Wednesday, December 21, 2022

THE KEY TO THE KEY OF LOVE!



HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Drop everything. Seriously.


Why is the fab and brilliant Jenna Blum wearing a snood?

We have the blockbuster bombshell life-changing amazing inspirational awe-inducing (and all the other applause-creating words) answer today.

She was challenged. She was terrified. She persisted.

And she succeeded.  Listen to this.



The Scariest, Most Thrilling Thing of All: Writing in New Genres
Jenna Blum

So you know how as writers, we work our whole lives to perfect our writing in one genre? I’ve been writing since I was 4 years old, when my memory’s soundtrack my journalist dad’s typewriter, and all I ever wrote was stories. Short stories, then novels. I wrote my first book when I was 11, sending it to Random House and expecting a Publishers Clearing House-sized check to arrive. That didn’t happen, but I kept writing. I won Seventeen Magazine’s Fiction contest when I was 16. I worked in food service for years while submitting to lit mags. In my early thirties, I sold my first novel.

You’d think I’d want to stay in lane, right? As Hemingway said, “We are all apprentices in a craft in which nobody is a master.” I believe every career writer puts out a couple of masterworks, several competent books, one or two nonstarters. If it’s a lifetime journey to be capable in one genre, why would a writer ever switch?

Because. Somebody asks.

In spring 2022, my friend and New York Times mega-bestseller Jane Green, a.k.a. The Fount From Whom All Good Things Flow, asked if I wanted to write a podcast script for a women writers’ series she was producing with Emerald Audio: legit audiodramas with actors, sound effects, music. Like the radio plays from days of yore.

I’d written a screenplay for my first novel, which was fun and had taught me I wasn’t a screenwriter. I’d never written a podcast. I’d never written historical romance, which this podcast would be.

Of course, I said YES.

I wrote a treatment (basically a one-page synopsis) of THE KEY OF LOVE: in Boston’s tony Back Bay in 1943, when the war is raging, a chambermaid with a beautiful voice, working at the historic Fairmont Copley hotel, is torn between two men, a blue-blooded composer and her fiance, a photographer shooting the war at the front. (I cackled the whole time I wrote this.)

A scriptwriter named Tommy Lombardi broke the treatment into 8 parts; then we Zoomed to game out necessary beats—each episode’s dramatic arc, cliffhangers.

Tommy wrote a first draft, transposing the story into dialogue and sound effects. He kicked it over to me. I wrote the second draft, third, fourth. The production team cast KEY with actors, created music—and taught me things like a montage, which works in fiction/screenwriting, is much harder to do in audio. I rewrote again.


I was a little terrified. What if I’d done an awful job? What if everyone snickered at my foray into historical romance? KEY had started as a lark, and then I’d fallen in love with my characters. I was invested now.


Finally, two days after KEY became available, I popped in my earbuds while walking my dog and….listened.



Here’s what I learned: I can’t listen to THE KEY OF LOVE anywhere but inside my apartment. Because to hear the story brought to such vivid life by actors, with knock knock knock/ warplane/ vacuum cleaner sound effects and gorgeous music—it made me stop in the street and yell: “THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!”

So….if you have a chance to switch lanes, I highly recommend it. Risk is often rewarded by expansion. Try something new. Why not? You might just fall in love.


HANK: Well. I am in AWE! What about you, Reds and Readers? What are you thinking right now? Questions, comments, general adulation? WOW, right?

And you can hear THE KEY OF LOVE wherever you hear your podcasts! 

(And Jane Green--you are INCREDIBLE! What a brilliant idea.)



Jenna Blum is the NYT and internationally bestselling author of THOSE WHO SAVE US, THE STORMCHASERS, and THE LOST FAMILY; memoir WOODROW ON THE BENCH, and original audiodrama THE KEY OF LOVE. Find Jenna at
www.jennablum.com and THE KEY OF LOVE wherever podcasts are heard. New episodes drop every Thursday.



77 comments:

  1. So amazing, Jenna . . . congratulations! I shall have to listen . . . .
    And now I’m wondering what you found most difficult about the process of writing for a podcast?

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    1. Great question! Jenna will be here to answer later today! xxx

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    2. Hi Joan! For a novelist accustomed to having access to as much detail as I want to set a scene, using only the tools of dialogue and sound effects was a challenge! Even when you’re writing a screenplay, you have some latitude with describing how a character looks and physically moves at important moments. For audio, you must depend on dialogue and CERTAIN sound effects…for instance, you have to find a way to describe kissing and, well, intimacy without depending on the sounds! 😂

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    3. Sorry—that comment was from Jenna! 😊

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    4. OH that is a huge challenge! Whoa. I'd never have thought about that!

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  2. Congrats on taking the risk. I'm so glad you are happy with the outcome.

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  3. This is all fascinating, but I'm not sure I understand how the story writing goes exactly after the treatment. A scriptwriter (in this case, Tommy) breaks the treatment into eight parts. Is that eight episodes? You and Tommy talk through Zoom about what exactly? Then he writes a first draft. Is Tommy then finished with his part? You write out the rest of the drafts by yourself, right? What are you changing in the next few drafts? The actors are hired and the music is added. Then you are piecing it all together with the music and sound effects and that requires more rewriting? This sounds like a lot of fun in the end, but it also sounds like a lot of work before that. Kudos to you, Jenna, for taking this plunge into a whole new vehicle for telling a story. I will have to listen to this, and you have me intrigued now with listening to other podcasts. Like Hank, I am in awe of your endeavor and accomplishment.

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    1. Such great questions, Kathy. I'm interested, too.

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    2. Agreed! It takes a village, it seems! All kinds of talent involved! Jenna will be here to tell us more.

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    3. Hi, Kathy! Great questions. So when I wrote the overall treatment, it was one page—a synopsis of what would happen for the entire story arc. *I* then broke it into 8 parts. That is 8 episodes, you’re correct. If it were a novel, it would be 8 chapters; each would have its own internal dramatic arc, and each would kick the main story forward.

      Then Tommy and I got on a Zoom to make sure we each knew what was happening in the episodes. He suggested events to bump up the drama and we bounced ideas back and forth—a joy for a writer who’s used to working alone! I found I loved the collaborative process. And he had some really great ideas.

      Then yes, he wrote the first draft, transposing/ translating our big-picture ideas for each episode into the 2 tools available to us: dialogue and sound effects.

      He gave the script back to me, and I rewrote THE WHOLE THING so it would be all in my language and reflect my understanding of the characters—putting the Jenna spin on it, if you will.

      The producer then read over that draft and said there were some things we’d written that wouldn’t work for podcast. For instance, a montage: in screenplay or novel, you can accomplish this with stage directions or description, but in audio it’s all sound-dependent, so that could be confusing. I had to rewrite some of that action.

      Also, some sound effects work…and some don’t. How do you establish, um, intimacy between character without writing, well, audio porn? #Challenge

      So I rewrote the script three of four more times. Tightened it as you would with any work. Then gave it to the production company and, VOILA, magic! They cast it with actors, including the lead, Ruby Rakos, who has the voice of a skylark (which is my protagonist’s nickname from her Norwegian mama). Put in the sound effects—I have NO IDEA HOW. And composed original music…..and the result? MAGIC. I am IN LOVE with it—this idea that came from my head, got shared with others, and now is brought to life in this full and vivid way! What an honor.

      I hope this helps!

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  4. Congratulations on taking on that task. Glad it worked out well for you.

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  5. Well I already write in more than one genre and have felt very "scattered" about that. Although I've never tried a play or podcast. But I was bowled over at the end of this post to discover Jenna Blum of this post was the author of Those Who Save Us. I read that book and was just frozen into the poor mother's life. And the daughter, yes, but just imagining what her mother went through. That book was written so well that it's just etched into my mind forever.

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    1. Oh, ELizabeth! Cannot wait for Jenna to read your post. Thank you!

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    2. Elizabeth, thank you so much! What a lovely comment—such an honor. I’m so glad THOSE WHO SAVE US stays with you. It sticks with me, too. And obviously I haven’t left the era of the 1940s! I hope you enjoy the podcast, if you get a chance to listen. Some of the same themes and a much more lighthearted atmosphere….

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  6. (Huh. I wrote half an hour ago. Will try again.)
    Congratulations on making this work for you, Jenna, and for stretching your horizons.

    I write historical and traditional/cozy mysteries, and have stretched a little darker in short stories, but never outside crime fiction since I was a child. I think if my friend had asked what yours did, I would have said, "I don't know how to do that."

    I'm so curious about podcasts. Will you (or anyone) make any money from this project? What is the business model? It seems like a lot of work for at least several people. I don't listen to many podcasts, but I've never paid a cent for those I have heard. Thanks.

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    1. Thank you, Edith! I love your name, by the way. And I will confess the one thing I will NEVER attempt is a mystery, cozy or otherwise. I can write dark no problem. But I can’t keep all the logistics of a mystery straight, as a reader or a writer! It’s like doing a crossword puzzle, and aptitude I just don’t have. So hats off to you and everyone here!

      I certainly hope to make some money, though that’s not why I took on this project (or any other writing project—that’s done always out of love and/ or curiosity). It’ll come from advertising revenue, is my understanding.

      Thanks for listening, and I hope you love it!

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  7. JENNA: Congratulations on not staying in your lane, and writing THE KEY OF LOVE.
    Would you want to do another podcast in the future?

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    1. A HA! The critical question! Cannot wait to hear what Jenna says...

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    2. Hi, Grace! Great question, thank you. Yes, I would! I love the collaborative aspect, and writing in another key, as it were, allows me to develop ideas that I don’t necessarily think would fit into a novel format…like a short story but for audio!

      I hope you love THE KEY OF LOVE if you get a chance to listen!

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  8. Jenna, congratulations. The story is intriguing and I am planning a visit to Audible to try out (and most likely acquire) The Key to Love.

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    1. OMG, Jenna, The Key of Love is right there on Audible with an arrow inviting me to PLAY! Whoopee! I'll be starting it this afternoon! YAY!

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    2. OH, that is fantastic! Cannot wait to hear what you think! xx

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    3. Oooooh, I love hearing about the Audible arrow! Hooray. I listen to my audio on Audible, myself! I hope you looooove THE KEY OF LOVE!

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  9. Congratulations Jenna! We will all have to listen...

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    1. Thank you so much, Lucy/Roberta—Luberta? 😊 I hope you LOVE it if you get a chance to listen!

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  10. This sounds like 'Jenna's Great Writing Adventure' with a very happy ending. How wonderful, Jenna. Well done! I love radio plays and am definitely going to explore Emerald Audio Network's offerings.

    As for writing in a new genre, I'm trying to write a fictional short story and it is so darn hard making everything up! Characters, plot, theme, setting...so hard to invent it all. I usually write creative non-fiction / personal essays, where those four components are known and "all" I have to do is write about them in a compelling manner. But I'm determined to meet the March 1 deadline for my local writers guild contest. Onwards!

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    1. Keep writing! I promise you, your brain will kick in at some point.. and your process will evolve! So eager to hear what happens...

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    2. Amanda, OMG, I SO HEAR YOU. Before I wrote the podcast script for THE KEY OF LOVE, I stepped out of my fiction lane to write a memoir, WOODROW ON THE BENCH, about my beloved black Lab and what the last 7 months of his life taught me …..and OMG it was SO MUCH EASIER for me than fiction. Because inventing plot is the hardest part for me—and so essential! If you don’t have the story, you got nothing. Wiring a memoir, “all” I had to do was tell what happened in the most honest and hopefully entertaining way possible. The challenge here was emotional vulnerability. But I still found that easier than inventing plot, haha. I guess I am an exhibitionist of sorts! Anyway. I do miss fiction, so I will return to it….just know there are so many of us in the trenches with you!

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    3. Jenna: I *loved* Woodrow on the Bench. I might even have shed a tear or two. I'd read another memoir by you in a heartbeat. And I'm delighted to be in the fiction trenches with you. Thank you for your generous replies to all our comments here!

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  11. I love the idea of reinventing radio dramas as podcasts. And The Key of Love sounds like a great entry into the genre, Jenna! I can just see you walking down the street, pounding your fist in the air. Yes!!! I did it!!!

    I'm intrigued by the same questions others have posed above. I've never thought about it in detail--but there's the studio work, the actors, the tech crew--not to mention the writer(s). Are there commercial breaks? In other words, where does the money come from to pay for everything and everyone? And Tommy took the treatment and created the structure? Are the parts timed? So many minutes per section? Then you expand the treatment into scenes, dialogue, action arcs? It sounds like an exciting process! Congratulations!!

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    1. SO many great questions! ANd I agree, what an accomplishment...

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    2. Hi, Flora! I’m going to cheat and cut & paste an answer I made above about the process, since it took a minute to write up…I hope it helps clarify! Thank you for asking! As for money, I hear it’s all about advertising revenue….fingers crossed. 😊

      Great questions. So when I wrote the overall treatment, it was one page—a synopsis of what would happen for the entire story arc. *I* then broke it into 8 parts. That is 8 episodes, you’re correct. If it were a novel, it would be 8 chapters; each would have its own internal dramatic arc, and each would kick the main story forward.

      Then Tommy and I got on a Zoom to make sure we each knew what was happening in the episodes. He suggested events to bump up the drama and we bounced ideas back and forth—a joy for a writer who’s used to working alone! I found I loved the collaborative process. And he had some really great ideas.

      Then yes, he wrote the first draft, transposing/ translating our big-picture ideas for each episode into the 2 tools available to us: dialogue and sound effects.

      He gave the script back to me, and I rewrote THE WHOLE THING so it would be all in my language and reflect my understanding of the characters—putting the Jenna spin on it, if you will.

      The producer then read over that draft and said there were some things we’d written that wouldn’t work for podcast. For instance, a montage: in screenplay or novel, you can accomplish this with stage directions or description, but in audio it’s all sound-dependent, so that could be confusing. I had to rewrite some of that action.

      Also, some sound effects work…and some don’t. How do you establish, um, intimacy between character without writing, well, audio porn? #Challenge

      So I rewrote the script three of four more times. Tightened it as you would with any work. Then gave it to the production company and, VOILA, magic! They cast it with actors, including the lead, Ruby Rakos, who has the voice of a skylark (which is my protagonist’s nickname from her Norwegian mama). Put in the sound effects—I have NO IDEA HOW. And composed original music…..and the result? MAGIC. I am IN LOVE with it—this idea that came from my head, got shared with others, and now is brought to life in this full and vivid way! What an honor.

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  12. Talent is only restricted by fear. Congrats on your creative growth.. Happy Yule.

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    1. Coralee, as always, you have nailed it. Oh. I am pritingthat out and putting it on my bulletin board. Thank you.

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    2. Well, THIS comment clearly needs to be on a t-shirt! Thank you, Coralee! Happy listening and happy holidays! 💃 🎙 🎶 🎧 ♥️

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  13. Jenny, welcome to JRW! I am in awe! I love your writing.

    And Congratulations! Since I am Deaf, I appreciate the written version of your podcast.

    Diana

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    1. Oh, that's so touching--yes, I love reading the script, and imagining it.

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    3. Thank you so much! Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to aid your enjoyment of THE KEY OF LOVE….. I really appreciate you getting immersed in the story! 😊 💃 🎙 🎶 🔑 ♥️

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  14. Sounds great! I have added the podcast to my library and will begin listening tomorrow to fill the void left by First Chapter Fun being on break. Kudos to you Jenna for trying something new!

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    1. Awww...that is so lovely of you in every way! Jenna's podcast is the perfect solution! (ANd we will be back soon. ) xoxoo

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    2. I’m not sure I can live up to FIRST CHAPTER FUN, but I hope THE KEY OF LOVE is indeed fun for you! Thank you so much for your kindness and for listening! 💃 🎙 🎶 🎧 ♥️

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  15. This is amazing on so many levels. First, it's an irresistible story, and I can't wait to start listening to the podcast. Second, it does take real bravery for an author to step outside her comfort zone, so major kudos to Jenna. And finally, what an amazing time we live in for creativity. I never would have thought podcasts could lead to the revival of radio plays, but here we are! My mind is already bubbling with ideas...

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    1. Love this comment, Julia, especially that you feel inspired! The goes-around-comes-around nature of podcasts as old-school radio plays reminds me of what my friend said when I first started using emojis: after all these years of developing language, we’ve returned to hieroglyphics. 😂 I LOVE this form! I hope you love it, too.

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  16. Jenna, congratulations 🎉🎈‼️

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    1. Thank you so much! I hope you love THE KEY OF LOVE if you get a chance to listen! 💃 🎙 🎶 🎧 ♥️

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  17. Good for you, Jenna! That has to have been a difficult step to take. Do you plan to write more radio plays?

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    1. SHe'll be here soon--cannot wait to hear!

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    2. Hi, Pat! Thanks for the comment! I’d love to write more of these—I enjoyed the collaboration so much, and what a delight to hear your work come to life! Happy listening and holidays!

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  18. Hi again, everyone! I am listening to it now and it is terrific! I got it from Audible.

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    1. Oh, that is WONDERFUL! Isn't it transporting??

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    2. Hi, Judy! Oh, I am THRILLED. Thank you! I’m especially happy because I’m also in love with it—the actors, sound effects, music take imagination to a whole new level. What an honor! Episode 4 drops today and I’ll be listening, with my Ovaltine (I’m in MN in a blizzard—also in my family home). Thanks for enjoying with me!

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    3. I, too, have had the extreme pleasure of a Minnesota blizzard. Hot chocolate definitely helps. Enjoy your family!

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  19. I am in awe and you are my hero!

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  20. This is absolutely amazing. A project like this has never occurred to me! I love working out of the comfort zone. Bravo, Jenna!

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    1. You could do this, Jenn, oh Queen of dialogue that you are!

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    2. I agree, Judy. Jenn has probably already written one by now!

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    3. 🥰 Awww! Thank you so much, Jenn! I love doing new things—as Rhett Butler says in GWTW, “Never pass up new experiences, Scarlett. They enrich the mind.”

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  21. Hi Jenna, and apologies for being so late to chime in today, I was out of pocket. BUT I am absolutely fascinated by this!! I am crazy about audio books and I LOVE the idea of a new version of radio dramas. When I'm in the UK I try to listen to things that are written for BBC radio broadcasts, but to write something of podcast episodes is just genius. And now I'm going to go and listen!

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    1. NEVER too late! Jenna's traveling, yikes, but will be here as soon as she can!

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    2. Hi, Deborah! Yes, never too late to say something lovely! And I was slower to the table than you were. 😊 Thank you so much…I hope you find THE KEY OF LOVE worth of a BBC broadcast! A high bar! 💃 🎙 🎶 🎧 ♥️

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  22. Shalom Reds and readers –
    ----------I’ve loved audio-drama since I was a teenager and let’s just say that was a long time ago. The essay which I submitted with my college application was a proposal for a radio drama about high school students and the need for more guidance counseling. That essay and my SAT scores won me my admission.
    ----------In my free time, if I am not listening to music or an audiobook, I am probably listening to a podcast. I’ve only listened to two audio dramas as podcasts. One was called 1865 and was about the aftermath of the Civil War and the assassination of President Lincoln. It was well done, but I stopped listening to it as I thought they might have taken poetic license a bit too far. I found The Key of Love on my favorite podcast app and will start listening tomorrow.
    ----------I don’t like doing stuff that is out of my comfort zone. I’ve done it sometimes but usually when I have a cheering squad urging me on. Barring that, sometimes I will do stuff quietly out of the spotlight, until I have mastered whatever sufficiently, so I don’t have to look like a novice. Pride. Not one of the virtues.

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    1. So wonderful to see you! And that is fascinating! Xxxx

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    2. Shalom, David, and happy Hanukkah! I’d love to hear what you think of THE KEY OF LOVE, since you’re an avid audio-drama consumer. I have to admit to being in love with it; the actors, sound effects, and music take it to a whole new vivid level! Enjoy.

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  23. Nan McCann here… and I say Bravo for courageously leaping into this new genre! Looking forward to listening to it! 👏👍🥰

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    1. Thank you so much, Nan McCann! I LOVE your name! And I hope you love THE KEY OF LOVE if you get a chance to listen. 💃 🎙 🎼 🎧 ♥️

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  24. I love that audio dramas have made such a comeback, thanks to podcasts. I've been thinking about trying my hand at writing one and I'm so grateful for all of the "inside information" in this story. I just added THE KEY OF LOVE to my podcast library and look forward to listening!

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