When it comes to paranormal romance, we at Audible consider Molly Harper and her longtime, perfectly paired narrator Amanda Ronconi to be a must on our list. After finishing up her Audible Original series about a magical town called Mystic Bayou, Harper is taking us to a new magical town to be enchanted by: Starfall Point. Here, she takes us behind the scenes of the series kickoff, Witches Get Stuff Done.
Audible: Hot librarian alert! What was the nugget of inspiration behind Edison’s character, and what are you looking forward to about a new male narrator performing this new hero?
Molly Harper: Obviously, I’m a big fan of librarians and everything they do to put stories in readers’ hands. Edison came from the idea of a guy who knows just about everything and yet, wants to learn more. He’s passionate about knowledge and single-minded, which is great— until he runs into someone who isn’t willing to share that knowledge because he’s not ready for it. There’s a dynamic push and pull between Edison and Riley that was interesting to write. Plus, I find frustrated academics to be very attractive and a potential source of comic gold.
With the different characters, backgrounds, and accents involved in Witches Get Stuff Done, I think we’re going to get to know Teddy Hamilton really well! He asks great questions and is very thoughtful in his approach to narrating. I look forward to working with him.
You and your long-standing narrator Amanda Ronconi are a match made in audio heaven, a fact that we at Audible have savored over the years. Were there any moments from Witches Get Stuff Done that you are particularly excited to hear Amanda’s take on? What about moments from Teddy Hamilton?
I’m so fortunate to have Amanda Ronconi as my longtime narrator and partner in fictional crime. (We would both like to emphasize the fictional bit, I think.) From the very beginning, Amanda has just “gotten” me and my voice. She knows while reading the manuscript how I want my characters to sound. I hope to continue our partnership for a long time to come. I’m really looking forward to hearing her take on the “group dialogue” situations between Riley, Caroline, and Alice, because Amanda does a great job giving each character their own voice.
Hearing both actors’ rendition of Plover, the spectral British butler, will be interesting. The uncomfortable “ghostly British father figure” hostility from Plover towards Edison is going to be hilarious in either voice. Also, I believe I’m forcing both actors to say the words “haunted toaster,” which appeals to my puckish sense of whimsy.
What did you want to explore with this new series that you haven’t gotten to explore yet in your other series?
I have always loved haunted house stories. With the Starfall Point series, I get to pull in so many things that have fascinated me for years—the Winchester Mansion, the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, the Paris catacombs, that creepy haunted doll that inspired the Annabelle movies—and mash them together into a big, delicious ghost potpie.
I get to tell not just one ghost story but dozens at a time with all of the haunted objects Riley is handling. Some of them are tragic. Some of them are really sinister. Some of them are just goofy, and I’m really enjoying myself. Audible has given me so much freedom in terms of the stories I want to tell that I feel like that ghost-obsessed kid let loose in a candy store with a wheelbarrow. I actually left “Mwhahahaha” in the margins as a note for the narrators … which may be a sign that I have received a little too much freedom.
Don’t tell anyone.
Man, you are so good at the jokes and snarky dialogue. When writing a new story, do you walk around during the day thinking up clever lines in your head? Or how does that process go?
Aw, thank you so much! Sometimes, I’m lucky and the funny dialogue just flows as I’m writing, and everything clicks while I’m imagining these charming, clever people in my head. But there are times when I’m doing something else—cleaning, errands, sleeping—and a funny line will pop into my brain. I’ve learned to keep a tiny notebook in my purse to write them down, otherwise I WILL lose them. I’ll ask my kids write it down for me if I’m driving, because, you know, safety first. Also, their penmanship is better than mine.
Sometimes, this happens while I’m trying to sleep, and I’ll wake up in the middle of the night to scribble something on the notebooks/Post-Its I keep on my nightstand. Then I wake up to really cryptic, vaguely threatening notes in my own, much scarier handwriting. Sometimes my family finds them elsewhere in the house, because I carried them around while I was working, which is exciting for everybody.
Now that you’ve been writing with audio first in mind for a few years with the Mystic Bayou series, what do find you enjoy most about the process, and what would you say you’ve learned about your writing from hearing it performed?
I get to write Audible Originals like an-old fashioned radio play, and that is SO MUCH FUN. I really get to think about the dialogue—how to express the character through what they say to each other. And it’s very freeing to not worry if you’re using the word “said” too often.
I have always listened to my own audiobooks because I learn so much about my own writing—mostly the flaws. For instance, I use the word “shrug” way too often. My characters do way too much with their eyebrows. Listening to audiobooks keeps you from missing those habits with your “reading” eye. At the same time, I love hearing what the actors make of what I leave on the page. They bring such new life and energy to my words, and I get to meet the characters all over again and fall in love with them too.
