Hello everyone,

Firstly, if you’re still with us, or if you’ve been patiently waiting for us to reemerge from the internet ether, thank you. We’ve received some very nice sentiments and statements of support from listeners of the show over the past year, and those have really made a big difference to us. Or to me, rather.

That brings me to what I want to talk about today, in a roundabout way. We’ve been gone for a year this month, which seems insane in some ways, but here we are. We–I–never intended to leave the show in limbo like this, but in the end, the show really is my personal responsibility, and I am just one human being trying to piece together something that is kind of complex: my life. When I launched Chasing Foxfire, I had all the tools and resources I needed to get it going, but only up to a certain point. I hoped that the momentum would build up enough to keep me rolling forward, but that didn’t happen. It probably has something to do with me working on a fairly involved dissertation in Folklore for my doctoral program, as well as more than half-a-dozen other projects to which I’d already committed. Again, life, and all that piecing and whatnot.

That may seem like an excuse, and on some level it is. As one person working on this show and other projects, I inevitably wind up letting things slip from time to time. Chasing Foxfire slipped because I had a major push to get to the end of my doctorate. I’m just about there now, and I’ve been able to turn my attention back to the things that I had to set aside for a bit along the way. So this isn’t an excuse to say goodbye, but an excuse to say “thanks for waiting for us.”

Because we are back.

If you’re our supporter on Patreon, you know we’ve already posted Episode 5 – Rumors for early listening. That episode will be available on our public stream in the next few days as well, so everyone will get to enjoy it. I’ve got plans for several more episodes after this one, and what’s more, I think I can actually focus on the show again. I’ve also learned that I need to be more flexible with issues of format to make sure I’m not becoming too obsessed with minutiae and thus preventing an episode from going out while I twist and tweak and edit. I can see the shape the show will be taking, and I think it will help make it more accessible, more direct, and even better for most listeners. Not everyone will like the changes (more of the interviews left “as-is” rather than edited and interspersed with my commentary), but the changes will make more shows for everyone.

In the end, I know that I’m only able to do this because you are listening, and because you are interested, too. So please, if you have thoughts or ideas for shows, or feedback to send, send me an email at chasingfoxfirepodcast@gmail.com, or find us on Twitter or Facebook and say “hi” there. Hearing from you helps us, and helps the show to be the best it can be. Thank you for being here for us, for listening to us, and for not giving up on us. Let’s keep chasing the foxfire of folklore wherever it goes, together.