Early humans lived in a world that must have been quite confusing and, frankly, disconcerting. Big, fiery ball flying overhead every day; bright shining orb doing the same thing at night. And that damn orb kept de-orbing, then re-orbing, then completely taking a powder for a few nights every now and then.
And then there was the heat of the day and the cold of the night, how was one supposed to dress? Once one began dressing at all. And dangerous predators. And rough terrain. And certain foods made you sick and didn't even taste good. And big fluffy things in the sky that sometimes were happy and sometimes were mad. There was also the fact that some of our fellow early humans were nuts. Or wise. Or lovely. Or just stinkers. Not to mention that there were two kinds of us, alike yet different, the difference sometimes being a joy and at other times an annoyance. How did anyone make sense of all this?
By telling stories, of course. By making the best guess as to the reasons why, and hopefully amusing the family—later tribe, later village, later city, later nation—along the way.
After 200,000 to 300,000 years of experience and experimentation, we don’t really need to tell stories to make sense of the physical world anymore. But the world within, the landscape of us humans, some of whom are still nuts, or wise, or lovely, or just plain stinkers, is still great fodder for stories we tell and stories we like being told.
Stories, as you know, were first told orally, as there really was no other choice. Humans had discovered that their voice was a helpful instrument for more than just screaming out warnings of impending danger. It created sounds of not just rhythm and tone—like beating on stones and trees did—but when formed into words, it created sounds of meaning, of sense, of drama, and, I hope, even of comedy.
Then writing came along, scribbling on clay tablets, papyrus, or stone. At first, such scribbles merely noted trades and inventory. Then one day, or series of days, one individual, or series of individuals, possibly got bored with recording an inventory and decided instead to tell a story. Perhaps a well-known one the scribe first heard as a child.
Despite the efficiency of the written word, which I happen to love, there is something special in being told a story through the human voice. Indeed, the best writers, it is said, are those whose writing has a “voice” unique to them. And the best readers, I’ve always maintained, are those who “hear” that voice when they read—and not just concentrate on the dialog and action as if they were watching a film. This is why I have always strived to write prose—despite it being destined for the printed page—for the human voice. I want my words to sound in your head while hopefully making sense out of something. I hope I have succeeded more often than not.
There is one way to assure that your “voice” is heard by some people, at least. Have an actual sonic voice read or narrate or perform (take your pick) your book for an audiobook edition. Three of my past novels have audiobook editions. Traveling in Space, published by Bluroof Press and performed by Jeff Cannata. And Blood is Pretty (read by Jonah Cummings) and By the Sea (read by David Gilmore), both published by Crossroad Press. All three were a joy for me to see done, enhancing not only my experience as an author but the reach my novels had in finding an audience.
As some of you may know, I am now publishing my novels under my own imprint, Magpie Press (see my blog entry, DON'T HATE ME BECAUSE I AM ECLECTIC). My first novel under Manfred M. Magpie's wing was Creature Feature: A Horrid Comedy, published last September in ebook and print editions. Once it was launched, I immediately began thinking about an audiobook edition. I knew what would be the ideal if I could have waved a magic wand and bring it to life instantaneously. I wanted the clever Mr. and Mrs. Dever to read or narrate or perform (take your pick) my horrid comedic tale of monsters and creatures and grassroots politics.
That's Seamus Dever and Juliana Dever, of course. If you were a fan, like I was, of ABC's Castle (2009 - 2016), starring Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic, you know Seamus as Detective Kevin Ryan, part of the crime-solving team on the show.
And you'll remember Juliana Dever as Lt. Ryan's girlfriend, later wife on the show.
I first met Seamus when I directed a staged reading of Ray Bradbury's one-act play, "The Better Part of Wisdom," at the Writers Guild of America.
 |
Seamus Dever with Jeff Cannata, Steven Paul Leiva,
James Cromwell and Ray Bradbury |
It was one event in a series for Ray Bradbury Week in Los Angeles, a celebration of Ray's 90th birthday in 2010 that I created and produced. "The Better Part of Wisdom" is one of Ray's Irish plays, and Seamus had been recommended to me by a casting agent—and not just because he's of Irish descent. I was thrilled, having seen the first season of Castle and enjoying his performance as Lt. Ryan. Seamus performed in the one-act with the great James Cromwell, both doing flawless Irish accents. Jeff Cannata joined them, doing a just as flawless English accent.
 |
| James Cromwell and Seamus Dever |
In subsequent years Seamus joined in another Bradbury tribute I organized. And My wife Amanda and I have enjoyed a number of his performances on stage here in Los Angeles.
 |
Seamus Dever and Luisina Quarleri in “The Abuelas”
at the Antaeus Theatre |
Seamus is a dedicated actor who loves not only performing on film and especially, I believe, in live theater. And, quite wonderfully for my purposes, is also active with L.A. Theater Works, the leading producer of audio dramas in the United States.
So I knew Seamus not only as a fine actor but one who really knew his vocal way around a mic.
I only knew Juliana from her appearances on Castle. That is until I checked out some of her videos on her travel blog CleverDever Wherever.
I then saw some of her Virtual Pub Happy Hour Instagram videos with Seamus made during the lockdown.
What was clear from both was that she was a bright, funny, energetic performer and that she and Seamus had great chemistry together. Which is a good thing, seeing how they are married. But for my purposes, it meant more to me that they would be perfect together, bringing their voices and performances to Creature Feature.
The audiobook of Creature Feature demanded not just to be read or narrated but also performed with style, wit, comedic timing, and a playful sense of fun. And as the lead protagonist of my novel—Kathy Anderson/Vivacia the Vampire Woman—was a woman, she had to be voiced by a woman. Yet, the novel's narrator had to be not only a character and not just an omniscient voice from above but male. Why male? Because that's the way I saw it, and I am the author, therefore the authority.
To have Seamus and Juliana recording the audiobook, playing all the characters that matched their particular genders, was my ideal. Not to mention my birthday wish and my fondest hope.
The problem was that I was planning on publishing the audiobook through Amazon's Audio Creation Exchange or ACX program. ACX allows an author to receive auditions from audiobook narrators from here, there, and everywhere. Especially narrators who are their own producers and editors and recording engineers with in-house recording booths. Which allows for one-stop shopping, and eases the path from print to audio. Audiobooks have grown in popularity over the last decade or so, and there are hundreds of narrators listed under ACX. Despite how excellent many of them are, though, I already knew who I wanted. But neither Seamus nor Juliana was on the ACX list of narrators. I assumed they had probably never done audiobooks. And that they probably didn't have a way to professionally record. Nor the wherewithal to produce and edit.
Which didn’t mean I couldn’t call and ask. Maybe, just maybe, Seamus and Juliana had at least an audio recording set up at home. Many actors do these days to remotely audition for animation, video games, and commercial voice-overs.
But I balked. A rare moment of shyness hit me. Did I really want to bug Seamus and ask him? Especially if asking would be implying that if he didn’t have a setup, maybe he would set one up in his home just to accommodate me. Horrible, horrible chutzpah, I thought that would be.
But then the wonderful writer Jean Rabe,
who had encouraged me to start publishing my work under my own imprint, set me straight. “Call him,” she said. “You never know, maybe he has a recording booth, maybe he would set one up if he doesn’t. The worse he could do is say no.” “But-but…” I said. But Jean would hear of no “Buts.”
I’ve learned to listen to Jean. She held my hand and gave me sage advice all through creating Magpie Press and publishing Creature Feature.
 |
| Manfred M. Magpie looks over his first publication |
Indeed, you might say that she is the mother of Manfred M. Magpie. Why would I not listen to her now?
So I picked up the phone to call Seamus despite knowing full well that the ideal rarely happens. That usually birthday wishes only extinguish tiny flames on little candles. And that magic wands are nothing but props in fiction.
“Hi, Steven,” Seamus said. And from that moment, the ideal became real. The wish was granted. The magic wand demanded that I retract my slander.
Seamus was interested. He was used to doing remote video auditions from his home. And had actually been thinking of having an audio recording set up. As part of his performing arts education in college, he had taken an audio engineering course, so he felt that he could produce the audiobook himself. He loved the idea of Juliana recording with him as well. He cautioned me, though that she was very busy with her travel blog and arranging for post-COVID tours she would be leading. But well, first things first, he would read the book.
As you can guess, I would not be writing this blog if all did not work out wonderfully well.
 |
| Juliana and Seamus at the mic! |
Seamus had an early suggestion that Juliana only voice Kathy/Vivacia. He would handle all the other characters, male and female. It was utterly the right idea as Kathy/Vivacia is the dominating presence in the novel. She demanded her exclusive interpreter.
Seamus created a setup to professionally record at home. But not without having to solve several technical problems which he strived mightily to overcome. Which I feel some guilt about—putting him through all that. But the results have assuaged my guilt.
Seamus has produced, directed, and edited the audiobook. He suggested having original music, which I happily agreed to. He recruited a friend, Ray Zigler, a bandmate of Seamus' from years past, to compose the music.
Ray created a witty, creepy, jazz score that I just friggin' love. It has been released on Spotify as a mini-album under the title of Suite for Le Cinema De Créatures (Music from "Creature Feature - A Horrid Comedy").
Seamus applied his innate fine sense of comedy timing to the directing and editing, giving all the right colors to the piece.
But most of all, Seamus gives a delightful and funny performance narrating Creature Feature, voicing Gerald, the nerdy/genius male protagonist, the demon Quntirextionkeedumtemgar, and all the other characters and creatures in the book.
And Juliana! Juliana is the perfect as Kathy/Vivacia, giving distinct voices to the two sides of this character, matching and complimenting Seamus in wit, comedy timing, and fun.
This ideal which became real has been a most satisfying experience.
You can purchase it on Amazon, Audible, or iTunes.
Happy listening, folks!
No comments:
Post a Comment