Hello! Long time no blog.
Seriously, I can’t believe it’s been 2 years since I have posted anything on here.
Even harder to believe it was a different world, too.
But, assuming the 15000 + that was originally subscribed still sees these entries, I’ll be posting more again.
Starting with, my website has gotten a new redesign with added features and a new book to pre-order.
Check it out! – https://www.mackenzieflohr.com.
The adventure continues in the award-winning Rite of Wands adventure! Author Mackenzie Flohr discusses her new release The Rite of Abnegation.
An excellent fantasy novel, I found it entertaining and engrossing and loved it.” —Annarellix Book Blog
About The Rite of Abnegation: When a dangerous unidentified foe begins to attack residents of the kingdom of Vandolay, young warlock, Mierta McKinnon must use his newly acquired knowledge and skills from apprenticeship to save them. But the people of Vandolay aren’t the only ones he must save, especially when his younger brother comes face-to-face with the foe.
Describe Mierta McKinnon, the main character of the series and his brother, Lochlann? Mierta’s like a mix of the Eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who and Harry Potter’s Snape. Brilliant, yet arrogant as heck! Lochlann represents the person who doesn’t know who they are, why they’re here or where they’re going.
What have…
View original post 1,196 more words
New York, NY – December 31 2019 – Riverdale Avenue Books pubbed the first book in the new series The Binge Watchers Guide to Doctor Who, featuring Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor, just in time for the international premier of the new season on January 1.
The new line of books is dedicated to pop culture phenomenon from movies to TV shows and will include titles on the films of Harry Potter, Friends, Golden Girls, The Handmaid’s Tale, Riverdale, American Horror Story, Black Mirror, etc.
The first book in the series, The Binge Watcher’s Guide to Doctor Who, by Mackenzie Flohr, will take readers on a journey through time and space, showing how Doctor Who became the longest running show on television by weaving through its history, starting with the current incarnation of the Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker. The book will examine the impact of having the first female Doctor in the show’s five decade-long history among fans and critics, as well as include exclusive, never-before-seen interviews with Wendy Abrahams, Beth Axford, Christian Basel, Will Brooks, Ken Deep, Stephen Hatcher, Krystal Moore, David Solomons and Alisa Stern.
Publisher Lori Perkins has tapped different authors for each Binge Watcher Guide who are experts in pop culture and chose Mackenzie Flohr for The Doctor Who series.
“Working on this book with Mackenzie Flohr has been amazing. She has an almost comprehensive knowledge of the show, as well as an incredible passion for the world of Doctor Who,” said Publisher Lori Perkins.
“2018 was a huge year for Doctor Who and Whovians around the world with the debut of our first female Doctor,” said Author Mackenzie Flohr. “It is an honor to start this nonfiction series on Jodie Whittaker and her 13th Doctor.”
Books and downloads are available on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles Nook, iTunes, and Kobo.
About Riverdale Avenue Books
Riverdale Avenue Books is an award winning, innovative hybrid publisher at the leading edge of the changes in the publishing industry. We publish e-books and print titles under 13 imprints: Desire, an erotica/erotic romance imprint; Riverdale/Magnus the award-winning imprint of LGBT titles; Pop featuring pop culture titles; Afraid, a horror line; SFF, a science fiction fantasy line; Truth, an erotic memoir line; Dagger, a mystery thriller imprint; Sports and Gaming featuring sports and gaming titles; Verve featuring lifestyle titles; Hera featuring both the true and fictional lives and loves of women aged 35 and up; 120 Days an LGBT pulp fiction line and Circlet, an erotica/erotic romance imprint. Started in 2012 by industry veteran Lori Perkins, Riverdale is a full service publisher, with a subsidiary rights department. Visit us at www.RiverdaleAveBooks.com
About Mackenzie Flohr
Mackenzie Flohr is a multi-award-winning novelist and in-demand speaker for conferences and conventions, actively discussing the process of writing and Doctor Who. She is also an active panelist on The Legend of the Traveling Tardis Radio Show and has done book signings previously at Who North America, the largest Doctor Who store, and museum located in the state of Indiana.
Her publishing portfolio includes The Rite of Wands, The Whispered Tales of Graves Grove and Unknown Realms: A Fiction-Atlas Press Anthology. A storyteller at heart, she loves to inspire the imagination.
Mackenzie makes her home in Mount Morris, Michigan, where she is currently penning her next adventure.
Studies show 81% of people want to write a book. Unfortunately, 99% of them will never realize that dream.
I was 1 of the 99% until I found people who helped me believe in myself and taught me what I needed to know about #writing and #publishing.
Want to know those secrets? Now, you can!
Watch this FREE webinar with my writing coach tomorrow. It’s FREE!
There’s no catch! So, what’s stopping you?
It’s FREE!!!
In this special edition of Time And Relative Developments In Stories, I have invited my incredible voice actor/narrator, Chris Walker-Thomson, from The Rite of Wands audiobook, coming out later this month. He’s here to talk about voice acting, Doctor Who, Big Finish, Matt Smith, and especially, my book, The Rite of Wands.
Question 1) What got you interested in voice acting?
I’ve always had a thing for putting on voices. Earliest memory I have is of me putting on a different voice for each toy I played with, so they’d converse on whatever adventure I’d be putting them through. As they years went on, I discovered impressions – particularly Dead Ringer’s Jon Culshaw – and ended up emulating people around me. So it all grew from that really, until finally, I went professional.
Question 2) What was it that got you your first “big” break?
There’s a few that I considered my “big” break until something even bigger happened. I did a lot of Doctor Who fan audio dramas, doing my performance as Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor, which got a lot of attention. But one day I was asked to do the audiobook for City Of The Gods: Forgotten, which gave my first official credit and paid work that really pushed me into being a working actor. So I’m immensely grateful for them giving me a shot, and setting me on my way.
Question 3) Where you would suggest someone brand new into voice acting start to find job opportunities?
I’ve found websites like Mandy.com, or Findaway very good. There are many others out there, some low-paid, some not, but experience is key. I started small, and am still small in comparison to others, but experience is great and attracts more interest. And never be ashamed to ask to be paid.
Question 4) Do you enjoy working better independently or in a studio environment like Big Finish, and why?
Oh, a studio environment for sure! I’m an actor foremost. As great as putting on voices is, and you can do so independently, to have someone to bounce off is such a thrill and really improves the performance. Even when it comes to Pixar films or any animation, they do feed the lines to the actor. Plus, I like the energy. Independently can get quite lonely, tiring, and if you work from home, you get a bit of cabin fever from not going out.
Question 5) How did you first come across The Rite of Wands?
Again, I owe thanks to the Doctor Who fan world. I have got to know a lot of people in the community, such as people behind big blogging sites such as Sebastian J Brook from Dr Who Online. Seb mentioned that an author friend (Mackenzie) was having trouble with her book, as the person who was meant to be doing it had to pull out due to other commitments, leaving her in the lurch. So, he suggested myself.
I was a bit down at this point. It had been months since my last job, and any job, so I was thinking of calling it a day. But on a whim, I dropped an email to Mackenzie and she got back asking me to audition. I was a bit late to doing the audition, but I did it, sent it off and left it as that. Then, in early January, I got an email from Mackenzie offering me the gig. Hilariously it came at the same time I also got a part-time job offer, so like they say about buses.
Question 6) What kind of research did you have to do to prepare for recording?
Although I do record reading off a tablet (to avoid paper turning sound, etc.), I don’t find it a great way to read. Like everyone who has ever owned a Kindle says: they actually prefer reading a physical book in their hands. So, I asked nicely if I could get a copy to read at my leisure, which Mackenzie was very kind to send me with a signed message within. For someone who does audiobooks, you’d be surprised to hear that I don’t really take the time out to read books as much as I probably should – mostly because it takes time out of the day. But, I found myself engrossed in it and really finding it difficult to put it down, so I knew this was a good book if it managed to hook me in. Afterwards, I went over it again and made notes.
But the research I had to focus on was my performance of the main character, Mierta McKinnon, which Mackenzie had noted as “I wrote it with Matt Smith in mind”. I could do a reasonable impersonation of Matt Smith beforehand, but I needed a refresher course, so I started a marathon of his Doctor Who episodes to let it sink in. The rest of the voices I’d pieced together, but Mierta’s voice took some time to prepare.
Question 7) Knowing the history of the project being passed around multiple narrators, did you feel any extra pressure before recording it?
Only that the previous narrator was better at doing a Matt Smith impression than I was! So I kept saying “it’s not exactly right, but the best I can muster”, to which Mackenzie was immensely happy with my effort anyway, so I didn’t need to worry. So aside from that, I didn’t have any pressure. It was quite fun, until I got the email after I’d finished recording it, saying “we’ve redrafted the book”, and prompting me to redo it all from scratch. But I think it sounds better than it did previously, especially my Smith’ voice for Mierta.
And, here’s a little tease of the audiobook, releasing in the next couple of weeks!
Question 8) Okay, be honest. How many times did you have to practice saying “Emaculavi el curpas y mehartis” before you got it right? LOL!
Too many to count! Quite a few spells got me frustrated. Especially as they’re not spelt accordingly due to their country’s origin, or the pronunciation guide in the book wasn’t exact. I’m all for learning new words, but wow. Ha.
Question 9) How do you go about deciding which voice to use for a character?
It’s not a long process, I tend to read the dialogue and think, maybe this voice? Maybe later on I’ll change my mind, and go back to redo it. Orlynd was Scottish, which wasn’t my best accent, or one I’d spent a while working on. So I found the root of the voice in my memory as a scatty, young David Tennant, and just went from there. I found it also helped to jog the accent by swearing between lines of dialogue, just to really get the Scottish tone right. Then after a while it just settled in, and I can now talk fluently. The rest of the voices just seemed right.
Question 10) Did anything in particular surprise you while you while performing?
Only that my neighbours really couldn’t care less as to what I was doing. Either they’d get out a pneumatic drill, or they’d completely ignore my dying screams. Probably used to my madness at this point.
Question 11) Fans of the series tend to favour the character, Mierta, however, from recent discussions, I’ve learned Orlynd is your favourite character. What is it about him that you like so much?
Well, I just think Mierta grows up to be a dick, ha. Orlynd has me feeling sorry for him from the first time we meet him in the book, and he’s stuck in a place he’s despised, yet is “Aye yer Majesty” in a sad, yet shy tone. But as he progresses, he gets stronger and becomes more heroic. He even shouts at the King’s guards. It’s great character development, and a delight to play.
Question 12) What would you like to see happen in the series?
I’d like to see Orlynd and Deor become better friends as time goes on, and even more of Anya’s conniving. But, I’d also like to see Lochlann (Mierta’s brother) knock Mierta off his own pedestal. From what I’ve heard of what’s going to happen, it’s already ticked my boxes.
Question 13) How can others find out more about you?
My official website is www.chriswalkerthomson.com and I’m also on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and such. I do keep it all updated if you’d like to follow me there?
Be sure to check back in the next few weeks for the official release of The Rite Of Wands on audiobook, performed by Chris Walker-Thomson.
How You Can Participate!
Mackenzie Flohr's Author Blog 