Friday, April 5, 2013 Off Grid Until Monday, April 15th

Just a quick "heads up" that I'll be off grid and hard at work on Spirit Blade: A World of Shadows all of next week. I will not be on the forums, making any blog posts or checking my e-mail all week, although a new episode of The Spirit Blade Underground Podcast will be posted around this time next week as usual.

I will be back to my normal schedule on April 15th and will be sure to respond to any waiting messages as soon as I am able.

Thanks for your patience, and I'll see you on the other side!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, March 29, 2013 Auditions For Spirit Blade: A World Of Shadows!

I'm thrilled to announce the beginning of open, online auditions for "Spirit Blade: A World Of Shadows"! A number of roles have already been cast and recorded, but there are still plenty left that need enthusiastic and talented voice actors!

All the information you need to audition can be found in our audition document, which can be downloaded at-http://www.spiritblade.net/downloads/Spirit_Blade_AWOS_Online_Auditions_Doc.rtf

If you or someone you know might be interested in being a part of the climactic conclusion of the Spirit Blade Trilogy, don't miss this chance to get in on the action!

WARNING! The audition materials do not necessarily reflect the final script, as some lines have been modified to serve audition purposes. However the audition materials do contain some minor spoilers. So if you wish to avoid spoilers of any kind, you may wish to avoid reading our audition materials. However if you like that sort of thing and want some fuel for speculation, you're welcome to download them even if you have no plans to audition. Enjoy!

The deadline for audition submissions is Sunday April 14th, so don't delay!

Thursday, March 28, 2013 Upcoming "Off-Grid" Weeks

A few hours after publishing my last post I realized something else I had intended to talk about that I completely forgot, and that's going "off-grid". 
That's how I describe my life when I make myself unavailable for contact via the internet for a period of time. I almost always go off-grid for my vacation times and a couple of times I've experimented with going off-grid to spend some intensely focused and dedicated time working on a particular project.

To be completely transparent, I hate the fact that A World Of Shadows will release (AT BEST) 6 years after the release of Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual. My plan was to keep these installments 2-4 years apart, maximum. And knowing that a number of listeners are itching to have the trilogy complete also weighs on me quite a lot. The moment I started referring to Spirit Blade as a trilogy, I effectively made a promise to listeners that a third part would be released. And there are certain expectations on the timing of a trilogy that I feel I've fallen far short of. It feels as though I am breaking my promise to listeners, or at least not making that promise a priority.

That said, I think the time I took to help give the podcast and community a makeover was well-spent and vital to our long-term goals. And in the coming months there are a few more things I want to do to get Christian Geek Central off the ground that, while not as time-intensive as what has been required up until now, will still prove a distraction from work on A World Of Shadows.

For all of these reasons, I'm running a "work experiment" this summer, beginning a little over a week from now. Between now and the end of August I've identified six non-consecutive weeks which, because they will not require a time sensitive review or podcast content, are eligible for me to go "off-grid".

The podcast will still be published each of these weeks, but it will be created in advance, probably without an "In Search Of Truth Segment". (If possible I will find a suitable thematic substitute that does not require the time consuming prep work that In Search Of Truth normally demands of me.) In addition, during each of these weeks I will not be checking my e-mail (aside from filling orders) or visiting our forums, but spending nearly every moment of my work day on post-production work for A World Of Shadows.

During these weeks, or when the end of August comes, I would welcome your feedback. It's very important to me that our community not stagnate in my absence and that no one feels as though I am not interested in the great online relationships I've developed and continue to develop with those in our community. Community is a huge priority for me, and a central part of what Spirit Blade Productions is about. So if this experiment has a significant effect on that I want to find a workaround or take a different approach. So PLEASE let me know if you feel as though I become "distant" during this experimental period.

Whether having some "off-grid" weeks now and then is the solution or not, my goal is to better leverage my time so that I can make good on the promise of A World Of Shadows, while still making our podcast, community and online presence the best they can all be.

If you have any thoughts about any of that, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for your support! 

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, March 27, 2013 Upcoming Changes To Blog And Podcast

As we're getting closer to launching the alpha version of Christian Geek Central I wanted to let you know about a few changes I anticipate will be coming as well.



About a year or so ago I stopped publishing the "Paeter's Brain" blog, importing all of my reviews from that blog here and posting less often on this blog about Spirit Blade Productions and updates to various projects I've been tackling. That change was motivated by a desire to build community centered around common geek interests. Little did I realize it was the germ of Christian Geek Central gestating inside me. And now I believe that Christian Geek Central will be the better place to build that community, which is why I have imported all of my previous reviews to Christian Geek Central and will begin posting my reviews there instead of here once the site launches.

"The Spirit Blade Underground" has, to this point, been a community of Christian geeks of all kinds who may or may not care one bit about The Spirit Blade Underground Podcast or the various audio dramas and entertainment produced by Spirit Blade Productions. And that's totally cool by me. But to make that community even more inclusive, we're re-branding it as "Christian Geek Central", and will soon be using "The Spirit Blade Underground" exclusively to refer to this blog and our podcast.

The Spirit Blade Underground Podcast will continue to be published on this page and its feed and the content will remain geared toward Christian Geeks of all kinds. Aside from being referred to as "The Official Podcast Of Christian Geek Central" in the introduction each week, very little will change about the show.

One element that may change a little is the types of reviews I write for the show. My data right now is limited, but so far the feedback I've been getting from the recent contest question indicates that retro/home video reviews may be of more interest to podcast listeners than new release movies. I will also be trying to include more reviews of other entertainment types. These two factors combined may noticeably reduce the number of new release movie reviews featured on the show. If you don't like the sound of that, please let me know so I can factor in your feedback. Or, if you ever know of a movie coming to theaters that you'd particularly be curious to hear/read my review for, please let me know and I can try to make it a priority. This show is for you guys and I want it to only increasingly reflect that.

So to sum up, once Christian Geek Central launches, it will be the place to go to be a part of our existing (and growing!) community and to read reviews by myself and a growing number of contributors. (The podcast will also be included in that feed if you'd like to receive it that way.)

This blog will continue to be updated, though possibly only one or two times a week. It will feature our weekly podcast, the In Search Of Truth Bible study, and updates on the various projects that Spirit Blade Productions is involved in as a company. This will include announcements regarding our audio dramas, podcast and Christian Geek Central.

For now you can still plan on getting our reviews here, and I'll be sure to make an announcement when the site and feed for Christian Geek Central are ready for your use. In the meantime, I welcome your feedback as I aim to make what we're doing more useful and enjoyable.

Thanks!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, March 8, 2013 Podcast Sunday Or Monday

This week's podcast episode will be delayed by a few days, I think.
A central part of the show will be my review of "Oz The Great And Powerful", which I'm really looking forward to watching...with my wife! (Woohoo! Business AND pleasure!) And our date night is Saturday.

Since I try to avoid working on Sunday, we may be looking at Monday for the release of the next episode.

Thanks for your understanding!

-Paeter Frandsen

1. TravisMarch 8, 2013 at 1:43 PM

   Take your time. This way I'll get to space my podcast listening out over this tour at work!

2. Paeter FrandsenMarch 11, 2013 at 12:54 PM

   Thanks, Travis! Podcast should go up later this afternoon!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 Noah Primevel Book Giveaway!

If you haven't heard about our Noah Primevel book giveaway yet, it's not too late to enter the contest!

Brian Godawa is giving away a copy of Noah Primevel, the first book in his Old Testament fantasy series, "The Chronicles Of The Nephilim".



To receive an entry in the contest, just send an e-mail with the subject "Contest" to paeter(at)spiritblade(dot)net with your top three geek hobbies listed in the body of the e-mail. (This contest is also a way you can help me improve the content of our podcast in a way that better suits your interests!)

Entries are due no later than Wednesday February 20th (one week from today) and the winner will be randomly chosen from the entries and announced on the podcast the weekend of February 22nd.

I've only received a handful of entries so far, so your odds of winning are fantastic! Don't put it off! Send me your contest entry right now!

-Paeter Frandsen

Monday, January 28, 2013 Renaming The Forums

Today I want to announce an upcoming transition that I'm very excited about and hope you will be, too!

As I've mentioned before, I'm hoping to soon launch the "alpha" version of a new website called "Christian Geek Central", which I hope will help to increase the size and involvement of the great community we've already started on our forums.

My plan is to launch the alpha site in February, and soon after change the name of the Spirit Blade Underground Forums to the Christian Geek Central Forums. This will be almost exclusively a cosmetic change. The entire posting history and membership of the SBU forums will remain intact, and none of our policy should be changing, either.

Hopefully that will help put any fears of "losing" our existing community to rest. In fact, this upcoming transition should only involve gaining. Gaining more community members, more interesting content, and more potential for Spirit Blade Productions to develop new ideas, better and faster than ever before!

I'll be sure to post again when the transition is about to take place, and notify you of any changes you might need to be aware of (such as changes in URLs or navigation link names). In the meantime, if you have any thoughts or questions about this, please don't hesitate to let me know! My hope is that everyone will not only be comfortable with this transition, but be as excited about its potential as I am!

Thanks for being a part of this community! I can't wait to see what's coming next!

-Paeter Frandsen

Monday, January 21, 2013 Thank You!

As some of you may know, I've been mixing all of our projects on the same computer since 2004. It's hung in there for longer than I've had any right to expect, though not without prohibitive glitches and lagging performance.

A very special package arrived over the weekend that I'm very excited about. (The above picture was taken just before it shipped out to me.) But first, I have some thank yous to hand out today, as I prepare to open up and connect my new, super-awesome, work computer.

First, I have to thank my brother in law, Sean Corbett. He is both a fantastic musician and a technical wizard, with far more years of experience and know-how with audio production than anyone I've met. He offered to custom-build a mixing computer for me a few months ago, making it possible for me to have a computer that will meet my needs (and then some!) for many years to come, at a price far less than what I would  have paid for it otherwise. (In fact, I COULD'NT have paid for it otherwise!)

I also need to thank my older sister, Jhannea and her husband Chad. She is not a sci-fi/fantasy/horror fan by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, over the years we've come to disagreements over geek-genre entertainment on a few occasions. But Jhannea believes that the work I've committed to, inspiring, encouraging and equipping Christian Geeks to live for Christ, is important. So despite geek-entertainment and culture not being a passion of her own, she and her husband recently made a significant, sacrificial, and very moving donation to Spirit Blade Productions, that paid for well over half of the cost for my new computer. This wasn't just love for her brother. This was a gift from a man and woman who want to serve the Kingdom of God and impact lives they will otherwise never reach themselves. Their generosity and "Kingdom perspective" is a humbling example to me.

Finally, I need to thank all of you who have purchased any of our products, or who have partnered with me as a Spirit Blade Insider. Our company is small enough that when I say "your purchases and financial support make what we do possible", that isn't an abstract or "big picture" philosophical statement. It's real, and it's practical. YOUR purchase or donation (and yes, I mean you individually), made the difference. I wasn't able to pay for this computer just a few months ago, but now I can, which means Spirit Blade 3 can move forward as planned.

Of course no one I've mentioned would have contributed at all if the Holy Spirit hadn't equipped them and moved or orchestrated their involvement in some way. So I'm also reminded of the constant dependence I have to have on God, and the constant gratitude he is owed for every good thing that comes my way.

Thank you so much for being a part of what Spirit Blade Productions is doing. I hope you'll continue to join me as we step into the future in anticipation of what God has planned.

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, January 16, 2013 SBP 2013 Resolutions

Well, it's the start of a new year, which means a new set of hopes and dreams are in front of me that I'd love to see come about. But as I look back at previous January posts, I notice how bad I am at predicting what will actually happen for Spirit Blade Productions in a given year, or even a given month.

Last year at this time I hosted the reading session for Spirit Blade 3, with plans to begin casting in February or March. In actuality, I decided to focus on recording the returning actors first, saving new casting for later (which is now looking like February or March of THIS year.)

The "Golden Knight" audio book was released as planned, but the Spirit Blade Card Game was set back by significant redevelopment. (Far from abandoned, however! I'm considering a release date that will build toward, or coincide with, the release of Spirit Blade 3!)

As I'm reminded again, tomorrow is promised to no one, and our plans can only be made with the understanding that God's agenda may be very different from our own. However, taking that into account, here are some goals for 2013:

1. Launch the unofficial (alpha, if you will) version of ChristianGeekCentral.com in February.

2. Finish recording all Spirit Blade 3 principle actors by May. (Those remaining include Randy Hesson, Holly Frandsen and Myself)

3. Hold auditions in February-April and begin recording secondary roles before May. 

4. Complete half or more of the mixing work on Spirit Blade 3 before December.

5. Decide on the subtitle so I can stop calling it Spirit Blade "3"!

6. Launch the new version of the Spirit Blade Productions Website before May.

7. Launch the Christian Geek Central Network (more on this later).


I'm aiming conservatively this year, so it's hard to imagine that most of these things won't happen. But God has taken me through so many unpredictable turns over the years that I'm trying more and more to keep a loose grip on the steering wheel.

Whatever may come, I'm committed to Spirit Blade Productions' vision of encouraging, equipping and inspiring Christian geeks like you and me to live more and more for Christ!

I hope you'll continue to join me for the ride and maybe even become a part of how the engine works!

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 Posts Resuming January 14th, Podcast Resumes January 18th

Hi Everybody!

I wanted to give you the heads up about a minor delay to my return from vacation.

I woke up at 5am on Christmas morning to begin a three-hour puking event. (You know you're creating a special memory when some water from the bowl splashes up and back into your mouth. Luckily I had flushed down my liquid stool just moments before beginning to vomit.) Most of my immediate and visiting extended family followed close behind later that day.

We all spent most of the week between Christmas and New Years Eve quarantined in our homes recovering, losing close to a week of precious family time.

Although I had planned to return to work the middle of next week, I want to take advantage of every chance I have to make up for lost time while my sister and her family are still in town. For this reason I hope you'll understand that I'll be coming back to work a little later than I'd originally stated, and the next podcast will not go up until the weekend of January 18th.

Sorry for the delay and thanks so much for your understanding.

-Paeter Frandsen

Thursday, December 20, 2012 Holiday Break

Beginning tomorrow I will be away from my office until Wednesday, January 9th, at which time I'll begin reading/answering e-mails again and processing any physical product orders. (Digital product orders will be processed automatically as usual in the meantime.)

I'm still putting out the podcast this weekend (as early as today or tomorrow if I can manage it), but I'll be off-grid otherwise. Also, my plan is for the podcast to return on the weekend of January 11th.

I do sometimes still pop in to the forums briefly once or twice while on vacation, so you may still see me there. But if not, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year celebration with friends, family and hopefully a few geeks among them! It's been great to spend the year with you and I look forward to what 2013 holds, whatever it may be!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, November 30, 2012 Christian Geek Central!

I wanted to let you all in on something that's been bubbling and brewing for a few months now that I'm very excited about and hope you will be, too!

As I mentioned last month, in early 2013 I plan to launch a new website called "Christian Geek Central". I've already secured the domain name but I've been keeping the details under the radar until now.

Christian Geek Central will not be replacing Spirit Blade Productions but will rather be a product of Spirit Blade Productions. One YOU are invited to help me develop!

My goal for Christian Geek Central (or as I've already started calling it, "CGC") is that it will serve as the central hub and gateway for the best "Christian Geek" content that can be found on the web. It will aim to be both a portal to other sites and a producer of content and community that will interest Christian geeks of all kinds.

The idea for Christian Geek Central came out of brainstorming and discussions with my web designer about the new Spirit Blade Productions website (which is still in development with the aim of launching in the first half of 2013). Some great ideas came out of those conversations, but we soon realized we were talking about a new website that would be distinct from the Spirit Blade Productions website. And since the initial content for Christian Geek Central will determine some choices we make for the redesign of the Spirit Blade Productions site, it makes sense to get Christian Geek Central going first.

Christian Geek Central will first launch "unofficially" in early 2013 (I'm anticipating January or February), at which time I will only be telling the existing Spirit Blade Underground community (that's you!) about it. At first, it will be a very simple site, possibly based on the blogger platform, or something similar that will be easy-peasy for me to manipulate. (I'm open to suggestions!) From there, work will continue on the Spirit Blade Productions website as we build content and community for Christian Geek Central. (Speaking of which, if you'd like to recommend a site for inclusion, send me an e-mail with the URL!)

Once CGC has a good amount of content and the kind of community activity supporting it that I'd like to have in place, we'll probably do a complete site redesign for Christian Geek Central and officially launch CGC to the rest of the world!

For those wondering how CGC will impact the production schedule of Spirit Blade 3, have no fear. December is a very busy month, during which it's almost impossible to schedule actors to audition or record. So with the exception of some initial development on the songs for SB3, December was going to be a low productivity month for SB3 anyway. So instead I'll be giving most of my available time in December to exploring the web and collecting potential content links for CGC, including websites, blogs, podcasts and communities.

Speaking of which, community is something that I want to make a big part of Christian Geek Central. I'm currently brainstorming ways to help that happen, so I'm open to ideas and suggestions. I'd love to somehow take the wonderful community we've developed on the Spirit Blade Underground forums and share that experience with those Christian geeks who may have not discovered the SBU yet because of its strong ties to Spirit Blade Productions. (Not everyone is cool enough to be interested in audio drama and podcasts.)

I'm hoping to connect with a few other people to gain some counsel on the subject. In the meantime, I'd value a slice of your prayer time as I work to discern what God may want to do with this idea and how he would want me to do it.

I'll be sure to give you more details as they come. If you have any questions, ask away! I'd love to hear what you're thinking or wondering!

Thanks for your support!

-Paeter Frandsen 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 Free Song Download!

The Christmas season is here again, and that means it's time for me to put my rendition of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" up on our website again for free download!

I've loved this classic carol for years. In 2006 I decided to try my hand at re-interpreting it as a dark electronic piece that brings the words into today's world and acknowledges the years of violence and conflict that have plagued Israel.

I hope you enjoy listening to it, and also take a moment to pray for peace in Israel, and that Jesus would come quickly to end the violence and conflict that defines so much of our world.

You can download the song from now through the end of December on our Free Stuff page.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012 30% Off Christmas Sale!

Our Christmas season sale has begun!

Now through December 20th, save 30% off all of our CD products!

Get Spirit Blade: Special Edition and Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual (normally $12.99) for just $9.09!

Get The Spirit Blade: Special Edition Collector's Set (normally $23.99) for just $16.79!

Our archive CDs make great stocking-stuffers for "special features" junkies! Get them both for just $3.49 each!

Discounts also apply to our CD/Download combo packs! (The added download version is less than two dollars more!) Buy one today and keep the download for yourself while gifting the CD to a friend!

And as always, tax and shipping are FREE!!

Don't miss out!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012 Two Week GameCon Special Starting This Weekend!

Usually I post the main feature content of the podcast each week in blog format before sharing it on the show, but this week and next that just won't be practical.

The next two episodes of the podcast will focus on two table top game conventions I attended recently, including my thoughts on the games I played and the experiences overall. But the content is just a bit too lengthy as a reasonable blog entry this week, and next week the content is all audio content I recorded at the second "convention" (more on those quotation marks in the second ep.) I attended.

So this is basically a plug to stay tuned and check out the next two episodes of The Spirit Blade Underground Podcast as they are posted right here beginning very soon!

-Paeter

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 Spirit Blade Special Edition Commentary, Part 5!

This week I've released Part 5 of my all-new commentary for Spirit Blade!

I talk about the role music and EQ balancing play in "improving" an actor's performance, how my artistic influences have changed since first creating Spirit Blade, and the mistakes I had to undo when re-mixing "Deadly Game". Plus, how "Deadly Game's" vision of Hell compares with what the Bible actually does or does not teach.

Monday, September 24, 2012 Spirit Blade Special Edition Commentary, Part 4!

After a month off to prepare for the relaunch of the podcast, I'm back on schedule with the release of monthly special features.

Last week I uploaded part 4 of the Spirit Blade Special Edition audio commentary. In this segment, I talk about some new dialogue I inserted and why, and also share a pet peeve about Holly Frandsen, who is both my wife the voice of Ebony Ravenloft!

Download Part 4 of my commentary on our "free stuff" page!

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, September 5, 2012 Prepping For Podcast Relaunch

Get ready for this weekend's relaunch of The Spirit Blade Underground Podcast, featuring an "Episode 0" designed to introduce new listeners to the show and remind longtime listeners what we're all about!

This week and last I've been putting in long hours getting all of the podcast episodes switched over to our new host. I'll be "flipping the switch" sometime before Episode 0 is posted, but if you're subscribed to our feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheSpiritBladeUndergroundPodcast) or download your episodes directly from The Spirit Blade Underground, you shouldn't notice a thing in the transition.

As a side note, please forgive me if I haven't responded to an e-mail you've sent me recently. This week and last I've been unexpectedly taken hostage by my side gig (substitute teaching) nearly every weekday (EXTREMELY rare this time of year) and haven't had time to do anything else except make the podcast relaunch my priority. I hope to catch up on my e-mails and other things later this week or the beginning of next week.

Keep an eye here for Episode 0! Coming very soon!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, August 31, 2012 Slight Delay

It's been one of those "randomly crazy weeks" that have long come with the territory at Spirit Blade Productions. As a result, my review of "The Possession" and this week's episode of the podcast will be slightly delayed. Check back here for both to be posted sometime later this weekend.

Thanks for your patience!

-Paeter Frandsen

Sunday, August 5, 2012 The Grove City Blader

My vacation is getting off to a great start. I wasn't planning on doing any posting, but a conversation with my bro-in-law today compelled me  to post.

See, I'm visiting my wife's family right now in Grove City, Pennsylvania, a small town 1 hour north of Pittsburgh. My relatives have told me stories now and then that they heard someone in town has heard of Spirit Blade Productions. My sister-in-law down at the comic store a couple of times. And just today my bro-in-law Frank said he saw someone wearing a Spirit Blade t-shirt, standing outside the Pepperidge Farm store at the outlet mall.

Now, from my perspective, as big as my aspirations are for Spirit Blade Productions, we're a pretty tiny little endeavor. So I'm surprised that somebody that just happens to live in the same small town as my in-laws has heard of us. (For awhile I accused by bro-in-laws of doing some street marketing for me, but they claim they haven't.)

So my curiosity is burning out of control, now. And I'm posting this in a strange "reverse-stalker" effort to track down this mysterious "Grove City Blader". 

If you are "The Grove City Blader" and you are not a sicko serial killer, I'd love to buy you coffee or dessert while I'm here! We fly out on Monday the 13th (just over a week from now) and my schedule 'till then is pretty wide open. If you're interested, shoot me an e-mail at paeter(at)spiritblade(dot)net and let me know. (You'll get an auto-respond message saying I'm away from my office, but I'll be checking about once a day for a message from you.)

If, on the other hand, you are smart enough to not talk to strangers (or strange podcasters who track down their listeners), feel no pressure to get in touch. Just wanted you to know that "I know you're out there" and "thanks for listening"!

-Paeter Frandsen