New audiobook: The War of the Worlds

The works of H. G. Wells joined the public domain in Europe on 1st Jan this year. It seemed plain rude to let that milestone pass without my taking on something of his. The existing recordings of War of the Worlds at LibriVox were both over 10 years old, so I decided that was a… Read more »

January’s offerings: Nesbit, Doyle, Stein and Lawrence

It’s like buses, there are no projects for months (though I’m as busy as ever) and then several come along at once. Such a range of options, too. Closest to my heart is Dr. Watson’s second outing in The Sign of the Four. It’s another dramatic reading, where I read all the narration and the… Read more »

Iambik’s second birthday & competition

You’ll have seen me posting about Iambik Audio before; a commercial venture with a range of audiobooks, particularly specialising in smaller-press books. It’s their second birthday this month, and they’re giving away a free collection to the winner of a random drawing happening at the end of the month. You can find out more info… Read more »

Beta listeners welcome: Pulchritude by Ana Mardoll

Experience a darker side of “The Beauty and the Beast” where, in a world of vindictive fairies and scornful magicians, not everyone will live happily ever after. Pulchritude tells the tale of Bella, a beautiful girl caught between her selfish father and an enchanted prince ready to sweep her into a dangerous romance built on… Read more »

New audiobook: Around the World in Stilettos

Now, myself, I couldn’t make it across the lounge in stilettos, let alone out of the front door and onward. But the heroine of my newest audiobook, Sophie Farrier, can do exactly that, as travel writer and glamour puss extraordinaire. She loves her job, she loves her shopping (most particularly shoes) and … all she… Read more »

Wharton’s The Valley of Childish Things, and Other Emblems

I recorded this collection of short parables by Edith Wharton a few months ago, as a sound test for my latest recording booth. It’s just been catalogued and is now available for general listening: [audio:http://www.archive.org/download/short_story_049_1108_librivox/shortstory049_07_valleychildishthings_cs.mp3] (13:48) In the introduction to another of her short story collections, she wrote: “To a generation for whom everything which… Read more »

Frankenstein post 1 – oh my!

So, I’ve recorded one book for Iambik Audio (the lengthy and wonderful Oh Pure and Radiant Heart, by Lydia Millet) and I have a second lined up, which I am genuinely very excited about. It’s a huge change from OPRH, different genre, totally different narration style, and likely a different audience. I’ve been doing practice… Read more »

Unshaggy Dog Stories

It’s been a while, but I’ve got a new entry in the LibriVox catalogue besides short poetry readings. The History of Pompey the Little by Francis Coventry is a collaboratively-read canine saga, with a parade of interesting characters and wide range of social situations. I contributed three chapters and it seemed like the Dog Hero… Read more »

What Katy Did Next and language-learning at LibriVox

My first release of the New Year – a chapter contributed to What Katy Did Next by Susan Coolidge. I nabbed the section on her visit to England, and although it made me a little cross in places (we Brits have NOT “forgotten” Jane Austen, and I’m not sure there’s ever been a time we… Read more »

Back to Graustark, podcasts and blog-meta

So, another volume from the histories of that fictitious country, Graustark, has been released. No strange accents snuck into this one (in a previous volume, an otherwise innocent-looking character came out of my mouth with a deep, gentle Transylvanian lilt, which oddly, wasn’t inappropriate, but was a huge surprise since I hadn’t planned it in… Read more »