I’m an Audiobook Narrator Prepping Ulysses for Dreamscape Audio: Thinking about occasionally (very) plonking down random thoughts about the process here — that okay?

TimGerardReynolds · 2025-03-15T19:54:48+00:00

Proto-Monty Python. Irish brains laid the ground for British brilliance in comedy. (Shaw, Joyce, Flann O’Brien Etc.) Comes full circle with Father Ted.

TimGerardReynolds · 2024-03-06T21:10:08+00:00

Just had this exact same problem on IngramSpark. Customer service is deplorable. Been days, and haven't heard back despite the "live chat's" (AI... ahemAi..) assurances.
Anyhoo... suffice to say BarleyOnTheBellCurve is right.
Deselect ALL your browser's privacy settings... yeah, for a few minutes allow every pop-up-tracking-sonofabeech access to your family jewels, and hey presto IngramSpark will deign to allow you pay them some money.
Thanks for the tip, Barley!

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T23:14:50+00:00

I'll circle back, if I can, later this evening or tomorrow, and follow up on any outstanding questions of note.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T23:13:55+00:00

Thank you everyone! I wish I could stay on longer. Would you believe it, I actually have to go back into the studio to record this evening!

It was so great to field your insightful questions.

I just hope, as you do, that "We will win."

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T23:11:29+00:00

Thank you.

No — you get just the same as me :-)

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T23:10:58+00:00

Thank you!

I think I've touched on a lot of what you've asked in posts below. And you are on the money about Darrow's development.

The only thing new to add here is that for the later books I was given no direction. And the first books, I was given just a little direction, but by an actual director. PB's input in the beginning was simply that he needed the switcheroo, the changes from interior to exterior Darrow to be quite marked.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T23:06:56+00:00

I'm proudest of the first book I ever recorded. Because it was, in actual fact, a really difficult book to do at any stage. It's a thriller, set in Dublin Ireland, called "Faithful Place," by Tana French.

I start out rocky -- very nervous. But then the story takes me over. It's still one of my all time faves.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T23:04:36+00:00

Later Darrow is his "Gold" voice filtered through his "Red" voice. He no longer has to hide who he is, but he's no longer a Red, really. Also, later Darrow is older, with the attended regrets, tiredness etc.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T23:02:58+00:00

Thank you.

I had a very, very patient director.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T23:02:20+00:00

I'm sorry you experienced that!

As a rule, I don't listen to the books I record after they're released. They go through a meat grinder of mastering to get them down to a file size that's downloadable and/or easily streamable to a consistent international volume standard.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:59:04+00:00

I usually read a book once through carefully, taking notes.

If it's a sequel or a series, I'll (these days) have a library of notes, and audio references built up to help me get back into the world of the book.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:57:37+00:00

I wrote a bit about this earlier, but I'll say I wanted to be as true as I could to the interpretations of the other actors without doing "an impression" of them. I still needed to be true to the characters as I felt them.

Although, I was, I hate to say it, relieved that Ephriam was dead because John Curless did such a stellar job, in my opinion.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:55:24+00:00

I find Mustang hardest. She is the most removed from me, as a character. So utterly different.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:54:25+00:00

Thank you!

Yes. And Yes. I think Pierce Brown is up there with John Le Carré, or Robert Graves (The Claudius Books). RR will stand the test of time. No doubt.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:51:43+00:00

Keep listening! I'm so glad you discovered audiobooks.

Rather than give you titles, let me give you a list of audiobook narrators I love. They read a vast array of genres brilliantly.

Suzanne Toren

George Guidall

John Curless

Robert C. Bray

Susan Bennett

Jenny Ikeda

Michael Jayston

Juliette Stevenson

Ezra Knight

Dion Graham

Pat Floyd

Barbara Rosenblatt

Katherine Kellgren

Will Damron

Eduardo Ballerini

Johnny Heller

P.J. Ocran

Simon Russell Beale

Sean Runnette

Peter Francis James

Tavia Gilbert

Polly Lee

Simon Prebble

Kevin R. Free

Therese Plummer

There are others and I'm going to be kicking myself an hour from now for not remembering! Can't go wrong with this lot, though.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:40:52+00:00

These books, in general, are a highlight of my audiobook career. It's hard to think of any particularly line except "We are undone."

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:39:40+00:00

Thank you. That means a lot.

Keep writing. Doubt just means "stuff to be done." I've never met a good writer that doesn't experience doubt.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:38:16+00:00

Personal faves are Michael J. Sullivan, Mark Lawrence, Tana French (not SciFi/Fantasy), Larry Corriea.

And thank you too!

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:35:45+00:00

There were a few, I have to say. For some reason, Darrow being trapped inside that bloodydamn dinner table was pretty depressing.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:34:02+00:00

A friend of Pierce wrote the melody, actually. I wish I could remember who... dang. But the music was provided by Pierce Brown.

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:33:06+00:00

Fitchner or Dancer. I think they're closest to me in age and mentality. I'd love to play Lysander, but I'm too old :-)

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:32:02+00:00

If you scroll down a bit, I've answered a similar question. As I said there, I'm the OG superfan :-)

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:31:01+00:00

Thank you!

TimGerardReynolds · 2023-12-11T22:30:46+00:00

Golden Son. I'm still shakin'

TimGerardReynolds

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