It was absolutely freezing the first time I entered the world of acting. I was used to the warm room of a school where the mass of bodies sometimes made the sweltering heat unbearable and the press of hormone flooded air made the furious scribblings of adolescents resound and echo. Then, out of the blue there was an email, a connection coming from the digital landscape that changed the course of my fundraising endeavors.
And the next thing I knew, I was cold, standing in the frozen northlands with a shield and an axe.
I was on a mission to kill a giant's son and with a thirst for blood I ventured into the wasteland of the Norse.
Well, actually, I guess if I was going to be completely honest, it just felt that way as the snow coated the landscape outside my house and I narrated "The Blood Price" by Nathan Meyer. This was the first audiobook that I produced myself, and was the first completed project in my venture as a voice narrator/actor.
For years, people around me had asked if I had ever thought of narrating or voice acting and many said that I "had the voice for it." I never actually believed that it would work out though. Then, in a stroke of interesting events, I applied for and was given a position in a digital media studies at Palmer High School. As I took on the role of a digital media educator, and specifically as I began to get involved with the teaching of video game design, I realized that having some street credibility would help me in my endeavors to educate students in a digital age. I was pointed to ACX, an online site where narrators and audio producers can audition for and work with publishers and authors. I auditioned for a couple of pieces thinking that nothing would really come from it...I mean, who really gets a call back?
Low and behold...apparently I do, or at least I did. I was contacted by two authors, Pam Mosbrucker and Nathan Meyer, and was able to arrange work with both of them. This led to a few more auditions and I found a piece called Frayed by Tom Piccirilli that seemed interesting. Upon further investigation, Tom is currently a victim of Brain Cancer. I contacted his publishing company and offered to forgo my own payment if all monies would be directed back to Tom to help fight his brain cancer.
Crossroad Press, in an absolutely amazing display of compassion, was already providing 100% of the profits of Tom's books back to Tom for 2012 to help him fight his fight. The owner of Crossroad Press, David Wilson, agreed to let me produce one of Tom's shorter pieces and to arrange that all proceeds from my half of the production would be given to Tom.
When my students asked me what I did over the weekend, I told them stories of my adventures into the wilderness and mental asylums and dragon gods...
It is a brave new world, one in which an artist can connect with other artists across platforms, times, and space to produce something new and exciting with a speed unseen before in human history. The discrepancy of the worlds I was narrating from and about seems to highlight just how far we have come.
At the end of the night that I became a berserker and laid down my shield for the final time, I walked up the stairs on tip toes to peek in on my daughters. After having battled and bloodied my office with words and descriptions of gore, I paused for a moment to take in the precious sight of three girls asleep with their stuffed animals and books about princesses, ponies, and dreams. In a conversation with a friend of mine about the whole topic of narrating books, I realized that what started out as an experiment in street credibility without any real expectations for success has turned into something that I view as being a legacy project for my own children. While at this point in their lives the brutality of the Norse or the dangers of mental instability are inappropriate for their lives, the long term ability for my voice and words to be there for my children when I am gone is a somewhat comforting thought.
And with that, I shall press record again and begin making memories and conjuring lives in a grand adventure of my own...
