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Another Day, Another Editing Session...

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This little video gives you an idea of why I get so busy with my audio recordings. I swear, when you're doing most of your work at home, this means you literally are the chief, cook, and bottlewasher. From start to finish, you are your own director, actor, voice talent, editor... the works! It's all on you to make that audio ready to be submitted to ACX and then onto Audible. And there will be days when you are so confident that the recording you just did was F------ Awesome! Possibly one of the best takes you've ever done in your entire career and then... Well, just watch the video below... And even after doing this for 3 years, this still happens all too often to me. And yet, in spite of all the times this happens, I'm still beginning work on my own podcast. Stay tuned for more on that. My goal right now is to get at least a dozen or more installments recorded BEFORE I start to actually get the podcast up and running. Like my unabridged reading of Charles
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My Most Recent Big Adventure...

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Until recently, I've always done all my audio recording at my home studio. But I needed some professional demo recordings which brought me to Reeds Recording and the awesome Adam who was the recording technician that day. Now, what brought all this about?  Well even though I've already recorded 4 audiobooks on Audible, I have never done voice work for commercials or documentaries and such. And for those, I needed to learn some new skills and techniques, as well as a better understanding of what the industry is looking for in voice over talents. So I got myself some professional voice over training through "Such A Voice", who paired me up my coaches Ed Renninger, Justine Reiss, my director Nancy Wilson, and my tech advisor Ben Marney. These people made a such a difference in how I do voice work now, and I cannot thank them all enough. Where do I go from here? Well, one step at a time. First I'm going to be putting up a web page and loading my demos, as well as some
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My Book Review of "Thrawn" by Timothy Zahn and Narrated by Marc Thompson

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  *NOTE: This review covers the audiobook version (which is unabridged), so there will be references to the performance by the voiceover actor Marc Thompson) As a big fan of the Star Wars animated series "Rebels", I was always fascinated by the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn. He was clearly one of the most formidable opponents I'd ever seen on any show (with the exception of Naraku from the anime "Inuyasha"). Thrawn was extremely intelligent, cunning, effective, a really knew how to analyze a situation and who his opponents in order to anticipate most of their possible moves. I often had the impression that if you tried playing chess with him, he'd figure out all your possible moves and how quickly to win the game when you were still trying to figure out which of your pieces you'd finally decided to move first. And I always wanted to know much more about him and what made him so damn impressive. Well, this book answered most of my questions and brough
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Drawing from Life Once Again...

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Well, I finally had the Ablations done on my Sacroiliac joint. It's been 3 days since the procedure actually took place, and I still have a fair amount of pain to contend with. I'm not too worried at this point. since I was told that it could take up to 10 days to really feel any serious change thanks to the procedure. However, a small part of me is worried that my pain will not disappear by then, and that the discomfort which has been my constant companion for the last 2-3 years, will still be there. But, I'm going to give it time first, and then decide whether I should celebrate or cry when the 10 days are up. However, that's not what I really want to dwell on today. What I really want to talk about is what I went through leading up to and at the doctor's office where the procedure took place. Now, I want to tell you all right off the bat, that EVERY person there was amazing and sweet to me, which helped a lot.  You see, in the days leading up to the procedure I f
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When Two Authors Under the Same Roof, Get the Same Idea...

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The Pondering Pug's Thought of the Day: What happens when two authors, who are married to each other, get the same type of idea for a short story for their respective book series? Funny, that this pup should be asking that question, because it happened to Helen and me just recently. As you all know I created a vampire (or as I call him a 'vampyre' since he's not a true undead being, but more of a science fiction-based blood drinking, shape-shifting, sun avoiding being) named Nathan Steward. For those who aren't familiar with him here's a brief synopsis. Nathan was a Union soldier in the Civil War who got blown into a Para-Earth where one of the life forms there fused itself to him, creating a symbiotic bond that allows them to coexist as one. This symbiotic arrangement has also extended Nathan's life far beyond that of a normal human being, which means he has existed for over 160 years. This has allowed him to see and be a part of a lot of history.  Then abo
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A Kirkus Review of "Forever's Too Long"

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What a way to start a brand new the year! Helen just got a Kirkus Review of her first novel "Forever's Too Long", calling it... "A tense, thrilling paranormal adventure with a striking cast." Here's the full review: A supernatural crime novel set in the 1940s focuses on a private detective. This series opener begins in 1947. The narrator of the story, Rafael Jones, has set up shop as a private investigator in New York City. Rafael has an extensive background in law enforcement (both civilian and military), and he is eager to strike out on his own. No sooner has he put the sign up for Harmony Investigations than he is approached by a British woman named Clara Thomas. Clara has been sent to persuade Rafael to work for Interpol. She is a sharp woman, with a degree in mathematics from Oxford, who knows how to handle herself in a fight. She can also fly a plane. Rafael doesn’t need that much convincing, and he soon learns that working with Clara will be fun.
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What I Planned For This Year, and How It Turned Out...

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At the beginning of this year, I made a post listing my plans for this year. And as the end of the year draws closer, let's take a look at how things went, shall we? 1- Re-work, re-edit, and re-release “The Bridge” in a special 10th Anniversary version. RESULTS: As of today, this project is just shy of 2/3's of the way finished. So, it's well on target for being re-released in 2023. Admittedly, I had hoped to have it completed and ready to release in January 2023, but I'll settle for getting it out before the coming year is over. 2 – Get a complete 1st draft of “The Vampyre Blogs – Family Ties” which takes up mere weeks after the end of “The Vampyre Blogs – Coming Home”. RESULTS: Well... the first draft is under way, so that's something. Right? Please tell me I'm right. I'm feeling guilty over here. 3 – Release the first volume of “The Pass” trilogy, which I wrote with my old high school friend Rich Caminiti, with some fantastic illustrations by the tale
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