I'm participating in one of the
creepiest, weirdest, most...surreal experiences I've ever had.
Greg Tremblay is a voice actor
currently producing the audiobook for my novel Reverb. We met
through ACX, Amazon's audiobook portal which hooks up authors with
actors/producers for creating audiobooks to sell exclusively through
Amazon and their channel partners. I didn't consider Reverb
being an audiobook until several reader inquired if I had one
available. I'd never heard an audiobook before. Every time I try to
listen to one, in a friend or relative's car, my mind drifts,
generally first to the scenery, then it begins a-wanderin. It does
with TV too. Can't help it. Not much holds my attention the way my
imagination does.
I'm currently reviewing the chapters of
Reverb Greg has recorded to date. A practiced professional,
he's 'playing' all characters true to their voice and nature. It's
bizarre at best giving voice to the people I'd only heard in my head,
but he's particularly nailed James, the protagonist in the novel,
with his cultivated British accent, the rich tenor of his voice. And
it's creeping me out. I get anxious, breathless, listening. The
story, in parts “brutally raw,” is hard enough to read, yet alone
hear, and the intensity of Greg's deliver so palpable it feels real.
James has been inside my head since I
was a kid. Made him up when I felt afraid. Started when I was little,
pretending to be a guy because men were supposed to be stronger than
women, and when I felt scared I sought strength. I found it in James.
As I grew he took on a life of his own, with a complex family
history. He was brilliant, what I always wished to be, and insular,
like most men seemed to me. Felt compelled to write about him to shed
him from me completely. In giving him ground, perhaps I too could
find some, learn to handle fear on my own.
For quite some time after finishing the
novel, our separation was complete. Fear still takes me by the throat
and is choking, often, but now I deal with it instead of cloaking
James. He's merely a character in a novel, after all. But not
anymore. Greg's voice has taken James outside of my head. He's been
actualized, made real. And having James out there somewhere now,
playing out the rest of his life story as I write this blog, is on
the extreme end of surreal.
The most exquisitely bizarre bit—I
can't wait for the next chapter Greg delivers to hear James again, be
with him, in the same room, the same space, camera pov, a fly on the
wall—listening/watching. “Addicting read,” several reviewers
have called Reverb. I get that now, and other reviews like,
“frantically turning the pages to see what happens next.” I can't
wait to hear the rest of his story, like I didn't write it. Someone
else who knows James did.
I'm unclear if these feelings, this
surreal experience is typical for other writers whose work is
actualized in voice or video. For authors currently involved in the process, or
those who've previously brought their work from the page to the
airwaves, please use the comment box to share your experience.
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