Two new productions from The Online Stage!

I participated in two new productions, now available on Audible, as a member of The Online Stage.  First up is another book in the Anne of Green Gables series called Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery.

I played the roles of Aunt Martha and Mrs. Alec Davis.  This is the seventh book in the series.

"Rainbow Valley was written in 1919 by L. M. Montgomery for the series that began with Anne of Green Gables. Anne and Gilbert's children are growing up! Their new friends, the Merediths, live in the Manse nearby. When the Merediths aren't playing in the graveyard or riding pigs through town, they meet up with the Blythes to play, fish, and study insects in Rainbow Valley!"

You can listen to the sample and/or purchase the book on Audible here. 

 

The second production is by Oscar Wilde and is called A House of Pomegranates: Four Fairy Tales.  I played a role in the story, "The Birthday of the Infanta."

"A House of Pomegranates (1891) is a collection of four fairy tales by Oscar Wilde: "The Young King," "The Birthday of the Infanta," "The Fisherman and His Soul," and "The Star Child." These magical, beautiful, tragic, and cynical tales will charm listeners of any age. Narrated by Noel Badrian, and performed by a full cast.

Featuring the voices of Noel Badrian, Craig Franklin, Chris Marcellus, Lucy Peterson, Elizabeth Klett, Ron Altman, Miranda Hodges, John Burlinson, Denis Daly, Jennifer Fournier, Amanda Friday, Nancy German, Anna Grace, Erin Grassie, Lee Ann Howlett, Tyler Hyrchuk, Susan Iannucci, Michelle Marie, Nancy Peterson, David Prickett, Trisha Rose, Shirley Savage, Grace Keller Scotch, Joe Tabler, Mike Vendetti, Alan Weyman, and Larry Wilson."

You can listen to the sample and/or purchase this book from Audible here.

 

A new thriller/suspense book from Kathleen Walls

It's been a busy month or so for me but mostly because I bought a new vocal booth.  Getting it delivered (to an upstairs bedroom) and treating the inside has taken up a lot of time but it's been worth it.  

My latest book just hit Audible for sale yesterday.  Missing: Gone but not Forgotten is by writer Kathleen Walls.  This is my third narration for Kathleen.

"Based on an actual abduction that has never been solved, filled with drugs, violence, and lies. 

Missing - Gone but Not Forgotten is about the abduction of a little girl in a rural Florida community. Drugs, family feuds, underage sex, and lots of lies abound.

Excerpt: 

Jon unsnapped his gun from its holster but didn’t remove it. Clair reached toward the Colt Official Police Pistol strapped at small of her back and nodded at her partner to let him know she was ready and prepared for anything. 

Jon rapped hard on the door, “Sheriff's Department responding to your call. Please open the door.” 

When the trailer became silent and the door swung open, Clair's first thought was this was another child in the family. The person standing in the doorway was about five foot three or four, thin to the point of emaciated, with long brown hair straggling in her face. She was wearing a rumpled tee and a pair of skinny jeans and tennis shoes. Her large blue eyes with a totally blank expression gave the only hint that this was 17 year old Autumn Daily, the person reporting the missing child. She looked like she was stoned out of her mind on some strong chemicals. 

Behind her loomed a man a bit over six foot in his mid-20s. He had dark short hair, a small mustache, and weighing about 160 with enough muscle to take on either detective. His knuckles were bloody as if he had been punching something, or someone. He clarified that by slamming his fist into the trailer's side. “It's about damn time you get here. Some fucker took my daughter! If I find ‘em, I'll kill 'em so you better get them first.” 

“Calm down, Mr. Shatner. We're going to find whoever took your daughter but we need some background...." 

You can listen to the sample and/or purchase the book on Audible here.

More true crime from Rebecca Morris!

Really happy to announce that my third collaboration with writer Rebecca Morris has just gone on sale on Audible.  Boy Missing: The Search for Kyron Horman is in the true crime genre.  (One of my favorites!)

"It’s one of the most shocking unsolved missing-child cases in the world. Where is Kyron Horman? Why hasn’t the woman who police suspect is responsible for his 2010 disappearance - Kyron’s stepmother - been charged? That the seven-year-old disappeared from his grade school got the attention of parents around the world. The twists of the case - adultery, sexting, murder-for-hire - keep the story in the media spotlight. New York Times best-selling author Rebecca Morris tells the minute-by-minute, day-by-day story of the long investigation, the search for Kyron, and his family’s heartache. Based on years of research and interviews with Kyron's family, Boy Missing also examines what recourse families have as they wait for a loved one to be found and challenges a common assumption in no-body cases: that prosecutors must wait until there is a confession or remains are found. No-body cases can be prosecuted successfully. 

Author Jeff Guinn (Manson, The Road to Jonestown) calls Boy Missing “an important book and one readers will never forget”."

To listen to the sample and/or purchase the book, head to Audible here.

New True Crime Book on Audible!

My latest recording just went for sale on Audible last week.  This is another true crime book with a long and circuitous path to justice. First Degree Rage: The True Story of 'The Assassin,' An Obsession, and Murder is by Paula May.  Published by WildBlue Press.

"There was no brown in his eyes at all. They were just two black buttons. I looked in his eyes. All I saw was solid black against the whites. It wasn't natural. It was...creepy, unnerving, demonic." (Detective Paula May)

Terrifying things are happening to Kay Weden, a 40-something single mom and high school teacher in Salisbury, North Carolina. Despite having no known enemies, Kay's home, car, and peace of mind are under attack throughout 1993. Most chilling of all are the senseless attacks on her only son and the shot fired in the night through a wall of her house, which narrowly misses his head as he sleeps.

Kay's new love interest is the charming Viktor Gunnarsson. He's a handsome Swede who left his home country to seek political asylum in the US after being charged with the 1986 assassination of Sweden's Prime Minister Palme. Viktor was briefly held in custody but subsequently released due to a lack of evidence.

The romantic connection between Kay and Viktor is immediate and intense until Viktor disappears without warning, leaving Kay baffled and sad. Kay leans on her loving, elderly mother, Catherine Miller, for solace until Catherine is brutally murdered inside her home by an unknown intruder.

With nowhere else to turn, Kay reconnects with her ex-fiancé L.C. Underwood, a seasoned police officer, particularly adept at criminal investigations. L.C. assures Kay he will get to the bottom of the incessant and tormenting occurrences.

When Viktor's nude body is found two hours away in the snowy Appalachian Mountains, local Sheriff's Detective Paula May is assigned to investigate his murder. What follows is an intense, hair-raising investigation that will shock you from the bitterly cold beginning to the unthinkable end.

 

To listen to the sample and/or purchase the book, head to Audible here.

Check out the haunted hospital in my latest recording!

My newest recording is now for sale on Audible.  Fractured Spirits: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital is by renowned psychic investigator Sylvia Shults.

"During the first half of the 20th century, the Peoria State Hospital was the premiere mental health facility of its day. Dr. George Zeller instituted the eight-hour workday for his staff, removed patient restraints, and made the asylum into a model for the care of the mentally ill. Today, there are only a few buildings of the hospital left. Some of them are still in use, others are inhabited only by ghosts. Our guide to these ghosts - and the history they represent - is Sylvia Shults.

In Fractured Spirits: Hauntings at the Peoria State Hospital, she brings a passion for paranormal investigation to her adventures at this haunted hotspot. The spirits come to life once more as Shults explores their former home. Other voices help her tell the story: This is a collection of people's experiences at the Peoria State Hospital. Ghost hunting groups, sensitives, former nurses, and ordinary people share their stories with us, their voices resonating to create a panoramic view to rival the vista of the Illinois River.

To visit the remaining buildings of the Peoria State Hospital today is to visit a small piece of history. A ghost story over a hundred years in the making, Fractured Spirits is narrative nonfiction at its finest."

To listen to the sample and/or purchase the book, head to Audible here.

A new true crime title on Audible!

Whoa. Long time, no blog. I'm in one of the occupations that the Corona virus hasn't had much of an impact on.  Narrators mostly work from home in our own studios so it's been business as usual for me.  However, there's been a serious backlog at Audible since the holidays.  My latest recording to go on sale has been in the queue since late January but finally hit Audible a few days ago.

This one is part true crime and part memoir. Mothers & Murderers: A True Story of Love, Lies, Obsession...And Second Chances is by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Katherine Ellison.


"Mothers & Murderers: A True Story of Love, Lies, Obsession...and Second Chances takes listeners on a wild tragicomic ride from the criminal courtrooms of California’s Silicon Valley to the Himalayan mountains of Pakistan to the deserts of Ethiopia.

In delightful, insightful prose, Ellison reflects on her mistakes and her triumphs as she weaves together the stories of how her Pulitzer Prize-winning career almost ended before it began, how she nearly missed marrying the love of her life, and how she unwittingly got drawn into a stranger-than-fiction murder case.

Rich in drama and self-reflection, replete with unique characters - including two bumbling hitmen, a rodeo-riding prosecutor, a flamboyant Beverly Hills defense attorney, and a charismatic stay-at-home mother-of-three who is keeping outrageous secrets - Mothers and Murderers is a mashup of Fargo, Body Heat, and Eat, Pray, Love.

It's guaranteed to make you laugh, cry - and think."

To listen to the sample or purchase the book, head to Audible here. 

New Audiobook on Audible for Baby Boomers!

Well, yes, actually this book is kind of aimed at Baby Boomers.  I'm a boomer, too, so I figure it's OK to say this. 😎  Without further ado, With a Little Help from Our Friends: Creating Community as We Grow Older by Beth Baker is now live on Audible.

"In this book, an award-winning journalist tells the story of people devising innovative ways to live as they approach retirement, options that ensure they are surrounded by a circle of friends, family, and neighbors. Based on visits and interviews at many communities around the country, Beth Baker weaves a rich tapestry of grassroots alternatives, some of them surprisingly affordable: a mobile home cooperative in small-town Oregon, a senior artists colony in Los Angeles, neighbors helping neighbors in "villages" or "naturally occurring retirement communities," intentional co-housing communities, best friends moving in together, multi-generational families that balance togetherness and privacy, and niche communities including such diverse groups as retired postal workers, gays and lesbians, and Zen Buddhists, Drawing on new research showing the importance of social support to healthy aging and the risks associated with loneliness and isolation, the author encourages the reader to plan for a future with strong connections. Baker explores whether individuals in declining health can really stay rooted in their communities through the end of life and concludes by examining the challenge of expanding the home-care workforce and the potential of new technologies like webcams and assistive robots.


"The audience for this must-read book is baby boomers - and everyone else." (Library Journal)

"A well-informed, thoughtful, intelligent, and insightful analysis of why all of us should not be afraid to look forward into our future..." (PsycCRITIQUES, American Psychological Association)

"Every Baby Boomer who wants to 'age in place' should read this book. So should their children." (Howard Gleckman, author of Caring for Our Parents, resident fellow, the Urban Institute)"

Lots to think about from this one!  To listen to the sample and/or purchase the book, head to Audible here.