Hello everybody!
My name is Martin Perry and I'm the indie author of the Legacy Universe line of eBooks. I've been looking to get audiobooks going for a while now, but really don't have the voice for it. I'm looking to try and find myself a narrator, an amateur voice actor as much as I am a part-time novelist, who can bring my books to life. Initially, the chapters would be released through Podiobooks and iTunes as podcasts, but then eventually released as a paid Audiobook, which I would be happy to negotiate royalty sharing for. I'm new to the forums, and posting an audition for the first time, so have gone ahead and used the template questions. Please get in touch at my email - martin@legacy-universe.com - or on here if you have any questions. Details below and thanks for any interest!
What is your project?
Taking an existing, self-published novel and creating, initially, a series of podcasts, to then be released as an Audiobook. The novel is titled Legacy Universe: Gentle Reminders, and you can find the Amazon listing for it here - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005G9YCL8/
What is it about?
Gentle Reminders is a science fiction story detailing the adventures of Maur Rosewell and the crew of the Jump Cannon. A full "blurb" can be found by following the link! It is the first in a seven book series, three books of which have been released.
What are you looking for?
I am looking for a single amateur voice actor to narrate the book. I am looking for somebody that can read accurately, clearly and with personality. Ideally, I am looking for an American accent, and somebody who can project that narrator-ly quality - wisdom, eloquence, knowledge. It may be a male or a female, just whoever fits best.
Characters, voice and lines
What Characters are open?
There is just one position for a Narrator. They will be required to read descriptive text and also dialogue between characters. Full voices do not need to be developed for these, although it would be great if individuals characters felt unique.
What's their personality?
The Narrator needs to sound knowledgeable and eloquent, but this is a fun science fiction book (but not a comedy). Somebody positive, happy, but focused will probably match the position best.
What should they sound like? How old? What accent?
Human characters are predominantly American or British. Alien characters are open season, but should always remain within the realm of sensible, restrained narration.
(Be sure to include sample lines or even a description to give VAs an idea of what they should try when auditioning)
Please see bottom of page for chapter excerpt.
Deadline
When are all auditions supposed to be in by?
All auditions are gratefully received, but should be in by Friday 17th August 2012.
Email, format, zip, text file?
Where should they send auditions to?
Please send all auditions to martin@legacy-universe.com
What kind of format would you like them in? How would you like the lines named?
MP3 is fine for auditions.
Should they zip them?
Yes.
Should they include a text file with any other information?
Yes. Within the BODY OF YOUR EMAIL, please include full name, location, and whether or not you can commit to producing 30-45 minutes of audio a week. Please also include any links in relation to existing work that you'd like me to have a look at.
EXCERPT FOR AUDITIONS - PLEASE USE THE TEXT BELOW FOR ALL AUDITIONS - NOTE: All characters human and of English speaking origin, except the last line, which is an intelligent, engineering focused alien race.
Character Note - Charles - Big, burly, wisened, older soldier.
Character Note - Kerra - Young, happy, but troubled, female adept soldier.
Character Note - Thom - Chef turned soldier. Wise cracking, skinny.
Character Note - Maur - Farm boy turned maintenance boy turned soldier. Hero. Confident, mostly, but youthful still.
Chapter Five
“The Captain has given us some requisition tasks to complete today team,” said Kerra, with an unusual level of pompousness in her voice. “We’re going into Cirramorr.”
The four of them were sitting in the dining area again, having just filled up on breakfast. Maur was feeling significantly better. His head was only thumping a little bit, and the medication being crushed into his food was stopping any infections from spreading while Dr. Beat’s repairs finished themselves off. A couple of times during the night he had woken with itchy feeling deep below the freshly sutured skin. The good doctor had slipped him a few nanos to try and speed it all up.
Busying themselves with the torn internal flesh, stitching it together and encouraging new cell growth through slow release medication stored in their tiny frames, these microscopic robots were expensive. He had either been given them because she had felt some sympathy for him, perhaps predicting the oncoming onslaught of humiliation he was about to suffer, or the Captain himself had authorised the spend. With such a small crew, one that as a registered ship of Earth they would not be able replenish until they returned home, it was worth keeping him healthy.
He could swear they were trying to make him itchy on purpose though.
“And...” said Thom, shaking his head quickly from left to right and back again, leaning his chin forward while pushing his cutlery together.
Maur knew was he was digging for. Kerra had promised they could continue their detective work and take the gun to the historian she claimed to know. In all honesty, Maur was unmoved by the idea, his capture and resulting escape something he was keen to put behind him as soon as the nanos had finished up. Thom wouldn’t have listened to such sentiments, he had found quite a strong love of sleuthing since his combat training. They had been on Cirramorr for well over two months now, almost ready to leave and head back towards Earth. The Captain had permitted them to take on some work while they were there.
Josia 24’s betrayal had left him rattled, and as such they had been forced to find the jobs from local agents on the surface of Pura. Other than a couple of gunfights, both ending without casualty for the team of four, the majority of their time had been spent hunting down people who owed money to merchants and garages. Thom had demonstrated a keen nose for tracking, following clues with some gusto, and Maur’s ordeal was evidently too tempting for his attuned senses to ignore.
“And what?” blurted Kerra, she was toying with him, and the grin on Charles’ face gave the game away.
“We have jobs to do Thom. What is the problem?” Charles smirked.
“You know what! Don’t do this to me, you promised adventure and I want what I’m due!” Despite being a decent detective, he was no good at picking up on the rouses of friends.
“Not going to be much adventure picking up food, fuel and a few items for transport, Thom.” Maur had decided to join in, leaning back on the bench and stretching his arms behind his head. “But, if you’re good, we’ll let you visit the children’s park!”
Charles, Kerra and Maur bubbled barely concealed laughter under their breath. Thom stomped his feet, grabbed up their empty plates and dragged them off to the kitchen. He attempted to make the whole thing look mature, as if he was walking away from a fight as the bigger man, but failed miserably. Maur saw him slide through the door into the kitchen and harass his one remaining assistant as petty redemption. The kid was probably used to it by now.
“He’s right though, we’ll get everything done and head over to the weapons guy,” Kerra directed. “I just don’t want him asking if we are there yet every five minutes.”
“Don’t get upset at the children Kerra,” Charles joked. “After all, at least Thom didn’t have a little accident last time we went out. Isn’t that right Shit-Stain?”
Fooling with Thom hadn’t taken their minds off Maur’s own disgrace. He gave them a dead-pan look, trying to beam his anger right into their minds.
“Ha, OK guys, lets go get suited up,” Kerra said, flipping her legs over the bench, unable to shift it back given Charles’ weight. “Thom, get your sulky ass out here.”
They headed out of the dining room and took the short walk into the hangar. The purans had really done something special with it. Previously, it had just been an empty shell, intended for storage and very little else. A few old chairs and some ratty lockers had been thrown into the corner - the original locker area having made way for the women’s cabins back when Captain Champion had taken on Annie for the first time. Now though, the purans had cordoned off a proper prep room, at the far starboard side of the new hangar. The second floor they had put in, greatly expanding the overhead walkways, meant that cargo could be stored separately from the new suite of six scout vehicles and the two mobile fighters that could be deployed when they were in space. While the scouts were nice, with their rugged, angular grey-blue shells and massive tyres, they were nothing on the fighters. The team wandered past them, the new toys awarded prime location, facing out towards the hangar bay doors.
The Extreme Battle Adjustment Craft 150, or EBAC-150 if you preferred the short-hand, was the sort of thing that Maur had dreamt of maintaining when he was first earning his qualifications. Littered with bleeding edge technology, they were capable of independent near-quantum travel. On the weapons front, they featured two RAITT equipped, or Random Artificial Intelligence Turret Technology to use the long-form, automatic turrets. Pilots, yet to be designated and most likely to be hired in as part of the new crew, would also have access to long range laser cannons, miniature versions of the new ones being fitted to Annie, and a healthy number of cluster missiles. With turrets that could predict random evasion patterns with alarming accuracy, this sort of arsenal made even Maur comfortable with the idea of strapping himself in. Sort of.
It was their looks that really got him though; being a craft-head at heart he felt himself able to appreciate their design more than the other crew members. The bodies were made of a single piece pearlescent white compound metal. A rounded nose, where the cannons two sat, finned out into flat wings that curved out behind the pilot’s pod, leaving an empty space. The sharp tips finished after the turret emplacements, the two RAITTs sitting comfortably at the rear of the ship, creating an inconspicuous convex either side of the pilot pod that would raise to reveal the gun when required. The propulsion systems concealed themselves too, with two underside hatches flipping out when you turned the EBAC-150 on, along with the missile bays. Best of all, the body morphed completely during near-quantum and launch, the power from the standard engines being used to charge the metal, turning it into a malleable liquid. Once the on-board system were done configuring it, the ship took a much more dart-like shape while it travelled at its greatest speeds.
To actually watch that happen might be reason enough to enrol himself in flying lessons.
“Watch it!” shouted a puran worker, his tools clattering to the ground as Maur crashed into him. “Pay attention to where you're going asshole!”
