Story Time!

Story time!

While other college friends would go bar hopping on weekends, my friend Mary Lou and I would go dessert hopping. We’d stop by a restaurant, order a single dessert, split it, walk to the next place, order another dessert…you get the idea. Maybe it was all the sugar, or maybe it was just that we tend to make each other laugh hysterically, but by the end of our tour d’esserts, I'm sure people who saw us staggering down the street laughing thought we were on something stronger than sugar.

This same friend and I would also entertain ourselves by playing a card game called (very appropriately) Nerds.

I don’t remember the rules, exactly, but it’s as physical a card game as there is - at least it is the way we played it.

It involved two decks and was something akin to solitaire, but you could put your cards on the other person’s field. We would fly through our decks, flipping through cards, arms jetting across the table, laughing hysterically. The goal was to unload all your cards (your entire deck). The first player to do that and shout "NERDS!" won.

Our roommates hated Nerds.

Or us nerds playing it, more likely.

Whatever. Cool people have their own code of conduct. I’m sure it makes them happy.

But not as happy as playing Nerds!

This relates to the dessert hopping story in that a king-sized Snickers was involved. We would slice the candy bar into about eight pieces, and the winner of the hand—or scrimmage, as it were—would get to eat one slice. Shuffle, shuffle, switch decks, go! That slice is mine.

You may have noticed that Snickers make cameo appearances in my books. If one of my characters is having  a candy bar, it’s most likely going to be a Snickers. (Or a Reese’s, but the reason for that is a story for another day.) (Although I must digress here to insist that Resee’s are best eaten quartered.) (Like a pie.) (Really.) 

Snickers are my go-to candy bar in stories because, well, authors write what they know, right? But also, Snickers remind me of Friday nights in college with a really good friend. Snickers have the power to make me laugh.

Which is why in The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones, Lincoln has a thing for Snickers. The candy bar makes more than just a cameo appearance. The "Tattletale Toilet" chapter is all about the hazards of sneakin’ a Snickers.

Hey, since it's story time, do you want an excerpt? Oh, how fun. Okay! 

Diving into "Tattletale Toilet"...(h-hm)...

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The next morning, Ma sprung my cage. "Lincoln!" she called from the bathroom. "Why are there bits of Snickers wrappers swimmin' around the toilet?"

I was in the middle of a dream, trapped inside the corner market by a decrepit old man who was trying to tase me for sneaking Snickers to homeless folks. His Taser was slick and could shoot from a distance, but his aim was all shaky and he was shufflin' along like a zombie in short red socks, wearing a hospital gown that was gaping wide open in back. "Don't you know it'll kill 'em?" he was shouting as I dodged him. "Send 'em straight into a diabetic coma!"

"Lincoln!" Ma hollered again. "What's a Snickers wrapper doing in the toilet?"

I was glad to shake off the zombie in red socks, but now my mind was dodging around for another escape route. How could there be wrapper left in the toilet? I'd seen it go down! And I'd used the toilet since! Had some pieces stuck to the sides? Had they made their way back up stream? How could this be?

"You sure it's not somethin' else brown?" I called back.

"Lincoln Jones, I know the difference between somethin' else brown and a candy wrapper." Her head popped out of the bathroom. "And I'm guessin' no 'No' means you got some explainin' to do?"

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Having just typed this, I realize that it doesn't convey at all why the Bank Street College of Education just gave the book an incredible award. From that excerpt, the book seems like it's light and silly and funny. Which it is in parts...but in other parts it's weighty. And heavy needs a counterbalance. Especially for kids. 

And what also hit me just now is that the "Tattletale Toilet" excerpt is just like taking a break from the serious things in life to play a game of Nerds. Mary Lou and I are actually very introspective people. We have serious philosophical discussions, and help each other focus on what's important in life. But we also cut loose and laugh. Because the heavy stuff by itself can be crushing. All of us need some version of Nerds, some fun escape to fortify us for when we face off with the weightier things in life.

But back to Snickers! Or, more precisely, the reason dessert-hopping and Snickers made an appearance in this post to begin with. I didn't lead with PRIZE! because, hey, if you're just here to win stuff, go away.

But for you, my faithful bloggettes or bloglodites (or…can I hear a chorus of blogonerds!?), I'm doing a Lincoln Jones giveaway. And because Lincoln loves them, a king-sized Snickers is being added to the box.

This one-winner giveaway will include: one (dare I say very cool) Lincoln Jones T-shirt (made and donated by one exquisitely nerdy librarian who, I’m positive, wants to remain anonymous), one autographed copy of The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones, plus Listening Library's audio version of it (read by the wonderful JB Adkins), and one king-sized Snickers.

If you would like to enter the drawing—anyone in the USA is eligible—all you have to do is go to the Contact tab at my website and send me an email following these guidelines:

1) Put “Snickers!” in the subject line.

2)  In the body of the message include:

• Your NAME
• Your MAILING ADDRESS
• Preferred T-SHIRT SIZE. (There's a limited size selection, I will match as closely as possible.) 

The bonus is, I will stuff the box with other books because my excellent editor gave me the gift of prepaid (domestic-only) boxes for Christmas. (This may sound like an odd gift to you, but she knows how much I hate the hassle that is our local post office, so it's a great gift.)

Anyway,  I'm allowed to stuff in as much as I can in the box for no extra charge, so it'll be Lincoln Jones stuff plus a grab bag (or, you know, box) of other titles.

Get your entry in by Friday (2/10) and I’ll announce the winner right here next weekend.

That's it for this week. Next week I'm planning to do the Sammy Keyes new covers reveal. (I'm so excited to finally be able to share it with you!) 

Meanwhile, if you have some game or activity that you do with a friend that always makes you laugh, please share it with us in the comments. I'm sure we'd all love to hear (or, you know, snicker!).

Thanks for stopping by. See you in the comments! 

The Psychology of a Voice Artist

Welcome back, and happy Sunday! 

Listening Library's audio pub's w/the book on 10/25

This week we have the unique pleasure of hearing from JB Adkins, "the voice of Lincoln Jones." JB shares how he gets into the head of the characters he portrays as a voice artist, and how those characters can sometimes truly affect him. At the bottom of his piece you'll find an audio link to his dramatization of the first chapter of The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones, as well as ways to find out more about him.

Through this audio book process I've come to know JB as upbeat, professional and willing to work hard to give his very best. I hope you'll welcome him to our community. Everybody, meet JB!

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 The Psychology of a Voice Artist

I’m always so nervous when faced with the opportunity to bring a new character to life! Who is this character? Who’s the author? What do they mean? Am I good enough? These are the questions parading through my mind the night before stepping into the booth to breathe life into a brand new character for the very first time.

It’s almost like trying to imitate someone that you’ve only spent one day with. What are their proclivities and habits? What makes them tick? This happens to be one of my favorite parts. Exploring the “tick.” Ticks are what make each and every one of us unique, and when it comes to the characters in The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones, they’re no different.

When discovering personalities in new characters, the best method to stumble on these ticks is to ask questions. Bold questions. In the case of Lincoln Jones, there were many intricate questions just due to the fact that Lincoln himself had so many layers. Why did he love writing? What made him so imaginative? Oftentimes, when dealing with real people, they’ll portray the best version of themselves until they feel comfortable enough not to anymore. In particular, once they’ve reached a point where they’re either satisfied with the value you’ve given them as a friend and colleague, or are simply uninterested in trying to impress you any longer, you’ll begin to notice the layers of humanity shrouded underneath their “best foot forward” persona. With characters, the psychology of why they do what they do and the way in which they interact with the people in their environment really shapes the way that the voice will come across in the final product. As a voice-over artist, it is pivotal to allocate a precious amount of your time probing the character(s) by figuring out their psychological makeup, while studying their uniqueness through the pages of the novel.

One of the other challenges of nailing the voice, especially in a YA fiction novel, is understanding the author’s reasoning and intent behind the creativity and words that they wrote. I personally have never really had the opportunity to connect with the author before delving into a character, and I think that’s largely a positive thing, simply due to the fact that being over informed about the character and intent may lend to a more mundane voice, with safer choices being made along the journey. Speaking of “safe,” boldness is one of the most integral aspects of bringing out the absolute best in a character. One must not be afraid to try new things, experiment with different voices, and “go there” in terms of pushing the boundaries of voice and style. The amazing thing about an audiobook is that it’s just you and the director. No camera crew, lights, grips, and gaffers to distract you by leaving you intrinsically nervous for fear of being judged by the multitudes. Just you, the character, and the director.

When reading Lincoln Jones, I was extremely privileged to have the honor of collaborating with award-winning director Linda Korn, who provided the most constructive feedback that I’ve ever received from a director. I believe this was due to Mrs. Korn’s innate understanding of the characters in the novel, along with her own deep connection to the events throughout. Linda is one of those directors who encourages “going there” for the sake of, not only the artist, but most importantly, the listeners. I think that being bold in ones choices for the sake of the listener is both a heartfelt and selfless choice that, in this case, only serves to enhance the lives of everyone who has the chance to be touched by Wendelin’s magnificent creativity and style.

Overall, in order to make the most of any opportunity to bring a new character to life, your environment, preparation, creativity, and confidence are some of the most important tools to have in your arsenal. You absolutely must read and reread the book in order to really understand the characters and know which questions to ask. You also must be self-aware, as this affects your level of confidence going into each session. How am I feeling today? Did I get enough rest? Do I have any more questions for the characters? Myself? Any insecurities or past experiences that are left unchecked will affect the way that you deal with the characters when reading. In this case, Lincoln Jones hit extremely close to home, with him being the product of a broken marriage, the subject of abuse, and having to move and interact in an environment where he lacked family or familiarity.  This could have struck a serious nerve with me, having been the product of similar circumstances, and subconsciously had an adverse affect on the way that I went about attempting to bring the characters to life, and interact with those in the book that touched on things that rendered me uncomfortable.

Without going too deep into the psychology, I think that being a creative, bold, yet effective voice-over artist really boils down to just that. Psychology. Understanding your own makeup and proclivities by remaining self-aware will not only aid you in gaining deeper understandings of the characters that you’re attempting to breathe life into, but will ultimately help you bridge the gap by making meaningful connections to the listening audience. I’m extremely grateful to Wendelin for the opportunity to share this amazing experience, and hope to have the privilege to team up with her again on one of her phenomenal works in the near future!

Click link to listen to JB performing Chapter 1 of The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones 

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I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. You can follow JB on social media here: 

 

Twitter - @jbthesuper

Instagram - @jbthesuper

Facebook -  direct link 

Or check out his website where you can get to know his unique and inspiring story and meet his beautiful family.

Have a good week--I'll see you in the comments!

The Making of a Book Trailer

Last week I promised to share about the making of the book trailer for The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones. As I explained, the book touches on some serious things, but also has parts that are laugh-out-loud funny. 

So the question was, how do you weave story threads like escaping abuse, dealing with Alzheimer’s, and struggling to rise out of poverty with a zombie in a wheelchair, an admiral in undies, and a tattletale toilet?

(The rest of this post will make a lot more sense if you've seen the trailer, so if you haven't had a chance to yet, here it is--all 60 seconds of it: book trailer )

For starters, I'm glad I have "boys" around to help keep me on track with the boy perspective. And I'm glad my son Connor was able to apply that to the making of the Lincoln Jones trailer. 

Tattletale toilet?

Right up his alley.

What we used as a springboard was the text on the back of the advance reader copy (which I think will become the book's "flap copy"). And since that text is in the voice of Lincoln, I asked Listening Library (which was getting ready to record the audio book of Lincoln Jones) if the voice artist (JB Adkins) would be willing to record the book trailer script.  He was, and did, and his recording dictated the storyboard and became the thread that tied the whole project together.

Connor wanted to record as much original video footage as possible, so we scouted out locations and props that would support the storyboard. I borrowed a CPR doll from friends at the school where I used to teach, got a wheelchair, and headed for the bushes. 

Sounds like a Sammy Keyes caper, doesn't it?

Well, it was kinda like that. Pushing a CPR doll in a wheelchair through parks? Behind buildings at schools that were "closed" for summer break? Through a campground?

We got some funny looks and, yeah, got told to leave the school.

Same with the tattletale toilet. It was a total Sammy Keyes move. 

Done (shhh) at a Denny's.

(Their toilets were just better than ours, okay?)

We did have the courtesy to order two Grand Slams before doing the deed, but yeah, it was a total Sammy Keyes outing.

And yes, we cruised Goodwill. Connor kept telling me to be cool. Apparently I am not cool or sly when getting footage inside (or outside) of Goodwill. (Or, probably, ever.) He kept his distance. Made a lot of disapproving noises when I got too close. Ditched me.

What can I say? Crutches in a corner get me all excited.

Besides shooting footage in the field, Connor also did a very complicated conversion of some digital footage I'd taken over three years ago. He wanted to get that grainy effect of it being played on an old analog TV. So even though the "real zombie in a wheelchair" and the scene where Lincoln's talking about where he goes after school go by in a flash in the video, it took a long time to get that right.

We collected so much footage. Hours of it. (Do any of you recognize the graveyard scenes?) But in the end, a snip here, a snip there is all we used because Connor kept the focus on what kids like: short, fast, surprising, funny.... And he stressed that it's better to have someone want to see the video again than be bored of it by the end. 

Then, when it was all paced out the way he liked it, Connor recorded a guitar melody to round things out. The music gives a sense of movement forward which also contributes to how fast the video seems to fly by. 

In summary, I'd be lying to say it was easy, but it sure was fun! Connor's presently working on a book trailer for the reissue of Runaway--something I'll tell you about another day!

Next week (or sometime soon) I'm hoping I'll have a post for you from JB--"the voice of Lincoln Jones." I know I'm looking forward to hearing what it was like for him to get into the voice of Lincoln Jones and be behind the microphone, recording an audio book. Should be fascinating!

Until then, see you in the comments!