Author: The Audiobookworm

#AudiobookTour: Six Nights of Sin by Ellis O. Day

Posted on by The Audiobookworm

Author: Ellis O. Day
Narrators: Robert Hatchet, Dahlia Lynde
Length: 5 hours 2 minutes
Series: La Petite Mort, Books 1-6
Producer: Audiobook Empire
Publisher: Ellis O. Day
Genre: Romance, Erotica
Released: Aug. 12, 2022

Two strangers. Six nights exploring their deepest, darkest fantasies.

Whatever he wants, she’ll try.

Whatever she wants, he’ll submit.

Nick’s not looking for commitment. A few weeks with a woman and then he’s ready to move on. 

Sarah can’t get past the death of her fiancé but she’s lonely. She misses the feel of a man surrounding her, filling her.

A contract.

Six nights of physical intimacy.

Nothing more. Nothing less. Simple. Uncomplicated. Fun.

But she didn’t expect Nick to be sweet and sexy and he never expected to want more.

When the contract is over will either of them be able to walk away?

A new adult erotic romance that’s filled with second chances, kinky sex, and raw emotions of two damaged people finding each other and learning that life is worth taking a chance.

Ellis O. Day loves romance—the steamier the better. She writes steamy, contemporary romantic comedies about the hot men of La Petite Mort Club and the women who drive them crazy. She believes that the cornerstones of all great romantic relationships are love and friendship, trust, attraction and fabulous sex.  Her stories contain all of these (especially the fabulous sex).

 

At Audiobook Empire, audio reigns supreme, narrators are hailed as heroes, and headphones are worn with pride.

Marrying pomp and circumstance with quality you can count on, Audiobook Empire is a full-service production house that produces and promotes audiobooks with gusto.

Give your audiobook the imperial treatment by producing it with Audiobook Empire.

Q&A with Author Ellis O. Day
  • Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
    • No. I knew I wanted to turn my books into audiobooks, but I never realized all that was involved. I just thought that I’d find a man and a woman to read the parts, but I didn’t realize how talented these actors have to be. They don’t just read their parts, they have to differentiate the voice for the main character between spoken word and thoughts, as well as change their voices for the other main character who often speaks during their POV chapters as well as other side characters. These men and women are so talented. I’m utterly amazed.
      Now as I write, I’m a bit more conscious about tags. Usually, I try not to add too many. In a dialogue you don’t need a tag every line because when you’re reading you see by the indent that it’s a new character speaking. This isn’t always the case with audiobooks. I pay attention to that now.
  • How did you select your narrator?
    • I listened to several voices, searching for the one that sounded like Nick and Sarah – at least to me. Nick is a playboy but not creepy. He’s suave but alpha male through-and-through. Yet, he’s not a Dom. He’s willing to let Sarah run the show sometimes. Sarah was a little trickier. She’s not your typical female lead. She’s strong when she has to be and won’t be pushed around by an alpha male, but she’s so fragile on the inside. She’s been through a tragedy and she’s trying to hold her pieces together.
  • Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
    • All my characters have something of me in them, but did I know someone like these two? No. I start with an idea. Six Nights of Sin was my first romance. I also write fantasy under a different pen name. I wanted it to be steamy but also a bit different. I decided to do the “contract” / “woman sells herself” trope but with a twist. Sarah isn’t actually selling herself; she’s entering into a contract with a stranger for sex, not because she needs the money or owes the man something but because she’s lonely and wants sex. From that point, I ask why would someone, a woman, do this? Why wouldn’t she just pick up a guy at a bar or club? And what kind of guy would she pick? Then the questions just continue to roll. For example: Who is Nick? Why does he fall for Sarah? What is it about the two of them that makes them better together? And the answer to all these questions and more, becomes my story.
  • How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
    • I often switch between writing romance and writing fantasy which helps, but I also treat it like a job. Yes, I love writing, but it is work. The moments of inspiration – those scenes that fill your head are wonderful – but they aren’t a story. They are part of a story. Writing the rest to go around those pieces of golden inspiration is work and to get it done, I put my butt in front of the computer and write.
  • Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
    • I love audiobooks because I can listen to them while I do other things – like clean the house, walk, jog, etc. It’s a place for my mind to go while my body is doing mundane things.
  • In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a stand-alone novel vs. writing a series?
    • My romance books are basically both. Each character’s story, except Nick and Sarah’s, is a stand-alone book but it’s also a part of a series surrounding the men and women of La Petite Mort Club. I love series like this. Where I can start with any book in the series. So if one couple catches my interest, I can read about them and then go back and read another couple’s story which took place earlier.

      On the other hand, a series that must be read in order can give much more character growth because you’re with these characters for a long time.
  • What’s your favorite:
    • Food – this differs week-to-week and month-to-month. The only thing that is a constant is Pepsi. I love Pepsi. I drink water, Pepsi, and that’s about it.
    •  Song—again, this depends on my mood. I love classic rock.
    •  Book—I really don’t have a favorite book. I love Julia Quinn, Shakespeare, the Harry Potter series, the Dune series, The Godfather, Carl Hiaasen, and many other books and writers.
    • Television show—I love reality TV like Survivor and Big Brother. I enjoy these shows because I can work and watch them. It takes me about 3 hours to watch a 1 hour show because I stop every 10-20 minutes and work. If the show is too good (like Game of Thrones – until the last season) then I just watch and don’t work.
    • Movie – I love the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World shows. Yes, I know they are cheesy, but I do love cheesy horror flicks.
    •  Band – I don’t have a favorite. I love some Rolling Stones songs, the Beatles, Imagine Dragons, Adele, Lou Bega, etc.
    •  Sports team – I’ve never been into sports. When my parents used to visit and they were into the Chicago Bulls (this was the Michael Jordan years) I used to love to root for the other team, just as friendly rivalry with my folks.
    •  City – I prefer the country over the city.
  • What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
    • Decide what you want from writing. If you want to write as a hobby or just for you, that’s great. Do it. If you want to write and turn it into your job, then learn the craft, write to market, and study marketing. You will need to market your own books because even if you go the route of traditional publishing, you’ll have to market your own book.
  • What’s next for you?
    • I’ll be continuing the La Petite Mort Club series as well as the La Petite Mort Club Intimate Encounters series. I’ll be spinning off a series from LPMC that’ll be small town romances. I’ll also finish up my two fantasy series and have three others planned to start soon. I have more writing to do than I have time. 😊

#AudiobookTour: Zero-Day by Al Davidson

Posted on by The Audiobookworm

Author: Al Davidson
Narrator: John Pirhalla
Length: 14 hours 7 minutes
Producer: Audiobook Empire
Publisher: Al Davidson
Genre: Science Fiction; Cyberpunk
Released: July 22, 2022

Covert cyborg agents from an expansion of Area 51. An insane neuroscientist. A kidnapped superhuman lost to memory until now.

Who Am I? What am I?

These questions have plagued Joshua since childhood. Mysterious amplified senses and boosted reflexes have helped him survive and thrive in a brutal, lawless megacity, and he leads the notorious Epitaph gang with keen street instincts.

When Joshua’s unexplained abilities draw the attention of a covert government entity, he finds himself on the run. Only his skills, street smarts and a rogue hacker named Shelby keep him one step ahead of his relentless hunters.

They know what he is. They know who he is, and they will tear apart a megacity, placing everyone he cares for in danger, to bring him in.

Al Davidson has loved writing action adventure stories since he could pick up a crayon in kindergarten. Zer0-Day: The Sommerfeld Experiment is a Kirkus reviewed first novel in a planned series of 5. Gauntlet, the second book in the series, released in April. He lives on a small ranch in the California mountains above the Pacific Ocean with family and two dogs. Besides making up fantastical stories, he’s a Star Wars nerd, a comic book collector, a devoted fan of action movies, and enjoys reading, world travel, hiking and camping.

 

John has narrated over 270 audiobooks. His smooth-toned narration and story-tellers-ease highlight his productions. John’s versatile array of character voices and skill with accents is on display with all of his work. He is a lover of the well-written sentence and the art of reading them. Although SciFi, Thriller/Suspense and Fantasy make up most of his work, John is a true genre-hopper working with publishers and independent writers alike.

At Audiobook Empire, audio reigns supreme, narrators are hailed as heroes, and headphones are worn with pride.

Marrying pomp and circumstance with quality you can count on, Audiobook Empire is a full-service production house that produces and promotes audiobooks with gusto.

Give your audiobook the imperial treatment by producing it with Audiobook Empire.

Q&A with Author Al Davidson
  • How did you select your narrator?
    • I was looking for a quality in the voice that fit the narrative in the book. It’s hard to describe, but I knew I’d recognize what I was looking for when I heard it. I needed someone with gravity to their voice because Zero-Day has some heavy themes in it despite being an Hollywood action type story. When I heard John Pirhalla, I knew he would do a fantastic job.
  • 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? 
    • I had a phone call and exchanged several emails with John Pirhalla about pronunciations and we talked about the characters, who they were and their motivations. I gave John a few characters from movies that he could listen to and get a feel for voice and characterization. For example, when I created Kevin, I thought of Moss from the IT Crowd, and send John several Youtube links to snippets of Moss. I think John did a fantastic job with all of them, especially Joshua, the main character, and Farrell the main antagonist.
  • Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing? 
    • People no, personal experience, not really. But movies, definitely. I’m an action movie junkie, so John Wick, Blade Runner, The Bourne Identity, The Matrix, Ready Player One, Driver with Ryan Gosling, a little bit of James Bond, Pitch Black with Vin Diesel. I’ve always been fascinated by the anti-hero or the outright bad buy who nonetheless does good things. Joshua, the protagonist of Zero-Day, is more on the level of Riddick.
  • Is there a particular part of this story that you feel is more resonating in the audiobook performance than in the book format? 
    • All of it. Can I say that? I think Zero-Day is a dynamite action story, but under John Pirhalla’s narration, it became a new experience, like I was hearing it for the first time. I didn’t realize how well it would translate into audio format. John’s pauses, and word emphasis and speech patterns for each character brought them alive. I’d love to see Zero-Day made into a Netflix type series, but John’s narration is the next best thing.
  • If this title were being made into a TV series or movie, who would you cast to play the  primary roles? 
    • I have thought about this a little, because as a former screenwriter, it’s fun to pick who might be in the lead roles.
    • For Joshua I would cast Noah Cintenio. He is mostly known as a romantic lead, but I think he would throw himself into a male action lead role if given the chance to play against type. He has the look of Joshua, I certainly think he would enjoy playing him.
    • For Farrell it would be Skeet Ulrich. He has that resting menacing face.
    • Shelby would be Amandla Stenberg, no question. She has an innocent adorable look about her that seems exactly how Shelby would be.
    • For Kevin, I’d pick Kelvin Harrison Jr. When he smiles, that’s Kevin. Just a genuinely good person, who is unfortunately, in the story, pulled into a situation that’s way over his head. Yet he tries to maintain a positive attitude. He has some heroic moments in book #3, which I’m currently writing, where he really steps up and saves the day.
  • In Zero-Day, the bad guy is the protagonist, how do you make a villain sympathetic enough to be the main character?
    • Writing a bad guy as a main character is a fine line tip one way you lose your readers, tip the other and the character feels forced.  Joshua is neither a traditional anti-hero or a straight up bad guy. My goal was to take someone who might have been a decent person, who might have been successful and a contributing member of society, and then put him in a situation that would eat a good person alive. So you have this mix of someone who struggles with the bad decisions he has to make to help him stay alive, and to help his gang and who also longs for something normal which is out of reach. His struggles, despite not being all good, are relatable. Everyone wants a safe place to live, good friends, and a decent meaningful life. Joshua can’t have any of those, but he tries and fails.
    •  My favorite villain as a main character is Riddick from Pitch Black, so I was aiming for that vibe with Joshua. He’s not a good guy, but he does enough good things and makes enough mistakes, that he’s human and relatable. He realizes his ambitions hurt other people, and he sometimes trusts people he shouldn’t. 
  • Have any of your characters ever appeared in your dreams?
    • Interesting question because Zero-Day was inspired by a dream that became Chapter 22 “Sombras”. I was Joshua in the dream standing in a burned out, ruined city, breathing in the misty rain falling around me, breathing in the cold air. The character Barber was chasing me and I was worried but not afraid. Why was she chasing me? Why was I in this burned out, ruined city? I had to know. I woke up the next morning and started writing the story that became Zero-Day.

What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?

    • Write every day, even if it’s just for 15 minutes. Set a timer, put everything else on hold while that timer is going and write. Everyone can spare 15 minutes. Find a good editor who specializes in your genre. Writing a fast paced thriller requires a different cadence and movement  in prose than, say, a romance story, so while an editor might be good with romance, they won’t understand writing the thriller. If you can’t afford an editor, use a beta editing swap with another writer in your genre. Read aloud programs like the one in Word, and tools like ProWritingAid or Grammarly will help in the writing process and are your best self editing tools, but are no substitute for a real editor. There are so many fantastic Youtube videos by successful authors who talk about the art of writing, characterization and plot, plus the all important topic of how to advertise and promote your book once it’s written.
  • Do you have any tips for authors going through the process of turning their books into audiobooks?
    • Definitely. Best way to make sure your book is ready for a narrator is to run it through a ‘read aloud’ program. Word has one built in with several male and female voices and there are free programs you can download if you don’t use Word. Listening to your book read to you is not the same as reading it to yourself, it’s easy to accidently read what you think is there, and not what is there. When you listen to your book read to you, you’ll notice funky, confusing sentence structure, repeated words or phrases, it also helped me hear plot inconsistencies. Even if an author doesn’t plan on an audiobook for their story, ‘read aloud’ is still a good editing tool.
  • What’s next for you?
    • I’d like to get John Pirhalla to narrate book #2 Gauntlet, in the Sommerfeld Experiment Series, and hopefully the others, too. I’m continuing to work on book #3. I have a few working titles for it, but haven’t decided. The end of #3 leads right into  #4 called “Kill, Switch” where Joshua gets a redemptive arc. “Kill, Switch” ends with hints at book #5, but it does wrap up the series with a satisfying ending on its own.
    • After The Sommerfeld Experiment, I’m moving on to an epic fantasy series called The Alchemist’s Son #1 “Summoner’s Blood”–the titles are still a work in progress. The first book is in a 2nd draft state, and the second book is partially written. I expect it to come out in the middle of next spring, 2023.

#Audiobook Tour: Cassius and Ellendarra by D. C. Armstrong

Posted on by The Audiobookworm

Author: D. C. Armstrong

Narrator: Nathaniel Priestley

Length: 7 hours and 44 minutes

Publisher: D. C. Armstrong

Released: Apr. 19, 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Cassius alone stands between the realm of Evlontus and complete destruction in this riveting tale of swords, magic, and deception that rewrites the classic theme of good versus evil.

Imprisoned within Cassius’ soul lives a terrifying dark force threatening to destroy all existence. As his control over it weakens, it is up to his brother, King Magnus, along with his deceitful machinations, to repress and vanquish the evil entity and restore balance to the realm. Total annihilation looms over Evlontus, and the brothers’ efforts begin to unravel due to the interference of two soldiers, Japheth and Ellendarra.

When the truth is finally revealed, destiny takes them down an unexpected path toward the ultimate battle between good and evil.

D. C. Armstrong is the author of Cassius and Ellendarra, and the upcoming sequel The Last King of Evlontus. A fan of character-driven stories, her work is light in the details and fast-paced but epic in scale nonetheless.

Voice Actor and Audiobook Narrator

Narrator for Penguin Random House, W.F Howes, Strathmore Publishing, Audible Studios, StoryTec, HarperCollins, RNIB and many independent authors.
As heard on Qatar Airways, Lenor Europe, Rockwool, Radio Manx, Channel 103 and many more.

Q&A with Author D. C. Armstrong
  • Tell us about the process of turning your book into an audiobook.
    • The audiobook process turned out to be the most fun I’ve had in my publishing journey! I used ACX to produce the audiobook and everything went very smoothly. I was able to select a narrator from the auditions very quickly and he was very responsive to my character notes and suggestions. After only a few revisions we were able to lock in the final product.  
  • Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
    • Absolutely. The early feedback I received often included something along the lines of – you should be a screenplay writer. I agree with this, but in the case of this specific story I felt compelled to push forward with writing a novel. The difficulty is that this story, and the way that it is written, doesn’t fit neatly in the Fantasy genre. It includes magic, sword fighting, good versus evil but it is intentionally limited to a small core cast and focused on dialogue and character development. The book does read more like a play and has less in the way of an immersive descriptive fantasy world as it was intended to appeal to those looking for a lighter read. 
  • Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
    • No. It should have been. Funnily enough it didn’t even occur to me until nearly a year after publishing that audiobooks would give me the freedom to write in the way that feels most natural to me.
  • How did you select your narrator?
    • When I initially set up the book for auditions, I had selected an American accent for the narrator but the first message I got was from Nathaniel inquiring about whether I would consider a British accent. I told him I would certainly consider it and he promptly sent in an audition file soon after. I never even listened to the other auditions because I was so blown away by his characterizations and voicework. Felt like it was meant to be!
  • How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process?
    • Nathaniel was great to work with. I felt very comfortable relaying any notes about the tone a character would speak with and letting him in on a deeper level about different plot points so that the dialogue could resonate the way I intended. He was very responsive and efficient with any corrections and enthusiastic to see the project come to life.
  • Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
    • The entirety of the novel is far more personal than I had originally intended. The plot changed from draft to draft as I began to incorporate more of myself into the characters. My own sense of humor changed the tone of the book completely despite it originally being written out with a much darker plot.
  • Is there a particular part of this story that you feel is more resonating in the audiobook performance than in the book format?
    • My favorite parts of the story are when all of the core cast of characters come together. I am a big fan of the show Arrested Development and love when the family comes together and I feel like that tone influenced a lot of those scenes and resonates better when you can hear the voices of the characters.

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