The Who, What, Why and When.

The Time Tapes Chronicles was born from a spark that yearned for a simple creative outlet.

The idea was formed from a theme that I had devised for a currently running D&D game but with a Call of Cthulhu twist, where time itself was an unknown quantity.

The character of Steve Miller was born with the intent of being a vehicle to present snippets of time but rewritten. The so called Mandela effect was in the back, or maybe the fore of my mind, as was the intent to muddy the waters- is it a delusion or does time change for most but not for all.

Initially I didn’t want to spend hours script writing, recording and editing, and as such this is how the Steve Miller episodes have progressed. They are all recorded unscripted in a single take, and they take the form of an ordinary person, not a polished podcaster, recording their thoughts.

Dr Oliver Miller was meant to be a single episodic character. However I very quickly realised that I rather liked Dr Oliver Miller and that he deserved more attention. So was born the investigative coroner. Incidentally the time line also changed, reality mirroring the fiction.

Dr Oliver Miller gave me a different outlet, and for these episodes I decided that script writing was necessary. All of the Dr Miller episodes are scripted and based very loosely on actual events or reported events from the 19th Century (there is also an underlying nod to the Cthulhu mythos). I say very loosely as I research sensations of the day- notorious murderers, alleged hauntings and paranormal events and then form much more sensational stories around them.

The ‘cases’ have fallen into a two or three episode format, around 7,000 – 10,000 words a story. This from a little research falls between a short story and a Novella, what would once have been called a Novelette- although these tended to be Romantic fiction. However I think of them as short stories. Each case is it’s own separate story, but all interlinked and forming a much larger picture, and also documenting the life of Dr Oliver Miller.

The Dr Miller episodes are still recorded in a single take with the least editing possible.

I have been down the road of excessive scripting and recording and hours upon hours editing. It sucks the enjoyment out of creativity and sucks the hours out of your life as well!

So, who am I?

I have been; a musician, a fine artist, a graphic designer, studio manager & prodction manager in publishing (for many years), an IT manager & specialist in publishing, wildlife rescuer (running our own rescue for over a decade), a ranger- and I still work in parks.

I am also a DM or GM (whichever you prefer)- DnD 5e being the current choice for mechanics along with Cthulhu additions. I craft for the games and I was right there at the beginning of podcasting. It was around 2004 / 2005 and I was producing three regular podcasts; history, natural history and an acoustic music podcast- way back when there were no podcast hosting platforms. I gave up podcasting many years ago but the editing knowledge and the equipment was still there- and now it is being used again.

I did make a short foray back into podcasting some short years ago, recording our then current DnD game, but- well I have mentioned hours upon hours of editing, and so ended that podcast.

Oh, and I guess finally, like everyone I am a story teller. Everyone is, even if they don’t realise it.

Get home and tell someone about your day, relate a story or two of events at a social gathering? Well, that is storytelling. We (our species), has engage in this pastime since before language, using images- drawings, paintings. Some of us just take it a little further.

Some of course take it much further, being a writer or an author. I have neither piles of unfinished tales or an agent or publisher, or indeed a garage half full of unsold copies of my latest book- so I am definitely a Storyteller. Also, colons and semi-colons scare the life out me, which do you use and when?! One of life’s unsolved mysteries.

So why a podcast?

Well, partially the above- but mainly in that I have had a long love affair with audio, and especially radio drama productions and in the most recent years with the many excellent actual play and drama podcasts.

It all started with the BBC and the Lord of the Rings radio production back in 1981. I didn’t have a TV in my bedroom but I did have a radio which I had wired up to a cheap pair of car speakers to ‘improve’ the sound.

The 26 half hour episodes of the Lord of the Rings captivated my imagination, and that was it for me- I was sold. I can immerse myself in audio more than I can in TV or film. The skill of the Foley artist in creating the sound stage from a wind racked mountain top to a ship in deep space enthrals me. There’s enough information to set the scene, but unlike visual mediums, plenty left to the imagination to allow the listener to fill in the rest and make it partially their own world. The skill of the voice actor in creating the feeling of many different situations when in actually stood in a studio, sound booth or these days- the spare room or bedroom.

Today the world of audio drama isn’t just the domain of the professional and the range of content and ready availability has opened up new worlds. Between free or low cost hosting and distributing platforms, people kindly making sound effects and music for free use in exchange for a credit, free sound editing software and finally affordable entry level equipment that can produce excellent recordings- anyone can flex their creative muscles if they want to.

I hope that you get even a little enjoyment out of The Time Tapes Chronicles, if you don’t then there is plenty out there to chose from (one of the good things about this online age), and I hope that you find something else. Maybe, you will think, if he can do that, then I can do so much better. Great, go forth and create- I mean that nicely, as encouragement.

If you do listen, then please drop me a line at thetimetapeschronicles@gmail.com and let me know what you think, or just say hi.

P.S. There is no Patreon or the like for this podcast (not that there is anything wrong about supporting creators), however; I have the equipment, I work full time, I choose to spend some of my free time on this, and it’s my creative outlet even if no one listens. If you do want to give anything, then may I suggest a donation to a charity of your choosing- job done.

Thank you for dropping by, and well done for getting at least to the end of this!

Charlie 2023