has a fantasy/horror/sci-fi vibe about it, it’s grounded in a kind of romantic realism. This story could be true, and, granted any one of us are brilliant scientists, it could happen to any of us.
Don’t we all have to pay a sacrifice to our whims and desires? Don’t we all have regrets about past passions and former fixations? And all the decisions we make, do not their effects ripple out far beyond us into the unknowable?
I hope you have a special Halloween. If I can participate in facilitating that in any way, be it with singing a few silly songs or by reading you a scary story like this, then I’m fulfilling a purpose. Fare thee well. 🖤
rewards access:
