Hooks, Hopes, and Dialogue. Would you rather read or be read to?

Now, I have immersed myself in all manner of boiling waters over the whole matter of double-entendres. My skin is so pink that at least it hides my blushes. Last time on here I was talking about audiobooks. These days I beaver away at other writers’ works as much as my own. I have committed some of my own stories to audio but there is an equal joy of editing the work of other authors.

A few days ago, the Gallo-Romano Media produced audiobook of The Gentlemen And the Rogue(by authors Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon) went live on Audible, Amazon and iTunes. Now, this is an historical romp involving a gent and his very attractive man-servant. It is a wonderful tale of English Regency period debauchery, chivalry and Love.

The narrator, Jasper de Montfort (well, he says that’s his name), is a hard-line English nobleman with an eye for comely wenches and maidens. His mission was to perform seventeen character parts in a story where the main characters are men who prefer …….er……um…..men. I’ve got to be honest – he was so convincing that I’m beginning to wonder about him.

My job was to splice, edit and polish the soundtrack. Oooh- I’ve always been a bit of a whiz with the knobs but this was a challenge. The double-entendres double up in this exquisite tale of love.

This Gentleman scrubbed up well and comes in at a most respectable and satisfying nine and a half...

hours.  However, many more days were actually spent creating this audio work of art.  You can bank on a recording artist taking two to three times the finished audiobook length to perform his/her magic. Add to that at least  3-4 times this number of hours, alone in a darkened room massaging Jasper's... voice track. 

Then there is the wait, as the authors listen and approve… and further anticipation as ACX (Audible’s uploading arm) run their checks and tests.

Late last week I was very proud to see that the gentleman was out of his breeches and standing up for himself for all to see online. Sales are good – as producer on a split-royalty this is good news – and there are already a couple of five star reviews to boot. We are all deeply satisfied.

The point about working with audio is that you need a great story – crisply told. A written book you can go back and read the poetic bits if that is your taste. An audio book needs to flow like a river just aching for that salty sea. Since I have become involved in this form I have started to see my stories in this context. Some books that I have reviewed I have immediately visioned as film. Other  stories are like paintings which you need to view and return to. A good audio narrative moves and hooks in to your sense of need and expectation. It demands your secret imagination. Some other person’s voice is leading you on. If an audio book gets you – you are GOT.

I have been through periods of pessimism about the future of independent writers – indeed, any writers. The fact is that the plain written book is just one avenue. Obviously, the classic greats wrote for the printed page. The opportunity now is to write for a new generation of consumers who are not just simply readers. The greatest pleasure in life for me is to see. The next greatest pleasure is to close my eyes. This apparent contradiction  creates the mental territory of the audio book. The prairie is there and the long-horns still thin on the ground….

The Gentleman and the Rogue are ready and waiting for you on Audible and Amazon.

Based on my post for The VG Authors Collection
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