Author: Sea Caummisar
Narrator: Ronald Young
Length: 3 hours 3 minutes
Publisher: Sharon Cheatham⎮2020
Genre: Horror
Series: Games, Book 1
Release date: June 6, 2020
Narrator: Ronald Young
Length: 3 hours 3 minutes
Publisher: Sharon Cheatham⎮2020
Genre: Horror
Series: Games, Book 1
Release date: June 6, 2020
After being abducted on the New Year, Sara, Angel, and Amanda are forced by a masked stranger to play games. Losing the game or breaking the rules results in punishments. Painful punishments, either inflicted to oneself or by their friends. The masked stranger tells them there will only be one winner, and the prize is life.
Warning: 18+. Not for kids. This is a violent book. It starts out with a little bit of gore, and ends with a whole bunch of gore.
Buy Links
Buy on Audible
Warning: 18+. Not for kids. This is a violent book. It starts out with a little bit of gore, and ends with a whole bunch of gore.
Buy Links
Buy on Audible
Author Interview with Sea Caummisar
Tell us about the process of turning your book into an audiobook.
I used the website ACX, which made the audiobook process fairly easy. I have previously published a couple dozen other titles in ebook and and paperback format. However. Games 1 New Year is my first audiobook. At first the process was overwhelming. There were thousands of narrators to choose from. Ronald Young was probably the 15th audition I heard, but knew right away that he was the one I wanted to be the voice of my story. His voice reminds me of Roger Miller, which reminds me of Tarzan from when I was a young child.
From that point forward, ACX and Ronald (narrator) did what I would call the heavy lifting. I did pretty much nothing, other than listening to the files as they were produced, and loved every minute of it.
Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
I love to listen to the horror genre in audiobook format. I think it’s wonderful how listening to a voice, as opposed to reading words, can capture the character’s fears. My ears translate that much better than my eyes do when I read a sentence followed by an exclamation mark.
How did you select your narrator?
As I previously stated, Ronald Young’s voice reminded me of Roger Miller who did some of the voice over work for Tarzan many years ago. I found his voice to be comforting and very familiar. I even joked with him about my wanting to write a song in one of the books so just to hear him sing. I imagine he would sound very much like Roger Miller. He agreed and said he would sing, but I did not write a song into any of the books. I regret not doing so. Maybe there will still be a chance for that in the future.
How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
Ronald and I have become friends. Mostly only on Facebook, but he wrote me many times, discussing which accents I would prefer my characters to sound like. I pretty much loved all of his ideas, and there was no need for me to correct anything he worked on. I think the only pronunciation I had to help him with was my last name. Caummisar is confusing for most people. I’m used to my last name being butchered in phone calls, appointments, etc…
I was lucky in the respect that the narrator had the same visions as I did for the characters.
Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
I read often. At least one hour every night while I’m in bed. I am very new to listening to audio books. I do enjoy them, and I love the freedom of being able to do something else while I listen (driving, housework, etc…) The cost compared to ebooks isn’t ideal, but am finding that every penny spent on an audio book is well worth it. Writers and narrators are putting their creative vision into these stories, and I almost prefer that over watching a movie.
That question literally made me laugh out loud. I would never say that listening to a book is cheating. It’s another form of art, and I believe audiobooks are the future. Not only do you get to hear a great story, you also get to hear a voice for each character. I find it to be a great form of entertainment.
How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
I can’t say that I really celebrated. After already having a couple dozen novellas published, the newness has worn off. It still feels good, but instead of celebrating, I started directly on the second book of the series. The story was inside of me, and it had to be told.
What gets you out of a writing slump? What about a reading slump?
Writing slumps are not fun. Sometimes, I have to take a break for a few days. By taking a break, I mean even unplugging from social media. When I’m on a creative break, I use zero screens. No TV, no computer, no KIndle, etc… My mind functions better when I’m left alone with my self. My creativity is inspired when I am not taking in any other forms of entertainment. After a couple days of dreaming up my own ideas, then I’m ready to start or continue my next story.
In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a stand-alone novel vs. writing a series?
I have found that my series do better in the form of sales than my standalone stories. Writing a series gives an author the opportunity to build a much better world and character development over several storylines. As a reader, I have read some books that the first half of the story is basically what I call information dumping. I would much rather have some action happening while the information dumping comes over a period of time.
Have any of your characters ever appeared in your dreams?
Mostly all of my characters come to me in dreams. All of my ideas come to me in the form of dreams. Yes, I do have some scary dreams.
What’s next for you?
The other five books of the Games Series are currently in production with Ronald Young(audiobook). The books are already written. My current writing project is a spin-off of this series, called Sanger Entertainment. The next series will explore more of the workplace involved in the Games Series.
I used the website ACX, which made the audiobook process fairly easy. I have previously published a couple dozen other titles in ebook and and paperback format. However. Games 1 New Year is my first audiobook. At first the process was overwhelming. There were thousands of narrators to choose from. Ronald Young was probably the 15th audition I heard, but knew right away that he was the one I wanted to be the voice of my story. His voice reminds me of Roger Miller, which reminds me of Tarzan from when I was a young child.
From that point forward, ACX and Ronald (narrator) did what I would call the heavy lifting. I did pretty much nothing, other than listening to the files as they were produced, and loved every minute of it.
Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
I love to listen to the horror genre in audiobook format. I think it’s wonderful how listening to a voice, as opposed to reading words, can capture the character’s fears. My ears translate that much better than my eyes do when I read a sentence followed by an exclamation mark.
How did you select your narrator?
As I previously stated, Ronald Young’s voice reminded me of Roger Miller who did some of the voice over work for Tarzan many years ago. I found his voice to be comforting and very familiar. I even joked with him about my wanting to write a song in one of the books so just to hear him sing. I imagine he would sound very much like Roger Miller. He agreed and said he would sing, but I did not write a song into any of the books. I regret not doing so. Maybe there will still be a chance for that in the future.
How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
Ronald and I have become friends. Mostly only on Facebook, but he wrote me many times, discussing which accents I would prefer my characters to sound like. I pretty much loved all of his ideas, and there was no need for me to correct anything he worked on. I think the only pronunciation I had to help him with was my last name. Caummisar is confusing for most people. I’m used to my last name being butchered in phone calls, appointments, etc…
I was lucky in the respect that the narrator had the same visions as I did for the characters.
Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
I read often. At least one hour every night while I’m in bed. I am very new to listening to audio books. I do enjoy them, and I love the freedom of being able to do something else while I listen (driving, housework, etc…) The cost compared to ebooks isn’t ideal, but am finding that every penny spent on an audio book is well worth it. Writers and narrators are putting their creative vision into these stories, and I almost prefer that over watching a movie.
That question literally made me laugh out loud. I would never say that listening to a book is cheating. It’s another form of art, and I believe audiobooks are the future. Not only do you get to hear a great story, you also get to hear a voice for each character. I find it to be a great form of entertainment.
How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
I can’t say that I really celebrated. After already having a couple dozen novellas published, the newness has worn off. It still feels good, but instead of celebrating, I started directly on the second book of the series. The story was inside of me, and it had to be told.
What gets you out of a writing slump? What about a reading slump?
Writing slumps are not fun. Sometimes, I have to take a break for a few days. By taking a break, I mean even unplugging from social media. When I’m on a creative break, I use zero screens. No TV, no computer, no KIndle, etc… My mind functions better when I’m left alone with my self. My creativity is inspired when I am not taking in any other forms of entertainment. After a couple days of dreaming up my own ideas, then I’m ready to start or continue my next story.
In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a stand-alone novel vs. writing a series?
I have found that my series do better in the form of sales than my standalone stories. Writing a series gives an author the opportunity to build a much better world and character development over several storylines. As a reader, I have read some books that the first half of the story is basically what I call information dumping. I would much rather have some action happening while the information dumping comes over a period of time.
Have any of your characters ever appeared in your dreams?
Mostly all of my characters come to me in dreams. All of my ideas come to me in the form of dreams. Yes, I do have some scary dreams.
What’s next for you?
The other five books of the Games Series are currently in production with Ronald Young(audiobook). The books are already written. My current writing project is a spin-off of this series, called Sanger Entertainment. The next series will explore more of the workplace involved in the Games Series.
RSS Feed
