T's Stuff: Death’s Mantle by Harmon Cooper

Audiobook Tour: Death’s Mantle by Harmon Cooper

PODIUM ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE AUDIOBOOK PUBLISHING DEAL WITH LitRPG PIONEER AND AMAZON BEST-SELLING AUTHOR HARMON COOPER

Author: Harmon Cooper

Narrators: Andrea Parsneau

Length: 10 hours 25 minutes

Series: Death's Mantle Trilogy, Book 1

Publisher: Podium Publishing

Released: Dec. 17, 2019

Genre: Dark Fantasy; GameLit

Audiobook Home for Trendsetting Author to Release Death’s Mantle Audiobook Trilogy; Death’s Mantle: Book 1 Audiobook Available December 17; Death’s Mantle 2 and 3 Available Early 2020

“We are really excited to partner with Harmon on his new series. We have followed his career for years as he released ever more popular series, and the stars have aligned for us to collaborate on Death’s Mantle,” said Podium CEO, Scott Dickey. “It fits squarely in Podium’s wheelhouse – it’s a metaphysical fantasy thriller that Podium listeners will love. Harmon was one of the first authors to bring GameLit storytelling to mass audiences, and we are excited to bring this new series to audiobook fans around the world.”

Lucian North is supposed to be dead.

Suffering from a rare heart condition that doctors say should have killed him over a year ago, Lucian is playing a video game when Death finally comes.

Rather than give in, Lucian pulls a gun on the Grim Reaper.

As the two stare each other down, terrible demons known as injuresouls swarm into the room in pursuit of Death.

Summoning courage he never knew he had, Lucian comes to Death's aid. And for his troubles, he is awarded Death's Mantle.

Transported to a spiritual world he could have never fathomed, Lucian finds that he is instantly powerful, able to conjure weapons from scratch and perform incredible feats. He introduces game mechanics to his new role, develops a carefully curated inventory list, and modifies a HUD system that allows him to better track his targets.

It isn’t easy being Death, and Lucian will need just about everything he can get as he faces off against fallen angels, appalling parasites, demon-born injuresouls, and savage Death Hunters.

Regardless of his sudden strength, his newfound enemies, and his gamer ingenuity, Lucian can't communicate with the living, which wouldn't be a problem if he hadn’t discovered something terrible about his family...

Lucian’s brother is scheduled to die, and only Lucian has the power to do anything about it.

Death’s Mantle is a dark fantasy GameLit novel that LitRPG, metaphysical fantasy, occult sci-fi, and thriller readers will love. Death’s Mantle is written by Harmon Cooper, bestselling GameLit author of Way of the Immortals, House of Dolls, Cherry Blossom Girls, The Feedback Loop and Monster Hunt NYC. It was inspired by the anime Parasyte, the comic book series Sandman and Spawn, the books On a Pale Horse and the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

Harmon Cooper is a prolific Amazon best-selling author of 50 science fantasy books and counting. He was one of the earliest authors to bring GameLit to the West. His most popular series include Way of the Immortals, House of Dolls, Cherry Blossom Girls, The Feedback Loop and Monster Hunt NYC. Originally from Austin, Texas, Cooper was a musician before transitioning to world traveler and writer, spending five years in Asia honing his writing skills, wanderlusting, studying languages, and teaching English. He now lives in New England (and loves it!) with his wife.

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Andrea Parsneau is an actor, gamer, and artist, known as the most prolific independent female narrator in the genres of LitRPG and GameLit and has made a name for herself working with some of the most recognizable names in the genre. Just recently, she narrated one of the most anticipated productions in Gamelit/LitRPG history, "The Wandering Inn" by Pirate Aba to great critical acclaim. Andrea specializes in bringing each character to life organically through character acting, emotional authenticity and fast-paced action, and is proud to have credits with companies such as the highly prestigious Soundbooth Theater, Podium Publishing, Double Damage Games and more. Outside of her growing catalog of audiobooks, her voice can also be heard in Rebel Galaxy Outlaw and the popular Fallout 4 New Vegas mod with more to come!

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Q&A with Author Harmon Cooper

I understand you recently formed an exclusive audiobook publishing deal with Podium Publishing. How pumped are you about that?!
- I've been following Podium for years and am excited to bring my genre-bending form of fantasy fiction to an even larger listening audience. It's an absolute honor and pleasure to have the behemoth of audio publishing producing the Death's Mantle series. It's going to be wild, it's going to be jarringly awesome, and with Andrea Parsneau narrating it, Death's Mantle will be one audio trilogy that is going to stick with listeners for years to come.
Tell us about the process of turning your book into an audiobook.
- My process is dependent on how the piece will be produced, whether there will be added music or sound effects, or if it is single narrator. I write with the audio in mind. For Death’s Mantle, I wanted Andrea Parsneau to narrate it from the start. Since I began the book in 2018, Andrea as narrator in my mind.
Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
- I don’t know about this one. Part of me wants to say yes, but also there are some amazing narrators out there who can bring anything to life.
Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
- Yes, and it has been since 2016. I come from a music background, and once I started to understand how audiobook narrating works, and saw the similarities, it just clicked for me.
How did you select your narrator?
- I select narrators based on tone and skill, their availability and if they have a listener following.
How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters?
- I try to select narrators who understand my work and the natural flow. I let them do their job with little commenting unless asked. If there are pronunciation things, either I prepare a document, or professional narrators follow-up with questions.
Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
- Always and forever. The more I write, and I’m coming to my fiftieth book being published in January, the more I see that my writings are based on things I enjoyed in my childhood mixed with adult experiences.
What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
- Just keep going at it. If I had quit when a) people told me my work was bad, b) when my work didn’t sell, c) or when I project I had slaved over fell apart, I wouldn’t have made it as an author. I have a long way to go, but I continue to be relentless regarding this pursuit. Be relentless, but be so within reason.
Do you have any tips for authors going through the process of turning their books into audiobooks?
- If it’s your first book, go with a publisher if one reaches out to you. Listen to other audiobooks. Know, at least some, about narrators. And most importantly, realize that just because you don’t listen to audiobooks doesn’t mean millions and millions of people don’t listen to audiobooks. Expand your horizons even if they don’t directly apply to the way you consume media.
What’s next for you?
- Way of the Immortals 3, my xianxia cultivation series, followed by Death’s Mantle 2, followed by House of Dolls 5, a superhero thriller I need to wrap up. Then, it’s time for some new stuff, and what I have in store for 2020 and pushing into 2021 should really please audio listeners and readers alike.