78 G

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vssuqGyaxrw&t=37s

Narration by the author -Kate A Hardy 

Soundscape by MarkLockett

After listening to a particularly worrying podcast about the declining rates of literature world-wide, notably the reading for pleasure element, due in large part to smart phones,  I remembered my short story Orwellian look at a possible near future, which at the time of writing had a strong element of tongue-in-cheek. But with increasingly dark events in the USA, well . . . it suddenly seemed oddly plausible, maybe not the half man/half vehicle character, but who's to say . . .

  

Chickencarnation

Our latest short story production. Tale and narration by me, wonderfully inventive soundtrack by Mark Lockett. 

© Kate A Hardy 2025

Nathan, a worker at Smythe Poultry Products, discovers strange, thick hairs newly emerging from his chest . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCuuf1264nc

      

 

78G

Our latest short story on the Londonia Youtube channel. 

A dark-humoured, Orwellian nod to the future of cellular network technology. Narration by me; music and sound design by Mark Lockett.

 © Kate A Hardy 2025

                        

The brilliance of my other half

You sort of know (when you live with someone, and have lived with them for many years) everything, well, not absolutely everything - that sounds a bit surveillance system-esque - about them. But often you forget to admire the unique qualities of that person; too busy just wading through the stuff that makes up the average day, good and less good. 

Working more closely with Mark on our audiobook project over the last year has revealed anew just what an extraordinarily creative individual he is; not just the bread and cake maker, piano/cello/accordion player, academic, composer and teacher . . . It's his library of musical and artistic knowledge tucked away in the high, somewhat wrinkled forehead of his; the personal library that enabled him to come up with the pieces of music, and created/found sounds that he dropped into the story at just the right points, and in just the right amounts. I did put the odd bit of editing in, or suggestion of a different creaking door/bird call/whatever from time to time, but the conception and creation was all his from the atmospheric Londonia theme to the most subtle of nods to great historical composers.

Mark's Londonia suite of piano pieces are a beautiful hotchpotch of ragtime, honky tonk bar, wistful, resonant melodies, and upbeat romps. When we get a film deal . . . come on! we can dream! I do hope the persons responsible for creating the soundtrack will take an audio trip into the non AI and completely original world of Dr Lockett's music.

https://marklockett.com/

During our Londonia podcast - on Spotify or Youtube.

One of Mark's Londonia suite pieces - Fred being the owners of Fred's Threads recycled clothing emporium

Londonia podcast. Episode 2

Mark Lockett - composer of the Londonia soundscape introduces the ouverture, or prologue of the audiobook.

As with the last episode, I can't create a direct link. Please copy and paste into your browser, or find the podcast on Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/show/5N4RjF6NA9Ss0xsIwoCWpf?si=2feebeadfe8d4c71

Celebrating a year of work!

 

Londonia, the audiobook launches 3rd February 2025

We are holding an event to mark the end of a year's worth of work! Please come and share our celebration, and enjoy a glass of wine and nibbles. Live readings by Kate A Hardy (the author), and Londonia-inspired music by Mark Lockett, composer of the audiobook soundscape.

The event will be held in Justin Wescombe's beautiful house on Sunday 2nd Feb at 16:30 - 2 Montée du Fort, Saumur (just off Place St Pierre). Please note, there are stairs.

We hope you can be there!

RSVP to Kate (as numbers may be limited)

katehardy25@gmail.com  

Portable : 06 85 48 95 13

https://kateahardy.com

The Londonia podcast

Our podcast introducing behind the scenes work on the Londonia audiobook, interviews, and weekly sample chapters. Please click on link below. Actually . . . it's a bit more manual than that - in true Londonia style. Please copy and paste into your search engine.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HC8jf5x0hTV0OLKh5iXvd?si=TOdEiArhSmOOgEA-TwDtCw

The whole audiobook will be launched on the 3rd of February on Spotify's Findaway Voices.

Just

Such a hopeful and sometimes overoptimistic word . . . I'll just knock that wall down there and then we're going to put a pool in where the terrace is . . . the sort of thing our friend Alvin would say - and he'd somehow do it, successfully.

With my new website, we were just going to slide the new site over to the domain name, twiddle a few settings and it would all work. Nope. Two weeks of emails, phone calls and enlisting of much help from kind people - thank you Glynn . . . it finally has taken up residence on or in the net. Yes, I am a non spring chicken semi-luddite, and that's OK.

A few images from the site made, by Nick Lockett and myself, and a link below.

My extraordinary polymath musician husband, Mark Lockett, built the site.

https://kateahardy.com/

Putting it all in one place

My stuff - years of it - manuscripts, drawings, finished books, short stories, back-burner ideas and paintings. My lovely brother had made me a website some years ago but I'd never really got to grips with how to update it so it did rather just sit there gathering internet webs and receiving the odd dubious comment. Thanks to a PR guy who I talked to as the audiobook was nearing completion I realised I had to make a functioning space where all my work could be viewed, and the site updated regularly.

Gripped with I'm sure I could do a site confidence, Mark did - with a lot of frustration and learning on the way. I'm super impressed with what he has created, along with some excellent portraiture and stills done by his cousin, Nick Lockett - ace photographer.

It's been a useful exercise for me too - trawling through boxes of pen and ink sketches, writing texts to accompany each page, and throwing out a lot of previously held-onto-for-no-real-reason stuff, and contacting people about use of audio clips, etc. One highlight of this being that we were given the right to use the recording of Anton Lesser reading my short story, The Hundred and Fifty-Eighth Book, which is just . . . delicious. Click here to listen to the marvellous Mr Lesser, and here for a preview of the site.

Portraits

I like this one that friend Alessio took - (before he and Mark embarked on an excellent concert of their Sax and Piano repertoire) - me, trying to figure out how my old SLR works after attempting to read the Canon whatever-it-is for Dummies book . . . but actually the films and shots weren't bad - but would be better if I could retain the info - embarrassing after doing a photography/film degree, albeit a long time ago . . .

And, below some of mine of duo LLL  -  Lockett La Luce

Londonia, the audiobook out-takes

Our recording studio (mostly the kitchen) resounded for many months with swearing that would make 'Jarvis' (a principle character) proud. I have read my work to audiences quite often but narrating for recording is quite different . . . a steep and enriching learning curve! Here's a little glimpse into some of the moments of frustration, and hilarity.

Almost there....

After many months of intensive recording, editing, re-editing, and everything else that goes into a 'world-building soundscape audiobook we're at the point of mastering or re-mastering in some chapter's case, the final thing. 

Here's a sneak preview of the preface featuring Jake the Prophet (aka, me) as opening narrator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxcEgoGYVzQ

 

Londonia extract capitula 23

We're steaming along with the project, and felt it was time to put out another little taster - this one from chapter 23.

Only a few chapters to go, then a HUGE check through, mastering and then - how to get it out there... Watch this space.

Londonia audiobook showreel

So, we're past halfway on the Londonia audiobook, and I decided we should make a small sample video mainly to let our Kickstarter backers know how it's going.

Obviously it's an audiobook so either just listen or watch the images that we had fun putting together - as you like.

Mark is creating a wonderfully atmospheric soundscape with all original music and sound effects, and I'm tackling the narration. Londonia is a big book and the audio version is a long project but we're thoroughly enjoying the process.

The audiobook should be completed by the end of April.

Getting stuck in

Anyone reading this blog will know that I did a Kickstarter to raise funds for making my optimistic, post-apocalyptic novel, Londonia, into an audiobook.

I must say honestly that I didn't enjoy the process - at all. It's certainly not for me but we did get there after masses of hard work, and I was touched and amazed by the number of family, friends and acquaintances who pledged along the way to make the project a reality. Thank you so much to all of you. I'll keep you posted on the finished audiobook- we're still looking towards the beginning of April.

There have been some changes which have meant that the narration has shifted to me - an alarming prospect at the outset - and Mark doing the soundtrack; not just a bit of incidental music but a full on textural masterpiece, full of his compositions, collected environmental sounds from his vast back catalogue, and us making up things as complex as a gospel choir... I'm thoroughly into the narration thing now, learning as I go on less familiar accents and listening to the characters' voices that have sat in my mind for so long.

So. we're about a third the way there, and I will be producing a 'trailer' splicing together moments of tension, excitement, eeriness and humour to hopefully entice people to take a listen. 

Watch this space, as they say, whoever they are...

6 days to go...

Not to the end of the world, and nothing important on a scale of events going in the world on as I write, but, in our little household, fairly important. 

The end of our Kickstarter crowd funder is looming, along with a more ramped up polite request for money . . . we've come a long way, the sum now over 2,400 but there's still a fair bit to find. It's been a lot of work and still will be with all the 'rewards' to prepare and post such as the hand-stitched CD covers - and making up of CDs and bigger artworks. But it will all be worth it, and I know the end result will be an audible treat packed with drama, mystery and humour surrounded by a rich tapestry of sounds and music, and, of course, the marvellous voice talents of Steven. 

Below, an extract of myself reading the part of the story where Hoxton, our heroine, visits the rather creepy, Bert-the-Swagger, in search of 'antique' 2020s smart phones for her pampered Cincture clients.

                                                    My Londonia style CD covers.

Making a soundscape

14 days to go with our Londonia to audiobook, Kickstarter campaign, and it's looking good with over half the amount raised. THANK YOU! to our lovely backers!

Mark - pictured here with one of his smaller pianos :0) will be in London today making recordings of the Thames, pub interiors, and backstreets (avoiding present day giveaways of sirens, traffic etc - no mean feat!) to add into his Londonia soundscape for the audiobook.

Looking forward to the rich tapestry of the end result!  Link below if you'd like to support our atmospheric glimpse into 2073.

http://kck.st/3EN4hAP

The loneliness of the long distance crowd funder.

Well, not loneliness really as I'm working with several lovely and talented people but it's mainly my project so I have to do a lot of the asking.... I find it difficult. Very. 

Every silent response to an email is worrying, a silence where there would normally be a friendly response; every observed but ignored text message further possible proof that people find this sort of cap-in-hand thing distasteful? or embarrassing? After a few moral-boosting conversations with friends this morning I have returned to thinking of the process in the way I had done before - a way of promoting art that everyone can share by giving a small amount of money, as small as they want - there's no minimal amount apart from 0. 

I've been collaborating with our narrator on the Londonia project for some months now and as its a mountain of work for him - and too much for us to pay for - it seemed like a great idea - a beautifully produced audiobook that people can listen to for free on his Youtube channel, plus genuinely thought about rewards for those who wish to support us. 

Anyway, so far, pretty good. Some wonderful folk have pressed the backer button; people I know who have encouraged and helped me over the years on this weird, almost profitless and vertiginous route of writing, and others that I don't know but just like the idea of the project. 

I hope it works out. It should do, and if you are one of our backers reading this - thank you! Happy future listening!

http://kck.st/3EN4hAP

The Londonia to Audiobook team:

Me, author - doing a bit of renovation. Steven Red-Fox Garnett - narrator. Mark Lockett, composer. Chaz Lockett (Jake the Prophet) project manager, and Sophie, editor.

   

     

Bringing Londonia to audiobook

Finally, after many weeks of work we pressed the GO button on a Kickstarter crowd funder project for LONDONIA.  http://kck.st/3EN4hAP

If you are interested in hearing my optimistic, post apocalyptic book brought to life by the very talented narrator and producer, Steven Red Fox Garnett, please help us with a donation at the link above. We have interesting backer rewards too!

You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To

The tea time sessions present Cole Porter's charmingly ironic song about domestic bliss from the film 'Something to shout about'.