Narrator Spotlight: Greg Tremblay

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. This week, I thought we’d shake things up a little and make it a Narrator spotlight!

Today, Greg Tremblay – Born in one far-flung corner of the U.S. (Near Portland. No, the other Portland.
Maine.) Greg has studied acting, vocal and operatic performance, sailing, emergency paramedicine, blacksmithing, scuba diving, and even a few practical skills! A listener-beloved, reviewer-acclaimed narrator and consummate story-teller, Greg brings a talent for voices, accents, and a love of the spoken word to any project.

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Giveaway

Greg is doing a giveaway of 15 copies of his books with this post… 10 “pick any book” from the back catalogue and get a free audio copy along via audible.com, and 5 copies of the newest one “Pledge Allegiance” – see below.

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Thanks so much, Greg, for joining me!

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J. Scott Coatsworth: How did you discover voice acting, and how did you get into narration?

Greg Tremblay: I actually studied Theater and CompSci in college… (it made sense. I had a passion for the stage, AND for making rent) and wanted more than anything to do voice acting… but as often happens life got in the way. I spent the next 15 years doing avocational theater and working… then about 4 or 5 years ago, I was introduced to the newer methods of audiobook production. I had honestly thought that first you had to become a famous actor, THEN they would let you narrate books. I got started with Audible’s ACX system, and was amazingly lucky to run into the books I did. My first 2 were “Shard Knight” for Matthew Ballard, and “Dirty Kiss” for Rhys Ford. 70 books later, it’s my full-time job.

JSC: What sorts of books do you narrate? Genres? Fiction, Non-fiction? What do you like to read personally?

GT: I self-describe as having a wheelhouse of “Character-Intensive SciFi/Fantasy, Mystery and Romance with a special passion for bringing LGBT+ characters in fiction to life.” I also enjoy narrating comedy, and have done a couple of non-fiction titles that were delightful.

I listen lately more than reading for personal consumption… most of my reading time is either prepping a new book, or actually recording it. I listen to a wide range of things, I like to go through different narrators to get a sense of different styles and learn from other people’s skills and weaknesses. This year I’ve listened to everything from erotic BDSM, to a memoir about WWI soldiers.

JSC: What was your first published work? Tell me a little about it.

GT: “Dirty Kiss” was the first audiobook I was lucky enough to work with… it’s categorized as a Gay Romance, I think mainly because the sex in it happens to be two men… if it were hetero, it would probably just be contemporary mystery. “Dirty Kiss” is the start of a 6-book series following P.I. Cole McGinnis. They’re lovely crunchy contemporary noir mystery, with a Korean American secondary character / love interest… so there’s lots of Korean culture and food in them.

Murders, fisticuffs, snarky dialogue, intrigue, dealing with being gay in unaccepting families and cultures, and food. What’s not to love? Some good sex, but it’s really secondary to the mystery aspect.

JSC: How do you prepare to record a book?

GT: I read the book to myself on the computer first, and make notes about characters, and mark my script with things that are likely to be tricky, the ends of chapters, and other bits of help. Then I do research on any words, places, people, etc that will be part of the project.

Finally is the recording phase, which takes about 2 hours in booth for every hour of audio you hear in the final product. The extra time is fixing errors, re-takes if I didn’t like how a line came out, and prepping each file as I go.

JSC: Tell us about a unique or quirky habit of yours.

GT: Uhhhmmmm. I eat breakfast every morning, because without it you can hear my stomach gurgle in the recording! I like salads for breakfast tho, and usually eat them with a fried egg, because it helps make a salad dressing if you leave the yolk a bit runny.

JSC: If you could sit down with one other writer, living or dead, who would you choose, and what would you ask them?

GT: Ugh. I hate these questions, because there are SO MANY. Right now? I’d like to sit with Christopher Moore… because I adore how his brain works. His books are smart, sharp, hilarious… and WEIRD. I’d ask him to riff on his process… and if I could record one of his books.

JSC: What action would your name be if it were a verb?

GT: Hrmm. Probably “To host one’s friends and make them feel utterly welcome, and possibly over-full.”

JSC: What kind of book or acting work have you always wanted to do, but not had the chance to (yet)?

GT: I would DEARLY love to do both a feature film animation part… the acting challenge seems awesome… and I would love to do a full cast recording of something in the radio-show style. I think it’s an EXCELLENT way to bring graphic novels to life

JSC: If you had the opportunity to live one year of your life over again, which year would you choose?

GT: If it was just to experience it again? My family lived on a boat for a year when I was 10, we sailed to the Bahamas. That was awesome, and I’d experience it again in a heartbeat. If we’re talking “re-do” a year? I wouldn’t. There have been years that weren’t so hot… but I wouldn’t be who I am and where I am without them.

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And now for Greg’s new work: Pledge Allegiance, by Rider England:

Shaun Blake had once had it all. As captain of the ISS Oregon, he‘d commanded his crew in the Horde War and helped to protect Earth. It was a dream come true for a farm boy from Idaho.

But the dream shattered a year ago when a Horde ship blew the Oregon out of space, leaving Blake and a single crew member as the only survivors.

Now, Blake is a gambler and a drunk living in the slums on Iton-3. His only interest is winning money at the WarZone tables and trying to forget who he was. He blames himself for every death that occurred under his command.

When a woman named Jane Baltimore approaches Blake in a bar and says she has a job for him, he isn’t interested. Until she tells him the job is to captain a ship about to embark on a search and rescue mission.

There are more surviving crew members from the Oregon.

And they’re stuck on a planet deep in Horde space.

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Buy Links

Amazon

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Excerpt

Audio Excerpt

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Author Bio

Born in one far-flung corner of the U.S. (Near Portland. No, the other Portland.
Maine.) Greg has studied acting, vocal and operatic performance, sailing, emergency paramedicine, blacksmithing, scuba diving, and even a few practical skills! A listener-beloved, reviewer-acclaimed narrator and consummate story-teller, Greg brings a talent for voices, accents, and a love of the spoken word to any project.

While audiobooks are Greg’s passion, his vocal talent can be heard in diverse roles from supervisor training, to character voices, to sweet-ending love stories.

http://www.gregtremblay.com