Holy Crap...

After 37 chapters, I am actually writing the epilogue now to my third book, "A Walk Beyond The Breach".

Sweet mother of god, this book has been grueling. Mainly due to the fact that I have been in college the entire time working towards my Respiratory Therapy degree, which I just received a few weeks ago (thank you very much) after 21 straight months.

I still need to go back over everything I've written now, but my god it feels good to have made it this far in both endeavors.

So this means that the third book will be coming very soon. Very soon indeed. It also means that I still have 2 national board exams to get through before I can become a Registered Respiratory Therapist (remember kids, always have a backup plan regardless of how good you or others think you are, this is the number one rule of writing).

It also means that I will be starting on "The Eldritch Life of Leopold Torpid". A one off book that is not "really" related to the A Walk Beyond series, but one I can't wait to sink my teeth into. I've got a huge file already of bizarre situations and moments revolving around the main character that I shake my head at every time I read through it. Like I said, I can't wait.

Anyway, I guess I shall let you get back to doing whatever it was you were doing before you started reading this post, and I will get back to the epilogue.

I hope you have a truly wonderful day.
Steve G.

Where Did The Summer Go...

I mean seriously, where in the hell did it go. To be brutally honest with you all, I am nowhere near where I expected to be with the third book. I'm just not, and that has me quite upset with myself. I'm only nine chapters in. I should be a lot further along.

The unfortunate truth is that this summer has been a nightmare, fueled solely on Murphy's Law for my family.

But you're not here to hear me complain so I will throw some best guess dates at you and hope for the best.

I am still hoping to have A Walk Beyond The Breach done this year. Maybe even a holiday release (if I had an editor I'd be in trouble). Keep your fingers crossed, and offer up a small sacrifice to whichever deity you hold favor with (not really but you know what I mean ;-)

As for The Eldritch Life of Leopold Torpid, I will get to it as soon as I'm finished with the one above. I gave up trying to write both at the same time as soon as the poop hit the fan in my little slice of the universe. Believe it or not though I actually have nearly the entire first chapter written for it. And every couple of week I read through it just to keep the ideas flowing around it. I really can't wait to get back to it as it is just so twisted and beautiful in my eyes. An indulgent depravity that sets my short hairs a tingling.

Anyway, just trying to keep you abreast of the situation on my end. I hope everything in your world is running smoother than mine.
Catch ya later.
Steve G.

And The Title Of The Third Book Is...

... on the bottom of the stack. Oh darn. It would have been so much easier to read if it had been on the top. Oh well.

How To Edit And Master An Audio Book (or at least how I did it)

One of the things that has always irritated me when it comes to working with audio (of any flavor) is how when you ask someone or go looking for information about a specific subject, all you seem to find are vague responses about the theory behind this or that. Never anything really concrete or substantial. It truly is annoying as hell. And so help me, if I get told one more time that "you need to find a professional to do it for you", I am going to hurt someone.

This is how I felt when I was researching the ins and outs of audio book production. It's infuriating to say the least, but as a person who has worked with audio, off and on, since the mid 90's I knew that audio books were a different type of beast from what I was used to. Audio books are a lot more intimate than the standard songs you hear on the radio. There are no drums or guitars playing behind the vocalist that cover up minor vocal fluctuations, or a less than perfect noise floor. With audio books, it's just the narrator and the listener. So any misstep in the production process can be detrimental to creating that intimate moment.

When I was finally fed up with all the vagary, I went back to what I knew. When it comes down to it, audio is audio regardless of the format or genre. I listened to a few audio books to get a sense of what others were doing acoustically, and I went for it.

This resulting very long guide is "my work flow" on how I created the audio book for "A Walk Beyond The Realm". An audio book that passed the ACX quality control checks without a hick-up.

Am I saying that "this guide is the correct way of doing things"? No.
In fact, there will probably be many people who will disagree with the way I do things, or the equipment I use, or any number of a million different points they will want to nit-pick over. But frankly, I don't care. The proof is in the pudding on this one, and I like pistachio.

So without further ado...

Oh, Happy Day...

I am quite giddy at the moment, as "A Walk Beyond The Realm" is now available on Audible.com as a full on audio book.

That's right now you can listen to me, read you, the novel. I even do the character voices. All 30 some-odd voices (I don't remember the exact number at the moment, but it's close).

So if you are not a "reader", then this is a perfect opportunity for you. As you can listen to it on your phone, in the car, in the bathroom, or even during those boring business meetings (just don't get caught, cause I'm not taking the fall for you).

And within the next few days it should also show up on Amazon and I-Tunes.

I hope everyone is having a great day,
Steve G.

I know It's Been a While...

And for that I apologize, but it has been for a very good reason.

I have finally finished the audiobook for A Walk Beyond The Realm. Thirty one chapters of digital audio mayhem. The only thing I'm waiting on now are for the files to pass quality control checks with the distributor (fingers crossed). Which I guess isn't so bad I guess, considering I've only been working on this now for the last six months or so.

But anyway, I wanted to share a few interesting bits of data with you that I gathered regarding the audiobook.

1. When doing high quality audio recording, the original raw audio files take up a lot of room. In this instance they took up a whopping 72.4GB of space. To put that into some perspective a standard DVD can hold 4.7GB. That equals a little over 15 DVD's worth of audio.

2. A standard musical album is between 45 to 65 minutes long. This audiobook came out to a staggering 11 hours and 30 minutes.

3. A standard music album in MP3 format is around 120MB in size. This audiobook ended up being 994MB worth of MP3 formatted files.

I will keep you posted as to when the audiobook becomes available.

And just a reminder, if you've read the books and want to chat about them, then head on over to my Facebook page. I would love to hear from you.

Have a great one,
Steve G.

Over Half Way...

Working on Chapter 18 of the audio book (over half way there)
I also wanted to let everyone know that Books 1 & 2 are now available as E-books from the following,

Barnes&Nobles,
A Walk Beyond The Realm
A Walk Beyond The Graves

Apple ITunes,
A Walk Beyond The Realm
A Walk Beyond The Graves

Kobo,
A Walk Beyond The Realm
A Walk Beyond The Graves

Scribd,
A Walk Beyond The Realm
A Walk Beyond The Graves

Inktera,
A Walk Beyond The Realm
A Walk Beyond The Graves

Oyster,
A Walk Beyond The Realm
A Walk Beyond The Graves

As well as Amazon,
A Walk Beyond The Realm
A Walk Beyond The Graves

The paperback version can be had through Amazon or Barnes & Noble for those who love a physical copy.

And as always, I hope everyone has a great day.
Steve G.

Record, Delete, Record Again...

Well, I deleted the original four chapters I had already recorded, and started over from scratch. So far I am getting a lot more consistent results, as I am already back up to chapter four.

I do have to say it has gotten quite interesting jumping back and forth between three different characters as they converse. Trying to keep the voices right has been a challenge, but also a little self entertaining in the process (Sometimes I am easily amused).

On average it has taken about five hours for each chapter. Which includes the recording, the clean up, the effects, and mastering. Before exporting a properly formatted Mp3, and with 32 chapters total in "A Walk Beyond The Realms" needless to say I've got a ways to go.

Catch ya later,
Steve G.

Thought I'd Share...

 

Since I already shared the possible cover for book 3 without the title and such, I thought I'd do the same with the first two books.

If you couldn't tell I prefer lots of color to the usual monochromatic, mist laden bleak castles, and dark brooding warrior with a sword, type of pictures. Not that I'm saying there is anything wrong with those types of pictures. It's just not what I see when I write.

Hope you all have a great day,
Steve G.

Like What?

I told my eldest daughter that I had started adding more idea's to my book 3 text file. To which she asked, "Like what?"

So I told her.

I have never seen her want to hit me more than when I told her the last idea that came to me. She spun around in her seat and pointed her finger saying, "As your daughter I'm telling you, you can't (do that). Your books make me cry enough as it is, you can't do that. It's not right. I will be very upset with you if you (do that)."

Needless to say, I think book 3 is moving in the right direction.

Catch ya later,
Steve