Please join us in wishing a happy first anniversary to Ruby Fink and the “Mickie McKinney, Boy Detective” podcast series on Faux Fiction Audio. We were fortunate enough to publish the whole Mickie serial here at FC, and upon learning the franchise has been renewed for another year, anxiously await the first episode of Season 2, which we’re told is due any day.
In the meantime, you’re welcome to join in congratulating Ruby, the creator and producer, and her performers–Sam, Hannah, Lucas, Lyndsey and who knows who else will show up–tonight [Tuesday] for Mickie’s birthday/anniversary party! It will stream live tonight on Facebook, beginning at 5:00PM PST. You may even bump into one or two of us FC baristas there–virtually, of course. In the meantime, here’s what Ruby wrote about her experiences writing and producing Mickie:
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With the end of season 1 coming up in October (2106) I’ve been feeling a great deal of melancholy that comes with the end of an especially fun series.
I remember the first time I started writing Mickie. I was on set, feeling extremely useless while I waited for the DP and Director to figure out what kind of a lighting set up they wanted. I remember the name Mickie came to mind, because while I loved the name Michael, that sounded too old for him, and I didn’t want to call him Mike, because that was too ordinary. But the name Mickie sounded fairly young, and it was unusual enough (aside from a few actors and a certain cartoon mouse) that it would stand out.
I remember working on the scripts with a friend, and envisioning (like a proud parent) my baby’s potential, and then when nothing panned out, the bitter sadness and disappointment when I packed him away. The problem was, fictional or not, Mickie was a kid who never got out of my head. He had a story, he had a life, friends all planned out for him, and he couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to tell it. I’d think:”I don’t have enough time, I’m too busy,” but that remembrance of his creation, all that possibility, never went away.
A while back, I went through a particularly painful heartbreak. I had two jobs, classes, and yet still plenty of time to cry and feel sorry for myself. I needed a project, something to put my energy into and I decided to take one of my stories and make an audio show. I was going over options, trying to find something that would be the easiest to create, when Mickie popped into my head and asked,”What about me?”
So that’s what I did. I created this website, I wrote and re-wrote a forest worth of scripts, and, with the help of my sister, recruited a motley band of friends to do the voices. And I have to say, it’s been one of the best experiences of my life. I’ve been able to sit and direct my actors through 8 episodes so far, write edit, and watch my story come alive. Every story gets better because the more we do, the stronger the characters become as my actors and I realize their quirks, their habits, their strengths and their weaknesses.
I’m writing the season finale now, and I’m a little teary because part of me wonders if anyone wants to continue down this road with me. But there’s always another story I can tell. Always another character I can bring to life. But I still want to share Mickie with you. So here you go. Mickie McKinney: Boy Detective. If you have time to listen, I hope you like his story. I hope you’ll enjoy meeting his friends, Sam and Burners, following him on one exploit after another. And I hope at the end of it all you can tell me what you think.
Sincerely,
Ruby Faux
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Editor’s note: All the Mickie McKinney episodes are available for listening here and here.
