Author: Bryna Butler
Narrator: Michael Mola
Length: 3 hours 2 minutes
Series: Mothman Mysteries, Book 2
Publisher: Swancrest Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Mystery; YA
Thursday, August 27, 2020
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Audiobook Tour: #Wrong Side of the Grave - #Mothman Mysteries, Book One @mogdocnews @AnAudiobookworm
Author: Bryna Butler
Narrator: James Fouhey
Length: 4 hours 40 minutes
Series: Mothman Mysteries, Book 1
Publisher: Swancrest Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Mystery; YA
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Audiobook Blog Tour #Soul Searchers #Donn's Shadow @carynlarrinaga @jnmcevoy @AnAudioBookworm
Author: Caryn Larrinaga
Narrator: Jessica McEvoy
Length: 9 hours 51 minutes
Series: The Soul Searchers Mysteries, Book 2
Released: March 2020
Publisher: Twisted Tree Press
Genre: Supernatural Cozy Mystery
Mackenzie Clair finally has this whole ghost-hunting psychic thing figured out. The Soul Searchers are a hit, she’s got pet-parenting down, and she even has a plan to banish the poltergeist running amok at a lakeside cabin. Best of all, Donn’s Hill feels like home. But not everyone loves the town as much as Mac.
A world-famous paranormal debunker thinks the psychics in Donn’s Hill are lying about their abilities. His determination to destroy the Soul Searchers threatens Mac’s livelihood, and when a killer strikes, the sheriff’s suspicions threaten her freedom.
Mac needs all the help she can get to find the real murderer and clear her name… even if that help comes from beyond the grave.
Caryn Larrinaga is a self-described horror evangelist and paranormal junkie. Her debut supernatural mystery novel, DONN’S HILL, won the League of Utah Writers 2017 Silver Quill Award in the adult novel category and was a 2017 Dragon Award finalist. Her short fiction has won multiple honors and been featured in local and international anthologies. Watching scary movies through split fingers terrified Caryn as a child, and those nightmares inspire her to write now. She lives near Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and their clowder of cats. Visit www.carynlarrinaga.com for free short stories and audiobooks.
Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Instagram⎮Goodreads
Between peddling video games and teaching yoga in her home state of Arizona, Jessica McEvoy attempts to conduct a career as a professional voice actress. This, however, is moderately undermined by the fact that she records in a dimly lit closet with her microphone balanced on a stack of old board games (Junior Scrabble and Powerpuff Girls Monopoly form a strong foundation), but she hopes that no one holds that against her.Though her main work consists of narrating audiobooks, her first dive into the voice world was through the NoSleep podcast after answering a post from the LibriVox forums. Having been raised on horror movies and scary stories, she was beyond excited to be able to work on the show. Many stories, tortured screams, deranged villains, and creepy little girl giggles later, Jessica hopes to work on the podcast for seasons and seasons to come.
Q&A with Striker the cat
- What is your full name? Do you have a nickname (if so, who calls you this)?
Striker Clair. Mac sometimes calls me “my cat” in front of other humans, which is hilarious. - Where do you live now, and with whom? Describe the place (home and location) and the person/people you live with.
Mac found me a really nice, warm, cozy apartment in a big yellow house not too far from Main Street in Donn’s Hill. There’s a great big tree right by the window, so I can climb up and down whenever I want. My favorite part about it is this cushy bench that runs along the inside of a round turret; it’s sunny there for most of the day and it’s a great place to nap. Usually I sleep in the soft bed Mac bought me though; she’s pretty warm so I let her share it with me. - What is your job?
I’m in charge of security for a TV show called the Soul Searchers. I travel with the team when they’re filming and make sure no mice or birds interfere with anything. If a ghost shows up, I keep Mac safe. She’s really important. You know… to the show.
Sometimes I help my friend Graham sell his sculptures at the Afterlife Festival. He always sells way more when I’m around! - What do you consider your greatest achievement so far, why?
I’m really proud of how far Mac has come since I’ve been taking care of her. When we first met, she was so lost. She didn’t even have a home. Now I make sure she’s happy and healthy, and she’s really thriving. It’s great to see! - Do you have a motto? If so, what is it?
“A treat in the hand is worth two in the bag.” Also, “Give me the bag.”
- Mackenzie Clair (aka Mac) is a wanderer at heart. For Mac, home is where the people she loves are, and at the beginning of Donn’s Hill, everyone she loves has either left this life or betrayed her completely. She’s used to starting over, and her willingness to dive head first into uncharted territory serves her well as she discovers the return of a lost psychic ability to see the dead.
Mac has dark, curly hair and tends to have shadows under her blue eyes from staying up late reading. Her sweet tooth can get out of control, and her favorite snacks include lemon bars and homemade chocolate chip cookies. She loves a good cup of tea but will take coffee if somebody else made it. - Striker is a small tortoiseshell cat who found her way into Mac’s life just when she was needed most, as cats have a way of doing. Fond of games and cuddling, she takes care of Mac as well (or better) as Mac takes care of her, and her inquisitive nature has a way of leading her human both into and out of trouble. Favorite snack: crunchy treats from Mac’s landlord’s breast pocket.
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Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Audiobook Blog Tour #Donn's Hill #Soul Searchers Mysteries # Ultimate Indulgence Book Award @carynlarrinaga @jnmcevoy @AnAudiobookworm
Author: Caryn Larrinaga
Narrator: Jessica McEvoy
Length: 9 hours 54 minutes
Series: The Soul Searchers Mysteries, Book 1
Released: Aug. 1, 2017
Publisher: Twisted Tree Press
Genre: Supernatural Cozy Mystery
"Grief can change us... rewire our brains and shift the way we look at the world..."
After returning home from her father's funeral to find her boyfriend in bed with another woman, Mackenzie Clair is looking for a fresh start. She thinks she'll find it in her favorite childhood vacation spot, but returning to Donn's Hill awakens more than nostalgia. Mac regains a lost psychic ability to talk to the dead, and the poltergeist haunting her apartment is desperate to make her use that gift to find his killer.
Aided by her new roommate - a spirited Tortoiseshell cat named Striker, and the ghost-hunting crew of the nationally televised show Soul Searchers, Mac struggles to learn how to use her powers. But she'd better get a handle on them fast, because someone in town is hiding a deadly secret. If Mac can't somehow divine the truth, Donn's Hill will never be the same.
Caryn Larrinaga is a self-described horror evangelist and paranormal junkie. Her debut supernatural mystery novel, DONN’S HILL, won the League of Utah Writers 2017 Silver Quill Award in the adult novel category and was a 2017 Dragon Award finalist. Her short fiction has won multiple honors and been featured in local and international anthologies. Watching scary movies through split fingers terrified Caryn as a child, and those nightmares inspire her to write now. She lives near Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and their clowder of cats. Visit www.carynlarrinaga.com for free short stories and audiobooks.Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Instagram⎮Goodreads
Between peddling video games and teaching yoga in her home state of Arizona, Jessica McEvoy attempts to conduct a career as a professional voice actress. This, however, is moderately undermined by the fact that she records in a dimly lit closet with her microphone balanced on a stack of old board games (Junior Scrabble and Powerpuff Girls Monopoly form a strong foundation), but she hopes that no one holds that against her.Though her main work consists of narrating audiobooks, her first dive into the voice world was through the NoSleep podcast after answering a post from the LibriVox forums. Having been raised on horror movies and scary stories, she was beyond excited to be able to work on the show. Many stories, tortured screams, deranged villains, and creepy little girl giggles later, Jessica hopes to work on the podcast for seasons and seasons to come.
The writing was well crafted, the characters fully developed and dialogue flowed easily. It made for an amazing audiobook - with Jessica McEvoy narrating brilliantly. As a narrator, she manages to capture every unique character's voice, including Striker the cat's (seriously, she can trill just like my cat does when watching birds!). The cast of ghost-hunting crew and the folks of Donn's Hill will take up residence in the reader's brain as the story flows with perfect pace and pitch. Caryn Larrinaga has managed the perfect storm, creating a story that reads out loud as well as on the page. I am absolutely looking forward to the next installment in this captivating series.
I give Donn's Hill 5 Chocolate Dipped Strawberries and our Ultimate Indulgence Award. I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Caryn Larrinaga. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
Q&A with Author Caryn Larrinaga
- Tell us about the process of turning your book into an audiobook.
- I had so much fun working with Jessica as she adapted both of these novels into audiobooks! Luckily, I had already worked with her on a smaller project before, and I knew she would be the perfect Mackenzie from her reading of my novelette Hide and Seek and her amazing work on the NoSleep Podcast, so we skipped the audition part of the process. Once each of the novels were ready, I sent them to her to read and crossed my fingers she’d like them enough to want to perform them. (When looking for a great narrator like Jessica, there’s definitely a “She said YES!!” moment that involves much shrieking and jumping up and down.) We decided on a reasonable production schedule, then she started recording chapters and uploading them for me to approve. I love that I get to listen to it as she’s working, so we can make sure we’re both on the same page about personalities, accents, and cat-related awesomeness. Then we get to celebrate together once the book is finally live on Audible and iTunes, which is always super exciting!
- My favorite unexpected bonus about this process is that it happens while I’m working on the next book in the series, so I’m listening to my characters “talk” to me through Jessica’s performance, and that actually has a huge impact on my writing. Listening to her narrate Donn’s Shadow definitely helped me overcome a bit of writer’s block with the third book, and I’m so grateful!
- How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
- Jessica made it really easy to work very closely with her. She requested a pronunciation guide, and since even my own name can be tricky for some people, I sent over an audio recording of me saying the different character names and any other oddball words. For the first book, I even sent her an audio clip of me making Striker’s trademark “Brrrllll,” since that was based on the real Striker’s habit of trilling at us instead of meowing. :)
- Every once in a while, while listening to a chapter, I’d hear Jessica pronounce a word differently than I do (like “ylang ylang”). Before reaching out to ask her to change it, I’d look it up online… and pretty much every time, I’d learn that I’ve been saying something wrong for literally YEARS! So that’s another nice little bonus of working with a good narrator, haha.
- Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
- Absolutely! Mackenzie’s first encounter with a ghost is based on a friend of mine, who mentioned (far too casually for something this spooky) that ghosts who are “just passing through” will sometimes sit for a spell at the edge of her bed. In the night. In the dark. It doesn’t bother my friend, but it bothered the heck out of me, so I had to go home and start writing a story about it.
- Mac’s additional encounters with poltergeists and other paranormal entities were also based on a few real-life events, like an experience my mother had with some kitchen chairs that moved on their own (six of them, all at the same time).
- I get freaked out pretty easily and I like to let myself lean into those fears and write them down, especially when they take me to weird or scary places in my mind. But in real life, I’m a huge scaredy cat. Let’s just say Mackenzie is much, much braver than I am!
- What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?
- Wow, is this something people say? Everyone starts out listening to stories before reading them. If there’s someone out there shaming audiobook listeners, the first thing I’d say is, “Stop it.” Because if they don’t like it, that’s fine, but there’s no wrong way to enjoy a good story. It’s like how everyone has their own learning style; we all have our own leisure style, too. Don’t be ashamed if you prefer one format over another. Whether you prefer to experience good stories via ebooks, paperbacks, books, movies, games, or whatever… just enjoy it! And then do all the content creators a favor and leave reviews. :)
- Have any of your characters ever appeared in your dreams?
- Striker visits me in my dreams all the time, which I’m sure is because I miss her. Not long after she passed away, we fostered and adopted some special-needs kitties, one of whom passed away after only a couple of years with us. The pair of them show up in my dreams together, always snuggling and cleaning each other.
- None of my other named characters have really shown up in my dreams. But many of the monsters I write about definitely appeared in my nightmares before making it onto the page, like the monsters in the corners of the ceiling that I wrote into my story “Watchers’ Warning.”
- How do you select the names of your characters?
- I put a lot of thought into naming my characters, especially for Donn’s Hill and Donn’s Shadow. Mackenzie is named after my favorite character on a TV show called “The Newsroom,” and I thought that if I was the kind of person who wanted kids (I am not), I’d name a daughter after her. Instead, I named a character after her. :) Her last name, Clair, comes from the fact that she’s a clairvoyant.
Mackenzie’s handsome landlord, Graham Thomas, is named after one of my favorite fictional men and the man who created him: Thomas Harris’ Will Graham. - I’ll usually look up common names from the year a character was born, or names that represent their heritage. Then, to make sure I’m not reusing the same name over and over (my placeholder for characters who identify as female tends to be “Megan” and I have no idea why), I check them against a spreadsheet I keep of every character name I’ve used and where I used it. Yep, I’m one of those people who (rightly) thinks spreadsheets are fun.
- I put a lot of thought into naming my characters, especially for Donn’s Hill and Donn’s Shadow. Mackenzie is named after my favorite character on a TV show called “The Newsroom,” and I thought that if I was the kind of person who wanted kids (I am not), I’d name a daughter after her. Instead, I named a character after her. :) Her last name, Clair, comes from the fact that she’s a clairvoyant.
- Who is your favorite character to write?
- In the Soul Searchers mysteries, I love writing the characters who antagonize Mac. For some reason, creating moments where they get under her skin is incredibly fun. I also love writing Kit, because our personalities are really similar but I do a better job acting polite than she does. I like living vicariously through Kit and just saying whatever I want, doing what I think is best, and fighting for the people I love regardless of the consequences.
- What is your writing Kryptonite?
- Books and video games. If I’m on a deadline, feeling stressed, or--let’s face it--just awake and at home, it’s soooo tempting to spend the entire afternoon living in someone else’s imaginary universe instead of working on my own. I have to work hard to keep myself on task some days, but I try to find a balance between working and relaxing.
- Do you write listening to music?
- Most of the time, yes. I like to listen to Delerium’s Poem album on repeat so it sort of fades into the background, filling up the part of my brain that wants music without distracting the part of my brain that needs to imagine things and think of the right words to describe them. If I need to set a specific mood or get into the mind of a particular character, I’ll switch it up. Emotional scenes with Graham get written to ‘90s alternative rock, for example.
But when I need to write a scary scene, like Mac attempting to summon a spirit, I have to turn the music off.
- Most of the time, yes. I like to listen to Delerium’s Poem album on repeat so it sort of fades into the background, filling up the part of my brain that wants music without distracting the part of my brain that needs to imagine things and think of the right words to describe them. If I need to set a specific mood or get into the mind of a particular character, I’ll switch it up. Emotional scenes with Graham get written to ‘90s alternative rock, for example.
- What’s next for you?
- Right now, I’m working on the third and final book in the Soul Searchers Mysteries. It’s bittersweet to be wrapping up Mac’s story, but I’m excited for her to get to solve her personal mysteries on top of yet another murder (poor girl - she’s such a body magnet!).
Apart from that, I’m also working on a standalone horror novel that pulls from my Basque heritage. We have some deliciously terrifying folklore and it’s so much fun to explore the dark things that scared my ancestors. I also have three short stories coming out in a few different anthologies this year, and hopefully more to come!
Definitely subscribe to my newsletter at www.carynlarrinaga.com -- you’ll get a free ebook, plus you’ll stay in the loop about everything I have coming up!
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RATING XX Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries This book was given to us by the author.
ONLY KEEP THIS IF REVIEWING AUDIOBOOK...
- Right now, I’m working on the third and final book in the Soul Searchers Mysteries. It’s bittersweet to be wrapping up Mac’s story, but I’m excited for her to get to solve her personal mysteries on top of yet another murder (poor girl - she’s such a body magnet!).
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Audiobook blog tour #Nobody Move @PhilipElliott__ @Anaudiobookworm
Author: Philip Elliott
Narrator: Robert Svetlik
Series: Angel City, Book 1
Length: 7 hours 29 minutes
Publisher: Into the Void
Released: Sep. 10, 2019
Genre: Noir Thriller
Eddie Vegas made a terrible mistake. Now he has to pay the price.
After a botched debt collection turned double murder, Eddie splits, desperate to avoid his employer, notorious LA crime boss Saul Benedict, and his men (and Eddie’s ex-partners), Floyd and Sawyer, as well as the police. Soon, he becomes entangled with the clever and beautiful Dakota, a Native American woman fresh in the City of Angels to find her missing friend - someone Eddie might know something about.
Meanwhile in Texas, ex-assassin Rufus, seeking vengeance for his murdered brother, takes up his beloved daggers one final time and begins the long drive to LA. When the bodies begin to mount, Detective Alison Lockley’s hunt for the killers becomes increasingly urgent. As paths cross, confusion ensues, and no one’s entirely sure who’s after who. But one thing is clear: They’re not all getting out of this alive.
As much a love letter to neo-noir cinema and LA as it is satire, the first book in the Angel City novels is a lightning-speed crime thriller equal parts Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarantino.
Philip Elliott is an award-winning author, freelance editor, and founder and editor-in-chief of award-winning literary journal and small press publisher Into the Void. Philip was a National Juror of the 2019 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and a winner of the 2018 Big Pond Rumours Chapbook Prize. His writing has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. A music and film obsessive, Philip lives in Toronto with his wife and their spoiled pug.
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Robert Svetlik is an actor and voiceover artist based out of Los Angeles. With a background in stage and classical theater, Robert has acted in works such as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Twelfth Night. He has also lent his voice to commercials and audiobooks. Recently, Robert has enjoyed traveling and perfecting his homemade marinara recipe.
Website
- Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
- Definitely. The best kind of audiobook to me is one full of dialogue and characters’ actions, with the exposition-type narration kept to a minimum—because this makes the audiobook more of a performance, more cinematic. Nobody Move is composed almost entirely of action and dialogue, and narrator Robert Svetlik did a killer job of bringing the characters to life in his subtle performances, as well as bringing out the black humor and making it more apparent, as I think in text form the dark humor is easier to miss.
- Definitely. The best kind of audiobook to me is one full of dialogue and characters’ actions, with the exposition-type narration kept to a minimum—because this makes the audiobook more of a performance, more cinematic. Nobody Move is composed almost entirely of action and dialogue, and narrator Robert Svetlik did a killer job of bringing the characters to life in his subtle performances, as well as bringing out the black humor and making it more apparent, as I think in text form the dark humor is easier to miss.
- Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
- In a way. I write my fiction as if it were a screenplay, but a bit more fleshed out. So in my head the book is like a movie, and I imagine the characters as if through a camera lens, while also seeing through their eyes and thinking via their thoughts, because I write entirely from my characters’ points of view at all times. This cinematic leaning created the perfect opportunity for a fun, engaging audiobook, so in some form I was conscious of it.
- In a way. I write my fiction as if it were a screenplay, but a bit more fleshed out. So in my head the book is like a movie, and I imagine the characters as if through a camera lens, while also seeing through their eyes and thinking via their thoughts, because I write entirely from my characters’ points of view at all times. This cinematic leaning created the perfect opportunity for a fun, engaging audiobook, so in some form I was conscious of it.
- How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
- Before he began recording, Robert had some questions about the very upfront racism spouted by the character Rufus, a Texas ex-hitman who may as well be the Devil incarnate. I explained how, to me, Rufus is an almost cartoonish, over-the-top symbol for the ugly racism that has always been a distinct part of the United States, but has, sadly and worryingly, been rearing its vile head again since Trump seized power. I also explained that, because I write from my characters’ viewpoints 100% of the time, meaning that every sentence of the book is filtered through the characters’ perceptions of the world, it was essential that Rufus’s racism be undiluted to be totally true to his character.
Aside from that, though, Robert ran with the book and nailed every single chapter on the first try. I didn’t need to make a single change. Robert is an astoundingly talented narrator and I would recommend his services to anyone.
- Before he began recording, Robert had some questions about the very upfront racism spouted by the character Rufus, a Texas ex-hitman who may as well be the Devil incarnate. I explained how, to me, Rufus is an almost cartoonish, over-the-top symbol for the ugly racism that has always been a distinct part of the United States, but has, sadly and worryingly, been rearing its vile head again since Trump seized power. I also explained that, because I write from my characters’ viewpoints 100% of the time, meaning that every sentence of the book is filtered through the characters’ perceptions of the world, it was essential that Rufus’s racism be undiluted to be totally true to his character.
- Is there a particular part of this story that you feel is more resonating in the audiobook performance than in the book format?
- Honestly, the whole thing. For me, the audiobook format is absolutely the best way to experience this book. It was so important to me when writing Nobody Move that the book would instantly throw the reader into the story from the first scene to the last, grabbing the reader like films grab an audience. Robert’s narration achieved that in spades. I mean, I wrote this thing and revised it a million and one times, so I know every word of every scene by now, but when I listened to Robert’s narration for the first time I was instantly pulled into this world that Robert conjured to me as he spoke. In some ways I think an audiobook is almost a different story than the text version of a book. It’s a collaboration between writer and narrator/performer—the narrator leaves their own mark, too.
- How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
- I started writing the next one! It’s called Porno Valley and is out September 2020. There’s no rest for the wicked, but none for indie authors either.
- In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a standalone novel vs. writing a series?
Pros:
- You get to start again with a blank slate and you can go anywhere with it—with a series your hands are tied by the world you’ve created.
- You can reinvent yourself as an author.
- It’s more of a straightforward process finding an agent or publisher for a new standalone, or a bigger publisher than your previous novel.
- You might think you’d love to write a series but by the time you’ve completed the arduous task of finishing book one, you find that you feel done with the world and characters you’ve created, but if you’ve committed to a series you may feel your hands are tied.
Cons:
- Standalones mean you have to say goodbye to your characters—but what if you’re not done with them? And what if they’re not done with you?
- Standalones can be a missed opportunity commercially. It’s no secret that series sell well, and it makes perfect sense: If people like one book, they’ll probably buy the next, and the next. Standalones don’t offer the same likelihood of repeat readers. And no one is a more devoted fan than a series fanatic.
- It’s simply so much fun exploring the world you’ve created more and more with each successive book.
- I started writing the next one! It’s called Porno Valley and is out September 2020. There’s no rest for the wicked, but none for indie authors either.
- Have any of your characters ever appeared in your dreams?
- No, but I wish they would, that would be an incredible experience. Maybe it’s because my imagination is so active while I’m awake but I have decidedly dull dreams most times. Having said that, for a while I experienced a horrifying recurring dream in which I was being pursued by Tim Curry’s version of Stephen King’s Pennywise the Dancing Clown from It (although, who hasn’t? Thanks, Stephen.). I shudder just thinking about it.
- What's your favorite:
- Food: Indian roti with a vegetable vindaloo curry wrapped inside. Goddamn.
- Song: Music is too huge a part of my life to narrow this down to a single favorite song, so here’s a single song I really like instead: “Dancing in the Moonlight” by Thin Lizzy, the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band to ever rock the Earth. Thin Lizzy hail from Dublin, Ireland, which is where I’m from. They’re the best thing to ever come out of that place (screw you, James Joyce). Fun fact: Thin Lizzy are both referenced in Nobody Move and included on the official soundtrack playlist I made for the book on Spotify.
- Book: Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson. It’s the book that marks the first soul-punching reading experience I had as an adult with a half-baked idea to be a writer, and it’s the book that made me commit properly to the idea of being a writer. It’s also unlike anything else out there. Nothing even comes close to Johnson’s originality of voice here.
- Television show: Breaking Bad. It’s the most flawless thing ever put to screen in my opinion. A masterclass not just of writing but across the board of filmmaking. Vince Gilligan, its creator, never lost sight of his vision for a moment from episode one to the last.
- Movie: Chinatown directed by Roman Polanski. It’s a masterpiece, perfect in every way, and was essentially (although not in actuality) the first film to be what we now call neo-noir. It turned the noir genre on its head, and is still one of the most stylish films ever made. The screenplay by Robert Towne is so flawless and perfectly structured it’s tempting to think it was produced by some high-powered super-computer from the future. Study this screenplay, writers.
- Band: The Menzingers. Listen to these Philly punks’ desperately beautiful On the Impossible Past record, and if it doesn’t break your heart while simultaneously making you feel more alive than you’ve ever felt, well, we probably wouldn’t get along.
- Sports team: Toronto Raptors, just because I live in Toronto now and was as impressed as anyone by their amazing NBA win. But honestly, I hate sports.
- City: Toronto, the city that has become a true home to me.
- What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
- Read books on the craft of writing (I recommend Sol Stein’s On Writing and Stephen King’s book of the same name) to learn the so-called “rules” of writing—then be prepared to break every one of them. But only break a “rule” when you understand why it exists in the first place.
Like anything, you have to write a lot to get better at it, like working a muscle, but even more important than that is to read. Read like your life depends on it, then read some more. Another area lots of writers may neglect to learn from is that of film. Film is fiction too, and the tools employed by writers of screenplays and even the filmmakers can absolutely be transposed to the novel or short story. Cinema is a masterclass in “Show vs. Tell,” for example, its stories told entirely through action, dialogue, and, to a lesser extent, setting and props. Another example is how cinema loves contrast. Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are great examples of this. In those TV shows both helmed by Vince Gilligan and set in New Mexico, shots of the blindingly bright and hot yellow desert beneath a shocking clear blue sky will often follow scenes colored in gritty greys and blacks set among the criminal underworld that the shows portray. The effect is magnificent, and it works for novels and short stories too.
Most importantly, write one word after another until the book/story is done. Don’t let self-doubt cripple you, because it will try. The time for doubt is after the first draft is completed. And even then have faith in your story—you wrote all those words for a reason. If, finally, your story isn’t what you hoped it would be (and nobody’s ever is, by the way), the beauty of creation is that we can gather ourselves together, put pen to paper, and begin again with another story. We won’t ever achieve perfection, but we will better ourselves and grow as artists and human beings, and that’s enough.
- Read books on the craft of writing (I recommend Sol Stein’s On Writing and Stephen King’s book of the same name) to learn the so-called “rules” of writing—then be prepared to break every one of them. But only break a “rule” when you understand why it exists in the first place.
- What’s next for you?
- I’m finishing up book two of the Angel City series, the follow-up to Nobody Move titled Porno Valley. After that it’s book three, titled Murder Mountain. At the same time I’m working on a screenplay for a horror film set in the snowy wilderness in rural northern Canada. And I am also researching deeply for a more literary novel about young punks in early 1980s Toronto who grow up to have let go of their dreams while an unsolved murder from their past rear its head again.
Porno Valley is out September 2020. Here’s the blurb:
It’s the year 2000 and 78-year-old Mickey O’Rourke has been a Los Angeles P.I. for a very long time. He’d thought he’d seen it all until the disappearance of porn star Jeffrey Strokes sends him from the sex-filled studios of Porn Valley to the desperate ghettos of Compton and the crossfires of a strange and sadistic drug dealer who calls himself “The Samurai,” where Mickey’s final case becomes his biggest test. Flash back to 1999 and struggling hair salon employee Jemeka Johnson, suspecting boyfriend Ray-Ray of infidelity, follows him one night from their East Compton home to what turns out to be a drug deal gone sour. Saving Ray-Ray’s life with her battered Ford Tempo, Jemeka finds herself tossed onto a dark and dangerous path—one that offers huge reward for someone bold enough to seize it. Meanwhile, tired of robbing small-town diners and sleeping in filthy motel rooms (and with a rapidly escalating dope addiction to feed), newlyweds Richie and Alabama return to L.A. in search of the perfect score. Paths cross and past meets present as terrible actions hurtle toward terrible consequences—and no one will ever be the same again.
- I’m finishing up book two of the Angel City series, the follow-up to Nobody Move titled Porno Valley. After that it’s book three, titled Murder Mountain. At the same time I’m working on a screenplay for a horror film set in the snowy wilderness in rural northern Canada. And I am also researching deeply for a more literary novel about young punks in early 1980s Toronto who grow up to have let go of their dreams while an unsolved murder from their past rear its head again.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0b5EHUU6c3EWOtwp8JkGkG
Nobody Move was unexpected in many ways. For a gritty, LA noir type novel with a whole host of characters that are, at times hilarious and others horrifying, Nobody Move proved to be a sleeper hit for this reader. The story builds (or devolves) after a botched squeeze job which results in 3 hired goons burying 2 bodies in the Angeles forest. Interwoven plot lines with the dead guy's brother looking for revenge, the dead girl's sister trying to find her, the mob boss trying to find all of them and the cops trying to solve the who-dunit make for a swiftly moving tale. Ultimately the inconsistencies are the triggers with language that is almost poetic in moments and crassly trite in others, but somehow it all seems to work because it is an homage to LA and that is LA in a nutshell - a place of poetic hopes and dreams with crassly trite players on a sunny stage.
Robert Svetlik does a solid job narrating the story, bringing the widely varied cast of characters to life and telling the tale of depraved indifference, madcap antics of criminals and the ultimate hope of redemption. His sense of pace and timing were absolutely the keys to keeping this story on the rails and encouraging the reader to keep listening when the story might have otherwise turned them off due to some truly unlikeable characters and unpleasant moments.
For fans of Elmore Leonard and other film-noir style thriller novels, Nobody Move will be your cup of tea - or shot of whiskey. I give Nobody Move 3.5 Chocolate Covered Strawberries (it probably would have been four had there been a little less homophobic language).
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Into the Void. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
Nov. 17th:
Viviana MacKade
Southern Girl Bookaholic
Nov. 18th:
Jazzy Book Reviews
Eileen Troemel
Nov. 19th:
Dab of Darkness Book Reviews
Nov. 20th:
All the Ups and Downs
Author: Philip Elliott
Narrator: Robert Svetlik
Series: Angel City, Book 1
Length: 7 hours 29 minutes
Publisher: Into the Void
Released: Sep. 10, 2019
Genre: Noir Thriller
Eddie Vegas made a terrible mistake. Now he has to pay the price.
After a botched debt collection turned double murder, Eddie splits, desperate to avoid his employer, notorious LA crime boss Saul Benedict, and his men (and Eddie’s ex-partners), Floyd and Sawyer, as well as the police. Soon, he becomes entangled with the clever and beautiful Dakota, a Native American woman fresh in the City of Angels to find her missing friend - someone Eddie might know something about.
Meanwhile in Texas, ex-assassin Rufus, seeking vengeance for his murdered brother, takes up his beloved daggers one final time and begins the long drive to LA. When the bodies begin to mount, Detective Alison Lockley’s hunt for the killers becomes increasingly urgent. As paths cross, confusion ensues, and no one’s entirely sure who’s after who. But one thing is clear: They’re not all getting out of this alive.
As much a love letter to neo-noir cinema and LA as it is satire, the first book in the Angel City novels is a lightning-speed crime thriller equal parts Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarantino.
Philip Elliott is an award-winning author, freelance editor, and founder and editor-in-chief of award-winning literary journal and small press publisher Into the Void. Philip was a National Juror of the 2019 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and a winner of the 2018 Big Pond Rumours Chapbook Prize. His writing has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. A music and film obsessive, Philip lives in Toronto with his wife and their spoiled pug.
Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Instagram
Robert Svetlik is an actor and voiceover artist based out of Los Angeles. With a background in stage and classical theater, Robert has acted in works such as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Twelfth Night. He has also lent his voice to commercials and audiobooks. Recently, Robert has enjoyed traveling and perfecting his homemade marinara recipe.
Website
- Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
- Definitely. The best kind of audiobook to me is one full of dialogue and characters’ actions, with the exposition-type narration kept to a minimum—because this makes the audiobook more of a performance, more cinematic. Nobody Move is composed almost entirely of action and dialogue, and narrator Robert Svetlik did a killer job of bringing the characters to life in his subtle performances, as well as bringing out the black humor and making it more apparent, as I think in text form the dark humor is easier to miss.
- Definitely. The best kind of audiobook to me is one full of dialogue and characters’ actions, with the exposition-type narration kept to a minimum—because this makes the audiobook more of a performance, more cinematic. Nobody Move is composed almost entirely of action and dialogue, and narrator Robert Svetlik did a killer job of bringing the characters to life in his subtle performances, as well as bringing out the black humor and making it more apparent, as I think in text form the dark humor is easier to miss.
- Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
- In a way. I write my fiction as if it were a screenplay, but a bit more fleshed out. So in my head the book is like a movie, and I imagine the characters as if through a camera lens, while also seeing through their eyes and thinking via their thoughts, because I write entirely from my characters’ points of view at all times. This cinematic leaning created the perfect opportunity for a fun, engaging audiobook, so in some form I was conscious of it.
- In a way. I write my fiction as if it were a screenplay, but a bit more fleshed out. So in my head the book is like a movie, and I imagine the characters as if through a camera lens, while also seeing through their eyes and thinking via their thoughts, because I write entirely from my characters’ points of view at all times. This cinematic leaning created the perfect opportunity for a fun, engaging audiobook, so in some form I was conscious of it.
- How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
- Before he began recording, Robert had some questions about the very upfront racism spouted by the character Rufus, a Texas ex-hitman who may as well be the Devil incarnate. I explained how, to me, Rufus is an almost cartoonish, over-the-top symbol for the ugly racism that has always been a distinct part of the United States, but has, sadly and worryingly, been rearing its vile head again since Trump seized power. I also explained that, because I write from my characters’ viewpoints 100% of the time, meaning that every sentence of the book is filtered through the characters’ perceptions of the world, it was essential that Rufus’s racism be undiluted to be totally true to his character.
Aside from that, though, Robert ran with the book and nailed every single chapter on the first try. I didn’t need to make a single change. Robert is an astoundingly talented narrator and I would recommend his services to anyone.
- Before he began recording, Robert had some questions about the very upfront racism spouted by the character Rufus, a Texas ex-hitman who may as well be the Devil incarnate. I explained how, to me, Rufus is an almost cartoonish, over-the-top symbol for the ugly racism that has always been a distinct part of the United States, but has, sadly and worryingly, been rearing its vile head again since Trump seized power. I also explained that, because I write from my characters’ viewpoints 100% of the time, meaning that every sentence of the book is filtered through the characters’ perceptions of the world, it was essential that Rufus’s racism be undiluted to be totally true to his character.
- Is there a particular part of this story that you feel is more resonating in the audiobook performance than in the book format?
- Honestly, the whole thing. For me, the audiobook format is absolutely the best way to experience this book. It was so important to me when writing Nobody Move that the book would instantly throw the reader into the story from the first scene to the last, grabbing the reader like films grab an audience. Robert’s narration achieved that in spades. I mean, I wrote this thing and revised it a million and one times, so I know every word of every scene by now, but when I listened to Robert’s narration for the first time I was instantly pulled into this world that Robert conjured to me as he spoke. In some ways I think an audiobook is almost a different story than the text version of a book. It’s a collaboration between writer and narrator/performer—the narrator leaves their own mark, too.
- How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
- I started writing the next one! It’s called Porno Valley and is out September 2020. There’s no rest for the wicked, but none for indie authors either.
- In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a standalone novel vs. writing a series?
Pros:
- You get to start again with a blank slate and you can go anywhere with it—with a series your hands are tied by the world you’ve created.
- You can reinvent yourself as an author.
- It’s more of a straightforward process finding an agent or publisher for a new standalone, or a bigger publisher than your previous novel.
- You might think you’d love to write a series but by the time you’ve completed the arduous task of finishing book one, you find that you feel done with the world and characters you’ve created, but if you’ve committed to a series you may feel your hands are tied.
Cons:
- Standalones mean you have to say goodbye to your characters—but what if you’re not done with them? And what if they’re not done with you?
- Standalones can be a missed opportunity commercially. It’s no secret that series sell well, and it makes perfect sense: If people like one book, they’ll probably buy the next, and the next. Standalones don’t offer the same likelihood of repeat readers. And no one is a more devoted fan than a series fanatic.
- It’s simply so much fun exploring the world you’ve created more and more with each successive book.
- I started writing the next one! It’s called Porno Valley and is out September 2020. There’s no rest for the wicked, but none for indie authors either.
- Have any of your characters ever appeared in your dreams?
- No, but I wish they would, that would be an incredible experience. Maybe it’s because my imagination is so active while I’m awake but I have decidedly dull dreams most times. Having said that, for a while I experienced a horrifying recurring dream in which I was being pursued by Tim Curry’s version of Stephen King’s Pennywise the Dancing Clown from It (although, who hasn’t? Thanks, Stephen.). I shudder just thinking about it.
- What's your favorite:
- Food: Indian roti with a vegetable vindaloo curry wrapped inside. Goddamn.
- Song: Music is too huge a part of my life to narrow this down to a single favorite song, so here’s a single song I really like instead: “Dancing in the Moonlight” by Thin Lizzy, the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band to ever rock the Earth. Thin Lizzy hail from Dublin, Ireland, which is where I’m from. They’re the best thing to ever come out of that place (screw you, James Joyce). Fun fact: Thin Lizzy are both referenced in Nobody Move and included on the official soundtrack playlist I made for the book on Spotify.
- Book: Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson. It’s the book that marks the first soul-punching reading experience I had as an adult with a half-baked idea to be a writer, and it’s the book that made me commit properly to the idea of being a writer. It’s also unlike anything else out there. Nothing even comes close to Johnson’s originality of voice here.
- Television show: Breaking Bad. It’s the most flawless thing ever put to screen in my opinion. A masterclass not just of writing but across the board of filmmaking. Vince Gilligan, its creator, never lost sight of his vision for a moment from episode one to the last.
- Movie: Chinatown directed by Roman Polanski. It’s a masterpiece, perfect in every way, and was essentially (although not in actuality) the first film to be what we now call neo-noir. It turned the noir genre on its head, and is still one of the most stylish films ever made. The screenplay by Robert Towne is so flawless and perfectly structured it’s tempting to think it was produced by some high-powered super-computer from the future. Study this screenplay, writers.
- Band: The Menzingers. Listen to these Philly punks’ desperately beautiful On the Impossible Past record, and if it doesn’t break your heart while simultaneously making you feel more alive than you’ve ever felt, well, we probably wouldn’t get along.
- Sports team: Toronto Raptors, just because I live in Toronto now and was as impressed as anyone by their amazing NBA win. But honestly, I hate sports.
- City: Toronto, the city that has become a true home to me.
- What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
- Read books on the craft of writing (I recommend Sol Stein’s On Writing and Stephen King’s book of the same name) to learn the so-called “rules” of writing—then be prepared to break every one of them. But only break a “rule” when you understand why it exists in the first place.
Like anything, you have to write a lot to get better at it, like working a muscle, but even more important than that is to read. Read like your life depends on it, then read some more. Another area lots of writers may neglect to learn from is that of film. Film is fiction too, and the tools employed by writers of screenplays and even the filmmakers can absolutely be transposed to the novel or short story. Cinema is a masterclass in “Show vs. Tell,” for example, its stories told entirely through action, dialogue, and, to a lesser extent, setting and props. Another example is how cinema loves contrast. Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are great examples of this. In those TV shows both helmed by Vince Gilligan and set in New Mexico, shots of the blindingly bright and hot yellow desert beneath a shocking clear blue sky will often follow scenes colored in gritty greys and blacks set among the criminal underworld that the shows portray. The effect is magnificent, and it works for novels and short stories too.
Most importantly, write one word after another until the book/story is done. Don’t let self-doubt cripple you, because it will try. The time for doubt is after the first draft is completed. And even then have faith in your story—you wrote all those words for a reason. If, finally, your story isn’t what you hoped it would be (and nobody’s ever is, by the way), the beauty of creation is that we can gather ourselves together, put pen to paper, and begin again with another story. We won’t ever achieve perfection, but we will better ourselves and grow as artists and human beings, and that’s enough.
- Read books on the craft of writing (I recommend Sol Stein’s On Writing and Stephen King’s book of the same name) to learn the so-called “rules” of writing—then be prepared to break every one of them. But only break a “rule” when you understand why it exists in the first place.
- What’s next for you?
- I’m finishing up book two of the Angel City series, the follow-up to Nobody Move titled Porno Valley. After that it’s book three, titled Murder Mountain. At the same time I’m working on a screenplay for a horror film set in the snowy wilderness in rural northern Canada. And I am also researching deeply for a more literary novel about young punks in early 1980s Toronto who grow up to have let go of their dreams while an unsolved murder from their past rear its head again.
Porno Valley is out September 2020. Here’s the blurb:
It’s the year 2000 and 78-year-old Mickey O’Rourke has been a Los Angeles P.I. for a very long time. He’d thought he’d seen it all until the disappearance of porn star Jeffrey Strokes sends him from the sex-filled studios of Porn Valley to the desperate ghettos of Compton and the crossfires of a strange and sadistic drug dealer who calls himself “The Samurai,” where Mickey’s final case becomes his biggest test. Flash back to 1999 and struggling hair salon employee Jemeka Johnson, suspecting boyfriend Ray-Ray of infidelity, follows him one night from their East Compton home to what turns out to be a drug deal gone sour. Saving Ray-Ray’s life with her battered Ford Tempo, Jemeka finds herself tossed onto a dark and dangerous path—one that offers huge reward for someone bold enough to seize it. Meanwhile, tired of robbing small-town diners and sleeping in filthy motel rooms (and with a rapidly escalating dope addiction to feed), newlyweds Richie and Alabama return to L.A. in search of the perfect score. Paths cross and past meets present as terrible actions hurtle toward terrible consequences—and no one will ever be the same again.
- I’m finishing up book two of the Angel City series, the follow-up to Nobody Move titled Porno Valley. After that it’s book three, titled Murder Mountain. At the same time I’m working on a screenplay for a horror film set in the snowy wilderness in rural northern Canada. And I am also researching deeply for a more literary novel about young punks in early 1980s Toronto who grow up to have let go of their dreams while an unsolved murder from their past rear its head again.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0b5EHUU6c3EWOtwp8JkGkG
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Into the Void. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
Nov. 17th:
Viviana MacKade
Southern Girl Bookaholic
Nov. 18th:
Jazzy Book Reviews
Eileen Troemel
Nov. 19th:
Dab of Darkness Book Reviews
Nov. 20th:
All the Ups and Downs
Nov. 21st:
4 the Love of Audiobooks
Nov. 22nd:
Momma Says To Read or Not to Read
Nov. 23rd:
Teatime and Books
Guilty Indulgence Bookclub
Plugging you into the audio community since 2016.
Sign up as a tour host here.
Nov. 21st:4 the Love of Audiobooks
Nov. 22nd:
Momma Says To Read or Not to Read
Nov. 23rd:
Teatime and Books
Guilty Indulgence Bookclub
Plugging you into the audio community since 2016.
Sign up as a tour host here.
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