Fearful yet fearless - I hope - I'm flying out from Exeter tomorrow and will arrive in Dublin by lunchtime. I am excited to see friends I've made and friends I have yet to make. Steven Erikson is going, as is George R R Martin! Oh my goodness! This will be such fun, sleep will be …
Author: R B Watkinson
I was born in The Netherlands, raised in Hertfordshire, and now live in Devon. I've lived in Africa and the Middle East – where my eldest of three was born. I've visited the Far East, much of Europe, and Scandinavia. I've worked in Paris and Copenhagen, both of which were a blast.
I was raised on mythologies, legends, and tales from all over the world as my professor father, Dr Jan Knappert, was a collector of ancestral tales, fairy stories, and creation myths. How could I not love fantasy as much as I do? However, I also love science fiction, horror, historical fiction, mysteries, thrillers, crime, and so very much more. It is all grist to the mill of creation, is it not?
In the past, I've worked as an editorial secretary, in special educational needs teaching, and in publishing. I now run a small-holding, am Co-Chair of a local amateur dramatic society, sing folk music with a local group, and work on the occasional film as an extra.
With the children grown, writing and narrating audiobooks is now my main occupation, and what great occupations they are - such fun.
I've written (and illustrated) a children's book, a play, screenplays, numerous poems, and short stories. The two published audiobooks I narrated are garnering great reviews. I've many more in the pipeline. After completing the Diploma in Creative Writing at Oxford University in 2011, after which I signed a three book deal for the Wefan Weaves Trilogy. Book one, The Cracked Amulet, was published in January 2016, and was long-listed for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award. A New York publisher released the audio version in February 2017.
Book two, The Fractured Portal, should be out very soon.
I write in the comfort of my own home – or any cafe with good coffee, preferably within a book shop. Even though I sometimes write into the small, quiet hours of the night, or am driven from bed before the sun rises by my drill sergeant muse, to create with words the worlds I’ve dreamed of is intoxicating.
I imagine the same can be said of any writer.
Narrating is exciting too. All those books I get to read, all those voices I get to create, all those performances I get to make. All I can say is that fifteen years of treading the boards as an actor was fairly good grounding for the business of audiobooks.
Wefan Weaves Trilogy has Fabulous New Covers
Are these new covers for my Wefan Weaves Trilogy not things of beauty? The wonderful designer/artist, Petya Tzankova created them, and I am in awe of her talent. They capture the essence of the three books perfectly. Petya has also designed the interior layout. Because of her excellence, the map now covers two pages. You …
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City of Kings by Rob J Hayes – Narrating an Audiobook
City of Kings was one mighty book to narrate: so many characters, so many accents, so much emotion and action. It inspired me, it exhausted me. Here's the blurb: War makes monsters and corpses of us all. For generations the blooded have ruled the Wilds, cultivating a lawless frontier and bleeding the good folk dry. …
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This Narrator is on a roll
I know, and I am very sorry, I have been incredibly lax in my blogging of late. However, I've had a huge amount on my plate and those that have followed my Facebook page know the full of it. That particular story is ongoing. Here and now, I am talking about my narrating journey. I …
FantasyCon 2018 Chester
What an intense, whirlwind of a weekend this was. As the date neared, I was seriously doubting my reasoning for putting myself up for so many panels, one of which I had to moderate for goodness sake! Neck deep already in writing and narrating, I had to mug up on subjects so I'd stand half …
Thinking
I just read a post from Bookwraiths, ‘Toxic Tuesday’, which I found very interesting. The political and social extremes that some people espouse is infringing on all aspects of our lives now, including in the world of books. The written word is a bastion where thoughts and ideas can be fully explored and accessed by …
Becoming a Narrator
Well, folks, I've successfully embarked on a new career. One I had never even imagined I would ever do before some life-changing occurrences, er, occurred, last year. Since last summer, I've been pushed into reassessing all aspects of my life, seeing what possibilities were out there in the big world for me to explore. Then, …
