DEBORAH CROMBIE: What a treat it is today to introduce you to Gerard Doyle, who has narrated most of my Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James books since the very beginning of the series! Here's the audio cover of A SHARE IN DEATH, Kincaid/James #1. (Due to contractual obligations, Gerard read the early books as Michael Deehy, but it's still Gerard!)
I thought it would be fun to ask Gerard to give us the scoop on what it's like to narrate audio books, and he very kindly obliged. Welcome, Gerard!
DEBS: Hi
Gerard! Thanks so much for agreeing to vist with us. We have so many big audiobook fans
here on the blog, and every day there are more new converts.
Can you tell
us how you got started narrating books?
GERARD: I
sort of fell into it. I completely blew my first audition but, 3 years later, I
auditioned for the same producer (who didn’t remember me, thank goodness), and
I was offered my first audiobook. I received an “Earphones” award from
AudioFile magazine for that book and the ball started rolling from there. My
background experience as an actor has been invaluable during my years as an
audiobook narrator.
DEBS: Do you
record at home or do you have to go into a studio?
GERARD: I’ve
been recording at home and self-directing for about 20 years. I have a
soundproof recording booth in my basement.
DEBS: I love seeing that. Now I will imagine you recording.
Do you
have a regular producer you work with, or is it different for every book?
GERARD: I
rarely meet the producer who offers me a book to record. I record for all the
leading publishers and several independent ones, but they are not involved in
the recording process. The only time I work with a director is when I’m
recording Christopher Paolini’s fantasy series, “The Inheritance Cycle (The
World of Eragon)”, which are sweeping, epic stories about a young warrior and
his dragon, and the complexity is such that two heads are better than one
during the recording process.
DEBS: How do
you prepare for reading a book? Do you have any special tricks for getting into
the characters? And how do you remember the characters in a series from book to
book?
GERARD: Prepping
a book is a very pleasurable experience for me. Ideally, I like to sit in a
chair on the beach, under an umbrella (with some liquid refreshment to hand!)
and immerse myself in the exploration of a new project.
Of course,
one has to read the entire book before beginning to record! People are often
surprised by this, but the narrator needs
to be as familiar as possible with the overall story, as well as the journey
through it of each individual character.
I make note of
everything the author reveals about each character’s background and
relationships in the narrative, as well as what others say about them and what
they say about themselves. I then try to create a voice that would truly
reflect each character as I perceive them.
When
recording a book in a series, I refer to my archived manuscripts and I can
cross refer from the text to my archived audio files to access previous character
voices, in order to maintain consistency.
DEBS: That sounds like a lot to keep up with. Can
you walk us through your actual recording process?
GERARD: I’d
be happy to answer specific questions about that.
DEBS: I will bug you in the comments for some of those process things. Meanwhile, do you
have a favorite accent? What about favorite genre?
GERARD: I
love murder mysteries and have been fortunate enough to record many of them
over the years, including Deborah’s Kincaid and James mysteries.
I very much
enjoy having a stab at various accents, particularly the broad spectrum of
accents still prevalent in the UK and Ireland. My background is Irish so,
although my everyday accent is a sort of bland English, I’m lucky enough to
have an Irish accent to drop into without it sounding fake.
I was once
recording a book in a Manhattan studio and the producer pinpointed my Irish accent
to the very town that my family came from. (He had just returned from there a
few days previously.) I wasn’t using the accent for the book I was recording, I
just happened to curse in that accent because I kept repeating the same
mistake. He pinpointed the accent from those two single-syllable words of Anglo
Saxon! I was absolutely gobsmacked!
DEBS: That is amazing!
I know
some of your authors like to give you really difficult to pronounce passages
just for fun. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to read? (I gave Gerard
a lot of Scottish accents in NOW MAY YOU WEEP and it’s still one of my
favorites to listen to. And I love his Irish accent reading Fergus O'Reilly in A BITTER FEAST.)
GERARD: Don’t
you start getting any ideas, madam!
In a recent
book a mischievous Irish author, who shall remain nameless (Adrian McKinty),
gave me chunks of Greek, Latin and Icelandic to articulate! I can navigate
Latin but the Greek and Icelandic were very tricky. He, of course, was
absolutely useless with all three languages (he and I are on very friendly
terms, so I can say that (and worse!) about him) so I had to be very
resourceful; contacting a Greek Orthodox priest, as well as the Greek and
Icelandic consulates in DC. I eventually got the Icelandic through a chance
referral to an Icelandic person in New Zealand, resulting in a midnight Zoom
meeting, with me recording her speaking the Icelandic phrases and repeating
them back to her until she was satisfied with my accuracy. I finally recorded
and sent those pronunciation clips to the audio editor three weeks after
I had submitted the rest of the finished audio for the book. Such fun! Over the
years, in the process of pronunciation research, I’ve had some incredible luck
and spoken to many wonderful and helpful people.
DEBS: Can
you tell us what you’re working on now?
GERARD: I’ve just finished recording “Clown Town”, book nine of British author Mick Herron’s wonderful “Slow Horses” series (on which the Apple TV series is based). I’m recording some final corrections (I don’t always get it right first time!) on a delightful book called “The Last Hummingbird West of Chile”, a book my recording engineer son, Adin, and I have produced for Canadian author Nicholas Ruddock and I’m about to begin character research for a new and exciting children’s book, “The Society of Incredible Stories”, by British author, Mike Oakley. After that, I’m contributing to an audiobook of short stories by Alexander McCall Smith and Charles Todd. All while dealing with our newly acquired, rambunctious labradoodle puppy!
DEBS: That is Josie. Isn't she adorable??? I don't know how you get anything done, Gerard. Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions, and I hope you'll hang out and chat with our readers a bit this morning!
You can check out Gerard's Audible catalogue here. It runs to nearly a dozen pages and that's not including books read as Michael Deehy! There are terrific choices including crime fiction, fantasy, history, children's books, and classics. (I've added his narration of James Joyce's Dubliners to my list.) Among my favorites are his narration of Adrian McKinty's Sean Duffy novels, and of course Mick Herron's Slow Horses books. I can't wait to listen to Clown Town!
(I'm thinking I should put in something challenging for Gerard in the book-in-progress. Hmm. Any suggestions?)
P.S. If you're interested in a fictional portrayal of an audiobook narrator, I have a couple of suggestions. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING by Julia Whelan, narrated by Julia Whelan, is one of my favorite audiobooks AND one of my favorite novels. Whelan is probably my favorite female narrator. She, along with Kristen DiMercurio, narrates ATMOSPHERE: A LOVE STORY, the new novel from Taylor Jenkins Reid, and it will knock your socks off.
Also fun is HIDEAWAY by Nora Roberts, narrated by January LaVoy, another top-notch voice talent.
For someone who knows next to nothing about audio book recording, this is absolutely fascinating, Gerard . . . I'm wondering if there is ever a time when a book might be read by two narrators working together?
ReplyDeleteYes, multi-cast recordings are very common. I've done a few over the years and they can be fun to do if one is in contact with the other narrator(s), but something of a shot in the dark if there's no communication. Then one relies very heavily on one's acting instincts and character info within the text, as outlined in my answer to question #4.
DeleteJoan, one of the books I mentioned above, Atmosphere: A Love Story, has two narrators and it's hard to imagine that they were probably recording their segments separately as the finished book is so seamless.
DeleteI have listened to multicast Audible books with 5-6 different narrators. It was quite an ensemble effort.
DeleteMutiple not multicast (bad autocorrect)!
DeleteGERARD: Welcome to JRW! I greatly enjoyed listening to your narration of all the Slough House books before the excellent Apple+ TV series started. There is something soothing to hearing a British narrator. It's not just me, right?
ReplyDeleteAnd I am looking forward to listening to CLOWN TOWN in September (pre-ordered).
By comparison, I read hard copies of most of DEBS' books, but I have listened to the most recent one, which you narrated.
Thank you for sharing these fascinating details, Gerard! I rarely listen to audio books but I so much appreciate an excellent narrator. I've had great ones for three of my series.
ReplyDeleteLinda Jones of New York narrates one of my series, and I was delighted to meet her at a convention a couple of years ago. I had never met my other two narrators. We got to chat about some of the American and Latino dialects in the book and exchanged a few more emails.
A couple of questions from your process description in the post. You said you do a straight through read-through and take notes on the book. Do you stop your read-thru and take the notes as you go or do you read through it a second time taking notes? Also, when you create unique voices for each of the characters, do you record that sample so you can refer back to it? Especially if it's the first in a series or a stand-alone. Do you remember the voices you have already created Debs's books? Or is that where your archived recordings come in handy?
Thanks so much!
It does not surprise me that you read the books before you begin working on them for narration. But do you read them aloud?
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, I am not an audio book person. I am going to go listen to some samples on Libby now so that I will be familiar with your voice.
Delighted for this inside look and I have, indeed, enjoyed your reading, particularly of Deborah Crombie's books. Quite interested in your responses to Edith's questions.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this fascinating interview, Debs and Gerard! I love listening to audiobooks and now have a new list of titles to download!
ReplyDeletethis is such fun, thanks for stopping in Gerard, and thanks Debs for inviting him. Good luck with your puppy. I think I lost about a year of sanity (maybe more) when 8 week old Lottie came into our lives.
ReplyDeleteHa! We well remember, Lucy. I hope she's stopped eating your glasses!
DeleteWelcome Gerard! My choice is always to read and to 'hear' the characters in my head, so I can appreciate the fact that you read through a book to begin your process of recording. I'll have to listen to you read a book because I'd like to hear how you handle female as opposed to male voices, children as opposed to adults, and variations in age of characters. And speaking of age of a character, how do you deal with the aging of a character over the arc of a long-running series?
ReplyDeleteAnd Debs, maybe a Basque character? The Basque language has no living counterpart anywhere in the world, although I suppose it wouldn't be difficult for someone as resourceful as Gerard to track down a Basque speaker. or two!
One of our Book club books was Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and read by Daniel Oreskes. One of the other members said that the only reason that I could hear the music in this book (it was written like a piece of music) was that I could hear the music playing in background of the reading. Sorry – that was the magic of the writer, and the magic of the reader of the audiobook. A good reader will be able to let the listener ‘hear’ the voices in the book and the characters, whether or not he changes his voice.
DeleteI've listened to hundreds of audiobooks over the years, and yet I have always bought your books to READ, Debs, not to listen to. So I didn't know that your narrator was Gerard Doyle, whom I feel as if I know because I'm a fan! Gerard, I've listened to you read all of Adrian McKinty's Sean Duffy series and all of Mick Herron's Slough House books. I haven't read a single book by either of those favorite authors of mine because I enjoy your narration so much. Now that I know how well you prepare for recording a book, I can understand why you are a favorite narrator of mine. Debs, when your next book comes out, I will listen to it--and probably all the rest from now on. Thanks for introducing us to Gerard.
ReplyDeleteKIM: Gerard has narrated the more recent books by DEBS.
DeleteMichael Deehy was the narrator of the earlier books in the series.
Grace, maybe I wasn't clear in the post. Gerard IS Michael Deehy. He couldn't read the earlier books in the series under his own name because of a contractual obligation. The first book he was allowed to read as Gerard Doyle was NO MARK UPON HER.
DeleteWow, that is weird, I did not know that! I just thought the publishers had changed narrators as was recently done with Louise Penny's Gamache audiobooks.
DeleteOf course, I would have recognized it was the same voice if I had listened to the earkier books in your series. I only started listening with book 18, A Killing of Innocents.
So fascinating to get the inside scoop on audio book production.I have to say, I haven't listened to many books. I will mention one--The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams. The three actors doing the voices were amazing. For me to hear the different accents brought the prose to life in a way that was warmer and more intimate than just reading the words.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you phrased your last sentence, Gillian. That is exactly right.
DeleteMy first real experience with audio books was EB White reading Charlotte's Web on a set of cassette tapes that my sons and I listen to quite a few times over. White's voice reading his own work was so much richer than anything I could imagine.
DeleteLike Kim, I have only read Debs' physical or e-books, but I listened to Slow Horses, so nice to meet you, Gerard.
ReplyDeleteAudiobooks have become almost more of the way I read now, just because I can do something else (garden, sew, housework, drive) while I'm being read to, and also because of always having my phone on my person. I'm fascinated by how pulled into the different characters I can be, completely forgetting that Mrs. Whosis's voice is actually a man's, or Joe Blow's is actually voiced by a woman. That is a special skill, especially in books with one narrator and many characters of all ages and genders.
One of the first audiobook novels I read was Three Junes by Julia Glass. The narrator, John Keating, had to use four different accents for the main male characters: English English, Scottish, Irish, and American. That had to be 20 years ago, and I still remember marveling at how distinct each was, and how I, the listener, could instantly understood who was speaking at the time. Now I have watched countless British, Australian, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, New Zealand, and South African TV shows and movies, and have developed more of an ear for regional accents (like Northumberland, Cockney, etc--the easy ones), because of it. But listening to those four accents together made that particular reading experience so memorable. It's fun to read about your journey to learn wildly different accents and languages in your own work, too.
While I don't really listen to audio books, I loved this post for the behind-the-scenes insight into the whole recording process.
ReplyDeleteI loved the story about how Gerard's accent was picked up on by that producer. It reminded me a bit of a woman named Bethan Dixon Bate. She's a pretty well-respected voiceover actress. But I'd never heard of her before she did the narrative parts on the Sabaton album 'The War to End All Wars'. Her dramatic readings served to enhance the material to the point that I had to mention her in my review of the album (which she saw when I posted the link on Twitter).
As it turned out, she's done tons of voice work from corporate to commercials and more. Plus, she's voiced a character in a huge video game called Baldur's Gate. But her work with Sabaton remains fascinating to me because it helped bring things even more to life than the band already does.
The coolest thing was finding she has a Youtube channel where one of the videos she posted was when she attended a Sabaton show where they were using her voiceovers to intro the songs they were playing. She captured a video of some of the tracks where she tongue-in-cheek titled it "Bethan plays Wembley Arena". - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMEJuhy5XtE
I may not listen to audio books but I have HUGE respect for those whose work brings the characters we love to read about to life this way.
So well said, Jay! Maybe Beth is your door into audio books. I think most of us don't just suddenly become audio devotees. It's more of a process of learning to be read to. For me, of course I listened to my own books, then I listened to things I'd already read. The first might have been Jim Dale's narration of the Harry Potter books. Gradually I started being able to slow down and concentrate on things I hadn't read before.
DeleteGreat to meet you Gerard. My husband and I are thinking of trying an audiobook on our next long trip and you may just have sold me!
ReplyDeleteIf you are fans of the Slow Horses books or Apple TV series, I highly recommend listening to Gerard read them!
DeleteI'm the opposite of a few of those already commenting. I first discovered Deb's work on audio, back in the days when selecting an audiobook meant pulling a box of CDs off the shelf at the library. Now that she's a favorite, I'm more likely to read the physical book for the luxury of re-reading favorite passages. But the excellent narration definitely helped get me hooked!
ReplyDeleteSorry, this is Susan Emerson. Writing from a coffeeshop before a funeral and apparently my phone couldn't find my Blogger account.
DeleteSusan, I remember when audiobooks were cases of cassettes! I love that you discovered my books on audio. For my very favorite authors, I often buy both the audio and the physical or digital book these days.
DeleteI frequently buy both audiobook and print book for favorite authors, as well, Debs. For a couple authors, I've found that I have pre-ordered the eBook, the audiobook and the print book. It's all good!
DeleteMe, too, Judy! I think I've ordered all three versions of the new Rivers of London novel coming out July 8th!
DeleteI have so many questions for you, as I have been enjoying audiobooks for 25 years. Now they are almost my only way of ‘reading’ as my vision prevents me from seeing a printed book, and besides I find it so enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteFact 1 – my head hears the audio reader, associates that person with a book or a character or even an author and has a hard time switching to a new reader. I still have not recovered from the loss of Ralph Cosham reading Louise Penny – he was the ultimate. If I hear John Lee reading, I have a hard time realizing it may not be a Ken Follett book. Suzanne Toren who reads Julia’s books, also reads someone else, and it was so confusing to hear two back-to-back books read by the same artist, but written by two different authors. So, in that vein, do you read many authors and do you have any issues with the way you read them? Do you find you use the same’voice’ for each character?
It was interesting that you said that you pre-read the book before you record it. I heard it said that Ralph Cosham never preread his books, so he could experience the book in the same way that we would. On the other hand, I can see where pre-reading would allow you to also learn how to say words that you may not have previously been introduced to – proper pronunciation is noticeable.
I have a few issues with audio readers, which I will mention here – no insult intended. Readers who flip right into the next chapter as though it was the next sentence. If a person was reading a book book, they would see either a double line, a large space, a chapter title or often a date, especially in books that flip time periods. Why can the reader of an audiobook not pause for a longer period of breathing time to let us the listener understand that something has changed? Often I find myself just a bit lost, and have to reset my brain. If reading you would just flip back, and although you can rewind, it is not so easy with an audiobook, especially if you are driving or covered in dirt in the garden.
The brings up a similar beef – the non-reading of chapter titles and especially dates. It seems a lot of readers do not give either, and especially dates – very important.
Thank you for reading to me.
I share most of your nitpicks, Margo. I do like a definite pause between scenes and chapters. And I certainly want chapter titles and dates included. And I agree that the loss of a much loved narrator in a series can be terribly jarring. I haven't listened to Louise's books (must do that! I usually buy hard copies to share with my daughter.) The worst for me was the loss of Katherine Kellgren reading Rhys's Georgie books. She was so brilliant and died much too young.
DeleteMargo, I have not experienced a narrator leaving out any written chapter titles. Some of the things that are irritating might be the result of editing rather than neglect on the part of the narrator.
DeleteI have listened to Louise Penny's more recent books. I liked Robert Bathurst but with The Grey Wolf, the narrator is Jean Brassard. He is a Francophone instead of a Brit & I had a hard time adjusting to the new voice!
DeleteInterestingly, I have trouble rereading my own books. I can look up passages and characters, no problem, but I find it hard to read them straight through and stay focused. Maybe I'm thinking of things I'd have written differently and that's distracting? But I LOVE listening to them. They seem to take on a life of their own and it's almost as if I didn't write them.
ReplyDeleteI have a question for you, Gerard. Have you had to sing in an audiobook? I'm listening to something now that required the narrator to do a lot of singing, and I wondered if that was something considered on being offered or on taking a commission.
ReplyDeleteHave you listened to Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce Series? They are read by Jane Entwhistle - another great reader. She often has to sing hymns. Be it said, she has not been called by a choir-master yet!
DeleteI have not, but I'll be they're really fun!
DeleteOooh, singing would be a different challenge for an audiobook narrator!
DeleteThis is so fascinating! And welcome, Gerard! What are some words that you don’t like to say? What are some kinds of sentences or writing or construction or structure that you wish authors would avoid? (When I am writing, for instance, I always think about the audiobook listener – – and try to ground the reader at the beginning of every chapter.) What advice do you have to authors to make listening to an audiobook a better experience for the public?
ReplyDeleteSuch a treat to read your answers today!
Hank, I'm also very aware of these things when I'm writing, and I try to give Gerard cues on the character's background and accent as well.
DeleteSuch an interesting post today, Debs and Gerard. Thanks for all that insight.
ReplyDeleteFor over 20 years I volunteered at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) recording and monitoring books. We all loved our work there. Such variety, and often an engaging challenge. Of course we were expected to pre-read the books. There could well be a surprise or two in the later chapters :^) (such as how a name is pronounced)
We were welcome to sing as needed, but only if we wanted to.
That's fascinating, Susan, and so very worthwhile. My dad was a big reader and when he lost his sight to macular degeneration, books for the blind were a lifesaver. He listened to Dick Francis books over and over.
DeleteI started listening to audiobooks when I had a 45 minute commute. I only listened to classic English novels, mostly Jane Austen, because they kept me calmer and more polite on the San Diego freeways. 😊
ReplyDeleteMy question: Do authors who don't write a series prefer different readers for each of their audiobooks? I'd always want to hear the same Duncan, for example, but would an author think their stand alone books need different readers? Do authors even have a say?
And by the way, my former boss still doesn't completely believe that I was driving in circles around his neighborhood to finish one of the Slow Horses books.(Back in the CD days, and my only CD player was in my car.) I did NOT know he had just moved there, I had 20 minutes left in the book, and it was too hot to just listen in the garage!
Gerard, welcome to JRW!
ReplyDeleteWhile I’m not familiar with audiobooks as a Deaf reader, your stories are fascinating.
The producer, picking up on your Irish accent and knowing exactly where in Ireland, reminded me of Sherlock Holmes knowing where the person was from, based on accents and other clues.
Gerard, your visit here is such a treat! I am a huge fan of your work having discovered you when I started listening to the audiobooks of Debs' series. I am so glad that you shared your process with us. Not all narrators approach a project in the same way. I would surely read the book first, too. Debs and I have had many conversations about her series in audio and have frequently recommended narrators to one another and to JRW blog followers. It is a joy to find a talented narrator. Several commenters have mentioned that great narration can bring characters to life. I always listen to a sample before I purchase an audiobook because sadly, the opposite is also true.
ReplyDeleteOne year shortly after the pandemic began, my son gave my husband an Audible membership for his birthday. Since the hubby wasn't particularly interested in listening to books, I gave it a try. Now, I probably listen to more books than I physically read, because like Karen, I can do many chores while listening.
I always said I would never listen to an audiobook, unless I was having problems with my vision. One of my sisters listens to them almost exclusively, and she urged me to just try one. Well, my trial subscription to Audible is now permanent and I’ve been getting a new audio book almost every month. Some of them are books that are written by author that I’m familiar with, and I find it much easier to listen to theirs. Once I’m more used to listening to audiobooks, I will try some of the ones by authors that are new to me. I love listening to Rhys’ s Lady Georgie books. Something I noticed that I did not expect to find is that I’m much more aware of setting when I listen to a book, as opposed to reading it. I think I can find my way around Lady George’s borrowed house now!
ReplyDeleteDebRo
I have SO much gratitude and respect for my audio performer, Suzanne Toren (who also has an acting background, like Gerard.) We teamed up for a recorded conversation that went on the last audio book as bonus content, and it was so much fun!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm feeling a lot better about having some words in Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) in the upcoming book after reading about Adrian McKinty's Greek, Latin and Icelandic!
Wow, Julia, I'll bet that was a challenge!
DeleteGerard asked me to say that he's under a really tight deadline for Clown Town today and that he will get to your questions when he can take the time to give you detailed answers, so keep checking back!
ReplyDeleteAnd adding to your list of questions to answer, Gerard, who is your favorite Slow Horses character to read? :-)
I have listened to audiobooks from back-in-the-day when they came on CDs and I was taking a long drive by myself. They certainly kept me awake and made the drive fly by. And when my son was little, he had a Fisher Price cassette player to listen to books on tape when he was taking a bath. (Highly recommend Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series as read by Stockard Channing!) It’s only recently that I have started listening to audiobooks on my phone when I’m walking the dog or doing chores around the house. It’s so fun!! Thank you, Gerard and Debs for giving us a little behind-the-scenes insight into the process. — Pat S
ReplyDelete