Prelude: Sit Down

Welcome to our very first “Sit Down” episode of the Mindframe Podcast. In this episode, we focus on the show’s Prelude. These unique episodes are not part of the primary story line. Instead, they are a casual conversation between our host Zach Smith, the author David Moton, and the producer Brent Van Tassel. Zach asks questions and leads a discussion about the latest episode.

We try to walk a tricky balance between answering questions about content, characters, plot points, writing process, and “what was Dave thinking,” all without revealing any spoilers. It is sometimes Brent and Zach theorizing while Dave waits silently, unwilling to give away any important reveals. But it always a great conversation!

These episodes are, ironically, longer than the actual chapters, and they sure are a heck of a lot of fun to record. We hope you find them fun to listen to. Oh, and these episodes are normally for Patreon members. The first several are free to everyone as part of our initial release of Mindframe episodes, but starting with Chapter 2, you will only have access to them if you become a Patron. You can find us a patreon.com/themindframepodcast to learn more.

Enjoy, and remember, the Lariat is closing…

Questions we cover:

-What is Mindframe? Or at least, without giving anything away, can you give us a general description?

-The dreaded question for every writer is: Where did the idea come from?

-The chapter says it begins present day. Can you tell when present day is?

-The chapter also begins with the character dreaming. Is that in reference to how you got the idea?

-What can you say about Copenhagen? Is the year it is set in (2012) the past at this point?

-Xin? His sister? A Scandinavian attendant? Are these characters we should remember?

-Last name and rank matter, so I assume everyone is in some sort of worker colony system?

-The section in Kansas, 1940 focuses on a widow named Shaylin McArthur. Any reason for picking this time?

-Is there anything you can tell us about WorldGov at this point? Or anything to compare it to give the readers an idea?

-We get thrown times and places like: New York, 1960 and Berlin, 1990. Are these times and locations we should remember as well?

-Our character is sending Emails to a hotel and Telegraphs down to the valley. Zach’s speculation is that they can move through time, and maybe dreaming helps them to do that. Is this true?

-There’s a series of characters mentioned: A widow who lives in the mountains around 2008/2009/2010, a Stage Manager from the 1990’s, Teddy in 1959, the Bolliver Family from San Pedro California, Clarabelle Campana, present day, and Guillermo Campana, 2 years before present day. This is lot of location and time movement for our readers to keep track of. Were all of these things that came to Dave in his dreams?

-Does Dave have a favorite of these characters? You don't have to tell us why yet.

-Anything else our readers should pay attention to?