Very interesting interview with audiobook narrator Jeff Woodman!
Here's a real treat for fans of the Lord John audiobooks: OUTLANDER fan Angela Hickey did an in-depth video interview with Jeff Woodman, the narrator of the Lord John books and stories. This is a long video, about 1 hour and 50 minutes, but definitely worth watching!
It was really interesting to hear what Jeff Woodman thinks about Diana's books and characters. It's clear that he loves narrating those stories. His whole face lights up with enthusiasm when he talks about some characters, like Tom Byrd. I also liked hearing him talk about how he prepares to narrate a book, including marking up the manuscript with detailed notes.
For those of you who don't know, Diana Gabaldon says that Jeff Woodman's voice for Lord John sounds exactly like the one she hears in her head, which I think is pretty amazing!
The video includes two special treats for the fans, both of which I really enjoyed.
1) Starting at about 3:30 into the video, there's a sort of audio montage that Angela Hickey put together, featuring brief audio clips from all of the Lord John books and stories, plus "The Fugitive Green", which Jeff Woodman also narrated. We get to hear so many different voices in those clips: Lord John, Harry Quarry, Hal, Tom Byrd, Benedicta, and many, many more! It was a lot of fun and I found myself smiling through the whole thing. Even if you've never listened to any of the Lord John audiobooks, I highly recommend listening to this, to get a feel for how Jeff does all the voices for the different characters.
2) At about 1:14:10 into the video, Jeff reads from AN ECHO IN THE BONE, chapter 32, "A Flurry of Suspicion". This chapter features an exchange of letters between Hal and Lord John, followed by a scene with John and Harry Quarry at the Beefsteak. What a treat to hear this chapter with all three of their voices as we've come to know them from Jeff's narration of the Lord John books!
Jeff Woodman is retired now, but he made it very clear that he will come out of retirement to narrate any future Lord John books or stories! That's great news for Lord John fans, because one of the books on Diana's list of future projects is a Lord John novel called THE BLACK CHAMBER, which will tell the story of Lord John's relationship with Isobel, and also how he came to be involved with England's Black Chamber. Diana is not actively working on it right now, but I'm glad that Jeff will be narrating that book when the time comes.
You can find the Lord John audiobooks on Audible HERE. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have!
Many thanks to Angela for putting this together, and to Jeff Woodman for taking the time for such an in-depth interview!
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