Narrator “Drake Stone” is here today. Please help us welcome him.

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Drake Stone.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

I have a background in theatre, clubs and have performed stand-up as well for 3 dollar bill comedy troupe. My big claim to fame is I was in the long-running production of Tony N Tina’s Wedding playing Timmy Sullivan the partner of Tina’s brother Joey who can only come to the wedding if he poses as the videographer – was great fun.

And how did you become a narrator for Gay Romance books?

Well, I didn’t plan on becoming a gay erotic narrator – I am an audio book narrator who happens to be gay, and I saw a couple of titles available to audition for (Cleis Press titles) and I went for it and was cast! I was then asked by the same rites holder to narrate a couple more titles and the rest, as they say is history.

What about this genre interested you the most?

The gay erotica genre is a field that has a very diverse audience, and a wildly versatile array of outstanding writers with incredibly varied viewpoints – truly a flavor for every taste. It is a privilege to serve the community and tell these stories, (our stories), by portraying a myriad of characters with the utmost integrity, transparency, and authenticity I can conjure while staying true to the author’s intent.

Do you do any other type of voice work?

I do and have under my alias Scott O’Neill. www.scottovoiceo.com

I currently have a telephone software app called Voice Answer on YouTube where I ask it questions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOL4-tVN0NQ&feature=youtu.be

and I can be heard as the voice of Father Renaldo in part 2 of Lilly Sees Lilly Knows at: http://www.solomation.com/

How many books have you narrated so far?

5 and am recording a 6th, so I am fairly new to it and have so much more to experience and learn.

Is this something you do full time?

Not yet but that is the goal, yes.

Looking back was there something in particular that helped you to decide to become a narrator? Did you choose it or did the profession choose you?

I had a visualization, believe it or not at a spiritual retreat last winter where we were asked to visualize our bliss and name the feeling it gave. I saw myself in a recording studio, conveying the written word the storyteller had created into a mic. It spoke to me. I spoke it. It felt – feels spiritually collaborative, like I belong… Now this – is bliss!

Of course, once I knew audio book narration was my goal, I wanted it right now!! Like everything worth substantiating in life though, it has been quite a journey, and I have learned much and experienced an amazing amount of support and encouragement both spiritually and technically. I am thankful and grateful to the very good friends I have made that I can now honestly say are true colleagues.

On a typical day, how do you spend your time?

I work a FT job so after that I go home, greet my cats, usually spend 4-5 hrs after that either recording (which includes auditioning), prepping or researching materials, or listening to other audio books or social networking.

What is the hardest part about being a narrator?

The stamina required – it really is like an isolated marathon in many aspects – getting rid of and sitting thru mouth noise as it passes can be quite annoying… Basically the technical aspects of the engineering involved – editing can be quite fun though to help set the rhythm – the “tone” of the piece. In many regards youre almost like a film director in that aspect but of course audibly, your helping create/convey the “images” the reader/listener experiences.

How long does it take you to read through an entire manuscript? Do you ever have to re-do any parts to please the publisher?

Nearly all my titles have been anthologies so each story in the collection is it’s own autonomous entity and takes 20 min to 30. I have done two other pieces where it took me the better part of a full day to read in its entirety. And yes, I have had to reinterpret a phrase, one in particular comes to mind. An introduction contained the parenthetical phrase: “…pulled the (butt) plug…” I was certain it was meant as a pun and I de-emphasized ‘butt’ but my publishers found it jarring so I was requested to record it with the same inflection so the sentence flowed smoothly. We had a funny little discussion around it though as you can well imagine.

Reading Gay Erotic(a) out loud do you ever find yourself blushing at a passage or two?

Well, I truly was unfamiliar or hadn’t really given much thought to mummification before…that threw me for a brief minute or so, but sure, some of the proclivities aren’t for everyone, but that’s all part of being a professional – to stay true to the author’s intent and the character’s integrity and not be in the least bit judgmental. And some of the writing has been right on with what gets me going. *blush ; )

What do you do for fun?

Love to dance, bike ride, hike, long walks get out of the booth and out into nature! Also love theatre, movies, dining out and playing with my Persian kitties.

Tell us about the last time you told someone what you do as far as narration of the titles you do. What did they say?

Well they are always curious. The last time was at a recent retreat actually and they asked me how I came to narrate this particular genre – which goes back to your second question – it’s usually the same question/reaction.

How much of yourself and the people you know manifest into the characters? How do you approach each character differently when reading their story? Do you change the pitch of your voice for each character’s dialogue?

Wow, great questions. I look at the conflict inherent in each story, that’s second nature to me from dissecting scripts as a theatre actor. This gives me insight as to each individual character’s perspective beyond the basic descriptions and indicators. I then make choices based on their motivations. At times this can involve changing my posture, or creating a gesture indicative of the character. Sometimes a character has a similar make-up and point of view as me and I don’t alter my pitch or tone much, but it also depends a great deal on location and age. If a character is younger and has a much higher metabolism than I currently do… then, of course I alter my pitch and pace, and naturally if a character is vastly different in age, location, gender, temperament etc. Some involve a great deal of research – I did a story where there was quite a bit of dialog involving Hawaiin-Pigin which I was totally unfamiliar with. I enlisted the aid of a library in Hawaii and my publishers who actually had a Hawaiian born resident working in the office who was familiar.

Do you read? What is your preferred Genre?

Oh yes, I love fiction, Pat Conroy, John Irving, David Sedaris are my favs. And I love biographies as well – Rick Bragg’s writings are amazing. Would love to narrate a good juicy show biz, or celebrated figure bio.

When someone listens to one of the books for the first time, what do you hope they gain, feel or experience?

I want them to feel horny! *grins* Of course, I also hope they appreciate all the character nuance and conflict inherent to the storyline of each author’s intent.

Can you share with us how someone would become a narrator such as yourself?

Practice – volunteer on Librivox – which is a website devoted to public domain works:

http://librivox.org/volunteer-for-librivox/
and where aspiring narrators can produce and record and collaborate on. Volunteer at a local talking book and braille library – I still am currently and I love it! Build your toolbox by doing theatre, go to credible voice acting teachers who offer audio book narration seminars: Pat Fraley and Scott Brick come to mind, who can direct you and help aid in creating an audio book demo. Go to ACX – Audio Creation Exchange http://www.acx.com/
an online marketplace where professionals create and sell audio books.

How would you describe your sense of humor? Who and what makes you laugh?

David Sedaris is my absolute idol – love his dry, sarcastic take on the mundane which I can so relate too. I am drawn to sophisticated camp – adore Bette Midler – the self proclaimed peoples’s Diva – she has literally laid me in the aisle from laughing – I’ve seen her in concert 17 times and met David at least 3 or 4, I have a friend who got stoned with him in Chicago once I keep reminding him…

What is the most frequently asked Drake question?

How did you get started narrating gay erotica/romance.

What are you working on now?

It’s a young adult novel Will Grayson/Will Grayson under my alias Scott O’Neill, I love it, and love the genre, feels good to branch out a bit. Young adult novels are so candid and relevant now then when I was a kid – what did we have then… The Outsiders…? So much more pertinent.

What was the best piece of advice you’ve received with respect to the art of being a narrator? How did you implement it into your work?

Focus on the storytelling – not the vocal acrobatics – let the listener do the work and stop showing off and get comfortable with your style. I’ve learned to hold back, underplay – just tell the story.

When it comes to promotion, what lengths have you gone to in order to increase reader-awareness of your work?

This for one, I hope this helps, there don’t seem to be a great deal – if any – of audio book reviewer/bloggers in the erotic field let alone gay erotica and I think it’s a must- so I thank you profusely for making the time and interest! My publisher tells me they sent out a press release and The Advocate is interested in reviewing LGBT audio books soon, which I am very excited about. I’ve also created a face book page and done social networking and other interviews. I would really like to see more listeners willing to review my titles on amazon and audible.com as well and encourage it:

http://www.amazon.com/s?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=books&field-author=Drake%20Stone

http://mobile.audible.com/search.htm?type=search&narrator=Drake+Stone&cache=1

Any special projects coming out soon we should watch for?

Muscle Men: Rock Hard Gay Erotica should become available shortly, not clear on the exact date.

What future projects do you have in the works?

Will Grayson/Will Grayson for now – I have some auditions out there so we’ll see…

Can you please tell us where we can find you on the Internet?

http://www.amazon.com/s?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=books&field-author=Drake%20Stone

http://mobile.audible.com/search.htm?type=search&narrator=Drake+Stone&cache=1

FB me as well

Could you please share your favorite excerpt(s) from one of more of your stories with us?

I wish I could but it would be in conflict with the rites holder – I will say I did an absolutely choice bitch fest scene between 2 bitchy racist, homophobic southern women that is from Jamie Freeman’s short story: The Ambivalent Gardener and the State of Grace in the aforementioned Muscle Men anthology so be looking for that!