An adventure is starting on Saturday. Well, that may be hyperbole, but I’ll stand by it because I’m excited and delighted.
On Saturday we have the first recording session for the audiobook version of Traveling in Space. I love the human voice, I always have, and when I write I try to write as if my work will be read out loud. This is obviously true of stage and screen plays, but it is also true for me when I write novels. That’s why audiobooks are such a delight. It is a full circle return to the beginning of literature, which started as an oral tradition.
 |
| All rights reserved by New Visions2010 |
And, as I said, I have a particular fondness for things oral.
My first published novel, Blood is Pretty: The First Fixxer Adventure was produced as an audiobook by Crossroad Press (who had previously published the ebook version), and I was really happy with the results. Crossroad handled everything, including booking the reader, Jonah Cummings.
Jonah, like many voice over artists these days, has a small recording studio at his home in North Carolina, and he produces his own recordings. Jonah and I had an initial conversation over the phone to allow him to ask me questions about the book and how I see the characters, and allowed me to tell Jonah what I thought were the things most important to emphasize in certain characters and certain moments of the story, and that since the book is a first person narration, everything in the book should be performed, not just read.
Jonah then recorded the text in chunks, and when he was happy with them, he would send me an audio file. I would listen and correct any mispronunciations of names or ask for changes in interpretation I felt should be made. There were little of either, and it was a very nice ride with Jonah bringing my characters alive. The biggest surprises came when Jonah would give a character a voice completely unlike that character’s voice that I had always heard in my head -- and it was better. That gave my own work a new dimension, a different texture, and a way for me to see my work as others might see it.
If you like audiobooks (or even if you just have an MP3 player and are tired of music), I suggest you sample a bit of Jonah’s work on Blood is Pretty on the audiobook's Amazon page here.
If you are intrigued by Jonah’s performance buy the audiobook .
I won’t stop you, in fact I encourage it.
Traveling in Space is going to be a different experience. The idea for the audiobook came from my publisher Dave Doody of Blüroof Press. When Dave saw me give a reading of a section of the novel for GuerrillaReads, he said, “Let’s do an audiobook with you reading.” “Great idea,” I said, “but not with me reading.” I explained to him that as much as I like reading my work at appearances,
 |
| Photo by Miranda Leiva |
and as much as I am a ham --
 |
| photo by Russell Orrell |
I am not an actor, especially not a well trained actor (high school drama classes do not count). But I had in mind the perfect actor to do the job.
Jeff Cannata is an actor
and Internet TV host (The Totally Rad Show on Revision3)
who I had directed twice for readings at the Writers Guild of America. The first time was for a reading of a one-act play by Ray Bradbury, The Better Part of Wisdom. He had come recommended by a casting agent and I took the recommendation (there are no real auditions for one night readings). Playing opposite Seamus Dever from TV’s Castle, and the wonderful James Cromwell, Jeff impressed me greatly with his very subtle yet forceful performance as the British lover of an Irish man being visited by his grandfather in 1950s London. (you can see video clips of the reading here) Just his very accurate, seamless, non-cartoony accent told me how well trained he was in the technical aspects of acting. His performance showed me how intuitive he is in the art of acting.
 |
| Jeff, James Cromwell and Seamus Dever photo by Michael Jones |
Later I directed Jeff playing the lead in a reading of Sam Bobrick’s The Physic, a comedy mystery that won last year’s Edgar Award for Best Mystery Play. Although directed is a bit of an overstatement. Essentially I blocked for the reading the play’s original cast from the Edgar winning production that had been directed by Susan Morgenstern. Here I got to see Jeff’s comedic talents,
 |
| Jeff in "The Psychic" photo by Greg Mitchell |
So, I asked Jeff to perform Traveling in Space for the audiobook. Luckily, Jeff is a huge audiobook fan, a science fiction fan, and, I’m happy to say, after reading Traveling in Space, a fan of my book. He said yes. Simpatico compatibility reigns!
So...starting Saturday we will enter into my good friend Peter Lonsdale’s home recording studio and start a fun adventure.
is a long time film editor
(Back to the Future, The Rocketeer, Who Framed Roger Rabbit) who also loves audiobooks. He and I will produce the recording, I will direct, and Jeff will, I am sure, will reveal new dimensions to my novel.
Eventually the audiobook version of Traveling in Space will be available from Audible.com, Amazon and at the iTunes store.
Assuming there might be something interesting to write about as we move forward, I will continue with occasional new chapters in Traveling in Audio Space.
No comments:
Post a Comment