The Private Eye Speaks – M. Ruth Myers

The Private Eye Speaks

It’s a strange experience hearing a perfect stranger give a voice to the P.I. you’ve created. I’m smack in the middle of that experience as I listen to tracks of the audiobook of No Game for a Dame, which is now in production.

dame-mini

It’s the first book in my Maggie Sullivan mysteries series, so it seemed like a logical place to start. In addition to being of the series, however, it’s the first of any of my books to make the trip to an audible format.

For years – nay, decades – I’ve had the occasional reader or acquaintance ask me, “Who do you think should play _____?” (Fill in the blank with the heroine they reference.) They always seem startled at my answer: “I’ve never thought about it.” But I don’t.

I simply see the character I’ve created, who has become very real to me. If I can’t picture my main characters, even if those images are blurry at times, I can’t write about them. I don’t mean the stock height-hair color – eye color – facial features. I mean them. The individual I want to live and breathe on my pages.

Quite possibly I had a firmer fix on how Maggie would sound. After all, she not only has the majority of the dialog lines, she narrates these first-person yarns.

Mary Ann Jacobs, the narrator I selected after listening to 24 audition tapes, does a fine job of bringing Maggie to life. It may not be EXACTLY how I heard Maggie’s voice in terms of pitch and quality, but it’s close. Wry, confident, tough when it needs to be, smart-aleck when it sometimes shouldn’t be. Mary Ann “gets” the character.

The audiobook, which is being produced through ACX, will be available in a couple of weeks. I’ll have some coupons for copies to give away here when that happens, so stop back.

3 comments
JoAnn Hague says May 8, 2015

Congratulations! I listen to audio books when my hands and eyes must be busy. I’m eager for Maggie to gain a voice. After all, she has so much to say.

Debbie says May 8, 2015

I can’t wait!

    mruthmyers says May 9, 2015

    Thanks, Debbie!

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