Mar 4 2016

Wreck of the Nebula Dream Audiobook Teaser SFRB Showcase

SFRB Showcase Once a month the Science Fiction Romance Brigade authors showcase snippets from new work, WIPs, cover reveals or other fun things. The link is here for all the participants.

This month I’m going to share an audiobook sample from the SFR Galaxy Award Winning Wreck of the Nebula Dream (sometimes referred to as “Titanic in space…”). The most wonderful actor, Michael Riffle, narrates my science fiction romances and this was the first book he did for me. Enjoy!

The Story
Traveling unexpectedly aboard the luxury liner Nebula Dream on its maiden voyage across the galaxy, Sectors Special Forces Captain Nick Jameson is ready for ten relaxing days, and hoping to forget his last disastrous mission behind enemy lines. He figures he’ll gamble at the casino, take in the shows, maybe even have a shipboard fling with Mara Lyrae, the beautiful but reserved businesswoman he meets.

All his plans vaporize when the ship suffers a wreck of Titanic proportions. Captain and crew abandon ship, leaving the 8000 passengers stranded without enough lifeboats and drifting unarmed in enemy territory. Aided by Mara, Nick must find a way off the doomed ship for himself and several other innocent people before deadly enemy forces reach them or the ship’s malfunctioning engines finish ticking down to self destruction.

But can Nick conquer the demons from his past that tell him he’ll fail these innocent people just as he failed to save his Special Forces team? Will he outpace his own doubts to win this vital race against time?

Buy Links for the Audiobook: Amazon iTunes

Buy Links for the e Book:
Amazon Barnes & Noble All Romance eBooks iTunes Google Play Kobo

Oct 22 2015

SFR Audiobook Narrator Turns the Tables on Veronica Scott

The audiobook of Mission to Mahjundar is now available on Amazon, Audible.com and iTunes (sound sample below). Actor Michael Riffle and I’ve done a fun interview on the subject, over at USA Today Happily Ever After. This time, for the sake of variety, we’ve turned the tables and he interviewed me, asking questions about my science fiction world of the Sectors. We invite you to check out the interview!

Here’s the story for Mission to Mahjundar:

An attempted assassination left Princess Shalira blind as a child and, now that she’s of marriageable age, her prospects are not good because of her disability. She’s resigned herself to an arranged marriage rather than face life under the thumb of her cold stepmother. But then she meets Mike Varone, a Sectors Special Forces officer sent to Mahjundar by the intergalactic government to retrieve a ship lost in her planet’s mountains. After Mike saves Shalira from another assassination attempt, she arranges for him to escort her across the planet to her future husband. She’s already falling hard for the deadly offworlder and knows she should deny herself the temptation he represents, but taking Mike along to protect her is the only way she’ll live long enough to escape her ruthless stepmother.

Mike, for his part, resists his growing attraction to the princess; he has a mission on this planet and rescuing the vulnerable but brave princess isn’t it. No matter how much he wishes it could be.

But what should have been an easy trek through Mahjundar’s peaceful lands swiftly turns into an ambush with danger around every turn. Shalira’s marriage begins to seem less like an arranged union and more like yet another planned assassination. The more they work together to survive, the harder it becomes to stop themselves from falling in love. Caught in a race against time, can they escape the hostile forces hunting them and make it off the planet?

One question we didn’t have room for in the USA Today column:

Michael: While narrating Mission to Mahjundar, I noticed several places where there were hints of deep political intrigue, but the story couldn’t have easily followed it. Without giving too much away, can you tell us more about what was going on behind the scenes with the explosion that led to Michael and Shalira meeting? I smelled a hint of a rebellion or insurrection.

Veronica: Originally there was a lot more in the book about the growing resistance to the empress and her plans. Her attempts to install a new religion were part of the political upheaval. Captain Rojar played a much bigger part in the attempt to overthrow her, and I was setting him up for a possible sequel throughout the book when I first wrote the story. I’d even considered a sequel with Mike and Shalira returning to Mahjundar!

Aug 28 2014

Interview with The Audiobook Narrator ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE

Over at the USA Today Happily Ever After blog, my current SciFi Encounters column is about making science fiction romance audiobooks. I’m talking to actor Michael Riffle and actress Mary Fegreus, the stars of Escape From Zulaire, my newest book to be made into the audio format. The’re discussing how they prepared to bring the book to life and how it was to work together, including on the steamier scenes!

I’ve interviewed Michael before on this blog, when he narrated my Wreck of the Nebula Dream in 2013. I thought it might be fun to pull a few tidbits from the Archives, regarding things he shared with us then, about himself and that novel.

Excerpted From the March 2013 Archives:

Did you have a favorite scene in Wreck of the Nebula Dream? A scene that was especially challenging?
I think the most challenging scene was (SPOILERS!) in chapter seven when [Character X] didn’t survive. I have a really close relationship with my mother, and when the Character thought Nick was her son at the end I visualized my mother saying that and I actually had to stop recording for a few minutes because I got choked up. The dangers of making the work too personal, I guess!
VS: I remember when you were doing the recording you’d tweeted that Chapter made you a bit sad. I’m touched that the scene had such an effect.

I really enjoyed the way you brought each of the characters to life – not only Nick the hero but also wide variety of people he was trying to save from the wrecked ship. What goes on in your mind as you create each unique voice?
I think the biggest influence on what I try to do with my voice comes from your description of the characters. Not just how their voice is described, but how they hold themselves, what sort of personality do they have, how they are feeling during the whole process. I try to equate each character to someone I know, or a character I’ve seen in a movie or television, something to ground it in reality. I might be a little selfish by giving my own voice to Nick. It’s hard to NOT want to be the modest, able-bodied hero who gets the girl.
VS: I had a number of auditions submitted for the book and I have to say I knew you were Nick from the first word you said! It was amazing to “hear” my character and I was in no doubt who I HAD to have narrate the book LOL.

I came up with some unusual words and names, given that Wreck of the Nebula Dream was a science fiction novel. Was there anything or anyone you wished you could rename? (I promise it won’t hurt my feelings LOL)
Hahaha, I was so worried about mispronouncing things. I said D’nvannae wrong so many times when I started this. I think if I could change anything I’d change Mellure, and only because I had a terrible habit of adding a Y to it for no good reason. My mouth always wanted to say Meh-lyoor.
VS: And even though we did some advance discussion about pronunciation, we never discussed the name of the alien pirate race, Shemdylann. You say it differently than I heard it in my head when I wrote the book but the first time I heard how you said it, I knew you had it right, not me!
MR: Haha, and I changed my mind about it halfway through the chapter and had to go back and rerecord a big section.

What was the best piece of advice you ever received?
My mom said to me (on more occasions than she should probably have had to) “You only truly fail if you don’t try.” It’s a lesson I have a hard time learning, but it’s damn good advice.

A few quickfire questions:

Can’t live without: Technology – I’m a nerd to the bone.
Would love to work with: Nathan Fillion VS sez: Wouldn’t we all 🙂
Show I can’t miss: I’ve got Netflix, HuluPlus, and Crackle. I binge watch whole seasons of anything.
Best dinner I ever ate: Went outside of my price range to Cube on La Brea. Good lord. Delicious.

Nick drinks interstellar brandy and ice planet vodka (not in the same glass) – what’s your favorite drink?
I learned this one at the Irish Village in Brighton, Mass.
1 part Powers Irish Whiskey, 1 lemon wedge with cloves, 1 barspoon full of raw sugar, splash of Sandeman port
muddle in glass
add 4 parts boiling water
You have yourself a Hot Whiskey (or Hot Toddy) – Cures all ills, improves ailing throats, and is basically magical.

Buy Links for the audiobooks:

WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM Amazon Audible.com

ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE Amazon Audible.com

Oct 15 2013

AudioBook Panel at CoyoteCon Transcript

This past weekend I had the pleasure of moderating a workshop on audiobooks as part of the online CoyoteCon, which has been occurring during October weekends. Participating in the panel were my friend and fellow Carina Press Author Dee J. Adams, who is also an Actress and has narrated her own audiobooks. We were also privileged to have my friend and collaborator Actor/Narrator Michael Riffle as a member of the panel. Michael narrated my science fiction adventure WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM, as well as a number of other audiobooks.

Our discussion was wide ranging and fun (if I do say so myself) and if you missed it, the transcript of our remarks can be found right here.

Here’s a snippet of what Dee had to say on the subject of narrating her own books:

“There is nothing better than being able to tell your story the way you want people to hear it. There is no error in interpreting a character’s tone or meaning in a certain or sentence. The reader gets to hear it the way I intended them too. There’s nothing better than that. And as a (former) actor it’s a way to keep that love of mine alive. “

And Michael shared these thoughts about bringing a book to life:

“Characters! I think my favorite part of recording audiobooks is giving each character (no matter how small) their own voice. It’s probably the most challenging part, too, because you want everyone to sound unique, but you don’t want to make them unrealistically different! If there are two male characters with similar backgrounds talking to each other they have to sound completely different, but also very similar. It’s a fun challenge. “

For more of the discussion follow the link to the transcript!

You can find Dee at her Amazon Author Page …