Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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I was shy as a kid, and I'm introverted as an adult, but I can stand up and interact and be social just like the next kid. Part of that it just age/maturity and confidence.I wonder why they are painting introverts are some sort of neglected demographic. I don't really agree with that portrayal. Maybe simply because I don't feel that way? Who knows. Often I think they make social problems where there aren't any.
Josh wrote: "Mtsnow13 wrote: "I'm currently listening to Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking and find it quite interesting.. It's on sale on audible right now...(bu..."The thing is, if you're only listening on social media you're invisible (and all the talking people will subsequently forget you're there). Even more than in real life. There at least you're a physical presence.
On the other hand the internet is the perfect medium for introberted people. You can always decide to turn it off in case it gets too much and you can think before you reply because you don't have to answer the instant someone approaches you.
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She is! It's true. So are you. So is Antonella. So is -- are...well, I guess I'm not really going to try and list each and every one of you. :-D But you are all very wise!
Josh wrote: "Anne wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Josh wrote: "Anyway, my rule now is I will only participate in social media that brings me pleasure and adds value to my life -- this group is the perfect example. My F...":)
My goodness. I didn't realize Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter was on audible. I just loved this sweet story when I was younger. Think it began my love for the wilderness... That just before my western phase into Louis L'Amour. I was always a hopeless romantic I suppose. :-D for some reason in that phase of my life I really enjoyed the writing style of the early 1900s. I read almost all of Grace Livingston Hill's books, then migrated into later gothics. I think that's what they were called? Dorothy Eden, Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney. I wonder how many of those are in audiobook format?
I have to confess a great fondness for Miss Read books. They were written in England and they are very sweet, light small town novels. They are just feel-good books, no doubt.Village School is the first of her Fairacre books, and Thrush Green.
They are idealized rural England stories. VERY idealized, but so much fun.
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Is it? All those Gene Stratton Porter books were such a part of my childhood. Girl of the Limberlost, The Harvester, Freckles Comes Home, Laddie...
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I can tell you Mary Stewart isn't there because I keep trying to buy them for my mother.
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She is! It's true. So are you. So is Antonella. So is -- are...well, I guess I'm not really going to try and list each and every one of you. :-D But you are all very wise!"
LOL. It's contagious, the wiseness. And I think Josh started it. ;-)
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It is a very weird thing. I do notice that if I do pre-timed release posts on Twitter my sales almost double. But this is probably because I do less and less general type promo. So a lot of my readers are just not aware I have a new release until they wander over to my website, and that might be every couple of months.
The problem with social media is that so much of it is people yelling louder and louder to be heard, so more outrageous (AKA tiresome) comments and taglines and so forth.
I really do think that some reappraisal of promotion and marketing is due right about now. I don't think all of us screaming as loudly as possible all the time is having quite the effect people hope...
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[book:Village School..."
Angela Thirkell, D.E. Stevenson... these were books I loved as a Anglophile kid.
Josh wrote: Who is the narrator?Julian G. Simmons has narrated the Widdershins series. It took me most of the first book to adjust to his voice, because my mind's ear heard something completely different for Whyborne and Griffin. Now, it seems right.
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Julian G. Simmons has narrated the Widdershins series. It took me most of the first book to adjust to his voice, because my mind's ear heard something completely di..."
Yes. This is the challenge. Every reader has an imagined "voice" for the characters, so success depends on whether they can accept, even embrace, a narrator's different voice.
I've had varying success. Chris Patton, enormous success, which says a lot because readers are quite possessive of their view of Adrien and Jake.
David Lazarus with Strange Fortune...so-so response. He is really British, which I had heard really, really mattered to readers, but his voice was not as imagined for the characters. And it turns out that the #1 most important factor is an attractive voice.
Carlita wrote: "Josh wrote: Who is the narrator?Julian G. Simmons has narrated the Widdershins series. It took me most of the first book to adjust to his voice, because my mind's ear heard something completely di..."
I, too, struggled with Julian's Widdershins through the first book, but he progressively changed in growth and confidence through each book, just like in my mind Percival did, so ultimately I came to enjoy his narration. It's just a shame if people won't give someone a chance after the first discomfort. Narrators can and do seem responsive to constructive criticism...
And then there are those I'm very disappointed in..Sean Crisden I used to love, but the last few he has done have been severe disappointments.. maybe narrators get burnt out too?
You're right, the voice is important, but it's the story above everything for me. Patton is wonderful. In fact, Steve's random posting of AE lines on FB yesterday, had me deciding that I'm listening to the entire series when the current one is done. And Kevin R. Free is incredible, too. Just wonderfully perfect. I enjoyed Strange Fortune as well. You've made canny choices for your books.
Josh wrote: "Mtsnow13 wrote: "My goodness. I didn't realize Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter was on audible. I just loved this sweet story when I was younger. Think it began my l..."There seem to be a couple Mary Stewart And some Phyllis A. Whitney but not much.
There are 6 Gene Stratton-Porter stories on Audible...many stories on there seem to be abridged though. A shame. I do see some Georgette Heyer. Wow. Flashbacks.
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And I must say — I'm in heaven. I'm falling in love with Josh's words and his characters all over again. This book is so full of insightful, witty lines! And I love how Josh's books get even better and better with every reread! A sure sign of skillful, great writing.
I've just listen to the part where (view spoiler). The awkwardness and uneasiness of the situation is so tangible! It's excruciating to see Kit's struggle! I was curious to hear how Kevin R. Free would read Jerry and I think he does a very good job with him. :-)
And I'm seriously considering sending an enthusiastic fan letter to Josh Lanyon. He rocks!!! :-)
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Julian G. Simmons has narrated the Widdershins series. It took me most of the first book to adjust to his voice, because my mind's ear heard somethi..."
Oh yeah. Chris Patton's amazing.
It's also weird listening to the same narrator do different books/characters. Sometimes they can pull it off, sometimes not.
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I was thinking that about Sean Crisden too.
Of course, it also helps if the writing is good to start with. I listened to an audio awhile back that Sean had narrated and the writing was just horrible. I couldn't get through it, mostly because of the bad writing. His so-so narration was second to that.
I haven't listened to him since, sadly enough. Hopefully that will change one of these days.
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Mstnow13 wrote: I, too, struggled with...I had the same experience and now feel as you do. Point for the narrator!
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Julian G. Simmons has narrated the Widdershins series. It took me most of the first book to adjust to his voice, because my mind's ear heard somethi..."
That's possible. Or just overexposure? I don't know. My favorite is Cards on the Table. I loved the voice he used for Jack. And the whole book works well, I think.
But it is tricky when someone does so many books, and it's one reason that even when I love a narrator, I try not to over use them.
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AND JOSH LOVES FAN MAIL.
:-D :-D
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I'm actually afraid to listen to this one. I'm afraid if the voice isn't right it's going to spoil the story.
Johanna wrote: "I'm listening to The Boy with the Painful Tattoo. I was going to save it for later, but since I have (literally) tons of snow to shovel I thought I've deserved the best treat possib..."All is good for me, but please don't say you are Josh's number one fan! ;-)
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Julian G. Simmons has narrated the Widdershins series. It took me most of the first book to adjust to his voice, because my mind's ear ..."
That was the challenge with the In Sunshine and In Shadow collection. It was three (four?) narrators with each of them taking three or four stories. It was tricky, but I think because the stories were relatively short, it worked better than it might have if it was a narrator identified with a certain series.
I did wonder if using Kevin for Ghost of a Chance would be a mistake. Not because Kevin isn't brilliant -- but his brilliance is part of the problem. He is Kit in so many reader's minds, so would it interfere with their appreciation of a book where he wasn't Kit?
But I think it worked. I think it turned out okay. He definitely gave a different reading, but the comic sensibility was there. And comedy is so hard.
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I think abridging used to be much more popular -- publishers putting out shorter versions to save money (and assuming that a modern audience wouldn't have the attention span for all that shrubbery!) :-D
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I think maybe the Merlin stuff is on there? Maybe her poetry or a couple of later novels. But I was interested in the early classic romantic suspense. That's the stuff my mother loved and that I grew up with.
Jordan wrote: "Carlita wrote: "You're right, the voice is important, but it's the story above everything for me. Patton is wonderful. In fact, Steve's random posting of AE lines on FB yesterday, had me deciding t..."I think, that Sean Crisden has a tendency to over act a character once in a while.
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Ha! :-D
Do you think there would be any way to send him a virtual picnic basket?
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:-D :-D :-D
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I imagine for Sean the challenge must be how to keep making characters fresh and new -- and yet still make them appealing (because you could start giving monster voices to characters, but would that really fly?! :-D)
He's got such an impressive body of work.
Josh wrote: "Mtsnow13 wrote: "Josh wrote: "Mtsnow13 wrote: "My goodness. I didn't realize Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter was on audible. I just loved this sweet story when I wa..."Lol. I'm all for the shrubbery!! ;-D
Josh wrote: "Carlita wrote: "Josh wrote: Who is the narrator?Julian G. Simmons has narrated the Widdershins series. It took me most of the first book to adjust to his voice, because my mind's ear heard somethi..."
I loved the narrator of Strange Fortune.
It took me a little while to get used to Julian G Simmons too. But now he seems perfect. I've found that with a few narrators - I start out a bit dubious, then love them. I think it's key to listen to all of the sample, or a decent chunk of it, if you're not immediately won over by the narrator (and they're not bad enough for instant rejection!) It can take several minutes to just get used to the voice.
Josh wrote: "She is! It's true. So are you. So is Antonella. So is -- are...well, I guess I'm not really going to try and list each and every one of you. :-D But you are all very wise! "Thank you for the mention ;-)).
In fact I'm proud of myself because I managed to reduce the working time and increase the reading/walking time even though I'm a free lance (that is I'm more exposed to the dangers of self-exploitation).
This is wisdom, especially if one manages to do it before getting too old to enjoy the benefits ;-)).
Johanna wrote: "Ha! :-DDo you think there would be any way to send him a virtual picnic basket? "
Now you scared me!
I started listening to Moon Over Soho recently. I had read the first book in the series. It's one of those instances when I imangined the voice of the hero completely different but the narrator is awesome. I got used to his version quickly. And I'm quite amazed by how he does the women's voices.
Josh wrote: "Angela Thirkell, D.E. Stevenson... these were books I loved as a Anglophile kid. ..."Hmm I may have read The Four Graces. Though only the title is familiar. Something else to look out for!
Josh wrote: "David Lazarus with Strange Fortune...so-so response. He is really British, which I had heard really, really mattered to readers, but his voice was not as imagined for the characters. And it turns out that the #1 most important factor is an attractive voice. ..."I liked the voice in Strange Fortune quite a lot. BUT I had not read the book before listening, so it was my first experience with the story and had not developed any ideas of my own.
Josh wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Josh wrote: "Carlita wrote: "Josh wrote: Who is the narrator?Julian G. Simmons has narrated the Widdershins series. It took me most of the first book to adjust to his voice, because..."
Yeah I think it was an excellent idea to have few narrators, it helped distinguish between stories. And they were all really good, especially I think Adam Chase. Really wonderful narrator which made both In Sunshine and in Shandows and especially In Plain Sight my favorite. I was choked up during most of IPS.
And talking about excellent narrators, lets not forget Paul S. Fleschner who did A Vintage Affair. I loved the story before but his narration is really fantastic and made me love it even more.
Now I just need Bloodred Butterfly to be made into audiobook so I can continue to love the ones less loved ;)
Oh, and A Vintage Affair is available for only 1,99. Grab it while you can!http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/A-V...
Josh wrote: "Mtsnow13 wrote: "My goodness. I didn't realize Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter was on audible..."I can tell you Mary Stewart isn't there because I keep trying to buy them for my mother.
I check for them frequently! I would love to have the earlier romantic suspenses as audiobooks, ideally read in the old-fashioned way rather than performed too energetically.
Ame wrote: "Josh wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Josh wrote: "Carlita wrote: "Josh wrote: Who is the narrator?Julian G. Simmons has narrated the Widdershins series. It took me most of the first book to adjust to his v..."
Paul Fleschner also narrates CUTYS exceptionally well. A beautiful story becoming even more beautiful with the reading.
Anne wrote: "Ame wrote: "Josh wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Josh wrote: "Carlita wrote: "Josh wrote: Who is the narrator?Julian G. Simmons has narrated the Widdershins series. It took me most of the first book to adj..."
Oh, he did that one as well? I hadn't realized. I have that one too and love the narration.
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Do you think there would be any way to send him a virtual picnic basket?"
Now you scared me!"
Not as much as I scared myself and Josh... I bet. :-D
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Julian G. Simmons has narrated the Widdershins series. It took me most of the first book to adj..."
Yes! He does such a great job. Such a warm voice.
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Do you think there would be any way to send him a virtual picnic basket?"
Now you scared me!"
Not as much as I scared myself and Josh... I bet. :-D"
:-D
Ame wrote: "Oh, and A Vintage Affair is available for only 1,99. Grab it while you can!http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/A-V..."
Actually, if it's $1.99, I bet you might already own the kindle copy :-D That is a whispersync price! And I always trust Josh to get jus narrators, and have not been let down yet!
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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I don't feel a bit guilty. It's my time and my feed and I can spend that time any way I choose.