Kobo Audiobook Sale

 

If you’re an audiobook listener, you need to check out Kobo Books. Not only do they have a fabulous selection of books to choose from, there’s no subscription requirement.

 

Better yet: to celebrate Audiobook Month, Kobo is running a fantastic sale, one that includes the first three books in the Royal Scandals series. Hollis McCarthy narrates all three titles and has earned rave reviews.

 

BONUS: if you're new to Kobo, you can get your first audiobook FREE for giving them a try. Gotta love the words "free" and "audiobook" in the same sentence.

If you haven't read any of these books and want to learn more, you can listen to audio samples, read an excerpt, or go behind the scenes here:

 

Scandal With a Prince

 

Honeymoon With a Prince 

 

Slow Tango With a Prince 

 

This is a limited-time event, so grab your books today.

 

 

Interview: Audiobook Narrator Hollis McCarthy

I interviewed the ever-wonderful Hollis McCarthy for my blog back in October 2015, when she was in the midst of recording the second book in the original Royal Scandals series, Honeymoon With a Prince. Many books—and now a spinoff Royal Scandals series—later, I think it’s time for an update.

Nicole: Hi Hollis! Thank you for agreeing to answer a new round of questions.

First of all, as the series has expanded both in number of titles and in scope, what has been the biggest challenge of performing these books?

Hollis: It’s tricky to keep the large families of characters from sounding too much alike.  For instance, there were identical twins in the Royal Scandals series and when they had dialogue, I did the same voice for each but gave them different rhythms—one more legato/sustained, one more staccato/intermittent. I even talked a bit out of the left side of my mouth for one brother and the right side for the other.

Nicole: I can imagine you doing that! You have performed dozens of different characters over the course of the two Royal Scandals series, everyone from security guards to a gelato shop owner to kings and queens. You’ve even done a medieval knight. Any favorites? Any characters that posed difficulty?  

 

Hollis: The twins were tricky! I love the gossip monger, Val Dempsey, because she’s so shallow and naughty and also…plummy British. My fave to voice is probably Queen Fabrizia in Royal Scandals because she’s so mature, feminine, warm, motherly, and yet strong and regal and not to be crossed! Loved the medieval knight scene with the sword—we’re kinda sword crazy at our house. I totally fell in love with King Eduardo in the Royal Scandals: San Rimini series, especially To Kiss a King. He was a delight to voice, and the character arc you gave him was so lovely—he went through a lot, which always makes for a great acting challenge. I also love that you write strong, smart men who love strong smart women. Makes all the characters fun to play! Claire was a treat in that book too. I enjoyed that both of them were mature, accomplished career people and yet so carried away by romantic love.

 

Nicole: Thank you! I admit, I loved writing about people who had separate romantic histories and then delving into the complexities of them finding each other later in life. I loved how you brought them alive in audio, too.

 

Audiobook technology has changed a great deal in the past five years. How has this affected your work? Have there been changes in the way you prepare for your performances or in how you record?

 

Hollis: The biggest change for me has been setting up a Covid-necessitated home studio, rather than going in to NYC studios to record. That happened in March of this year, hastily improvised due to the lockdown, and we’ve been refining it ever since. It’s basically a booth made of packing blankets around a shell of acoustic foam, with our new mic on a boom arm clamped to a cloth-covered desk.  We’re actors who do stage combat and Shakespeare, so when we needed some strong supports, my husband took the blades off their hilts and…voila! The booth is suspended from our two broadsword blades, clamped to brackets screwed to the wall, and crossed by our sabre blade on the outside. So we call it “Three Swords Studio!” We’ve invested a lot in new equipment and learned a lot about software and recording technology in the last few months. Necessity truly is the mother of invention. 

Nicole: Three Swords does fine work. The recordings you’ve made there have been phenomonal! 

 

You’ve also done a number of other projects since we began working together, ranging from audiobooks to theater to television. (It was a kick to see you as a judge on CBS’s Bull.) What other projects are on your plate?  

 

Hollis: Right now in our industry, due to the pandemic, theater is shut down, film isn’t happening and TV episodics are just now starting to cast and get ready shoot again. We just invested in better video recording equipment to do episodic auditions from home, as no casting studios are open. So voiceover has been it, lately, and I feel so lucky to have the work, when so many of my friends and colleagues are suffering. I’m incredibly grateful to report that I have a lot of audiobooks lined up thru year’s end, and have done 24 this year already. I did some fun roles in a big-time video game recently, but had to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) and can’t tell you about that until it comes out. I’ve also done several full-cast projects for Audible this year. All of which is to say a huge THANKS to swell authors like you, and to readers who love audiobooks!

 

Nicole: That’s an amazing number, especially given the amount of prep work I know you do for each recording. Yet with all that, you have another project in full swing. What can you tell me about it?

 

Hollis: My husband, the brilliant and funny Mark McCarthy, is writing a comic noir mystery fictional podcast for me, set in Chicago, in which I play a tough female private eye. We’ve recorded part of that and are shopping it around. That’s a really fun self-created project I’m excited about!  The character is a riot—dry, tough, smart, funny and “perfectly willing and able to snap your tibia in two places using common objects found around the house.”  

 

Nicole: You’d make an intriguing private eye and I know enough about Mark’s work to know it’ll be a tight, well-written script. I can’t wait to hear it!

 

Thank you, Hollis, for taking the time to answer questions and for all the time and talent you’ve contributed to my audiobooks. It’s been a joy to work with you. Can’t wait to send the next story your way!

 

Hollis: Thanks, Nicole! Love the wonderful world you’ve built in the Royal Scandals series, and it’s always delightful to read your books!

 

 

 

Three Holiday Novellas in Audio - Only $2.99

Are you an audiobook listener? If so, now’s the time to grab A Royal Scandals Christmas. For a limited time, this collection of three holiday novellas is only $2.99 at Chirp Books.

Other retailers may match this deal, so check your favorite. (And let me know where else you spot it.) This audiobook contains the full text of Christmas With a Prince, Christmas on the Royal Yacht, and Christmas With a Palace Thief.

I never used to listen to audiobooks. I’m a visual person, and wasn’t sure I’d get the same enjoyment from hearing a story as I do from holding a book in my hands. A friend convinced me to give them a try, and I was hooked. Now I listen while driving, walking the dog, doing yardwork, and pretty much any time I can’t hold a book but want to. A great narrator helps, and I’m fortunate to have the fabulous Hollis McCarthy performing the Royal Scandals series. She’s amazing.

If you prefer to get your audiobooks at the library, the entire Royal Scandals series is available at libraries worldwide. Ask your librarian if you can’t find them and they’ll assist you.

Have a great week, and look for more Royal Scandals novels very soon. To receive updates on new releases (and a few bonuses!) be sure to register for my newsletter.

                                                                                                           

Chirp Audio Deal on Scandal With a Prince

Great news for audiobook listeners! Right now, Chirp Books is offering a great deal on the audiobook of Scandal With a Prince. For a limited time, you can get the audiobook for only $2.99. It's narrated by talented actress Hollis McCarthy, who's received fantastic reviews for her audio productions. I love her work and think you will, too.

If you haven’t heard of Chirp Books, it’s a sister company of BookBub, a website and newsletter that features book deals, reviews, author info, and new release updates. To use Chirp, you can download the app for either iPhone or Android, and then listen to audiobooks either via streaming or download.

Chirp is fairly new, so I’d love to hear what you think of the service. Post to the comments or drop me an email. Thanks!

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UPDATE: Apple Books has price matched this deal! You can download by going here, or by using the app on your smartphone.

Audio On Sale

If you're an Audible member (or have been thinking about subscribing), there's a big sale right now. Nearly all books, including the entire Royal Scandals series, are 50-70% off. There's never been a better time to give them a try.

If you're unsure about the experience of listening to a book rather than reading, you can listen to excerpts on my website. Actress Hollis McCarthy narrates the entire series and does an incredible job bringing the characters to life. To hear her performance, go to the books page for the Royal Scandals title of your choice, click on it, then look for the audio sample button underneath the cover.

Five Ways To Find The Time To Read

 When I meet someone new and they learn that I’m an author, their first response is often, “cool!” followed by a lamentation on their lack of reading time. They tell me how much they love books and that reading relaxes them, or they’ll share a fond memory of a favorite book. Occasionally, they’ll say they’ve made a New Year’s resolution to read more.
 
They’ll ask how much I read, and how I find the time to do it.

In answer to those questions: I read around fifty to sixty books a year. This year the number will be higher. It’s Halloween, and a check of my reading log shows I've completed 76 novels and four novellas. I started book number 77, Gregg Hurwitz's Hellbent, last night. There were also three books that I didn’t—and likely won’t—finish.

So how do I find the time, given my workload and family obligations? Simple: I make it. The investment is well worth it. Not only does reading make me a better writer, it lets my imagination fly and offers a respite when I’ve had a stressful day. 

If you want to make more time for reading, here are five easy tips:

Carry A Book At All Times. It doesn’t have to be bulky. If you have a phone with you, you have books with you. There are several apps available for reading, either via your phone’s app store, such as Apple Books, or by checking out Amazon’s Kindle App page, the Kobo App page, or Barnes & Noble’s Books App page. Have a few minutes of downtime? Instead of playing Minecraft or solitaire while waiting to meet a friend or to catch your bus, open your book and read. Prefer not to read on a phone? A Kindle, iPad, Kobo, or other device works, too. Then there are good old paperbacks. (Those still work!)

Consider Audio. I admit, I wasn’t sure I’d like audiobooks. On the recommendation of a friend, I did a free trial at Audible and was hooked. Now I listen in the car, while walking the dog, and while doing yardwork. If I’m at a particularly good spot in a story, I’ll forgo music while I run to listen. It’s amazing how a great narrator can bring a book to life. Audiobooks are less expensive and more accessible than in the days of tapes and CDs. You can listen on your phone and through many car speakers, either through programs like Apple CarPlay or via Bluetooth or by using an Aux cable. Now lulls in my day can be filled by a good book, even when my hands aren’t free to hold one.

Don’t Like It? Don’t Read It. No matter how many people rave about a book, if you aren’t enjoying it, it’s fine to quit reading. It took me years to allow myself to dump a book without finishing it. Silly, maybe, but there are thousands of wonderful books in the world. Why waste your precious reading time on one that doesn’t fire your imagination or entertain you in some way? Why slog through a horrible-to-you story when you can race through two or three great ones in the same time frame? Apologies to the late Aldous Huxley, but for me, reading Brave New World felt like trudging through ankle-deep mud in a cold headwind. I quit about a third of the way through, then read a fantastic romance novel and a thriller in the same amount of time it had taken me to slog through that third of a book. Lesson learned.

Keep a Log. I started keeping a log in 1999. It’s fascinating to look back on what I’ve read and enjoyed. Seeing the breadth of titles keeps me from getting in a reading rut. It also reminds me of authors I’ve enjoyed in the past so I can search for what they’ve written recently. There are several websites and phone apps that can manage a reading log for you, or you can go the old school route, as I do, with pen and paper. It’s a legit reason to buy a Moleskine or that cool notebook you’ve been eyeing on Etsy.

Share. Book clubs in my neighborhood tend to be more about the wine than the books, but some balance social time with meaty discussion. If you’re interested, ask your friends and neighbors if they belong to a book club, and ask them how it runs to see if it might be a good fit. If you can’t find one, why not start one? If book clubs aren’t your style, consider joining a site like BookBub or Goodreads, where you can discover new books and authors, read or write reviews, and discuss your favorites on message boards. Many authors have profile pages where they answer reader questions and make book recommendations.

The more you read, the more you’ll want to read. You’ll discover your own ways to fit reading into pockets of otherwise wasted time in your day.

Have great ideas of your own? Share them in the comments. In the meantime, go forth, find a great book, and enjoy.

Audio Review Crew Openings

Are you an Audible member? Do you enjoy listening to audiobooks? If so, there are a few slots open on my Audio Review Crew. I'd love to have you as a member!

Audio Review Crew members receive complimentary copies of my audio books from time to time. In exchange, members post an honest review at Audible.com or Amazon.com for the audio version of the book.

Membership in the Audio Review Crew is simple. You must be a member of my newsletter list and:

1) Have an account at Audible.com 
2) Commit to listening to the audio book and posting a forthright review within the allotted time period, which is usually two weeks (not shorter.)

As long as you continue to listen and review, you remain a member of the crew.

Interested? Send an e-mail to assistant AT nicoleburnham DOT com with the subject line: AUDIO REVIEW CREW by Monday, January 30. Again, there are a limited number of spots, so new members of the crew will be chosen at random. If you’re not selected, your name will be put on a waitlist. When spots open, you’ll receive an email from my assistant to ask if you’re still interested.

I hope to open the Audio Review Crew to those who get their audiobooks at other sites soon (iBooks, etc.), so stay tuned if your preferred vendor is outside of Amazon/Audible.

A heartfelt thank you in advance to all who participate. As I'm sure you know from making your own book purchases, reviews are a huge help to other readers.

Love Audiobooks? Announcing the Audio Review Crew!

Are you an Audible member? Do you love audiobooks? If so, you could be a member of my new Audio Review Crew!

Audio Review Crew members receive complimentary copies of my audio books from time to time. In exchange, members post an honest review at Audible.com or Amazon.com for the audio version of the book.

Membership in the Audio Review Crew is simple. You must be a member of my newsletter list and:

 

1)     Have an account at Audible.com 

2)    Commit to listening to the audio book and posting a forthright review within two weeks

As long as you continue to listen and review, you remain a member of the crew.

Interested? Send an e-mail to nic AT nicoleburnham DOT com with the subject line: AUDIO REVIEW CREW by Monday, September 19. There are a limited number of spots, so members of the crew will be chosen at random. If you’re not selected, your name will be put on a waitlist. When spots open, you’ll receive an email to ask if you’re still interested.

I hope to open the Audio Review Crew to those who get their audiobooks at other sites soon (iBooks, etc.), so stay tuned if your preferred vendor is outside of Amazon/Audible. There will be future opportunities.

A heartfelt thank you in advance to all who participate. Your reviews are a huge help to other readers.

On that note, to celebrate the 400^th Amazon review posted for SCANDAL WITH A PRINCE, I awarded an autographed copy of the book to a newsletter subscriber selected at random. Congratulations to Amanda C of Carlsbad, CA. Amanda, thanks for being part of the Royal Scandals family!

In the coming months, expect more bonuses especially for newsletter subscribers. Not on the list? You can sign up right here!

Audio Alert!

Many of you have written to tell me that you don’t want to start listening to the Royal Scandals audiobooks until all four of the current titles are out so you could do a binge-listen. Well…great news! The Royal Bastard, the fourth book in the Royal Scandals series, is now available in audio!

Once again, the fabulous Hollis McCarthy narrates. The Royal Bastard is the story of Rocco Cornaro, the mysterious son of King Carlo of Sarcaccia. When thugs kidnap Rocco’s wife and his private life is blown apart, only Queen Fabrizia—a woman he despises—can help.

Here are the book’s opening lines:

Five hours after Rocco Cornaro buried his mother, having tossed the last shovelful of dirt over her grave while wishing her a swift ascent to heaven, Satan knocked at his front door.

More accurately: Satan’s driver rang the bell at Rocco’s wrought iron security gate.

Rocco stood at a second story window in his Dubrovnik villa, seething at the gall of the woman hidden behind the tinted windows of the rented black Mercedes. The uniformed driver hadn’t given his client’s name, but Rocco knew. Her appearance was inevitable after she’d phoned two days ago and he’d hung up after informing her that he had no interest in anything she had to say. He’d thought she’d at least give him the day of his mother’s funeral in peace, but apparently royals did what they wanted when they wanted, and to hell with anyone else.

For those of you who’ve been curious about audiobooks, Audible.com allows you to download a trial book for free. When you visit the site, click on the orange “Start Trial Membership” button and you can listen to the entirety of The Royal Bastard for free. (Or, start at the beginning of the series with the audiobook of Scandal With a Prince) There are also "sample this book" buttons on each page to let you hear a five-minute sample. It’s a great way to see if audio is for you.

Enjoy!

Now in Audio - Honeymoon With a Prince

If you're in the United States, odds are good you'll be in the car this weekend (or enduring a longer-than-usual commute over the next few days) due to the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm happy to share that, if you choose, you can have a sexy Barrali prince for companionship.

The wonderful Hollis McCarthy has recorded the audiobook of Honeymoon With a Prince, and it's now available from iTunes, Amazon, and Audible.com, where it already has a 4.9/5 rating. Hollis does a spectacular job capturing the rich feel of Sarcaccia and the excitement that surrounds the Barrali family, particularly battle-scarred Prince Massimo.

If you haven't enjoyed this story yet, be sure to check it out in audio. It's easy listening while you walk or commute. For more on Hollis, her background, and the prep work that goes into audiobooks, be sure to read my recent interview with her.

I look forward to hearing what you think of Honeymoon With a Prince! And stay tuned...Hollis is in the midst of recording my RITA finalist novel Slow Tango With a Prince, so look for it soon.

PS: If you've wanted to try audiobooks and aren't sure where to start, check out the deal now running on Audible. You can try their monthly audiobook subscription program for 30 days for FREE. It's a great way to grab Honeymoon With a Prince and see if audiobooks are for you.

Eight Questions for Audiobook Narrator Hollis McCarthy

Hollis McCarthy has received rave reviews for her acting performances in many theatrical, television, and film productions. I feel incredibly fortunate to have her as the narrator of the Royal Scandals audiobooks. The first book in the series, Scandal With a Prince, is now available from Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. As I post this, Hollis has finished principal recording on Honeymoon With a Prince.

I found Hollis after hearing the audiobook of Anthea Lawson’s Sonata for a Scoundrel. I was amazed by the way Hollis brought the characters to life. Because I know you’ll love her work on Scandal With a Prince as much as I do and will want to know more about her, I asked Hollis if she’d agree to be interviewed. 

Hollis McCarthy, photo by Yvonne Marchese

Q: Hi Hollis!  I’m thrilled to have you here. What can you tell my readers about your background?

I grew up in rural Northwest Ohio, and literally went to school surrounded by cornfields.  I got my BFA and MFA degrees in acting and have been acting professionally around the country in stage, film, tv and voice-over for twenty some years.  I specialize in plays of complex language – Shakespeare, Pinter, Friel, and so on – and have worked off-Broadway and in regional theatres like The Old Globe, Alabama Shakespeare, Chicago Shakespeare, Portland CenterStage, and so on. 

Q:  When you aren’t in the studio recording audiobooks, what do you do?

I live in NJ, just across the river from NYC now, so I spend a lot of time auditioning for plays, TV shows, commercials and so on.  I did an episode of The Good Wife, and one of House of Cards recently.  I love to ride my bike and run with my husband, Mark, an actor/playwright, along the Hudson River with a view of the city.  We also do stage combat, so we get our swords out in the park sometimes and practice our broadsword and rapier/dagger fights.  We’re about to be in a play together, playing husband and wife, at a small local professional theatre right in our neighborhood.

Q:  How did you get started as an audiobook narrator? What is it about audiobooks that you find appealing?

My husband, Mark McCarthy, who is a terrific narrator, took an audiobook workshop a few years ago from Paul Ruben, a wonderful producer and coach, and shared all the great stuff he learned from Paul with me.  So we cut our first audiobook demos and started sending links to producers, I did some books for Audible, hooked up with an engineer friend who has a studio near me, and it built slowly from there.

Mom taught us all to read before we started school, and used to read Tolkien aloud to us when we were cleaning up from dinner, to keep the five of us kids from arguing.  I’m a voracious reader, and have loved reading out loud since I would read to my little brother, and do the voices of the Sesame Street characters for him.  I do a killer Grover.  Getting to play ALL the characters in books is great fun.  I’ve played a lot of ingenues and leading ladies, and it’s so fun not to be constricted by physical type in audiobook work – to play old, young, English, Egyptian, and everything in between!   Telling stories is a wonderful way to make a living, and I feel lucky every time I go into the recording booth to bring an author’s words to audio life.

Q:  What kind of preparation do you do? What challenges have you faced narrating the Royal Scandals series?

I spend a lot of time on prep.  I always start reading the book through just for fun, like a regular reader, because you get a real feel for the book that way.  Then I go back and work through slowly, using my IAnnotate app on my tablet, assigning different vocal qualities to each character, marking “beats” into the text, looking up words/names that I don’t know how to pronounce, and so on.  I also sketch in a few acting cues for myself, here and there. 

One of the big challenges of the RS series is the dialects!  I’m very English/Scottish/Irish looking, and am great with all those dialects and pretty much any American dialects you can imagine, because I’ve played them on stage.  But I’ve never played Italian or Spanish, for obvious reasons, so I had to learn those.  I use my husband, who is a great dialect coach, a lot, and also listen to online coaching and the cds of David Allan Stern.  Of course, once you learn the dialect, you have to reduce how much of it you use, because less is truly more with dialects in this genre. 

Q:  Which Royal Scandals character has been the most fun to narrate?

I’d pick TWO so far:  Anna, the young daughter in Scandal With a Prince, and Fabrizia, the Queen of Sarcaccia, who is in both of the books I’ve done so far.  I love voicing kids, and Anna was a treat.  Her Majesty is so well written – a lot of emotional depth hidden beneath her regal, formal exterior. 

Q:  What are your current projects?

In addition to the play I start rehearsing with Mark on Monday at Hudson Theatre Works, I have a bunch of audiobooks done and in post-production, including your lovely Honeymoon With a Prince, a great non-fiction book by Lauren Kessler called Raising the Barre, another fun cozy mystery in the series I’m narrating for Leighann Dobbs, and a psychological thriller called Lucidity by C.J. Lyons.  I have four more lined up to record between now and year’s end, including two more Royal Scandals books I can’t wait to read!

Thanks so much for joining me, Hollis!  I've posted an audio sample of your work on Scandal With a Prince on my website, and look forward to the release of Honeymoon With a Prince in audio in the coming weeks.

For more about Hollis McCarthy, visit her website at www.mccactors.com.  You can also search for Hollis by name on your favorite audiobook platform to hear her other great performances.

Now in Audio - Scandal With a Prince

My good friend Emily March - a voracious reader -often listens to audiobooks. She can listen while doing housecleaning, gardening, or while out for a walk or a drive. If you're a fan of audiobooks, I'm happy to announce that the first Royal Scandals book, Scandal With a Prince, is now available in audio from Amazon, Audible, and iTunes. Other Royal Scandals books will be available in audio in the coming months

If you've never listened to an audiobook, this is a great opportunity to give it a try.  Audible is running a promotion that allows you to Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks. Amazon and iTunes also run frequent deals for site users to try audiobooks.

Most of all, I'm thrilled to say that the Royal Scandals books are narrated by the fabulous Hollis McCarthy, who is a both a talented stage performer and voice actor.  I'll interview Hollis for an upcoming blog, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I can't wait to hear what you think of Scandal With a Prince.