In case you don’t know by now, Deviations: Submission has recently been released in audio!
Chris Owen and I took our search for the right narrator for these books very seriously. It was important to us that we get the right voices not only for Dominant Tobias and his sub, Noah, but also for Phan, Bradford, and Nikki, too. We listened to twelve voice actor auditions and then asked two of those men to do another small audition for us. We were so excited to be able to bring Maxx 
onto the project. Not only is he talented, but he’s great to work with. Those of you who have listened to the book know what I mean. If you haven’t, go listen to the excerpt here.
So to introduce you to Maxx, I asked a bunch of superfans over at the fan-led Facebook Group, Tobias Vincent’s Deviants, to give me some questions for him. Below are those questions, put together in a little interview format.
Enjoy!
1. How many read-throughs do you do before you do your final edit?
Maxx: It’s usually about a 3-1 ratio. So if the book is 1 hour long, it takes me about 3 hours to complete it to where it’s ready for publishing to Audible.
2. How long does it take to get each character right in your head for it?
Maxx: That’s a tough one. Some are easy. Tobias, was right away. Ironically it’s the exact same voice I use for my guided meditation sessions clients. I’m not sure what that says about how people out there are relaxing! Some take a long time to get right.
3. How do you keep track of what voice you use for each character, such as ones that only show up for a few lines in each book?
Maxx: Once you get it, you keep a short clip of that voice recorded somewhere like a phone or tablet, then refer back to it as needed
4. Is it difficult to voice a female character without sounding like a caricature?
Maxx: Yes! I try to use more inflection, rather than changing the pitch of my voice entirely, because that usually ends up sounding fake
5. Have you ever done a story with so many characters that the voices got confusing?
Maxx: Yes! I did a space drama where there were about 25 characters, none of them Human. It became a real chore to refer back to each one. That’s where my technique about keeping short audio clips of each was priceless
6. Has poor editing on the manuscript led to odd errors when you’re narrating?
Maxx: Yes! As someone with a degree in Journalism it always trips me up because I notice each and every error. Sometimes you just have to turn that part of your brain off and read it as written.
7. What’s the oddest named character you’ve had to try to pronounce?
Maxx: Ornagi. One of the aliens from the book I mentioned above. I wasn’t sure which letters were soft or silent. In the end I just made a choice and the author liked it
8. Have you ever had to narrate a story that you just didn’t enjoy? Did that make it harder to complete the project?
Maxx: Yes I have read stories I didn’t enjoy. It wasn’t any harder thought. As a professional I approach each book the same way, regardless of the subject matter or my personal tastes.
9. Have you ever loved a story so much that the narration was truly enjoyable and you didn’t want the story to end?
Maxx: All the time. Just like when you are reading for pleasure, you get attached to the characters. Sometimes, I find myself “thinking” in the character’s voice. It’s a very weird sensation, I can only equate to maybe mastering a foreign language? So, if you get fluent enough in Spanish for instance, eventually you’ll start reading silently with your own voice in your head in Spanish. Same thing happens to me with character voices!
10. When you’re working on a long project do you find yourself thinking in the voices of the characters?
Maxx: Oh, I see I just answered this LOL. Yes!
Interested in talking about the Deviations books? The men? The lifestyle?
LOVE BYTES SAME SEX BOOK REVIEWS gave Deviations: Submission 4.5 hearts! Vicki said, 
Y BOOK REVIEWS published a 5+ “quickie” review yesterday of the Deviations Series re-release! It came as a complete surprise to me and I’m so excited! They said, “
