An Interview with Helen Lloyd, Audio Producer

An Interview with Helen Llloyd, Audio Producer

 

 



 

Just to give you a little context: Helen first provided an amazing audition for the production of Money Farm, a book about the future of finance. It has been described as the Brave New World of Finance. What astounded me about her was how she switched between numerous accents and had such power in her tone when she delivered. What's more, she completely engages readers,which has been mentioned in the numerous audio book reviews.

 

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Money-Farm-Audiobook/B010BOM9A8/ref=a_search_c4_1_5_srImg?qid=1448186772&sr=1-5

 

Once Money Farm was complete Helen noticed I had written some comedy chic-lit books called Love Hunt. The premise is simple: two women are hunting rich men to remove them from their mundane office lifestyles. One woman is a tick-list fanatic and the other is a self-confessed Russian gold-digger. The pair are living secret dating lives and engaging with wealthy men in hope to live a better life. They email each other at work about their escapades and the happenings in the office. Of course there is an issue - nothing is good enough for Gracie and Eva, the Russian bombshell, intends to get her debt paid off and increase her collection of shoes.

 

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Love-Hunt-Dating-Game-Audiobook/B015G4ICYA/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srImg?qid=1448186772&sr=1-1

 

When Helen provided me with her audition I was actually blown away. The Russian accent was astounding and in terms of portrayal of the Russian character, well she had me in absolute states of hysterical laughter. Honestly she was brilliant.  When Love Hunt 1 was finished Helen went straight into Love Hunt 2 and delivered a performance so excellent that I am proud to have written the book. Anyway here is her interview and I have to say she is so humble considering her phenomenal talent.

As I said I before, I feel it is a real joy to be able to work with such talented people.

Please enjoy!

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Love-Hunt-II-The-Love-Game-Audiobook/B0176Z9Y08/ref=a_search_c4_1_7_srImg?qid=1448186772&sr=1-7

 

Q: How did you get into producing audiobooks?

I recorded my first audiobooks way back in 1980s … recording in a professional recording studio onto tape and the books were distributed on cassette tape – so my involvement with audiobooks goes back a long way – though there was a long gap in the middle when I was working as a television producer, when I just didn’t have the time to continue with something that is so time intensive, so audiobooks took a back seat until I took redundancy from ITV and set up my personal studio.    

I have always read for pleasure – and I guess heard characters in my head right from the very beginning of reading stories. I read to my son … and now read to my grand-daughter. I also think   that moving into audiobooks was in many ways a natural progression from my initial training as an actor and the first two decades of my working life as an actor.  Audio training and voice work was part of my drama school course (I trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama) and always felt quite comfortable in front of a microphone. I have done some radio drama as well and have played a wide variety of roles on stage in theatres up and down the UK and in the West End and also doing bits and bobs on television, so I am well used to interpreting other people’s words and creating credible characters.  

 

In the early 1980s, I moved into television as a presenter and began to do VO work, then moved sideways to behind the camera and eventually became a programme producer making documentaries for ITV and digital TV channels, while at the same time doing quite a lot of corporate and commercial voice over work as well as narrating over fifty broadcast television programmes.  I learned about production technically and artistically … and also how to edit (pictures as well as audio) and how to meet deadlines – all transferable skills, invaluable in audiobook production.

 

I took redundancy from ITV and returned to my roots – I went back into theatre briefly as a producer and director, also as a youth theatre leader and company manager and even worked as an actor once more. Eventually, I set up my home and got back into full time narration and VO work – often working remotely with Audiobok producers and production houses from my own studio, and I realised that this was something I really wanted to get more involved in. ACX was not at that time available in the UK, however it was increasingly seen as an additional opportunity for narrators in the US. I joined forces with an independent US based producer who, acting as a third party ‘producer’ gave me direct access to ACX in the US and I produced my first three independent reads through Push Play Audio in 2013.  When ACX opened up in the UK in 2014, I signed up and started looking for books to narrate and produce myself while continuing to narrate for audiobook publishers remotely through various producing houses in the UK and US. 

Q What so you look for when choosing to work on an audio book?  

It always has to be about the writing and the story for me, and I enjoy working in almost all genres of books. I don’t feel comfortable reading erotica – or overtly political or religious books. My favourite kind of read are those with a great storyline and a clear narrative voice combined with vibrant and original characters that move the story forward in an interesting way. I like multi-layered books where there is more going on beneath the surface – where there is scope for real character and emotional development.  If a book is badly written and poorly constructed, has clichéd characters and stilted dialogue, then that is a real turn off. It is just not worth the effort and time involved.  

 
It takes a lot of hours to produce an audiobook – and if a book does not engage me, how can I hope to engage the listener?  I am unwilling to spend hours and hours producing something that will always be substandard because however well it is read, if the writing is poor, it will never really work - you just can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear I’m afraid. So quality of writing is what I am looking for … always. 

I narrate all genres of book - heavyweight histories and non-fiction reads, short stories, lots of romances, fantasy, comedy, classics, horror and just about everything in between.  I prefer to work on books that offer a fee payable per finished hour (PFH rate) or at least offer a stipend if they are royalty share (RS). As a full time narrator - I don’t have another day job – narrating books and doing other VO work is how I earn my living – and as well as the time it takes and the investment in equipment that  have made, there are other costs involved. Though I am very happy to edit my own work, I prefer to hire a professional audio proofer. This makes such a difference to the quality of the finished read and it is notoriously difficult to proof one’s own reads.  I need to know that those costs will be covered. On a royalty share deal, there is always the chance that I will end up being out of pocket. 

Having said that, there are rare occasions when a book just jumps out at me and I just feel I have to do it … even if it is a Royalty Share. However, I can only afford to do that a couple of times a year – and at periods when there is no paid work in the pipeline. 

Q What are some of your funniest/ weirdest and most awkward

experiences within audio production?

I have discovered that I have a particularly noisy digestive system - I rumble

when I am hungry and also for an hour or so after eating, especially if I eat bread or wheat based cereal – so grabbing a sandwich is not an option when I am working. Fortunately porridge doesn’t seem to cause such a repertoire of rumbles!  

 

That aside, I cry at the drop of a hat. Anything remotely sad and I sob. I have

wept buckets at a baby alien saying goodbye to its master (! Yes really).  Things always go wrong in books, a hero is killed or injured, people get sick, a relationship comes to an end (or ends happily … I still sob); animals or people are shot, hurt, maimed, hunted, haunted, frightened lost.  You name it, anything remotely sad, and I cry. As you can imagine, this causes major problems - sniffing is not allowed – and when you really cry it makes your throat hurt and your voice sounds snotty for a considerable time.  I have also been known to get the giggles. Sex scenes can also be particularly problematical –highly educational they may be but mostly I just find them funny, especially at ten in the morning.  There I am … old enough to know better, shut away in isolation in my little box, essentially talking to myself – and when things get steamy I am often struck by the silliness of the situation and get the giggles.  Then there are the days when your brain and your mouth just won’t talk to each other. Even the simplest phrase becomes gobbledeygook and nothing sounds right … the only thing to do at this point is to give up for an hour or so … walk the dog, hoover the stairs, do something totally different, switch off and try again later. 

Q: What was it about Money Farm and the Love Hunt books that appealed?

I think the thing that drew me to Money Farm was the fact that the book was so inventive and so multi-layered.  It also echoed the real life situation where the Global banking crisis had made most of us ordinary mortals feel disgust and mistrust at the financial system – and the heroine of MF was so cynical, so tough and so anarchic that she instantly appealed. Also Money Farm was so original, unlike any other book I had come across … it was full of inventive characters and there was the full gamut of worldwide accents specified in the book. It posed a real challenge to come up with believable and original voices for so many people. I really enjoyed that and some of the reviews have commented on the range of voices in the read– very gratifying. 

Although The Love Hunt books have a similar financial theme (the heroines are definitely looking for guys with money) these books come at things from a completely different angle – and one which again I found original and challenging. The Love Hunt books are purely character voices … there is no narrative voice at all – there is also a lot of humour in the books as well as a lot of common sense. I found the two main women really interesting to play and particularly warmed to Eva the crazy Russian blonde bombshell. She just had the best lines! 

 

Q What are your favourite bits of Money Farm and the Love Hunts that the readers should listen out for? 

I don’t really have any favourite bits that jump out at me. I think taking any section out of context is almost impossible to do. That is why it is so difficult to find the right sample section to go on the ‘Audible’ listing … choosing any individual section is really difficult.  Hopefully people will be grabbed in the early pages and will just want to go on listening! 

 

To hear Helen's Brilliance!!!:

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Money-Farm-Audiobook/B010BOM9A8/ref=a_search_c4_1_5_srImg?qid=1448187457&sr=1-5

How do you feel about the value of your life being based on the amount of money sitting in your bank? If we are all inter-connected by money, then why do so few people pay attention to how money works? Fear and denial are perfect for generating debt and that is what the world is run on. Now imagine, if in the future, one financial institution became so powerful that it could choose to eradicate the present monetary system. Then what happens?

 

 

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Love-Hunt-Dating-Game-Audiobook/B015G4ICYA/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srImg?qid=1448187651&sr=1-1

Come on admit it - as much as we deny it - we ladies like a good love hunt.

We have tick lists, ideals, and we hunt in high-heeled packs. Of course, we're all hunting for that elusive right man who ticks every box and even has tidy nostril hair. Okay maybe not you, but you know other ladies who love the hunt.

Well, it's time for Eva and Gracie to love hunt, and their "targets" are rich men - the golden sperm. Such exciting escapades would provide the pair with entertaining discussions during their dull office hours - or so they thought. What they did not anticipate was the discovery of the "booby man"; humorous but very hard truths about wealth, themselves, power; and the RichIdiot.com phenomenon.

The question remains: can love really be hunted?

 

 

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Love-Hunt-II-The-Love-Game-Audiobook/B0176Z9Y08/ref=a_search_c4_1_7_srImg?qid=1448187651&sr=1-7

The Love Hunt has returned. Gracie is back on the dating horse after a huge fall in her first tick-list-tastic love hunt.

Her new dating adventures take her and Eva into the depths of "the love game".

In the meantime, Eva, the ultimate Russian gold digger, has come to the conclusion that her poor "village idiot boyfriend" will never be enough. He will certainly not pay off her accumulating debts. She needs a rich man, and that means rich idiot dating.

In The Love Game, Eva and Gracie travel the journey of extreme love learning. On the way, they will discover their love and lust lists, their intrinsic issues, and experience some hilarious and jaw-dropping dates in pursuit of the wealthy ideal.

All of this in the pursuit of love.

The Love Hunt II is on!

 

Do You Have One Of These In Your Office? The Office Temp...

THE OFFICE ZOO LINK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013H91D56

The Office Temp.

Usually a singer, an actor, a musician, a photographer or something a little bit alternative. They are just doing this dull office job for a short time because there is a bigger goal a-foot. They might be setting up their own business or studying for a part-time degree. The thing is they do not work their arses off because there is no point. They have a bigger plan and a bigger picture and they are aware that if the company wants to get rid of them they can be kicked out with a week’s notice. Since that is the case then why push your limits for a job that does not care about you? In the end they opt to have a bit of fun, do a bit of work and spend time dreaming about what they really want to do.

The true Office Temp provides a little bit of sparkle and individuality to the office. Generally, they don't wear office attire, there will be something a little bit individual in how they present themselves. It could be the beads, their hairstyle or a rebellious cardigan. Of course, they believe they are going to make their millions when they go to London.  Alternatively, they are saving to go on a huge world travel. They spend their six-month contract dreaming and talking about what they are going to do. The funny thing is that all that study, that bigger picture can be dropped when they get used to earning good money. That money becomes a ball and chain and many decide to accept permanent positions because they have been corporately moulded and institutionalised. The amount of times I hear people say ‘well I came into temp for six months and I am still here twenty years later!’ 

 

In truth, some make the break. Others go to another office and temp some more. They will make it big next time…

Learning: keep your dream, work towards your dream and accept your reality at the same time. Office work provides entertainment, cash and some random people you would never choose to sit on a bus next to but you have to make an effort with inside the ‘institution.’

 

 

 

BUYERS MAKE THE BEST LOVERS -

NO ONE TOLD YOU THAT DID THEY?

OFFICE ZOO LINK TO AMAZON.COM Link: http://amzn.com/B013N51MNC

LINKS TO AMAZON.COM:

LABYRINTHINE AMAZON.COM LINK: Link: http://amzn.com/B012FAYI5U

A SHORT COURSE IN CREATIVE WRITING LINK: Link: http://amzn.com/B01390THLK

MONEY FARM LINK TO AMAZON.COM :Link: http://amzn.com/B010F04W9O

I thought I may as well add the most recent Money Farm review... Love it!

 

Extremely thought provoking...

BySusan Keefeon July 13, 2015

Format: Kindle Edition

Gillian’s world is turned upside down when she is unexpectedly ‘released’ from her job. Her government funding is revoked after the board decides they did not like a paper she wrote on ‘Reactants, resistance, reflexivity and reversal in times of financial and social hardship.’

All of a suddenly her secure life has gone. What will she do? All around her people are getting into debt, being encouraged to spend more than they have, buy things they don’t need. Possessions are everything, all that matters. Why? How had the world gotten into this state, and why didn’t the powers that be want to hear what she had to say?

Not taking her redundancy laying down Gillian’s resolve hardens as she actively strives to understand the financial system and money handling. Living on her savings whilst looking for a job, she soon discovers that it won’t be long before she is homeless.

But what about M.O.N.E.Y? The people who work for M.O.N.E.Y live at the Money Farm, which was a series of huge walled islands, linked by bridges, which has been in existence for over 200 years. Gillian becomes obsessed with the M.O.N.E.Y concept. Who are these people, how are they chosen? M.O.N.E.Y is totally self-sufficient, secretive, she has to know more.

How do you become part of M.O.N.E.Y, this amazing organisation whose employees themselves are intriguing?

Then, one day she follows a M.O.N.E.Y employee out of a shop and asks the man the leading question “How do I become one of you?”

This simple question, and his reply changes her life forever.

As she trains and is inducted into the world of M.O.N.E.Y, Gillian soon discovers that she has in fact been chosen. Her militant nature and questioning attitude allows her to think outside the box. However, I wondered, as the story progressed, did M.O.N.E.Y have any idea of what her impact would be?

This was a fascinating book, deep and very thought provoking, it made you wonder…

I will certainly be looking out for more very interesting books by this talented author.

 

 

Do you have one of these in your office? The Office Feeder

In celebration of The Office Zoo - A Field Guide to Office Animal Observation being released on audio today, I will be posting five of the Office Animal Types that may well inhabit your office. I hope you will find the series highly amusing and look forward to feedback:)

OFFICE ZOO AUDIO Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013H91D56

TO LISTEN TO A SAMPLE:

SOUND CLOUD SAMPLE: https://soundcloud.com/ruby-allure/officezoortlaudsmp

 

The Office Feeder.

 

Cake boosts moral, cake is comfort and at any opportunity people bring cake into the office. There is a cake for all occasions - cake for birthdays, a wedding, a promotion, a leaving do or just a general celebration of cake with cake. Someone farts and someone suggests a cake to celebrate. That is just how office life works. With this in mind, where is the best place to have a feeder? If cake keeps moral up – what better way to be the source of that moral by providing cake? The Office feeder’s cantankerous cake creations provide her with endless adoration, approval and appreciation. What’s more, she will keep the gym in business as people attempt to cake-offset on the treadmill.

The Office Feeder is usually a buxom sort who likes to bake and see people happy. She has a husband suffering from extreme cholesterol levels. He needs a forklift truck to lift him from the bed in the morning. The unfortunate truth is for her husband to survive, the feeder has to turn her attention elsewhere and feed teams instead. In the back of her mind she knows if her humongous hubby tips the scales any further then widow-dom looms.

With an atmosphere reminiscent to a farmer’s wife who has planted one too many pumpkins, her cake feeding has a precise weight-gain plan. Those skinny waifs in the office will be tempted. She could advertise the anti-thesis of a diet - From firm to fat in ten weeks! A new diet fad – or fat. The thing is the Office Feeder gets away with it because she is jovial, friendly and very persuasive. The Office Feeder wants her fellow office women to grow fat to make her feel better. Her punch lines are ‘life is too short not to.’ ‘Well it is only one.’ ‘I wouldn’t want you to miss out.’ ‘Oh treat yourself...’

 

The Office Feeder is very persuasive and worst of all she is the Office Dieter’s main saboteur. She has a natural  talent for determining who is on a diet and searching them out with the next calorific brownie. The sludgy bottom brigade will try to resist by saying ‘oh I can’t – oh I already ate... They will finally give in to the mesmerising smile and the fear that all the cakes will go. They will find themselves in a trance and muttering ‘oh go on then… just a little bit.’ They will take one bite and that will be it – all resistance has gone. They may as well apply that beautiful cake straight to their posteriors as they jam their ever-expanding behinds into the chair. If you are very aware, you might notice that the Office Hotty and the Office Fitness Fanatic have the willpower of steel. They can resist her charms. While many grow in girth over the years through cake consumption, the Hotty and the Fanatic will survive.

Learning: If you are clever, you can use the office greedy as the first line of attack and send them in to wipe out the cake before it reaches you. It just depends how svelte you wish to remain and whether you love cake or not.

OTHER AUDIO BOOKS BY RUBY:

LABYRINTHINE:Link: http://amzn.com/B012FAYI5U

 

A SHORT COURSE IN CREATIVE WRITING Link: http://amzn.com/B01390THLK

MONEY FARM: Link: http://amzn.com/B010F04W9O

 

 

 

Labyrinthine - the chapters the actress read and blew me away!

LABYRINTHINE - RUBY ALLURE

Copyright Ruby Allure

http://amzn.com/B008Y65FWU

 

CHAPTER 1

 

When an eye shows clarity and light, a connection to the soul is revealed.

When an eye is devoid of the celestial blueprint, the soul is lost...

It becomes Retina Blue

 

The moment of awakening came from the most unexpected source, at the most inconvenient time. It plunged a person’s life into complete disarray - that was how it was supposed to be.

     Olivia squinted in pain, rays of light shone directly into her eyes from the window. Her apartment looked bleary. She lifted her face from the floor and peeled some sketches from her cheek. Instinctively she checked the back of her head for blood. Nothing. Her black, curled hair was matted but there was no wound. Through the blur, something darted across the room. She froze. An androgynous figure wearing black was moving closer.

Inhaling hard, she shook her head. What the..?

The silence bristled.

A dark shape in the intruder’s hand caught her attention. ‘It’ intended to kill her.

Quiet.

“When you’re good and ready we will talk,” it said.

Its voice was deep and confident - mysterious. “That’s once you stop bloody fidgeting!”

Olivia stared. It did not return the glance, instead its eyes, behind dark glasses, remained fixed on an ornate, shimmering hourglass. It appeared to be counting something down.

“What have I done? Who are you? Who sent you?”

“Shhh! I’m waiting,” said the figure.

“Waiting for what?”

“Waiting for the precise moment.”

 

CHAPTER 2 

In the exhibition hall of an exclusive art gallery, a plump, fuming, fifty-something art agent paced up and down muttering under his breath. As he loosened his tie, his shifty eyes darted about in agitation. Hunching his shoulders, he grew increasingly rigid.

“That girl’s always late! It’s her last bloody chance!”

He scraped his chubby fingers over his balding head.

“Complete and utter disrespect! What does she think I am?”

He paused by a white framed window and stared out. For a moment, he just shook his head and checked his watch. I’m sick of it! If she doesn’t get here soon, I’ll have her bloody killed, that way her work might be worth something!

The agent’s face grew increasingly crimson, “this is her last bloody chance!” he spat.

 

CHAPTER 3 

In a luxurious hotel, overlooking Bournemouth’s sandy beaches, Max laid on his king-size bed, smiling at the naked woman before him. He admired her curves as he traced his finger across her tanned, lean stomach. She smiled a coy smile, removed his hand from her hip, and slipped on her black, satin dress. “Time for me to go,” she said.

He sighed, “you don’t really have to go, do you?”

“You know I do.”

She gazed at him, bent over and kissed him on the forehead. Max gazed at her breasts and then into her eyes.

She shook her head, turned, and glanced over her shoulder as she walked towards the door.

He watched the elegant woman leave the room and adjusted himself. He would never see her again.

“Damn, I have to call Olivia!”

Max yawned, rolled over and reached for his mobile. He resented having to call Olivia. She had an exhibition looming and would be at her wits end. Did he really need to deal with all that stress? He huffed; what he put himself through just to be with her was ridiculous. Max smiled wryly; he had his reasons and it was nearly time.

CHAPTER 4

At that precise moment, a ragged, jaded old woman with a plume of matted, white hair clung to a trolley as it careered down a steep hill. She laughed hysterically to herself whilst muttering to the three dolls perched on the wire mesh. Each doll was dressed as an angel and gazed into the distance with crooked doll eyes. Onlookers gazed at the eccentric old woman.

          “You haven’t seen me, you’ll forget… I forgot... So will you.”

The time had come. She had been called. She had a role to play; she just wished she knew the source of the knowledge.

CHAPTER 5

Olivia pulled her knees into her chest and sat with her back against the white wall. Whenever she moved, she winced. Had she been beaten? Drugged? 

“What do you want from me?” she asked again.

The intruder made a sideways glance, “I don’t want anything from you in particular.”

“Look - stop playing games. I know you’re here to…” Olivia gestured at the dark shape.

The intruder waved the object like a toy. “Oh this... No, you have it all wrong. It’s not so much that I’m here to kill you - it’s a mere warning. There are powers at work of which you have no understanding. And it’s far better you know of such things now, before you make any discoveries.”

Olivia gazed suspiciously at the person before her: had someone sent it? Chewing her lip, she frowned. Why warn an artist trying to make a comeback? Olivia glanced at the door. Could she get past?

“I know what you’re thinking and I wouldn’t try it if I were you,” it said.

CHAPTER 6

Max grabbed a white towel from the rack and admired his perfectly sculpted physique in the mirror. He spent hours at the gym pounding the machines for that very reason; he was attractive and knew it. He could have anyone, but he had become ‘stuck’ with Olivia. She was the deal, and he was attached to her until the exhibition was complete.

He glanced at his mobile and huffed; he had to call her. Reluctantly he dialled and waited. After three rings, Olivia’s answering machine clicked on.

“Good morning, darling. I hope everything is okay with the exhibition. I wish I could be there to support you but you know how these conferences go. Work, work, work! Anyway, good luck with the hanging – you know it will look fantastic. Anyway lo…ve you and see you when I get back.”

He checked his watch seven-thirty am and frowned. He called her mobile. No answer.

“Where are you Olivia? You hardly sleep so what are you doing? Get that bloody work up and get me my money!”

 

CHAPTER 7

 

The answer phone beeped. Olivia listened to the message and glanced at the intruder; it stood with its arms folded shaking its head. “Don’t trust him. His tone reveals he’s a liar.”

Olivia ignored the comment as she grappled to sit upright. “You know what? I don’t get this... What are you doing here? What do you want from me? If it’s money...”

“Why does it always have to be about money? Do I look as though I have the slightest interest in shinny pieces of metal?”

What did that mean? “Then…?”

“As I said... I’m waiting.” The person in black paused and glanced out of the window and back to the hourglass in front of it.

“Are you some kind of weird stalker of ex-child prodigies?” asked Olivia.

“God, no!” The intruder leant against the wall and sighed. “Do you understand the concept of timing?”  

“In relation to what?” asked Olivia glancing at the door.

“Don’t bother thinking about escape. There isn’t time... And the timing is in relation to the universe,” it responded.

What did it mean? How could she get out? She squinted and touched the back of her head. It was still painful. Olivia frowned; the intruder was real, wasn’t it?

CHAPTER 8

 

The art agent clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. “She’s done it again! How many times do I have to endure this behaviour?”

Richard, the agent, attacked his mobile phone and pressed re-dial.

“She’d better be on her way! Or... or I’ll...” he muttered. Unconsciously he stamped on the black and white patterned marble floor of the gallery. The phone rang.

“This is Olivia, please leave a message,” said the answering machine clicking on.

“Where the bloody hell are you? Get your pathetic arse over here now! I will not take this shit anymore! You will get here and put this exhibition together or we both lose everything!” he yelled. When he was finished, he snapped the phone shut. Smack! It collided with the floor. The agent loosened his collar; beads of sweat caressed his forehead and dribbled down his nose. Clasping his chest, he groaned and swayed.

CHAPTER 9

Olivia’s instinctive response was to recoil while the verbal darts flew from the answer machine.

The intruder appeared entertained by her response.

Silence.

Smiling, the intruder watched the last few golden grains trickle through the timer.

“That’s it, my timing’s done,” it said calmly. 

“No! What? You held me at gunpoint so my bloody arsehole of an agent could have a go at me? What kind of weirdo are you?” she demanded.

The intruder turned its back on her and shook the hourglass.

“Yep, the timing is perfect. Time to go. We did well. Er… Thank you.”

Olivia flushed red. “Wait! What are you and who are you working for? Why did you do this?” 

With its back to her, the intruder removed its dark glasses. For a moment, it paused and blinked a couple of times.

Olivia recoiled, “what the...?” She dug her fingers into the carpet and jammed her feet into the floor. Her instinct was to escape but all she could manage was to shake her head.

“I work for someone higher. I am known as the Connector and the timing is falling out,” it said casually. “It’s all got a bit chaotic, usually I wouldn’t take such measures…”

“You’re mad!”

The Connector’s thin lips curled. “Believe what you wish.”

Olivia shifted to kneeling. “What on earth are you?” asked Olivia, tears trickling down her cheeks.

The Connector waited, it expected the inevitable.

Urgently, she grabbed her stomach and suppressed a wave of nausea. Goosebumps prickled all over her body.

The Connector glanced back at the hourglass, “I have overstayed my ‘time’ and witnessing my eyes will help you in the future - we will meet again.”

“But I don’t want to meet again!”

“The conscious choice is not yours and it will be a much nicer experience next time. I won’t bring the weapon.”

Olivia hugged herself; the Connector’s eyes were large and clear. They were so beautiful, so turquoise. Yet there was something missing.

The Connector gestured, “by seeing my eyes you will know what you are looking for - what is extra in you and what I am missing. You are now on a search for Retina Blue: it will be the genius behind your work. Think of it as a divine gift.”

It paused and gazed into her eyes, “you are very lucky- if luck exists,” it smirked.

“Retina Blue? What on earth does that mean?” she asked in a dazed tone.

“I said our time is up! The rest is up to you.” The Connector turned towards the window, paused for a second and glanced back.

“Olivia, consider the people you have in your life. A lot of them are arseholes. Time to clear them out! Transformation is coming!” It grinned, waved, ran and then jumped.

Olivia scrambled urgently to standing and sprinted towards the window. Her glance navigated one hundred and eighty degrees. Nothing. It had disappeared... How was that possible?

The space between the ground and the window was empty. There was no evidence and nowhere for it to go. Nothing. The only other visible living entity was a squawking raven perched on a chimney of the apartment block across the street.

“Go to routine Olivia,” she whispered to herself.

 

CHAPTER 10

The old woman glanced at her watch; she had two miles to walk to the designated position. She felt tired and weary, just old. Admittedly, there were other ways to travel, it was just she should not influence anything and definitely not talk to anyone. “This one will be perfect,” she croaked.

 

The link to the book: http://amzn.com/B008Y65FWU