Narrator Interview with Anne Marie Lewis, The Wing Cycle

War is inevitable. But who will win and who will fall depends on what happens next…

Welcome to the March 16th stop on the blog tour for To Never Hear the Song by E.G. Stone with Audiobookworm Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, exclusive content from the author and narrator, and more!

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Narrator Interview with Anne Marie Lewis

When did you know you wanted to be an audiobook narrator?
I am a long-time stage performer in opera, musical theatre and “straight” theatre.  After I listening to many hours of audiobooks, I started researching the narrators and realized they were (for the most part) all actors and I just knew I had found my new vocation!

What type of training have you undergone?
I am currently taking a non-fiction narration  and business of narration course taught by the great Sean Pratt, who has over 1,000 audiobooks (mostly non-fiction) to his credit.  I have also coached with quite a few other narrators – Andi Arndt, Vikas Adam, Hillary Huber, Helen Lloyd.  I also think my undergraduate degree in the Great Books and exposure to a lot of the greatest literature, philosophical and scientific writings and having to analyze these great texts prepared me for audiobook narration.  There’a a lot of prep involved before I walk into the recording booth and being able to suss out an author’s tone and intent is key to being a great narrator.

What about this title compelled you to audition as narrator?
I was drawn to E. G.’s series for two reasons: it is so beautifully written and it features differently-abled main characters.  There are often characters with disabilities but they are rarely the main character.  I live with an adult brother who has Down syndrome.  He is definitely a main character in my life!  We need more of these characters in our books.

 Who are your “accent inspirations”?
Here’s a wonderful thing about fantasy with no official tie to place: you can make up your own accents!  E. G. is a linguist herself and has great facility with the International Phonetic Alphabet – a naerdy narrator’s dream come true.  We came to an understanding early on that different worlds/nations needed different accents.  The humans in the Wing Cycle basically have a North American sound, the Sylphs have more Mediterranean sounds and the mountain people have a more Germanic sound.  But because they really aren’t specifically Italian or German or whatever, I can play a bit with these accents. 

If so, which ones stand out to you most, positive or negative?
The best I’ve received was negative review: “I need ibuprofen after this book…..I really liked the storyline and thought it was written fairly well. However, the narrator’s voice ground on my nerves to the point I just had to stop listening. After several attempts at trying to re-listen to the book, I finally gave up. My head hurt too badly listening to her voice!”  I hope that listener found that ibuprofen!

What type of the review comments do you find most constructive?
That previous one was definitely not constructive.  Review comments are most constructive when you find a common thread running through them.  If more than one listener mentions slow pace, breathiness, pronunciation problems, for example, then it’s time to sit up and take notice.

Who is your “dream author” that you would like to record for?
This is a tough one.  There are so many!  I love Neil Gaiman, Maggie O’Farrell, Jane Austen, Willa Cather, William Faulkner, Homer (the first audiobook, BTW!)  – in fact there are a lot of classics I’d love to wrap my voice around.  

If you could narrate one book from your youth what would it be and why?
I couldn’t pick one.  There are at least 4 series that got my imagination going and had me creating these wonderful worlds inside my head: Little House, Chronicles of Narnia, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children.  I’ve read a lot of these to my own children!  I remember my brothers and I reenacting the Boxcar Children, setting up our own “boxcar” on our front step in Alexandria, VA, trying to “survive” on our own without adults.  

What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?
I referred to this before when I mentioned Homer: the first “books” were passed on through oral tradition.  They were actually audiobooks!  There’s great discipline that comes from being a good listener – I feel modern society lacks that discipline – and to have the patience and concentration to allow a story or treatise or memoire to unfold slowly and deliberately over time through an audiobook. Hearing an author’s words free from the constraints of the printed page teaches us the musicality and rhythm and pulse of our spoken language.  If that’s cheating, then I’m undeniably guilty as charged.

About the Book

To Never Hear the Song
The Wing Cycle book Two
by E.G. Stone

Print/eBook
Published 22 June 2020
Tarney Brae Creative Endeavours
Page Count: 327

Audiobook
Published 3 March 2022
Tarney Brae Creative Endeavours
Narrator: Anne Marie Lewis
Length: 11 hours and 31 minutes

Genre: Fantasy
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War is inevitable. But who will win and who will fall depends on what happens next…

Ravenna has returned to her people in order to save them from Davorin’s impending attack. But what she did not understand is that training a society of peaceful sylphs into the warrior Stormbringers from their distant past will ask more of her than she knew. She must make amends with her sister, the new Chosen Queen. She must play games of politics and tactics. And she must prove her worth to a people that never wanted her.

Miska set out to find Ravenna and beg her to help him save his people from Davorin. Instead, he ended up in the Iron Mountains facing a legend even older than the sylphs: a dragon. But when the dragon’s only offer of assistance is to help Miska train, he must learn to master himself in an unfamiliar place before he can help his people. The only problem is, the dragon is not the only legend hiding in the mountains.

Lenore has promised to wed Davorin in order to spare her people. Trapped and useless in her own Red Palace, she must discover precisely how far she’ll go to uphold a promise. And, who among her people she can truly trust.

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To Never Hear the Song is the continuation of The Wing Cycle, an epic fantasy that asks whether who we are determines our struggles, or if the struggles determine who we are.

About the Author

E.G. Stone is an independent author who has been writing, creating and causing vast amounts of trouble since the age of six. Since then, E.G. has improved rather a lot in both the trouble-causing and writing and now spends her time writing fantasy and science fiction. When not writing, she is off musing about the workings of languages, both real and created, or drawing and sewing. E.G. reads voraciously, perhaps to the point of slight-insanity. Weird, nerdy, perhaps a little crazy, she is having a grand old time writing, reading, reviewing, interviewing, and, naturally, continuing her endeavours in causing trouble.

Happy reading… and writing.

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About the Narrator

Witty, radiant, and classic – warmth and wisdom with a wink: that describes Anne Marie Lewis and her narration style.  Devouring every single Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth cozy mystery audiobook (and that’s a lot of listening!) cultivated her love of audiobooks. In the booth, she draws from a deep knowledge of the classics, facility with languages and dialects, her Filipino-Irish heritage and over twenty-five years’ stage experience performing opera and theatre. She has recorded for The Talking Book, Monster Ivy, Sutherland House, Parliament House Press, Audiobook Empire as well as for Learning Ally. Outside the booth, Anne Marie battles invasive plant species in her garden, cheers on her athlete sons and cantors weddings and funerals.

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