Week 4 giveaway results
Nada. Nothin’. Zip. Zero. That’s how many winners we have today.
However I had 6 highly creative spammers blather on about various appendage improving pills and how to increase various…stuff. Not quite the response I was looking for, but I appreciate the effort. Even if I don’t need help with…that type of stuff.
So next week will be the last week I’ll be giving away two ePub copies of The Stubborn Dead. Until then, have a fabulous week-end, folks! And thanks for stopping by. 
PS: I’ve had quite a few people find my blog by searching for Carina Press, their submission requirements, and editors. In case you haven’t seen it, their wonderful crew recently posted a Spring 2012 Call For Submissions blog entry, broken down into what each editor is specifically looking for in a story.
P.S.S.: I’m finally getting the hang of Pinterest! Whoot! So don’t be shy to pop by my boards and say hi (I LOVE following people with interesting boards so if that’s you, chances are great I’ll follow you back).
Giveaway wk 3 results and preorder news – huzzah!
*Drum roll please…*
No one commented on this week’s post, hence no winners.
Say it with me now – bummer.
The smug Evil Inner Editor part of my brain is trying vehemently to coerce me into stopping this ‘weekly charade’, but dammit, I said I would offer copies of The Stubborn Dead until the end of May, and I’m bloody well going to do it!
Especially since I have the shiny ePub version of The Ravenous Dead sitting in my email box… But I need to wait until Ravenous hits NetGalley before I can give it away here. (I believe Carina only has their June releases up there at the moment.)
But if you’re the type who doesn’t want to rely on the fickle hand of Fate to get a copy of Ravenous, it’s available for preorder at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
Until Monday then, my fine friends! Have a great week-end! (And if you’re in Canada, have a great long week-end. Don’t forget the sunblock when you’re lounging up at the cabin, okay? 
)
Winners and hospitals and gratitude – oh my! Giveaway Wk 3
This last week I was conspicuously absent from my social media channels (yes, more so than usual), and I sincerely apologise. My Dad was submitted to hospital on Monday and remained there until Saturday. He’s home and doing well now, but needless to say most of this week I was not in the right frame of mind to connect enthusiastically and genuinely on-line.
Which meant that I did not advertise this last week’s Stubborn Dead giveaway as frequently as I could have. Ack!
This leads to a bit of a dilemma, as I technically didn’t have any qualifying entries for the draw. I say ‘technically’ because while I had one person reply – Tracey from Goodreads - I’m not sure if you wanted to be a part of the draw as you didn’t answer my ’pet MD’ question in your comment.
Bummer.
I also realized the giveaway posts had not been posted to Tumblr or Google+.
Double bummer.
So here’s what I decided on – Tracey, if you’d like an ePub copy of The Stubborn Dead, I’d love to send you one. Let me know via my contact page. (And if anyone reading this thinks they’ll try being sneaky by imitating Tracey, I’ll be matching her email address from her post comment. Mwa ha ha ha ha!)
Secondly, I’ll be offering two ePub copies of The Stubborn Dead once again this week. And I’ll try my best to tweet/FB this post more often so that folks who would like to enter can do so.
Lastly, this is going to be the entry post for this week’s draw. Why? Well, I had a lot to be thankful for this past week – the excellent hospital staff; the specialists who took care of my Dad; my understanding coaches at work; the drivers who were well-mannered in traffic when I was feeling stressed out; the cats behaving like little furry angels; the uplifting review of The Stubborn Dead Google Alerts found (and by extention the reviewer who took the time to post their thoughts); and many more instances of grace. So I couldn’t think of a better question for this week’s draw than ‘what are you grateful for today?’
Have a fab week, all. Be kind to one another, and smile even when no one’s looking. 
****
As always, a few things to keep in mind. Entries close on Friday night of this week, and winners will be posted on Saturday. Only posts made on THIS blog – www.natashahoar.wordpress.com – are valid (yes, I still have someone altering and posting my entries to their voice acting blog. Welcome to the internet, folks). Also, please make a comment related to the question posed on each post (I’d hate to think you were a spam poster). Please keep in mind that I’m posting from the West Coast of Canada (ie Pacific Time), so if you’re in England/Australia/etc, please make adjustments regarding closing times and posting winners. And lastly, only one win per person for the duration of this giveaway month (with the exception of added giveaways for The Ravenous Dead). If you want to enter on ‘behalf of your friend’, please rather have your friend enter themselves (I don’t bite, and I don’t sell anyone’s emails if they win. Promise.)
Giveaway wk 2 – Remedies for what ails you
Well the 5 week giveaway of The Stubborn Dead got off to a slow start last week. As in there were no comments, and thus no winners. (True as Bob, folks, I don’t bite.) So this week we’ll have two ePub copies to give away in anticipation of the July release of the second book in the Lost Souls series, The Ravenous Dead.
Why am I not giving away copies of Ravenous? Well, for one, the ePub file’s not ready. And two, Ravenous isn’t a stand alone story, so if you haven’t read Stubborn yet, well, I’m giving you a bit of time to catch up.
Will I give a copy of Ravenous away? Darn tootin! I’m just not sure when. (And yes, if you win a copy of Stubborn you can absolutely enter to win Ravenous when I post a giveaway blog for it.)
So, on to this week’s topic! Last week I was under the weather for three days. Try as I might to be otherwise, each time I realized I wasn’t going to be able to participate in my work practicum, I became utterly stressed out, which made me feel even worse. And each time, just like clockwork, one of our cats would walk up and give me a sweet feline look as if to say ‘There, there. Nothing much that can be done about it, so how about you and I snuggle for a bit?’ While the simple act of scratching her head and listening to her purring might not have alleviated my symptoms, it did allow me to relax enough to let my body get on with fixing whatever it was that was wrong with my gut. So my question is this – do you have a ‘pet MD’ in the house like I do? If not, what do you do to help your body recover faster when you’re not feeling so great?
As always, a few things to keep in mind. Entries close on Friday night of this week, and winners will be posted on Saturday. Only posts made on THIS blog – www.natashahoar.wordpress.com – are valid (yes, I still have someone altering and posting my entries to their voice acting blog. Welcome to the internet, folks). Also, please make a comment related to the question posed on each post (I’d hate to think you were a spam poster). Please keep in mind that I’m posting from the West Coast of Canada (ie Pacific Time), so if you’re in England/Australia/etc, please make adjustments regarding closing times and posting winners. And lastly, only one win per person for the duration of this giveaway month (with the exception of added giveaways for The Ravenous Dead). If you want to enter on ‘behalf of your friend’, please rather have your friend enter themselves (I don’t bite, and I don’t sell anyone’s emails if they win. Promise.)
Adventures of a newbie VO actor – Voices.com vs VoiceRegistry.net
In late 2011, I decided to tackle extended-job-search-inflicted-self-doubt head on by taking a class on a subject I’d long been curious about, but hadn’t had time to pursue while employed – voice acting. Long story-short, I decided to skip any attempts at cartoon VO (I realized I wasn’t even close to ready for that sort of course) and signed up for what was then the commercial/narration class at On The Mic Voice-over Training. I was the only person in the class with zero acting or VO experience. It was one of the most terrifying and intoxicatingly wonderful learning experiences I’ve ever had (right up there with the first time I rode a horse over a 3 ft oxer. Which was huge to me. And still is).
Needless to say, I was hooked.
As sometimes happens, I wasn’t able to continue with further classes. But that hasn’t been all bad. For one, I’ve been able to do a bit of reading on the subject. I’ve also looked into acting classes (yes, a necessity. Trust me on this. Folks with acting/stand up/theatre experience will blow your little inexperienced ass right out of the water when you’re standing next to them in a booth. It’s both an educational and humbling experience), found a few incredible podcasts to learn from (Rob Paulsen’s Talking Toons and Crispin Freeman’s Voice Acting Mastery are a great starting point, and free on iTunes!) and started pouring through the vast amount of information available online. At this stage I’m trying to find info-rich resources that are geared towards newbies like me, or people interested in learning more about the industry. If they’re free, even better.
So what, I’m a cheapskate? Hardly. I just know that my funds need to be directed towards saving for classes, not jumping into services and products that are better suited to more experienced performers.
Which, in a roundabout way, brings us to my recent experiences with VO marketplace websites Voices.com and VoiceRegistry.net – both websites who advertise themselves as resource rich environments for the aspiring VO performer, while also allowing voice talent to set up profiles, post demos, and market themselves to prospective clients.
Before we go any further, a disclaimer: I am reviewing these sites not as someone with a demo and at-home studio ready to audition for jobs, but as a budget conscious independent aspiring voice talent who is at the very beginning of her exploration into the industry. If you are further along your journey, you might find that your experience with these sites will differ from my own.
Let’s start with VoiceRegistry.net.
I first heard about VoiceRegistry.net at Fan Expo Vancouver. They sponsored and moderated the Voice Acting 101 panel on Sunday, and if I were to be brutally honest, they took excessive advantage of that fact. The hour read like a pitch for VoiceRegistry, sprinkled occasionally with comments from the three VO actors and their agent on panel. It was extremely frustrating, but on some level it must have been effective. After all those seized opportunities to make it abundantly clear that VR.net was THE place to be if you wanted to be a part of the VO industry, I went to their website to look things over.
Here’s a screenshot of their packages page:
Forums? Education? Tips? Upload space (for when I’m ready to do that sort of thing)? All available to the free ‘Silver’ package, with an option to upgrade to the $7/month Platinum membership when I feel I’m ready to take the next step? Huzzah!
I caved and signed up for a Silver membership.
I was sorely disappointed.
Let’s start with the forums. When I think of forums, I’m expecting message boards with structured topics, moderators, etc. VR doesn’t have this. Instead, their link sends you to their Facebook page.
Education and tips? Yes, there are a few. If you’re willing to look for them in between all of the ‘weekend workouts’ – classes or critiques with industry professionals that are only available to paying Platinum members. The resources page was interesting, but nothing stellar (I say that because I’ve come across these links on other sites, and though my own research). Their blog reads as an extended advert for their weekend-workouts. Even their ‘welcome’ email wasn’t so much a greeting as an aggressive push to go Platinum (the second line of the email: ‘There won’t be jobs posted BUT the opportunity is incredible for the Platinum members.’ Um, okay.)
Would I recommend VoiceRegistry.net to people who are either new to the industry, or curious about how it works? No. This website is set up to benefit those actors who have a demo and are actively auditioning, or at the very least preparing to cut a demo. There’s simply not enough content suited to new actors, ESPECIALLY at the ‘silver’ level.
Next up, Voices.com.
I’ve known about Voices.com for some time – their website has a significant amount of free content available to the public, from blog posts to YouTube videos and podcasts. In fact, I discovered Pat Fraley and his fantastic dialect work on Voices.com. Needless to say I was curious to see if there would be any further benefit in signing for a free ‘guest’ membership.
Here’s a screenshot of their packages page:
Let’s compare apples to apples, starting with forums – Voices.com doesn’t have a forum (unlike VR, they don’t advertise their FB page as one). But they do have a very active social media presence, especially on their Twitter account. You can also ask questions via their Voices.com Answers section, and receive feedback from other site users.
Regarding education, the featured resources area is quite extensive – articles, videos, webinars, samples of industry related ebooks, etc. HOWEVER, all of the resources, Answers page and social media are all available without signing up. (If there was membership specific info NOT related to demos/payments/account setup it wasn’t immediately/obviously apparent to me.)
The bulk of the benefit in signing up lies in the member profile – it’s easier to set up, and more detailed than VR’s. Also, the Voices.com system automatically began matching available jobs to my profile once I’d added basic details (seven jobs in total). While this feature was exciting and motivating, I wasn’t about to start utilizing it (although it’s good to know it’s there).
A quick note about Voices.com’s welcome email: it rocked. For starters, it wasn’t a sales pitch to try and goad me into immediately upgrading my membership. Instead, it gave a brief description about what is expected from a voice talent, questions to ask to discover if voice acting is really for me, and the fact that voice acting is a dream job for many, but a reality for few. I also received it ahead of VR’s, despite the fact I joined Voices.com a few hours after VR.
Would I recommend Voices.com to people who are either new to the industry, or curious about how it works? Yes, absolutely. Although I don’t see the need to sign up for a membership until you’re ready to upload a demo. Until then, there is plenty of free content available for you to pour through.
Is joining either of these sites necessary when you’re just starting out or curious about the industry? I personally don’t think so. However, I’d still suggest regularly popping in to see the new posts on Voices.com’s blog, or downloading their free podcasts. When you’re starting out (and on a budget), there’s simply no such thing as too much great free content.
Is there another site similar to these two that would benefit a newbie VO talent that I’ve missed? Don’t be shy – I’d love to know about it!
The Week 1 Stubborn Dead Giveaway winner is…
…no one.
Huh.
*crickets chirping*
Turns out I didn’t have a single valid comment on this last week’s contest blog post. So the giveaway from this week gets shuffled along and added to next week, meaning I’ll give away two epub copies of The Stubborn Dead on May 12.
In the meantime though, have a great weekend, and try not to party too hard if you’re celebrating Cinco de Mayo.
11 weeks to go – let’s have a giveaway (or 5)
Whoo-whee! There are only eleven weeks left to the release of the second book in the Lost Souls series, The Ravenous Dead.
Is it just me, or is this year screaming by?
Regardless, I’ve decided the best way to kick off the run to July 16 is with a weekly giveaway of the first Lost Souls book, The Stubborn Dead. Every Monday in May (starting today and ending on May 28) you’ll have the opportunity to enter through commenting on a giveaway post. Each week’s entries close on Friday, and ONE winner for the week will be announced on Saturday. Winners contact me via my Contact page, and I’ll email them the ePub version of The Stubborn Dead. Super simple.
Now, a few things to keep in mind. Only posts made on THIS blog – www.natashahoar.wordpress.com – are valid (yes, I still have someone altering and posting my entries to their voice acting blog. Welcome to the internet, folks). Also, please make a comment related to the question posed on each post (I’d hate to think you were a spam poster). Please keep in mind that I’m posting from the West Coast of Canada (ie Pacific Time), so if you’re in England/Australia/etc, please make adjustments regarding closing times and posting winners. And lastly, only one win per person for the duration of this giveaway month. If you want to enter on ‘behalf of your friend’, please rather have your friend enter themselves (I don’t bite, and I don’t sell anyone’s emails if they win. Promise.)
Right, so what’s there to comment on this week? How about we start out with something easy – what is your favorite scary movie/book/play/television series? And if you’re not a fan of the scarier genres, what do you prefer to watch/read instead, and why?
My favorite ‘scary’ TV show is Supernatural (no big surprise there), and the horror novel that has stuck with me for years (not so much the details of the story, but definately in regards to the feeling it inspired in me) is Graham Masterton’s ‘Spirit’.
Thanks for stopping by, good luck, and have a great week!
Johnny good Sunday
Sundays – that last gasp of freedom before heading back to a week of work. The day where you want nothing more than to become a puddle of relaxed nothingness, but you know you have to do the ironing so you’re not forced to head into the office the next day nude, or worse, in sweat pants. It’s the last chance to do the vacumming before the hair the cats have been shedding the past week begins accumulating and creating sinister critters capable of making you jump a mile high when they breeze across your path. If you’re anything like me, your Sundays tend to vanish like the last mini cupcake at a birthday party, leaving you feeling slightly dazed (it was just there a minute ago!) and wanting more.
So, in an effort to help make the transition out of the weekend a little easier, I’d like to offer up a little Johnny Reid (live at the PNE in Vancouver):
Here’s to a fabulous week ahead!
We have a new cover! (And she’s gooooooorgeous!)
The folks over at Carina and Glo Creative Inc have come up with another stunner. Presenting the cover for The Ravenous Dead!
This time the dead are hungry…
Rachel Miller doesn’t just see dead people, she rescues them. As a member of The Order of Rescue Mediums, she spends most of her time helping stubborn spirits move on from the world. But after she learns the details of three brutal murders, she knows the culprit can only be a reaper, an undead monster that relentlessly stalks its victims to feed on their souls.
A reaper once consumed the soul of Rachel’s mentor as she watched frozen in fear. Now, Rachel is in the role of teacher to Kit Elkeles, a rodach just learning to control his wraithlike powers. After Kit and Rachel rescue a half-vampire, they work to protect him while searching for a way to stop the reaper. But when Rachel realizes who the monster is really after—and just what kind of dark magic she’ll need to stop it—will she be able to do what is necessary before it devours one of her friends…or even herself?
27,000 words
Available July 16, 2012
