On the heels of the wonderful news about Clean Sweep being nominated for an Audie award, please welcome to the blog Nora Achrati and Robert McDonald from Graphic Audio, who have generously agreed to answer some of the questions you had about dramatized audio adaptations and how they work.
Nora Achrati
Creative Director at Graphic Audio
Nora Achrati is best known to the BDH as Nora Sofyan, the narrator for Sweep of the Heart, and as the voice of Dina in Graphic Audio’s Innkeeper Chronicles adaptations. Nora was an audiobook narrator for the Library of Congress before becoming a full-time director/narrator for Graphic Audio, and was a stage actor / teaching artist / occasional puppeteer before any of that. She has performed in hundreds of Graphic Audio titles and has her own website, which is coming together in fits and starts because she also has kids.
Welcome Nora! First thing first, what is your official job title? What do you do at Graphic Audio?
Nora: Hi! Thank you so much for inviting us here! This is really exciting for us. My official job title at GA is Creative Director. I adapt novels into scripts, cast them, direct voice actors, select & organize their takes, and narrate books, when called for. Also, I occasionally get to act in other directors’ books, which is super fun!
Let’s get right to it. What makes a book a good dramatized adaptation candidate? For example, how did you first decide to adapt the Innkeeper Chronicles and work with Ilona Andrews?
Nora: Our Acquisitions Team is in charge of acquiring titles and signing deals with authors, agents and publishers that fit the requirements of Graphic Audio – action-packed stories with strong dialogue that moves the story forward. Then our Director of Production assigns books to creative directors based on who he’ll think will be a good fit for the book (and sometimes also according to scheduling considerations, etc).
I learned from the Acquisitions Team that Graphic Audio has a history and great relationship with the Andrews’ literary agency and actually wanted to license the KATE DANIELS series when INNKEEPER CHRONICLES was suggested by the agency instead.
I’m a little afraid the Horde will eat me for this, but I had no idea who Ilona Andrews was before Clean Sweep landed on my desk. I’d also just come off of directing and narrating a 10-book first-person paranormal romance series about a woman with a werewolf lover and a vampire suitor, and while it was fun and educational, I was really, really ready to dive into another genre, any other genre. We do westerns. We do space operas. We do high fantasy. I read the Clean Sweep blurb and was 100% prepared to go to our Director of Production and ask to please give me a space book instead. Little did I know…
Could you briefly outline how you go from book to dramatized adaptation? How does casting work?
Nora: The director gets the manuscript, reads it, and starts converting/marking it up into a script (while taking LOTS of notes – keeping track of characters, major scenes, sound effects, locations, etc).
Once the characters have been identified and the script is more or less finished, the director casts the book. Graphic Audio used to record all its actors in our studios outside Washington, DC, but in recent years we’ve transitioned to a lot of remote recording, and our casts now include actors from around the globe.
Then we start recording narration & dialogue. Most of our directors are also narrators/actors, so they’ll generally narrate the books they’ve been assigned, though we sometimes use outside narrators as well.
Dialogue directing is my favorite, or maybe second-favorite, part of production – we work with each actor individually, reading their scenes with them and asking for performance adjustments as needed. Often the same actor will be scheduled to record for several projects at once – so directors will switch off within a single session, and actors will have to shift from being, say, vampires to cowboys on a dime (they’ll also often play multiple roles in the same script. It’s a lot of fun.)
Actors send in their files and the director listens through them and selects the takes that work best. When everything’s recorded, all the files – narration, dialogue for all characters – get handed off to the sound designer (or designers), who put it all together and add the sound effects and scoring magic, do all the level-adjusting wizardry, and master everything. Sound designers are titans.
Then the designers send the book back to in chunks at a time for review, and we’ll give notes, ask for tweaks, and express eternal gratitude for the gold they spin out of the straw we hand them. Listening to the sound-designed product is my actual favorite part of the process. It’s magic.
What is the abridged writing process like? How do you decide what to cut and how much, does it take several rereads of the book or a read of the whole series first? Do you mainly focus on translating sound descriptions into sound effects?
Nora: It depends on the book/series, but in general, we try to stay as faithful to the original manuscript as possible.
When people think of book adaptations, they usually think of movies or TV shows, which – because of the nature of those media – can end up making extensive and sometimes radical changes to story and characters, for a whole host of reasons. Our work isn’t that. I’m not sure how many people this analogy will speak to, but what we do is a little more akin to how old movies used to be adapted for radio performances – we’ll cut or condense some scenes for time, and occasionally add or adjust narration to account for the fact that it’s a purely auditory medium, but we won’t change the overall story or introduce new characters. (Side note: it was FASCINATING to read about the Tapas adaptation process, where whole new characters were created!).
We try our darndest to preserve what we know (or think) will be important later on, in the case of ongoing series (this is where you, Mod R, have been incredibly helpful when it comes to tackling the Kate Daniels universe). But production has to move fast, so in a lot of cases we aren’t able to read a whole series before we start (and in some cases, the series is ongoing / still being written.
It’s both harder and easier to adapt really well-written books – harder to make cuts, because the writers have already generally been so thoughtful about what’s included and why, so there’s less fat to trim; but easier to “envision” (“enhear”?), because descriptions are so lush and specific and characters are so well-drawn.
How much feedback do you usually get from authors?
Nora: This all depends on the author. As directors, we always hope authors will be responsive when we have questions about the story or different characters, but that they’ll give us free artistic reign when it comes to the rest of it.
For Clean Sweep, HA were basically unicorns – completely hands off about the process and the choices we made, but also incredibly responsive to questions and willing to talk about anything, any time.
I also just loved their vibe. Our first Zoom meeting, we talked about kids and pets and they gave me dog advice (we don’t have one yet, but we recently moved house and the kids are begging) and then they had a side conversation about buying a generator. It was delightful. I remember going to my husband afterward (who also works at Graphic Audio!) and being like “I just talked to the best people.”
Really lucky GA directors will at some point get paired with a series or an author they just vibe with. The Eric Carter series, the Heroes’ Road books, the Jig the Goblin series, Terra Ignota, Ishmael Jones — the directors of those books clicked with the material or the authors or both, and the productions reflect that. I am a really lucky GA director to have landed with House Andrews.
Who is your favorite Ilona Andrews character?
Nora: In Clean Sweep? Caldenia, hands down. In all of Innkeeper? Beast.
Could you tell us about your upcoming projects, the ones you are most excited about?
Nora: I just finished directing the first three titles in KF Breene’s Demon Days, Vampire Nights series (Robbie worked on Book 2, and designed the scene that shows up in my favorite web clip ever). Right now I’m working on a new series about a girl, a Beast Lord, and a sword…
You don’t say. Do you have any recommendations for Ilona Andrews fans?
Nora: GA’s Stormlight Archive adaptation is what converted/addicted me to Graphic Audio books. It’s amazing, I recommend it to anyone.
Suitable for most: Michael J. Sullivan’s Legends of the First Empire and Riyria books; the Archie reboot series; CJ Cherryh’s Alliance-Union Universe (so good!); Cassandra Rose Clarke’s Forget This Ever Happened.
For adults only: Ayize Jama-Everett and John Jennings’ Box of Bones (SO spooky); John Jennings’ Blue Hand Mojo; Chuck Rogers’ Bastard of the Apocalypse (excellent, but not for the squeamish)
For kids: Jim C. Hines’ Goblin Trilogy; Jon Scieszka and Steven Weinberg’s Astro-Nuts (my 7-year old loves them; I did too).
I’ve also heard good things about (but haven’t yet listened to) Devon Monk’s Ordinary Magic series, Jim C. Hines’ Terminal Alliance series (USA/CA only), Peter V. Brett’s Demon Cycle, Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’s War, and Barry Hutchinson’s Space Team & Sidekicks Initiative.
Robert McDonald
Sound Designer and Creative Director at Graphic Audio
Before arriving at Graphic Audio, Robert McDonald was full-time musician, dividing his time between touring the world with various artists and composing music for films, TV, and video games. An interest in immersive audio brought Robert to Graphic Audio, where he’s been a sound designer on multiple titles. Robert lives in the Washington, DC area with his wife, two cats, a dog, and a baby showing up any minute now. You can hear more of his audio work on his website
Welcome Robert! First thing first, what is your official job title? What do you do at Graphic Audio?
Robert: I’m a Sound Designer that has recently added the Creative Director feather to my cap, so I’m a Creative Director / Sound Designer Hybrid.
And what does a sound designer do?
Robert: For us, Sound Design is the last stage in a long process, where all the recordings of narration and voice actor performance comes together with ambience, sound effects, and music to make the final production you hear. I like to look at it as being a re-recording mixer for film, but there’s no picture. With sound effects and audio processing, we can put the characters in a room, or a cavern, or outside, or anywhere else they need to be. We take these disembodied voices and give them the ability to walk around, ride horses, cast spells, pilot spaceships, whatever’s needed!
How do you know what sounds to add? Does the person adapting the script decide, the director, or is it all in the hands of the sound editor?
Robert: It’s really a tag-team effort. The director will know that in a scene with a fistfight, you’ll need the sound of punch, but then it’s the sound designer that will choose that perfect punch sound, and line it up along with the actors’ exertions to really give that kinetic energy to the action. Selecting music is part of the sound designer’s role too. The director knows what sort of emotion needs to be supported or highlighted in a scene and makes the call for it. Then the sound designer finds that perfect music, even the perfect section of music, and edits it to fit under the performance.
Do you record your own sound effects, or do you have stock sounds?
Robert: A mixture of both. I like to record bespoke or create customized sound effects whenever I can, not only because it helps set a production apart from the crowd, but also builds a specific audio world that only exists for that particular story.
Sound designers often have to be very creative with sourcing of their sounds. The one interesting example of this that most people are familiar with is the work of Ben Burtt, the sound designer for Star Wars, who made the lightsaber sound by striking power cables. What is the strangest sound effect you ever had to use or make?
Robert: GA titles call for some pretty outlandish sound effects in general! For the Innkeeper books, there was one sound that required some extra work. Nothing in our sound effect libraries was working quite right for it, but I knew we needed something special. I grabbed a couple pairs of vibraphone mallets, and holding them by the wrong end, I recorded the wooden shafts sliding together. After copying and stacking the sound of those mallet shafts, I finally got the sound of Orro’s quills.
The Innkeeper Chronicles series is a Galactic adventure. Were there any unexpected sound challenges along the way?
Robert: A tough one was the battle with the Dahaka, where the Anansi eggs hatched and spiders spread across the battlefield, but I’d say the toughest was figuring out the Inn’s bells in Dina’s head. Nora and I went back and forth working out a sound that could be versatile enough to signal different things, convey different emotions, while still being instantly recognizable as the Inn’s bell. It ended up being a simultaneous set of real and synthesized bells, with layers that could be adjusted to fit the moment. It didn’t occur very often, but a lot of thought and planning went into it, which I think really paid off.
What was your favorite part about directing and adding sound effects when working in the Innkeeper Universe?
Robert: One of my favorite sequences to design was a scene with Dina returning home to Gertrude Hunt and entering her secret basement lab. I visualized the floorboards of the sitting room telescoping apart to reveal the staircase down, so I layered in the sound of slowed-down venetian window blinds clicking to get sort of a precise wooden mechanical effect. The music for that portion ended up working out great too. A big part of the fun of designing the Inn sounds is that by this point, they are mostly commonplace to Dina, and any sense of wonder about the Inn’s actions is all for the listener. Runner up would have to be the first time Shawn put on the Auroon 12 armor!
Could you tell us about your upcoming projects, the ones you are most excited about?
Robert: I’m currently directing and sound designing the next (147th, to be exact) DEATHLANDS title, Animal Kingdom. It’s my first time in the director’s chair, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Do you have any recommendations for Ilona Andrews fans?
Robert: Another book Nora and I worked on together was a title in the Demon Days, Vampire Nights series, one called Raised in Fire. If you enjoy Dina’s personality in Innkeeper, I think you’d enjoy that series too!
So cool, this insight in the process! Thanks to all for sharing this with us!
+1 ????
nice to see the behind the scenes work. thank you!
Thank you! Great information and more ways to love Ilona Andrews/HA creativity.
Aaah! Two posts in two days. I have to go workout and finish reading later.
Between this post and watching the MTV Challenge World Championships this morning my day has been perfect.
Thanks for the interviews (and Nora & Robert for answering all the questions) – it was really informative!
+1
Also thanks to Nora for all the great recommendations. I’ve been considering some of GA’s Brandon Sanderson titles, so may have to splurge next time there’s a sale on.
I love the mistborn series on GA. Will make my way through stormlight next. Elantris is a book I love, GA adaptation is also good but the novella hope of elantris had weird pronunciations. Definitely would wait for their 50 percent off series sale
Thanks Mod R for posting!
It’s interesting when people don’t know who Ilona Andrews is until they pick up a book, look at it, possibly reading it, and want to read more, more, more. (Hmmm…sounds familiar?) ????????
The urge to devour, one could call it ????
Nora & Robert sound like wonderful people – filled with talent????
It was a pleasure reading this post – full of such interesting information
Such care is taken to honour the Innkeeper world ????????????
(All the worlds they are involved in)
This is so interesting! Thanks for sharing with us!!
i dont know if they get to read the comments and I just want to say that I love GA adaptation of Innkeeper and especially Nora portrayal of Dina. Im also a huge Brandon Sanderson fan and Im working myself through GA adaptation of Mistborn. And Nora is credited there but I dont know how to find out which character she plays. I will say that there is a curse of knowing the book so well that even a small cut is missed but I understand if things are needed to be cut
I will definitely let them know you love it! ☺️
From Nora ???? “To answer Anna’s Mistborn question, I only played bit parts in the series in the first era (though my husband plays Eland); in the second era I’m Wax’s sister Telsin (and hubs is Wayne!)”
If you’re liking Mistborn, you’ll love the Stormlight Archive! GA did a great job with that one.
Loved this interview. I had never heard of GraphicAudio before the Clean Sweep adaptation, and now I’m obsessed. I’ve listened to the Innkeeper audiobooks five times each. I’m also going to preorder the Kate Daniels versions directly from the GA website. Clearly a ton of work goes into the adaptation, and you guys do an amazing job.
For folks more interesting in romance storylines, I’d rec the Sarah J Maas, Jeaniene Frost, and upcoming Elisa Kova books in GA. I’m also excited for the upcoming Red Rising books — they’re super popular in the SFF world and I’ve always wanted to read them.
Really nice behind the scenes peek, thanks! Always interesting to learn about the process of how something is created.
Also, their artwork for the upcoming Kate Daniels book is stunning! Would love to see the books have covers like that as well…
*upcoming KD adaptation
They do, in France 🙂 . House Andrews suggested the French cover artists for the adaptation, as it is a fan favourite whenever it’s featured on the blog.
oh nice! will have to look at the French versions… for “language learning purposes” of course ????
A million years ago I took French in college and have forgotten most of it. I saw the French editions on Facebook, though, and must have at least one of them. SO Gorgeous!!!
You guys are so generous with this space! Love this post, especially insights into the GA team. This blog always gets me grinning- Thank you!
I had never listened to GA before Innkeeper, and have found it really enjoyable to listen to the series this way. These interviews are very much appreciated, and I look forward to listening to new titles!
semi techno-idiot here….I listened to a sample of the book on the GA site and I liked what I heard…do I need a certain app from GA to download the book files to??
Hi Trix,
I covered the How To of the GA app in this article https://ilona-andrews.com/2022/graphic-audio-of-clean-sweep/ 🙂 . Hope it helps!
The books are also available on third party retailers (like Audible), you just need to search for the “dramatized adaptation” version – for example https://tinyurl.com/2p9x62my
thank you. I have audible… so now I search!!
Fascinating, and thank you!
Really cool info. May have to try a GA adaptation. Thanks.
Thanks to all involved in this post; it was fascinating.
I also hadn’t heard of GA before Innkeeper was done, but now I’m in love with them! They are how I imagined audio books to be, before I actually listened to one. Soooooo good!
Congrats to everyone involved in the process for the well deserved nomination! Amazing job Nora and Robert doing justice to a BDH favorite (they’re really all our favorites).
Also, we won’t hold it against you that you hadn’t heard of IA before this. We were all new once and welcome new members to the BDH! ????
Enjoyed the insight into how Graphic Audio adapts books. The first exposure I had to them was the Innkeeper series and I’ve started looking for more of their work as a result. Thanks, Mod R, for this Q&A!
this is really cool info!
Great interviews! I have some follow-up questions…
Are Nora A. and Robert M. readers in general? Do they enjoy reading in their spare time? If so, does working on these adaptations burn them out? Meaning, do they get tired of reading (or listening to audiobooks) because they have to work on these books so much? If they were familiar with a book beforehand, does making the adaptations affect their enjoyment of these stories? And if an author is new to them and they like the story they’re working on, do they try to read that author’s other books in their spare time? Like, did they decide to read Hidden Legacy after being introduced to Innkeeper and Kate Daniels?
Thanks to you both for taking the time to answer the questions! It was fascinating to learn about the process.
My intro to GA was Innkeeper and, besides loving and grabbing all of them, I’ve really enjoyed Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’s War adaptation!
So excited for the KD ones to come out but taking this opportunity to make a plea for GA to pick up SotH! ::insert big puppy eyes::
This was great. I liked the knowledge and general understanding of the process
Thank you
I really enjoyed the interviews. It was fascinating to learn about a profession of which I know very little. Thank you all for sharing this. I hesitate to mention it but I did see a typographical error repeated twice – the author’s name is Jim C. Hines, not Hinds. As an aside, I’d attest that he writes very good books!
Entirely my bad- fixed now 🙂 . Thank you!
Does anyone know which series Nora Achrati was speaking of : “10-book first-person paranormal romance series about a woman with a werewolf lover and a vampire suitor”?
My “guess” is Shanon Mayer’s Rylee Adamson books. Listened and enjoyed the first few but missed IAs “hee hee” moments.
I considered if that one was the series also. ????♀️
I was wondering that too and tried to look. There’s a few that may loosely fit that description, but maybe “THE KURTHERIAN® GAMBIT”? Although, I’m not sure the werewolves in that series. ????♀️
This does make the GraphicAudio version sound very interesting. I’m not really into audio books but they sound more like plays which is a bit different. *pondering*????
You can listen to samples on their Web site and see what you think!
I’m the same, not into audiobooks, but I enjoy this radio play version.
I love love love the GA series (except the sloppy kisses, sorry Robert). The direction, sound, editing is just so good.
Thank you all for such amazing work!
MOD R! ????♀️????♀️????♀️
I saw that the pre-order is up on GA for Magic Burns! (I don’t think it was mentioned yet, sorry if I’m repeating!) It won’t be available until late May, but you know we love our pre-orders! ????????????
Thanks Breann,
I’ve added it to the article!
ooo, Ordinary Magic!! cool
Devon Monk’s series is next up on my GA To Be Listened to list!
Found GA with the Innkeeper Series – so so good! Now also highly recommend KFBreene’s Demon Days Vampire Nights – great cast and funny – 3 so far and more to come. Cat and Bones from Jeanine Frost also excellent!! Currently 6 books into the Eileen Wilk’s World of the Lupi series and loving it!
I love the Graphic Audio adaptation of Devon Monk’s Ordinary Magic series. It cracks me up a lot when I listen to it. I’ve also been listening to the KF Breene ones as they come out, it’s been quite awhile since I read the first books in the series so it feels almost new.
I didn’t really get into the Ordinary Magic series books (I tried!). But the GA version of Souls of the Road Devon Monk series had me hooked. (After the Clean Sweep of course).
I am not an audio book person in general so the GA books on tape have been a huge win
Thanks for the Q&A, I really enjoyed it! Like many of the BDH, I was new to GA, but have since become a huge fan!
Pure Rockstars, thank you so much for this post!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ohmilord. I’m so excited to enter this new world of GA I can’t even start. Afraid there will be no return from this.
l.s. but soooooo happy for the blind or visually impaired folk.
*p.s.
The Ordinary Magic series by Devon Monk is absolutely brilliant on GA. Recommend!!
Terrific article!
Ooooooh! Such interesting info!
Until now I didn’t think about Orro’s quills coming up could/should make a sound! Fascinating!
The BEST ever behind the scenes interview I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Graphic Audio’s adaptation of SotB was actually my introduction to audiobooks, and I am spoiled.
Regular one person narration seems flat and a bit sad by comparison. Looking forward to as many GA audiobook versions of IA books as possible (cough cough Iron and Magic cough).
After seeing this I went to GA to pre-order Magic Bites. Huh, I had already done that. But since I am here, let’s see what I missed. Magic Burns, WHAT, when was that added. To the cart it goes.
After the Kate Daniels series the KF Breene DDVN series is my second favorite now I have to buy both 🙂 THANKS for these interviews.
I love Graphic Audio it’s exciting to hear something you’ve read brought to life. I have all the Inn Keeper novels. They are wonderful to listen to. I also got the KF Breenes Demon Days and Vampire Nights so far and pre-ordered Magic Bites. You won’t be disappointed.
Thank you for the interview. I’m on the last book of the Demon Days, Vampire Nights series. I did audio on the first 3 and Kindle on the last 7. Now that I know they will be done through GA, I may get the full set of the graphic version. the Kate Daniels series will be bought as well.
So far out cool wonderful to have you guys come visit us! I have always said I’m a Reader, not a Listener, but GA’s Innkeeper has changed that fundamentally. Thank you so much for the recommendations…goin’ shopping now.
And I know I speak for all the BDH when I say “Yay! It’s Kate!” Can’t wait!
Fascinating insight, thank you.
Is there an international shop for Graphic audio with purchases available in different currencies please?
(Hoping for £)
Thanks in advance.
I’ve bought from the UK with no problem, the sum gets converted into £ automatically 🙂
Great. Will give it a go. Thank you.
My normal card has an international transaction fee I like to avoid.
That was really fun reading about their jobs. Thanks! I’ll definitely look at the various book suggestions made, too.
I’ve tried and tried to like audio books, but the cadence of the readers voice is different from the way I ‘hear’ the book when I read to myself, so I can’t settle into the story. Also, it sets my teeth on edge when a male reader does a ‘female’ falsetto. Don’t know why, it just lands wrong. Thus, I was dubious about Graphic Audio, but hopped onto their website to listen to their snippets, just in case it was something I could learn to enjoy -Frankly it was Amazing and I was hooked before the first snippet was over!!!
If you haven’t listened to the Innkeeper series on GA, you’re really missing out. It’s all of the excitement of a movie, with cool sound effects, incredible music, and the adaptation from book to audio movie-in-your-mind script is spot on. Dina sounds like Dina’s voice was lifted off the page, sweet tea and Southern gentility, and Sean sounds… like an Alpha Strain Werewolf -growling and sooo tempting, just the way Dina describes him. It’s easy to see why GA has won accolades and awards for their work; the Graphic Audio team delivers an amazing experience that is so enveloping that I found myself peeking around the corner to look at the TV because I forgot it was an audio experience. Congratulations to House Andrews and to Graphic audio for the well deserved recognition!
Now, I’m counting the days until the Kate Daniels series is available for purchase.
Oooh, this was a real treat! I’d also just finished listening to all available books in Graphic Audio’s adaptation of the Ordinary Magic series by Devon Monk (though the last book isn’t available on audio yet) and that was indeed a treat.
Has the preview/sample come out for this yet? I LOVE the original audio but interested in trying this. However I am extremely nervous. I was looking to see if I could find the sample but I cant find it so I was wondering if anyone else knows where it is?
Hi Juliana,
I’m not sure which series you mean, the Innkeeper Chronicles adaptations all have samples https://www.graphicaudio.net/our-productions/series/innkeeper-chronicles.html – they can be found on the individual pages, underneath the cover image.
The Kate Daniels adaptations are still in production, the earliest a sample will show up is probably late March 🙂
Loved this and the insight. Thank you. Graphic Audio is my favorite way to consume blood these days and I recommend it to everyone.
What was that about Tapas and new characters though??
The Tapas adaptation of Clean Sweep includes a new Sun Horde character, Alivar, created by ChrossxXxRodes, the writer who adapted Clean Sweep to comic book format ????. You can read an interview with her here https://ilona-andrews.com/2022/innkeeper-chronicles-comic-adaptation-writer-interview-with-chrossxxxrodes/
What a fun read! Thanks for that behind-the-scenes look at bring our beloved Innkeeper world to life at GA.
Nora,
I think you are safe from being devoured by the hoard, since you and Robert did such a lovely job! ???? ????
Would it be possible to include audio book and graphic audio book release dates to the Release schedule page of this website? This would be so helpful.
This was a great post with so much interesting information. The entire process sounds so interesting.
Thank you Mod-R.
So cool, this insight in the process! Thanks to all for sharing this with us!