Interview with Teralyn Davis
- Holly Searcy
- Feb 13
- 34 min read
Audiobook Narrator for The Shiver Tree
I recently had the great pleasure of sitting down for a virtual interview with the incredible Teralyn Davis, who lent her prodigious voice talents to The Shiver Tree audiobook. We’d exchanged some messages during the recording process but had never had a proper chat about the book. That needed to change. And so, we met digital face to digital face and—with some brief detours into Nerd Land—asked each other about everything from character voice inspiration to D&D shenanigans.
The full interview is now available for your viewing pleasure, the transcript of which can be found below, definitely edited for length and clarity. If you wish to experience some of Teralyn’s vocal prowess, samples from the audiobook can be found here. The full audiobook is available from Blackstone Publishing, Audible, Barnes & Noble, and various other retailers who sell such things. If you’re looking for an epic fantasy listen with a great narrator, check it out.
Interview with Teralyn Davis
Holly
Thank you for agreeing to do this. I’m excited to actually get to chat with you about it instead of just... waves hands instead of completing the thought
Teralyn
Me too. This is one of my favorite things, to talk to authors about their books and be like, excuse me…excuse me. Why did you do this to me?
Holly
laughs Well, feel free to throw questions my way if you have any.
All right, so, I am Holly Searcy, author of The Shiver Tree, and I’m here chatting with the amazing Teralyn Davis, who recorded the audiobook. I’m so glad it was you.
Teralyn
It was so much fun. I’m so glad it was also me. There’s only a handful of auditions that you’re like, I really hope I get this one. If I don’t, I’ll be really, really sad. It was one of those ones where I was like, if I don’t get this book, I will be devastated. Thank you.
Holly
Yeah, well, I got half a dozen audition samples, and I think it came up in alphabetical order of first name, so you were at the very end, so you were the last one I listened to.
Teralyn
Of course.
Holly
I’ve listened to a lot of audiobooks, and it can really make or break the experience, so I was very nervous when I got the samples. So, I’m going through, and I was like, none of these are hitting what I want. There was one that I was like, OK, it’s not the tone that I want, but she can do the voices and whatnot. And then you happened, and angels sang looks toward the heavens and I knew I had my narrator. I was so happy.
Teralyn
That makes me so happy because it’s one of those things where you never quite know if that’s exactly the way the author intended it because there’s definitely interpretation of the text. So, you’re like, I really hope that was the right take. I really hope that was the right one.
Holly
Oh, it was. And there were moments that were so dead on to what I had imagined when I was writing it that I almost cried. So... It was perfect that it was you.
Teralyn
I love that. Thank you. Well, thank you for picking me because, seriously, I had so much fun…but also had so many mental breakdowns about this book because I was like, I have to get this perfect. I have to get it perfect. And I was just like, okay, we can do this.
Holly
You did this. You nailed it. It was great.
So, before we dive fully into The Shiver Tree, how many audiobooks have you recorded up to this point?
Teralyn
I record open-door romance under the name June deBorahae, but everything else is under Teralyn. So, a lot of my fantasy ends up under Teralyn. But between my two pseudonyms, I probably have over 65 books at this point that I’ve recorded.
Holly
Wow! All right.
Teralyn
It’s getting there. I had a slow start. It was a very slow start. But then, in the last maybe year and a half, two years, things have started to pick up a little bit. So, I’m very grateful for that.
Holly
Yeah! Well, I hope we keep charging forward.
Teralyn
Fingers crossed, man. Fingers crossed.
Holly
crosses fingers So, when you’re starting to record a new audiobook, do you have a process that you go through, any rituals when you’re diving in, getting in the right headspace?
Teralyn
I don’t know about rituals, but there’s definitely a process. You have to prep your books, which usually means you read it in its entirety. You mark up things you’re not familiar with, look them up. And, honestly, I did not have to do a whole heck of a lot of that because you did a lot of it already for me. Like with the pronunciation guide, I was like, bless you, bless you, bless you that I’m not going to be like, “How am I going to pronounce that?” Because there’s a lot of incantations and spells.
Holly
Which, you shocked me with how well those came out.
Teralyn
Let me tell you, some of those took so many takes. It was not even funny. But it was one of those things where I’m…I struggle to say I’m a huge Dungeons and Dragons fan because I’ve only recently started the journey into tabletop RPGs, but I love it so much, and I play Baldur’s Gate 3, which…I love that game.
Holly
Same. holds up Gale figurine
Teralyn
I love that. I love it.
And so, I was like, “Okay, how did they say the incantations while you’re playing the game?”
I really took a lot of inspiration from the Baldur’s Gate 3 voice actors and how they did some of their incantations. I was like, let me take a little flavor of this and a little flavor of that and then make it sound like I’m actually saying this incantation while I’m battling. You know what I mean? It’s always a tricky balance. You want it to be understandable, you don’t want it to be too loud because then the microphone will get feedback stuff. But at the same time, you want it to sound authentic, which is a little bit tricky. That was why a lot of those incantations took many takes because I was like, ach, I didn’t nail it. I have to go back and do it again.
Holly
Well, practice makes perfect. You did it.
Teralyn
Yes. And it did get easier. It’s one of those things, and this kind of goes back to your original question…Every book is a little bit different because every author has a slightly different writing style. Some books are really easy because authors will write in the way that I think. And then some books are a little bit harder because my brain does not think in that pattern. And so, it’s like I have to retrain my brain. But even with the ones that my brain does think in the similar way, it takes a while to sort of settle into the style of writing. The first couple of chapters are always really rough for me because it’s finding where that tone is supposed to live, getting used to the style of the writing. It’s always been a little bit tricky to find the right pocket to be in. Sometimes it’s easy to figure it out and then sometimes it wasn’t. It was not easy to figure it out with your book.
Holly
Oh no!
Teralyn
It was completely 100% due to my overthinking. It was me so worried about trying to do it right that I got in my own way sometimes. Talking with Jesse Bickford, who is the producer for this and cast me, I was like, “Jesse, I don’t know if I’m doing this right.” And I sent her samples and was like, “Tell me if I’m doing this right.” And so, she had to be like, “No, you’re fine. You’re totally fine. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
I felt like this was an important book for me in my career. And it was a really wonderful book just to be attached to. I didn’t want to let you down. I didn’t want to let myself down. I wanted to have my first foray into this type of fantasy. Because mostly what I’ve done before is romantasy. This is…
Holly
Not that.
Teralyn
…firmly in the fantasy realm. And I was like, I really have to make this work. I have to make a good impression, you know?
Holly
You did.
Teralyn
And so, in hindsight, I really got way too in my head about the whole thing. But I care a lot about all the books that I do. But this one, definitely, I was like, please let me do a good job. Because you never know until you send the stuff to the author whether or not it’s going to be received well, you know?
Holly
Yeah.
So, you obviously just mentioned that it was hard to figure out once you started, but you did the sample first, which was way into the book. Did your idea of what the book was change from when you did the audition snippet to when you actually got the full manuscript?
Teralyn
Yes.
Holly
overly surprised Oh!
Teralyn
So, I mentioned before, I do a lot of romantasy. And so I thought this was going to be more romantasy than strictly fantasy. That was really the only thing that changed. There were definitely times where I was prepping it—because I do a lot of romance—that when a romantic situation would come up and then it would be, like, and now we’re fading to black or we’re just moving on, I was like, “Wait, wait! Oh, not that kind of book.” So, that was a little bit funny that that happened in my brain, but otherwise, from the sample to getting the book, I could tell that there was some unique magic systems going on, there was really great interpersonal dynamics with the characters involved, which…If I had to say one thing about my narration that I try really hard with is making the characters memorable and make them shine. Because ultimately that’s —in my head—the best part of any book, is how the characters interact with the things that happen to them and making their choices, their personalities shine through. I could definitely see the personalities sparkling from the little sample. And that didn’t change at all. I was like, “Yes, yes, great characters.” I loved it.
Holly
That’s also one of my favorite parts of writing, is establishing those different personalities and then trying to maintain them absolutely through dialogue and reactions. That is my favorite part, just watching them come to life and then surprising me with where the story goes. Aravel in particular.
Teralyn
Well, that was actually one of the questions that I had for you. Was there any time that you were like, “I want it to go this way,” and the characters were like, “Ha ha ha ha, no.”
Holly
Constantly.
Teralyn
Because I never quite understood that until I tried to write some stuff myself. And I was like, oh, no, that’s a real thing, where your characters are like, “No, that’s not what I would do, thank you.”
Holly
Yeah, often I will sit down to write, and I’m like, they’re going to do A, B, and C in this next chapter. And they do Q, M, and J. And I’m like…Why? Where did that come from? They do what they want. And I feel like it works out better.
Teralyn
They have their agendas.
Holly
Exactly. You guys do your thing. I’m just here for the ride. So, yeah, I constantly just let them tell it. That’s how I prefer it go anyway.
Teralyn
Yes! I mean, honestly, there were times in the book where everything was rolling like a movie in my head, and I could see it so clearly. I could see how the characters were interacting with one another. I could see the places that they were. Everything in this book was so beautifully described and just really immersed you in the story. And that made my job so easy. It made my job so, so easy…when I was not struggle-bussing over my own insecurities. So, yeah, you had wonderful characters, an interesting plot…literally ticked all the boxes. Wonderful, fabulous, well-rounded, rich characters, a very interesting and well-paced plot, the writing was good. What more could you ask? It was just wonderful.
Holly
Thank you. Aw. blush
Did you have anything that stood out as a favorite part to record, or just something that you’re like, “Why did you do this to me??” Either side of it? Other than incantations.
Teralyn
Yeah, the incantations, I was like, “Dang it, why?” But pretty much anytime Aravel was speaking was my favorite. I mean, who doesn’t want to be a sassy side character who just has all the spunk and is like, “Jump first, think later”?
Holly
Ha! Also my favorite to write, what a coincidence.
Teralyn
We just love those characters. And also Reyan and anytime that they had some dynamics going on. I was like, yes, I see this. points knowingly
Holly
So, one of the biggest moments of “that is how I saw it in my head” was the first time Aravel and Reyan kind of have a back and forth, after they first meet, and just the way that whole dialogue played out. I was like, this is what I wrote! That is exactly how that went!
Teralyn
Yes. It’s evident. It was so evident. All of the dialogue, it was so easy. Everything flowed seamlessly, and it was really, really a joy.
Part of my other thing that I really love about doing books is that I get to play all the characters. I get to be all of the characters. presses fingers together with glee And so being able to flip back and forth between a surly southern SPOILER REMOVED guy and a sassy Irish-ish, druid…that tickles my brain in a lot of the best ways.
Holly
Awesome. Obviously, I threw a lot of characters and accents at you. Is there an accent that you hope I never throw at you? And no, this is not a trick question.
Teralyn
laughs I cannot do Welsh at all.
Holly
grabs a sticky pad Let me make note over here…
Teralyn
Welsh is not in my wheelhouse. Although, I will say that I’ve always been a little bit like a parrot, that if I can hear it long enough, I can usually pick it up just fine. But Welsh is one of those ones where, it’s so tricky for me because it will usually devolve into just plain English, like a RP British accent, or it will stray into Irish or Scottish. It will always inevitably stray somewhere else. And I’m like, ugh, stop it. So Welsh is one that I am not great with. And Australian. I cannot quite figure out Australian.
Holly
Just make your vowels seven syllables long every time, I think is how that one works. Not sure. I can’t do accents at all, so...
Teralyn
Well, I’ve always been…my mom was always like, “You were just a parrot. You would talk like all the people on the TV, the movies, whatever.” I would just be their little parrot after watching a new thing. And it’s funny because I still do it. I will just randomly start talking flips on Irish accent with an Irish accent. We’ll just slip right into it. And my kids will be like, “Mom, stop!” Like, she has multiple personality disorder or something. But that’s just always how I’ve been. I just like different accents. They’re fun. It’s like a game for your mouth. cringes That sounded way better in my head than it did coming out. But it’s fun to speak in different accents.
Holly
Good, I’m glad. I’ve actually had people, when I tell them that there is an audiobook—which, implores camera there’s an audiobook, go listen to it!
Teralyn
Yes. Go listen to the audiobook, please.
Holly
I’ll have people ask, “Did you do the narration?” And my response is usually something like, “No, and you’re welcome.” Nobody wants that.
Teralyn
Well, there are some authors who definitely can narrate their own books.
Holly
Usually nonfiction is really a great spot for that.
Teralyn
Yes, absolutely. Nonfiction, but also I have known some authors who’ve been excellent at narrating their own books because who would know better exactly how this scene is supposed to sound than the author, right? But at the same time, I will say that audiobook narrators are by and large very passionate about what they do. Nobody is like: Here, let me close myself into a tiny space and read out loud to myself for hours at a time. The audiobook narrators, we’re just a different breed of people.
Holly
An excellent one.
Teralyn
And we try really hard to make…a balance between immersing the listener into a story but also making it entertaining at the same time. It’s a delicate balance of not making yourself as the star of this but making the writing the star, which is ultimately the goal. And most of the audiobook narrators that I know work very hard to make sure that that happens. So, there’s something to be said about using the right tool for the job, you know? So, plug for audiobook narrators.
Holly
For sure. You have a skill set I can’t even dream of. I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons since 2015. We’re on our second major campaign, but we’ve done so many one-shots, random side campaigns. I’ve had so many characters at this point, and not a single one has ever maintained an accent. It always is just me speaking maybe slightly slower or more calm or more excited. It’s never an accent. It’s just different versions of me.
Teralyn
Well, honestly though, when it comes down to it, that is all I’m doing. I’m taking my natural voice and then changing parts of it. There’s been books where I have had to play eight different women in one scene, and I can only pitch my voice up and down so much. So the way to differentiate between them is by changing the pace. Speaking either very tight and clipped or being more relaxed. People think, “Oh, when I’m doing voices, I have to make them big and grand and cartoonish.” But really, if you just add a handful of mannerisms to your speech, that’s enough for people to listen and recognize, this is the character that’s speaking. So, don’t give yourself a hard time.
Holly
It is what it is at this point. I’m never going to be a master of accents, but that’s fine. I don’t need to be.
Teralyn
Yes. Speaking of campaigns, what class do you like to play the most?
Holly
I’m not gonna lie, I love a caster. Obviously I have a fondness for druids—who would have thought? I also love a wizard. This is funny because you mentioned you’re playing a monk, and in our current main campaign, I am also playing a monk.
Teralyn
Nice.
Holly
I went full martial class this time, and I love it. I’m a tabaxi monk, so…cat ninja, which I love. It’s very fun, but I always find myself gravitating back toward some kind of caster, usually druid or wizard.
Teralyn
Which is funny because I thought that was going to be how I was going to want to play. Originally, when I started playing Pathfinder last year, I was joining a campaign already in progress with a couple of other narrators who get together and do it. And the Game Master was like, “I know you want to do this thing, but I’m going to tell you what this party really, really needs is somebody who can hit a whole bunch of stuff and hit it hard.”
Holly
Sometimes that’s the way to go. Keep it simple.
Teralyn
So I was like, all right, well, I don’t want to play a barbarian, fighter seems boring…monk it is. Flurry of blows. demonstrates flurry of blows
Holly
Monks are fun! It’s funny because I started playing the monk before I had ever even heard of Baldur’s Gate. And then when I started playing Baldur’s Gate…the monk has some limitations in 5e for D&D, but for some reason the monk in Baldur’s Gate is just so fun to play. It’s been probably one of my favorite classes to play.
Teralyn
Nice.
Holly
Every time, it’s just so much fun. There’s so many different things you can do with it, and the different abilities that can help out the rest of your team, like stunning strike. You gotta love it.
Teralyn
I have not yet cracked the code on monk on Baldur’s Gate, so I might have to talk to you later about it, because the last time I tried, I was like, what is this?
Holly
Yes. I love monk. We will talk about this.
Teralyn
But we’re here to talk about your book, so let’s talk about that.
Holly
We are. We should return to that topic. I’m sorry.
Teralyn
Yes. So, you mentioned to me once that the book was based on a campaign that you played for a really long time. How much of it is that and how much of it is made up? I’m very curious about this.
Holly
That’s an excellent question. So, the genesis of this book was almost jazz hands 2020, everyone’s favorite pandemic year. I’d been trying to write a different book, and it just wasn’t hitting home, couldn’t get into it. We’d been playing the [D&D] campaign for five years at that point. I was playing Kiana, the druid, and I realized that I’d never really given her a proper backstory because when I started D&D, I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t know what I was doing. I just knew I loved nature, animals, and magic. gesture of acceptance Playing a druid. And I got a pet fox, which... of course.
Teralyn
Nice. Heck yeah.
Holly
I was thinking about her backstory, and we had done a side quest—just one game, when most of our group couldn’t show up, it was just three of us playing—and we had done a side quest that I was like, that actually ties interestingly into this stuff that I’m thinking about for her backstory. I should write that story. So, the actual main quest in the book is what we did in that one-shot…in general terms. Where we ended up, that was the one-shot.
Teralyn
Interesting.
Holly
But most of the rest of it is completely made up. Aravel is actually a character that I had just played in a random side quest in the game, and I decided to pull her in. Tash was the one piece of backstory I had given Kiana up to that point. Like, yeah, he’s this person that she is kind of into. So I pulled him in. Reyan just popped into existence one day as I was writing. Did not know who he was until that chapter came about. I was like, I need someone else in the party, and he happened. There are references to places, like they go to Old Home in the game, and I brought that into the book. Ravaini, Kiana’s sister, was my brother’s character from our campaign, so that got pulled in. But most of what is in the book…I have changed the world and the backstories and the characters so much that you can tell that it was once our game, but obviously I created a new magic system, it’s way pared down as far as classes and everything, so it resembles our game, and that’s about where it ends at this point. Most of it is purely born of whatever was happening in here motions to head in 2020.
Teralyn
Gotcha. I mean, it’s always nice to have something else as a springboard moment, right? You know, to be like, what if I start here and then it just spins into something else? That’s always a fun thing to work through in terms of trying to just figure out all the things.
Holly
Yeah, it’s definitely nice to have a reference point because I can look back at our game and pull in fun moments. Mostly I do it for the people from my group. Like, hey, did you catch that thing that we did? It’s fun to pull stuff in. And obviously I allude to different D&D things.
Teralyn
Right.
Holly
Obviously, I can’t use the D&D stuff, but it’s fun to just put little references throughout for people that do play the game to be like, “Oh, hey, I know what that is!” or that kind of thing.
Teralyn
Yes, yes. Spell slots, yay!
Holly
Yeah! “Oh no, I’m out of magic! What do I do?” Yeah, so that was fun to just mix and match, pull these moments from our campaign. But I have, at this point, abandoned so much of that and gone this new direction that trying to pull more of that in would just be like shakes head oh, man.
Teralyn
Yeah. It would break it almost.
Holly
Doesn’t even fit anymore, yeah. I had a plot that I had to have work, and trying to force things into it at this point is, like, well that’s not gonna work. I do have moments that I would like to incorporate in future books to bring those back in, but for now, I’ve gone this way gestures to the side and the campaign was somewhere through here gestures straight ahead.
Teralyn
That makes sense because, like we were saying, those characters have a mind of their own.
Holly
Yeah, I blame Aravel. She just did whatever she wanted in this book. I don’t know. I had no control over it.
Teralyn
Yes, she did. She totally did. She was like, “I’m gonna go do this! Leeroy Jenkins!” We’re just gonna go.
Holly
Exactly! I finally had to start remarking on it with the other characters. Like, “I don’t know what she’s doing now, but there she goes.”
Teralyn
Yes. Like I said, she was my favorite because I can identify with her a lot. We’re just going to do this, man.
Holly
She’s my shiny-object character, for sure.
So, as long as we’re on the topic of D&D, obviously you’ve only been playing for a little while, but was there anything in this book that really reminded you of something that’s happened in one of your own RPG sessions? Doesn’t have to be D&D.
Teralyn
It’s funny that nothing really reminded me of anything until a very recent session. And let me tell you about this session.
Holly
rubs hands together giddily Okay. Let’s do it.
Teralyn
So, I play this monk. He is incredibly socially awkward. He’s like makes awkward motion of offering a gift But he is a little bit Aravel-esque in that he tends to just do what he thinks is right, and everybody else is like, “Okay, and now we’re doing this.”
Holly
That’s how monks usually are.
Teralyn
So, we had just finished up battling some trolls. No, what were they? I think they were trolls. Yeah. In Pathfinder, these types of trolls were, like, have to hit them with a certain type of damage or else they’ll regenerate. So, it was a very long battle, and almost all of our caster spell slots were taken. We were down hit points and everything. And so we had just finished this battle and went to go investigate the rest of the dungeon.
Thankfully, one of our sorcerers was like, you know what? I have a feeling. I’m just gonna cast Stoneskin on you. I just think this is the right thing. And I was like, okay. I’m gonna peek my head into this room. Turns out there was this giant scorpion made of bones, and we got sucked into another big battle. And the scorpion got me pinned. Or grappled and then pinned. So two turns’ worth of holding onto me. And the Game Master didn’t tell me this until afterwards, he was like, by the way, you nearly just were beheaded and totally died. Not even like you get death saving rolls or anything. This particular creature has a special move that, if he gets you grappled and then pinned, he can do his special claw move and totally behead you. And the only reason why that didn’t happen in this fight was because you had Stoneskin. Instead of taking the full damage, it was take the first 10 points of damage off and then whatever. I was down to two hit points by the end of that fight.
And so, I was like, I literally just almost died. I was Kiana fighting that river monster. That literally happened two or three weeks ago. I was like, gasp I’m really attached to this character. I don’t want him to die. I think I will literally mourn him…
Holly
I feel that.
Teralyn
…like a death in the family if he ever dies. Jiho cannot die. He cannot. He will be carving his little animals awkwardly in the corner forever.
Holly
Yeah, my monk is very impetuous. I have been knocked unconscious in this campaign so many times at this point that my party’s like, just stop it. Thank God we have a cleric because I would be dead 30 times over at this point.
Teralyn
Yes. I am also the tank of our group…
Holly
I am NOT, thank God.
Teralyn
…so I’m usually the one taking all the damage, and they’re just kind of like mimes throwing here’s some healing spells.
Holly
Oh, those monks. But they’re fun.
Teralyn
They are super fun. Flurry of blows! So, I’m a level nine monk right now, and I think the biggest amount of damage I’ve ever dealt in a single turn was like 56 points of damage, and I was like, heck yes! Hit them, hit them hard. It’s the best.
Holly
That’ll do, yeah. And if you get the stunning strike option, you can mess them up.
Teralyn
Right? You mess him up!
Holly
We’ve talked a little bit about classes, but is there a class from The Shiver Tree? If you had to pick one from that book, which you don’t have as many options, what would you take from The Shiver Tree?
Teralyn
I probably would want to play a sorcerer, to have this innate source of magic that you can just tap into at will and, you know, do fancy sparkle hands. I think I would probably want to do that. Although, part of me…I think I remember messaging you about this. I was like, please tell me that this Captain America paladin type is going to reappear at some point because I love him immediately. So, I think I might also want to play a paladin who is very justice centered and very loud and vocal about it. “We’re going to do the thing!”
Holly
turns coy Maybe he’ll be back, maybe he won’t.
Teralyn
I beg you, beg you, please.
Holly
Yeah, he was fun. I’m so glad you liked him.
Teralyn
This is an interesting question. So, when I am creating character voices, I sometimes will cast either a popular actor or a role that actor has played to kind of get in the right pocket. Do you ever write your characters based on an archetype, or were they inspired by, like, Ron Swanson or something? You know what I mean? Have you ever had that in your writing?
Holly
For this book, I didn’t really because it had been a world that we’d played in so much, and my husband, Ben, was our DM, so he had all of these voices for characters, and then
my brother’s character was in there, and there may or may not have been a cameo of another character in The Shiver Tree, so I had those voices in my head, and everything else just kind of happened. The book I’m writing right now, actually, there is a character who, specifically, I have someone in mind. I’m like, it is this person. But for the most part, I don’t usually think about that at the time.
Teralyn
Interesting. I find it useful, at least for me in the performance, to have a touchstone. Like, am I straying too far away from this? And sometimes it’s not even necessarily a specific actor or actress. It’s more the type of role that they play. So, one of my archetypes is the Ron Swanson, the very dry, does not want to be bothered, you know what I mean? Or Captain America. He’s very, “Justice!” and “We’re going to do the thing because it’s the right thing to do!” Things like that. So, I always wonder if authors have ever—not to say that every author does the same things—but I always wonder, was this based off of somebody or something? Some authors, like Ali Hazelwood, some of her books were Star Wars fan fiction, or something. I can’t remember. Adam Driver fan fiction? Maybe it’s Adam Driver specific. I can’t remember. But she had a certain person in mind when she was writing her characters, which, I do that too.
Holly
For this book and this series, again, I don’t really have that, but I’m venturing away from that for this next book that I’m writing. And I do have, for one of the main characters and one of the characters that they meet later on, I have very specific people in mind that they’re inspired by. So that has helped, and that helps influence dialogue because you’ve heard the person talk and the kind of the things they tend to say. So, that’s actually been fun to play with as well. But in the high fantasy setting, it’s just…it’s wild in there.
Teralyn
Yes, it is the Wild West because you make up all the rules. Literally all of them.
Holly
Yep. Do whatever I want. Love it. Definitely a playground.
So, thinking about future books, does it ever get frustrating when you narrate a book that you love and you don’t know if you’re going to have another book to narrate? Maybe?
Teralyn
crosses arms Hmm. I wonder.
Yes. Yes, it does. I think I pestered you, I think I pestered Jesse, and I was like, “So, when’s book two coming out and when can I get that on my schedule? Can we get this on the books? Please and thank you.” Because, by and large, once you’ve been cast in a series, chances are really good that they’ll keep you on for the rest of it. Unless something happens and the original narrator can’t, or you didn’t quite hit it the first time and so they want to recast.
Holly
Well, we know that’s not the case here!
Teralyn
Well, I’m very reassured by that. I was just like, all right I’m ready for the next one.
Holly
Me too, me too!
Teralyn
I’m ready! I’m sitting here not patiently waiting. Not patient.
Holly
Yes, I’m aware. I’m familiar with the dilemma. Trust me.
Teralyn
So, book two is a thing that’s going to happen, right? Book two is happening?
Holly
Book two is a thing that’s going to happen! It is happening. Yay! Yeah, it is written. It is waiting for the next steps. So, we’re almost there.
Teralyn
How long did it take you to write? That was actually one of my questions. How long did it take you to write The Shiver Tree, and then how long did it take you to write book two?
Holly
The Shiver Tree took about a year, all told. There were a few breaks in there, but it took about a year to get that to a completed state. And I actually wasn’t intending on having it published. I was just like, this is a fun thing that I want to write, maybe for our D&D group, just having fun. And then Ben read it after I finished it, and he’s like, “Have you considered sending this out?” Which, at the time, I was like, why would I do that? It’s not that good.
Teralyn
Not with that attitude.
Holly
laughs But I did lots of edits, sent it out to some beta readers, got feedback, put tons of work into editing it, and then eventually went through the whole finding an agent and a publisher process, and here we are! And then before any of that publishing stuff had even happened, I was writing book two because I was so excited about where The Shiver Tree, with all the edits, landed. And that one, again, I think took about a year. In fact, I had finished writing the first draft of it before The Shiver Tree was even published. Before it was edited.
Teralyn
Nice. Love that. We love having a plan in place.
Holly
I may or may not be working on the third book.
Teralyn
You can neither confirm nor deny that that is a thing that’s happening.
Holly
It’s just, it’s a thing. It’s out there.
Teralyn
If you had your way, and all of the books get picked up and published, how many books would there be in the series?
Holly
Five, one for every tree.
Teralyn
Mmm, I’m so excited.
Holly
It’s a task that I have set for myself that I am hoping I am up for.
Teralyn
I think you will be able to do it beautifully. I think you will be just fine.
Holly
Thank you. I’m excited. They’re so fun to write that it’s not even work when I’m doing it. It’s just diving back into a world of friends and going on an adventure. So yeah, I’m ready.
Teralyn
Yes. I am familiar with the concept because there are definitely days where recording can be a slog, but by and large, my job is literally the best. I get to read books and play pretend. Like, is that not the goal of most? Literally, it’s my favorite. It’s my favorite that I get to immerse myself in some other world and bring it to life. That, to me, is real magic that I can actually create. I can actually cast a spell and transport somebody with my voice somewhere else. And I love it so much.
Holly
It shows. You can tell when someone is reading something if they’re into it or if they’re not into it. It was evident that you were having a good time, which is fantastic.
Teralyn
Mm-hmm. Having the best time. I want to narrate all of your books forever more. Please, please.
Holly
Yes, please, please do.
Teralyn
Yes. Well, I will make myself available to you always.
Holly
Yay! looks at camera Hear that? And if you haven’t listened to The Shiver Tree, go listen to The Shiver Tree. She’s fantastic.
Teralyn
Yes. You should go listen to it, 100%. And then come back and tell us what you think of the [Deep One’s] voice.
Holly
Yeah. That was a moment.
Speaking of, if people do go listen to the audiobook, where can they come back and find you on social media?
Teralyn
I am most active on Instagram, and it’s just my name, @TeralynDavis. I can’t say that I am any great social media genius or that I post that often, but I am active on there in that I comment on a lot of other people’s stuff. And I’m always happy to hear from listeners, or other authors if they wanted to work with me, or anybody really.
Holly
Just reach out.
Teralyn
Yeah, 100%. Unless you’re creeping in my DMs for malicious, nefarious reasons, then no thank you. But pretty much anybody else, my DMs are open. And I have a website, which is also just my name, but again, I can’t promise that it’s anything exciting or groundbreaking.
Holly
Fair, I know how that goes. I do have audio samples of The Shiver Tree up on my website, hollysearcy.com/audiobooks, if you want to hear some samples before you go listen to it. This one. holds up a copy of The Shiver Tree Go listen to it.
Teralyn
It’s so pretty. It’s so pretty.
Holly
I know, it’s all shiny.
Teralyn
Book two, what color is it gonna be?
Holly
It’s going to be darker. Leaning toward maybe a dark teal? I don’t know. Book two goes different places. I threw a lot at them in book one, but book two, there’s a new gathering of party members and just way more shenanigans.
Teralyn
I am always down for shenanigans.
Holly
They do some stuff.
Teralyn
I’m very excited. If you need a beta reader, I volunteer as tribute.
Holly
I may take you up on that. And that way you can get a preview of how much I am throwing at you this time around. Not sorry.
Teralyn
I’m not going to lie. I remember getting the prep packet for The Shiver Tree from Jesse, and then when I saw how many items were on that prep packet, I may or may not have squealed for joy. That, to me, is the best. I just love being able to dive into so many different heads and have so many different little bits and pieces. I wish I could show you my voice reference file. It is very long, very long. But I just love it. I love it so much.
Holly
I’m glad you had that reaction because when Jesse sent me the spreadsheet with all of the things that she wanted voice notes and pronunciations for, I looked at it and went, “This narrator’s gonna hate me. What am I doing?” And then I had to sit down and actually think through, oh no, what does every single character sound like? Who was the inspiration? It broke my brain and I wrote the book, so… grimace
Teralyn
Yeah, well, when you’re writing a book, you don’t always think about how that will sound when it’s being said aloud. If I had one piece of advice to give authors everywhere is to read your book out loud to yourself in its entirety. Yes, it will take forever, but you will find so many little things where you’re like, that is awkwardly worded. Nobody really talks that way, or wow, that was a mouthful. You would not think that the words hostess and stand being put together would be a terrible word, but it is: hostess stand. It is the worst. It is literally the worst. Sometimes it’s unavoidable because how else are you going to describe a hostess stand other than...
Holly
A stand at which the hostess horrible realization dawns...stands. Oh no!
Teralyn
Yes, it’s tricky.
Holly
I can’t say that I read The Shiver Tree out loud in its entirety. I did read sections of it out loud because, as a writer, I’m familiar with that trick, and so that did help me catch some things. If it was specifically like a, does this sound okay? Like if I had trouble crafting a particular sentence, I’d read it out loud, but I cannot say that I did the whole thing. Maybe for the next book? Probably not. guilty face
Teralyn
Like I said, it’s one of those things where I think it’s probably a really good idea for most authors to do that. But I also understand that some books are really, really long. One of the most common questions I will get asked was, “How long did it take you to record X, Y, or Z?” Right? So, in general, if you have one finished hour of your audiobook, that took me anywhere from between two times, so two hours, or up to five or six, depending on how much I’m struggling. Usually my range is closer to the two to three. So, one finished hour of audio took me two to three hours to complete. And so, I also understand that not everybody can then take a 10-hour audiobook and then spend 30 hours narrating it to themselves to find all the things. But it is one of those things where, especially for more indie authors who are maybe relying a little bit more on self-editing, you’ll find a lot more mistakes that way because you are having to literally put eyes on every single word and say them out loud and go, wait, that’s not what I meant. This is the word that I meant or, that’s misspelled or, you know... whatever.
Holly
Yeah. The only thing that gets tricky there as an author…because I have read this book so many times. I’m a compulsive self-editor, so when I sit down to write, I can’t get back into the flow until I at least read the previous few pages. And then during the editing process, I was reading it a bunch, and I kept reading it over and over, trying to constantly fix it. And at a certain point, your brain just starts seeing what it wants to see. I know that’s what I wrote, so that’s clearly what it says. Like, nope, you have an extra the in that sentence. So that starts to mess with your head a little bit. That’s why don’t you proof your own work.
Teralyn
Yes, which is another one of those things. There have been times where I have gotten books that I have bought at Barnes & Noble and found mistakes in, and how many different pairs of eyes did that go under? It happens. That’s not what I mean. It’s more in the tricky wording type way. I guess if I had one piece of advice for anybody that is aspiring to write a book, think of your narrators, please. Think of hostess stand and things like that.
Holly
More incantations!
Teralyn
I will take more incantations any day over the word hostess stand. No more hostess stands, please.
Holly
Well, fortunately, those really aren’t a thing in this series.
Teralyn
Yes, I’m very grateful. I was very grateful.
Holly
I will find plenty of other things to throw at you, but that one, specifically, you’re safe from from me. And no Welsh accents.
Teralyn
Thank you. I will be ready for anything else, though.
Holly
Let’s do this! You may or may not be getting a manuscript to just look over.
Teralyn
Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. As soon as I finished that book I was like, okay, well, now I’m ready for the next one. Please and thank you.
Holly
Do you have any theories on anything that’s going on in the books?
Teralyn
Well, I mean, we’re definitely going to have to go inside that terrible lake that’s always storming. That’s definitely a thing that’s happening. I was like, yep, we’re going there at some point, and that’s not going to be fun. But, you know, I’m very intrigued by the character that was introduced at the very, very, very, very end of the book. I have lots of thoughts, but none of them very concrete. It could be this, it could be that. Does this character have nefarious double intentions? Does this character have purely good intentions?
Holly
To be revealed, I suppose.
Teralyn
I’m not sure if you’ve ever read the book The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. It’s a YA fantasy book, I read it when I was a kid, and it was the first time that I had ever experienced quite a dramatic shift of view of who all of these characters actually were, what their actual motives were. And it was like a gasp that’s a thing? So I tend to be a little bit wary of new, sudden characters in the middle or near end of stories because I’m like, are you here for good reasons or bad? And that’s why I need the next book now, please. It’s easy, just write it and give it to me.
Holly
It’s written, yo! doesn’t pull off the “yo”
Yeah, I am so excited to get that one finalized, dive into the edit, and get that out there for everyone. It’s gonna be so fun.
Teralyn
I love that for me. I love that for you also, but I love that for me more.
Holly
That’s fair, I’ll take that. The fact that someone wants to keep going in the story, that has been my goal from the start. I want people to dive into a world and just have fun. That’s all I want from this.
Teralyn
Yes. More, please. Just put it right there. points to open palm Thank you.
Holly
Working on it. I’m completely snowed in today, so maybe I’m just gonna sit down and do some writing.
Teralyn
Also, I love the book in your background with the fox folded into the pages. So good.
conversation irrelevant to anyone not watching the video removed
Holly
All right. Well, I don’t know if you have any further questions. I’m not sure I asked you all of mine, but if there’s anything else…
Teralyn
One last one. Well, actually two. They’re interrelated. How did you come up with your characters’ names, because they’re all fantasy names, and that’s tricky, but also, did you base the incantations off of any particular language?
Holly
So, character names. I have a hard time naming characters. I don’t know why. Even when I’m creating a new one for D&D, I sit there forever like, aah clutches head in frustration. So, basically, I just take sounds that I think fit nicely together. For Kiana and Aravel, that was how that happened. I was like, what sounds lyrical? They’re elves, they’re druids. I need something lyrical. Tash…no idea where that one came from. To be honest, I think it was because Kiana had multiple syllables, and I was like, I just need something punchy, simple.
Teralyn
Short and sweet. Yes, love it.
Holly
And, again, Reyan just popped into my head out of nowhere when I was writing the book. I legitimately don’t know. It’s the fantasy thing where you just alter a letter. So, I’m not going to do Ryan, maybe Reyan, just throw an E in there. I try and avoid using the same starting letter over and over, so I try and vary that. I don’t really have a system. It’s just kind of whatever sounds good at the time. The incantations... the druidic incantations are inspired by Latin. So, I would look up Latin phrases and then kind of tweak them into something. Sorcerous, or the arcane, incantations are actually inspired by Russian. So, I would look up different Russian words and phrases and kind of play off of those sounds.
Teralyn
Interesting. I did catch the Latin roots of the Druidic language, but I did not catch the Russian. That’s very interesting. That might help me.
Holly
Yeah, definitely not direct translations, but the sounds and the feel of the language, tried to go with that a little bit.
Teralyn
I’m very excited to learn a little bit more about Tash’s background and his family and how that’s all going to play in. Like, excuse me. You did not give me enough in book one, please. I need more.
Holly
laughs
So, slight spoiler for book two.
Teralyn
Spoilers! Love spoilers.
Holly
Tash may or may not start having his own chapters in book two because…he needs them. He’s definitely a character that needs further exploration.
Teralyn
Question. Would you be getting a male narrator to do those chapters?
Holly
I do not know at this point in time. That is largely up to Jesse. Question for her.
Teralyn
Love that. I am totally down to do all of the chapters, but I can also understand it’s one of those things that having…Some people have a lot of big feelings about voicing the opposite gender. But I am totally down. I’m totally down for all of the above.
Holly
That’s good to know.
Teralyn
But also, if you wanted to have a male narrator, I would love to have somebody else to nerd out about this with. Please. And thank you. Yes. I would love that.
Holly
There you go. Have a little narrator chat. Oh, I like that. Tash enters the group chat. We can see how that goes.
Teralyn
You will pry Aravel for my cold dead fingers, though.
Holly
Oh. OH! eyes go wide as she remembers what she did in book two Well, surprises are in store.
Teralyn
You will. Pry her. From my cold dead fingers.
Holly
Well, if she happens to be in a Tash chapter, maybe you’ll just have to jump in and do it.
Teralyn
Yes, we’ll figure it out.
Holly
“You’re not taking her!” Just show up at the studio with him.
Teralyn
Nope, can’t have her, she’s mine. I’ve spoken, I called dibs, I licked it, it’s mine.
END INTERVIEW
And that seems like as good a place as any to end the interview. What followed was mostly more nerding out about Baldur’s Gate 3 and book two. But you can discover those secrets on your own when the book drops next year! Thanks for reading.
Reminder that this transcript was edited for length and clarity. For the full, glorious experience you can watch us chat here.