What a week it's been!

Tuesday was epic: We packed up & cleaned up our friend's house (always like to leave a place looking better than when we arrived, if possible! #keytosuccessfulmooching), drove down the  Maine coast a piece - heroically stopping at only one antique shop along the way - for lunch with Liz Hand at her enchanting little writing cottage , which we left all too soon in order to make dinner with my very dear old theatre (both disciples of Bernard Beckerman at Columbia U.) pal Nick & his wife Kate in Damariscotta.  So we got to L.L. Bean around 10 p.m., and of course it's open 24/7, so we rapidly acquired a nightgown, 2 jackets and some other stuff I don't even want to think about - oh, yeah, a foldable cooler - before dragging our sorry carcases on to Kittery to fall into bed at Sarah Smith's family cottage - she wasn't even there, but had kindly left the lights on!

The next morning we did a little Light Shopping at the discount joints, acquiring much fine kitchenware which should lead to good eatin' this winter, and then tore down the road in the pouring rain to Northampton, where we had 10 minutes to hug Gavin & Kelly (Grant & Link) & Ursula (Link Grant), give them their chocolate bread from When Pigs Fly, and make dinner at Great Wall with Andrea Hairston & Pan Morigan (first met at Wiscon, I believe?).  

Next morning I caught my breath while Delia walked into town to buy shoes; then we went to blackholly 's in Amherst for a meeting of the Mass All-Stars, as I named our writing group when we all lived in Massachussetts.  Had to Skype Sarah in from Boston, and Gavin was at work, but Kelly & Delia & Josh & Holly & I Sat on cassandraclare 's book, and she seemed to survive the experience.  

Next day we picked up Mim (she of the Writers' Stew) and drove back to NYC - no, wait:  Next day we went to the Small Beer Press offices so deliasherman could do an interview for podcast with their new associate, Julie (hey, Julie - what's your last name??), who was wonderful - she really brought out the best in Delia as they discussed the story behind her forthcoming novel, The Freedom Maze.   And then we got on the road.  Which is why we got in so late.  But we made it.

So next morning - which would be yesterday - I drove the rental car to Hofstra to do a live performance/recording of a couple of chapters of Swordspoint, for the forthcoming audiobook.

There's more - but for now, that, my friends, is enough. . . don't you think?

Vocal casting for Swordspoint audiobook?

Who would you cast - VOCALLY only, I don't care what they look like - for Richard St Vier, and for the young Alec?

Because my Swordspoint audiobook producer is going the "full-cast audio" route with about 4 scenes from the book: the big set pieces where there are so many characters all talking at once that it seems a shame to make me try to do them all.  And of course, getting the right R&A is key.

NYC is full of great young actors!  (We already have a couple of older ones cast that I'm not allowed to tell you about, but it will be So Good!)  Some pretty big names will come into a studio for a couple of hours to record a handful of [CORRECTED TO:] lines.  So don't be shy.  

Notes:  If you've never heard me read, you should know (and I hope this doesn't break anyone's heart) that the accents are NOT BRITISH!  Riversiders sound a bit like Damon Runyon (Guys & Dolls) minus the Brooklyn vowels.  Nobles are more like upper class Americans in 30s movies (kind of).  Richard, who's from the country and more middle class, is almost Standard American.  Of course, a good actor can do any accent, I know - but I don't want specifically Brits, despite the cloaks'n'swords.

I will be reading most of the text myself, including the narration when we bring in the actors for the chosen scenes.  And I record first!!! so they'll have to match me - a scary thought! But my control freak author self is most pleased, and I hope you will be, too.

Extra points for suggestions on Lord Ferris & Basil Halliday - I'm afraid the closest I've come so far is that Halliday is "a young(er: he's, what, about 40?) Sam Waterston"  and Ferris would be Francis Urquhart (as played by Ian Richardson in the BBC's fine House of Cards) when he grew up, if he hadn't been exposed.  (Without the British accent, natch.)

Which isn't exactly helpful for finding live young current actors.

So can you help us, here?