Welcome to author Joe Cosentino, who’s joining us today to celebrate the release of his new audiobook, Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, with an interview with narrator Chase Johnson.
An Audiobook Narrator Takes You to the Beach
I was quite fortunate to have popular audiobook performer Chase Johnson perform the audiobook of my e-book/paperback Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, the first Cozzi Cove novel, published by NineStar Press (TBR Pile Book of the Month/Rainbow Award Honorable Mention). To celebrate the audiobook release, I interviewed the captivating Chase who has one of the sexiest voices in audio books, and here’s what I found out.
Enjoy!
Chase, what got you started as an audiobook performer/producer?
This will sound a bit absurd, but it was being locked on a mall rooftop during a hot August day.
Sounds kinky.
Not exactly. I had gotten a job fixing air conditioners.
Cool. No pun intended.
Actually, I hated the job. One day I got a call to fix a blown capacitor (battery) for a pizza place at a mall. After finishing the job, I tried to leave the roof, but the roof hatch was locked. I was stuck up there for two hours. So, I reflected on my life, recalling back to better days doing theatre in high school. Right there, I decided to get back to performing. As soon as I got off the roof, I bought a microphone and eventually wound up doing audio books.
I love a happy ending. Where do you record your audio books?
In my home studio office.
In doing the audiobook for Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back during the winter, how did you key into the New Jersey Shore in the summer?
One of the benefits of living in Florida is our winter is most people’s summer. It wasn’t hard for me to picture an idyllic place cut off from the rest of the world. Someplace like Cozzi Cove.
That’s my favorite thing about writing the series, visiting that gorgeous paradise in my head over and over again. What attracted you to Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, which received a Rainbow Award Honorable Mention (shameless plug)?
Most of my prior work in audio books in the romance genre explored a single relationship, but this book included a diverse group of really interesting characters in various stages of their personal, professional, and romantic lives. I found that unusual and captivating.
TThat’s one of my frustrations about the genre. Though I love it, I see a great deal of repetition in terms of the boy meets boy plotline. I was thrilled when readers said Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back made them, laugh, cry, feel romantic, gasp in surprise, and feel as if they had taken a wonderful beach vacation. How did you connect with the humor, romance, drama, plot twists and turns, and shocking surprises in Cozzi Cove, a place where nothing is what it seems at first glance and anything is possible?
Quite well actually. The characters’ lives connected with mine in a number of ways. For example, Arthur’s (the computer game designer) clumsiness around others, Sean’s (romance novelist) self-inflicted isolation before falling in love, and Chuck (porn star) wanting to make more of his life all resonated clearly with me.
A reviewer called Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back a gay Fantasy Island. Do you see the similarities?
I have to admit I’ve never seen Fantasy Island.
Oops. I’m showing my age. And my unsophisticated taste in television. How did you come up with the diverse and entertaining voices for the approximately twenty characters’ voices in the novel, some quite eccentric?
One person at a time. I delved into their history, physique, and psyche, and then envisioned how each would sound. For example, Arthur and Chuck are both large, strong men. However, Arthur is shy and doesn’t handle social interaction. Chuck has some bravado. So they might sound a bit similar, but how they speak and interact with others make each of them sound unique.
This might be like asking someone to pick a favorite child (though my mother would have no trouble picking my sister-smile), which was your favorite character to perform in this audio book?
It’s a hard call between Tim and Cal. Tim, as a fellow actor, was a lot of fun to explore. Cal’s complexity and back story as a character gave me a lot to work with in playing him.
Which character was the most challenging to perform?
Mark Canopy without question. I won’t say why as to not spoil a big plot twist in the book.
I appreciate that. Thank you for doing such a great job performing this audio book, Chase. It sounds like you’ve joined the fans of the four (with one on the way) Cozzi Cove novels.
I’m hooked, and certainly looking forward to the next one.
That’s the word from the gifted and talented Chase Johnson. So, grab your Speedos, shades, and suntan lotion and listen to the terrific audiobook of Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, by me, performed by Chase Johnson, and published by NineStar Press. Cal Cozzi has a special bungalow on the cove waiting just for you!
About the Book
On Cozzi Cove at the New Jersey shore, handsome Cal Cozzi’s seven bungalows are open for summer and love. Mario and Harold are brothers and college students who happen to look alike, but couldn’t be more different: Mario is searching for love, and Harold is searching for lust. Josh and Greg, a wealthy older couple, are matchmakers for their son, Christopher. When it comes to Connor, the maid, packed with muscles and a roving sponge, anything can happen. Opposites attract as wild Tim with the secret past meets shy Mark, and porn star Chuck Caliber connects with Sean, a virgin romance novelist. And what will happen when computer-game designer Arthur has a midnight sea rendezvous with a merman? Even married Cal faces an emotional upheaval when a gay bashing turns into something quite unexpected. What secrets and passions lie in magical Cozzi Cove?
Buy the Audio: Amazon || Audible || iTunes
Bestselling author Joe Cosentino was voted Favorite LGBT Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Author of the Year by the readers of Divine Magazine for Drama Queen. He also wrote the other novels in the Nicky and Noah mystery series: Drama Muscle, Drama Cruise (Lethe Press), Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle; the Dreamspinner Press novellas: In My Heart/An Infatuation & A Shooting Star, A Home for the Holidays, The Perfect Gift, The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland, The Perfect Gift; the Cozzi Cove series: Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, Cozzi Cove: Moving Forward, Cozzi Cove: Stepping Out, Cozzi Cove: New Beginnings (NineStar Press); and the Jana Lane mysteries: Paper Doll, Porcelain Doll, Satin Doll, China Doll, Rag Doll (The Wild Rose Press). He has appeared in principal acting roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Holland Taylor, and Jason Robards. Joe is currently Chair of the Department/Professor at a college in upstate New York, and is happily married. Joe was voted 2nd Place Favorite LGBT Author of the Year in Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Awards, and his books have received numerous Favorite Book of the Month Awards and Rainbow Award Honorable Mentions.