Caught Inside and Defensive Play Now Available on Audio
I’m so excited to share the news that both stories in my Boys on the Brink series, Caught Inside and Defensive Play are now available to download as audiobooks narrated by the amazingly talented Joe Jameson.
As an obsessive listener of audiobooks—yes, I really do have over fifty unread titles in my Audible library—the process of having my own books recorded has been particularly special. Joe Jameson is an outstanding voice actor, and he’s brought my stories to life with more passion and sensitivity than I could ever have hoped for. He even let me pester him with questions all about his experiences as an audiobook narrator, and you can check out my interview with him below.
If you’re in the UK, you can download Caught Inside from Audible.co.uk here and you can get Defensive Play here.
For my US readers, Caught Inside is available from Audible.com here while Defensive Play can be purchased here.
I really hope you enjoy the audiobooks. As always, if you’d like to get in touch with any thoughts or comments, it would be wonderful to hear from you!
Q&A with Joe Jameson | Voice Actor and Audiobook Narrator
Hi, Joe, it’s really great to have you here. Thank you so much for agreeing to talk to me and share some of your experiences as an audiobook narrator.
To start us off, was it always your dream to be an actor when you were growing up?
No, not really! I started acting when I was about 16 and then found myself at drama school 2 years later… So it all happened pretty fast to be honest. I then moved to London when I was 21 and started working.
Your career so far has included theatre and TV, as well as audio dramas and commercials. How did you get into narrating audiobooks?
I’m from Bath originally, and BBC audiobooks used to have their studios there. So I wrote to them when I left drama school and said I would love to work for them. I tested for a couple and landed one and it snowballed from there. I loved books growing up and used to read to my younger brother and sister. I read the Harry Potter books to them and created all the voices etc. so I think it really began with that!
Aw, I love that! So, how does narrating compare with, say, performing as part of a cast in an audio drama for a company like Big Finish? Do you enjoy one over the other?
I love both. There is something very special about reading an entire book out loud, from first page to last. You get to play all the parts – including characters you would never normally get cast as! But it can be solitary work, so it’s always really fun to be part of a big cast. Big Finish is one of the best gigs, such lovely people, great scripts, one of those jobs that doesn’t feel like a job.
As you know, I absolutely loved your narration of Sebastian De Castelle’s Greatcoats series. Incidentally, for any fantasy fans out there who haven’t read these books yet, I urge you to check them out! Are there any other books/series you’ve particularly enjoyed narrating?
If you liked the Greatcoats series, I really enjoyed narrating Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Thorns trilogy. Away from fantasy stuff, my favourites have been The Charioteer by Mary Renault and The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff.
Ooh, intriguing! I’ll definitely look those up.
Ok, so let’s pretend for a moment that the sky is the limit! Which book/series would you love to narrate if you were given the chance?
I’ve just read A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara which blew me away, and if Stephen Fry wasn’t so brilliant, I’d love to have another go at the Harry Potters!
You’ve narrated a ton of audiobooks across multiple genres. Do you have any advice for aspiring narrators on how to get started?
Practice reading out loud as much as possible. Before recording, prep the book as much as you can – I always make notes as I’m reading, picking out any details that might help me create the voices for the characters, as well as annotating the scripts with any difficult pronunciations, or highlighting certain words etc. to make the recording go as smoothly as possible. I would recommend recording some samples showing what you can do and sending them off to studios/publishers.
Those are great tips, Joe, thank you so much! Lastly, before you go, if any authors reading this are interested in hiring you to narrate their audiobook, would you be happy for them to get in touch with you?
Of course! My email address is joe.jameson21@gmail.com. I have a professional home studio where I have done most of my recordings this year. I always like collaborating with new authors so feel free to get in touch!
About Joe Jameson | Voiceover Artist
Joe trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Since graduating he has worked extensively in theatre, television, film & in voiceovers. He has narrated over 150 audiobooks for Audible and is an extremely experienced voice actor. During his stage and screen career he performed at Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Exchange in Manchester, and the Soho Theatre. He is represented by Jamie Grant @ Loud and Clear Voices
You can discover more about Joe and his work at www.joejameson.co.uk
