A Skylark Special - Q&A Episode

In this holiday special edition of the podcast, you get a little behind the scenes information about the Skylark Bell creator in the form of a pre-recorded Q+A.

Hear about the strange way the story first came about, and the process behind writing the book, and eventually creating the podcast.

Music: Nightbridge by Cannelle (www.cannellemusic.com)

Find The Skylark Bell online: www.theyskylarkbell.com

Instagram: @theskylarkbell

Twitter: @melissaoliveri

Patreon: www.patreon.com/melissaoliveri

TRANSCRIPT:

Things with Wings productions presents a special presentation of The Skylark Bell. I’m your host, Melissa Oliveri.

In this holiday special edition of the podcast, you get a little behind the scenes information about the Skylark Bell creator in the form of a pre-recorded Q+A.

Hear about the strange way the story first came about, and the process behind writing the book, and eventually creating the podcast.

If you haven’t already, go grab a blanket and a warm drink... here we go.

Q - How did you come up with the premise of The Skylark Bell?

A – The title for the book actually came to me in a dream. I sometimes dream letters, words, and or sentences. I keep a notepad and pencil in my nightstand drawer so I can jot things down in the middle of the night. In this instance, I dreamed the words “Meadow Lane and the Skylark Bell”. I didn’t know what it meant, but I filed it away for future use.

Q – When did you start writing the story of Meadow Lane and the Skylark Bell.

A – I believe it was sometime in 2010 or 2011. I distinctly remember sitting in my car on my lunch break with a yellow legal pad and a pen coming up with ideas for the story and character outlines. My first idea was that there would be no sound on Meadow Lane. I thought that was original. I also found the idea of stepping into a space where there is no sound very unnerving.

Q – What took so long to share the book?

A – My first draft of the book was completed in the summer of 2014. I was pleased with myself for finishing it, but I was quite unhappy with the ending. I put the book on a shelf and forgot about it for several years. Finally in 2019 when I started a Patreon account for my music I thought it might be fun for my patrons if I shared the story of Meadow Lane and the Skylark Bell one chapter at a time. I started posting one or two chapters per month, and the book began to make the rounds that way.

Q – What made you turn the book into a podcast?

A – In the summer of 2020, my friend Amy from the Collected Sounds and Volsteadland podcasts approached me with the idea of turning my book into a podcast. She was starting a podcast of her own and had done quite a bit of research on it, and she offered to help me get started. At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it. I had never really listened to a podcast before. I told her I’d think about it. And I did. I thought about it a lot. I thought “Ooooo I could compose intro music for it” and “Oooo I could compose background music for it” and “Oh! I could include sound effects!” and the more I thought about the more excited I got, so I went for it!

Q – How did you decide on the format, frequency of episodes, length of episodes, etc?

A – In my preparation phase, which lasted about 6 months, I realized a lot of things. One, I had to change the ending of the book to something much better than what I had originally written. That was the first thing I did, only after that was done did I fully commit to doing a podcast. Second, I realized my episodes would have to be somewhat similar in length, so I adjusted my chapters to have similar word counts. Third – After I recorded a few chapters for practice I quickly realized that each chapter needed to end on a bit of a cliffhanger. The first few fell flat – so I re-wrote most of the chapter endings. Once all my chapters were ready, I began to think about how I was going to fill up an entire year with 26 chapters. This is where Fantôme Friday comes it. I decided that on the last Friday of each month I would pause reading of the Meadow Lane and the Skylark Bell, and instead tell a true ghost story. Well, they aren’t really all ghost stories, but they are definitely supernatural in nature!

Q – Are all the Fantôme Friday episodes true stories?

A – Absolutely! I did my best to write the Fantôme Friday stories in an honest way without embellishing or taking too much creative freedom. The majority of the episodes cover things I experienced first-hand, and the others came to me from people I trust implicitly.

Q – Where did you come up with the idea to include an original song with each Fantôme Friday episode?

A – I am equal parts author and musician. Music is a huge part of my life. For my music endeavours, I go by the stage name Cannelle. When I realized what a huge undertaking the podcast was going to be – sidenote, ...