Joe Ledger: Special Ops

A Conversation between Jonathan Maberry and Ray Porter

NOTE: Actor Ray Porter has become the official ‘voice’ of Joe Ledger since his first performance on the audiobook of Patient Zero. Since then Ray has read all of the novels and a slew of novellas and short stories. Author Jonathan Maberry discusses with Ray the process of bringing Joe Ledger to life in the audio performances.

JONATHAN MABERRY: What’s your process for preparing to read an audiobook?

RAY PORTER: I like to familiarize myself with the characters. Often I can gain insight into how the character sounds from a gentle pre-read of the text. I say “gentle” because I don’t want to get too heavily into the read until I am recording. “Save it for the stage.” Most important for me is to get an idea of the author’s “voice.” Nine times out of ten, the author will help me find the voice of the book just by the way they have chosen to tell the story. As much research as necessary before recording is a good idea. Thankfully, Blackstone Audio has great proofers but I always feel a little embarrassed when I have pronounced something so hideously wrong that I feel like taking an English class.

JONATHAN: Walk us through the steps of recording a book?

RAY: Well, as I said before, a gentle pre-read helps me a great deal. Since I record at home, I am the narrator and engineer. I read the book from my iPad, which is mounted to a music stand next to my microphone. There is a monitor above me and a mouse and keyboard handy so that on the very rare and vastly infrequent times that I make a mistake (between 1 and 1000 times per page), I can simply punch-in in ProTools and continue recording. I also have to stop for helicopters flying overhead. No matter how well insulated your recording space, some sounds just get through. Los Angeles is sometimes not the most tranquil place, and I have had to take extended breaks at times to wait for the noise to lessen. We live near Forest Lawn, and on the day of the Michael Jackson funeral there were so many choppers in the air that I just took the whole afternoon off.

JONATHAN: How do you pick the voices for each character in the Joe Ledger books? What goes into that process?

RAY: It’s hard to describe how that happens. Sometimes the author will say “He had a high, thin reedy voice and a thick Bulgarian accent that still lingered behind his Texan drawl and cleft palate” (don’t get any ideas, Jonathan!) and so you just do that. Other times, it just kind of happens. I don’t know how to describe it better. When I first came across Mr. Church, I saw him in my head. I had a clear picture of his face. His voice just sort of fell out of my mouth. I tend to get a clear visual of faces and then their voices arrive from that. There are also clues from the author. The description of the way a person looks can tell me what they may sound like. You gave me such a gift in your initial description of Rudy that I only needed to follow suit. Others can be tougher to find, but it is so important that the person listening knows who is talking and when. In a scene between two women I really need to be as specific as I can so you don’t get lost.

JONATHAN: What’s the role of the director in the performance process?

RAY: I usually work alone but when I have worked with directors it is always a great experience. I am fortunate to work with Grover Gardner at Blackstone and I can get his input whenever I need it. Imagine getting help with your science homework from Stephen Hawking and it is kind of like that.

JONATHAN: You read books all day long. Do you still have the energy to read for pleasure?

RAY: I do. I have always been a voracious reader and I really love books. I even collect antiquarian books. I was initially worried when I first started narrating that it would be the ultimate busmen’s holiday to read a book for pleasure, but quite the opposite is true. I find I am reading more now that I narrate books than I did before. I read to my three-year-old son every night at bedtime, so you could say I also narrate for pleasure.

JONATHAN: Readers have told me how much they enjoyed your reading of Patient Zero. Do you have a favorite character from the book?

RAY: Everyone has been so kind in their reviews of that book. I had an utter blast reading it. I feel a great affinity for Joe Ledger as we are very similar in a lot of ways. Except for the killing zombies thing, that is. I like Gault and Toys a lot, Mr. Church is endlessly interesting, Rudy is great, Grace….

At the risk of sounding lame, I kind of love all of the characters in that book. I can’t decide a favorite.

JONATHAN: Do you feel like the character as you portray him, and how much of yourself do you bring to the role?

RAY: I think I have to have a personal investment in a character to make the character work. But I really try to let the characters speak for themselves. You didn’t buy “Ray Porter reads Patient Zero,” you bought “Patient Zero.” I have to stay the hell out of the line of communication between you and Jonathan so that his work will affect you. If I do my job right I am just narrating the book, you are reading it.

JONATHAN: Do you have a favorite character from Patient Zero? Or from any of the other Ledger novels or stories?

RAY: Well, as I said before, choosing one character over another feels a little like “Which cute puppy do you want to keep?” It is just too hard for me to choose. As for Dragon Factory? Oh my, there are some fun people in that one!

JONATHAN: Do audio performers get any kind of recognition — like an Oscar or Emmy?

RAY: There is actually a spoken word Grammy, believe it or not. Jim Dale won for his narration of the Harry Potter books. There are also the Audie awards from the Audio Publishers of America. I am up for one this year (nonfiction) and my fingers are crossed. Audiofile magazine has monthly Earphones awards that they give each month from reviews in that magazine. I have won a couple and felt very proud indeed.

JONATHAN: Do people ever recognize you by your voice because they’ve heard you read an audio book?

RAY: This question made me smile. I think it would be very cool, but it hasn’t happened yet. I actually would prefer it not to happen. I feel it is very important to stay out of the way of the text in my narration. I know I made some strong choices in the first Joe Ledger book (and the second!) but they were justified by what Jonathan wrote. He created a book that was so much fun to read, but I really was never conscious of “performing” the book. Jonathan wrote it, not me. I am so happy and grateful beyond words that people like my narration of his work but the most important thing for me is that you get to experience Jonathan Maberry’s story, not mine. That being said, I still think it would be the coolest thing ever to be on the phone with AT&T or something and have the person on the other end say “wait a minute, you sound like the guy from Patient Zero.” That would be excellent. Although with my luck I’d get “I know you. You narrated The Complete Idiot’s Guide to String Theory. You broke my brain! Damn you!” I actually did narrate the aforementioned book. I really liked it. But truth be told, zombies and evil geniuses hell-bent on world destruction are more fun than a barrel of transgenic simian commandos. Keep ’em coming, Jonathan!

JONATHAN: When you get the next book in an ongoing series, what’s your process for getting back into the groove with those character voices/personalities?

RAY: A lot of getting back in the groove with recurring characters depends on the author. In your case, every character has such a well-defined personality that, if I really “listen” to what you are saying, the voice just naturally comes back. A perfect example of this is when I was reading a phone conversation made by an obviously distraught person who was unidentified. I got three lines in and realized “it’s Toys!” You write such full characters that I hear their voices just by reading the text. Which brings me neatly to the next question.

JONATHAN: Nowadays when I write a new Ledger story I hear your voice interpretations in my head. How weird is that?

RAY: It is weird and wonderful that you hear my interpretations as you write. I cannot think of higher praise. Your writing is such a great pleasure to read. I’m one of the few, if not the only, ones who gets to read it out loud (there may be a Joe Ledger fan out there annoying his flat mates with his interpretations). I once said that Mr. Church’s voice literally fell out of my head, and many of your characters are like that for me. Joe and I just talk alike, always have. I am amazed that I get to read these stories, and I miss them between books. You’d better not let Joe retire! People have spoken about how well these books work as audiobooks, and I am grateful indeed that I was assigned Patient Zero way back when.