Billions are dead. The World is still smoldering. A terrifying new threat has emerged from the ashes.
About Audiobook #2
Author: Chris Muhlenfeld
Narrator: Price Waldman
Length: 8 hours 44 minutes
Publisher: Chris Muhlenfeld⎮2018
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: The Obsolescence Trilogy, Book 2
Release date: March 5, 2019
Synopsis: Billions are dead. The world is still smoldering. A terrifying new threat has emerged from the ashes.
Returning safely from their expedition, James and Alexa deliver the weird news to the survivors at Winona Station. Everyone still alive is now faced with an impossible decision: betray their very humanity to survive, or watch the human race regress into a new stone age.
The stakes could not be higher.
Will they choose wisely?
Make time now because once you start listening to UPGRADE, you’ll be instantly hooked. Get it now!
UPGRADE is the second thrilling audiobook in The Obsolescence Trilogy. This audiobook is plausible, near-future sci-fi that’s full of rich, insightful characters, and compelling ideas.
A solid follow up from book one, Upgrade has several fascinating story developments. A mysterious Artificial Intelligence with unknown motives, intriguing technology, good characters, and a good dose of humor made this a entertaining book. The ending was a bit confusing, but I’m assuming that will be explained in next book, RESET.
About the Author: Chris Muhlenfeld
Chris has been reading and writing science fiction since he was a teenager. After roaming all over the world, he finally settled down in the beautiful mountains of western Montana where he publishes Distinctly Montana magazine with his wife. When he’s not hiking, biking or camping in the Montana wilderness, he and his wife are traveling the world.
Price Waldman is an actor and singer, born and raised in NYC. Classically trained, and working professionally in the theater for over 20 years he is new to the world of audiobooks. As an actor he has performed multiple times on Broadway, toured nationally and internationally and appeared on film and television.
The global power and communications outage arrives without warning…
About Audiobook #1
Author: Chris Muhlenfeld
Narrator: Price Waldman
Length: 9 hours 46 minutes
Publisher: Chris Muhlenfeld⎮2018
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: The Obsolescence Trilogy, Book 1
Release date: Nov. 14, 2018
Synopsis: And then it went dark…the world’s electrical grid was gone.
Who would survive the chaos?
For James and Alexa, they saw it unfold from their ranch, which was a blessing. They were away
from the chaos, and they thought they were safe. They thought wrong.
What will they do?
All across the country cities are in crisis.
Logan and his family look out from their Manhattan penthouse. The world is crumbling before their eyes. Unprepared, he’s got to do something. They can’t stay. But how can they leave and where will they go?
Someone has a solution.
It’s Logan’s domestic android.
Can he believe a machine?
You won’t believe the twists and turns, but you’ll love the adventure.
This was a very fascinating book. The premise was great and it only gets better towards the end. Although it provides good suspense, I thought the author could’ve filled in, or sprinkled, more information in the first and second acts. That’s the only reason I believe that weakened the story. However, everything is tied together quite nicely towards the conclusion of the book. Having this book as the foundation for the rest of the trilogy makes me wonder how the remaining books play out. Looking forward to seeing what happens next!
Narrator Price Waldman does an excellent job with a variety of accents. From British English, to American southern accents, Waldman does a good job of characterization and breathing life into the story.
About the Author: Chris Muhlenfeld
Chris has been reading and writing science fiction since he was a teenager. After roaming all over the world, he finally settled down in the beautiful mountains of western Montana where he publishes Distinctly Montana magazine with his wife. When he’s not hiking, biking or camping in the Montana wilderness, he and his wife are traveling the world.
Price Waldman is an actor and singer, born and raised in NYC. Classically trained, and working professionally in the theater for over 20 years he is new to the world of audiobooks. As an actor he has performed multiple times on Broadway, toured nationally and internationally and appeared on film and television.
Synopsis: Reid has spent her whole life pretending to be a man so she can inherit her father’s estate, but when a chance encounter threatens to expose her lie, she is forced to risk everything.
In the kingdom of Marsden, women are subservient to men, and land can only pass from father to son. So, when Reid Ellington is born, the fifth daughter to one of the wealthiest landholders in the kingdom, it’s announced that Reid is a boy.
Eighteen years later, Reid struggles to conceal the fact she’s actually a young woman. Every day, her secret becomes harder to keep. When one of Marsden’s princes sees her sparring with a sword, she is forced to accept his offer and lead her father’s soldiers to the border. Along the way, she discovers a covert organization within the army known as the Knights of the Realm.
If Reid wants to save her family from being arrested for treason and robbed of their inheritance, she will have to join the knights and become a weapon for the crown.
To protect her family, Reid must fight like a man. To do that, she’ll need the courage of a woman.
This is the first book in a new fantasy series from best-selling author Jennifer Anne Davis
***The first book in a new fantasy series from best-selling author Jennifer Anne Davis.***
The Realm of Knights is a gem! I was very delighted to find this book via Audiobookwormpromotions.com. The premise, plotting, characterization is excellent. Reid Ellington is faced with a dilemma at every turn that forces her to comply and keep her family secret. I thought the writing was brilliant. It kept me turning the pages!
How often do you write?
I write five days a week, 8-10 hours a day. I usually set a goal for myself, and I’ll work until I reach that goal. When I’m writing a first draft, I try and write 5,000 words a day. Then when I’m editing, I usually try and edit 10 pages a day.
Tell us a little bit about the characters in Realm of Knights.
Realm of Knights is centered around Reid Ellington. She’s an 18 year old young woman, and the fifth daughter of Duke Ellington. Since land and title can only pass from father to son, the duke tells everyone Reid is a boy when she’s born. So Reid has grown up wearing boy clothing and playing with boys. It has made her fiercely independent and she views the world differently than those around her. There are a few other characters of importance in the book. Her best friend, Harlan, helps her out. He’s the sort of guy that’s always there, fiercely loyal, and he respects Reid even when he learns she’s a woman. Then there’s the princes—Ackley and Gordon. They’re brothers and best friends. Ackley is tall and lean. There’s a fierceness to him that he manages to keep hidden. Gordon is the commander of the army. He’s shorter and stockier than Ackley, he’s fairly quiet, and he’s a little stubborn.
How do you balance other aspects of your life with your writing?
It’s hard to balance everything. I treat writing as my full-time job (because it is). It allows me the freedom to be there for my kids when they need me. However, when I’m on a deadline, it can be rough revising when I need everything to be quiet around me. Thankfully, my family is very supportive and we make it work.
What makes a great story line?
Interesting characters that the reader can connect with, an obstacle the main character has to overcome, a fantastic villain, and a unique love interest.
What is the hardest thing about writing a book?
Revising. Writing the first draft is the fun part. Revising—which is basically rewriting the entire story—is difficult for me. I want to make sure that everything I’m thinking and feeling in my head is exposed on the page. It usually takes me about 25 min to revise one page.
Do you have any people who help you with your story lines as well beta reading and such?
Yes. I have two people that read everything I write. They’ve both been with me for years, and I couldn’t write without them. One started out as my biggest critic and now is my biggest cheerleader. The other is a pro at finding plot holes and inconsistencies.
How did you choose your narrator?
For Realm of Knights, I wanted a female voice with a British accent. It was important to me that the narrator have a youthful voice since Reid is only 18. However, I also wanted her to have a maturity to her that hints at the hardships Reid has faced over the years. When I was listening to auditions, the second I heard Kim’s voice, I knew I’d found the perfect narrator. I was so excited when she agreed to take on the project, that I had her sign for all three books in the series. She is the perfect person for these books, and I couldn’t be happier.
About the Author: Jennifer Anne Davis
Jennifer Anne Davis graduated from the University of San Diego with a degree in English and a teaching credential. She is currently a full-time writer and mother of three kids, one weimaraner, and a tortoise. She is happily married to her high school sweetheart and lives in the San Diego area.
Jennifer is the recipient of the San Diego Book Awards Best Published Young Adult Novel (2013), winner of the Kindle Book Awards (2018), a finalist in the USA Best Book Awards (2014), and a finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards (2014).
Publishers Marketplace listed Jennifer as one of the best-selling indie authors in June 2017. She has also been ranked among the top 100 best-selling authors on Amazon.
Kim is an accomplished and award winning actress and director with West End/Broadway theatre credits. Kim has narrated over 35 audiobooks and counting. She is also an in demand voice over talent in the commercial and corporate arena and owns her own class A recording studio in Nashville. Kim is from the UK but has lived in NYC, L.A. and now Nashville TN. She continues to work in Theatre, Film and TV as an actress and a director alongside narrating audiobooks and commercial voice overs.
Synopsis: When a faceless body is found floating in the river on a summer’s morning, Detective Kay Hunter and her team are tasked with finding out the man’s identity and where he came from.
The investigation takes a sinister turn when an abandoned boat is found, covered in blood stains and containing a child’s belongings.
Under mounting pressure from a distraught family and an unforgiving media, the police are in a race against time – but they have no leads and no motive for the events that have taken place.
Will Kay be able to find a ruthless killer and a missing child before it’s too late?
Cradle to Grave is the eighth book in the Detective Kay Hunter series by USA Today best-selling author Rachel Amphlett and perfect for listeners who love fast-paced murder mysteries.
Coming back to book #8 in the Kay Hunter series was like meeting up again with old time friends. I always enjoy a good crime thriller, or police procedural, especially one based in the UK. Author Rachel Amphlett writes a tight plot that’ll keep you guessing until the very end.
About the Author: Rachel Amphlett
Before turning to writing, Rachel Amphlett played guitar in bands, worked as a TV and film extra, dabbled in radio as a presenter and freelance producer for the BBC, and worked in publishing as a sub-editor and editorial assistant. She now wields a pen instead of a plectrum and writes crime fiction and spy novels, including the Dan Taylor espionage novels and the Detective Kay Hunter series. Originally from the UK and currently based in Brisbane, Australia, Rachel cites her writing influences as Michael Connelly, Lee Child, and Robert Ludlum. She’s also a huge fan of Peter James, Val McDermid, Robert Crais, Stuart MacBride, and many more. She’s a member of International Thriller Writers and the Crime Writers Association, with the Italian foreign rights for her debut novel, White Gold sold to Fanucci Editore’s TIMECrime imprint, and the first four books in the Dan Taylor espionage series contracted to Germany’s Luzifer Verlag.
Alison Campbell is an actress based in Bristol, U.K. She has lent her voice to 50+ audiobooks, cartoons, documentaries and dramas. She can be found treading the boards across the country, in everything from Shakespeare to hip hop kids adventures. On screen she has appeared in dramas and science documentaries, her most recent co star was a CGI elephant. She can also be found performing the Natural Theatre Company’s award-winning surreal brand of interactive comedy around the globe.
Synopsis: A small village is shocked when a fisherman is impaled by his own fork. And when a young girl is killed, Inspector Drake has to find what connects them.
The small rural community of the villages of the island of Anglesey have a secret to protect. The dead man owns land connected to the development of a nuclear power station, so somebody wants him dead very badly.
Is the young girl’s death connected to the fisherman’s murder?
Is it simply money at stake? Or are there more complex motives involved? And with the proposed nuclear power station causing massive controversy, the local community is reluctant to share its secrets.
And how far will people go to protect their way of life and language?
Grab your copy of Against the Tide today because we all love a fast-paced mystery.
The crimes that Inspector Drake has to solve in this series are utterly complex and leaves me scratching my head every time. Crime writer Stephen Puleston weaves a tight plot in every book for the reader’s journey. I was secretly hoping that Drake’s marriage would be salvaged at some point, but to no avail. I could feel the deep seated tension between the two. Good book.
About the Author: Stephen Puleston
I write crime fiction based in Wales and about Wales. The rural landscape of north Wales provides the backdrop to the Inspector Drake novels. And Cardiff, the capital of Wales, provides the setting for the Inspector Marco novels set in a modern urban environment.
I love the novels of Raymond Chandler, Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham, Henning Mankell, Val McDermid – the list could go on! And I enjoy watching detective series on the television the recent Hinterland series based near Aberystwyth in Wales was great. One of my favourites is the French series Spiral but The Bridge and Broadchurch and the Rebus series with Ken Stott and Kenneth Branagh in Wallander are great too.
I was born in Anglesey an island off the north Wales coast and after leaving school in Holyhead I went to University in London before training as a solicitor/lawyer. I practised in a small family business doing criminal work in the magistrates and crown courts, divorce and family work.
I still live on Anglesey, North Wales near the beach and the mountains of Snowdonia.
Richard Elfyn is a hugely experienced and talented actor with film credits including APOSTLE, MARIAH MUNDI AND THE MIDAS BOX, THE KILLER ELITE and THE DARK. TV credits include THE CROWN, KEEPING FAITH, HINTERLAND, EMMERDALE and STELLA and numerous leading regular roles for S4C including political drama BYW CELWYDD. Richard is regularly heard on BBC Radio 4 dramas and is a highly skilled voice over artist. He has re-voiced many Welsh language versions of popular animations including FIREMAN SAM, BEN 10 and SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS.
Synopsis: The Containment Zone is a 500-mile radius surrounded by mountains and closed in by gates. No one can leave, and anyone who tries will die. Within are lawless bandits, corrupt soldiers, and once-human greyskins that hunt down people to spread the virus. Some say the Containment Zone is where the greyskin virus originated. Others say the people inside are little more than lab rats being studied by the nefarious Screven government.
When 12-year-old Skylar and her father, Liam, are caught trying to escape, they are taken to Vulture Hill, a government prison camp no one has ever left alive. Inside the prison, Skylar learns that the facility is little more than a testing site for finding people of a certain bloodline – the Starborn. These are people with special powers that manifests in various spectacular ways, and Screven wants to exploit them.
Skylar has always known there was something special about her family. For years, her father has had the ability to completely numb pain with just a thought. Lacerated skin, broken bones, they can all be ignored with enough concentration. Learning that her father is a Starborn means Skylar is probably one too, placing them both in extreme danger.
Now, father and daughter must do the impossible and break out of a prison known for killing so many. But Liam has leverage the government may be willing to buy – the cure for the greyskin virus.
The first two books of The Starborn Redemption are set 40 years after The Starborn Ascension and 17 years before The Starborn Uprising. Each Series can be listened to independently.
This book was BETTER than expected. Don’t you love it when that happens? YES. Author Jason D. Morrow does an excellent job ushering you into the point of view of the main characters; Father and daughter tandem Liam and Skylar as they navigate prison Vulture’s Hill. I was impressed with narrator Stacy Gonzalez with her ability to breath life into the characters.
Interview with Narrator Stacy Gonzalez
What are the first things you do as you prepare to narrate a book?
Very first–read the book. A lot of people ask that question, and, yes, I read the book. After reading it, I try to think through the characters. I put either a person I know or a celebrity as sort of the touchstone for each character. Beyond that, I don’t really do too much. I like to jump into the narration once I’ve read the story and thought through the characters.
Does the author help you with voice creation, or is it up to the narrator?
I usually do it all myself, unless I have any specific questions. Or unless an author has something very specific in mind. However, in most cases, the narrator is left to create their own artistic take on the characters.
How do you keep the characters straight in your head as you read through the text?
I usually keep a little mp3 with a snippet of that character voice. Sometimes, there’s a word or phrase that I have to say to key me in to that character. There was a character in a book I did under my romance pseudonym where I had to pause the recording and say a really angry “F**K” to get in to that character. He was an angsty sort of neo-nazi.
Do you have a method for characterizing, or portraying each character?
Once I get the voice down, I just let the story guide me. My method is just to let the author’s words tell the story.
How do you feel about being a medium through which readers can access a story?
I just love doing this. As an avid listener myself, there is nothing better than the feeling of not being able to stop listening. I hope that I can give listeners that feeling. I love when I’m listening to a book while running or cleaning–both of which, for me, can be activities that are hard to keep on doing past a certain point–and I HAVE TO run or clean longer because I just cannot turn the book off.
What do you want readers to know about narrating audiobooks?
I hear a lot of non-listeners say that they like to hear the story how they hear it in their own heads. I would just want to say that listening to the book does not take away from that experience. You still use your imagination as a listener in a very similar way that you would as a straight-up reader. And listening can enhance the experience in different ways.
About the Author: Jason D. Morrow
Jason D. Morrow is the author of more than 15 books in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres, including The Starborn Uprising, The Starborn Ascension, The Starborn Redemption and Prototype D.
Stacy Gonzalez is a Chicago based narrator and commercial voice actor. She is feisty, bright and expressive. Stacy specializes in YA, self-help and romance, especially when the narration calls for a good handle on comedy, wit and sass. Audiofile Magazine has praised her pace and her ability to create bold characters. Stacy, who is half Colombian, speaks conversational Spanish. She has a great love for Old Hollywood—watching the movies and listening to audiobooks about any and every aspect of it! Follow her on Twitter at @stacygonzalezvo or visit her website at stacygonzalezvo.com.
Author: Stephen Puleston Narrator: Richard Elfyn Length: 10 hours 20 minutes Publisher: Stephen Puleston⎮2019 Genre: Modern Detective Series: Inspector Drake Mysteries, Book 2 Release date: Jan. 25, 2019
Synopsis:
A ferry leaves Dublin…. The chief engineer lies dead on the car deck…. There’s a killer on board….
Inspector Drake is called from a seminar on cybercrime to meet the ferry docking at the port of Holyhead. Frank Rosen, the chief engineer, lies on the car deck, a knife through his heart. For the first time, Drake knows where the killer is, but he doesn’t know who. When Rosen’s house is ransacked the night after he’s killed, Drake knows the killer was looking for something. The data stick Rosen’s wife finds may hold the clues. But the codes and numbers on it only complicate the investigation. And then Drake’s cousin makes contact and tells him he has information. But can Drake rely on him, or does he have another agenda? And when the team discover a direct link to drug dealing in North Wales and beyond, there are powerful forces at work.
Drake’s cousin drags Drake’s family into the middle of the case that piles the pressure on Drake, who’s facing regular counseling for his OCD and the prospect of losing his father to cancer. When Drake’s superior demotes him and acts entirely against protocols, Drake knows that something is wrong. Establishing the evidence takes him to Dublin and Cardiff and then on a last minute chase over North Wales to catch the killer.
Inspector Drake returns in Worse than Dead in book two of the series. Stephen Puleston pens another complex crime mystery that’s worthy of television series. You could say Inspector Drake is like the British version of the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. Both are excellent well rounded stories that’ll keep you head spinning until the very end.
About the Author: Stephen Puleston
I write crime fiction based in Wales and about Wales. The rural landscape of north Wales provides the backdrop to the Inspector Drake novels. And Cardiff, the capital of Wales, provides the setting for the Inspector Marco novels set in a modern urban environment.
I love the novels of Raymond Chandler, Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham, Henning Mankell, Val McDermid – the list could go on! And I enjoy watching detective series on the television the recent Hinterland series based near Aberystwyth in Wales was great. One of my favourites is the French series Spiral but The Bridge and Broadchurch and the Rebus series with Ken Stott and Kenneth Branagh in Wallander are great too.
I was born in Anglesey an island off the north Wales coast and after leaving school in Holyhead I went to University in London before training as a solicitor/lawyer. I practised in a small family business doing criminal work in the magistrates and crown courts, divorce and family work.
I still live on Anglesey, North Wales near the beach and the mountains of Snowdonia.
Richard Elfyn is a hugely experienced and talented actor with film credits including APOSTLE, MARIAH MUNDI AND THE MIDAS BOX, THE KILLER ELITE and THE DARK. TV credits include THE CROWN, KEEPING FAITH, HINTERLAND, EMMERDALE and STELLA and numerous leading regular roles for S4C including political drama BYW CELWYDD. Richard is regularly heard on BBC Radio 4 dramas and is a highly skilled voice over artist. He has re-voiced many Welsh language versions of popular animations including FIREMAN SAM, BEN 10 and SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS.
About Audiobook #1 Author: Stephen Puleston Narrator: Richard Elfyn Length: 10 hours 10 minutes Publisher: Stephen Puleston⎮2018 Genre: Modern Detective Series: Inspector Drake Mysteries, Book 1 Release date: Oct. 26, 2018
Synopsis: It is the middle of the night…. The road is deserted…. A killer is waiting….
Information
Two traffic officers are killed on an isolated mountain pass in North Wales. Inspector Drake is called to the scene and quickly discovers a message left by the killer – traffic cones in the shape of a No 4.
The killer starts sending the Wales Police Service lyrics from famous rock songs. Are they messages or is there some hidden meaning in them?
Does it all mean more killings are likely? When a politician is killed Drake has his answer. And then the killer sends more song lyrics. Now Drake has to face the possibility of more deaths but with numbers dominating the case Drake has to face his own rituals and obsessions.
Finally when the killer threatens Drake and his family he faces his greatest challenge in finding the killer before he strikes again.
If you read a book by Stephen Puleston you’re going to get a solid story. Brass in Pocket is a traditional detective mystery, and excellent British crime thriller starring Inspector Ian Drake. I haven’t digested a British crime book in a while, so this was quite refreshing. The audiobook production, sound quality, narration by Richard Elfyn were nothing less than spectacular. Now I’m on to book #2! WORSE THAN DEAD.
Author Interview with Stephen Puleston
*What do you enjoy most about writing crime fiction?
As I write a series involving Inspector Drake I enjoy developing his character and family life alongside the hurdles he faces day to day with the challenging and changing world of fighting crime. Crime fiction also gives me the opportunity to develop current themes faced in society today.
*What were your inspirations for creating Detective Ian Drake?
I’ve read a lot of the years and there isn’t one thing that inspired me other than a love of crime/mystery fiction and a desire to write a good story. I have a background in the law so I draw a lot on my work in the criminal courts and doing divorce work for inspiration. My home country Wales also gives me great inspiration for the background and setting of the books.
*Who are your favorite detectives?
I enjoy a wide ranging and varied writers. Philip Marlowe must rank as one of the great fictional creations as the classic hard-boiled detective. I am a great fan of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch too. In the UK I would have to say that John Rebus by Ian Rankin is one of my favourites – grumpy and irascible but determined too. And for great detective drama I think Spiral from France and Craith/Hidden from Wales are top class.
*What was the best feedback you’ve received from readers?
The feedback I most enjoyed was from a reader in the outback of Australia who lives in a remote location and loved being able to learn about Wales from reading my books.
*What was it like preparing for an audiobook production?
Great fun! I enjoyed preparing the spreadsheet of characters with various accents for the narrator and coordinating all the arrangements for the production with the studio.
*What do you think about experiencing audiobooks as a different medium than paperbacks, or ebooks?
In many ways audiobooks complement ebooks – using Amazon’s whisper sync technology allows you to move from ebook to audiobook without loosing your place. And that should encourage reading, which can only be a good thing. And audio books are a performance in themselves which make them a different sort of experience altogether.
About the Author: Stephen Puleston
I write crime fiction based in Wales and about Wales. The rural landscape of north Wales provides the backdrop to the Inspector Drake novels. And Cardiff, the capital of Wales, provides the setting for the Inspector Marco novels set in a modern urban environment.
I love the novels of Raymond Chandler, Ian Rankin, Mark Billingham, Henning Mankell, Val McDermid – the list could go on! And I enjoy watching detective series on the television the recent Hinterland series based near Aberystwyth in Wales was great. One of my favourites is the French series Spiral but The Bridge and Broadchurch and the Rebus series with Ken Stott and Kenneth Branagh in Wallander are great too.
I was born in Anglesey an island off the north Wales coast and after leaving school in Holyhead I went to University in London before training as a solicitor/lawyer. I practised in a small family business doing criminal work in the magistrates and crown courts, divorce and family work.
I still live on Anglesey, North Wales near the beach and the mountains of Snowdonia.
Richard Elfyn is a hugely experienced and talented actor with film credits including APOSTLE, MARIAH MUNDI AND THE MIDAS BOX, THE KILLER ELITE and THE DARK. TV credits include THE CROWN, KEEPING FAITH, HINTERLAND, EMMERDALE and STELLA and numerous leading regular roles for S4C including political drama BYW CELWYDD. Richard is regularly heard on BBC Radio 4 dramas and is a highly skilled voice over artist. He has re-voiced many Welsh language versions of popular animations including FIREMAN SAM, BEN 10 and SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS.
Synopsis: “Filled with powerful scenes and great characters! Brings the ’83 Old South to vivid life. One of my all-time favorite reads! Loved it”! (Janelle Taylor, NY Times best-selling author)
The summer of 1983 – the era of big debt, big hair, and big dreams. Seventeen-year-old Kassandra Lawson is excited about starting her senior year of high school. She has a crush on a local hunk, and her best friend, valley girl extraordinaire Liz Hendricks, insists on helping her snag the hot guy – for sure!
July starts out uneventful for Kee and her parents. Her father, Kevin, is a partner at a CPA firm, and her mother, Gail, works as a secretary at the police department. The small family lives an idyllic life in sunny Hacienda Heights, California.
1983 also brings upheaval and strife for the Lawson clan. A death in the family forces Kevin and Gail to make the painful decision to pack up and move to Kevin’s hometown of Daltville, Arkansas.
Each faces daunting challenges adapting to their new life. Gail and Kee aren’t quite sure they can handle the culture shock. They encounter social and racial issues they never faced on the West Coast, strange food, weird dialects, odd customs, and wicked secrets that have the potential to destroy their family.
More than just a coming-of-age story, Surviving Doodahville explores family bonds, racial barriers, and just how much a person is willing to sacrifice for others. The tale is full of humor, action and a touch of mystery, making it a fun romp into the past.
This was an excellent story filled with great characters, subplots, and practically bleeding with themes. I thoroughly enjoy stories that totally surprise me. Surviving Doodahville was much better than I expected. I’m not sure what my expectation was, but it definitely exceeded it. Narrator Rebecca Roberts was nothing less than exceptional on every level. The variation of southern accents, males and female, including Californian valley girl were spot on.
About the Author: Ashley Fontainne
Award-winning and International bestselling author, Ashley Fontainne, is an avid reader, becoming a fan of the written word in her youth, starting with the Nancy Drew mystery series. Stories that immerse the reader deep into the human psyche and the monsters lurking within us are her favorite reads.
Her muse for penning the Eviscerating the Snake series was The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Ashley’s love for this book is what sparked her desire to write her debut novel, Accountable to None, the first book in the trilogy. With a modern setting to the tale, Ashley delves into just what lengths a person is willing to go to when seeking personal justice for heinous acts perpetrated against them. The second novel in the series, Zero Balance, focuses on the cost and reciprocal cycle that obtaining revenge has on the seeker. Once the cycle starts, where does it end? How far will the tendrils of revenge expand? Adjusting Journal Entries answers that question—far and wide.
The short thriller entitled Number Seventy-Five touches upon the dangerous world of online dating. Number Seventy-Five took home the BRONZE medal in fiction/suspense at the 2013 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards.
The paranormal thriller entitled The Lie won the GOLD medal in the 2013 Illumination Book Awards for fiction/suspense. A movie based on this book, entitled Foreseen, is currently a feature film available on video-on-demand from Amazon.
Ashley delved into the paranormal with a Southern Gothic horror/suspense novel, Growl, which released in January of 2015. The suspenseful mystery Empty Shell released in September of 2014. Ashley teamed up with Lillian Hansen (Ashley calls her Mom!) and penned a three-part murder mystery/suspense series entitled The Magnolia Series. The first book, Blood Ties, released in 2015 and was voted one of the Top 50 Self-Published Books You Should Be Reading in 2015 at http://www.readfree.ly.
Lillian Hansen is the proud mother of Ashley Fontainne and a grateful daughter of parents who raised her to love and respect the principles upon which America was founded. Lillian is the granddaughter of a brave young woman who immigrated to the United States from Denmark at the age of 18 without speaking any English, who built a career, a family, and became a proud U.S. Citizen.
Lillian values the diverse, life-enriching experiences squirreled away in her memory banks and is fond of all four-legged critters, especially cats. Lillian lives in Arkansas and Surviving Doodahville is her third novel.
About the Narrator: Rebecca Roberts
After a career in finance, Rebecca Roberts became inspired to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an actress. Her ingenuity and ardent desire brought her to voice-acting which has rapidly grown into her thriving audiobook narration and production company, Atlantis Audio Productions. She has narrated and produced over seventy audiobooks for indie authors and major publishing houses. Rebecca delivers her stories with a mature and intelligent style characterized by a believable tone, and versatility in creating memorable and individual characters with her various accents and vocal qualities. In short, she narrates with her whole heart. Rebecca is a native Floridian, proud mother to three sparkling children, and wife to the man of her dreams.
Synopsis: With the new year approaching, hospital chaplain Lindsay Harding heads for a much-needed break in the peaceful resort town of Duck on North Carolina’s outer banks. Her plan to attend the wedding of her friend, Anna, runs aground when a boatload of trouble washes ashore, and as the old year ticks down, the body count goes up. Thrust into the path of an increasingly desperate killer, Lindsay must uncover a sinister secret before she winds up swimming with the fishes.
Old family scandals, sunken World War II U-boats, obscene desserts, and a stolen Doberman all guarantee a far from restful break for the irreverent reverend, who makes her second appearance in this lively mystery.
Another entertaining read that didn’t disappoint. Book 2 in the Lindsay Harding mystery series was just as good the first one. There’s a lot of moving parts to this book, but at the core is the bizarre death of Lindsay’s aunt Patty in the city of Duck. Great storytelling. Narrator Holly Adams delivers another spectacular performance and is just as good as any narrator I’ve heard. The various accents are truly remarkable. Lindsay’s best friend Ron speaks English with an Asian accent. Her best friend Anna and her mother have a distinguished southern accent. Family friend Simmy has an unusual accent from North Carolina which I’ve never even heard of, and villain Leeland has distinct voice of his own. Keeping all these straight, switching back and forth between characters and narrator voice is magical. I’m still not sure how the good narrators are able to pull this off. Amazing!
Author Interview
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?
In my second book, A Death in Duck, there are a few characters who speak with an Outer Banks (of North Carolina) accent. That accent is a trip! It sounds like an Irish accent and a Southern accent had a baby, and that baby was born with a mouth full of marbles. 🙂 Holly and I talked a lot about how to render it accurately, but still make it understandable for the purposes of the recording.
Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
I know this is cliche, but OMG the Harry Potter audiobooks narrated by Jim Dale are THE BEST. I also quite liked Eddie Izzard’s reading of Great Expectations. I knew Izzard as a quirky comedian who often performed in drag, so I was extra impressed by his skill as a narrator.
For me, a good audiobook is all about the sharpness of the characterizations. With the Dale and Izzard readings, you can tell who’s speaking almost as if you were listening to dozens of actors rather than just one.
If you had the power to time travel, would you use it? If yes, when and where would you go?
I’ve seen enough sci-fi movies and TV shows to know that time travel always ends badly. I’ll have to be content with time traveling through books and movies, because I sure as heck am not going to be the one responsible for setting off a catastrophic chain of events by accidentally stepping on a butterfly in 1722.
What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?
That question is best answered by punching those dumb-dumbs in the face. Seriously, though, whatever way someone chooses to inject narrative content into their brains is okay by me. Some people have long commutes, and audiobooks provide a great companion. Some people, like my grandmother, have vision impairments that prevent them from reading. Audiobooks are her lifeline. Personally, I love reading, listening to audiobooks, and watching movies and TV shows. I even like hearing storytellers at events and festivals. A great story is a great story, no matter how it gets from one person to another.
How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
I never really feel like writing projects are finished, so I don’t celebrate. I mean, are you supposed to celebrate when you finish the draft? The corrections? Submit it to your agent? Return the page proofs? See it in print? Register your first sale? Get your first review? I’d be hungover for months, if not years!
I just finished a full draft of a middle-grade novel I’m working on, and I’ll tell you exactly how I celebrated. I went into the bathroom, where my husband was brushing his teeth and said, “Well, I think I’m done with that book I’ve been working on for three years.” We high-fived and then went to bed.
About the Author: Mindy Quigley
Mindy Quigley is the author of the Mount Moriah cozy mystery series, which is based in part on her time working with the chaplains at Duke University Medical Center. Her short stories have won awards including the 2013 Bloody Scotland Short Story Competition and the 2018 Artemis Journal/Lightbringer Prize. Her non-writing career has been stranger than fiction, taking her from the US to the UK, where she worked as the personal assistant to the scientist who cloned Dolly the sheep, and as project manager for a research clinic founded by the author J.K. Rowling.
She now lives in Blacksburg, Virginia, with her Civil War history professor husband, their children, and their idiosyncratic miniature Schnauzer.
An actress and physical theatre performer for many years before becoming a Voice Actor, Holly continues to divide her time between stage, screen, circus, and audiobook narration.
Holly began her VO career doing radioplays and audiobook characters with the amazing Full Cast Audio company. Since then, Holly has voiced radio and web commercials, various e-learning projects, documentary shorts. . . and of course, audiobooks! She has been nominated for Best Fiction and Best Female Narrator. Holly has conservatory training; her attention to tone, energy and rhythm make her work personal and dynamic. Holly’s performance projects abroad (Italy, Afghanistan, Haiti, Russia, the UK, France, and the Middle East!) support her training and skill with dialects and languages.
Holly records for Audible, Deyan Audio, Christian Audiobooks, Tantor, and more. Holly loves telling stories!
When she’s not in the recording studio, she is on stage or screen; favorite projects include Richard II, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, the films “Here Alone”, “Gotham Blue” and “Your Loving, Virginia”, working with girls in Kabul for the Afghan Children’s Circus and with performers in Balan, Haiti, as well as with her ‘home circus’ Circus Culture. Holly is a SAG-AFTRA performer, a graduate of the International Dell ‘Arte School, and holds a Master’s in Theatre, Education and Social Change. Https://shearwaterproductions.com/voice-actor and on IMDb as Holly Adams III.
