Title: Quest of the Dreamwalker
Author: Stacy Bennett
Narrator: Zachary Johnson
Length: 14 hours 49 minutes
Series: The Corthan Legacy, Book 1
Publisher: Miramae Press
Released: May 5, 2017
Genre: Fantasy
Cara has been a prisoner all her life, shackled by a broken soul and fear of her father’s temper. When a mercenary captain is taken prisoner, he sparks something in her she doesn’t recognize – rebellion. Determined to save the captain’s life, she flees with him intent on leaving her past behind. It isn’t love that drives her father’s zealous pursuit, but a hidden magical birthright she never knew about. Now she must solve the puzzle of her past before her father kills everyone she loves in his bid to reclaim her.
Q&A with Author Stacy Bennett
- How did you select your narrator?
- I know many would say that choosing a narrator is the result of reflection and study and an exhaustive search, days spent poring over reviews and samples of the candidates’ work. But I’m not that kind of person. I’m the kind of person to go with my gut and hope for the best.
- At the time, I was super excited to do an audiobook. They are one of my favorite things in the whole world. Once upon a time, I was married to a marine and we used to read to each other in the car on long trips. But reading the whole way on a cross-country four-day trip gets very tiring. So we switched to audiobooks. That way one of us could sleep while the other listened, driving deep into the night.
- So the chance of doing one of my own book was just thrilling, almost more than seeing it in print to be honest. So on recommendation of some writer folks, I went to ACX and searched for producers willing to do royalty share (since I didn’t have money) and who narrated fantasy. I perused male and female narrators, clicking on samples here and there, not really knowing what I was doing. If I’m completely honest I knew, even though my protagonist was a woman, I wanted a male narrator (for reasons that would answer an whole other question), but I gave the ladies an equal chance.
- Beyond that feeling though, I had no clue what I was really looking for or how I would ever make this choice. I just figured I’d know it when I heard it.
- And I was right. Out of about 12 narrator samples I heard that first evening, the minute I listened to Zach’s I knew he was the one I wanted. It was truly “love at first listen.” The tone, the pacing, the voice just WAS my book.
- So I put up an audition snippet which I was not very confident in and invited Zach along with three others to audition. (I only invited the others in case he turned me down.) The rest is history, as they say. And I’ve never regretted it.
- 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?
- Quest of the Dreamwalker was my first book, first published book, first audiobook. Much as I i may try to deny it, I am a control freak, especially about my books. Well, maybe control freak is too strong a phrase (probably not), so let’s say I’m a Mother hen, just to be kinder. And Zach was gracious enough to allow all my prodding and questions and comments without complaining. He is truly wonderful to work with. He did ask for pronunciation and I had written some “foreign language” prayer into the story not realizing I may one day have to tell someone how to pronounce it! That was an interesting problem, but Zach read it without a hitch. It still makes me laugh.
- Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
- Actually, the two main female characters in Dreamwalker were sort of my attempt at sorting through why I felt like I had two distinct personalities which were fairly opposite of one another. Kind of a personal psychological pondering as it were.
- How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
- Frankly, I don’t avoid burn-out. I don’t seek it out. It’s not my favorite experience. But burn-out happens. When you’re a single working mom of two kids with a day job or two and aspirations of something more, burn-out is an occupational hazard. In a perfect world, I suppose if you were a great planner you could avoid it. But I’m definitely not a planner, more of a pantser, and my world has always been so far from perfect I’m just happy to get off the rollercoaster for a weekend once in a while.
- If I make a plan, set a deadline and work toward, it seems that is the best time for everything else in my life to blow up. So I stubbornly try to keep to the dream, to push through on grit and a little bit of masochism. At times, I juggled as many thing as the Cat In The Hat and just prayed I wouldn’t fall off the ball. Grit your teeth, get it done. That’s just sometimes how life is. And when it’s all over, you collapse in a heap and sleep for two days.
- Burn-out to me isn’t an ending. It’s not death. It’s just another phase, like a black day (those days of not being able to function left over from a history of depression) or a case of the flu. Or maybe it is death, but like a phoenix I rise from the ashes every time. Eventually you begin to trust the rising. So you take time with the pets, and the kids who were annoying you only three days before, you laugh and eat too much chocolate and sleep late, and heal up only to start all over again.
- Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
- I have always loved audiobooks and I think it stems from when I was little. My parents read to us or rather my dad read to me. I actually don’t remember my mother ever reading me a book or anyone reading books to my brothers but they were older and probably had outgrown it. But I vividly remember my dad reading to me. He would read The Golden Stallion over and over and over again any time I asked. He had the patience of a saint.
- Now audiobooks are a boon because the time that would be perfect for reading an actual book are now in conflict with actually writing. If I have time to read, I have time to write and wouldn’t I rather do that? But when I’m driving, or walking, or jogging, or shopping, I can listen to a book being read to me. So in order to keep up with my writing AND my reading, audiobooks are the best thing since sliced bread.
- What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?
- I would say that general wisdom holds that the best way to teach a child to read is to read to them. Partially because they love it. The fall in love with stories, and words, and rhymes. So why should we not still love being read to just because we’ve been on the planet more than 18 years? Knowing how sentences sound in your head informs your writing style as much as what a sentence looks like. So why should it be cheating? When I listen to a reading of the unabridged Jane Austen, why are those words less precise and alluring as the written ones. I find them both infinitely appealing.
- What gets you out of a writing slump? What about a reading slump?
- When I have slumps of any kind, usually a day in nature cures me. Either a hike in the woods, a day on the beach or taking the camera to nearby farms or sculpture gardens always brightens my energy and gets me back in the motivation. Music also works which is why we authors frequently have playlists for our books. A rousing rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody works wonders!
- Have any of your characters ever appeared in your dreams?
- Yes, Lela the wolf definitely came to me in a dream.
- What’s next for you?
- I had a long hiatus from writing due to a job situation that was less than ideal. Now that I’ve gotten things rolling again, and my kids are mostly grown, I have time to devote to my stories again. And I guess in my head I think of it as working my stories more than WRITING. It’s not about the act but the mystery behind it. And now that I’ve started again I really don’t want to stop. Next up is to finish the third book of the Corthan Legacy, Hound of Barakan. I also have a lovely standalone which was a NaNoWriMo project and I absolutely adore it. It is called Mask of Innocence and should be out directly after Hound of Barakan. After that, there are a number of Corthan Legacy storylines that need to be written, as well as at least one more standalone (temporarily named City of Flowers) and a duology/trilogy (Goddess Stone).
- I had a long hiatus from writing due to a job situation that was less than ideal. Now that I’ve gotten things rolling again, and my kids are mostly grown, I have time to devote to my stories again. And I guess in my head I think of it as working my stories more than WRITING. It’s not about the act but the mystery behind it. And now that I’ve started again I really don’t want to stop. Next up is to finish the third book of the Corthan Legacy, Hound of Barakan. I also have a lovely standalone which was a NaNoWriMo project and I absolutely adore it. It is called Mask of Innocence and should be out directly after Hound of Barakan. After that, there are a number of Corthan Legacy storylines that need to be written, as well as at least one more standalone (temporarily named City of Flowers) and a duology/trilogy (Goddess Stone).
Stacy has always been a nomad, but is currently residing in New Jersey. For now.
She enjoys multilayered tales with simple structure and deeper intent, stories of soul and psyche and heart. There’s nothing better than a book that convinces you its inhabitants are as real as you are. Then again, maybe we are only characters in someone else’s tale.
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Lover of mathematics, devourer of science fiction, and connoisseur of the dad joke. When he’s not doing math for business or fun, he’s devouring science fiction and fantasy, reading up on scientific advancements, going for a jog, or, on all too rare occasions, taking a refreshing swim at the beach. At your service, you shall have an able storyteller and gifted conveyor of information. Experienced in narrating fiction, from the romantic to the post-apocalyptic, and nonfiction, from the historical to the corporate, and armed with the tools to make it all sound great, Zachary promises that, no matter the job, you’ll be read-iculously pleased!
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Book 2 of The Corthan Legacy is in production and will be released this summer!
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