Elizabeth J St John

I am excited to be exploring options to publish an Audio Book of The Lady of the Tower. Working with ACX.com, I have been auditioning narrators for the past few weeks, and was pleased with the caliber and quality of the submissions. I’ve narrowed the list down to six, and have posted them below. I would love your feedback on them. I gave them two scenes from the book, which I thought would give a good cross section of emotion and characterization. The book will have just one narrator, so an ability to assume different roles is crucial. All are talented actresses, with an ability to provide a number of different accents, and all are native English-speaking. Here’s a recap:

Scene 1 – Lucy and Allen, where Allen declares his intent to marry her.

Scene 2 – Lucy, Barbara and Theo, where Lucy confronts and accuses them of the betrayal they played on her.

I’d love your feedback on:

Characterization, Clarity, Emotional Connection and Appropriate Age. Lucy ages from 14 to 44 in the book, so it’s important that the narrator has a voice that can stretch this age. And, if you’ve read the book, who do you personally think is the Lucy you imagined. If you could please rank your top three, and why you chose #1, that would be wonderful.

Auditions

#A – LOTT GdC

 

#B LOTT HT

(N/A)

 

#C LOTT ADJ

 

#D LOTT JEB

 

#E LOTT BM

 

#F LOTT BT

Please email me your thoughts by January 31st at elizabethjstjohn@gmail.com, or leave a comment on this post.

Thank you so very much! I’m excited to hear your thoughts and so appreciate you helping me on this project.

 

I do think of England as home in many ways – and although I love where I live in Southern California, there is always a special place in my heart for Lydiard. This recent article in Swindon link sums my feelings up nicely https://swindonlink.com/award-winning-author-flies-home-for-lydiard-park-book-launch/

So sorry to say goodbye to Swindon Heritage Magazine, a brilliant publication that has done so much to highlight the arts and history of Swindon. And so very grateful that they chose to honor “The Lydiard Chronicles” in the final issue, and delighted to share the page with another “Lydiard Author” the very talented Nicola Cornick.

Thank you – I will forever keep this. Hoping the editorial staff will still be active in the community, doing the vitally important work of keeping our heritage and history alive.

Such a wonderful event at Lydiard House, with the launch of By Love Divided. A big thank you to the friends, family and colleagues who attended, and made this such a special day. We started with a fascinating tour of St. Mary’s Church and its rare and unique monuments (including The Golden Cavalier – Colonel Edward St.John who appears in the book). Then, back to Lydiard House for mince pies, tea and a talk, where I gave a presentation on the characters and places in the book. Just lovely!

News Article

I just spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon at a great bookstore in Pt. Loma, San Diego. La Playa books, a local, family-owned bookstore, is a treasure trove of new and used books, and boasts a large history section, which I made short work of. La Playa really knows how to make an author feel welcome – from a beautiful window display, my very own personalized sandwich board sign, and a great tea and biscuits table. I had some lovely conversations with readers, ranging from women’s roles in writing history, through to the influence of the English Civil War in the American Revolution and Constitution. We also planned a birthday party for a sprightly 90 year old visitor and history lover, and wondered if she would enjoy a “silver fox” jumping from her birthday cake. All in all, a lovely afternoon, and I just want to thank La Playa Books, and all they do for the community. https://www.laplayabooks.com/

Thank you, Sarah Johnson, and your wonderful blog, “Reading the Past.” Thrilled that you chose to showcase your visit to Lydiard, and review of The Lady of the Tower.

http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-power-of-place-elizabeth-st-johns.html

Thank you! SO excited to receive this award!

http://www.chillwithabook.com/2017/05/book-of-month-lady-of-tower-by.html

 

 

http://www.lydiardtrust.org.uk/standing-room-only-for-lydiard-festival-of-literature-events/

I’m delighted to share that I have been appointed US Ambassador for the Friends of Lydiard Park. In this role, I will bring you news and information on Lydiard Park and St. Mary’s Church as we enter into this exciting new period for the house and its environs. From restoration works to house events; research on the St.Johns and their wide-ranging relatives, to news and updates on the progress of the new management, I’m so excited to be a part of Lydiard’s future. I hope you’ll enjoy reading about this beautiful, unique place, as much as I enjoy writing about it.

http://www.lydiardparkfriends.org.uk

I’ll be giving at Author Talk on The Lady of the Tower at Lydiard as part of the Swindon Festival of Literature, May 4th. It’ll be so exciting to be in the setting for my book, and I’m so looking forward to being part of this wonderful Festival – in its 24th year.

http://www.swindonfestivalofliterature.co.uk/04-thu.html