About ten years ago Whiskey and Old Stogies only existed in draft form. Every week I took 1,500 words of it to Toni Lopopolo‘s writers workshop and brought my pages back with lots of notes scribbled on them. I also attended Screenwriters Association of Santa Barbara, now defunct, meetings because I figured learning about screenwriting equals learning about writing.
One SASB member, Guy Goldstein, talked about a website he developed, readthrough.com. On the site voice actors volunteered to perform the first page or two of a script, letting the screenwriter hear their words aloud. I thought why don’t I try it for the first page of my WIP, and maybe I can use the audio for a book trailer when I’m ready to publish. A couple of actors sent me recordings. One named Ray really nailed it.
When I went to make a book trailer I found the audio file too low rez and asked an actor friend to do the voice over for it. That friend did a great job but I knew he didn’t possess the patience to record a whole audiobook. So I tried to connect with the actor from readthrough.com on social media. I searched Guy’s connections on LinkedIn, found an actor named Ray, and sent him a connection request. Guy’s Facebook friends included a Ray’s Voice that I friended.
After many layers of editing and eighty plus queries to agents I decided to publish Whiskey and Old Stogies myself. I wanted to learn the publishing process anyway. Formatted it myself and uploaded it to Amazon and Ingram, and got some nice reviews.
With a successful launch under my belt in 2021 time came to consider an audiobook version. The Facebook profile for Ray’s Voice popped in my head so I looked it up. Oh, no, it said he passed away in July 2017. Many friends and family members mourned him. My loss of the perfect narrator for my audiobook far paled in comparison.
Enter 2022
I auditioned some narrators recommended by ACX and Findaway Voices. None of them came close to interpretation in the sample from readthrough.com. Considered narrating it myself since I do have some acting experience but preferred a male voice for the first person male narrative. What to do? Put it on the backburner.
My birthday rolled around in April. Most people wish friends a Happy Birthday on Facebook but a few people do that on LinkedIn. I received a Happy Birthday through LinkedIn from Ray Cole, a voice over actor. Maybe he setup some kind of automated messaging. I messaged back, “You’re alive?” Didn’t expect an answer.
I got an answer! “Yeah, no bot here.” Turns out my initial research uncovered two different, but similar voice over actors named Ray. I discovered the guy on LinkedIn did the readthrough.com recording. We chatted and made a deal for him to narrate the audiobook version of Whiskey and Old Stogies. The audiobook dropped in time for the second anniversary of publication. You can find it at your favorite audiobook retailer or library.