I’ve been working in the voice over field for about 15 years now, and today marks a very special moment: I’m the voice of Michael DiMercurio on Attack of the Seawolf.
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This is a big deal to me, because I’m a fanboy. I read all of Michael’s books as they hit the local Barnes & Noble. I knew he was my kind of lunatic when he tortured and killed the CT riders (*Cryptologic Technician) in his book Attack of the Seawolf.
While some might quail at being killed in a book, I knew from the dust jacket that he’d been an officer on the U.S.S. Hammerhead – one of the boats I rode. There was an officer on the boat who hated me, but I only ever saw him in the dark. Before you all get the wrong idea, we shared a berthing area on the submarine. I was in the 9-man compartment, and he had the rack below me. I snored. I had sleep apnea. He didn’t get much sleep. I only saw his shadow as he slammed the lid on his rack, cursed and stomped away in the middle of the night. I figured it was him, getting his revenge on me by killing my type.
Fast forward 20 years, and I meet Michael in a Facebook group for Cold War Submariners. (I have since been kicked out. When I joined, they were letting non-qualified spooks join for a time, but since changed the policy. If you were not qualified in submarines, you had to leave. This was due to a large number of idiots spouting bilge with no time under/on the waves in a submarine. Me? I have over 6 months under the surface.)
I sent him a message, we became friends, and I found out he was on the Hammerhead at a different time than I was. Nonetheless, we were peas-in-a-pod in some ways, and he very graciously listened to me whine about my book, Assault on Saint Agnes, while I was writing it. His help was invaluable.
A year goes by, and now he’s toying with putting his back list on Kindle. Once that was under way, I nagged him about doing an audio book version. He’s got a good voice, and would do a great job. But he’s got a real job in the real world, and didn’t have time to learn the trade and do the book. A month or two go by and he asks if I’d be interested in doing the book. I couldn’t say yes fast enough.
Over the next month I worked from 0300 to 0700 quite a few mornings on recording the book. My wife, bless her soul, let me record on weekends as well. I grew in my trade on this book, and it shows in the final product. The first two audio books I did for profit were good, but this one was the first with my new computer set up and all that experience. I had to run cables, punch holes in the house, and do some serious work to make it happen. But I also got a rhythm doing the reading. And, knowing the author, and knowing the subject matter intimately, didn’t hurt at all.
Consequently, I’m very proud of the book. I jumped a little when I got the notice that it was available on line Wednesday.
If you, or someone you know, likes techno-thrillers, this is a great book. It runs just a minute shy of 11 hours. Best of all, the next book in the series is under production right now. Yes, back to the 0300 wakey-wakey. Stormy isn’t fond of that scenario. But she’ll live: this is what buys her all those snacks she likes.
Done bragging for now. Hope you like listening as much as I did recording.
Michael: thank you for having faith in me.
Attack of the Seawolf.
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Assault on Saint Agnes is available here. Just click this link!
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