Episode 36: Love Bites by Gregory Clifford
Charlie has a proposal for his girlfriend Dementia, but over dinner, she has a question to ask of him. Has he ever considered becoming a vampire?
Also, after an unexpected visitor, Big and Rish talk about audio book readers and podcasters, the good and the bad. And they introduce a new segment for the show (just pray they never repeat it).
Special thanks to Liz Mierzejewski for lending her voice to today’s episode.
Right click to download the episode HERE.
http://media.libsyn.com/media/dunesteef/Dunesteef_36_Love_Bites_by_Gregory_Clifford.mp3%20Related Links:
Science Fiction Writers Workshop
Online Writing Workshop
Liz Mierzejewski’s Audio Novella
Souvenir d’Italie’s Music on Jamendo.com
The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine 
June 12, 2009 at 8:04 am
oooo i am so glad you talked about how certain voices make the story come alive. i tend to agree completely with this assessment
here are some of my favorite voices:
-ira glass (this american life)
-carl kasell (wait wait don’t tell me)
-alastair stewart (pseudopod)
-mike bennett (currently underwood & flinch)
-the woman who does the opening to the savage lovecast…”you’re listening to a stranger podcast”
-david ault (the byron chronicles)
June 12, 2009 at 8:14 am
Nice discussion at the end! You guys are right up there with Norm Sherman, in my book. I also love Ben Phillips and Phil Rossi narrations for podcasts.
A good retired podcast is Come, Let Me Whisper, hosted by Russell Burt (http://rlburt.blogspot.com/). Some people, I think, found his southern drawl annoying but I’m kind of a country girl so it’s endearing to me :)
In audio fiction, how about Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” series? It’s read by the author and a full cast. FANTASTIC! :)
Hope there are more suggestions, I’m always looking for good entertainment for my ears :)
June 12, 2009 at 8:18 am
Oh, boy.
I love Norm Sherman’s voice. I always feel like he’s telling the story at a campfire with a flashlight under his chin.
I also adored Ethan Hawke’s reading of Slaughterhouse 5, pretty much for the same reason.
Steve Eley drives me crazy – he has one woman voice, one reading cadence. He always sounds like the wanna-be drama nerd reading his essay for the class.
And BTW, I may now have to publish under a pseudonym after hearing the tag at the end. “So Mrs. M, was that REALLY you reading that story?”
“Sorry, kid, I don’t know what you’re talking about. My name is Mrs. Ogelthorpe.”
June 12, 2009 at 8:28 am
oh jeez. i dropped the ball on a name here.
**alasdair stuart**
sorry about that!
also, does anyone else find it revealing that half of my favorites are british? hmmm
June 12, 2009 at 11:53 am
Frank’s site. Has a complete list of his work
http://www.frankmullerhome.com/
June 12, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I have also listened to Norm Sherman and must say that he is great. Rish and Big are very talented, too. I particularly liked how they read slowly so that my story seemed longer. :-)
The discussion at the end is always one of my favorite parts of the show.
June 15, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Good story, though I figured out the twist about 3/4 of the way through. I think with twist endings, dropping hints so the reader figures it out is half the fun of writing them.
I’ve never heard a whole audiobook that wasn’t also a podcast, but I think I’d like to hear George Takei’s readings of the Captain Sulu audiobooks that came out in the… early 90s?
June 15, 2009 at 10:33 pm
What a great discussion! I actually had 5 Audible.com accounts at one point (4 of them active). Goodness. Now I’ve almost completely switched to podcasts.
Alasdair Stuart – love his voice. Every time I hear him, I think, “Wow, they have Neil Gaiman doing their podcast!” And Neil is one of the few authors who is the perfect narrator for his own books.
I loved Patrick Tull’s narration of Patrick O’Brian’s Maturin/Aubrey books – all 21. The way he says “chapter one” always makes me grin. He says it like, “I have got the _best_ story to tell you. I am glowing with excitement in my reserved British way, and you are going to love it!”
Garth Nix’s Abhorsen books are narrated by Tim Curry, and they are wonderful. His Keys to the Kingdom series, narrated by Allan Corduner, are also quite good. It’s funny; I can barely stomach those books in text. Certain wasteful, repetitive elements of his style just make me want to reach for a red pen when I read them, but I can listen to them all day long and not be annoyed. They are wildly imaginative.
George Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire were terrible in audio. I listened to them anyway, because they’re some of my favorite books, and I wanted to re-read them before the most recent book came out, but ye gods. Granted, it would be a super human feat for one reader to keep all those voices straight, but some characters start out with an English accent and end up Scottish. Also, the books are full of women and children, and the narrator is only capable of sounding like a 60-year-old man.
> I love Norm Sherman’s voice. I always feel like he’s telling the story at a campfire with a flashlight under his chin.
That’s a perfect description, Liz. Norm is doing the voice for the most charismatic character in Cowry Catchers, and he is doing an awesome job. :) Rish and Big also did bang up jobs. You guys don’t give yourself enough credit. When I first started listening to the Dunesteef, it took me a while to figure out that it was only two guys, owing largely Rish’s ability to sound like totally different people.
June 16, 2009 at 3:55 am
Great to hear your story Greg! I remember reading it when it was finished…a whole new perspective having it come to life so to speak!
I look forward to hearing more stories!
Glymmer
June 17, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Wow, it’s great to hear so much praise. Nearly every single week, when we get together, I tell Big, “Well, here we are, recording what will probably be our last episode,” to which he responds, “Good night, I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.”
Ah, friendship.
Anyway, there’s this guy who does audiobooks called Stefan Rudnicki (I believe), and I’ve heard enough good readings by him that when I see his name, I think, “Oh, this is bound to be a good one.”
It would be a fine job to work for Recorded Books or Blackstone Audio. Sure would beat having assorted chemicals dumped in my eyes for scientist to observe the varied reactions.
June 22, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I think most things would beat that. Maybe even *gasp* a REAL JOB.
I’m just kidding!
I liked this story. It was… cute. And it had that one killer line, you know the one I mean.
September 13, 2009 at 4:39 am
I also love hearing stories by Norm Sherman, and by Big and Rish.
I disagree completely about Steve Eley. I feel a sense of delight whenever I hear his voice come on at the beginning of Escape Pod. He is a great reader. He utterly commits to the story. And also he brings this certain open enthusiasm to whatever he reads.
I also disagree with Big about the Wheel of Time readers. Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. I think they did an excellent job. Often there’s a certain period of acclimation at the beginning of hearing a new voice. But once it clicks in, if it works it really works. I associate Kramer’s voice with that kind of ‘adventure’ feeling that narrators of the 50s and 60s had. And Reading is definitely the voice of the Aes Sedai.
All in all, I love a great reading. Nothing better.
And as this is the Dunesteef, I’ll state again that Big and Rish you both do a tremendous job. I don’t know how you gained such talent but I sure do appreciate it!
September 13, 2009 at 4:50 pm
You know, Nigel, Michael Kramer and Kate Reading were already on my bad list before I ever heard them read Wheel of Time. Michael Kramer was the reader for a bunch of James Patterson books that I listened to. I just don’t like the cadence that he put on his sentences. It also might have had to do with the fact that I just got sick of James Patterson’s shtick too.
My dislike of Kate Reading came from the same deal. She did several Patricia Cornwell novels that I listened to, and I just couldn’t deal with that tone of voice she had. Again, it also might have to do with the fact that I grew weary of Patricia Cornwell’s stuff, and Kate Reading couldn’t be un-associated with that. Who knows. I’d been done with both Patterson and Cornwell for a few years before I ever listened to my first Robert Jordan Audiobook, and I just brought those feelings with me I guess. Kate Reading is a perfect voice for the prissy, bitchy, stuffy Aes Sedai though, you’re definitely right there.
September 14, 2009 at 8:32 am
“Kate Reading is a perfect voice for the prissy, bitchy, stuffy Aes Sedai though, you’re definitely right there.”
Right, that’s exactly what I…… Hey, wait a minute! :-)
Seriously though, fair enough, fair enough. I encountered their voices for the first time in listening to The Eye of the World. And the story was so compelling that it gave me a very good first impression.
On the other hand, my favorite author is Haruki Murakami. And the only audiobook I’ve heard for him I couldn’t stand for more than 5 minutes. Had to take it back.
Anyway, have a good week.