Entirely Capable

January 9, 2018 Ainslie

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Way back in 2013 I wrote a book about a voice actor and a sound engineer. Engineer Georgia was struggling to recover after a separation and voice actor Damon had health problems – He was also blind, but that wasn’t his problem.

I wrote that book for a friend’s daughter who was losing her sight from a rare condition she’d had since birth. And I sat on it for almost two years, never really knowing if it was good enough and worried when sensitivity readers said it was ableist. It almost didn’t get published. It still makes me nervous.

It’s angsty as hell.

But Kate Cuthbert gave it the all clear and for better or worse, it came out in the dog days of 2015. My friend’s daughter is now at uni studying maths – she’s so damn smart – and very excited about self-drive cars.

Today I got a tweet from a guy called Pete Gustin.

I was just told someone wrote a book about “me”. Well…kinda me. The story of a voice actor losing his eyesight. I’m hoping that “Incapable” by @AinsliePaton is available as an audio book : )

— Pete Gustin (@petegustin) January 5, 2018

This is Pete.

VOICE OF FOX NEWS, MOVIE TRAILERS, AND MORE
From Super Bowl ads to Network TV Promos and from International ad campaigns to some of the most recognizable radio brands in the country, Pete Gustin is the voice of the Fox News Channel and much more. Known for his massive vocal range, Pete performs in every genre, every medium and every realm of the world of voice overs.

Since I live half a world away, I’ve never heard of Pete although I may have heard his voice somewhere.

How Pete manages as a blind voice over actor is essentially what Damon does – large print magnified, memorising and having the text read to him. See how Pete does it below.

I always wanted Incapable to become an audio book. Seemed like it simply should’ve. Unfortunately it never got there.

I have no idea how Pete heard about it. Little not very well read books can still travel far. Freak out!

Here’s the blurb:

Love can be a great healer, except when it hurts…
As voice actor royalty, Damon Donovan is trouble. He’s professionally intimidating. He’s also charming, funny and genuinely talented. And he triggers the nurturing instincts newly separated Georgia Fairweather has sworn to ignore.

Damon Donovan is used to three types of women: those who fawn, those who mother, and those who want to fix him. So a reticent, prickly engineer he can neither awe nor charm piques his interest.

A recording engineer and a voice actor should be a match to sing about, but the thrilling rhythm they create is soon drowned out by static. Georgia doesn’t know who she is, and Damon doesn’t know who he’ll become.

Can a man facing his insecurities and a woman afraid of her own instincts harmonise, or are they destined to sound good in theory, but be out of sync in life and love?

Here’s how Pete does it:

Pete is my new/old hero! AND THAT VOICE. Love.