Erosion
Our latest title is Erosion by Lon S. Cohen.
Canyon Park is bowed down under a relentless torrent of rain. The fields are flooded, the bridges crumble and the increasingly isolated town is host to a serial killer with a grudge against the wealthy Lollo family. Slipping between a small cast of characters; the killer, the tortured policeman hiding a dark secret, the returning son, the inquisitive librarian, the boy caught between cultures…. each of these marred, struggling humans a part of the threadbare fabric of the town. Throughout the story, secrets and motivations are slowly revealed, people continue to die, and it continues to rain.
June 20th, 2006 at 9:11 am
This is my book. I’d love to hear what any listeners think of it. Thanks.
June 25th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
Great work Lon!! I especially like the high creep factor caused by your use of deep audio subsonics in the killers soliloquies, and all that water. This is a wet global warming nightmare. My umbrella and I are waiting for your next chapter.
June 27th, 2006 at 8:48 pm
I’m really enjoying this book. Great atmosphere with all the rain and the dialogue is very well done.
July 6th, 2006 at 11:54 am
Wow. I haven’t check on any comments yet. Thanks for the very positive responses. I am glad you are enjoying the book. If you are currently on Chapter 9/Episode 10 then you are in for a treat because I think the rest of the book kicks into high gear from now on.
Tell all your friends to jump on board. Also, I will be looking for reader questions after the last episode to do a couple of bonus episodes so if you have any contact me after the book is completed at lcgd@optonline.net.
Also you can join my newsletter group at:
http://groups.google.com/group/Lon-Cohen-Author
Thanks again.
July 6th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
I love this book. I’m hooked. Can’t wait for the rest.
July 19th, 2006 at 10:44 am
The only complaint I have about this books so far relates to the narration. For the most part it’s fine, but it feels rushed. There are places where there are no breaks between sentences, paragraphs, or even between different characters speaking. More than once I’ve been confused about who was talking, since entire exchanges are reduced to a single sentence.
Imagine taking normal writing and then eliminating paragraph breaks and periods, and that’s what a good portion of this books sounds like. This, of course, is strictly my opinion.
Other than that, it’s really interesting and well written. Just slow down a bit on the reading (dialogue in particular should be read at the speed it would actually be spoken, in my opinion), and it’d be just about perfect.
July 21st, 2006 at 8:54 pm
Thanks for the crit. I realized that inb a couple of chapters I was rushing. I have slowed the pace in the last few chapters. Keep listening. The quality should get better as I get more practised.
July 24th, 2006 at 8:23 am
Hey Everyone! I am looking for good honest critiques like the one JClark gave me. I am a first time podiobooker and I need your help to improve my craft and of course my writing. If you have comments or suggestions please email me at lcgd@optonline.net. I want to hear from the 200 or so people subscribed to the podcast. I really want all of you to flood my email inbox. Good or bad, give it to me. I can take it because I the internet, they can’t hear you cry like a blubbering baby,
July 24th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
Check out this news article about Indian reparations:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060724/ap_on_go_ot/indian_money
August 9th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
I’d have to disagree with JClark. Far from being rushed I feel the narration is laid back and suits the small town characters well.
August 11th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
Well, the rushed feeling was only really evident in episodes 9 and 10 (maybe 8), I think. The most recent episode was just right.
Speaking of which, it’s been a while since the last episode…
August 11th, 2006 at 2:30 pm
Bah, didn’t mean to have that smiley in the middle there, it was supposed to read ” ( maybe 8 ) “. The one at the end was intentional. Oops.
August 13th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
Thanks for the comments. New episodes will be uploaded by tomorrow in which case it is in Evo’s hands. Glad you are enjoing it so far. I have to say we are getting to the home stretch here and thinks pick up quite a bit from now on.
I will be doing an extended show for the last episode. I want to include a Q&A in there so if anyone who listens and wants to ask a question about the book please email me at lcgd@optonline.net.
I will answer all questions at the end of the last show.
Thanks.
Lon
December 11th, 2006 at 4:17 pm
I really like the story. But why can’t I get the last 3 chapters (16-18)? Please help, I would like to listen to the end of the story!
Thanks
Axel
December 16th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
I will check into it.
December 16th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Axel,
I just thought, did you click on the release all episodes link? If not try that and let me know. Contact me at my email address and I will try to help you out. Glad you like the story!
Lon
lon@lonscohen.com
lcgd@optonline.net
December 23rd, 2006 at 10:36 am
Axel. Did you get the rest of the story?
June 16th, 2007 at 10:03 am
The story line was Ok. I did have problems trying to keep up with which character was talking. My biggest complaint was the length of the podcasts. Some of them were 5, 7 8 minutes long. You say a couple of sentences and then the episode is over. Between the intro with the Ifrog stuff and the long rain at the end and then at annoying laughing, I still don’t know why that was necessary on every episode. It made some epidodes 3-5 minutes long. Terrible. I know some of you are new writers and new at podcasting. But please make the episodes in the 30 minute range. If you download all the episodes and want to listen to one after another it is extremely annoying to have to keep messing with the Ipod every couple of minutes. Nobody does 3-5 minute episodes.
Try to plan your podcasts a little better next book.
July 26th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Some of the lengths varied but only the intro was less than 10 minutes. I did the episodes by chapters and each one has an intro and outro as per the Podiobook guidelines. When you read a book you separate by chapters. Since this is not a “podcast” per se but a Podiobook, I believe the “rules” are different. Sorry you found that annoying but you never really commented on the book’s content and story line except that it was OK. “Annoying laugh and comments on intros and outros is not very useful feedback. Thanks for listening anyway,
April 5th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
First off, thanks to Lon for writing this great podiobook. Second, Erosion is a very apt title for this book. The literal and figurative erosion of a small town, the erosion of a family, the erosion of an entire culture, and the erosion of a man’s sanity all come together to form a great and entertaining story.
September 15th, 2008 at 8:48 am
First I want to say thank you for writing us a great story, and that this is a nice piece of literature ( so I think anyway, haven’t gotten to the end yet..chap.15 next..hope it isn’t ruined with the standard all over happy endings…I hate that..I like 50/50 or even all over tragedy like in real life).
But the characters are deep and with nice layers of texture being served in increments. The surroundings slowly dawns on you and you get a nice overview after a while.
If you are new at this I will say nothing of the narration, cos the little mistakes are just charming and will vanish in no time as you get more practice….it’s actually very nice.
There is actually only one thing I want to point out, and that is the music in the background.
It should be even more quiet, and you shouldn’t loop one short sequence for ever (that’s what it sounds like).
The flute gets very annoying after a while. It would also be a good idea to use a recording of some quality music, played by professional musicians.
There is a very good collection of all sorts of good (and bad:-) music that you are aloud to use for podcasting on www.podsafemusic.com
I’ve been a professional musician for more than 25 years and I can hear the difference (and most people will feel it without knowing).
But the rain is awesome, it really sets the mood.
All and all a very good product, so keep up the good work and thank you again for reading it to us. That’s very nice of you.
pos
October 6th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Just finished and wanted to say “thank you”, for a very enjoyable listen. It was well paced and thought provoking and I would definitely recommend it. Not sure if you want commentary on the story or the tech, so I’ll offer a little of both. Might just be me, but I had a little trouble keeping the names straight early on - Jerry and Gary in particular - very different visually, but aurally - not so much. Also, I thought Francine was lacking a little in character development. She was the only character that felt a little like just a plot device. The rain was a great addition - almost like another character. As for my “2 cents worth” on some of the technical issues - the episode lengths didn’t bother me, since each ended naturally but I might feel differently if I had listened to it as a work in progress. When I wait a week for an episode - I’d like it to last! I liked the music, but it did compete with the narration sometimes (although it might also be my cheap little MP3 adaptor for the car radio!). I hope you’re going to podiocast more of your work.