Rebel Force Radio - It's All About The Wars.

Way back in August, 2006, almost by accident, I became aware of a new podcast that was to kick off in the first week of September of that year. Titled "The ForceCast", this podcast began as a weekly round up of news and views from around the world on the continuing popularity and love of all things Star Wars. It was an extension of the popular fan sites TheForce.Net and RebelScum.Com.

Now, those who know me, know just how big a nut I am for anything Star Wars and The ForceCast quickly became a weekly staple. In fact, it was my Saturday breakfast ritual. First thing I'd do upon waking up was to check my smartphone's RSS feed and smile with a twinkle in my eye seeing a minty fresh episode waiting.

For 1 to 2 hours each week, the show - helmed by Jason Swank and Peter Nadel - would take me through the week in Star Wars. What was happening in the fan community, the conventions, new toy releases, the game releases, the discussions about the movies and so on. With the advent of the Star Wars The Clone Wars animated series in 2008, there was fresh Star Wars to discuss as the guys transitioned into talking about the episodes of the series. By then, Peter Nadel had stepped aside from the program and Jason was joined by Chicagoan Jimmy "Mac" McInerney.

Rebel Force Radio Co-Host and Producer Jason Swank.

I contributed a couple of recordings to those early shows in which I related memories of Star Wars from when I was a kid back in the early 80's, a teen during the "dark times" of the early 90's and as a nurse in my early twenties when I nursed a young man who was dying of cancer and whose one last wish was to see The Holiday Special, which he had never seen.

Rebel Force Radio Co-Host and Producer Jimmy "Mac" McInerney.

I always loved the sense of community that both Jason, Peter and Jimmy fostered out of the show and they were the first uber fans I knew of that had a direct line to many of the inside people at Lucasfilm. Jimmy Mac himself, scored the penultimate opportunity when he was granted an audience with none other than George Lucas a couple of years ago and was able to interview him at length. The community was global and through the message boards associated with the show, it flourished.

A new era for the show came just this year - 2013 - when Jason and Jimmy announced the launch of their own show "Rebel Force Radio", separate from the umbrella of TheForce.Net and RebelScum.Com. Fans had little time to digest the news of the guys striking out on their own - not that it really mattered - since the first episode of their new show dropped pretty quickly onto the iPods, Androids and smartphone devices before most even knew what was happening.

Rebel Force Radio brings Jason and Jimmy together as a dynamic team who offer up the world of Star Wars with such enthusiasm and energy that it's kinda like being a kid all over again. With the recent acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd. by Disney and the announcement in late 2012 of a brand new trilogy of Star Wars films, both Jason and Jimmy are sure to have their finger on the pulse of Star Wars and they will be the news source that many will trust before all others.

Rebel Force Radio is available to subscribe to at iTunes now and has its own RSS feed to which non Apple listeners can subscribe. Their official site will launch shortly and is sure to become thee go to portal for Star Wars fans.

In the mean time, check out the Rebel Force Radio Facebook page and keep up with the gang as they deliver all that is good about "The Wars".

DFA.

Download my interview with Adelaide FiveAA's Ali Rodda now

(Click on the Image)

Talking the "Dream"

Well the first interview seemed to go very well.

Ths morning (here in Australia) I spent 45 minutes on-air with Marie Ryan of Melbourne's Inner FM 96.5 and we discussed the novel, my journey from the germination of the idea to publication and we even touched on some of the musical influences which have inspired the novel. In short - I couldn't have asked for a better opportunity. Marie was very easy to talk to, she had obviously done considerable research in preparation for the interview and she made me feel at ease. I was more nervous than I gave myself credit for going in but it wasn't too long before I relaxed into the flow of the interview.

I remember saying umm and ahh a lot though (*slaps forehead with a flattened palm for effect*).
But most of all todays spot with Marie gave me that all important experience I so dearly wanted and I made notes about the interview as I went - what I need to cut back on, what I need to add to and at what point do I run the risk of waffling.

I am hoping (really hoping) that Marie will be able to put the interview onto a CD for me so that I can make it available here at the site and for any future promotional "stuff" I put together. She attempted to email me the file but of course it's sounds as though it was way too big for an attachment.

Over the weekend I completed two more interviews via email - one for a magazine called Writing Edge Magazine and another for a really great blog called Random Acts of Writing. Those two have been really fun to do - the questions have been well put together and entertaining. I have also been given the truly great opportunity of contributing an article as a guest blogger for The Creative Penn which is run by a very dynamic and enthusiastic lady named Joanna Penn. Joanna is very active in the world of self publishing and digital publishing and her site attracts a lot of traffic so I consider this to be a pretty significant feather in my cap.

And I have received word just this evening from a friend of mine in the U.S. that a popular Star Wars podcast The ForceCast gave my novel a great little promotional on their live show which was recorded earlier today. The ForceCast is one of the most popular Star Wars related shows on the web, it attracts a huge global audience and counts "Fanboys" director Kyle Newman, Star Wars Clone Wars (the cartoon series) director Dave Filoni and Robot Chicken creator Seth Green among their fan number. The podcast for this episode won't be available til the weekend but you can bet I'll be lining up to get a hold of it eagerly come Saturday morning.

It seems like the momentum is definitely building now and I am feeling good about it. I hope that momentum translates into more sales of the book but what am I more interested in right now is getting more reviews for the book. That probably means more to me than sales.

My publisher iReadiWrite Publishing got a significant nod today too for which I was very pleased. The Preditors and Editors Poll sought votes across a number of categories including for best eBook Publisher. iReadiWrite placed 5th overall in a field of over 60 publishing houses. For Michelle Halket - the Creative Director of iReadiWrite Publishing - this has got to be a pretty proud moment and I of course offer up my congratulations to her.

So yeah, it's been a big week so far...fingers crossed that it becomes bigger...

DFA.