Celebrating my #audiobooks and their narrators #fantasy #shortstories #romance

Today I’m celebrating the wonderful narrators I’ve worked with on my books. As AI attempts to take over so many parts of our lives, I want to advocate using humans. A narrator brings something special to a book that is impossible to replicate. I can’t imagine these books done any other way than with these wonderful voice actors.

My first adventure into Audiobook narration was with my debut Visions of Zarua. Guy Barnes was amazing, really getting into the fantasy vibe and he made each character sound unique. He handled the whole process wonderfully and made my debut fantasy shine.

Sample on Sound Cloud https://on.soundcloud.com/k9ekpq2gdXdK3NFhz0

Then came my Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy which George Ellington smashed. His Scottish accent worked perfectly for the island setting and he even used some sound effects that listeners have loved. It was wonderful to work with George through the whole trilogy and I was so sad when we reached the end, though excited to see each book brought to life.

Listen to the sample on sound cloud at an important moment for Tei when she meets the exiles who will hopefully help her to safety https://on.soundcloud.com/O65ldiasXJoR9x82Zc

Love, Loss and Life In Between is next and Sandie Keane tackled a variety of different genre short stories, while keeping true to the theme of the book. Her voice suited these stories perfectly be it romance, supernatural or thriller.

Listen to a sample of one of my prize-winning short story ‘Spirit Song’. https://on.soundcloud.com/6ecfpmwb9eu9oLPn5G

Then I have my two Winter Warmers festive collections.

A Christmas Wish saw Emily Lynn narrate 8 short stories and bring to life my first foray into festive fiction. It was great to hear the stories brought to life and hear Emily handle male, female and children’s voices.

Sample https://on.soundcloud.com/7PyaEE7RSmHnYCyply

A Little Christmas Magic was narrated by Colette Davies-Kerwin who has a calm and relaxed style that I love. I knew she was the narrator for this book within a few seconds of hearing her audition. Listeners have loved her style as well, so I know she was the right choice to get people in the festive spirit.

Here is the sound cloud sample for the start of the book which is all about a missing cat and a little girl’s Christmas wish – https://on.soundcloud.com/4IN7NI1vNEIIvyCtHX

In summary – Having books narrated is quite a unique experience for an author. You get to hear your work as someone else interprets it, bringing a new dimension to the stories and the characters. They come alive in a way that wouldn’t be possible without that narrator’s uniqueness. I’m so glad I entrusted my books to these narrators and I can’t wait to see what will happen when my romance series is ready for narration.

The Struggle – I’ve found it’s harder to find readers / listeners of audiobooks and even harder to get reviews. I don’t know what the magic formula is, so if you have any answers let me know, as I really feel all these narrators hard work should get recognition.

Free Reviewers Codes – I do have free codes available for all of the above books, which I’d be happy to share in exchange for an honest review on the usual platforms. Just use my contact form or reply to this post.

You can listen to samples of these books on Soundcloud via the links above. Each books is available on Amazon, Audible and iTunes.

Find my links on Linktree, or go directly on Audible UK author page or Audible US author page.

Thanks for reading and supporting my indie book journey.

A Little Christmas Magic final stops on the #audiobook blog blitz

Happy Sunday. I hope you’re feeling festive!

I’m back with the last of the reviews from my blog blitz tour for A Little Christmas Magic.

Yesterday it was great to see the reviews coming in and to hear how much reviewers are enjoying the audiobook while they’re getting ready for Christmas or having a well earned break from preparations.

Here are the latest review snippets I have to share.

“The narrator truly brought the stories alive, filling them with emotion.” Plumbobmummy

“…Colette Davies-Kerwin, was wonderful. The recording was clear, read well and I didn’t want this book to end to be honest. …Over all, this book was fantastic. It has me completely feeling the Christmas cheer.” Novel Kicks

“The audio narration by Colette Davies-Kerwin brings an added layer of charm and cosiness, making this collection a joy to listen to on wintry evenings.” My books and crafts

“This is a cute set of 8 short stories that total less than 3 hours listening time with a focus on family, friends, love and peace and goodwill. I think my fav was the Last Minute Dash but they’re all great for listening to while you’re wrapping gifts or any of the other millions of holiday chores you have to accomplish in the next few days.” The loppy knot on instagram

I hope you’ve enjoyed these little snippets and have had a chance to check out the full reviews on the blogs and Instagram. Thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for hosting this Blog Blitz.

If you want to hear a sample for yourself, click this link – Audio sample for A Little Christmas Magic.

And if you want to start feeling Christmassy, you can pick up both books in series in ebook, paperback, audiobook and hardback. They’d make a great Christmas present or stocking filler for the readers in your life.

Winter Warmers Collection   

Thanks for joining in the blog blitz. I’ll be back in a few days with more.

You can check our my socials here Linktree.