Thanks to the generous assistance of the Indiana Arts Commission and On-Ramp Creative Entrepreneur Accelerator program, the first novel in the Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms series is now available as an audiobook!
Keep reading to see the synopsis, meet the author and narrators, listen to samples, browse options to download the audiobook, and check out the 2022 audiobook virtual tour hosted by Audiobookworm Promotions.
Synopsis
Cato is the only true half-human, half-ghost hybrid in existence. He’s powerful and unique with two divine powers instead of one.
The United States government believes he is the key to developing a devastating weapon that will give humankind an advantage when war inevitably erupts between the Human Realm and Avilésor, the Ghost Realm.
After being an unwilling test subject in Project Alpha for two years, Cato and the rest of his “lab-family” survive a transport accident to find themselves stranded and powerless in the middle of the wilderness. Hunted every step of the way by ghostly Shadow Guards with supernatural abilities and human Agents desperate to recapture their prisoners, the eight young fugitives are drawn to Cato’s hometown where the Rip between Realms connects the worlds.
Cato wants nothing to do with his past, but as his enemies close in, he realizes he’s willing to do anything to protect his lab-family . . .
. . . even kidnap the daughter of a ghost hunter and make a dangerous deal to become a mercenary.
About the Author
Sara A. Noë is an award-winning author, artist, and photographer. She’s had poetry, short fiction, and memoir works featured in various anthologies and journals since 2005, and her poetry is available in the Indiana Poetry Archives.
A Fallen Hero, the first novel in the Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms series, was published in 2018 and has been critically acclaimed by NAM Editorial, The Prairies Book Review, and Literary Titan, among others. The novel made book reviewer Lauren Gantt’s list of Top 10 Favorite Books of 2019 and won the Literary Titan Gold Book Award in 2020.
The series sequel, Phantom’s Mask, was released in July 2020 and won the Literary Titan Gold Book Award less than two months after its release. Book III: Blood of the Enemy is scheduled to be released later this year.
Meet the Narrators
Multiple narrators submitted auditions for the audiobook, but two in particular stood out with the right voices for the characters, incredible passion in their work, and the highest potential to complement one another since the two would be working together and passing characters back and forth in POV shifts.
Check out this earlier post to see the audiobook cover reveal (plus learn about the reasons behind the design) and read an interview with the narrators! Meet the narrators of A Fallen Hero below:
A.J. Shuck
A.J. Shuck is an audiobook narrator and producer with three years of experience in audiobooks and more than a decade of experience in stage acting and musical theatre. He fell in love with performing at the age of thirteen when he premiered as Nerd #3 in a local production of High School Musical.
A.J. has a passion for books and reading, especially YA fiction and mysteries. He believes strongly that the right words at the right time can change the world—certainly, they’ve changed his world. He is a proud member of the Audio Publishers Association (APA). A.J. currently lives in Oklahoma City with the love of his life and their three beautiful daughters who have him wrapped around their little fingers.
Mia Hutchinson-Shaw
Mia Hutchinson-Shaw is an actor and narrator based in NYC. Mia creates soulful, saucy, and lovable characters with her arsenal of accents and flare for the fun.
Mia comes to narration with her background in classical and period-drama theater Off Broadway and Regional Stages. She trained in the UK at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, BA Acting with Honors (UK equivalent to BFA) and was raised between Massachusetts and Montana.
When not working as an actor, Mia is thrifting for her next outrageous, colorful clothing item, getting on her soap box about low-waste living, or hunting handmade jewelers for a new item for her collection of giant earrings. Her favorite is a pair of hot pink Galahs (a bird from Australia).
Listen to Samples
The Ghost Realm candle was created as a collaboration project with Old Soul Artisan. The fragrance was inspired by the Chronicles of Avilésor series, so it’s the perfect companion with the audiobook to fully immerse yourself in the story!
Purchases support the author, a small USA business, and wolf conservation. CoA fans can use promo code PHANTOM to get 15% off their online purchase of the Ghost Realm candle! SHOP HERE.
Where to Download the Audiobook
The audiobook of A Fallen Hero is now available through most retailers! Here is the current list of retailers now carrying it (with links):
Apple
Audible
Audiobooks.com
AudiobooksNow
Authors Direct
BingeBooks
Books-A-Million
Chirp
eStories
Kobo
Libro.fm
Nook
Overdrive
Scribd
Storytel
Not seeing your preferred platform on the list? A Fallen Hero is distributed through more than forty retailers. However, some retailers require an account to view their audiobooks, especially if they cater to libraries. If your preferred audiobook platform isn’t on this list, be sure to search for AFH and see if it populates in the results.
And don’t forget, you can purchase the audiobook directly from me via Authors Direct for a discounted rate! Authors Direct lets you listen to the audiobook through iOS, Android, or your web browser.
The 2022 Audiobook Virtual Tour
The audiobook virtual tour for A Fallen Hero will take place from July 12th to the 18th! Each day, different hosts will be spotlighting the audiobook with reviews, audio excerpts, interviews, blog posts, and/or extra bonus content.
Check out the tour schedule to see all the stops for the audiobook and which type(s) of content will be featured. I encourage you to show your support and engage with the various hosts when they do their feature! Please consider sharing their posts and commenting. It helps me spread the word about the audiobook, and it also helps the hosts who are participating in the virtual tour.
I'm an award-winning fantasy author, artist, and photographer from La Porte, Indiana. My poetry, short fiction, and memoir works have been featured in various anthologies and journals since 2005, and several of my poems are available in the Indiana Poetry Archives. The first three novels in my Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms series have received awards from Literary Titan.
After some time working as a freelance writer, I was shocked by how many website articles are actually written by paid "ghost writers" but published under the byline of a different author. It was a jolt seeing my articles presented as if they were written by a high-profile CEO or an industry expert with decades of experience. I'll be honest; it felt slimy and dishonest. I had none of the credentials readers assumed the author of the article actually had. Ghost writing is a perfectly legal, astonishingly common practice, and now, AI has entered the playing field to further muddy the waters. It's hard to trust who (or what) actually wrote the content you'll read online these days.
That's not the case here at On The Cobblestone Road. I do not and never will pay a ghost writer, then slap my name on their work as if I'd written it. This website is 100% authentic. No outsourcing. No ghost writing. No AI-generated content. It's just me... as it should be.
If you would like to support my work, check out the Support The Creator page for more information. Thank you for finding my website! 🖤