Hi, I'm Mackenzi Lee.
We are here in the studio recording the audio book for
The Gentleman's Guide to Getting Lucky,
which is a novella set after the events of The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue.
We are going to go crash recording session and
talk to Christian Coulson who's the audio book narrator and see what he has to say.
Let's go.
>> I sat up and there was Percy in the doorway.
When I moved, he jumped and clapped a hand to his chest.
Were you pretending to sleep, he hissed.
No, I didn't realize you were lurking.
I'm not lurking, I'm thinking.
Well, do you want to come do your thinking in here?
I scooted toward the wall and patted the empty space in the bed beside me.
He stood still for
a moment then shut the door behind his back before making his way to the bed.
Tentative and shy like he was [INAUDIBLE] pillow.
>> Hi.
>> Hello.
>> [LAUGH] How's it going?
>> It's going pretty good, how are you?
>> Hello.
>> Well, hello.
>> Welcome.
>> Thank you.
>> There's no chair for you, you'll have to stand.
>> It's okay.
[LAUGH] >> Too bad, how's your day?
>> It's been great.
>> Yeah?
>> Came here.
>> Great.
>> Nothing else.
>> I'm not gonna read with you this standing there, so-
>> Why not?
>> Because it'll feel incredibly awkward.
>> It's really good writing.
>> Plus I don't trust you standing behind me.
>> You don't trust me?
>> If you could stand over there.
Yeah, I'm not gonna read with you here.
>> Face the wall?
Do you wanna come talk outside with me?
>> All right, let's do that.
>> Okay.
[MUSIC]
How's it been going today?
>> It has been going pretty well, I think.
>> [LAUGH] What is your process like when you're preparing for an audio book?
>> Well, I try to keep it fairly minimal just because I want to be enjoying.
The big for thing me is, one, I don't want to over prepare because I want to be
feeling like I'm telling the story fresh when I'm doing it.
Because that feels much more exciting than if I'm overly familiar with it.
So I tend to read it once through and
while I'm reading it through I highlight all the different characters.
I mean this time they're all familiar from the previous book, but
sometimes I'll cast them.
I'll try and work out what they're sound like.
Usually by vaguely imagining an actor in that role,
who I would cast, and then thinking about them.
>> I get the question a lot from readers, if your book was a movie,
who would you cast in it and I never have a good answer.
You probably have much better answers than I do.
>> No, no.
>> If you're casting people, and you're- >> Yeah, but I wouldn't-
>> Casting voices [LAUGH]-
>> But they might not be right for
the [LAUGH] movie.
The only one who jumps to mind right now, cuz we've been doing him today is,
he doesn't sound anything like him, by the way, anymore.
But when I first started thinking of Scipio, I was thinking of Idris Elba.
But he sort of- >> That's a pretty good-
>> But Idris-
>> A pretty good casting.
>> Elba has a London accent and Scipio doesn't so
they don't actually sound like each other.
I just think of his where as Scipio's sounds more almost South African,
he has this slight South African sound to him.
So it actually doesn't sound anything like Idris Elba,
I just imagine him when I'm doing it.
What made you feel like you needed this, or what inspired this epilogue,
I guess, sort of up to the events of the last one?
>> Kind of avoiding what I was supposed to be working on.
I think I wrote this when I was supposed to be writing the Lady's Guide and
wasn't and decided I wanted to write essentially fan fiction of my own book.
>> I see.
>> Usually fan fiction involves some sort of getting lucky in it [LAUGH] so-
>> Wait, is there a word for that?
>> Like slash fiction?
>> Is it slash?
>> Slash when it's two dudes.
I wrote it without thinking we would do anything with it and
it would just live on my hard drive and amuse me.
And you're reading it, which is a- >> We'll see, we'll see, but it's funny.
>> That's a big bonus.
>> It's more serious, I feel like- >> Is it more serious?
>> Yeah, I mean maybe it's just because I just noticed that it
was- >> Well,
don't pitch it as this serious [LAUGH] [INAUDIBLE]-
>> It's also fun, I'm just saying-
>> I thought it was really funny.
>> I actually really like, well, I don't wanna spoil it.
I'll just have to tell- >> [LAUGH] Just whisper it in my ear.
[LAUGH] >> [INAUDIBLE] [LAUGH]
>> Okay, well, I don't wanna-
>> I better get back to it then.
>> You gotta get back to the work.
>> That's right.
>> Gotta finish this audio book, give the people what they want.
>> Yeah, I'll go do it.
>> Okay, have fun.
[MUSIC]