Monday Feature: Greg Tremblay

C.S.: What do you narrate?
Greg: Almost exclusively audiobooks. Books are a passion of mine, and comprise over 90% of my voiceover business. I am looking to branch into some animation work if possible, and I do the occasional bit of instructional narration. Commercial voiceover holds zero allure to me.

C.S.: What genres do you most enjoy working in?
Greg: One I haven’t done in a while! I’ve enjoyed everything from YA to Romance to Non-Fiction… and frankly what I crave the most is that new challenge. Any genre gets to wear on you after 10 straight books… so. I love to swap it up!

C.S.: Tell us about your acting space.
Greg: If I sneeze, I might bump my head. OK, no it’s not THAT small. I have a personal studio where I do my editing and office work, also keep my musical instruments and library. My recording booth is through an adjoining wall, and is 4’ x 5’ by 6.5’ so… not terribly big!

C.S.: What sort of work-related items do you keep at hand?
Greg: My booth has myself, a sit/stand desk, a doubled monitor showing the PC I keep outside (noise) my keyboard, interface, headset, water and lip balm. That’s about it.

C.S.: What’s the weirdest item you keep nearby that’s not at all beneficial to voice acting?
Greg: My grandfather’s meerschaum pipe, and a tiny fishing village scene he carved while he was still alive.

C.S.: Do you have any ‘good luck’ charms?
Greg: Not… per se? I have mementos from family, and a stuffed “Gromit” (from Wallace and) to keep me company.

C.S.: What’s easily the most distracting item in your acting space?
Greg: I keep my phone on silent mode in the booth… but it does blink when something comes in. Annnnnnd… I’m unable to not look. :-/

C.S.: Do you have any bad habits when you work?
Greg: Uh… not really. I’m kinda blessed right now to be ON when I’m on. The worst I do is delay start sometimes in the morning because I’m cleaning.

C.S.: Do character voices come easily to you?
Greg: TheeyyYYYyyyyreee GREAT!  Heh, yes I’m pretty comfortable with a wide range of characters. Actually, it’s shutting them up during normal speech that’s hard. Yes. I’m THAT guy.

C.S.: Do you have any warm-up exercises?
Greg: I do vocal scales, buzzing restricted air path scales, a few tongue twisters, neck and shoulder stretches, and a set of face stretches to warm up.

C.S.: Do you have any ‘helpful’ pets?
Greg: Jett the dog, the worst that he usually does is shake just outside the booth, causing his collar to jingle. Doodle the cat sometimes likes to wander my studio desk… knocking things down. Like cats do.

C.S.: What do you do to de-stress or enjoy that’s unrelated to voice acting?
Greg: I like working in my wood and metal shops, I cook, I play PubQuiz (geeks who drink) and do medieval re-enacting with my family.

C.S.: Question from the audience: If you could revisit a character or story and do it all over again for the first time, who/what would it be?
Greg: Oof.  I have to say that, if the Cole McGinnis series, which was my first, is ever in need of re-recording… I hope they have me back, because I’d love to update it and bring a new set of acting muscles to bear on the project… past that? Eh. I try not to look back.

Release date: August, 2017

Blurb: Curtis “Launchpad” Larkin’s career as an astronaut has had its share of ups and downs.
Alternately lauded as the single-handed savior of NASA and condemned as a reckless, hot-headed bully, Curt has been through the wringer of public opinion and come out on top. When he embarks on his final mission with NASA, Curt figures there’s no curveball that life has left to throw him.
But when the role of spacecraft communicator is passed to a young engineer back in Houston who he’s never met, Curt’s mission takes on a new trajectory

Blurb: In this sequel to “Mercury’s Bane” the fight to retake Earth is at a new tipping point. The Exile Fleet and Admiral Laura Walker fight desperately to resist the Telestine efforts to solve their only lingering problem with their new home: the former occupants.

Narrator Bio: “Born in one far-flung corner of the US, near Portland, (no the OTHER Portland) … Greg has worked in diverse fields including paramedicine, blacksmithing, IT, SCUBA, and even a few practical jobs.
Trained in vocal and stage performance, Greg brings a passion for educational Non-Fiction and Character-Intensive fiction stories to his audiobook work.
Critically-recognized and listener-beloved, Greg’s work has been praised by Audiofile Magazine, numerous blogs, and is the recipient of the GoodReads Reader’s Choice award for Best Narrator – 2016 in M/M Romance.
He lives in the FingerLakes region of NY with his family, and a slowly rotating menagerie of animals.”

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Contract: Old Fashioned Christmas

I've signed a contract with Dreamspinner Press for my short story, Old Fashioned Christmas, to appear in their 2017 Advent Calendar anthology. I'm quite happy with this little tale about an introverted scholar named Edgar Royal, who has a crush on famous online gaming celebrity, Walter Chase. Christmastime turns out to be the perfect opportunity for Edgar to show Walter just how deeply he feels, but he's always been better with the written word over speaking. Will Edgar have the courage and imagination to come up with the perfect gift to pop Walter the question, or will he lose out on the opportunity of a lifetime?

The Advent Calendar will be released on December 1, 2017. Old Fashioned Christmas will be available as part of the complete package, or as a short story on its own.

Audio, blurbs, and more!

And the projects just keep on rolling!

The audiobook for The Mystery of the Curiosities (Snow & Winter Book 2), narrated by Derrick McClain, has been proofed and is now pending with Audible. Once it has been approved, it will also be available for sale at Amazon and iTunes. The audiobook should release within three weeks!

Southernmost Murder, my next standalone mystery-romance with DSP Publications, has an official release date of January 9, 2018. Pre-orders and the cover reveal are expected to occur in early October. I'm so excited to share this book with all of you. It's a fun, quirky adventure, and I hope you'll enjoy it!

Next Monday, July 24th, I will be sending out an exciting newsletter! It will include the blurb for Southernmost Murder, and a handful of little snippets from Snow & Winter 2 that never made it into the final book. If either of those goodies intrigue you, be sure you're signed up, which you can do so here.

Short story poll!

In November I will have a free short story available, promoting my appearance as a guest author at Coastal Magic Convention in February! The theme is, my characters at the beach! Fun, right? But then I started wondering... which characters?

Instead of sweating over it, I decided to make a poll (go here!) for readers to share their two cents! The options are Gideon and Silas from Joy, Theo and Wes from Love, Marriage, and a Baby Carriage, or Max and Sebastian from the Snow & Winter series.

Who would you want to read about?

Goodbye, Zak

This morning I had to say goodbye to my sweet cat, Zak. He was rescued at nine months and was just shy of his eighth birthday. Zak had a lot of very serious medical issues during his time with me, but I was there with him through every surgery, shot, checkup, blood draw, and medication. It's still a bit of a shock, how sudden his health took a turn, and I wish this hadn't been the only way to end his pain, but sometimes animals just reach a limit.

I'll miss him a lot. We found one another when we both needed someone. He loved eating (and begging for more), sunbathing, his carrot and fishy toys, and had more nicknames than I knew what to do with. Mornings without Zak and his happy booty dance (don't ask) will never feel quite right, but he left me with a lot of beautiful memories.

I hope he knew how much I love him. And I hope he's living life to the fullest on the other side of the rainbow bridge.

Zak "Attack"
11/09 - 07/17

Translation: Snow & Winter en français

I was told last night by Dreamspinner that The Mystery of Nevermore and The Mystery of the Curiosities are both to be translated into French by Reines-Beaux! I am so, so excited to see how Sebastian's voice translates to another language, and that he will have a chance to find a home in the hearts of international readers.

I do not have an ETA yet, but once there is either a release date, or the book pops up for sale, I will definitely let you all know.

Sebastian's voice is loud and clear

In between finishing edits for Southernmost Murder and beginning edits for Color of You, I'm writing Snow & Winter 3. And I'm not sure if it was a change to my morning coffee or what, but Sebastian is being particularly smart in this book.

"What did that sign say?" Calvin asked.
"I'm legally blind and it wasn't available in the large print edition."

Of course I love it. Sass and dry wit are some of my favorite storytelling tools. But Sebastian's voice is one of the most difficult to maintain of any character I've created. I think it's because he always has all cylinders firing. Always thinking, always talking about... something. When his voice flows like it seems to be doing, and I don't have to slam my head into the desktop, I get very excited!

Snow & Winter 3.
More murder. More mystery. More Sebastian.