Drew's 2016 Goals

So as I have recently completed the first draft of my debut novel I have had some free time before taking on the "fun" editing stage. I have recently sent out a few invite/requests to very exciting possible guests to appear on the show in January and beyond as well as heard from a few past guests who would like to appear on the show for a second time so look out for those announcements on this blog and on the facebook page. I have also mapped out what will be my next writing projects including a second novel, a children's book (age range 0-3 years) with the proceeds going to a worthy charity and an extended edition of my memoir entitled "Who Am I" which will feature a brand new cover as well as covering my journey with the podcast, marriage, writing projects as well as a traumatic life event I have been dealing with. 

So for 2016 the goals are as follows;

 1. Publish my novel in January 

2. Have the extended edition of my memoir out by March
3. Have the children's book out by the summer
4. Season 2 of the podcast to continue to reach a wide audience and to chat with more interesting guests
5. Have my second novel, which I will announce the title and genre of early next year, published by December.

Busy year ahead for yours truly with all my projects so should be a lot of fun. I will be making a few announcements regarding my novel and the podcast before the end of the year and I will also be giving out the results of the question I posted for you guys late last month. 



So until then keep up to date by checking the blog and the social media accounts and I look forward to episode 1 of season 2 of the Drew Carson show.

Cheers 
~ Drew  

Big Picture Thinking

So I have now been podcasting for 22 weeks, I've made mistakes, made changes to the format along the way, met many fascinating people, made friends, found an audience of 1000s coming back each week and that audience is growing rapidly. So, I have decided that to keep that audience strong I will make the possibly stupid decision to finish season 1 of the show in the next few weeks, with 2-5 specials to follow fo the rest of the year including The Return Of The Beast as Dan "The Beast" Severn becomes our first returning guest. We will also have a Halloween special of some description (fingers crossed this pans out) I have a few ideas for what to do but may resort to providing a commentary track for a horror movie if interviews fall through. I promise it will be in-depth and worthwhile. I will also be doing a special where I will talk more in-depth about my debut novel Deamhan and when and where you will be able to buy it along with answering questions from you, the audience. Other specials are underwraps at this time to be revealed on this blog and our facebook page when they will be ready.

Season 2 would then start back in January with exciting interviews lined up with the kind of guests you will be excited to come back for and, as a plus, you all won't have to listen to another q&a from yours truly to cover a week we couldn't arrange a guest for (or atleast that's the plan) I will also be doing a book launch, fingers crossed, in January for which I will do a special podcast episode. 

I will finalise all the details after I reveal next week's guest so look for those blog posts coming soon and don't forget to tune in tomorrow for our newest episode featuring askthepilot.com 's Patrick Smith. 

Thank you

~ Drew

Preview of the cover art for Deamhan

This seems like the right place to share this major exclusive. The first sight of the cover (font subject to change) for my debut novel. Here it is folks in all it's glory.

 I am so happy with the cover art and I look forward to being able to share the story with the world.

The Journey So Far...

   It could be argued the journey to podcasting for me started in part in 2008 or 2009 discussing my then blog and the online community surrounding blogging and vlogging. I was pretty uneasy during that show but managed to hide it enough to be asked back a further five or six more times. It could also be argued it started the first time I heard a Kevin Smith podcast and the notion sat with me and peculated. I listen to multiple podcasts each featuring superior hosts to myself daily which both slaps my self confidence silly and inspires me to always try to improve. 

I contacted a bunch of famous people through social media and traditional means to find my first guest to no joy for over a month and had all but given up hope of making this podcast a tangible thing and then I was shocked to find that Billy Lockett was up for it and within 24 hours I was sitting down in my office with little prep and the moment the said hi on the phone I realised all the questions I planned to ask him had gone from my memory. That first episode taught me valuable lessons,

Lesson 1; Preparation is key; you need to research your guest to the point you know more about them than they know about themselves which is not always easy.

Lesson 2; interviewing your friends makes for great episodes. John Farman I knew from the Scottish Cartoonist Meetings I attend each month and we had a natural rapport going from early in the interview which left me feeling at ease and I think I was a better host in that episode than my first.

Lesson 3; don’t advertise interviews until you have recorded them. I made this mistake at the very start of the show, there were two or three names I banded about on social media that then for a multitude of reasons fell through.  

Not long after Billy had agreed so did the mighty Jack O'Halloran who was a complete surprise because I thought he wouldn't want to talk to a noobie with no track record. He was a complete joy to chat with and had so many great stories and stories that led to questions I couldn't have pre planned. Again I think this interview taught me something, that being always be ready to flip the script.

Johnny Mac was another that signed on to appear before I really had any strong audience numbers to attract a potential guest with. He was another that was full of a lot of great stories and advice not just for writers but people who are dealing with addiction. I learned with that episode to be prepared for the unexpected.

Irish Mike brought great laughs and funny stories to the show as well as the shows first four figure download numbers. This was the episode that got the show noticed and for a brief few moments trending on Twitter. A show, that is a personal favourite of mine also.

Another personal favourite of mine was the Kim Edgar episode. I think it introduced a new direction for the show and a break from the usual formula of intro, advertisement, interview, thank yous and exit music this one-featured Kim's beautiful music, which really set the interview off perfectly.

The interview with Andrea Perron was the first that caused me to almost have a panic attack haha as I realised after chatting with her for over two hours that my recording software had had a brain fart and only recorded fifteen minutes of it. Thankfully Andrea is a truly great person with a big heart and she came back within a few days and recorded another two hour plus interview that featured a lot of stories and incidents we didn't cover in the first. 

The bonus Q&A episode that isn't an episode was an unfortunate experience and one I hope to not have to relive any time soon. My guest that was lined up for that week couldn't record the interview in time and I was left with a dilemma, do I have a week without an episode and possibly lose the audience I had built up or find something else to talk about? In the end I chose, rightly or wrongly, to push ahead and do a Q&A knowing all to well that there may not be any questions thrown my way but thankfully you guys and gals came through and sent a multitude of great questions, thanks again.

Then I sat down and chatted with a man that is an icon for me, the voice behind 2000AD Mr Pat Mills. This was a great interview filled with a lot of topics and great advice for would-be writers and artists out there and Pat was awesome, they say don't meet your heroes but in this instance it was great.

Craig Campbell gave a great insight into the stand-up comedy circuit, and that interview was so sincere and yet funny that it definitely makes my top 5 so far. Craig again is a true gentleman and even gave me tickets to his show at the Edinburgh Fringe which he did not have to do in the slightest as it was my privilege to interview him and I would just like to publicly thank him here for that generosity.

My interview with Gunner was also a lot of fun to do, as a fan of the wrestling business for almost 30 years it was such a privilege to sit down and chat about the industry with a guy living and working within it. 

So what's next? 

Well immediately next we have an interview with Manga Supremo Sean Michael Wilson, which was a lot of fun and I know you will enjoy it. Beyond that I have a few very interesting and huge interviews in the process of sorting out and if they go through will put this podcast into the next level. I look forward to being able to talk more about them at a future date with all of you. Also next for me personally is the release of my debut novel, Deamhan. Hopefully I can talk a little bit about it in the future months and then maybe a book launch video on this very blog and all the social medias, hey I need to eat right? Got to sell those books haha.

This journey will continue and grow from strength to strength and I have all of you to thank for that so a massive thank you, one and all (not just one honest) and here's to the next 1000 listeners to join us on this fun ride.

~ Drew

Novel Announcement

No not an announcement regarding the show but as my name is in the title I thought it apt that this here blog page was the perfect place to make such an announcement. The novel I have been writing since January under much guarded secretism is at a stage where, although not finished by any means, is close enough that I am finally ready to reveal the title. Those who follow me on Twitter will have seen the teaser picture yesterday;

And featured the challenge to any eagle-eyed follower to work out what it said. Well with a few guesses sent my way varying from the ridiculously funny to the very close but no cigar but no one hit the nail on the head. Well here you go folks;

That's right the novel is entitled "Deamhan" and is set in 1986 and 2016 on a fictitious island off the coast of Glasgow, Scotland named Isle of Deamhan. It is a tale of horror, murder, magic and small town fears written in dream logic. This project is something I have been working on for a looong long time and am thrilled to be that bit closer to sharing with you all. I believe, fingers crossed, this will be available by December but don't hold me to that haha I have a long road of re-writes and beta reading ahead but damn it if the finish line isn't in sight.

I will tell you guys and gals first the whens and wheres regarding the release of the novel and all the information regarding the publishing process.

And regarding the show,  we have the first part of our fantastic interview with Sean Michael Wilson this week which is a fun, fun listen (to him not me haha) and we have the first episode with two guests at once coming up very soon so keep following this blog and the show's page over at Facebook and if you want to know more about me follow me over on Twitter @theDrewCarson.

Cheers for making this such a fun ride guys and gals,
Drew