I didn't realize my last update was the end of June because my head has been spinning!  

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Good things, all good things. . . except for the passing of my 18 year old cat at the end of July, of whom I miss dearly, particularly when I'm taking a break from recording.  I miss the mews pulling me out of the booth.  

In time, we'll take in a new pet, but I need to make it through mid-October first!

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Audiobooks:

Returning publisher!  I can't tell you how excited I was to get an audition from Outloud Audio (first time working with them) on behalf of Brilliance Publishing, of whom I worked with years ago, before I understood anything about the industry.  They auditioned me for Olivia Miles' new book, A Wedding in Driftwood Cove.  It'll be my 4th book with her, having recorded her Blue Harbor series last year.  She writes sweet, relaxing women's fiction with a touch of romance and a load of humor.  It was so much fun to perform!

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New publisher!  I was thrilled to hear from Fireside Audio for the first time.   Kennedy L. Mitchell chose me from an audition for her book; Cherished by the Agent!  It is a suspenseful romance with a HEA and plenty of heat, so I gave it to my pseudonym, Daryl Hix.  I didn't use a pseudonym when I first started narrating, but have since decided it will be a guide for the books that get steamy or violent, which I am okay with depending on the content, though listeners might want a heads up.

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Next up!  Kristy McGinnis is a brilliant indie writer of whom I had the pleasure of working with on her debut book:  Ellipsis.  I connect so much with her writing and was elated when she contacted me.  Motion of Intervals has the kind of complicated characters I can't wait to sink my teeth into for the next two weeks!

 

Jan-April felt so slow in all my acting endeavors and I got a bit depressed, so I enrolled in the 21 Day Challenges class with Matthew Lloyd Davies through narrator.life.  Next, I took some advice from Karen Commins in her

Narrators Roadmap, as she encourages narrators to carve their own paths (I guess I had already been doing that as a Chicago actor, but the pandemic threw me, as it did so many).  Anyway, I am so proud and anxious about this upcoming book releasing October 10th with Spoken Realms:  Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield.  

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I was thrilled to find this gem in the

public domain with no audio yet!  

It won the Pulitzer prize for

fiction in 1927.  I hope I gave it the justice it

deserves; it was challenging and

OH SO MUCH FUN!!!

Erin Dunn designed this gorgeous cover!  

I am grateful to Spoken Realms

and to Karen Commins for all her advice

on producing works in the public domain.

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Theatre:

I am an understudy again for The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at The Gift Theatre!

This fall, I really wanted a role. . . but more than that, I wanted to reconnect with the

theatre scene in Chicago, which is struggling.  So, I accepted an understudy role

(my last role pre-pandemic was an understudy, as well as my first role back in 2021, but I'm not in a theatre company and luckily can satisfy my acting itch with audiobooks).  THIS SHOW FANTASTIC!!  If you're in Chicago anytime until Oct. 15th, I can't recommend it enough.  I'm very happy I agreed to understudy, as crazy as it's been to memorize lines on top of other commitments right now.

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Commercial (no TV/FILM heading BECAUSE STRIKE!! GO SAG-AFTRA & WGA!!):   

Lastly, I'm grateful to my agents at Lily's Talent who continue to send me on commercial auditions.  The AMPTP has put the lives of actors and writers in the lurch for not coming to an agreement about streaming & the future of AI.  I hope for everyone's sake the studios stop their greed and we all have a reasonable resolution soon.

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On that note, hope this finds you slurping a sip of peace in your favorite beverage!

~AmyJ