BLAST, BLITZ, PROMOS, REVEALS, & TOURS . . . : TOUR Audio - PARANORMAL FANTASY - Trifles and Folly (Deadly Curiosities Collection, #1) by Gail Z. Martin Narrator: Amanda Ronconi

Trifles and Folly

Deadly Curiosities Collection, #1

by Gail Z. Martin
Narrator: Amanda Ronconi
Length: 19 hours 58 minutes

Released: December 4th 2018
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

Top 10 Reasons to Read These Books

Charleston, SC is one of the most haunted cities in the US, so there are ghosts everywhere!

Ghosts need somewhere to go, so there are lots of haunted houses, churches, restaurants and bars!

Pirates! Charleston was a hive of scum and villainy back in the day, so plenty of scandalous tales to tell.

Lots of magic. Witches, cursed objects, and dangerous spells.

Spooky supernatural stuff. Main character Cassidy Kincaide can read the history of objects by touching them. Her job is to get haunted and cursed objects out of the wrong hands and save the world from supernatural threats.

Monsters and things that go bump in the night. Charleston is chock full of vampires, shifters, zombies, gnomes and restless spirits.

Voodoo, Hoodoo and old Norse magic are real, and they’re used for good and bad, so watch your step!

Charleston itself becomes almost a character in the books, because the stories couldn’t happen the same way anywhere else.

There’s plenty of action, adventure, and spooky suspense, plus a cast of supporting characters who quickly feel like old friends.

Who doesn’t love a good ghost or monster story? Trifles and Folly 1&2 have it all!

The Book Junkie Reads . . . Review of . . . TRIFLES AND FOLLY (Deadly Curiosities Collection, #1) . . . There was something here for all walks of life in the fantasy paranormal realm. I enjoyed getting a peek in to the mind of a talented author and the narrator brought to life the words written. One could visualize the world created for each of the stories. One could see in and almost feel like they were present in a fantasy that came so close to being a obsessed curiosity. Each one presented you with a different take on the deadly items that each of Teag, Cassidy, and Sorren come across in their line of work. I enjoyed them to the point a few of them I felt were just way too short and wanted more of them.

As the author Gail did a fabulous job of creating world that was steeped with curses, lore, lure, deadly consequences, and magic. Amanda brought the words of Gail to life and gave them a quality of vivid imagery.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Gail Z. Martin. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

A collection of nine adventures: "Buttons", "The Restless Dead", "Retribution", "Coffin Box", "Wicked Dreams", "Collector", "Bad Memories", "Shadow Garden", and "Spook House."

Cassidy Kincaide runs Trifles & Folly in modern-day Charleston, an antiques and curios shop with a dangerous secret. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them and along with her business partners Teag, who has Weaver magic, and Sorren, a 600-year-old vampire, they get rid of cursed objects and keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats.

An extension of the Deadly Curiosities book series.

Gail Z. Martin writes urban fantasy, epic fantasy and steampunk for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, Falstaff Books, SOL Publishing and Darkwind Press. Urban fantasy series include Deadly Curiosities and the Night Vigil (Sons of Darkness). Epic fantasy series include Darkhurst, the Chronicles Of The Necromancer, the Fallen Kings Cycle, the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, and the Assassins of Landria. Together with Larry N. Martin, she is the co-author of Iron & Blood, Storm & Fury (both Steampunk/alternate history), and the Spells Salt and Steel comedic horror series. Newest titles include Tangled Web, Vengeance, The Dark Road, and Assassin’s Honor. As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance, with her Witchbane and Badlands series.

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Amanda is an actress and narrator who divides her time between New York City and Upstate New York. She has a BFA from NYU where she studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory. She has performed in theaters around New York City and regionally at The Alley, Capital Rep and many productions at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Her Off-Broadway solo comedy, Shirley at the Tropicana, received critical acclaim and was subsequently featured in The New York Times. Film and TV credits include Daydream Believer (Slamdance 2001’s Best Dramatic Feature winner), The Understudy, Deadly Sins (ID Discovery), IFC’s Get Hit and Chasing Paradise. National network and regional commercials include Chase Bank, Sony and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Her voiceover work encompasses over 100 audiobooks available on Audible.com. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity.

Q&A with Narrator Amanda Ronconi

A lot of narrators seem to have a background in theater. Is that something you think is essential to a successful narration career?
- Yep. You pretty much need to be an actor or have an acting background to narrate audiobooks. It is an acting job. You need acting skills to do it. You need the vocal ability to not lose your voice and to have your voice stay elastic and under your control through a whole six-hour recording session. And then be able to come back and do it again the next day and the next until the book is done. Like theater, audiobooks are a concentration and acting marathon.
What type of training have you undergone?
- I have a BFA in acting. After college, I studied acting in New York and Los Angeles. I’ve studied acting Chekov, acting for film, acting Shakespeare. I worked my way up to being a company member of a prestigious Shakespeare Festival, more like on-the-job training. I have taken tons of improv classes. Improv keeps me alive and in the moment (even when I don’t get to make up the dialogue, but have to use the author’s words) and helps me feel free to take risks with character voices. I’ve worked with dialect coaches to keep the many accents demanded in books as real as possible. I am studying the Alexander technique to help keep my body engaged even when I have to sit pretty still so the mic doesn’t pick up my clothing rustles. I’ve studied with a mime and a clown. Do those skills translate to audiobook narration? Not sure, but it probably shows up somewhere.
Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
- I love audiobooks. I listen to them all the time. I read so much for my work that it is such a treat to have someone read to me. It’s like when I used to wait tables, my favorite thing after a shift was to go to another restaurant and have someone wait on me. I love how portable and eyes- and hands-free audiobooks are. They make driving, cleaning – and any chore I would normally avoid -- so much more bearable. I look forward to going to the gym, because I get to listen to an audiobook on the way there and back.
How does audiobook narration differ from other types of voiceover work you’ve done?
- I’ll take this question and go one step further and say how it’s different from ANY other acting work I’ve done, not just voiceover. It’s the only time I get to play so many emotional arcs, to portray the villain and the hero and everyone in between. That can be such a satisfying enterprise. I don’t think any other acting work offers the opportunity to have such a complete experience, following many characters through their journeys as far as the story touches them.
What are your favorite and least favorite parts of being an audiobook narrator?
- My favorite part is getting to be the voice of an author and hopefully taking the reader on a fabulous listening adventure that helps them escape a hum drum or a really difficult day, to make the listener feel inspired or lighten their mood or just keep them entertained. Books are such powerful things and it is really exhilarating to be able to wield that power if only for a few hours.
- My least favorite part: As with most actors I do not get to choose the projects I work on. I can, of course, turn something down if for some reason it is really not my cup of tea, but the job (in the form of the author or publisher or producer) chooses me. So sometimes I spend a lot of time with a book that I would never choose to read for pleasure. That said, while occasionally that makes the process feel really laborious, other times I learn things I never would have if I were in charge choosing the projects I work on. This career often forces me out of my comfortable reading cocoon. And that is a good thing.