One of my favorite things about writing and publishing books is that it creates moments of pure joy. Like this one.
I am truly overjoyed to be finally sharing with you the cover for my debut middle grade novel, Felix & Squeak and the Ghost Who Forgot Everything. Isn’t it gorgeous? I’ll be sharing the cover on social media tomorrow, but you, my loyal friends, get the first look.
This book, and these characters, are so near and dear to me, and, if pressed, I might be forced to admit this is my favorite thing I’ve ever written.
What makes this cover reveal extra special is that it allows me to spotlight my amazing collaborator on this project, my older brother Jacob Roesch. Jacob not only created this beautiful cover, he also drew all the interior illustrations, which I’ll share samples of soon.
Working on this project with him is a lifelong dream fulfilled, and I can’t wait for the world to experience his amazing art.
So much more to come, including pre-order details. But in the meantime, here’s what the book is about:
When eleven-year-old Felix’s family inherits an old mansion and moves without warning, it doesn’t take long to figure out there’s a ghost living in the basement. But Papa Joe is no typical ghost. He’s—well—nice. He’s also been stuck in the basement since the 1800s, housebound by the rules of the Ghost Protocol Book. He’s desperate to escape and it looks like the new kid in town is his only hope.
But Felix doesn’t stand a chance of helping Papa Joe without the help of his new friend Squeak, and an Irish Wolfhound named Honest Abe. Together, this accidental ghost squad will brave dark woods, dusty basements, and snooping parents to get to the bottom of this ghostly mystery.
Hi! If you’re reading this, your first thought might be…he’s alive? Yes! And I’m sorry for the recent radio silence. But I do have a good excuse, which is that I’ve been working really hard on my next book, and I’m finally ready to share some big writing news that I’ve been sitting on for a while.
My debut middle grade novel is coming your way! It’s called Felix and Squeak and the Ghost Who Forgot Everything, and it’s a sweet, quirky, more-funny-than-scary supernatural caper about friendship, found family, and learning how to be brave. These characters mean so much to me and I can’t wait for you to meet them. This book is geared toward readers 8-12, but I packed it with the kind of humor and strangeness that I hope will charm adult readers.
This book is also a dream-come-true collaboration with my older brother, Jacob, a brilliant artist who did the cover and interior illustrations (they’re SOOO good!).
So much more to come. Cover reveal. Release Date. Pre-order. All the things.
Stay tuned. But for now, I’m so excited to be revealing this news and can’t wait to share all things Felix and Squeak with you soon.
Friends, readers, country-persons, lend me your (virtual) ears…and eyes! This coming Wednesday, Sept. 14th @ 7PM EST, I have a virtual book event hosted by Cambridge Common Writers, and you should check it out. I’ll be reading from my debut novel, Blowin’ My Mind Like a Summer Breeze, and talking to some writing friends about the stories behind the story.
Go to bit.ly/BlowinMyMind to register. Registration is FREE and easy, and since the event is virtual, you can watch in your sweatpants!
First off, have you gotten your copy of Blowin’ My Mind Like a Summer Breeze yet? Click HERE to order the paperback, e-book, or audiobook! Also remember to add it on Goodreads HERE.
Now…on with the program!
Collaborating with voice actor Nicola Fordwood to bring the audiobook for Blowin’ My Mind Like a Summer Breeze to life was one of the most joyful and surprising parts of the publishing process. I sat down with Nicola to talk about her journey into voice acting, what it’s really like to record an audiobook, and whether she would consider taking the plunge again.
How did you become a voice actor?
It was actually a friend who introduced me to the VO world. I was working a corporate job and kind of losing my mind because I wasn’t being creative. My friend thought doing voice acting would allow me to act again and release some of that creativity. I took one character class and I was hooked!
This was your first audiobook. What made you decide to take the plunge?
First, audiobooks have always scared me a bit because they are a big commitment. You also need to have great stamina to keep your energy up throughout the book. But when you step outside of your comfort zone and try the things that scare you or intimidate you, that is when the magic happens. Second, I got a small sample of the book to audition and when I read it, I could just feel it. I could feel Rainey. I know it sounds insanely cheesy. But I wanted to tell her story. I wanted to know more about her journey. I also LOVE the 90’s, thoroughly enjoy young adult/coming of age books and feel very strongly about the power of a mixtape.
How do you stay focused while recording for long periods?
I am an introvert. I love silencing the outside world and just concentrating on one thing. I think both of these things really help me with being in a small dark booth for hours by myself everyday. Once I am focused on something that I really enjoy, I get hyper-focused. I would do most of my recording in the morning to early afternoon and then I couldn’t stop thinking about anything but the book and the characters. I would fall asleep just wanting to wake up and continue working on it. It was kind of exhilarating.
How did you approach creating the voices for the characters in Blowin’ My Mind Like a Summer Breeze?
Acting, even voice acting, is a very physical thing. So for me it was first talking with you (Benjamin) about the characters and then actually standing and playing with the voices. I stood how I thought the characters would stand. Do they lean back on one hip when they talk? Do they hunch over? Do they fidget with their hands? I would then write down any of those notes of how I was standing or the placement of my mouth or hands to help me get back into that character.
What surprised you the most about this process, both good and bad?
How emotional it was. How attached I got to Rainey and also how much I enjoyed it. I recorded this book every day over the course of 2.5 weeks and on the final day when I finished the last chapter, I cried. Not a sad cry, but almost that overwhelming, surprised cry when you finally complete something that has been your focus for so long.
How was voicing an audiobook different from other kinds of voice work?
Voicing an audiobook was like performing a play just instead of one role. I got to play all the parts/characters, including the director. It was the closest I have been to being in a play in a long time and it reminded me of why I love acting/performing. I love bringing a character’s soul to life and sharing that with an audience and hopefully making them feel something.
How did it affect your process to have access to me (Benjamin) to talk through things?
It was amazing! I have never had that opportunity before where I can ask the author about each of the characters: what are their dreams, what are their biggest fears, etc. For most character work I have to make a lot of it up if it isn’t obvious in the script, but instead I got to go to the source. It was so nice.
How did you consider the audience/listener while you were recording?
Audiobooks are so intimate. Most of the time you are literally sitting directly in someone’s ear telling the story. So as a narrator, you have to keep that in mind. That being said, I found this book to be very intimate. It is told in the first person through Rainey, so the listener is hearing her innermost personal thoughts. The listener is basically her daily diary entry. There is an emotional rawness to that and especially to Rainey herself that I really wanted the listener to hear and I hope comes through with my delivery.
Rumor has it that a sequel to Blowin’ My Mind Like a Summer Breeze may be in the works. Would you consider voicing Rainey again?
My heart just jumped a bit when I thought about getting to see Rainey again and continuing on her journey with her. This book is one of those books that has just stuck with me. I still think about it a lot. About a lot of the characters, but especially Rainey. Yes, absolutely. I really would be honored to.
Click HERE to learn more about Nicola’s voice acting and hear samples of her work.
Click HERE to listen to Track 1 of Blowin’ My Mind Like a Summer Breeze for FREE!
I love audiobooks. The immersive experience they provide, especially when in the company of a good narrator, creates a literary journey that’s second to none. I struggled for years to get through Moby Dick, that is, until I started listening to the audiobook narrated by the peerless Frank Muller, whose raspy voice sends the sea spray right into your eyes and makes the quarter deck slick with whale blubber. That’s what a good audiobook can do.
So, from the moment my debut novel was accepted for publication, even though my publisher doesn’t yet do much audio, I knew that an audiobook version of Blowin’ My Mind Like a Summer Breeze was a must, even if much of the legwork fell on me.
The process wasn’t easy, but once I found my dream narrator in the amazing Nicola Fordwood, whose work ethic and friendship inspired and humbled me, I knew that we had a chance to create something special. A uniquely immersive way to experience the world of Rainey Cobb and her journey through being fifteen. Listening to the final audio files…well, let’s just say tears were shed. That’s how good Nicola is at making the words sing, at making you feel these characters all the way down to your tippy toes. It was almost like experiencing my book for the first time, or as if it had been written by someone else.
All this as a very long way of saying I’m beyond thrilled that the audiobook is now available and ready for your ears.
I’m so excited, in fact, that I want you to hear the first chapter right now. Click HERE to listen to Track 1 for FREE! Try not to get hooked.
Then, once you are hooked, click HERE to listen on Audible or purchase your copy today!
As always, thank you for being here and supporting me and my work.
First off, have you pre-ordered Blowin’ My Mind Like a Summer Breeze yet? Click HERE to pre-order your copy now–thank you! Also remember to add it on Goodreads HERE!
Now, to business.
After years (and years) of trying, my debut novel finally comes out next month, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of time, and how time gets soft and stretchy around moments of great expectation. Why is that? I hate to fly and in the days, hours, and minutes before I board an airplane, time seems to puff up, to press in on me. Minutes fall into quicksand and drag interminably. Similarly, as I await my book coming out, time has gotten labored and unreliable. I’m simultaneously wishing I could wind the clock forward to July 22nd and my moment of jubilation, but also trying with every shred of my being to savor the experience, to soak it up. To look around. Remember how I feel. But time has me in a strange grip as of late, and it won’t seem to let go.
Be in the moment, I tell myself. Be here now, I say. You’ll only publish your first book once, don’t try to race through it. But how exactly do you do that?
I have two sons, and when you’re a parent, you come to realize that parenting is a journey that makes one hyper aware of time. I remember when my first son, Felix, was perched in my lap, only a few days old, barely able to hold up his own head or make conscious facial expressions, totally unable to control his own bladder, and even then I was already thinking: won’t it be wonderful when he can walk? I was thinking: I can’t wait until he’s older and I can teach him to play tennis and take him to hear live music and share with him all of life’s wisdom. And then he’d smile quite by accident, the way babies do, and I’d be hurled back into the moment, feel his warm soft skin against mine and I’d kick myself for drifting, for not being as present as I would like to be. For not being right here, right now.
Does this happen to you? (Please say yes)
The strange thing is that it feels almost impossible to stop this from happening. Even if you gain momentary control over your sense of space and time, if you find yourself in a moment that you’re so deeply in that time ceases to exist, it’s fleeting. At least for me. Before long, I’m thrust back into the weigh station of anticipation. Thrown into a box with high walls and just enough air. Forced back into asking that perpetual question I will forever associate with The West Wing: What’s Next?
But still I try.
My book is currently in the hands of early readers and reviewers, some of whom I know but most of whom I do not. As a professional writer (my day job is as a copywriter), and soon to be published novelist, I dine out on feedback. Everything I write gets picked apart in one way or another. I’m used to it. I like it. My writing being critiqued is literally my life. And yet, awaiting the judgment of strangers on the relative quality of my novel is a uniquely out of body experience, the likes of which I’ve never known before. I’m genuinely proud of my book, and I know I did the best I could. My conscience is clear. I know even bad reviews won’t change that. Nor will good reviews. And yet…the goddamn waiting.
I hope you’re not over there rolling your eyes at me. I hope, at least in part, that you’re nodding your head just a little bit in understanding.
Benjamin Roesch 