How to use this Page

Merry Christmas, everyone!  I hope it’s been great so far.  Here in Utah we got a white Christmas, and I can’t think of anything better.

…Except giving an awesome gift to my blog readers!!  Y’all know I work as an artist, but you may not know that I also write books on the side.  (I love creating stories.)  A few months ago, a book I wrote, “Illusionarium” was released,  and I found out just a couple days ago that it made the NYT bestseller list! Cool!

If you haven’t heard of the book, here’s a short summary–

16-year-old Jonathan lives a quiet life on a far north aerial city, with hopes of one day becoming a surgeon.  But when his mother and sister fall ill with a mysterious and fatal disease, Jonathan must travel through an alternate London full of illusions and monsters to get the cure.  But can he find it before his family dies…and before he turns into a monster himself? 

We just finished producing the audiobook, and as a Christmas gift, I want to give it to you guys…FOR FREE!  Behold!

Isn’t that a fabulous cover?  Kevin Keele, one of the best artists I know, painted it.  You’ll want to check out his blog and tumblr for more beautiful artwork.

Elyse Todd made that gorgeous steampunk title, and you’ll want to check her out on Behance.

I love the audiobook cover, I feel like it’s a great match for the book.

Upside down…

Really great match!  Hahaha yissssss.

Ben Cummins is the reader, and he does a stupendous job.  His voices are perfect!

Do you like Terry Pratchett-esque steampunk books with lots of humor and lots of monsters?  Then you’ll wanna download this audibook!  All you need to do is click on the link below.  This will lead you to a site (totally safe, I promise) that prompts you to enter a password.  Once entered, the audiobook will begin downloading.

Illusionarium Audiobook

Password = RIVEN

Merry Christmas!  I hope all the best things happen for everyone in this upcoming year ^_^

May Contain Spoilers

Review:

I am not big on audio books, and prior to Hunting Ground, I could count the number I’ve listened to on one hand.  I had a long solo drive to a horse show, though, and thought that listening to a book would keep me alert and less stressed during the drive.  I picked this book because I loved Cry Wolf, but I haven’t had time to read any further in the Alpha and Omega series.  At first I was a little hesitant as I pulled out of the driveway and started my journey, but MY.GOODNESS!  I didn’t want the drive to end, I was that engaged in the story!

The narrator, Holter Graham, was incredible.  The different voices he used for different characters were spot on, and now I can’t imagine that they would sound otherwise.  He varied the cadence of the words depending on the pacing of the particular scene, and wow, I was so caught up in the story that I can’t imagine reading it instead of listening to it now.  The story translated well to audio; it’s fast-paced, exciting, and there’s a lot of action that is read with a staccato of sounds.  It was like listening to a long, intricate song, with changes in reading tempo and crescendos of action.  I loved the narration, and I’m so glad I picked it for my first foray into Scribd’s audiobook library.

The story, for me, is all about Charles and Anna, and their blossoming relationship.  They are sent to a meeting in Bran’s place, to discuss the Marrok’s plan to let the world know about the existence of werewolves with some of the foreign alphas.  Charles fears that something bad will happen to Bran, so he and his father had been fighting about Bran’s attendance.  Shy, quiet Anna forces the two to see reason, and soon, she and her new mate are headed to Seattle, Washington to meet with some of the biggest, baddest  werewolf leaders in the world.  As the snarling males circle each other, looking for weaknesses, Charles was right to be concerned.  There is a lot of animosity between the wolves, especially for Bran, and not all of the alphas are on board with coming out to the general public.  A gruesome murder doesn’t help, and Charles finds himself framed for a crime he didn’t commit.  Only Anna’s clear thinking and bravery helps root out the true villains.

The characters are what make this such a good series.  Anna is still suffering from her mistreatment with her previous pack, and Charles, his father’s enforcer, is feared by the other wolves.  Because he might be required to kill any one of them at any time, he also seeks to keeps himself emotionally distant.  Only with Anna does his wolf feel at peace. Anna is learning that being Omega doesn’t mean being a pushover.  She does not have to be submissive, she does not have to yield, and she has a strength she didn’t think herself capable of.  Anna’s mere presence in a pack brings it peace and a sense of calm.  While Charles’ job is to control the pack and protect the weaker members, Anna’s is to make everyone in the pack happy.

This was such a successful endeavor that I started listening to Moon Called, also by Patricia Briggs.  So far, it is also an engrossing listen; too bad I don’t have any long trips in the near future!

Grade:  B+

Review copy listened to on Scribd

About the book:

The first Alpha and Omega novel, Cry Wolf, unlocked the doors to a unique urban landscape in “a great…new werewolf series” (Darque Reviews). In Hunting Ground, #1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs invites readers to follow her even deeper into that seductive realm of the unknown…

Anna Latham didn’t know how complicated life could be until she became a werewolf. And until she was mated to Charles Cornick, the son—and enforcer—of Bran, the leader of the North American werewolves, she didn’t know how dangerous it could be, either…

Anna and Charles have just been enlisted to attend a summit to present Bran’s controversial proposition: that the wolves should finally reveal themselves to humans. But the most feared Alpha in Europe is dead set against the plan—and it seems like someone else might be, too. When Anna is attacked by vampires using pack magic, the kind of power only werewolves should be able to draw on, Charles and Anna must combine their talents to hunt down whoever is behind it all—or risk losing everything…

Title: Night Film Author: Marisha Pessl Narrated by: Jake Weber Publisher: Random House Audio Publication Date: August 20, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-0307932655 Listening copy via local library Marisha Pessl's debut novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, was a hot read a few years ago. I read it and thought it was intelligent and intricately plotted, but overall a meh from me in terms of being

Title: The Time Machine Author: H.G. Wells Narrated by: Sir Derek Jacobi Publisher: Listening Library Publication Date: June 11, 2013 Listening copy via Sync H.G. Wells' The Time Machine is one of those science fiction classics that I just never got around to reading, so I thought listening to a free Sync copy would be a perfect way to finally get around to it. I've seen the Hollywood

Title: Landline Author: Rainbow Rowell Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman Publisher: Macmillan Audio Publication Date: July 8, 2014 ISBN-13: 978-1427239327 Listening copy via public library Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park is still crazy popular, and maybe one day it'll be in the library long enough for me to check it out. In the meantime, I listened to the audiobook of Landline. Landline isn't YA,

It's that time of the year again, when the good people at Sync offer a weekly selection of YA audiobooks paired with classic titles. If you don't have OverDrive Media Console, you'll need to install if, but Sync offers a handy link to that on its website. Check out this year's offerings: May 7-14:   Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier May

Title: Sold Author: Patricia McCormick Narrated by: Justine Eyre Publisher: Tantor Audio Publication Date: November 26, 2012 Listening copy via Sync Sold by Patricia McCormick was a National Book Award finalist, a lyrical, heartbreaking story about Lakshmi, a thirteen-year-old girl who is sold by her stepfather into the sex trade. Justine Eyre does a phenomenal job narrating Lakshmi's story,

Television producer, comic book writer and prose novelist Greg Weisman has just added a new job description – audioplay mastermind. That’s not a euphemism, Weisman is taking his nine-book novel series known as Rain of the Ghosts and bringing it over to Kickstarter in the form of an audioplay. The author has just finished the second title in the series: Spirits of Ash and Foam. The novels and audioplay focus on Rain Cacique, a heroine with some mysteries to solve and new (ghostly) friends to hang out with. This work is also produced with the young adult market in mind – a smart decision on behalf of the creators to make the work much more accessible. With a Kickstarter campaign in the works, and a new Marvel book featuring a popular Star Wars: Rebels character known as Kanaan, Weisman is a busy creator.

Did you first build Rain of the Ghosts around the female hero Rain Cacique, or did you start with the world building first?

It was so long ago – I first developed Rain of the Ghosts in 1997. I definitely wanted to do a show around a female lead. We really did the origins of it developing a show set in New Orleans. The more I researched about the Caribbean, the more I wanted to do a show set there. Part of it, is the setting itself, and then the cast just seemed to come together with the mythology of the Taino people. It just worked for it to be a female lead in that it was something I wanted to do. So it kind of felt like more of a holistic approach in that I started more with this,

Aside from your setting and environment, how did you weave the mythological aspects into the story?

My method involves a lot of index cards and a very large bulletin board. I just started putting the index cards up moving them around and changing the order that began to coalesce for me. That’s how I began to work on the television shows, and it’s how I do the novels. On the second book: Spirits of Ash and Foam, I used 693 index cards to outline the book. I covered an eight foot tall bulletin board, a big table and a pool table before I was done – I completely covered all three. Even then, I took the index cards and wrote them up into a document. There were these two characters that in the outline were very minor. They were each in one short scene or something like that and very functionary characters. They had no drive of their own per see. As I was writing the book the characters came up and said nuh-uh. We’re way more important than that. So I had to sort of figure out what there arcs were in the second book. They turned out to be very important characters.

How did you first start to get the idea of taking the book and getting in the audioplay format?

Initially it was pretty straightforward, thought it would be really cool to make an audioplay of this. I found myself with the dilemma which would be: I have first-person narrator who is an adult male. If it’s a first-person narrator you get an adult male to read it. Then I thought, but my lead character is a thirteen year-old girl and she has most of the dialogue. Listen to this adult male trying to do the little girl voice for the whole book, it would be really awful. I decided that I would add a musical score because most audiobooks are just one guy reading with no music and no sound effects. Let me do this like a radioplay, let me do it like an episode of an animated tv series only without the animation and that’s something that I do know how to do. We cast the whole book – that’s done. What we’re doing, is raising the money on the Kickstarter for the post-production of all the Dynamic Music Partners; the group that did the music for Spectacular Spider-Man. For the editing and sound effects and all the post-production work; because this is a studio quality production without the studio interference. We get to decide whether or not it gets made and that’s what the Kickstarter is for.

Did you construct a budget for the audio play different than how you would an animated series?

I sat down and talked to a bunch of people and figured out the budget: a SAG Union production. We got a discount because we are an audioplay, and not many people have done that before. It doesn’t cost as much as it would if it was a full episode, but we have four hours worth of material. It’s a lot of bang for the buck, I called in a lot of favors and a lot of people were working for free. Most people are being paid if the Kickstarter goes through at least a little bit. Just turning it around and giving us the best work that they can give us. We broke the budget into two halves, the first half is for the voice cast, paid for by me, and the second half is the post-production which was paid for by the Kickstarter.

Did you look at the foreign market in the UK where audio plays are a known quantity?

I didn’t do any detailed research into that but I was very aware of Big Finish, and that kind of thing and I thought we could demonstrate that it’s good stuff that might be a place where we could take it. To some extent I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself. The Kickstarter is at the halfway point and it hasn’t even been up a week yet. I don’t wanna count my chickens before the hatch in that essence.

Do you have a plan for how you will be able to market the audiodrama to more people?

I’ve got people working on the marketing side of things, obviously the social media aspects are a big part of that. The Kickstarter itself is good advertising – we were hoping to bring some more attention to not just the audioplay itself – but to everyone. I just keep trying to reach out to people, I have a comic book series called Star Wars: Kanaan that came out on Wednesday, and if that can help me reach more people for Rain…great. I have a new television show that I am not allowed to talk about yet. Eventually that will come out – hopefully that will generate more interest with me and interest in Rain. If we can make it happen we’re gonna try do it.

Are their any last words on your upcoming projects?

I got the book ready to go with Spirits of Ash and Foam which is available on Amazon or in any bookstore. If they aren’t literally on the shelf, you can go to the front desk and they will order them for you. That’s the big thing that I am pushing right now, other than that, there’s Star Wars: Kanaan which is a lot of fun. It has the first issue out now with a great second issue out in a month. I am pushing this Kickstarter, we so had a great time recording the voices. We really want a chance to finish this thing off so people remember what we did.

I’ve been short on time and unable to concentrate on reading lately, so I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks. They’re so wonderful when you’re driving or cooking or doing something else with your hands! I’m weirdly picky when it comes to narrators–I literally reject about 90% of the ones I sample–but it’s always a joy when I come across a reader whose voice and style I like. Today I’m reviewing two audiobooks I listened to recently, both of which are middle grade books featuring main characters with unusual names. Nest by Esther Ehrlich For fans of Jennifer Holm (Penny from Heaven, Turtle in Paradise), a heartfelt and unforgettable middle-grade novel about an irresistible girl and her family, tragic change, and the healing power of love and friendship. In 1972 home is a cozy nest on Cape Cod for eleven-year-old Naomi “Chirp” Orenstein, her older sister, Rachel; her psychiatrist... Read more »

The post Nest and Nightbird: Audiobook Reviews appeared first on The Midnight Garden.

Title: Where'd You Go, Bernadette Author: Maria Semple Narrated by: Kathleen Wilhoite Publisher: Little, Brown & Company Publication Date: April 16, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-1478978947 Listening copy via public library Where'd You Go, Bernadette was a 2013 Alex Award winner, which means that it's an adult book with teen appeal. Which means it's a book that it is little edgy, a little twisty, a book

I’m so excited to tell you that the audiobook of WISH YOU WEREN’T is live! I didn’t realize after approving the final version that it would take Audible nearly two weeks to listen to it to make sure the quality was up to par, but I’m glad they did. Because that ensures that anyone who […]

Wave the Wheat, Jayhawkers! Today is Kansas Day, marking the admission of Kansas as the 34th state in the Union, on January 29, 1861. We’re also celebrating the fact that Maggie Vaults Over the Moon has found its place on … Continue reading →

Last week at the book festival was so much fun. The venue was gorgeous – one of the best libraries I’ve ever visited – and the organizers were so thoughtful and generous. It was definitely my favorite festival so far. Plus, I got to meet some awesome authors who’ve written some great books. Thanks to […]

Title: Carter Finally Gets It Author: Brent Crawford Narrated by: Nick Podehl Publisher: Brilliance Audio Publication Date: April 7, 2009 I listened to this as part of Sync's audio summer promotion (yeah, it took me awhile to get to it). But it was pretty damn funny. Carter is a freshman with ADD and a stutter, especially around girls. He, like just about any other 14 year old, thinks about

Title: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Author: Robin Sloan Narrated by: Ari Fliakos Publisher: Macmillan Audio Publication Date: February 26, 2013 Listening copy via local library I know I'm not the first to call this a mash-up of Umberto Eco and Doug Coupland because that's exactly what Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is. It's a mystery about manuscripts and codes, it's a

Title: Rotters Author: Daniel Kraus Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne Publisher: Listening Library Publication Date: March 27, 2012 ISBN-13: 978-0449014950 Listening copy via Sync I know it's past Halloween, but seriously, Rotters by Daniel Kraus is pretty much the perfect Halloween read (or in this case, listen). Joey Crouch lives in Chicago with his mom. He's somewhere on the autistic spectrum,

Maggie says, “I’m over the moon celebrating 30,000 visitors to my blog! Many thanks to my great supporters and fans, including US Olympian and Coach of Champions, Erica Fraley [Bartolina]! It’s an honor to have my story recognized by awesome … Continue reading →

Looking for a sunny summer read? Maggie Vaults Over the Moon lets the sunshine in. The young adult novel about a courageous farm girl, Maggie Steele, who overcomes tragedy and rises to new heights as a pole-vaulter, has brightened the … Continue reading →

Title: The Leftovers Author: Tom Perrotta Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris Publisher: Macmillan Audio Publication Date: August 30, 2011 Listening copy via library This isn't YA by any means, although older teens might be interested in it because of the upcoming HBO television series. I was interested in it because I grew up in a house where the Rapture was a given and I wanted to see what

Today's #BookADay: Just finished listening to the audiobook version of BEHEMOTH (2nd in his Leviathan series) by Scott Westerfeld, wonderfully read by Alan Cumming. I've discovered that I can listen to audiobooks when I'm at certain stages of book illustrations, and Behemoth is my most recent audio listen. Here's a fun video interview of Alan Cumming by Scott:

Because I don't own a copy of the print version, I missed out on Keith Thompson's wonderful illustrations, but I found many examples online. You can find out more about the illustrations at the bottom of Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan page.

------------

Find out more about Donalyn Miller's Summer Book-A-Day Challenge on the Nerdy Book Club site, and you can read archives of my #BookADay posts.

Title: Once Author: Morris Gleitzman Narrated by: Morris Gleitzman Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Publication Date: February 2, 2006 Listening copy via Sync Once is the first in a series following Felix, a young Jewish boy, during World War II. But, of course, it's more than that. Felix is living in a Catholic orphanage in Poland when the novel begins. His parents were booksellers and left

The good people at Sync are at it again ... offering free YA audiobooks and pairing them with audiobooks of classic literature. A new pair is released once a week throughout summer. Sign up and download free audiobooks all summer long. Sync will even send you a text or email reminder when the new audiobooks are available. Easy peasy, right? And, hells yeah, it's free! This year's line up is

Here’s the second installment of the two-part interview with narrator Tavia Gilbert, who will enter her studio this month to perform Maggie Vaults Over the Moon on audiobook! In Part 1, Tattle contributor, Erin Cosyn, sat down with narrator Tavia … Continue reading →

Maggie says, “Here’s the first installment of a two-part interview on the Tattle blog with Tavia Gilbert, who will enter her studio this month to perform Maggie Vaults Over the Moon on audiobook! I can’t wait to hear her tell … Continue reading →