Barrett Whitener, Narrator

From the vault: Barrett Whitener is the award-winning narrator of "Catch Me If You Can," on audio from Blackstone.  The book was adapted into a Spielberg movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, and is a fascinating memoir about a con artist who poses as an airline pilot.  

JONATHAN LOWE:  What is your background, Barrett, and how did you get started narrating books?

BARRETT WHITENER:  My background is in film study and stage directing.  In my twenties, I thought I'd be the next great great film critic -- the new millennium's James Agee or Pauline Kael.  I got a master's in film from an English university, during which I discovered I didn't want a career in academia.  There followed six years working in public relations, during which I occasionally hired myself to voice some commercials I'd written.  (Shameless of me, but good experience.)  I pretty much forgot about doing voice-overs, and returned to graduate school for a master's in fine arts in directing.  Luckily, among the directing courses, I was required to study voice.  The other stroke of luck was that the directing course brought me to Washington, D.C. for an internship at the Shakespeare Theatre.  A narrator-actor came to look at a room for rent in the group house where I lived at the time.  When I inquired about narrating opportunities, he said, "Well, I work for the Library of Congress, and they're looking for people right now.  Would you like to audition?"  They hired me, and it was the best possible place to start.  I learned so much about researching pronunciations, voicing characters, and so on.  It was like getting my third graduate degree -- one I've actually used.

LOWE:  How many titles have you recorded since then?

WHITENER:  I'm pushing about two hundred titles by now.

LOWE:  That's a lot, especially with so many unabridged.  Were you always a voracious reader, and did your family encourage you to read aloud?

WHITENER:  From as early as I can remember, I loved to read.  Comic books, cereal boxes, "real" books, anything.  My parents were avid readers, so I guess it just never occurred to me not to.  I don't recall anyone in the home encouraging me to read aloud -- they didn't have to.  From age eight or nine, I would make up stories and read them into a tape recorder, complete with my own canned laughter due to the sitcom influence.  By ten or eleven, I was dragging friends into the act, making my own little juvenile versions of Nichols and May skits. . .who am I kidding? . . .more like Cheech and Chong skits!. . .and putting them on tape.  And a couple of my English teachers were big on oral interpretation, bless 'em.

LOWE:   Maybe this explains your range of titles, from the bizarre "Villa Incognito" by Tom Robbins for Random House to "Catch Me If You Can" by Frank Abagnale.  Who are your favorite authors, and which genres have you most enjoyed recording?

WHITENER:  For pleasure I read mostly nonfiction. . .histories, biographies, art and cultural criticism.  Right now I'm on a jag of writers who cover our current international conflicts in some way, like Bernard Lewis, Paul Berman, Karen Armstrong.  When I do read fiction, I most enjoy the witty stuff with an edge. . .Philip Roth, Tom Robbins, Allan Gurganus.  That's my favorite genre to record, too, and "A Confederacy of Dunces" is my favorite book to have done so far.  The comic imagination behind it just doesn't quit.

LOWE:  Abagnale's book has some funny moments too.  Did you see the movie based on it, and what did you think of the story--is it exaggerated, or mostly factual, do you think?

WHITENER:  I thought the movie of "Catch Me" was terrific.  Spielberg showed an appreciation for the reckless, irresponsible daredeviltry of what Frank Abagnale did. It felt almost like a big-budget "Austin Powers" movie, though with far more lounge-era, Rat Pack style.  The amazing thing is how few of Abagnale's exploits were invented for the movie.  If anything, Spielberg played them down.  The episode of the European tour with the stewardess trainees, for instance, is even more jaw-dropping when you read the whole tale.  What the movie invents is the backstory of his father, presumably in an attempt to make Frank more sympathetic.  The book, on the other hand, makes him seem closer to an American pirate.

LOWE:  I understand that it was easier to con people back then, but his followup book "The Art of the Steal" also shows that we're still vulnerable, doesn't it?

WHITENER:  Yes, he points out that in some ways, we're more vulnerable than ever.  While it's harder for a crook to kite checks now than it was when Frank did it, he says that the computer age has made more serious crimes -- such as identity theft -- much easier.  Since I recorded that one, it seems as though I see a story on another identity theft in the news every week.

LOWE:  What do you see as the most difficult thing about narrating a book?

WHITENER:  The biggest challenge for me in narrating is also what makes it fun.  Keeping the arc of the drama intact.  Maybe my directing training pays off a little here.  It's important to know not only who each character is, but also how each one contributes specifically to a novel's conflict and central idea.  That all sounds very drama-major, I know.  But I find that when I'm very clear on those questions, the process flows better.  It can also be a challenge working alone, which I do much of the time.  I'm pretty gregarious by nature, so on breaks I'll go fire off some email, or call my friends and bug them at their "normal" jobs.  Of course, they think I've got it made, and they're probably right.

LOWE:  Describe the process for you, if you will, from preparation to execution.

WHITENER:  For fiction, I read the entire book before recording.  Depending on the piece, maybe I'll do some additional research on the period or setting.  Always I take notes on the characters -- accents, vocal or other traits the author specifies, my "feel" for them, maybe people I've known or met who they remind me of.  This task is essential if you try to give each character as distinct a voice as you can.  It also helps you avoid the nightmare scenario that once happened to a narrator I know, who got to the last page of a novel he hadn't researched, and there the author wrote for the first time that the hero had a "strong Scottish accent."  The narrator had given him no such thing, and had to go back and re-record the whole book!  For nonfiction, I'll give the book at least a close skim before starting.  For both fiction and nonfiction, I make a list of all words, including names, for which I need to find the correct pronunciation, and find those before I record.  That way, the recording can flow in as uninterrupted a way as possible.

LOWE:  Do you use your own studio exclusively, or do you travel much to record?  I met some narrators at the Audie awards, and noticed that they seem to know each other, and do cross paths at these events, and possibly in the studios too.  Are you friends with many other narrators, and who do you admire?

WHITENER:  Over half of my recordings are done in my home studio, which I've finally outfitted with Pro Tools recently.  I'm a one-man band. In the past couple of years, I've begun to travel fairly often for work too, which is great.  Someone else punches the buttons and does the editing, and I just do my favorite part, the reading.  Plus, I get to socialize between takes.  The narrating community is still fairly small, though less so now than a few years ago, when, because of the Library of Congress, the majority of audiobook readers in the country lived in the D.C. area. Even so, I've met many of the narrators from around the country at various conferences and events.  One of the best is right in my backyard, Grover Gardner. He sets a high standard for the rest of us.  He's got the true narrating gene.  And to my ears, Kate Fleming (a.k.a. Anna Fields) is one of the most outstanding women in the field.

LOWE:  I agree on that.  Now, you've won a "Voice of the Century" award from Audiofile, and some Earphones awards.  What are you most proud of, and how has the press treated you?

WHITENER:  I've been extremely lucky in my press.  As the audiobook industry has grown in the past decade, the reviews have taken on more significance.  Luckily, the reviewers seem to be generally well-read and well-informed.  "Voice of the Century" is quite a label to have hung around your throat!  For all the reasons I mentioned before, I was also gratified that Booklist included "A Confederacy of Dunces" on their "year's best" list.  I hope that encouraged some people to read the book in whatever format.

LOWE:  What's next on the agenda for you to record?

WHITENER:  After finishing your novel, next up for me are Spider Robinson's "Callahan's Key" for Blackstone Audio -- another of his fun, shaggy-dog sci-fi yarns.  And for Books On Tape, "Triangle" by David von Drehle, a powerful account of the 1910 Triangle Shirtwaist Co. fire in New York.  As projects go, they don't get much more varied than that.

LOWE:  Look forward to hearing those.  And, of course, the great thing about acting for a microphone is that, unlike Hollywood, they can't tell you that you're too old, meaning over 30!  So folks should be hearing from you for a long time to come.  Thanks, Barrett.

{Jonathan's suspense novel "Awakening Storm," from Blackstone Audio, is read by Barrett, and by Barry Abrams for Audible.) 

In the Gate with Barry Abrams

Jonathan Lowe) There is a Barry Abrams horse trainer from Belarus who retired with throat cancer, and an article I saw said, “he was barely audible.” Like Audible. How did you start as a Voice actor? Was it a transition from horse race announcing? Which came first—the voiceover egg or the jockey? 

Barry Abrams) I started doing the horse racing podcast, “In The Gate” for 2 reasons. First, as a marketing tool. In researching the voice-over industry, I found that several name voice artists did podcasts of some kind. It didn’t necessarily matter what the topic was, as long as it was sustainable and presented reasonably intelligently.  I settled on thoroughbred racing since I know a lot about it, and I am fortunate that my day job employer allows me to post the shows on their world-renowned website. The second reason I started the show was to get built-in mic time each week… practice. I also learned better ways to edit my own stuff, since that is now part and parcel of the job. I actually had the trainer, Barry Abrams, on the podcast, but he really didn’t get the joke. Opportunity wasted.  Nice man, though. First-generation immigrant. Hope he recovers completely. 

Lowe) I once interviewed Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand, who loved the horse, as did so many at the time due to the horse being an underdog that people in the Great Depression identified with. What do the numbers say about the greatest horses of all time, like Secretariat, and what horse is your personal favorite? 

Abrams) In terms of numbers, Man O’War has the longest stride of any horse ever measured – something like 28’, a good 2-3 more than most, so he was gaining on you just by running your speed. Secretariat had a heart twice the size of a normal equine heart, and a third larger than any ever previously measured. He had a bigger engine and could pump more blood so his muscles recovered faster.  

Lowe) Lance Armstrong had similar advantage. A physically big heart. 

Abrams) Well, they are arguably the two best American thoroughbreds ever, and now you know why. My favorite, though, is a female named Rachel Alexandra. In 2009 as a 3-year old, she beat males 3x including a Triple Crown race – the Preakness. Her win against older males, which very rarely happens in American racing, in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Check it out on YouTube. 

Lowe) The Letterman incident where he got you to repeat the phrase “He shoots, he scores!” Were you surprised to see him sitting there at your internship interview at NBC?

Abrams) The date was Monday, April 13th, 1990. As I reached the spring of my first year at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications, I went to NBC to apply for a summer internship. Rob Burnett, still a budding producer at that time, came into the waiting area to announce that Letterman wanted to do a gag where he pretended to be personnel director. We in the waiting area were assured we would also get a real interview afterword for the internships we wanted. I called my mother, since I was to be home at 12:30 in order to vacuum the house for that night’s first Passover seder. That’s why I was back at home that day, and the internship interview made sense to do while home. My mother didn’t know or care about Letterman, and she said, “When are they doing this?” “Now (10am),” I replied. She said, “be home by 12:30pm.” 

Lowe) Some of the other titles you’ve narrated include The Well-Tempered City, The Four Things That Matter Most, Watching Smarter Baseball, Scienceblind, Whiskey Business, Brady vs Manning, This Narrow Space, and Destination Earth. Mostly non-fiction. Favs? 

Abrams) I enjoy primarily non-fiction. Since I am a journalist by trade, I am wired to want to learn about the actual world around us, not necessarily a made-up world. I mean, I enjoy a good story or a good movie as much as anybody, but the publishers I service figured out, without my even having to tell them, that I perform non-fiction well. Of all the titles I have done so far, I really enjoyed This Narrow Space. It is about a pediatric oncologist who moves from New York to Israel to try to set up a pediatric palliative care unit at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Hearing from an American perspective about the cultural differences between the two places was fascinating. The timing was coincidentally perfect, also – I traveled to the Holy Land about two weeks after completing the book, and it all hit home for me.

Lowe) Fav books you haven’t narrated?

Abrams) To Kill a Mockingbird, and the Torah.

Lowe) You recorded the title Vitamin N. How can listening to audiobooks while hiking get one more attuned to nature, with a capital N? 

Abrams) Vitamin N is a perfect book to which to listen while walking around. Wear small earbuds, though – not big cans that block out the natural sound. Walking around while listening to Vitamin N is like talking a guided tour of a historical location. You’ll start to notice so many little things that your eyes and mind would normally just pass right over. Even though you’ll be using an electronic device to get there, you’ll start to unplug and learn to appreciate the simple but wonderful gifts of nature.

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Listen to AWAKENING STORM and THE UMPIRE HAS NO CLOTHES, both narrated by Barry. He adds some horse humor of his own to the latter, just out. My sister has passed, and was a huge audiobook fan. We went to a horse race in NC together once too, and there is a horse named Audible. She reviewed some audiobooks for Cracker Barrel stores website, and interviewed Christian authors. My novel “Awakening Storm” is dedicated to her, and was narrated by Barry. Visit Barry Abrams Voice on Facebook, and me at Jon Lowe. His podcast is called THE FAR TURN. 

Interview with Christina Delaine

Lowe) How did you discover voiceover?

Delaine) Kids do funny voices, but I was that weird little kid walking around impersonating John Moschitta,the fast-talking guy who did the MicroMachine commercials, and acting out whole scenes from The Wizard of Oz, doing all the different character voices. Later on, when I had gotten out of grad school for acting and was cast in a popular show in NY, I quickly realized that despite its success, pretty much everyone in the cast had a day job besides acting to make ends meet, and they spent much of their day doing things they hated so they could do this one thing they loved for a few hours a night. So I made a vow that I would never do anything other than perform to make my living. VO was a natural fit for me. I started to aggressively pursue it,and it became the way for me to support my theater habit. 

Lowe) Influences? 

Delaine) As far as audiobooks go, I’d say my heroes and strongest influences are Barbara Rosenblat and Will Patton. Barbara was my first listening experience. My mom got me Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody series, narrated by Barbara, and I was just blown away. I don’t think I could have asked for a better introduction to the art form. Barbara is a wonderful actor. Her ability to inhabit character is simply awe-inspiring, and her facility with accents and vocal characterization are unparalleled. I had no idea the breadth of acting and skill involved in audiobooks and her work just opened the door to this whole world for me. Will Patton is simply sublime. His acting is so beautiful, so effortless. He’s always so alive, spontaneous and existentially present within the text, just channeling the emotional subtext so fully. When I daydream about doing the job well and what that means, I imagine I’m the love child of Barbara and Will.

 

Fav authors and why? 

Every single author I narrate for! They pay my mortgage! Also, they picked me, and I’m a sucker for flattery! I am cheekily serious, but that’s also a hard question, and a long list. I was an English major in undergrad. My double focus was on Shakespeare and 19^th Century American Fiction, both of which I love, so Shakespeare, Hawthorne, and Irving are on the list for sure, but my tastes are wide and varied, and books are a huge part of my life. My dogs are Boo Radley, named after Harper Lee’s "To Kill a Mockingbird", and Esme, named for the title-character in "For Esmé—with Love and Squalor" by J.D. Salinger. I’m a huge fan of Stephen King, especially when narrated by Will Patton, and my guilty pleasure is any kind of apocalyptic fiction. Give me a few zombies, a plague or a post-armageddon hellscape, and I’m a happy girl. Jonathan Maberry's Joe Ledger series is a favorite.

What are you working on now, and what’s next?

I’m currently working on TAKE WHAT YOU NEED by Idra Novey for Penguin Random House Audio. What’s next is me taking a little time to work on children’s book I’ve been writing about my dog. Hopefully, one day, there will be an audio edition available! 

(Note: Will Patton narrates James Lee Burke, and my Rosenblat interview appears at this blog. Also, my audiobook The Final Plot of Valerie Lott drops today).

Interview with narrator Megan Trout

 

MEGAN TROUT is a multi-talented voice actor who has appeared on stage and in film. She attended voice acting and audiobook schools, and has received raves for appearances with Shotgun Players, Boxcar Theatre, Z-Space, Aurora Theatre, Central Works, and the O'Neill Foundation for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." For more visit MeganTrout.com. 

Jonathan Lowe: What is your preferred genre, and why? 

Megan Trout: I am a thriller/horror girl and I also love YA, so when I get to do a YA thriller (Like These Fleeting Shadows) I am in heaven.

Q: Fav author, and influences? Who first told you to use your voice commercially?

A: Favorite author is incredibly difficult but as a cultural touchstone and influence, I'd say Shirley Jackson is right up there. Haunting of Hill House remains one of my favorite books of all time. 

No one told me "I had a great voice", I kind of stumbled into voiceover through an on-camera job. It required some voiceover pickups for an animated video, and I discovered I was pretty good at site reading. I also kind of hate being on-set and having people touching my hair and face constantly, so recording in the booth with just the director and engineer was a revelation. After that job, I started to pay more attention to the voiceover auditions my agent would send my way. 

Q: How did you begin voiceover and narration of books, and what gives you most satisfaction and consumes most of your time: commercials, video games, books, or other work?

A: I started pursuing voiceover classes in 2018 at VoiceOne, an awesome school in San Francisco. Since I had already begun training before the pandemic (and the subsequent influx of actors into the voiceover industry), I was a bit ahead of the curve. I randomly signed up for an audiobooks class, simply because I had never taken one. The amazing Ronnie Butler Jr. was teaching, and all of a sudden--something clicked. I previously worked professionally in live theater for ten years, and all of that craft and skill is VERY relevant in audiobook narration. ...Once I mastered not projecting into the mic, I was able to translate those skills and hit the ground running in audiobooks. 

I spent 2021 giving alot of love and attention to my narration career, to establish myself as a full-time narrator. So, these days, audiobooks definitely take up the most time. I do have two commercial voiceover agents, and probably audition 5-10 times a week for commercial projects. Ultimately, I'd love to spend a little more time and energy establishing more commercial clients and have a bit more balance between audiobooks and commercial voiceover. 

Q: What are you working on now, and what's next?

A: Right now I am wrapping up my last book for 2022: Hot Lumberjack by Aviva Blakeman. It's a very sweet and FUNNY Jewish romance where I got to reconnect with my Jewish heritage and brush up on a bunch of amazing Yiddish words (narrated under pseudonym, Scarlett Dorian). First up in 2023 is Cry For Me by R. Sullins. It's a YA romance, with all the big feelings and angst that come with that first, "once in a lifetime" love. The heroine comes from troubled circumstances and I cannot wait to bring her struggles, growth and triumph to life (Trigger Warning: bullying).

Lowe: Thanks for your time! Know you're busy. Looking forward to updates.

 

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“Ghostly Mozart” by Jonathan Lowe: short film produced with the Greenville Symphony by director Kent Lantaff for schools. Cast of hundreds, had cameo (as did mayor) in which Mozart exchanges places with an eccentric high school teacher via time machine to be chased downtown (van vs moped) to a television store at the mall. Mozart is captured and returned before he can complete his Unfinished Symphony, much to his chagrin and amusement. A dozen short radio dramas written and co-produced for various radio stations (including Sun Sounds and Shoestring Theatre in San Francisco) and for CD production as “Tall Tales for the Road” (Timberwolf) and “Oscar’s Hijack” (Blackstone, both out of print.) Oscar statutes hijacked in route by escaped convict, and given away at a radio station in Los Angeles in revenge, and to anyone who can “come on down.” Have also written several (produced) short stage plays. 

Interview with Narrator Michael Crouch

 

Michael Crouch is a New York City based actor specializing in voiceover. His audiobook narration has earned Audie Awards, multiple Earphones Awards, and AudioFile Magazine’s Golden Voice Lifetime Achievement Honor. He can also be heard on national commercials, cartoons, video games, industrials, and the animé series Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon.

 

JONATHAN LOWE) How did you get started narrating audiobooks? What did you do beforehand?

MICHAEL CROUCH) I’ve been acting since I was a kid. Lots of theatre. Shortly after graduating college I realized I didn’t want to pursue a career on the stage. But I still felt an itch to act in some form. That’s when I started exploring the art and business of voiceover. I began taking commercial and animation classes and eventually began working in the field. At that point I was still a stranger to audiobook narration.

In late 2013 I enrolled in a narration course taught by Grammy-winning producer and director Paul Ruben. I found the work frustrating and fascinating. The class met once a week for six weeks, and around the third week my agent sent me an audition for an audiobook for Random House. I applied the techniques I’d been learning in Paul’s class, and right after the course ended I found out I got the job! The timing was amazing. Still, it took another two years of persistence and patience before I started working consistently.

Q) How many audiobooks have you done so far, and what is your preferred genre?

A) If you include full cast projects, I've done about 330 audiobooks in total. It's hard to pick a preferred genre. It's all about the writing. When it's good it's good! Some of my personal favorites are more literary in style and contain dark subject matter. A perfect example is the audiobook I most recently finished, I Am the Light of This World by Michael Parker.

 

Q)  Favorite authors and titles?

A) Well, definitely the one I just mentioned. I Am the Light of This World by Michael Parker. Here are a few more highlights off the top of my head: THE GREAT BELIEVERS by Rebecca Makkai, a Pulitzer and National Book Award Finalist. Lights All Night Long by Lydia Fitzpatrick. Simon vs. Homo Sapiens Agenda, which is a movie. And Wink by Rob Harrell, about surviving middle school, Soar by Joan Bauer, about a kid who loves baseball, and Groundskeeping by Lee Cole, a coming of age story about a wannabe writer who moves in with his Trump loving uncle.

Q)  Congratulations at your recent boost in exposure as a narrator. Have you done any writing yourself, and where have you been featured?

A) I have not done any writing. I'll leave that to the pros!

 

Q) What is your advice for new listeners and for upcoming narrator wanna-bes? And what's next for you?

A) For new narrators, I would remind them to take it easy on themselves. Audiobooks are not easy. You are going to mess up. A lot. It's okay. That's what editing is for. You're being asked to record tons of material in a very short period. And you're making artistic choices throughout, not just spewing words (at least I hope you're not). To me, the best narrators are sensitive readers--meaning they open themselves up to every shift and turn in the text and let it affect them. It's a moment by moment experience.

Next up for me: A new Animorphs audiobook and a thriller entitled CHANCE by Matthew FitzSimmons.

Lowe: Thanks much for your time. You are a very talented and versatile voice actor with a great future! I hope your listeners share and comment here. BTW, I was surprised to see your photo in Audiofile below Perdita Weeks. She’s on the Magnum PI Reboot (and narrated Circe, among others.) I am admin for the private Facebook group with 7100 members, and am posing the best questions by members for a Robin Masters book.

Joshua Saxon, Narrator

JOSHUA SAXON passionate about literature and working with authors, publishers, and artists to help them deliver their story utilizing his voice. Storyteller of over sixty novels and short story collections, the combination of his passion for words and dialects gives him a unique ability to bridge the 

gap between the prose on the page and the ear of the listener. 

NO SHARKS IN THE MED: Prior to the first American publication of Brian Lumley's ground-breaking, dead waking, best-selling Necroscope in 1988 - the first novel in a long-lived, much-loved series - this British author had for 20 years been earning an envious reputation writing short stories, novellas, and a series of novels set against H. P. Lovecraft's cosmic Cthulhu Mythos backdrop. In addition, and for a further 20 years, Lumley's non-Mythos fantasy, SF, and horror stories have been appearing on a regular basis in some of the world's most famous publications; for example The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Weird Tales, along with anthologies such as Karl Edward Wagner's Year's Best Horror Stories, Charles L. Grant's Final Shadows, and Kirby McCauley's Frights, among others.

BLACK CITY SAINT: a gang war is brewing between Prohibition bootleggers, but it may be the least of Nick's concerns. If Nick cannot prevent an old evil from opening the way between realms, then not only might Chicago face a fate worse than the Great Fire, but so will the rest of the mortal realm.

BOON: Boonsri Angchuan travels the trails, riding from town to town with her one and only friend, a portly Arkansan drunkard named Edward Splettstoesser. She has done nothing else for years, her only goal being revenge upon the one man who should have protected her but instead sold her and her mother into bondage. From Texas to the New Mexico Territory, from the filthy backstreets of San Francisco’s notorious Barbary Coast to the ghost town of a depleted placer mine, Boon and Edward navigate corrupt lawmen, hostile Kiowa, a mad judge, and countless gunmen aiming for their heads in Boon’s dogged pursuit of answers - and vengeance. 

Jonathan Lowe) How did you get started narrating, and what drew you to Brian Lumley?

Joshua Saxon) I was working construction and a friend of mine who was a producer for an online education company had his VO artist call in sick and he needed someone to stand in for him. Even though I didn’t have any VO experience, he liked my voice enough to ask me to do it. It was only a couple of lines but after I did them he asked me if I had ever thought about narrating audiobooks, and pointed me to ACX. He helped me record some samples and put together my first budget set of recording gear. I’ve always been an avid reader so for me it was like a dream come true.

As far as Mr. Lumley is concerned, I had recorded an audiobook for Crossroad Press by author Stephen Mark Rainey. I saw an audition notice for Brian Lumley’s “A Coven of Vampires” from Crossroad. I had read the entire Necroscope series and had read all of Mr. Lumley’s short stories since I was young and thought that it would be an honor just to audition for him. I sent in a sample reading to Crossroad and got an email back from them asking if I could perform some different accents for it. I did so, sent it back, and they hired me. I have to say. Lumley’s works have always been inspirational to me, not only because of his writing style, but because in the midst of the horror he is able to conjure up, there is always a thread of grief or longing in them, which makes the humanity of the horror that much more relatable.

Q) What is hardest and what most rewarding about reading books for a living, and how did David at Crossroad Press find you?

A) The hardest thing about reading books for a living is knowing when to say “no” to a book. Whether it is because of scheduling, or content, or knowing that you are the wrong voice for it, there is an innate desire within me as a reader to simply want to read anything put before me, and I have to keep in mind at all times that I’m also running a business. Every author I’ve had the honor to work with is amazing and I always want to narrate their books, but often times, I’m not the right person for them when I read that. That’s a very difficult thing to overcome. However, the most rewarding thing is also in line with that same idea. It is amazing and incredibly humbling to be trusted with the works of an author. To have them entrust their story to you and for you to bring it to an audience as their mouthpiece, so to speak, is an incredible level of trust that’s not to be taken lightly and to have been the recipient of that trust reminds me every day how lucky I am to be able to do it.

David Niall Wilson is an amazing author in his own right. I’m kind of amazed at the amount of plates he spins as a person. I had seen an audition on ACX for a book called “Blue Devil Island” by Stephen Mark Rainey is a WWII adventure/horror/Lovecraftian novel. I auditioned for it, was awarded the book, and made sure to turn it in as fast as I could. David and I struck up a lot of conversation after that about narrating, reading, and literature in general and we started looking for books, once I had gotten a good head of steam behind me, to begin expanding Crossroad’s audiobook library which was already filled with amazing narrators and novels.

Q) I assume you have a home studio. What kind of equipment do you use?

A) The equipment I use has changed over the years as my income from audiobooks has grown. Currently my mic is a Neumann TLM103 running through a Focusrite Scarlett Solo preamp to my PC which houses StudioOne and RX Standard for editing and post-production. I have a space that I built specifically for recording the audiobooks that I feel is never isolated enough from exterior noise. One of the funny things about isolating yourself from exterior noise is that, once you begin to do it, you start to hear even MORE specific noises and then you have to fight to block them out as well. Try turning off your air conditioning or heating in your home sometime and listen to all of the noise around you. It’s exasperating.

Q)  You are able to switch between genres and accents with ease. If I can give you a recommendation it’s “A versatile voice actor with both power and depth in creating character voices. From Horror to Western, as in BOON.” What audiobook are you most proud of narrating?

A) Thanks. The audiobooks I’m most proud of narrating are… all of them, to be honest. I would be hard pressed to be able to pick any of them out and say I’m less or more proud. All of them have taught me something about the efforts required to narrate. I would switch up the answer to the question here and state that there are certain books I feel both lucky and humbled to have been chosen to narrate. That I have been entrusted by Nikos Kazantzakis’ organization in Greece to bring his body of work to audiobook makes me feel truly humbled. I have been reading his works since I was a teenager and to have that responsibility and trust placed in me makes me feel honored. I would say that exact same thing about Lumley’s works as well. I can barely describe the feeling I get when a fan of his reaches out to tell me about how my narration of his works has made them feel. The fans and listeners will either email me or message me to tell me personal stories about how listening to his books on audio has made them fall in love with reading again and that’s always my goal. If I can get the listener to mine the gold of an author’s works after listening to me read them, then I have done my job.

Q)  What does a typical day look like for you, and what’s next?

A) A typical day for me actually follows my previous life in construction. I wake up early in the morning, get the kids off to school, and then pull up my GANTT chart of audiobooks I’m working on which I have broken down by start and end date, pages completed, and pages left to narrate, which are then divided into how many pages need to be read on that day and what page I left off on the previous day. I basically look at narration as a construction project. There are deliverables on a specific schedule so I put together a chart to track them. Currently I’m narrating a whole host of novels. I will say, never before in my life have I felt intimidated by a book, until now. I’m currently recording Kazantzakis’ “The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel”. When I read it originally I felt I had accomplished a life goal. Now I’ve been presented with another in that I am now its narrator. Homer’s “The Odyssey” contained just over 12K lines of verse. Kazantzakis’ is 33, 333 lines of verse. But aside from the sheer length of the book, it is almost fathomless in how densely packed it is with his philosophical points and rich prose.

David N. Wilson on Joshua) All voice actors and narrators have strengths and weaknesses. It might be the transition between characters of different genders, or limited accents. For some, it's a storyteller's voice all the way through, or nonfiction is the key. Joshua Saxon is one of the most versatile and talented narrators I have ever worked with. He can slip flawlessly between various accents, and hold them throughout a book length work. He was chosen to narrate Brian Lumley's books over native British voices. He has been narrating the works of Nikos Kazantzakis, author of The Temptation of Christ. He has done westerns, thrillers, you name it, and is always up for the challenge. He is deserving of much more notice than he has received thus far. (Update: David Wilson has won an Audiobooks Today INFLUENCER AWARD for 2022 in the category of Horror.)

LEN CASSAMAS

LEONARD CASSAMAS was born in Warwick, RI, on September 27, 1959, to Michael and Joan (nee' Kiernan), the third of three boys. He grew up in Rhode Island and San Francisco. A writer as well as an actor, Len has written and self-published a detective novel MICHAEL DRAYTON, DETECTIVE, and LOOKING FOR CHRISTMAS, a collection of short stories on a Christmas theme. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his wife and their herd of cats. He is on IMDB. 

Len Cassamas: Over the years, I’ve written three full-length plays, one one act, and several audio plays and numerous sketches. I’ve also published a collection of Christmas-themed short stories called Looking for Christmas and my take on the hardboiled detective novel, a book called Michael Drayton, Detective Guy. Last year, I made a novella I wrote called “That’s the Way of the World” available on my website, LenCassamas.com, for free. I tend to read history and biography, and, when it comes to fiction, tend toward reading classics and literary fiction.

Jon Lowe)  Michael Drayton, Detective Guy. What's that about?
LC) “Michael Drayton, Detective Guy" is a noir mystery with a literary flavor.  It features Michael Drayton, an offbeat, nonviolent, Rhode Island-based private detective, and the adventure he finds himself in after his wealthiest client is murdered on the same afternoon he is doing routine work for the man’s daughter and son-in-law.  He has run-ins and interactions with mobsters and politicians and, of course, the police and has to balance a variety of interests and loyalties while trying to act with honor—at least according to his ideas about honor.  And, on top of all that, he’s trying to quit smoking. As with all of my work, humor may be involved.  I have also adapted this for full production audio, but, since the script features over 60 speaking roles, haven’t had the time to organize such a massive project. Someday, though.
JL) How did you come to acting for film? Any commercials, games, or other media?
LC) I actually started in the olden days of my youth, doing theater, but my heart was always in film and TV.  I got burnt out doing theater and my father passed away, and I made a series of silly decisions, including deciding to retire from acting to concentrate on writing.  Thirty years later, fortunately, I came to my senses just at a time when Atlanta and Georgia in general—where I happen to live—was becoming something of a mecca for film and television production.  After getting myself back in shape by doing a series of videos I put up on YouTube as “The Car Monologues,” I contacted seven agents and got a response from one, who signed me.  Within three months, I had been cast in a web series and in a SAG/AFTRA independent film.  That was years ago.  I left my regular job to pursue acting full time.  It helps to have a wife who makes a nice living. As a professional actor, I take whatever roles I can get and have appeared on a cable crime reenactment show, several web series, and a couple of short films.  
JL) What did you read as a teen that may have influenced you to act and write?
LC) My favorite writers when I was a teen and in college were John Steinbeck, Hermann Hesse, and Raymond Chandler, along with several humorists, including Woody Allen, SJ Perelman, and Robert Benchley.  I also devoured Fred Allen’s memoir concerning his years in radio, which was called “Treadmill to Oblivion.”  Another one of my interests was the playwright and wit, George S. Kaufman, and there are roles in his plays that I still hope to have a shot at. I fell into performing as a sophomore in high school when my best friend convinced me to try out for that year’s production, which was the stage version of the book “M*A*S*H,” a book I read and enjoyed.  During our first performance, I came out on stage and had some business before I needed to speak.  During that time, despite a warning from the director not to do so, I snuck a peek at the audience.  In that moment, all my nervousness disappeared, and I thought, “Ah!  I’m home.” As a writer, I came to my vocation in the cafeteria of the junior high school I attended.  I was in study hall there, and our English teacher had assigned us to write a short story.  No one had ever asked us for fiction before, and, as I worked on the story, I had a quasi-religious experience and knew that I would be writing stories for the rest of my days.

(Update: Len co-narrated my novel Postmarked for Death with me, but graciously agreed to release rights back so that I could find another narrator and publisher. My memoir Post Office Confidential is due Jan. 1, 2023, and is in preorder. It was inspired by Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, since I once co-owned a seafood restaurant, and have worked in others. There is also excerpts from Postmarked, reviews, interviews, recommended books, and chilling details of postal shootings.)

Immersion by Larry Maley

It is difficult to say when the Immersion happened. There is little doubt as to where it began. It was in a village. Despite an impoverished life, the village held a community. A community that was rich in the love of life and each other. People that worked together to ensure that all were fed and taken care of. Some would say these conditions are the essence of an IMMERSION.

Mik and his friends are at that age when the future looks infinite in all its possibilities. Life in the Village has never seemed so good. This year they attend the county fair as adults. But there is a world outside that cares little for the country people and their yearly celebrations of life together. A world where monsters prey on innocents. A world of evil.

In the aftermath of the destruction of their world, 10 refugees struggle to stay alive. But the Immersion has happened, and they have a greater role yet to play…

Audiobooks Today)  You seem to be a fan of fantasy and science fiction. When did you start reading and writing?

Larry Maley)  Well, like many fans of fantasy, my journey began with JRR Tolkien. I read it the first time in 9^th grade after seeing the Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin cartoon version of The Hobbit. Not long after I was indoctrinated into D&D and many other fantasy role playing games… I became a full-fledged nerd. I tried my hand at writing in the 90’s. But back then getting published was difficult. Today with the Indie route things have changed, so I decided to try again. 

AT) Can you describe Immersion?

LM) Immersion is the story about good people helping each other. Many stories today thrive on conflicts between the main protagonists. I believe that the most memorable stories are focused on great relationships between characters. Immersion is about ten such young adults that see each other through the worst times in their lives. It is set in a medieval world with a magic system that has a purpose. The reader learns about the magic, or mana, as the characters do. It's about that growth, and the growth of their friendship and love for each other.

AT) The narrator is excellent. Where did you find him? From auditions on ACX?

LM)  I feel that I am so lucky to have David Pickering as my audio narrator. I went through Audible ACX audition app. And I got to say I had so many talented applicants making the choice was driving me crazy. I had narrowed to ten. On the day I was going to pick, in pops a new audition. I listened and knew that this was the guy.

AT) It used to be that indies were not given many reviews by the major media. Now it seems to depend on number of clicks. What are your thoughts on promotion and the state of reading today?

LM) I am lost in this whole indie promotion process. I have read to books and many blogs about promoting and marketing as an Indie. Mostly I want to just write the remaining two books I have planned for this series. But I am realizing that’s just not possible. Finding ways to beat the algorithms itself is a full-time job… and it muddles my head when I all I want to do is develop stories. 

AT)  Publishers decry the amount of junk that comes across their desks, so it’s always good to find something good amid the maze. What’s next for you? 

LM) The day I started Immersion with the line ‘It is difficult to say when the Immersion happened.’ I was struggling with the idea of closing my Audible membership and clinging to the small library I had amassed over the years. It had been getting more difficult to find a book I enjoy. So, I thought ‘if you think you can do better… just do it. I don’t know that I did do better than the average book on audible today. Opinions will vary. I just know I wrote a book that the 9th grade me would have loved. After he read The Lord of the Rings of course.

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