A Refreshing Surprise

I finally got to hear the American audio version of my book, Sebastian Darke: Prince Of Fools. It's on 7 CD's and is read by the actor Maxwell Caulfield. (Film buffs will remember his debut role in the film Grease 2 and I was rather fond of a little movie he made called The Boys next Door. He's had quite a few successes on Broadway too).

I have to make a confession here. I anticipated the worst. I really did. No offence to Mr Caulfield, but I fully expected him to have an American accent; and to my mind, that would have been an absolute disaster. Now, I don't know what kind of inbuilt conceit makes us Brits think that a book with a medieval setting should be read in a classic English accent, but think it we do, and think it I did, despite the fact that the book isn't even set in England! I wandered dismally around, muttering darkly about how the Americans would 'probably murder my book' and so forth.

So imagine my delight, when I slipped the first disk into my CD player and was regaled by a voice that sounded every bit as British as afternoon tea on the lawn. Not only that, but Mr Caulfield has given Max a voice that is full of character, King Septimus sounds as oily and malevolent as he should, and even giving Cornelius a West Country burr was all right by me. In short, Mr Caulfield has done me proud.

 

So I'd like to take the opportunity to thank him for his sterling work and to express the hope that he will apply his considerable talents to the other Sebastian Darke books.