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Author: JMD Reid

Narrator: Zachary Johnson

Length: 112 hours 31 minutes

Series: The Storm Below, Books 1-5

Publisher: Dreaming Between Worlds Publishing LLC

Producer: Audiobook Empire

Released: Jan. 12, 2022

Genre: Epic Fantasy

The Stormriders approach, certain to leave death and destruction in their wake. Can one young man find a way to defeat them? Ten years after his father’s death, the memory of the attack still haunts 19-year-old Ary. On the eve of the draft, he faces his greatest fear: being sent to join the marines. He knows the cost of war. Ary dreams of marrying his childhood sweetheart, building a farm, and starting a family. But the Stormriders threat of war puts his loved ones and his plans in jeopardy. Wishing for peace won’t make it true. For love, for his people, and for the life he desires, Ary makes a decision that will change everything. Thus begins The Storm Below. This bundle contains the complete Storm Below Saga – that’s five audiobooks of epic fantasy! Listen to:

Above the Storm

Reavers of the Tempest

Storm of Tears

Golden Darkness Descends

Shattered Sunlight

The Storm Below is a beautifully creative fantasy epic. Action-packed, dark, and intense, this fantasy series features characters you are certain to love…and others you will love to hate.

J.M.D. Reid has been a long-time fan of Fantasy ever since he read The Hobbit way back in the fourth grade. His head has always been filled with fantastical tales, and he is eager to share the worlds dwelling in his dreams with you. Reid is long-time resident of the Pacific Northwest in and around the City of Tacoma. The rainy, gloomy atmosphere of Western Washington, combined with the natural beauty of the evergreen forests and the looming Mount Rainier, provides the perfect climate to brew creative worlds and exciting stories! When he’s not writing, Reid enjoys playing video games, playing D&D and listening to amazing music.

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Lover of mathematics, devourer of science fiction, and connoisseur of the dad joke. When he’s not doing math for business or fun, he’s devouring science fiction and fantasy, reading up on scientific advancements, going for a jog, or, on all too rare occasions, taking a refreshing swim at the beach. At your service, you shall have an able storyteller and gifted conveyor of information. Experienced in narrating fiction, from the romantic to the post-apocalyptic, and nonfiction, from the historical to the corporate, and armed with the tools to make it all sound great, Zachary promises that, no matter the job, you’ll be read-iculously pleased!

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At Audiobook Empire, audio reigns supreme, narrators are hailed as heroes, and headphones are worn with pride. Marrying pomp and circumstance with quality you can count on, Audiobook Empire is a full-service production house that produces and promotes audiobooks with gusto. Give your audiobook the imperial treatment by producing it with Audiobook Empire.

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Q&A with Author J.M.D. Reid

Tell us about the process of turning your book into an audiobook.
1. I had been thinking about it for a while, wanting to do it, but it’s a daunting process with an epic fantasy series with books as long as this. It was always on the back burner then one day Zach contacted me. He had found my book on Amazon and was very interested in narrating it.
I listened to his samples and found he had a great voice for narrating epic fantasy.
1. We did some back and forth, and the first hurdle I had to cross: how were my strange fantasy names pronounced. There are some nonhuman ones that I don’t know how Zach managed to say, but he did.
2. After putting together the pronunciation guide, the final stage was listening to him voice my characters and making sure we were on the same page. Then it was off to the races.
Do you believe certain types of writing translate better into audiobook format?
1. I think writing that’s very descriptive and has lots of dialogue is probably best for audiobooks.
Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
1. It was not even in the back of my mind. I loved audiobooks, but the idea that a self-published author could do it was never anything I imagined was an option.
How did you select your narrator?
1. He found me and after hearing his voice, I was thrilled to work with him.
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?
1. I gave him a pronunciation guide since there are some interesting names. And a brief character trait. He found my description of one character “is a tool” to be helpful.
Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
1. Yeah. I was really inspired by the Age of Discovery sailing ships but threw them up in the air. Especially the British Royal Navy. You see that in the red coats of the marines and the dark-blue coats of the officers.
How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
1. I work on multiple projects at once so I never feel like I work on one project too much in a day. I feel that keeps me fresh. As for enthusiasm, I love writing. It’s so much fun. The editing and marketing sucks, but the writing is a joy.
Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
1. I am. It started back fifteen or more years. I delivered pizzas in my twenties. And audiobooks let me listen to a story while delivering pizzas. I used to by the CD packs and just picked up new ones from half-price books whenever I could. It’s nice to listen to a story while working on other things.
How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
1. I tend to just feel a rush of a high finishing a novel and just sort of walk around. Not much celebrating but feeling the emotional rush of this.
In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a stand-alone novel vs. writing a series?
1. A stand-alone novel is something I’m not sure I can write. I want to keep telling stories about my character. To tell big stories that one novel can’t contain. A stand-alone novel can be very focused on one idea while a series can let you really explore a world. I write fantasy, and while there are some good stand-alone novels, I think the medium lends itself to series to explore a created world.
What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
1. Read every day. Write every day. You have to develop your craft.
What’s next for you?
1. Shadow of the Dragon is an epic fantasy series I’m working on. It’s about a young girl who gets the soul of an extinct dragon put in her, a young man trying to be a hero and protect her, and a dark conspiracy that hunts her across the world.

Author J.M.D. Reid’s Top 10 Literary Inspirations

There are a number of works that have influenced me. They have left their marks on my writing and my choice of stories. How I tackle stories and what I inspire to write.

JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings
1. Here is where it all began. My love of fantasy came from reading Lord of the Rings. I had started with the Hobbit in the fourth grade, but it wasn’t until the sixth grade when my uncle gave me a hardback box set of Lord of the Rings for Christmas. I loved it. I fell in love with fantasy.
2. From there, I descended into more fantasy. David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Ann McCaffery, and more.
3. Tolkien has so much world-building and history to his world. He speaks of such elemental issues and gives an insight into the ideas and philosophies of more ancient men. And at its core, there are some great characters that pull us along.
Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time
1. Jordan has the biggest influence on my writing style. Back in 1993, I received Eye of the World from my mother as a Christmas gift. I read this book, and this series quickly captured my imagination. I read books 2, 3, 4, and 5. And that was when I became obsessed with it. I spent my Junior High, High School, and my twenties waiting on the next book, reading fan theories, debating the foreshadowing in his books.
2. The way Jordan uses foretellings and prophecy as well as how he blends our mythologies to make his own coherent world. He uses elemental symbology to tell his story that only adds to how compelling it is.
3. I also learned some lessons about controlling your characters and plots from the mistakes Jordan made in his later books. It is a shame he died before finishing his series.
David Eddings’ The Belgariad/The Mallorean
1. After Tolkien, I read Eddings. I had just moved, was in the sixth grade, and had no friends. My mom bought me a book to read. Pawn of Prophecy. She had been given it as a recommendation by the Waldonbook employee.
2. I fell in love with it. This is the perfect book for a boy. A coming of age story and an epic fantasy quest. What I really love is the dialogue. Eddings has great banter and back and forth between enemies and allies. I try to write dialogue like him.
R. Scott Bakker’s The Prince of Nothing/The Aspect-Emperor
1. I have never read anything like R. Scott Bakker’s Second Apocalypse metaseries which consists of The Prince of Nothing and The Aspect-Emperor series. It is a grimdark fantasy that has worked philosophy into the world-building and the magic system.
2. The way he weaves his philosophy into all his characters to tell his story is brilliant. It’s not for the faint of heart. This series does not shy from the darkness that lurks in all of us. His characters are flawed and real in ways that few fantasy series are. The influences of Tolkein are all over the series, but Bakker has made it his own
3. I try to write characters half as complex as his.
Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen
1. Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen might have the most extensive world-building of any series. As an archeologist, he understands how civilizations pile on and on each other and use it to make every bit of his world is steeped in history.
2. On top of that, he has great humor and a sarcastic take on the world. He has created a world that exists beyond the pages. There are things going on that have nothing to do with the grander threat of the Crippled God that threatens the world.
3. I want to build worlds as big as this and to feel like they breathe beyond the bounds of the story.
Frank Herbert’s Dune
1. Dune is a book that has stayed with me. I’ve read the others in the series, and while good, they are not as great as the beginning. Great villains and heroes and some wonderful world-building. But what I love is his names. He just gives some piece of tech a name and rarely gives more description than that. But the name is all you need to understand it.
2. I love that sparseness of his.
Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive
1. I like Brandon Sanderson a lot, but his magic systems are what I find amazing. Not just how they work, but how they fit into the world. How it affects it. How it is integrated into the way civilization works. It has rules, and he finds clever ways to bend those rules or to use them in ways you didn’t think.
Walter M. Miller, Jr’s The Canticle of Leibowitz
1. A haunting book about preserving knowledge. About how the importance of knowledge must be maintained or we are truly lost as a species. I find this theme to be powerful. To be something worth fighting for.
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Books
1. A weird choice, I’m sure, but I rather like the technical details of his book. How he explains complicated ideas to make the readers understand them. He weaves these technological ideas through his story to drive the plot.
Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers
1. I saw the movie of Starship Troopers when I was a junior in high school in theaters. My friends and I all loved it. So I was thrilled to find out there was a book. I read it. Loved it. Now Starship Troopers is the Bug Movie since it is only Starship Troopers in name only.
2. I enjoyed the military aspects. Adapting it to the sci-fi technology. It the sort of influence that Golden Darkness Descends has in its military aspects.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Audiobook Empire. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.