The Fun Zone: Eric and Co

No, I did not win the Audie. It's okay. I'm working through the pain one day at a time.

Let's back up...

Friday evening was the Audies Gala at the New York Historical Society. This being my first trip to the event, I really didn't know what to expect, and as the day approached, my brain would wander into various fantasy realms.

"All sorts of big shots will be there... I could meet the guy who did the Harry Potter books!"

"Lots of famous people read these audiobooks. Lewis Black is nominated. Maybe I'll run into him sulking in the corner. I'll say something witty, and we'll be best friends forever!"

"Wow. I might win this thing. No, I won't win this. Well, I do have a chance at winning this. No way, it's not going to happen. But what if it does? Wouldn't it be grand if I got to go on stage to thunderous applause and got to thank everybody like at the Oscars? Holy crap, I need to write a speech!"

So I spent the night before jotting names down on an index card, in the unlikely event that I'd have to actually address the crowd. I would thank the judges. I would thank the folks at Audible. I would thank Stef and the Kid. I'd get the heck off the stage. Seemed like a plan.

Stef took a half day off work so I could catch an early afternoon train and meet my good friend Emily for dinner before the Gala. I felt a little silly walking around New York in my tux and coat, while everybody else was enjoying the weather in shorts and t-shirts. I was even carrying around an umbrella because I had heard that it was going to rain. Anyway...

The New York Historical Society is a beautiful place. Stained glass windows, giant paintings, marble staircases. The party was in full swing when I arrived, but I didn't spot any of those celebrities I was expecting. I did, however, run into one of the producers from Audible, who then introduced me to various other talents and producers. At some point, I was handed a finalist medal to wear around my neck. It was all very formal and a little strange. I still hadn't seen any famous people I recognized, so I just hung out with the Audible folks until it was time to head into the auditorium.

I should note that I was told at this point that last year's awards ceremony went very long, with every winner getting up to speak, so only the four biggest awards would actually get to do so this time. This should have been a bummer, but it was actually quite a relief. The most I would have to do if I won would be to stand up and wave.

So I sat down amidst Team Audible, feeling very well-liked amongst that group. Perhaps they just treat all their nominees that way, but they were all very friendly and excited for me. It was pretty neat. I still hadn't spotted any of those celebrities. I did see Barbara Rosenblat, who is a bit of a luminary in the audiobook world, a bit earlier, so I guess that counted, as well as Hilary Huber, my former teacher and fellow nominee. But where was Jim Dale?

Turns out he was all the way to my left, behind somebody's head so I couldn't see him.

Suddenly, sitting in this room no bigger than my middle school auditorium, I felt very out of place. Have you ever found yourself in a room filled with people who all seem more qualified than you? Let's say you're a butter sculptor. You've been at it a few years, and some people really seem to like your dairy-based structures. So you go to the annual Sclupt-a-thon, and you're faced with people who have been doing this for the bulk of their professional lives. Decades of work. That guy over there? He's made 400 butter sculptures. That fine young lady with 6 butter nominee medals around her neck? Those are all nominations for tonight's ceremony. Two rows up? That guy is a master of over 60 dialects of butter!

I'm losing my metaphor. You get my point. I was outclassed in every regard.

The event was hosted by Tony Roberts. He would make a comment or tell a joke, then introduce one of many very distinguished presenters, who would each read off three or four awards. A screen on stage displayed the headshots and book covers for the nominated narrators and titles. The envelope would be opened, somebody would stand up in a corner of the room, and we'd all clap. It all moved very quickly. Before I knew it, the screen lit up with the nominees for Sci-Fi/Fantasy.

I remember worrying that my headshot would look stupid next to all of these pros. It wasn't that bad.

It was time for a new presenter when my award came up, but I was such a bundle of nerves that I barely heard Tony Roberts say, "...while he has narrated several dozen audiobooks, he is best known in the role in Perfect Strangers..." That certainly got my attention, though, and I stared in disbelief as Bronson Pinchot took the stage, smiled, and proceeded to read my name off a card.

Balki Bartokomus read my name. Correctly, I might add.

As I already said, I did not win, but Jonathan Davis, the other Audible nominee in that category, did, so I could share in a little bit of the glory around me. A little bit.

Other highlights: Neil Gaiman won for both Children's Book and Audiobook of the Year, and he gave a very gracious acceptance speech. David Sedaris won for Book Performed by the Author, and gave some lovely credit to Audible, which was nice. At least one of the featured presenters could not properly say the name of the award, insisting on calling it an "Audio" several times during the night. I won't name names, though.

After it was all over, I congratulated Jonathan Davis, and he was very happy and gracious. Then we all headed out into the museum again, drank some champagne, ate some fantastic desserts (I love me some cheesecake lollipops...), and I excused myself to catch a cab to the train station. The end.

Bummed? Sure, but not because I didn't win. I'm bummed because I see the challenge presented by my colleagues in the industry, the level that I must reach before I feel like I would deserve to win one of these awards. Bummed, yes, but motivated as well. I will win an Audie some day. It may not be next year. It may not be for several years. But I love working in audiobooks, and I'm ready to put in the time to get better at it. I'm very proud of Childhood's End, but I know it's not the best I can do. I need to treat each new book as an opportunity to raise the bar, to enhance the source material rather than just repeating it. Then, just maybe, somebody else will be writing about how cool it was to see me at the Audies...

Hello there! What? Yeah, yeah, it's been a while.

Busy I have been. Spending too much time on Facebook I am. Googling myself not doing am I. Talking like Yoda helping is not.

Audible doesn't exactly let me know when my books get published, so if I don't search for myself from time to time on the site, I completely miss a title or two.

Hey look! I missed a title or two...

Gods of Manhattan by Scott Mebus - Imagine a layer of existence within the confines of New York City, in which the luminaries of the city's history act as patron saints of various elements of everyday life. These are... the Gods of Manhattan. A young boy and his sister discover this alternate reality and are launched into a fantastical adventure involving nothing less than an epic battle between good and evil. Supposedly, this is the first in a series. I hope it does well, because I'd love to read more. Even if I don't get to read more.

Dark Universe by Daniel F. Galouye - This is one of those classic sci-fi stories in which you have to wrap your mind around a world that's very different from our own. The characters in Dark Universe live in total darkness. They "see" through echolocation, using sound reflections to map out the world around them. It's kind of a neat concept, but the language can get a little heavy-handed. "He had never heard a hairstyle like hers before." and "I hear what you mean," for example. Still, it's an interesting story, and an enjoyable read.

In other professional audiobook news, the Audie Awards Gala is a week from Friday. My tux is rented, and I'm planning a lovely evening in NYC, rubbing elbows with the greats in the industry. I still doubt I'm going to win in my category, but I should probably write a speech just in case. It's a pretty expensive mingle session at any rate. I hope there's an open bar.

My friends at Audible passed this on to me today. It's a review from AudioFile of Childhood's End, and they have some very kind things to say. Here's just a bit:

Summerer excels at delivering the aliens’ quiet and intensely engaging dialogue with people. His nuanced performance creates a growing feeling of uneasiness in the listener as the Overlords’ insatiable curiosity and watchfulness begin to suggest something less than benign at work.

Nice! Now I just have to figure out what I did on that book, so I can do it again...

Unless you've been scanning the voiceover trades, you probably missed this article being posted today. One of my character coaches, Pat Fraley, interviewed a number of colleagues and students about what they think makes a good audiobook. If you're interested, you might recognize a face in there.

It's just so weird to be lumped in with so many... actors. Just to keep the sureality going, I'm getting headshots taken this weekend. Might as well go hog wild, right?

Some of you may have heard my grumblings about the vampire romance story that I had been working on. I couldn't share any details at the time, but now the book is out for all to enjoy:

Dark Dream by Christine Feehan. It's part of the Dark Series, Book 7 to be exact, about a race of vampire hunters known as the Carpathians. The Carpathians have many of the same traits and abilities as vampires, and will eventually become the demons that they hunt, unless they find their true love, their lifemate. The result is a tender romance with a bunch of bloodsucking and paranormal violence. Fun for the whole family! Except anybody under the age of, say, 14. Because of the vampire sex.

Happy listening!

Today was a big day in the world of audiobooks. Today, the Audie nominations were announced! Don't worry if you missed it. As far as I know, there wasn't a press conference on the morning news. We had to settle for an online press release.

The Audies are like the Oscars of the audiobook world. Presented by the Audio Publisher's Association, the awards honor the best recordings in several categories over the past year. So, I was scanning the press release, trying to see if I recognized any of the names, when I came across the Science Fiction/Fantasy category:

Calculating God, by Robert J. Sawyer, Narrated by Jonathan Davis, Audible, Inc.
Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke, Narrated by Eric Michael Summerer, Audible, Inc.
Ghost Radio, by Leopoldo Gout, Narrated by Pedro Pascal, HarperAudio
Skybreaker, by Kenneth Oppel, Narrated by David Kelly, Full Cast Audio
Sunrise Alley, by Catherine Asaro, Narrated by Hillary Huber, Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Wait, what? I stared at the screen for some time. I had read "Childhood's End" on the list, and my first thought was "that's weird, somebody else read Childhood's End. Huh." Then I thought it might be some sort of elaborate joke. Then everything got a little fuzzy while my brain tried to work things out. The Kid finally yelled at me from his high chair, snapping me out of my reverie. He may have thrown a Cheerio at me, but I'm not really sure.

So there you have it. My recording has been named one of the five best Sci-Fi/Fantasy recordings of the past year. There's a big awards gala in New York (they alternate between LA and NY each year) on May 29th. I'm pretty sure we'll be going, but I don't have all the details yet. Assuming that the bulk of the nominees attend, there could be some big names there. I saw Jim Dale on the list, as well as Tony Shalhoub, Neil Gaiman, Bronson Pinchot, Garrison Keillor, Wayne Night, John Slattery, and Lewis Black. Also of note is that I took an audiobook seminar with Hillary Huber, one of my fellow nominees, a few years back. It will be cool to see her again.

I've got to start looking for a tux...

The full list of nominees is here. Wish me luck!

Wow. I missed out on a great gift-giving suggestion. Well, at least a great suggestion for your friends and relatives who own a PSP.

Mytran Wars, my latest video game adventure, was released around Thanksgiving. Is it a bad sign that Amazon is already out of stock, with no plans to get more? At least you can see a video of the gameplay. Sadly, no audio from the cutscenes. I haven't seen the game in action, but it appears to be very Starcraft-like, with a hint of Final Fantasy Tactics going on.

Track it down, and buy several copies! Come on! It'll be fun!

My latest contribution to Audible's assortment of goodies is Vernor Vinge's Fast Times at Fairmont High. It's a futuristic sci-fi short story in which children are constantly surrounded by technology, networked together at every turn. A few of them, in the guise of a school assignment, go on an adventure to uncover some shady goings-on in town.

On the horizon: a sci-fi classic in which dark is the new light, a young-adult adventure in which New York City is much more than it seems, and a healthy dose of vampire lovin'. I'll tell you more when I'm allowed to do so.

Happy Listening!

Some time ago, I alluded to reading a classic from one of the great authors of sci-fi. This is it: Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End. It's out now, just in time for the holidays!

I mean, what better way to celebrate Peace on Earth and Goodwill Toward Men than by listening to a story about a race of beings who descend on the planet and essentially force those beliefs upon us? Good times. This story also gets the credit for popularizing the term "Overlord."

This was one of my favorite reads of the dozen or so that I've done in the past couple years. Yes, as a 50-year-old story, this classic is a little dated. Still, it has a lot to say. Plus, Steve, a listener from Newark, had some really nice things to say about me:

The book does take a while to get going, and the latter half is far more satisfying and better written. (Thankfully, Eric Michael Summerer's narration more than makes up for the sluggish pace early on.)

Thanks, Steve! Glad you liked it! All the rest of you, be like Steve.

Happy listening!

My latest contribution to Audible.com's cornucopia of offerings is Rick Shenkman's Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing The Truth About The American Voter. The title's pretty self-explanatory. It deconstructs our American political system, questioning the ability of the public to make informed decisions about picking their elected officials. I think it makes some valid points, but considering our current political situation, I can see how it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

This book marks a number of firsts for me. It's my first non-fiction book. It's the first one without character voices. And it's my first one-star review:

I lasted two chapters and then moved it to an old iPod, so I could get the pleasure of destroying this drive with a hammer.

Awesome. I'd be upset if the guy weren't so excited about how much he hated it.

Happy listening.