Agents-to-be, the Ministry of Propaganda demands your attention. We have concocted an easy-breezy “fast track” method for your induction into the Agents of the Ministry.

“Firefly” and “Serenity” star (and recent “LOST” guest star) Nathan Fillion will be reading a The Story So Far… recap for the Nov. 14 episode of 7th Son. The Ministry has deemed this event as noteworthy, and considers its release into the world as a High Priority.

What do you do? Transmit a message via email about 7th Son (and Fillion’s appearance) at least one of your comrades who doesn’t listen to podcasts. Especially effective targets can be science-fiction fans, “Firefly” or “LOST” fans. Tell them a little about 7th Son and why you like it. CC the Ministry of Propaganda on the email — 7thSonMOP@gmail.com — and you will become an Agents of the Ministry. You’ve just played a big role in furthering the cause of the 7th Son Experience.

Transmission ends.

The 7th Son Ministry of Propaganda
~ Domination Through Replication ~

Comrades, the time has come to take our evangelism of the 7th Son experience to the masses. The goals: New listeners. Mentions in the blogosphere. Media coverage. Agents are needed to distribute this message to the battlefield. Agents like you.

7th Son fans who help in the cause cannot be paid, but they will be rewarded for their hard work. If you spread the word about 7th Son, you will become an Agent of the Ministry. Your name (and links to your website, blog, band, etc.) will be posted on the esteemed Agents of the Ministry page, here at this site. You will also be eligible to win exclusive 7th Son swag not available to the masses.

Will you join the revolution, comrades? The Ministry of Propaganda isn’t just looking for a few good men and women. It’s looking for all of you good men and women.

Postions Available In the Ministry
1) The Ministry is recruiting kind, creative folks who work in media, public relations and marketing. These are savvy 7th Son enthusiasts who can spend an hour or so a week assisting the Ministry in spreading the word about the podcast, and contacting industry professionals who can “make things happen.” The Ministry wants to invite more ubercool special guests such as Nathan Fillion to read “The Story So Far…” recaps. It wants to expose 7th Son to mainstream journalists and bloggers via press kits and press releases. Can you use your expertise to further the cause?

These aren’t paid positions, but the Ministry will place your name at the top of the Agents of the Ministry page, along with text/logo of your marketing/PR/media company (if you work for one). Links to your company/service will also be posted. Quid pro quo is a good thing.

2) The Ministry is recruiting graphic design visionaries. These are the brilliant folk who can occasionally create cool graphics for this website, or design brilliant flyers for the 7th Ave. Street Team (now a sub-group of the Ministry of Propaganda). You talents are coveted by the Ministry, and are needed. Can you push some pixels for 7th Son?

These also aren’t paid positions, but the Ministry will place your name in a special section of the Agents of the Ministry page, along with text/logo of your graphic design (if you work for one). Links to your company/service will also be posted.

3) The Ministry is recruiting YOU. You don’t need a degree in marketing to be an Agent of the Ministry. You’ve got an email account. Or a MySpace page. Or a blog. That means you can help.

The Ministry is compiling a Mailing List for 7th Son fans … and in those periodical mailings you will receive tiny, five-minutes-or-less “missions” to help spread the word about 7th Son announcements and milestones. Your involvement won’t take up much time — but you’ll play the most important role of all. You’re the front line, taking the message to the masses.

If you spread the word and can show the Ministry that you’ve done so, you become an Agent of the Ministry, and will be listed on the Agents of the Ministry page … with links to your site, blog, band, whatever. Particularly rabid Agents will be eligible for exclusive 7th Son swag not available to the masses. More on this in a few weeks.

So, comrade. Are you ready to help create an army of new 7th Son fans? Fill out the form below to add your name to the 7th Son mailing list … or to volunteer your creative services to spread the word!

The 7th Son Ministry of Propaganda
~ Domination Through Replication ~

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 1, 2006
CONTACT: J.C. Hutchins, 7thSonNovel@gmail.com
Download PDF version of release here.

Fresh from the first-ever launch party for a novel in the online community Second Life, the 7th Son podcast novel trilogy has achieved another “first” in podcast history: Actor Nathan Fillion, star of the TV sci-fi series “Firefly” and film “Serenity,” will appear in the free audionovel 7th Son, Book Two: Deceit on Nov. 14 as a special guest reader.

Fillion, whose future projects include appearances in this season of ABC’s hit series “LOST” and the lead role in the supernatural thriller film “White Noise: The Light,” will read a segment at the beginning of the Nov. 14 episode. Called “The Story So Far…”, this segment recaps events of the novel’s previous episode.

This is the first time Fillion has appeared in a podcast novel, and may be the first time the actor has recorded original content for any podcast.

While Fillion is best known for his role as Capt. Malcolm Reynolds in the TV series “Firefly,” 7th Son author J.C. Hutchins has admired the actor’s work since he appeared in Steven Spielberg’s 1998 film, “Saving Private Ryan.”

“It’s an absolute honor to have Nathan on the podcast,” Hutchins said. “Folks best know him as a well-grounded hero in a science-fiction epic. 7th Son — a reality-driven sci-fi thriller — is a good fit for his cameo. Current listeners of 7th Son will love his ‘previously on’ reading … but this also provides a terrific reason for new listeners to hop aboard.”

Fillion’s appearance is the latest in a series of “very special” guest readers for Book Two: Deceit. Best-selling science fiction, fantasy and comic book writers have also appeared on the podcast, including: Robert J. Sawyer (Mindscan, the Hugo-award winning Neanderthal Parallax trilogy), Mike Resnick (Santiago, the Starship series), Tracy R. Hickman (Dragonlance series), Jeph Loeb (writer/co-executive producer for NBC’s “Heroes,” Batman: The Long Halloween) and Mark Waid (Superman: Birthright, Kingdom Come). Patrick Lussier (film editor for the “Scream” horror trilogy, and film director for “Dracula 2000″) also recently read a recap for the novel.

7th Son, a free weekly podcast, is the most popular “podiobook” series in history. More than 11,000 listeners currently tune in each week to hear new chapters of the thriller. 7th Son is the #1 most popular program at the podcast directory PodcastPickle.com, and is listed in iTunes as one of the Top 25 podcasts in its Literature category. The first novel in the series — titled Descent — was nominated for numerous awards for excellence in podcast fiction. The novel has also been featured on such popular blogs as BoingBoing.net and MissSnark.com.

ABOUT 7th SON:
7th Son is a free weekly podcast novel. The story chronicles the lives of seven strangers who have been brought together after the recent assassination of the U.S. president. These men quickly discover they all appear to be the same man, with identical childhood memories. Unwitting participants in a human cloning experiment, these “John Michael Smiths” have been assembled to catch the man who murdered the president. Their target? The man they were cloned from … the original John Michael Smith, code-named “John Alpha.”

7th Son, Book Two: Deceit and Book One: Descent can be found at www.JCHutchins.net, and at www.Podiobooks.com.

Sci-Fi star to make cameo on hit podcast Download

Hey faithful 7th Son listeners … a lot of you have been contacting me about troubles with the RSS feed, super-slow downloads, etc. I’ve looked at settings on my end, and all seems well. It appears as if Libsyn, my media hosting company, has been experiencing some issues. From the company’s support site:

Media Delivery
Wed, 25 October 2006
Slow Downloads

Hello.
We received some emails reporting slow downloads. We’ve noticed some congestion on one of our servers and are looking into the problem as this post is being written. We hope to have it cleared up soon.
Thanks for your patience.

So there you have it, guys. Thanks for your concern, and your patience!

Here’s a big hiya to anyone who’s checking out 7th Son, thanks to the recent 7S-related posts made at the Second Life culture blog In The Grid and at BoingBoing!

I’m hope you’ll not only attend the Second Life launch party for the forthcoming 7th Son, Book Two: Deceit podiobook, but also take a listen to Book One: Descent.

Please visit my Subscribe page to learn more about how you can receive the entire first novel in audio form for free. The novel is available here, and at the exceptional Podiobooks.com site.

And feel free to explore this site to learn more about the novel, manually download episodes from the archive (found here on the home page), or download exclusive 7th Son fan-created content such as wallpapers, screen savers and more. And don’t hesitate to contact me with questions or feedback.

In addition to the cool preview pictures in the In The Grid article, here’s a sneak peek of the 7th Son “Beta clone” avatars that you’ll see (and become!) at the launch party in Second Life:

Welcome to the world of 7th Son! Book Two: Deceit will debut next Tuesday, Sept. 26!

If you’re a new visitor to JCHutchins.net thanks to recent coverage in Second Life Insider and Compatible World, welcome! I hope you’ll make the time to visit the Second Life launch party for part two in the 7th Son podcast novel trilogy, Deceit.

The official debut of the novel is next Tuesday, Sept. 26. If you want to partake in the week-by-week release of Book Two (and not feel lost in the story), please download the first 7th Son novel, Descent. It’s available for free here at this site and at Podiobooks.com. Visit this page for more information.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoy the plethora of freebies here — and I hope you enjoy the story!

Hey kids … can’t blog for long. Just wanted to apologize for being incommunicado for the past week. My computer went the way of the dodo late last week, and I’m just now clawing my way back into the digital age.

I’m not sure how this setback will affect the release date of Book Two. I’m going to do my best to stick to the Sept. 26 release schedule. Cross your fingers!

More to come, 7th Son fans….

–J.C.

Hey guys. I’m still alive … and I’m working on a brief “hiatus ‘cast,” which I hope to release into the wild sometime this weekend. In the meantime, dig this story at CNET’s News.com:

Headline: Scientists erase rat’s memory
“Scientists at MIT have managed to erase the long-term memories of rats, in a first-ever experiment that could lead to medical treatments for humans, according to a report from the New Scientist.

“In the experiment, neuroscientists from MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory targeted the hippocampus, an area of the brain that’s key to forming and maintaining memory. They manipulated synapses in the rat’s hippocampus in order to erase long-term memories…”

Yeesh. NEPTH-charge, anyone?

Listener Jacob recently rocked my world by generously offering to create a 7th Son fan group at MySpace. I gave the dude my blessing, and voila!, a place now exists for 7th Son fans to discuss the novel, swap plot theories, the works. It’s called “The Beta Clone Army,” and you can find it here. You can also click the logo that’s currently at the top of the homepage at JCHutchins.net.

So head over to The Beta Clone Army MySpace group and become a member! Dig the current topics and add replies if you like. Or start all-new forums with your own topics! Who knows? I might swing by and add my two cents, to boot!

As always, it’s free. So enjoy — and be sure to thank Jason while you’re over there!

I’ve lately been toying with the idea of creating a 7th Son street team, in which 7th Son fans become evangelists by distributing 7S flyers in the “real world” — on campuses, community bulletin boards, telephone poles, the works.

I tapped my talented friend Jo to create a prototype flyer, and I’m thrilled with the end product. The goal of this flyer (and others, if this gets off the ground) is to evoke intrigue, and motivate folks to visit my website for more information. Here’s a quick peek at Jo’s image, a deliciously diabolical nod to 7th Son’s prologue:

Right now, plans for a 7th Son street team are nebulous … but that can quickly change with your feedback. Would you be interested in participating in a real-world viral marketing campaign such as this? Give me a holler at 7thsonnovel@gmail.com if you’re willing to be a solider in the 7S street team.

Finally, if there are graphic designers out there who’d like to contribute to flyer creation, I’d also love to hear from you.