The Scratching Post: Oktoberfest, Corndogs and Showing Up When Nobody Is Watching

It was one of those weekends that seemed to disappear almost as soon as it started.Friday turned out to be a lot of fun. The rain held off, and I made it down to Canonsburg for the Oktoberfest celebration in Washington County. Saturday brought another good time as we celebrated a milestone birthday for a close friend we affectionately call Hollywood.

Then suddenly it was Sunday, and I found myself asking the familiar weekend question: Where did all the time go?

Somewhere amid the festivals, birthday celebrations, and general running around, I also found a little time to continue tinkering with ElevenLabs Studio. I’ve been experimenting with ways to gain more control over how my animated characters speak. Generating a voice is one thing. Getting a character to deliver a particular line with the emotion, timing, and personality I hear in my head is something else entirely.

I know this work takes me away, at least temporarily, from writing the next book in The Midas Files. That tension is always sitting there in the back of my mind. Every hour spent learning audio, animation, video production, or website development is an hour when I’m not adding words to the next manuscript.

On the other hand, I don’t want to finish the next several books, look around, and suddenly ask, “How come I don’t have a platform capable of supporting any of this?”

That platform takes time to build. A lot of time, actually.

Occasionally, I wonder why I’m doing something like The Midas Files Live Readings on Sunday nights when almost nobody is watching them yet. But strangely enough, that part doesn’t bother me as much as it probably should. I’m learning on the job. I’m learning how to perform the story, how to present it, and how to take something that exists on the printed page and give it another kind of life.

The readings also keep the original story fresh in my mind as I continue building the larger series around it.

This Sunday, though, I came very close to skipping the whole thing. I was tired. It had been a full weekend. If there were ever a night when I could have talked myself out of doing a reading, this was probably it.

Then I thought: You know what? Why not just read it? So I did. I turned everything on, sat down, and got it done. I’ll be posting the recording soon.

Maybe that is what building a creative platform looks like in the beginning. You write the posts, record the readings, experiment with voices, make the strange little videos, and keep reaching out through different channels—often without knowing whether anyone is paying attention.

You show up before the audience does.

My hope is that when all the books are eventually finished, Scratch Writing will have become a place where readers can discover The Midas Files in several different forms. Maybe that will mean animated chapters. Maybe it will mean an ElevenLabs multicast audiobook. Maybe it will mean formats and technologies I haven’t encountered yet.

Right now, I’m simply trying things, learning what works, and gradually putting the pieces into place.

Still, there is no getting around the other half of the equation: the platform ultimately needs new stories to support.

So I had a fun and productive weekend. I celebrated with friends. I learned a little more about audio production. And despite being tired, I completed another live reading.

But here is the real goal:

By the time I write next week’s Scratching Post, I want to be able to say that I finally put some new words down for the next book. The platform matters. Now it is time to give it something new to carry.

The About the Pennsylvania Bavarian Oktoberfest

Each September, the Pennsylvania Bavarian Oktoberfest transforms Pike Street in downtown Canonsburg into a lively celebration of food, music, community, and Bavarian tradition. The three-day festival—described by the Greater Canonsburg Chamber of Commerce as its signature fall event—brings together live entertainment, food and craft vendors, beer, amusement rides, and games in the heart of the borough.

It is also a great excuse to wander around downtown Canonsburg and explore the surrounding shops and businesses. That was how my better half and I found ourselves inside The Canonsburg Collective, discovering local artwork, handmade accessories, vintage pieces, and several wonderfully strange creations that demanded a closer look—and, naturally, a few photographs.