| May 15, 2013
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The Battle of Wildspitze

What do you get when you combine the wonders of steampunk with fantastical magic and dragons? When Scott Roche and Zach Ricks combined all three, they came up with the Battle of Wildspitze. This delightful story takes two narrators, me and Jim Perry, to tell a whirlwind tale set in The Aethelian Age. It is a lovely tidbit of a tale that was so much fun to narrate, given the characters, accents, and action. To tell more of the story would give away the best parts, so all I can advise is… go listen!

The story is available on Smashwords and Amazon if you prefer the written form; I’ve linked the audio here.

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Category: Podcasts | Tags: , , ,
| May 15, 2013
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Balticon 47 Schedule

Once again, I’ll be attending Balticon in Hunt Valley, MD, over Memorial Day weekend. Balticon is my favorite convention for its size, focus, and the opportunities to rub elbows and clink glasses with authors, publishers, producers, and voice artists in my field. If you’re attending, here’s my schedule:

Friday, May 24
7 pm The Shrinking Man Project LIVE! with Starla Huchton, Lauren Harris, Justin Macumber, and Doc Coleman
9 pm Never Have I Ever with Jenn Povey, Paul Cooley, Nobilis Reed, and Allison Gamblin

Saturday, May 25
(nothing, although I will be attending panels, hanging with fun people, and running to Panera)

Sunday, May 26
12 pm Reading with Day Al-Mohamed and Robert E Waters (I will record this!)
4 pm Managing A Large Cast with Chris Snelgrove, Jay Smith, and Bryan Lincoln
5 pm Metamor City Live Show with Nobilis Reed, Renee Chambliss, Hugh O’Donnell, Patrick Scaffido, Doc Coleman, Starla Huchton, Chris Lester, and Mildred Cady
6 pm Dynamic Voice Acting with Alex White, Starla Huchton, and Laura Nicole Spencer
7 pm Full Cast vs Straight Read with Chris Lester, Jay Smith, Tim Dodge, Starla Huchton, PC Haring, Renee Chambliss, and Nobilis Reed
9 pm Time Management For Writers

Category: Events and Interviews | Tags:
| May 8, 2013
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Keeping Your Men in Line

“Hey there, babycakes!” Oh, Spoiled Rotten. I had never met Christopher Morse, but after a few episodes of listening to his Parsec-winning podcast, Supervillain Corner, I was hooked. I wanted to play in the sandbox of evil so badly, so I rummaged through the trunk of villainy and found one of my first villains I ever made.

Spoiled Rotten, aka Heather Caine, was originally the daughter of an assassin in a villainous organization known as The Parliament. Her original incarnation wasn’t as smart as it was resourceful; she poisoned romantic rivals with carefully mixed cocktails and then put the blame on innocent bartenders. During her days in the City of Villains MMO, she ran around in hot pink and ordered her thugs to do her bidding. She fell by the wayside when other villains and storylines stole my heart, but Rotten’s voice was always very clear. When I needed glamorous villain camp, I knew where to turn.

Spoiled Rotten’s voice is the first accent that I learned how to do. She’s nasal, squeaky, with a hint of that Betty Boop charm that takes the edge off of just how ruthless and cunning she can be. If I had the costuming skills, I’d make her a mess of hot pink, sequins, and ruffles, with pink fishnets and fluffy carnation curls. And after that, she could take over the world.

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Category: Podcasts | Tags: , ,
| May 1, 2013
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SWC: Lost Tales – Navy Seal

Between seasons 2 and 3 of The Secret World Chronicles podcast, the authors decided to do a short series of WWII themed stories about the earliest heroes of Echo. This was my first foray in writing as part of SWC, and I wanted to stick with a subject that I understood… submarines. I had to have that bachelor’s degree in ocean engineering and a year of shipyard work account for something! I did some research into the earlier history of the US Navy and its yards during the late 1930′s and 1940′s. The idea of a strong, solid man having to hide his mutation seemed to be the best way to present Gordon Weddell. Having an opposite on the other side of the battle also kept with our SWC themes of reciprocity.

When this story was first released in the feed, I made the horrible mistake of uploading raw audio rather than the finished track (due to a filename error). The hate mail from listeners was ASTOUNDING; I did my best to correct the error, but I wanted to crawl under a rock for days. Being called unprofessional moved me to tears; it was a simple mistake, but some subscribers evidently saw it as deliberate. Almost four years later, I think that those mistakes are much fewer in the feed. The link below is (thankfully) the final version.

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Category: Secret World Chronicles | Tags: ,
| April 24, 2013
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Let Me Show You

Partnering my voice with the writing of Nobilis Reed always seems to produce an amazing product, and this week’s highlight is no exception. Let Me Show You is a novella about a young woman’s choice of profession in the face of a life-changing diagnosis. Like much of Nobilis’ work, it is an erotica piece. The characters are very frank and open; there is no sugar-coating of situations or circumstances.

I always learn something new when narrating a story, but Let Me Show You gave me an entirely new insight on many of the limitations of some diagnoses. It is very easy to empathize with the characters, and the main character Sunny is remarkably strong (and grows stronger) throughout the course of the story. If you’re a fan of Nobilis’ work or you enjoy stories with an erotic twist, you should check this out.

This story was done via ACX; as such, I can’t play a sample, but I can link to the title here. Let Me Show You on ACX

Category: ACX | Tags: , ,
| April 18, 2013
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2013 Parsec Award Eligibility

It’s time for Parsec Award nominations! I’ve had the amazing fortune to read for a lot of wonderful authors, producers, and podcast magazines this year. Based upon my records and files, this is a list of everything that I’ve read this year (May 1, 2012 to April 30, 2013) that is considered eligible for the Parsecs.

(If you’re a podcast author or voice talent, take some time to inventory your work. Your listeners WANT to help you get recognized, but they may not remember all of what you’ve done this year. Besides, it’s a great time to update your resume or projects page at your site.)

If I’ve missed something, please let me know! I’ve tried to include every piece where I’ve had a role, even if it’s just one or two lines.

Eligible for Best Speculative Fiction Story: Small Cast (Long Form)

Eligible for Best Speculative Fiction Story: Large Cast (Short Form)

Eligible for Best Speculative Fiction Story: Small Cast (Short Form)

Eligible for Best Speculative Fiction Audio Drama (Long Form)

Category: Podcasts | Tags: ,
| April 17, 2013
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The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward, Part 1

There are a handful of people who seem to know the perfect place for my voice. Norm Sherman is one of those people. When he asked me about being part of the fullcast production of “The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward” for the Drabblecast, I had to agree. When he told me that I would get be evil, I indulged in some maniacal cackling and read ahead in the script.

Like so many of the Drabblecast’s fullcast productions, this one features a brilliant cast of characters and a wickedly disturbing setting. It’s an oddly appropriate hybrid of Lovecraftian horror and far-future science fiction that makes you squirm but compels you to keep listening.

This is a two part episode – I’m linking to the first part here.

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Category: Podcasts | Tags: , , ,
| April 10, 2013
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The Ballad of Iron Percy: Chapter 16

I’ve featured The Ballad of Iron Percy by Edward Clark before on the blog. It is one of my favorite stories that I’ve narrated, hands-down. Pandemona is wickedly brilliant, and Ed’s writing brings out the best of my voice… which is why I wanted to feature Chapter 16.

This chapter introduces some of the new characters and conflicts within the story. I would be remiss to forget about Captain Aranoun, who comes a close second to Pandemona as a favorite character in this series. The juxtaposition of voices and attitudes was a welcome challenge, and I enjoyed the play between Pandemona, Jared, and Elise throughout the series. Plus… pirates. You can’t go wrong voicing Magic and pirates.

The file linked is only Chapter 16. For the WHOLE story, subscribe at Podiobooks.com.

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Category: Podcasts | Tags: , , ,
| April 3, 2013
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SWC: Blackbird Fly

When two of my favorite characters meet in the worst of situations, it’s a story made in heaven. Or hell. Or metahuman purgatory, as is the case with New Orleans and the pair of Victoria Victrix Nagy and the Red Djinni. Blackbird Fly, set toward the end of the second season of the Secret World Chronicles podcast, introduced Vickie and Red (or Vix and the Djinni, if you’d rather) to each other while searching for more necessary misfits to bring back to Echo.

While the story features a wild case of beloved Echo metas, the focus of this story is Vickie. Of all of the voices to do in this cast, I find that Vickie’s tone and tremor come very easily. She is brilliant yet frightened, capable yet so completely beaten down with regard to her own abilities. There are so many parts of her that many listeners identify with; while she is our piece of magic within the metahuman puzzle, Vickie often comes across as one so close to our humanity in her narratives.

(This is a LONG episode, but very much worth the telling!)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Category: Secret World Chronicles | Tags: , , ,
| March 27, 2013
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Somewhere I’ll Find You

The second story I got to read via ACX for Linda Eble Swain was Somewhere I’ll Find You. I enjoyed this story because of the fantastical Hollywood element as well as the different pairs of love interests. It was a great combination of action and romance, with just the right touch of magic. The cast of characters keeps the listener guessing as to the “real” story, and there is a delightful connection between this title and the first title I’d read for Linda, “Chasing Destiny.”

As this is an ACX title, I don’t have a sample, but I can link you to Audible where you can check out the sample or purchase it for yourself.

Category: ACX | Tags: ,
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