Creating audiobooks is a long and time-consuming, and very expensive, process. Finding the right narrator for the characters I've created was a daunting task when I first started looking into audiobooks. I've been lucky to work with some wonderful VO actors who have brought my books to life.
Of course, the Yellowstone Series was the most difficult to produce, probably because it's so near and dear to me, and I had certain voices in my head for the characters. However, just like when a favorite book you've read gets turned into a movie, everyone is going to have an opinion on who should be cast as the characters, and what one person may see as the perfect fit, another person may not like at all. I've found this to be very true in audiobooks, as well. We hear certain voices for certain characters, and to match that is virtually impossible to do.
After going through the production process with 16 audiobooks, I've realized early on how impossible it is to find the voice that's in my head for the characters, and what a daunting job it is for one narrator to narrate all the characters, and do it accurately. A male voice may not do a good female voice, and a female voice may not do a good male voice. And the opinions on that alone are very subjective!
What I've really learned is to let go of what is in my head for the characters, and just listen to the overall performance. I do this not only with my own books (which is much harder), but also with other audiobooks I listen to.
While it's best for consistency to have the same narrator for a series, I chose to have multiple narrators for the Yellowstone Series. Steve Marvel was my only narrator for the Teton Series, and he did an awesome job with all three books and the characters.
Alaxandra Haag had the daunting task of bringing Yellowstone Heart Song to life, and she did such a great job with Aimee, that she came back to narrate the Christmas novella, and then Yellowstone Deception. Nick Sarando was the voice in my head for snarky, cocky Chase Russell, so he was the obvious choice to narrate Yellowstone Redemption, and he carried that into Awakening and Dawn, as well as Yellowstone Promise.
Now I'd like to introduce the newest addition to the Yellowstone Series, Cody Roberts. He's definitely not new to narrating books for me, though. I first auditioned him for Jake Owens in Come Home to Me, and he was the perfect voice for the Second Chances Series. He then went on to narrate the Blemished Bride Series for me, too, keeping with his "cowboy voice."
For the three new books coming out in the Yellowstone Series, I needed a new voice, and since Cody consistently "gets" my characters, I thought he'd be a good choice. I asked him to narrate Yellowstone Homecoming, to bring him into the series, and I couldn't be happier with the result.
Enjoy the sample!
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