Accent on narration

So I'm working with my teacher Pat Fraley via one of his excellent home study courses, and the last piece of "homework" had me recording an excerpt, all narration, involving a dog stolen (or rescued) out of the back of a pickup truck. I got in the studio, recorded the piece, did a tiny bit of editing to cut my couple of takes and silence down to a single useful track, and sent it off.

Pat, as always, sent back some kind and helpful remarks, but one of them was particularly interesting: he observed that it sounded as though I kept wanting to fall into an accent of some kind for the narration (happily for me, I just barely avoided doing that). I laughed when I read that, because I realized he was exactly right... I guess something about the whole pickup-truck-and-stolen-dog setup just put my voice into a particular cadence that was way too close to a Southern accent. But the funny part is that the reason that was an issue didn't quite sink in until today.

I had thought to myself, "Oh, sure. I probably shouldn't go into an accent because it'd be distracting from the story, from the narrative technique I'm trying to practice in this lesson."

Um... no. Finishing up my day at the office today, and thinking about writing this post as I listened to the next lesson in the course, it hit me like a wet fish: "No, you idiot, you don't want to use an accent because the narrator isn't one of the characters."

Granted, you want your narration to have some connection to the characters, some "tude", as Pat says. But the narrator in a third-person narrative is far more likely to be you, telling the story, than to be someone actually in the story.

Guess that's why he makes the big bucks...

On top of the table, all covered with dice...

So, many thanks to the folks out there who have given "A Malady of Magicks" a shot. It's pretty awesome to check in on my ACX dashboard and see actual sales. I sincerely hope you enjoy my take on the story and characters.

But I'm writing this post about something else near and dear to my heart: table-top gaming. One of the things that I remember fondly from my childhood is that, every so often, my parents and I would take a night to sit at our dining room table and actually play a game together: Monopoly, Sorry!, Scrabble (sorry, Mom, that one was never my favorite), even once in a great while, Risk. Growing up as an only child, and a shy, geeky one at that (remember, kids: this was before being "geeky" had any cultural cachet whatsoever), I didn't have a ton of friends I could do that with, so I enjoyed it for that reason--and I also think it helped me feel closer to my parents, too. Now, sure, I was never going to get them to play D&D, or Avalon Hill's Magic Realm, but I'm pretty sure I got them to play at least one round of the original Dungeon.

That formative experience led to a lot of hanging out in game stores in my teenage years, and to a little too much take-home pay being spent on employee discounts during my brief stint in retail (at a game chain whose name I can't recall now). It's also why I instantly fell in love with Wil Wheaton's web series "Tabletop", on the Geek and Sundry channel at YouTube. Wil gets guests together around a (gorgeous) game table, breaks out a different game each episode--some more "mainstream", some slightly geekier--and basically has a blast playing the game, tossing jokes around, and (unfortunately for him), generally losing. If you haven't seen the show, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It is honestly one of the shows Alisha and I enjoy watching the most out of all the TV and web series we follow.

The show, along with the rest of Geek and Sundry (which was started by Felicia Day, of  The Guild fame), has been sponsored by Google up to now, as part of Google's efforts to encourage the creation of great YouTube content. Apparently, that sponsorship is ending, and Wil has taken to Indiegogo to fund development of Season Three of Tabletop.

I'm proud to be supporting that effort, and I hope at least some of you will consider doing the same.

Play more games!

It's heeeere!!

So I got this message in my inbox on Thursday:

Guess my superstition paid off, eh? Well, in any case, that's a nice way to start off the weekend, not to mention a good way to make this all feel real, and the last eight months worthwhile!

I'm proud and happy to be able to let folks know that what I've been calling "Book Number One" is in fact "A Malady of Magicks", by Craig Shaw Gardner. It's a very funny satirical fantasy originally published in 1986, and most recently re-issued by Crossroad Press. If you liked "The Princess Bride", or you've ever read and enjoyed any of Terry Pratchett's work, there's a good chance you'd enjoy this book. It's told from the point of view of Wuntvor, apprentice to Ebenezum, the "greatest mage in the Western Kingdoms". Ebenezum attracts the attention of a powerful demon, and ends up stuck with an allergy to magic. The story follows the duo as they attempt to travel to Vushta ("the city of a thousand forbidden delights") to find a cure for his condition--and, of course, hijinks ensue.

It was amazingly fun to read. I had a blast finding voices for the many (many, many) characters and doing my best to bring out the humor, and I'm looking forward to recording the second book in the trilogy, "A Multitude of Monsters"--which I already have the contract to read (he said smugly). Hopefully folks enjoy it.

You can find the audiobook on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. Happy listening!

Here's to progress!

I'm happy to report that, after some much-needed medical leave for downtime, I got notice from the publisher for "Book Number One" that he was done with my recorded audio files. He sent them over to me, I uploaded them to ACX, and a few clicks of our respective mice later, my first title is now officially in QA--which, according to ACX, can take "upwards of 10-14 days". (Why provide a range, then say it can take "upwards" of the range? Do they mean it can take 10-14 days, or that it can take upwards of 14 days? Or something else? The mind boggles.)

In any case, I'm now into "final countdown" for actually having a book out there, and because this book is the first of a series, I've already contracted to produce the second in the series!

I know that technically I could probably tell you all (my "extensive" audience) what the book is, but I guess I'm superstitious. Somehow it feels like I'd be jinxing it to put it out there right now. So what do I feel comfortable saying?

Well, I can say that this book is one by a well-known author, and that I actually remember seeing it and its sequels in a bookstore back in the 80s--probably a Waldenbooks in Plaza Bonita--and really wanting to read them. It's a satirical fantasy story: think something like "The Princess Bride", but with less overt romance, and much wackier. There's practically a cast of thousands--some chapters, I swear I had to come up with ten or more distinct voices in a single scene! And, perhaps most importantly, I had a blast reading it and I can't wait to record the second title in the series.

So wish me luck with the QA process. Hopefully very soon, I'll be able to let the world share in the fun I had recording my first audiobook.