Welcome to my audio TED talk, hehe. I’m going to answer some questions from yesterday’s comment section.
Graphic Audio is a separate company. We do not have any control over GA productions. They pay us money to license our work, meaning once they have it, they can do whatever they want with it, and all creative and business decisions are their own. We are consulted as a courtesy on book content questions and do our best to highlight the releases on the blog and that’s about it. We can’t really speak to their policies or their choice of narrators for different characters.
The traditional audio books (unabridged, with one or two narrators) produced by us or our publishers will not stop or be replaced by Graphic Audio dramatized adaptations.
Roman’s name is pronounced correctly in the audio sample shared yesterday. In the US, the name is associated with RO-man as in citizen in Rome. In Eastern Europe, it’s associated with romance, hehehe. Okay probably not really, but it’s pronounced as Ro-MUHN, emphasis on the second syllable. Here is a handy link.
He is a man of Russian descent. We do not mind how the readers pronounce it, but we don’t want confusion when it comes to the audiobook releases.
You do not want the whole novella in Russian accent. It might seem like a good idea, but trust me, you don’t. I’ve embarrassed myself and recorded a chunk for you with my less-than-stellar microphone – I was too lazy to go down to the office. I have an authentic Russian accent. I also can’t do the voices but this is a good illustration of why plain “American” is better for narration.
Like many of us who have a primary language different from our native language, Roman can choose to sound more or less American or Russian, and does so several times in the books.
Ilona, you can read to me anytime you’d like😎😎😎!
+1
listening to you made my day, which before now was a series of failures
that passage is probably my favorite and hearing you read it was the best.
I’m still pinching myself: we got a Roman serial?! that was not on my 2024 bingo card but it’s a very very welcome addition.
thank you.
hope the meh has passed.
I don’t have a “foreign” accent. the region I grew in has a strong regional accent that’s French/Finn/Canadian which we call “Yooper” (Upper Peninsula of Michigan).
I can speak standard Midwestern News Caster (MNC) and did but when I was in the Navy, I used to call my mom on Saturday mornings. My roommates would rush to be there when I did because my accent just fascinated them. They didn’t know what I was saying but it sounded so cool. We did the same for my southern roommate. She also normally spoke MNC but spoke “southern hills” to her family.
Accents are a funny thing.
they didn’t know what you were saying?!! it’s that hard to figure out, huh. gonna look for someone speaking Yooper on Youtube
Yooper has a lot of odd phrasing and rhythms to go with the accent, which can be thick.
Sorry I meant to say odd phrasing and rhythms compared to Midwest News Caster. Important qualifier left out of my original comment.
I’m from Virginia but live in The Netherlands (and have for 19 years now). You can’t speak Dutch with a southern accent, so I’ve mostly phased it out over the years. Except when I’ve been drinking. I have a Dutch friend who would feed me wine in an attempt to get me to “speak southern”.
+1
Such brilliant nagging! Thoroughly enjoyed the scene!
I love your voice. and your accent, it’s sooo you. I need to listen better (in a silent room) but it made me laugh that your Roman to my ears sound like Ramon.
+100
Yoo hoo, I’m #1! I know it doesn’t mean anything but it sure is fun to be 1st.
I don’t get it – what is the problem with the reading in the Russian accent?
Or is it something I won’t get because my first language is German and for a native speaker listening to English with an accent is way more interruptive?
Towards door number 2, but both native and non-native speakers can struggle with a strong foreign accent 🙂
It’s a more complex matter, but it does boil down to clarity, intelligibility and expectations.
The focus should be on the content and emotion, not trying to process what the characters even said. If someone is listening to the English audiobook with a beginner level of English (been there!) it can become impenetrable and confusing.
People also have very different ideas of what “Insert Foreign accent” sounds like, based on favorite media, other audio books, someone they know from various regions and let’s face it, stereotypes. Have a listen to a few Russian mafia romances samples, and you’ll see how much the accent can go from Count von Count “I vant to zrink your vadcah” to something more authentic. It would never please everyone, and would irritate some subjectively, so a subtle accent is the intended choice 🙂
I had to watch the British movie “Truly, Madly, Deeply” twice to get a lot of what they were saying because of the accents. I remember thinking, “They are speaking English which is my native language! Why can’t I understand them?”
Same thing visiting my cousin in New Orleans from the Pacific Northwest. It takes me a couple of days to catch the rhythm of how people speak there.
That sounds like me years ago with Monty Python movies. Between the fast speech, accent, and low volume (they always seemed to mumble) I only got a quarter of the jokes maybe. I really need to rewatch them with closed captioning turned on.
I encountered the same issue watching Finnegans Wake. I had to watch it three times before my brain could assimilate the dialect.
Reminds me of when I moved from Canada to Louisiana. Technically the same language but even months later there were times I’d have to get locals to repeat themselves.
I love Louisiana. I went to college there. But in the early mornings, I had to tell one of my best friends to talk to me after a cup of coffee because my brain couldn’t translate her Cajun.
So are House Andrews’ audio books only done in English, or are there also non-English versions? Ilona has shown the French versions of some of the book covers, but I don’t remember if she ever talked about non-English versions of audio books.
Foreign publishers buy the rights and then get the books translated and published in as many formats as they choose.
So yes, there are foreign-language audiobooks, but like any translation, they are not controlled or produced by the authors- only local publishers from the respective country.
I watched “The Commitments” (Irish film) once with a friend. I had to translate for her from the thick Dublin accents…
Thank you for your explanation 🙂
I didn’t have any trouble understanding what was said but I did have some difficulty understanding who was saying what but I think that’s because most people have a limited range of voice change. I mostly figured out when it was spoken words over non spoken words and got the gheist of Roman and his mom but once other characters were introduced it got harder to distinguish who was speaking
although I did love the sample clip
Oooo! Funny once, funny twice, funny always! (With apologies to the late Robert Heinlien.)
I can see that a whole lot of Russian accent would be a bit harder to deal with, though I suspect we’d all get better at understanding it as the story went along. That said, Evdokia’s speech was great fun. I now know what it should sound like anyway. Such inspired nagging – I am in awe!
Thank you for the answers.
I loved your narration Ilona (please feel free to do more!) but I do agree that it’s a bit much if the whole book was in the accent. 😘
for those who think they want a whole book in a Slavic accent, may I suggest they listen to a sample of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted?
The rhythm was different for sure but easy to pick up. The vast majority of complaints on the audible reviews were about the narrator’s accent. it was clearly off-putting to many listeners. I liked it, but I love hearing how people talk.
You are hilarious! Thanks so much for taking time to do this – a bit of mid-week fun.
Neat! I actually really enjoyed your reading, Ilona. I do agree that for a full book, it would be tougher to follow. I love reading your blog because while I never know what will turn up, it’s bound to make me smile, or think, or laugh.
I can understand not wanting to do a whole book with a Russian accent.
However, Evdokia’s rant at Roman with the Russian accent makes it even more hilarious.
Ilona, take a bow! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
+1
Yes, I love Evdokia’s rant with Ilona’s accent!
+1000!
Love hearing “Evdokia” in Ilona’s voice
Totally made my day!
“I have herbs for that!” Ilona, you do Roman’s mother wonderfully well. That said, I do like the voice from the previous post quite well.
+1! Yes, Ilona was great as Evdokia.
Ilona, you are a person of many talents! I loved your snippet!
The tirade in front of Finn is amazing lol. I actually laughed out loud. haha.
Thanks Ilona!!
Thank you for answering my question from the previous post, the ro-MAHN pronounciation took me by surprise.
I think I could adapt to the Russian accent narration!
House Andrews do periodical video Q&As, usually around book releases. At reader request, I do transcripts- it’s primarily for those with accessibility issues, although I can show you plenty of comments that say they only understood something once they read it.
I do use a voice to text tool and we have tried captions before, and I know it’s not exactly the same thing, but it’s a good gauge: they render Gordon’s native speech with about 95% accuracy. For Ilona and me, both non-native speakers, both with accents- it gets maybe 60%, being generous.
It processes what we say into something like this:
“Basically they attacked is made where kids disappears and they don’t want him to go after her. Mona staring apart, the door very big. You are bad, no worries that’re paying. It will be in in a Geanie book rather than a Cajun current book. But majority of people of staff members don’t know. However, there’s a great deal of people that have been trained by killing, and a lot of them.”
Yes, you could put that labor on the reader, demand that they adapt their ear to the accent and the rhythm for the few hours it takes to listen to the book- but you run the risk they won’t be able to or find it worth it 🙂
As a professional, I was encouraged to use a speech to text program designed for medical personnel, to dictact my surgeries while performing the said surgery. I won’t name names, because improvement has been made in the intervening 20 years, but it was a hilarious bumble. I generally don’t have a heavy accent, but the program thought I did. I got SO frustrated with the blooming thing. try wearing a headset with mic boom under a surgery mask, while performing an abdominal surgery and dictating every step of the surgery including description of the lesions and internal organs, but being interrupted every other sentence by the anesthetist/computer operator because the program inserted some weird phrase completely unrelated and unlike anything i had spoken. but I can say that it got every curse word correct no matter how raw rank or raunchy, nor even if it was from the 1700s or 1800s, or even French, or Spanish. my boss thought i was being resistant to modernization (which was absurd as I usually love technology) , until her go-round in the surgery suite! Ha! Then we got a hilarious education in the varieties of foul mouthed trulls that worked in the practice…
weeks later, we finally got to laugh ourselves silly after the anesthetist put together a “all time greatest list of curses from the surgery room” and played it during one of our staffing lunches… WOW!
to this day I bust out laughing when someone mentions that I could dictate something to a computer… though the same name brand software’s smartphone app is actually pretty good…now…
I think what makes your transcripts so great is that you also add links to the references made in the conversation. I imagine that they’re a lot of work to do, and it’s greatly appreciated. I am one of those people that said, “ahh, I totally missed that during the event” after reading the transcript. Thank you!
Text-to-speech ‘gets’ native English speakers, too — it doesn’t expect us to have much variation in our accent. Unfortunately for me, my mother was from Tennessee and my father from Alaska, and I spent the first couple of years of childhood moving between pretty extreme accents before landing in the California Bay Area. Add in almost a decade in the Pacific Northwest, and I was already rocking an accent that confused most processing programs. Now add in almost two decades on the East coast and a decade of marriage to an Australian, and most text-to-speech nopes out on me after two or three sentences. …which is obnoxious, given I need it for accessibility reasons. But it actually takes me more time to correct text-to-speech programs than it does to just slowly, slowly type things on my own.
I use one too, I think half the battle is training the thing to understand what you are saying. I’ll take that fight over the alternative of having to use my hands when they aren’t up to the task but boy does it get frustrating. 😞
I understand why for marketing reasons you would want as unaccented English as possible for mass consumption. Personally, I loved your narration. I was having kind of a crummy day but now I can’t stop smiling it was so delightful. Maybe if Graphic Audio picks it up we will get some Russian accents. I think I am going to relisten to some Kate Daniels to see if the witch oracle spoke in a Russian accent when Kate met her.
Born and raised in St. Louis, currently living in Chicago, I have a very midwestern voice and ear.
I LOVED this in the Russian accent. So much better than hearing it in my head in my own accent.
I didn’t have any problems with you accent, Ilona. But then my mother immigrated from Germany as a young woman and still has a noticeable accent even after 60 years in the US and I am used to listening to her accent.
Actually, I like it better with your accent and would probably like the audio book better with Roman having accent – the American accent took away slightly from my immersion.
You make a great ‘Evdokia’, if the books are ever made into dramatic plays. I have trouble listening to the audios, I can’t get my head around some of the accents. If I listen to audios as I prefer the ‘ English’ accent i.e The Hobbit read by Martin Shaw, he is an English actor but I also have Lord of the Rings, BBC productions that was done for radio way back when, as Ian Holme voices Frodo.
Well, the books *are* being dramatized into audio plays by Graphic Audio https://www.graphicaudiointernational.net/our-productions/series/k-r/kate-daniels.html Magic Slays, where we hear Evdokia extensively, is set for release on April 4th- Ilona doesn’t voice her, sadly, but I agree, she would be the perfect casting 🙂
I agree with you about casting Ilona as Evdokia. Even the cadence of the rant, along with the accent, had me picturing Evdokia raising a fist or a knitting needle in the air as she’s going after him in raven form. It’s great!
We must call them immediately and request they cast Ilona.
I absolutely ADORE listening to the author read their own work. Knowing exactly how it sounds in their head is so satisfying, and it’s utterly perfect with her accent.
I don’t think she made the point she intended to make
/lol
I loved the narration! This part was the best and I was giggling like a loon.
Thanks for the rationale regarding the accent. And thanks for clip – I especially enjoyed you reading his mother’s part, because I’m guessing that’s what she sound like, so it made me laugh out loud to hear her nagging her poor son!
I’m beyond happy that there will be a Graphic Audio release of Roman’s novella. GA really do live up to their promise to create “a movie in your mind.”
Hi Claudia, this was not an announcement that there will be a Roman Graphic Audio adaptation. The two answers are separate 🙂 . They might purchase the adaptation rights at some point in the future, but there is no intention as of now.
We don’t know yet how long Roman’s Sanctuary adventures will be, so even the “novella” part is in the air for now. There will be a traditional audiobook produced by House andrews, with narrator Chris Brinkley (who you can hear in yesterday’s post doing a cold read https://www.graphicaudiointernational.net/our-productions/series/k-r/kate-daniels.html).
“I have herbs for that!” So much more hilarious when heard read by Ilona! Nothing like having your mother give you too much information as well as behavior criticism. Brings back cringe-worthy memories from decades ago! Don’t talk so loud, you are bossy, why didn’t you have more kids? I was past child-bearing age by then. Ah memories, I can smile about them now!
Yes, I wish I could go back and tell my 30-40 yo self how I would look back with humor and affection on my always-in-hot-pink, sequined and Beadazzled mother’s perpetual comments about my drab clothing choices. 🙂
My Mom also lectured me on posture. “Stand up straight or you will be stoop shouldered like me” I am sure she heard similar comments Grandma. I try to do better with my daughter but sometimes I do hear my mother when I talk! Life, it happens.
Standing up straight is good advice! How you present yourself counts more and more the older you get. Slouching in a job interview is not a good look. Plus it actually impacts your balance as you age, if your spine is not in the “ neutral” position. Just my opinion, of course!
True. I did listen and at 70 I am not stoop shouldered! I also exercise more than Mom did and try to walk every day. If you don’t use it you will lose it!
Fascinating; something else I’d never considered.
My lazy brain finds it easier to follow Chris’s accent, but I LOVED Ilona’s excerpt, and she’s now Evdokia’s canonical voice in my head!
Love Ilona s reading!
Thank you
I prefer when the main character at least vaguely sounds like they’re from the background the story says they are. Which I wouldn’t have realized except I am LOVING the GA Innkeeper’s Dina. My in head narrator voice lost the southern accent pretty quickly and I didn’t know it. I get why you don’t want to alienate non native speakers who are new to the series, though. So I support HA regardless!
Memories of my Baba, listening to your recording.
Man in my life says you remind him of a better Natasha. Of Boris and Natasha fame. I called him a Philistine!
If anyone needs to cast or re-cast the voice of Edvokia, I nominate Ilona for that! You were the perfect Russian mother voice! 😁
i … don’t get the RO-muhn or ro-MUHN examples. it sounded like RAh-muhn (Ramón?) or Ramen like the noodle thing… so everytime i heard his name in the sample it made me think Spanish rather than Russian!
to be fair I was expecting the ro-mun sound like a dude from Rome 🤔
Even though my primary language is english, I am from the Caribbean and used to I get told my accent was too thick to understand. It actually got me a bad score on a secret quality review when I worked at a bank almost 20 yrs ago. I learned how to Americanise my accent when dealing with customers since then. I can tone it up or down as needed now too. So I understand why the book will be in American english. Also not everyone is used to different accents and it can be hard to adjust. My husband said it took him almost a 3 years to follow a conversation between my family even though we spoke English the entire time. He said it was worse if we had friends from other islands over too, he would just get lost and have to smile and nod.
Oh thank you for that! Flash backs to my Italian mother-in-law calling and leaving messages on our old answer machine. Yes, she would yell at her son because we weren’t home when she wanted us to be.
Oh my God, I absolutely would pay to hear the whole book in your voice, but also you’ve got a day job I wouldn’t want to interrupt. In any case, thank you so much for choosing Roman’s mom for your sample!
Ilona, your reading was a million times better than the male’s.
My mind is kind of blown at the pronunciation! I never knew that and this will definitely change how I pronounce it in my head when I read it going forward.
And, Ilona, you can read anything to us. I absolutely love your accent.
But…but…I LOVE your audio clip!!
My accent is standard West Coast American.
I have never noticed having much problem with understanding other people who were speaking English, however thick the accent – but I think that’s something that runs in my family. I have been known to ask them to speak more slowly if I was trying to have a conversation with them, or sometimes more loudly.
You’ve made excellent voice choices for your audiobook versions. I’m looking forward to buying Sanctuary when it’s published in both ebook and audio versions.
This was wonderful! I’ve finally heard an audio I like.
Speaking for myself, I LOVED the Russian accent and would pay money to have the novella in a Russian accent (or at least the parts where people should have a Russian accent). 🙂
Agreed, 100%
Dare I say I LOVE it in you accent? Because I do!! I think you should voice Evdokia
I remember Kate mentioning to Roman in Magic Triumphs that his Russian accent disappears when he’s mad.
Yes, when he flirts with Andrea in Gunmetal Magic his accent goes bye bye too 😉.
I think he’s mostly playing to appearances- people want the “Black Priest of the Slavic God of Evil” act, and he delivers because it’s in his advantage.
Ilona, you made my day! Cracked me up, hearing you read that section was perfect! Thank you so much for the delightful surprise!😁🥰💜
Wait? I always thought he was born and raised in Atlanta given how large his family is and how difficult post-shift overseas travel is.
Yes, Roman was born and raised in the US, which is why he can speak in a perfect American accent when he wants 🙂.
He was raised in a family and works in a community of immigrants, who spoke their native language, which is the reality for many first generation children. Hence primary language vs (literally) mother tongue. He can speak Russian and have a Russian accent too.
This code switching was described in the books several times 🙂.
that code swotch is what had one of my music teachers in fits of laughter in the phone as I spoke to him in my normal English accent, and then to my mother in Tamil, and then to hey in English with a Tamil accent (for the words I didn’t know in Tamil, then back to him in English. weirdly I can’t put on a tamil accent in English deliberately. it’s only if I’m speaking to someone and am going to speak tamil to them that I do it😆
Yeah he’s of Russian descent. But children learn language from parents so accents can be picked up.
My oldest son has a slight Trinidadian accent, even though he was born in New Jersey spent time in Japan, and North Carolina. My accent is stronger at home. My mother is his favorite person so he spoke to her daily and sounds like us. His siblings have more American accents but there are words that they pronounce like a Caribbean person.
My dad had somewhat of a German accent since his parents came from Germany before WWII broke out. They spoke German at home, and English when they went out.
It was always fascinating to hear one of their really good friends who had a thick German accent speaking in English.
I use to have a Midwestern accent when I was young. However, my mom trained it out of me because I started singing in a choir. She told me to hold my nose and speak. After doing that a bunch of times, no more accent for me. If I try to get an accent, it literally hurts my nose.
Ilona, the pronunciation of Roman’s name sounds much more natural with your lovely accent than it does coming from the American accent. 🙂
It’s bound to 🙂.
I would like to remind everyone that the sample we had yesterday is a cold reading- the narrator has had very basic explanations for the purpose of the audition and will get further voice clips and instructions for the final product 🙂.
Not the herbs for equipment trouble 🤣🤣
ok Can we have an Ilona reading hour? It is everything I never knew I wanted.
I support this idea!
Hahaha “I have herbs for that!”
ok, I will rebut your statement about a narrative being in plain American English… one of my favorite audiobook narratives is Julia Emelin’s reading of Uprooted by Naomi Novak. I do not claim to know if her accent is actually Russian or to what degree or ethnicity of Eastern European her narration is flavored with. I loved it. Her accent enriched the production for me. on the other hand, while we don’t know how long Roman has resided in the US, I haven’t pictured him with a thick accent, mainly because his military service trips my brain up when my head starts providing a voice to my reading.
I loved your recording, BTW…
Roman is born and raised in the US- his accent canonically comes and goes and can be entirely forgotten when he wants to 😉
That clip made my day. I understand why you don’t want the whole book in that accent. For this clip it was fabulous though. Of course you picked a great scene for it, but it was wonderful any way you listen.
Love the reading!
Thank you.
❤️
I just don’t think there’s a better blog in the universe. 😀 Ilona’s reading was perfect as Evdokia.
I love hearing you read the snippet! But I agree that it would be difficult to listen to any audiobook read in a strong accent.
In Gunmetal Magic Andrea says about Roman, “I also remembered him having a Russian accent. Not a big one, but now he was talking like he’d been born and raised in Atlanta.” Then later in the book: “’Kompletely profeshonal,’Roman said, turning the Russian accent back on.” So you’ve made it very clear in the books that his accent is a tool he uses!
I personally like the accent…no?
Me too!
Thank you so much I really enjoy you reading it
OK, if we’re using a different pronunciation, then I will for one will not be listening to the audio version, but that’s fine; I will definitely read it with my eyeballs.
It didn’t take more than 10 seconds until I agreed with Mod R that a whole novel in an accent is overkill. Thanks for the demo! An audio clip is worth 1000 words. 😉
I quite enjoyed that.
I often go looking for non-American (midwest) accents in my audio. But I have an accent myself. Consider Gaiman. Consider Obama. Ok scratch that last, Obama’s voice is its own thing and it would work no matter the accent. I’m blanking on the name right now, but there’s a Jamaican voice that’s amazing out there too. I think it merely needs the right setting.
I understand why one would want a more…. neutral, white-bread accent when you’re selling a book. But it may be worthwhile to look into releasing accented versions of the audio. I would pay to buy that. I also understand that it probably isn’t worth the ROI, but you have the Horde. So please consider it.
For example, I bet you could purchase an accent filter (assuming your voice actor consents) instead of hiring two voice actors. The latter would be absolutely brilliant because accents impact pacing, and a filter can’t do that really (yet), but the former nice too. You have the BDH. please take our money, if it’s worth your time to do so.
My textbooks let me switch accents, and I have listened to an entire book on legislation and regulation, surviving it only because of the AI Irish accent. It was lovely. (Pandemic physical book shortage— forced many many shortcuts).
Yes, quite agree. Just a little accent is to be preferred. Thanks for the opportunity to critique the possible audio hehehe
I speak Russian, and I didn’t even think about proper Russian pronunciation for his name! I am chagrined!
This was perhaps not your intent, but the recorded snippet makes me ABSOLUTELY want a version recorded in a Russian accent.
(Or at least, the dialogue? …maybe, can we convince you to at least voice Roman’s mother? 😆 I would happily listen to you read the whole thing!)
yes Romans mother!
I am from the Adirondack region in NYS. When I went to college in DC with my friend from my hometown, everyone thought I was from Minnesota and she was from NYC. We laughed as the Southern accent was so different from home. Guys would asks you to dance, by saying “would you like to dance, Ma’am?” So polite!
Ok I didn’t want the whole novella in Russian accent before, but now I DO.
Sadly, I’m for the plain American voice for narration. I have great trouble hearing & understanding accents. It’s my failing, I know.
Took me a while to understand Ilona’s accent, and I basically knew what she was saying, so whilst lovely, I don’t want a Russian accent audio 🙂 I know it wasn’t happening.
I could never watch Overlander, as I couldn’t understand the Scottish accent of Jamie Fraser & friends.
Your voice is awesome, accent and all! I haven’t read any of the comments already posted, but I’m sure the rest of the BDH totally agrees.
What a hilarious except! I don’t it all in a Russian accent, but I had college professors with strong Arabic and German accents, so this didn’t seem difficult to listen to.
I really liked this reading :). So much.
Thank you.
I keep out of these discussions because I don’t like audiobooks. Never listen to them.
I just wanted to say I’m so glad to hear Ilona pronounces Roman the way I did.
Also I’m stunned at how Evdokia is pronounced.
The thing about this is – why would Roman even have an accent? He’s from Atlanta.
I’m Indian heritage but born in Europe so I of course have an English accent. Can I speak in a more Indian accent? Sure – but why would I? Of course there are certain words or even when speaking to certain family members I may use a more Indian intonation for them to follow better.
But whenever a Caucasian person compliments me on my ‘great accent’ or is surprised I sound as British if not more British then them it’s deeply offensive.
Roman can speak with a perfect American accent. He can speak with a Russian accent. It depends from situation to situation 🙂, as many immigrants or first generation he can code switch to find more acceptance in different contexts.
He was raised and works in a Russian-speaking community. You can imagine there is a different level of trust when you seek help, at your most desperate, and the person in power speaks in a familiar accent. And there are certain expectations when a big bad volhv of Chernobog crosses your path at midnight- expectations and appearances he thoroughly uses to his advantage 😉.
Oh, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the audio sample in your voice Ilona! Magnificent! And no, I don’t want the novella in a Russian accent. My mental “voice” for books I haven’t heard in audiobook format is very neutral, even if the book is set in England or the American South.
I’m just grateful as heck we’re getting a Roman (which I have been saying wrong) novella at all, whenever we get it. Take your time. Life comes first! ❤️
sorry I love that recording by you Ilona as the mother part of that conversation and the exasperation in your tone is 👌
Loved this passage, such a mother’s lament. I moved from South Dakota back to Indiana and when someone asked me where I was from I said I was local. He said no, you have a northern accent. Then I laughed and said South Dakota. Mom grew up in Wisconsin (I lived there too) and after watching the movie Fargo she laughed and dropped into her Wisconsin accent. I love regional accents, but they aren’t as common as they used to be.
I don’t know, I’m really enjoying listening to you reading the book in your Russian accent 🌻. I’m also happy that I now know how to pronounce Evdokia.
Not going to lie, that reading was the best. Thank you.
Oh, this was gorgeous *dreamy eyes* Honestly, it’s a privilege to just hear an English that isn’t American sometimes 😀 hehe. I realise I’m waaaaayyyy in the minority, but I would ADORE the audiobook sounding like this the whole way through <3
You have a beautiful voice!!! I didn’t mind the accent one bit. 😆
Okay, now I want you as the narrator.
Also, please don’t take it upon yourself to educate us from the blog’s comments. You have enough to do and we want you to have less stress and more “you” time.
Ilona. you do a great Russian mom accent. Sounds like you have had practice. Oh wait…
Hearing you read your book with your inflections was AWESOME.
Thank you for your Russian accent reading. The accent I heard every summer, listening to my Bubby aka grandmother. I am now the Bubby and tonight, at the table, I will tell stories about her. Thank you for touching my memories.
I honestly absolutely LOVED hearing you read that! You should totally do the voice for his mom all the time! ❤️❤️
Seconded. ❤️❤️❤️
Ilona, I love your reading voice. It reminds me of something my guitar/voice teacher said to me recently. Nobody can sing a song like the writer, who knows the song like no other.
I could listen to your Russian accent all day. I think it’s adorable. And kinda sexy.
OMG Ilona, that completely made my Friday morning. “The void is peace….” LOLOL Your characters are so incredibly HUMAN and relatable. I’m saving this clip for awhile. Thank you!
I have a really funny accent and even get asked by fellow Louisianans where I’m from. I grew up in the northern part of the state (& had a slight lisp as a kid, still have trouble with Rs), moved to east Texas where I lived for a few years after I got married, then moved to the southern part of Louisiana where I’ve lived for 3 decades. When I go anywhere, people say they love to hear me talk. I can make the “accent” heavier and usually will do it subconsciously when I’m nervous or mad. To make matters worse, I talk faster than most people where I live. My boss is always asking me to repeat myself.
Dear Miss Ilona, Thank you for the recording! While I do appreciate the narrators who’ve recorded for you, it was a truly wonderful experience to “hear” Evdokia with your voice.
Ilona, thank you for choosing to do the Evdokia scene for the reading sample…I love that scene and you made my day!
🥰💕💕
I loved listening to you read this, but I see your point. Still, though the dialogue is funny to begin with, hearing it in that accent really added to the guilt-tripping mama vibe. I have a strong southern accent myself, and I may have said something similar to my kid. Some stuff is just universal…
I thought your audio was fabulous! Now I want the whole book in a Russian accent!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😱
My goodness! You must read the Russian mother parts in the audio! I could see her there chiding Roman. TY!
…..I will say your accent with his mom’s lecture was awesome. XD
I love this! I actually think your Russian accent works really well for Evdokia. But since Roman switches back and forth between his American and Russian accent, either approach seems true to his character.
GA should totally cast Ilona as Evdokia. You may be too young, but you’ve got Russian grandmother nailed.
Thoroughly enjoyed the short read, thanks for sharing.
I love it! Your voice and accent are beautiful! Just like with any accent, for me, I do have to concentrate more, which is, I imagine, went you said am entire book read in a Russian accent could be problematic. Still beautiful though!
Hahaha! Hilarious!!
I love your Russian accent in this scene!!
I can see the point of having the audio done in a “neutral” American accent, though.
But now I’m going to hear your voice in my head whenever Evdokia speaks in the text!
Hearing you read made me think that his MOTHER should have your accent. Like we hear Jewish mothers and southern mothers, and northern mothers with a more pronounced accent. Just my 2c. LOL
I see I’m not the only one. LOLOL
Is anyone else loving that Ilona chose to read the scene with Yevdokia? It makes Yevdokia surpass the already awesome character she has become in my head!! 🤣🤣
Well you have a very beautiful voice !
omg your voice is awesome! send this to Graphic so you can do the mom. Also, I thought Roman only affected a Russian accent but had an American one when he was surprised or stressed?
Thank you for your recording, I was cackling out loud! But about Roman, I assumed he wouldn’t have a Russian accent as, to my knowledge, he was born in America, though I figured his mother would. I’m sure he would have a proper accent when speaking Russian, since that’s the way he would have learned it growing up. But I figured his normal voice would be some sort of Southern accent–or unaccented American English. Regardless, I’m happy to listen to anything, it’s the words that make the story after all. Keep up the brilliant work!
He does have a light Russian accent in the books- except when he decides not to 😉 . He can do either, American through and through or Russian accent
The Graphic Audio presentation of Charlaine Harris’s Gunny Rose books (at least the first two) has an awful accent for Eli. He’s supposed to be Russian, but sounds like he came out of Transylvania, like Dracula. It’s very annoying to listen to.
Like Dracula or like Mod R 😀
I actually always thought most of the Characters in the Kate Daniels books would sound Southern. Probably not Kate because of eclectic upbringing but many of the others. I never thought Roman was doing a Russian accent naturally. Always thought it was for show. I thought he was as Russian as your kids, meaning of Russian descent but US born and bred
I have several friends who grew up in Russia (university town) and some of them have thick accents even though they’ve been here for decades. Their kids have perfect English, perfect Russian, perfect French (where applicable). I think it’s really cool how growing up with a language changes how you speak it. They heard English here so they speak our sounds. They learned Russian and French (or Finnish or whatever) spoken by native speakers.
Of course Roman can do this.
I get it but I still love your voice and accent.
Graphic Audio needs to hire Ilona to voice Evdokia. I mean it. I have heard Russian mothers before (or at least Jewish mothers…I don’t know who got it from whom) and she would be perfect! “I was in labor with you for 48 hours…”
And it’s even funnier the second time. “Chernobog, grant me patience…” Roman’s unspoken prayer is hilarious. We’ve all been there.
Very interesting comments here on accents. I am firmly in the “Ilona is the perfect Evdokia” camp. I am a totally visual learner, though, and always read rather than listen. (Much faster, for one thing.)
I do have one request, if it should be feasible. I really like to be pronouncing names right in my head and was extremely interested to hear what is correct for Roman and Evdokia. Would it be possible to have a list somewhere, (blog, website, whatever) of pronunciation for proper names—both places and people? I have gathered that I am thinking both Saiman and Shinar wrong, but I don’t know what is right.
LOVE everything you write. Thank you.
I had the best laugh of my year so far (perhaps I need to get a life but I don’t think so)!!! I wouldn’t mind hearing Ilona read the WHOLE book! Thank you for the clip!!! ❤️
I actually really like it in your accent.
Oh that clip was delightful! But yes, no , a whole novella in an accent would be – stressful. Lovely. to hear Roman and Evdokia done right though.
Honestly enjoyed your small reading with your genuine Russian accent Ilona. Mind you, I’m a New Zealander and don’t always relate with some American voices.
Somehow, I expected a cackle at the very end of the audio clip….
lololol I guess they’ve already made it, but I hope GA’s Evdokia has exactly that accent!
Ilona did a wonderful job with her!
Also I like Ilona’s pronunciation of Roman better than the narrator’s – sounds more natural, a softer accent on the second syllable.
I know it was a cold read for the narrator, so maybe he’ll land on something similar for the real thing…
i think you read roman’s mother perfectly. and i could hear, very clearly, his exasperation with her in your reading.
and also i understand your point about the narrator using a mostly american english accent.
I absolutely loved your reading of that scene Ilona! Just like I imagined it!
And it had nothing to did with the bottle of Sangria I imbibed in with the beginning of my week of leave!
🤣
I thoroughly enjoyed the reading! Thank you!
I loved listening to you read!! So fun. Love every minute of it.
idk. i like the russian read. at least for the baba yaga bird. also my parents are from kiev so i might be biased
You guys are the best!
You know, sometimes when it makes sense, having a narrator with an accent can be really great.i loved it in Naomi Novik’s audio book Uprooted. It drew me further into the feel of the culture. I have expected Baba Yaga to jump out. Loved it. Though I suppose, an accent is not for everyone. I actually enjoyed yours😊
Accent not author
Fixed 🙂
I loved the audio of Uprooted too! I liked it from the start, but it really grew on me even more as I listened.
hahahaha I loved it so good more please. I’m getting the correct sounds of names yay
Ilona what a treat to hear you reading!! I love your voice.
Thank you so much for this Roman seriel, nothing I read makes me as happy as what I read from you guys, you’re the best!!!
So for a New Zealand based book I listened too, the narrator tried to do a kiwi accent, it was atrocious! Ruined the story. The accent ended up sounding like a cross of an east london cockney accent, Irish and moments of other accents. I couldn’t Understand why the narrator didn’t just use a mild American accent. Nor how the author didn’t realise how bad it was.
Definitely perfect evdokia exasperated mom came through loud and clear!!! lol loved hearing you read an excerpt it was like being present at a convention or library read!!
I’ve enjoyed some Russian accented audio books. but I’ve also consumed some rough Russian related cadence. Violence. I think it could be done and enjoyed!
Honestly I prefer you reading it. My brain likes it better somehow.
I understand what you say about having the whole text read with a Russian accent. But even so I really enjoyed the excerpt—hearing it in your voice with the exact right emotions and timing, and hearing the correct pronunciation of names, was a real treat. Thank you!
I’m not quite sure why, but the accent sounded almost familiar. I think I heard similar accents growing up, and then later in my life as well. I associate it with nice people. Thank you, Ilona.
You made me laugh out loud with your amazing reading! I needed a real laugh so badly.
I’m in the hospital rehydrating after a horrible four days on a hard bathroom tile floor. if you want the gory details for a horror scene, feel free to email. quite the ordeal with amazing survival skills.
So happy you’re getting care, Joy! I hope the worst is behind you!
Awww, thank you for the recording! 🥰
I’m sorry Ilona I don’t quite think this voice over is going to have the effect you wanted.
Ilona!!! please read all of Evdokias parts. that was brilliant and just as I imagined it.
Again again!!!
confession – I really liked the recording and the russian accent
The audio clip is really interesting, as to me (UK based) you sound American with a faint hint of Russian, and quite different from Russian ex-pats based on this side of the pond! I also have a longstanding acquaintance, a refugee from Eastern Europe, who has been here since the 1940s, he is now in his 90s, and whose name is very definitely ROman… Language and its variations are fascinating! Roman’s accent is still so thick you’d think he came here last week!
“Eastern Europe” is also a pretty big place, and although several of the languages spoken in the area have a Slavic basis or influence, there are numerous and strong differences 🙂
Hungarian is closer to Finnish than any other language of a surrounding country. Macedonian and Serbian have similarities to Greek, but they’re also close to Bulgarian and Albanian. Romanian is strongly Latin, and so on.
If your Roman’s experience of being an Eastern European immigrant in the UK was anything like mine, he’s probably doing his best 🙂
Thank you for the Russian accented reading. Now I will hear it in my head.
First of all, listening to another’s expressions of emotion is akin to adapting his or her view of the book. Sometimes it is better to hear a robot and be forced to imaging things yourself.
In second place it is unbeliavable pleasure to hear great actors to read the book, but hard truth is that great actors are aspired to make movies or play in theather, not reading books. So you automatically encounter the second type of freshness.(and freshness can be only one – the first one…)
And at last, the third, the AI technology without the doubt will progress in the future and if someone don’t like it today – tomorrow he cannot tell the difference.
Seriously, the whole thing remind me of arguments why we must read paper books instead of digital – because they smell like mouse’s shit and it comforting somehow…
Now in this clip RoMAHN sounds right. It fits the voice and accent.
I’m hard of hearing and I can’t understand heavy accents. I started the Rivers of London audiobook but had to abandon it as I couldn’t understand 25% of what was being said.
I like the Russian accent. I liked how Kate Daniel’s Rennee Raudman did Roman’s voice. lol. I know she’s not creating anymore but she had a very good voice. As long as the new narrator uses some Russian accents ?