I'm back at the mike reading Swordspoint audiobook!
Ellen Kushner
Life in NYC continues good. I've missed doing radio, though.
But I think there's a cure for that!
I have just recorded the audiobook of my first novel:
SWORDSPOINT: A MELODRAMA OF MANNERS
produced by SueMedia for ACX/Neil Gaiman Presents
Available through iTunes, & Audible.com:
http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B006FJJDBW
I am the narrator, which meant I got to read the entire 13 hours of my
own book aloud. And already people who miss "Sound & Spirit" are
posting to say they love getting to hear this new project. (My
favorite comment so far, on the Audible page, is that I owe someone
$30 gas money because they wouldn't get out of their car til the story
was over! Friends, in radio we call that "Driveway Listening" - but
in this case, I guess it's "Freeway....."!)
As Neil Gaiman says in his Introduction
(which you can listen to here:
http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B006FJJDBW )
'What really makes this production unique is the supporting cast in
this special "illuminated production". Several key scenes are fully
dramatized, and throughout the entire book's soundscapes you will hear
the cadences of the marketplace, the music of the drawing rooms, and
of course the ring of steel drawn from the scabbard.....
'You'll be able to hear performances from acclaimed and award-winning
actors,
including Dion Graham, Katherine Kellgren, Robert Fass, Nick Sullivan,
and the remarkable Simon Jones.'
Neil has also written about the project here:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/12/audiobooks-cautionary-tale.html
• If you're not familiar with SWORDSPOINT, a good place to start is my
short story "The Swordsman Whose Name was Not Death," which was just
reprinted online at:
http://www.fantasy-magazine.com/new/new-fiction/the-swordsman-whose-name-was-not-death/
. . . paired with an in-depth interview about the Riverside setting
and its characters:
http://www.fantasy-magazine.com/new/new-nonfiction/author-spotlight-ellen-kushner/
* SueMedia is the gifted team we worked with to create
the musical audio drama "The Witches of Lublin"
--which will air on WGBH radio this spring!
But why wait til then? A 2-hour version of "The Witches of Lublin"
is now also available on Audible.com:
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=pd_sim_auth_1?asin=B005J4WJJM
If you'd prefer a physical CD (complete with handsome packaging)
to give as a holiday gift,
you can buy one via the Witches' website:
http://www.thewitchesoflublin.com/buy.html
• Finally, you may know the work of my very dear friend, editor,
artist & author Terri Windling. I've been helping members of our
community launch an online auction to raise money for her, as her
family has been hit by a series of unexpected financial setbacks.
The online auction is running through December 15th.
I invite you to go take a look at what is a truly amazing online
phenomenon -
and get some of your shopping done, too! :
http://magick4terri.livejournal.com/
Hope December is treating you right so far . . .
and hope I've just solved a few of your gift conundrums -
Ellen
***************
www.EllenKushner.com