Welcome to Episode 2 of the audio drama, “Control; Alt; Delete: Dr. Stundel’s Program To Reboot Your Dangerous Teen.”

Eddie’s encounter with Pearl and Scottie in the previous installment has left him festering in a briny stew of revenge. Will he act upon it, or shall unforeseen forces dictate another outcome?

As a warning, some of the language and situations presented may be offensive to some, perhaps even triggering. Discretion is advised.

If you’re interested in the novel, the paperback and digital versions are available on all major bookseller platforms (Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Books, Apple Books, World of Books).

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When creating the audio drama, I knew I would want to include music. Good thing for me, I was a former music student. I graduated with an associate’s degree and changed career directions, enrolling in film school.

With my keyboard, I recorded several original (and simple) musical motifs that I thought fit the tone of the story.

Finding that tone was the challenge. In my mind, it felt like it had to have a twinge of unease, cheeky subversion, and sad sap vibes. Even as I wrote that, it was a struggle for me to articulate exactly that ineffable quality.

Composer Elmer Bernstein came to mind. Specifically, the musical theme called Depression from the comedy film Stripes, starring Bill Murray. It has that languid, cartoonlike expression of sadness you picture hearing in a Bugs Bunny short. Bernstein is one of my favorite movie composers who brought a big orchestral sound to comedies such as Animal House.

Keeping that in mind, I came up with a few themes that you’ll hear in this and other upcoming episodes. They’re far from inspiring, but I feel they serve the audio drama well, creating a texture that is hopefully pleasant and indelible.

Here’s one example I call “Sprite.”

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