Reading my novel "Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy" aloud, pt. 1 // cozy fantasy romance audiobook
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2024
- I want my stories to be accessible to everyone! Since I can't afford audiobook production at this time, the best I could do is to sit myself down and read it to you. This is one of my favorites of my own novels, set in my extensive Hidden Lands fantasy world. If you enjoy book readings, why not?
DOLL GIRL MEETS DEAD GUY:
It’s not easy being a doll girl in a flesh-and-blood world. Although her race was created from magic as second-class citizens, Sorla’s baked goods are now famous for miles around thanks to her hard work and unrelenting optimism. She’s even attracted the notice of Prince Seldon, who invites her to work at the royal bakery in the capital.
The one thing Sorla’s life is missing is love. Her youthful crush ditched her for a normal girl with generous curves (of course), and technically she is unsexed (parts sold separately). Flesh girls certainly don’t have to save money to buy themselves lady bits before they can even date.
Her ride-for-hire to the capital? Dorr, a soldier revived from a battlefield death, as is the way of his necromancing clan. He might rather have been left to die with his comrades. Instead, a few parts of their bodies were stitched on to fix his. Scarred and broken, Dorr wants to drop off his overly cheerful companion as quickly as possible-until he realizes that her pastries are the only thing that’s tasted good since his revival.
As they slowly open up over dog rescues (her idea), graveyard strolls (his idea), and of course, delicious pastry, love and trust grows between these two misfits. But the war isn’t over, and when the royal family expect Sorla’s pastries to save the life of the hero of the realm, she might lose Dorr and everything she’s worked for.
Cross a Ghibli movie with The Nightmare Before Christmas, add a little spice, and you might have the quirkiest of romcoms.
TW: This is a largely cozy & comforting story with found family, supportive family, and healing, but there are mentions of and flashbacks to war. Dorr is dealing with PTSD. There is also some reference to assault & some prejudice against intersex and asexual characters. If you are feeling very sensitive about any of these topics, this might not be the right story for you at this time.
Patreon: patreon.com/user/about?u=34222724
Substack: lidiyafoxglove.substack.com/
Instagram: / lidiyafoxglove
Read the books!
Amazon author page: www.amazon.com/stores/Lidiya-...
(also available on Apple, Google, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and other retailers and libraries)
The Hidden Lands books:
The Sorcerer's Concubine: books2read.com/u/4EKz8z
Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy: books2read.com/u/bPNRBr
The Broken Queen: www.amazon.com/Broken-Queen-C...
Contact: fabulousfrock@mac.com - บันเทิง
![Shader Basics, Blending & Textures • Shaders for Game Devs [Part 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kfM-yu0iQBk/mqdefault.jpg)
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 71 วันนี้!! คู่เอก "ทรงชัยน้อย vs รักษ์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_AGPnq2p6Js/mqdefault.jpg)
It’s like having a good friend read their favorite book to you.
Thank you for this. It’s very kind, very generous. And very charming!
Thank you so much!! I read them all to Dade just like this while he works on models, so it's very much like just hanging out here on a cozy afternoon.
LOVED it!!! I used to be a literary agent, and I would have represented you in a heartbeat. Your writing is waste-free, unfolds well, and has charm and dignity. I am all in for the rest.
❤️ What an absolutely lovely compliment! I especially like "dignity" as I don't think I've ever had someone say that before but it's such a good word to achieve. I'll try to get the rest up at a good pace, since...the good thing about a video like this is that although it takes time, I can just drop in and do it without any prior research or planning.
PLEASE CONTINUE THIS SERIES! I was immediately sucked into this story and will now definitely be buying the book insha’allaah. You taking time to read it was such a treat, I loved your cozy tone, and I felt your love for the story through your voice. Thank you so much for sharing this, in the short time you’ve been on TH-cam, you’ve definitely become my favorite Author on this app! 🥰
This makes me SO happy!! I do love this story so so much
Okay, here's a no-brainer: a spin-off book of your leading lady's recipes. ;)
Oh I wish! I can't bake worth a damn honestly... that's probably why I keep writing bakeries 😅 Wish fulfillment!
I was this close to saying "nooooo" out loud when you stopped reading :D it's so lovely, please do continue! I'm just drawing along to this and enjoying!!
Sarra Cannon did this with some of her books. They are mostly YA. I really liked it. I'm a fan of audiobooks and love a polished narration but it's also fun to hear the author read their own work.
Ah! Sarra Cannon! Okay! That's really cool, I'll have to check hers out.
This is delightful, not at all the genre I usually read but I'm so invested now.
Sarra Cannon read her novel 'The Witch's Key' on her 'Sarra Cannon' channel. (She also has another channel 'Heartbreathings' which is where she makes content for writers.) She writes YA witchy mystery books (Shadow Demons saga), not horror, and has also written a contemporary romance series. She is a self published author too. 😊
Im just loving the Fanarlem so much, they are so fascinating ❤
❤️ I love writing them so much.
I fell asleep listening to this and the dreams I had. Wow. I am definitely buying this!
I don't sit and read on camera (except for special situations) ... but I do produce all my own audiobooks (and shorts) and I post them exclusively here on TH-cam. In addition, I setup a secondary, audiobook-only channel ... neither really gained any steam, but I'm super proud of my collection of originals. Happy to share any thoughts, insights, and techniques!
How long is it taking you to edit them? Are you bringing them up to the standards of Audible, etc even if you just put them on TH-cam? When I looked into it my main thought was, I don't know how I can soundproof any place in this house!
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor My personal editing process is very in-depth, but I'm also a video editor by trade. Admittedly, it's a multi-step process that can be made shorter by getting cleaner, longer takes in the booth.
Time-wise, I finished recording my recent novella (32k words) on April 13, and a month later I'm probably about a week or two from finishing the edit. My workflow first clips everything down to final takes, and then assemble and time a chapter. I'm happy when I do a chapter a day, but for the sake of FINISHING THE DAMN THING I like to squeeze in a little more.
With respect to Audible standards, I think I'm probably OK. I've never really looked into their technical requirements, but I'm producing at a fairly high-quality, with a lot of care around pacing. I've found that when listening on YT, I need my volume mastered a lot closer to 0db than typical videos, so that's been the biggest divergence from my typical editing workflows. (That, and pacing. OMG pacing is so crazy, but critical for accessibility. We can always speed up playback, but slowing it down in the player always destroys quality!)
Since I do this professionally at my day job, I have dedicated walk-in closet soundbooth and high end gear. As I've branched out with audio on TH-cam, I've found a cheap ($100) dynamic usb mic and an audio filter ("Clarity Vx") gets me 95% of where I want to be, regardless of the room I'm recording in.
Regardless, audiobook production is a HUUUUGE project (and first-person is even worse!) so be ready for the grind. Be sure you love what you're doing -- or at least love learning and figuring it out!
I have a playlist of all my books on my channel page, but this one is about producing my first audiobook: th-cam.com/video/taux529F-jQ/w-d-xo.html
I didn't intend to listen to the whole thing, but I was engrossed by the characters and the worldbuilding. Very charming story, so I look forward to listening to more, thank you.
So happy to hear that! It's a good time to come in because I should be finishing next week.
The explanations at the end, I really liked. This story sounds captivating already and I'm excited to delve into this world you have created.
This is a cozy and warm video, its always good to wind down. Whoever you are. Very grateful thankyou 👍🏼
Aw, thank you!!!
Fun-keep on sharing with us.
This works, but if you want to create a soundproof area, you don't have to do the entire room. Just build a box large enough to hold a mic and line it with soundproof foam.
Just wanted to say, I'm reading your book The Broken Queen and absolutely loving it. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in so long. What wonderful characters. So real and so likeable. And the world is amazing. I've had a stressful week and your book has made it so much better. Thank you!!
This is so wonderful to hear! The world and characters are so real to me and it's the best feeling in the world when a reader feels that coming across. Thank you for this comment.
I am glad you made this recording. It is just the story I was interested in.
I can hardly believe, in this DIY age, that there were no people just reading their books this way!!! Amazing. But I think it is a lovely idea, as long as it doesn't kill your sales. I only recently discovered you, and only as a speaker, not an author, so this is a great chance for me to get a sense of your writing before committing. :)
There were plenty of people reading kids' books! But none for novels. I thought that was odd too, I actually really like attending author readings and I would love to park an author on my TV for a while... They know the book better than anyone. I'm not worried about it killing sales. I think they're different markets anyway.
I absolutely listened to this as I was drifting off to sleep! Very relaxing to listen to! (Though I woke up because I thought I heard someone moving boxes around in my bedroom! 😂 turns out it was your cats playing!) thanks so much for sharing! I get to sleep so much better listening to someone speaking, so the lack of music and general lack of other sounds was really nice. Hit restart every time I woke up! 😊
Aw that's so nice! I love falling asleep to audiobooks on TH-cam too, although it takes a while to get through them as sometimes they work a little too well! Sorry for the startling cats, LOL.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor Hahaha, it was pretty funny to find out what the box noises were! A lovely surprise to find out it was cats!
I absolutely loved listening to this. It's such a nice way to unwind after work! Might have to make this a habit... :)
Please continue. I listened while finishing a quilt and you’re very soothing to listen to.
Ooh if you feel like sharing I would love to see the quilt on Discord (or if you post pictures on social media somewhere). I love quilts.
I loved listening to you read your book! While audiobooks are nice, there is something kind of special about the author reading it - a glimpse into the truer essence of the story and characters if you will. You know exactly what you did and why, what emotions you were tapping into for a scene, etc that I think sometimes get lost/missed when someone else does the audiobook. And I wouldn’t worry about the audio. My brother does voiceover work and has a booth set up with all sorts of fancy gear, so I know how expensive it can get to do that sort of thing. This felt like sitting by a cozy fire listening to a friend tell a story. It was a lovely way to spend an hour.
❤️ I feel that way too, I actually enjoy author readings more than audiobooks sometimes, if the author is a decent reader, because I like hearing exactly how they imagined the characters to emote and so on. But I wasn't sure if I was unusual in that regard! I'm glad to know there is an audience for something a little more casual.
You've done a really good jobof narrating your story. I enojoyed listening.
I really loved this and enjoyed it more than I was expecting! Such a fun idea. I appreciate you doing this and look forward to listening to part 2!
Wonderful, I'm sooo glad!!
This was very nice to listen to as I shoot hoops at the gym in the morning! Love the story so far, and I look forward to hearing more :)
Hello please continue this series, its so cozy and the story is great☺️☺️
This has been so nice to listen to!! Thank you for sharing your work and I hope you continue this series!! :D
I love this!!
Omg yay! Please make sure to read the rest of the book in future installments!!
I definitely will! Thank you so much for the encouragement!
This was such a treat, I’m loving the story so far! Even though I’m missing the context of the books prior to this one, it was super accessible and easy to get into, plus it’s really quick to endear us the characters . It has such a cosy atmosphere, it truly does have a ghibliesque quality to it!
Please keep this up! Your reading is very nice to listen to, and I personally love the notes at the end about your thought process on writing the story. It’s like a book version of movie behind the scenes! I’ll be eagerly waiting for the next part, and on the meantime I’ll check the cursed trilogy to see what I missed🤓
I try to make each new series or standalone...well, stand alone. So you can jump in anywhere, or pick up in the world after years away from it. Although sometimes I realize that I get so used to some of the basic concepts that I forget to describe them...
Thank you SO much!! I love to hear I've achieved "Ghibliesque", especially the more cozy/comforting books like this one. (Grau and Velsa do get to a good place by the end of the series obviously, but it's a journey...!)
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor For what it's worth, I think it's working really well! There's a good balance in the way information is given to us. I didn't feel confused at any point, nor like I was being force-fed exposition, it was all very natural!
You're welcome! 😁✨ Aw hahaha, poor things, I hope they don't go through too much in the prior books, they seem like nice people! I'll be rooting for them💪🥲
"I hope they don't go through too much in the prior books"... 🫣
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor 🤣🤣🤣
I enjoyed this so much! Can’t wait for your next installment, I’m hooked already. I really liked the bits at the end and your cat outro too!
I like this idea!
❤❤❤
One of my favorite videos that you have made!
listening to you felt so warm and natural! It makes perfect sense, the author is going to use the perfect inflection and pacing! It was so lovely to put on as my partner and I worked on our art.
Your characters are so easy to love. She a perfect character to follow, alien enough to be intriguing and human enough to feel the pangs of her heart relatable. And he is such a tough wounded person that needs to be loved. Ahh my cold dead heart beats for them! Maybe I do like love stories after all!
I hope that this does well and you enjoy it because we can't wait for the next installment!
I will be so happy if I succeed in winning over your cold dead heart 🥰 I love these two so much. I'll definitely keep going with it, and soon. I knew this video wouldn't tear up the charts but sharing the characters with more people in such a personal way has been even more rewarding than I expected, and that means a lot more to me than any metrics.
I AM SO EXCITED TO LISTEN TO THIS. Thanks for making my work day better!
Hooray! I'm so glad!!
Loved it all, your commentary both ends as well as the reading of your story. I think that hearing the story from the Author is that much more special and I really appreciate you spending the time to do this, very enjoyable characters & book!🤩💜
That's wonderful to hear! I'm really glad there was an audience for it. I'll try to get the next installment up quite soon because I really do enjoy spending time with the characters again myself.
This is so amazing. I love that you’re doing this ❤
even though i ahve read this one already, its nice to have it playing in the background while i do other things! Thank you for putting your time into this
Yes, please!
Love it!!!
I'm new and truly happy to hear your works.
❤️ Wonderful, thank you so much!!
Thanks for giving this a try. It has a nice cozy atmosphere. I get my reading fix mostly through audiobooks these days, as I can listen to them while I work (much harder for me to find a quiet moment to read a physical book). I've listened to most of your books that are available on Audible at this point. The Sorcerer books were my favorites, so I've been very curious about Doll Girl Meets Dead Guy.
Hi!!! Always nice to see you on social media! I do envy visual artists for having so much time for audiobooks... I'm so glad you've been enjoying them.
I LOVE IT! please, continue this series 😊
I definitely will continue. Thank you so much!
This is lovely. I have to cut this short, but will return to hear the rest. Vivid characters. 👍
Oh thank you!! They certainly feel vivid to me, so it's my favorite thing to hear when someone else thinks so.
As someone who has a Kobo and not a Kindle, this is a wonderful way to experience your writing :)
Thank you so much for watching! All my books are on Kobo, though! The Broken Queen will be Amazon exclusive when it's released, but it will also be on Kobo eventually. Everything else is already there.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthorWide for the Win!
I am halfway through The sorcerer's equal, so this comes right on time. I will buy the Doll Girl E-Book, though. I don't want to bilk you for your income for the book, just because I enjoy listening to you ;)
Thank you SO much! Everyone who purchases the books or joins the Patreon are really who make all the content here possible.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor No thank you, I had a hard time to really get into the storyworld of books lately and the Velsa Trilogy finally pulled me in :D I want you to be able to keep writing for purely selfish reasons 😁
@@i.b.640 aaahhhh best compliment!!!
Thank you so much for doing this. I have not had a great couple of weeks at all. I found this really cozy. As someone who did a fair number audio projects solo for my masters degree, the editing and finding a quiet enough time in university halls were the most difficult parts of the process. Editing can take hours depending on the length of the project and a few other factors. Completely get where you are coming from. Thanks again.
You're so welcome! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Yes, even recording and editing this did take probably 4.5 hours...and that's with not trying to be too bothered by cat noises...so it's not a small job. I would say I have renewed respect for audiobook narrators, but my respect for them was already pretty high...but this is a way to get it out there. Honestly I think I would enjoy this sort of video myself, I like hearing authors read their own books best, assuming they're not terrible readers, and I like seeing faces too. So I had to guess...just because I couldn't find any other such videos...I can't be the only one who would actually like this.
100 percent. I wish more writers would do this. Even if they aren't able to do it as often as they'd like.
I enjoy hearing stories read aloud (it was the first way of telling stories, after all, and I think it was so for a reason), and hearing from the author’s own voice is a great way to get a taste for the style and emotion!
Yes! It would have been the TV of the 19th century too. Everyone gathered around listening to one family member or visitor reading a story...
I really like your channel, like your books, and like that you are putting this audio version out, it's awesome!
.... And. [TW : Gaza]
....
The descriptions .... of death and war.... are .... hitting in a very painful way rn.
But It's a very cute story so far. Please do continue.
🫂 I am sorry if that was upsetting. And thank you, this reminded me to add a warning about the war aspects and there is also some reference to a side character's past sexual assault. That's one reason I really prefer "comfort" to "cozy" but it's not nearly as searchable & I'm not sure if everyone really understands these definitions. (Or even if we've entirely decided what they are, collectively.) This is quite a gentle story overall with mostly kind people and everyone ending up in a better place, but it's not really...fluffy & I don't want to hit anyone with a shock!
@lidiyafoxgloveauthor I appreciate you so much for understanding and for your thoughtful response! These are just such hard times right now...😞 But I'm enjoying your videos a lot. 💜
Why don't you use ACX? You can pay the audiobook narrators with a royalty share. I am doing that with mine and it has worked really well.
No upfront cost with that.
Well to be honest this book is not selling at all so even if a good narrator wanted to take it on...ooh, they'd probably suffer for it.
There's also the purely selfish reason that I HATE listening to other people read my books so I really dislike the chore of checking the file. I've gotten used to the narrator who has done nearly all of my books, she is quite talented and charges accordingly, but the idea of having to get used to someone else is...ugggh... Especially a book like this that is my baby...I'm very possessive of these characters so even if they are technically better than me, I don't really want to hear anyone else do it!
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor I mean that is fair. Lol. I'm on the other end of loving hearing people read my stories.
I've heard of writers going 50/50 with audio recorders, so it's just a profit on audio book split.
Could be an option.
This can work if your book is doing pretty well but you nevertheless don't have much upfront cash. On older or poorer selling books, though...your chances of getting a good narrator are (understandably) low... That market might get swallowed up by AI and text-to-speech options before long, I suspect...
That one author girl reads her novels on utube... I don't remember her name, but it's about the same thing as your doing.
Hmm, well if you happen across her videos, let me know who it is! I tried searching but admittedly TH-cam's search engine isn't always that precise.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor I'm sure her name will pop up in my head. I can see her and her reading, it's nothing special. But I will let you know something.
@@lidiyafoxgloveauthor Her name is Sarra Cannon, she is a horror writer, I believe I have read a few of her books. Yes her name popped in my head as I stepped away from the computer. She reads Breadcrumbs live short story reading\\ Spooktacular day 2 and I seen that she also had some audio read books posted, not sure what that's about. Might give you a better ideal of audio books.
Jill Bearup also read the first part of her book on a TH-cam Live while we were all counting down to her release day at midnight her time, as an idea for future book releases 😊