Restless Shores, A Podcast Soap Opera

This week, the good folks in Fairhope, Alabama are the top downloader for this week at 69 episodes.

A warm welcome to:

Pirdop, Bulgaria; Edmonton, Canada; Etobicoke, Canada; Kitchener, Canada; Grenoble, France; Sunggal, Indonesia; Ābyek, Iran; unidentified location, Sweden; Brookfield, Illinois; Fairhope, Alabama; Glen Avon, California; Highlands Ranch, Colorado; Lincoln, Maine; Frederick, Maryland; Owatonna, Minnesota; Saint Cloud, Minnesota; Wentzville, Missouri; Maplewood, New Jersey; Norwich, New York; Oregon City, Oregon; Corinth, Texas; Wichita Falls, Texas; and, Puyallup, Washington.

Thanks for listening!

We just dropped Episode 66, The Coming War. We are tickled pink to be recording and dropping episodes again.

We are doing this with social distancing in mind, which means we only have two or three actors recording at a time, and some others are recording from home. Putting several voices together is going to require a great deal of cut and pasting from our heroic sound engineer, who does a great job.

We understand that the recording may not be perfect, but we’re getting it done. We are adapting, improvising, and overcoming fifteen minutes at a time.

Thanks for being patient with us as we get back to normal.

New Meadows Media is opening its recording studio to authors. Authors can create an audiobook with the assistance of the producers of Restless Shores.

• Record using the same space and equipment as the Restless Shores cast.
  • Gain access to a proven recording space and have the services of a skilled sound engineer.
• ​Read your book yourself or hire an actor(s).
  • Do it yourself, hire your own actor, or hire one of the Restless Shores’ cast members.
  • Dramatize your audiobook with a cast of actors. We have six microphones available.
• Turn your book into an audio script.
  • We will show you how or we will do it for you.​
• ​Finalize your book for publication.
  • Use one of our sound engineers to smooth out your audio, or do it yourself.
  • Add sound effects.

For more information, contact rs@newmeadowsmedia.com, www.newmeadowsmedia.com or call (207) 319-7561.

Yesterday, Restless Shores hit 25;000 downloads despite social distancing and, therefore, no new episodes recorded. That will end soon as we ease into normal again.

Last week we gained the following new neighbors.

Richmond, British Columbia; Guelph, Ontario; Ageo, Japan; Unknown city in Malaysia; Tombstone, Arizona; Hyattsville, Maryland; Auburn, Massachusetts; Barnstable, Massachusetts; and Hampton, Virginia.

Our Movers and shakers from last week are:

Hampton, Virginia at 68; Waterlooville, England at 40; Castlereagh, Northern Ireland at 39; Findlay, Ohio at 32; Brunswick, Maine at 27; Ageo, Japan at 25; Largo, Florida at 23; Westerville, Ohio at 21; and Portland, Maine at 13.

Thank you, everyone, for getting us to this landmark and supporting us during COVID-19 social distancing.

Here is this week’s list of our newest cities including Waterlooville, United Kingdom coming in at 25 downloads! Way to go Waterlooville!

Laval, Canada; Nelamangala, India; Amol, Iran; Unidentified local, Mexico; Tarragona, Spain; Enfield, United Kingdom; Waterlooville, United Kingdom; Bismarck, Arkansas;  

Palm Springs, California; Opelousas, Louisiana; Cornville, Maine; Lindenwold, New Jersey; Batavia, New York; Springfield Gardens, New York; Huber Heights, Ohio;  Washington, Virginia; Redmond, Washington; and Rockford, Washington.  

This week’s movers and shakers

Portland, Maine;  33

Brunswick, Maine;  31

Cabanatuan City, Philippines; 27

Waterlooville, United Kingdom; 25

The perfect afternoon break.

Short Fiction is a story that you can read in one sitting. You are most likely familiar with short fiction tales. They are the stories you read in magazines like Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, True Romance and True Love.

You are probably thinking, “Dang pulp writers. They are the bottom of the literary barrel.” Really? Before you stop reading this post, consider other short fiction writers. You see, “1001 Arabian Nights” is a short fiction collection, as is the “Ramayana” and the “Mahabharata.” Homer wrote short fiction that is revered – the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey.” Edgar Allan Poe wrote short fiction. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote short fiction. A prolific short fiction writer, O. Henry, wrote gems that include the “Gift of the Magi” and “The Ransom of Red Chief.” Other famous short fiction writers include Ray Bradbury, Ernest Hemingway, Ambrose Bierce, Jack London, William Faulkner, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Bottom of the barrel indeed. It looks to us like short fiction is kind of popular.

That is why New Meadows Media, as the creators of Restless Shores, are also offering short fiction eBooks on Amazon. It is an additional way for fans to continue to enjoy stories about Gamote Point that don’t necessarily involve the Roupps. Mayzie Sterling has provided us with two short fiction romances and is working on more.

“Venus in a Bodice” which brings the story of an uptight forensic accountant and the man who brings out the real woman under the corporate armor, and;

“Scripted for Love” where an out-of-work actor shows a woman who considers herself ruined how precious she is. Also, author Max Reese has provided us with the beginnings of a detective series that will be available for fans soon.

Life is short. Read something fun.

Welcome to our new neighbors – including our newest country Oman.

Hamburg, Germany; Heinsberg, Germany; Masqat, Oman; Alfragide, Portugal; Hounslow, England; Michigan City, Indiana; Plainfield, Indiana; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Prairie Village, Kansas; Bossier City, Louisiana; Lincoln, Nebraska; Elkhorn, Wisconsin; Fitchburg, Wisconsin; and New Berlin, Wisconsin.

And we have the battle of the coastal Portlands in our top download cities.

Ashburn, Virginia; 71

Portland, Maine; 51

Brunswick, Maine, United States, 43

Portland, Oregon, United States, 20

Yesterday, in a fit of frustration and boredom, we engaged not one but two scammers and a had a conversation with a vendor. What we discovered was marketing gold. Well, maybe not gold, but a lot of fun anyway. So, we’re going to go a little bit outside our norm and share this with you.

Here is the first conversation

The second scammer went like this.

The scammer ended up saying I was a ‘badt’ man and cut off the conversation.

Yesterday, we were also trying to cancel a subscription and asked them if they wanted to advertise on our podcast. The nice young customer service rep directed us to leave our offer on their feedback page. We did. Who would have thought using a feedback page to contact potential advertisers?

Our thought is, we can’t do any worse than ask. After all, scammers are running businesses as well. Who knows. Maybe there will be an ad on Restless Shores that goes something like this:

Don’t be the only one in your neighborhood who hasn’t been scammed. Call our agent at (555) 555-5555 and join the ranks of the ripped off today.

Stay safe, stay well, stay sane.

Châtillon, France; Tysse I Samnanger, Norway; Quezon, Philippines; Belgorod, Russia; Halifax, United Kingdom; Daphne, Alabama; East Rancho Dominguez, California; Bristol, Connecticut; Elmhurst, Illinois; New Lenox, Illinois; Kansas City, Kansas; Kenduskeag, Maine; Pascagoula, Mississippi; Raymore, Missouri; Mount Airy, North Carolina; Groves, Texas; Culpeper, Virginia; and Colfax, Washington.

This week’s download top nine are

Brunswick, Maine,               53

Baltimore, Maryland            45

Culpeper, Virginia               29

Newark, New Jersey           27

Bristol, Connecticut             24

Wichita, Kansas                  21

Halifax, England                  19

Portland, Maine                   14

Stavanger, Norway             10

Thanks to all our fans who are hanging in there with us. Stay safe, stay well.

True, we aren’t dropping episodes every week. Our passion for Restless Shores is still going strong even though we aren’t recording during social distancing. Our lead writer, Greg Tulonen, has given us some exciting new episodes. We can’t wait until we can get the troupe together and see how the Restless Shores actors interpret what’s coming up.

I mean, really, why does Miguel keep getting wrongfully arrested for murder?

Until then, stay safe, stay well.