History and Gratitude on the Occasion of our 100th Episode

Dear Readers:

Happy 100th Episode Birthday to Us – Thanks for Coming to Our Weekly Party for the last 18 Months.

Here are a few thoughts and words of gratitude at the occasion of our 100th episode, released on April 28, 2020.

If you prefer to listen to these remarks rather than read them, you can find them in an audio episode available April 28th at our Patreon site at: www.patreon.com/charlottereaderspodcast

See the complete Season 6 line-up here:

See the May and June Under the Covers Line-up here:

Our 18 Month Literary Party

Charlotte Readers Podcast has been on an 18 month literary party binge, from episode 1 to episode 100, and the hangover–it’s like getting smacked in the side of the head with a great book–has been worth it.

In the Western themed spirit of our 100th episode featuring Longmire author Craig Johnson, I quote Augustus McCrae, former Texas Ranger and one of the protagonists in Larry McMurtry’s “Lonesome Dove,” the same man who said if you don’t rent pigs, you should build a sign that says so. He said: “Aw, Gawd, Woodrow, it’s been a helluva ride.”

Gus is right. This first 100 episodes have been a helluva ride.

Sure, there has been a bit of work along the way to create 100 episodes, but any good party takes some work. Someone has to order the food and the booze and set up the tables and get the band. And someone has to tell all their friends what a great party they missed and not to miss the next one.

The same is true in podcasting.

And the payoff. Well, that’s when we get to twist and shout and sing and dance, one syllable at a time. Kind of like we did, in a literary sense, with our authors in the studio, at live events, in book stores and on-line through the magic of remote podcasting.

Like a toddler learning to ride a bike, I started with training wheels, shed them somewhere along the way and now, when I feel really bold, I sometimes ride with no hands. That can be dangerous though–I’ve crashed a few times being stupid¬¬–so more often than not, I’ve tried to keep a firm grip on the handlebars.

A Bit of Podcast Origin History

At my 40th College Reunion last summer at Davidson College, someone paid me a back-handed compliment. It went something like this. “You were the last guy in our class who I thought would write a book and do something creative like start a podcast.” It’s true. I didn’t fit the mold. I was a college football player, who majored in history and then turned that into a law degree, where I then worked as a trial lawyer for 35 years in Charlotte.

Then what? Did you hear the one about the lawyer who walked into a podcast studio? True, it sounds like a bad Dad joke, but I wasn’t kidding when I announced I was doing just that in the fall of 2018 when I retired in December. My dad asked, “how do you make money at that.” I said “I don’t, Dad, I just want to do something creative in my Act 3.” He was mystified.

While still working as a lawyer, I wrote my first book, The Christmas Heist as a Christmas gift for my family, which one reviewer called a cross between My Cousin Vinny and Miracle on 34th Street. When the next Christmas rolled around, the characters returned to save Christmas once again in The Legally Binding Christmas. The trilogy was completed with The Christmas Redemption, which won the 2018 Holiday category of the 12th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards and was the 2018 Holiday category Honorable Mention in the 10th Annual Readers’ Favorite Awards. My foray into writing and my experience as a trial lawyer made me wonder whether I could create an interview-based podcast to help authors give voice to their written words. I had a sense that this medium – this podcast thing – could be a great way to connect authors to listeners who enjoy good stories and poems. And thus, Charlotte Readers Podcast was born, the intersection between readers and writers where “Authors Give Voice to Their Written Words.

When I started podcasting in the fall of 2018, I didn’t know the difference between a mixing board and a mixing bowl, why I needed an audio host, or how to get voices to travel into a microphone and end up in Apple Podcast land, but I loved to read and write, so I figured I might be able to learn the rest. Since then I have interviewed 140 authors, done a number of live podcasts and released our 100th episode on April 28, just 18 months after getting started. With support from sponsors Park Road Books and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library and some help from member supporters, I’m getting closer to breaking even (not there yet), but I do the podcast because I enjoy engaging with interesting people who tell good stories and because I like connecting readers with writers.

Aging

When you get to this age, the age of 100, things change. I suppose its natural. I mean:

1. the body of podcast work, like my midsection, has expanded—my podcast pants just don’t fit like they used to. I’m aging. It’s true.

2. The editing software, well, it keeps cutting into my naps, one snip at a time.

3. And just when I do find some quiet time, the mixer wants to mix, but I have to say, the mixers we had in college were much more exciting. At 100, it’s just a collection of knobs and sliders and very little variety.

4. The mics, they are the exception. They make a 100 year old feel downright nostalgic for young love, always standing at attention like they are. And lately, that youthful enthusiasm has led to a few practical jokes. They’ve gotten together with the headphones, to make fun of my hearing. I’ll turn the sound up. Still can’t hear. I know it’s them teasing me.

5. Ok, so at the age of 100, I admit, one does get a little paranoid, like when we had to go remote recently and I wondered: Are we really recording?

6. But I have to say, one of the best things about reaching the age of 100 is not what we’ve done in the past — though I am very proud of what’s happened in the 18 months it took us to go from infant to 100 in podcast time — but, rather, it’s that the podcast and I are finally at a mature enough age to recognize that:

a. I still have much to learn (and learning is fun) AND

b. It is a joy to continue to meet new authors and talk with them about their work

I’ve Been Serious About the Story-Telling And About Having a Good Time.

I love a good story and I love books. And believe it or not, by hosting this podcast, I’ve learned to love poetry, too.

I also love the interview, where I get the chance to explore the stories behind the stories. It’s the best part of the whole process for me, being with the author and talking with them about a subject they’ve invested a lot of time in, their books and their writing.

I don’t have an advanced degree, other than in the law, so literary degrees don’t matter to me that much. What matters is the story telling.

It also doesn’t matter whether the author is an emerging author or New York Times Best-Selling author as long as they tell a good story.

I’ve tried to make the show interesting and engaging but I like to have a good time and I like to laugh, too, because I need it. Remember, I’m a recovering trial lawyer.

So if it ever sounds like we’re not having a good time reading and discussing, please let me know, because that’s when someone on our team needs to make a beer run, or the party needs to stop.

I’m Very Grateful for Our Supporters and Our Team

I’m very Grateful for how the podcast has be able to grow and to those who made and are making it grow even more. Thanks to all of you:

– to our listeners, without whom we serve no purpose

– to our authors, without whom we have no content

– to our podcast sponsors, Park Road Books and Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, for all their support. Park Road Books has been with us from the beginning and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library joined us in Season 3.

– to our member supporters, who support us Patreon, at: www.patreon.com/charlottereaderspodcast

– to our network partner, Queen City Podcast Network and Brian Baltoseiwich

– to our community supporter, Advent Coworking

– to our Dinner and a Podcast partner, Poplar Tapas

– to our writing community friends: Charlotte Writers Club, Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, and North Carolina Writers Network

– to our episode supporters, Spark Publications, Warren Publishing, Main Street Books and Oakhurst Legal Group

And to the team that helps me at Charlotte Readers Podcast:

-our webmaster, Tom Petaccio

-our social media team, Wade Foley and Renee Gorman with Social Grit Marketing

-our publicity and newsletter manager, Hannah Turner with Spellbound Public Relations

-our voice talent, Sara Vavra

-our podcast consultant, Robert Ingalls

-our photographer, Roberta Griner

-and to all the Tweeters, Instagramers, Facebook followers, bloggers, and everyone else who mentioned us and engaged with the podcast.

THANK YOU, to all of YOU, for helping us help authors give voice to their written words.

I’m Also Very Grateful for the Recognition Which Has Helped Give Our Authors’ Voices a Wider Audience

-We were proud to finish 19th out of 370 or more entries in the WFAE Podquest Competition in February 2019.

-We were excited to be invited to join the Queen City Podcast Network in the spring of 2019, a collection of more than two dozen Charlotte based podcasts.

-We were honored to be selected by Queen City Nerve: Best Podcast in Charlotte, 2019

-We have appreciated being featured in articles and blogs and being invited to appear on other podcasts.

In the creative category, we decided to double-down on a good thing, beginning January 1, 2020:

1. I’m grateful that we doubled our free content, starting in January, with the addition of our 25 minute Under the Covers show every Friday and that listeners seem to like it:

– It allows us to feature more local and regional authors

– And, it allows us to offer an alternative length podcast to our long-form show while continuing to offer the author interview, an author reading and some writing life insight

2. I’m grateful to our authors who have helped and continue to help us add creative content to our Patreon page. We now have:

– 17 one hour episodes are available with 18 talented authors

– At least 2 new episodes releasing each month

– The episodes cover a variety of writing craft discussions and readings and talks on topics such as marketing, author self-care and author rejection

– Members at certain levels can get access to back content and future releases.

– We also offer content to Patrons at all levels and we offer some public posts. The cool thing there is that member supporters, no matter the level, get a private RSS feed that they can paste in their podcast app and listen to Patreon content on your mobile device like any other podcast.

– Members help us continue to make the two weekly shows available for free and promote the work of the authors. We don’t charge authors to be on the show, but authors have become Patreon members, too, as a way to support the show, pay it forward for future authors to come on the show and to have access to the content.

– When we get to 50 patrons, we will donate one month’s worth of Patreon proceeds to a literary non-profit, and when we get to 100 patrons, we will donate two months.

3. I’m grateful to the authors who helped us created the free Covid-19 Read-In:

– I had this idea walking my dogs one day in early April of doing an author read-in remotely

– I emailed the authors and got some quick responses, and over the next ten days, I received enough audio content – poems, essays and short stories – to fill 18 episodes, that are 15 to 20 minutes in length.

– 44 authors participated. It was an amazing turn-out.

– I decided to make these episodes available at our Patreon page, for free, to the public, to offer a diversion, or an escape.

– These 18 episodes were released between April 8th and April 29th AND they will be available anytime if you would like to listen. You can access them for free at www.patreon.com/charlottereaderspodcast

– These Read-In episodes are entertaining, heart-warming, thought-provoking and engaging episodes and I encourage you to take a listen.

It’s time to saddle up for what comes next.

Here’s to the future. We are looking forward to much fun and good times, ahead. And maybe a little reading and writing, too.

Stay safe, healthy and sane!

Thanks for listening and supporting the podcast.

And, read on,

Landis