Author: Isaiyan Morrison
Narrator: Samantha Turret
Length: 6 hours 8 minutes
Series: The Dead Series, Book 1
Publisher: Isaiyan Morrison
Released: Mar. 17, 2020
Genre: Young Adult; Paranormal
All Faye wants is another chance at being normal: hanging out with friends, playing video games, or reading the latest manga. As a wraith, her craving for a normal existence seems forever out of reach.
When she makes the move to the small town of Hueman, Texas, with her not-so dead nomadic family, she prays this fresh start will be the one that sticks.Until, one of her kind is murdered by a mysterious man in a black mask.
With only Carter, an unlucky human witness, by her side, Faye must find a way to prevent the body count from rising and protect her family’s secret identity.
As the man in the black mask lurks in the shadows waiting to strike again, her choice becomes a matter of life and death.
In the face of true evil, being normal is overrated.
Isaiyan Morrison was born and raised in Minneapolis, but her heart is in the impressive magical worlds she dreams up. She hopes to share her love for world-building with her readers and help guide them through the extraordinary settings she creates.
Her other passions include reading, and researching historical events. She also enjoys gardening, gaming, and spending quality time with her three cherished cats and beloved pitbull.
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Samantha Turret is an LA-based voice artist, actress and comedian who absolutely loves working on Isaiyan Morrison’s books. Other favorite narration credits include: Bestseller Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World as Mary, Queen of Scots (Audible) and Pearl the Magical Unicorn (Macmillan). She’s voiced many other audiobooks and also lends her voice to animation and commercials. Samantha is also an onscreen actress best known for her role as Ms. Jingles on Nickelodeon’s TOP ELF. Check out her website for more!
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I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Isaiyan Morrison. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
The Not So Dead is about a “not so dead” teenager, going through the angsty transition to not being quite human anymore. In fact, she is a wraith and is living with her new wraith family. If you’re wondering what a wraith is, it’s a being that feeds off human’s, but not their blood – their essence. It is a lot like the Succubus in Lost Girl, feeding off people’s Chi.
I enjoyed this being the book creature since I haven’t read a story about wraiths before. And I like unique creatures!
The main plot follows Faye, who is just a gamer teen and who just wants to be a regular gamer teen. She meets this human and is really into him. This human, Carter, is on his own mission. He is searching to uncover what kind of creature killed his parents. This creature with red eyes. And wraiths have red eyes.
There’s some interesting plot development, introducing a creature hunter, of a sort. And an interesting tool/weapon/artifact that can be used to hurt these creatures of darkness.
The book was short, a fun taste of a paranormal story. I would have enjoyed more character development and a lot more detail about the artifact. But I feel this is to going to build on in further books in the series. The romance between our main characters could definitely use more development. It was a bit funny that a secondary character even commented something like “oh you’ve kissed and now you’re in love.”
The audio narration was good, lots of different voices being done by the narrator. Some of the voices I liked more than others, but overall it was enjoyable.
Overall a quick, fun paranormal story. 3.5 stars.
Q&A with Author Isaiyan Morrison
- How did you select your narrator?
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- I was extremely lucky to come across Samantha Turret during my search for a narrator. I’ve used two different people in the past and the experience wasn’t all that appealing. However, Samantha is extremely wonderful, easy to work with, and she’s serious about her craft. Her process was a breath of fresh air. This is the second audio book project she’s completed for me.
- How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process?
- Samantha made sure to notify me when she was completed with a chapter so that I could go through and listen. If there were any hiccups, I’d let her know. We did this process through Google forms so it was fairly easy.
- Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
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- Yes. This is a must! I have several words throughout my novel that I had to explain the pronunciation for. Not only does this help the narrator but it also saves time and helps to create a polished product for audio fans.
- How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
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- Besides writing, I also love to garden. I have three raised organic beds and I plant every year. It’s usually the same: watermelon, tomatoes, green beans, broccoli, strawberries. This year I’m going to start canning.
- I also love to make small bottlecap trinkets as well.
- I’m an avid video game lover so I play on my X-Box of PS4.
- How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
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- With a glass of wine.
- Okay, well not really.
- I like to take a break. Sometimes a few days. Sometimes a week before jumping back into my next project. Breaks are a necessity.
- What gets you out of a writing slump? What about a reading slump?
- I stop writing and focus on other projects that I like to do. I strongly believe that this helps recharge my brain. I also carry a small notepad with me, just in case an idea pops up in my head that I could use.
- What’s your favorite:
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- Food: Pico de Gallo
- Song: I have so many! The first one that comes to mind is Play the Game by Queen
- Book: Tristessa by Jack Kerouac
- Television show: Again, I have so many! The first one that comes to mind is Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Movie: See above! Lol! I really enjoy Bonnie and Clyde and The Usual Suspects
- Band: The Doors
- Sports team: Not a fan of sports actually
- City: I don’t have a favorite city but I do have a favorite state. New Mexico.
- What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
- Keep writing! Don’t compare yourself to other writers out there. Many have been doing it for a very long time. Some have more money to invest in it than others. Just write what you know. Also, pay attention to what’s currently trending in indie books: cover design, cover colors, plot. You may come across something that you are comfortable writing.
- What’s next for you?
- I’m currently working on the next book in The Dead Series titled “The So-So Dead.” I’m also working on revising a plot outline for the next book in another series, The Deamhan Chronicles.
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