“There’s a little witch in all of us.” — Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic |
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I couldn't help but prolong the spooky season spirit, especially with the Halloween-themed new release we're featuring this week! (And don't miss our interviewee's scaaaary fun fact.) |
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Narrated by Christian Leatherman & Felicity Delacroix |
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SFN: How did you learn to narrate audiobooks? |
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EMS: I actually competed in storytelling competitions in school, which taught me a lot about author's intent and clarity of presentation. The trick with translating that to a professional recording setting is learning the little technical things that come with working with a microphone. I did a lot of group seminars when first getting started, working with different types of material, and getting lots of practice in front of the mic. I still try to do that when I can, just to get feedback from different people, and to learn from fellow narrators. |
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SFN: What's your pre-recording ritual? |
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EMS: Warm beverage first. Then, looking through my notes to make sure I've made choices for any characters and/or pronunciations I expect to run into that day. If I need to go back to grab samples from the previous day, this is the time to do it. Then, it's a lot of jaw stretches and tongue twisters right before we get going, usually culminating with a silly song or advertising jingle as a warm-up. When my engineer picks up our Skype call, I'm usually mid-song. |
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SFN: Audiobook listeners love bloopers! Do you have a favorite blooper you’ve saved or an author pickup you’ve gotten during the recording process that has stuck with you? |
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EMS: I once made my engineer fall out of their chair when, during a particularly steamy scene, I said "she wrapped her eggs around him." |
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SFN: What's your favorite part of the process? |
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EMS: My favorite scenes to record are the ones I call "campfire scenes", when the characters have a chance to take a breather and are discussing their next move, and their individual personalities can come through in the dialogue. Those are the moments where I really connect with the perspectives of everyone in the room, and I always feel like I "know" those people a little better after those moments. |
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EMS: In addition to the hundreds of audiobooks I've done, I'm also the voice for the One Night Ultimate Werewolf app, which helps people play a popular social deduction board game. I think it's fantastic that people can buy this game off the shelf and hear my voice, but most folks have no idea it's me. I'm secretly in people's pockets all over the world... Muwahahaha! |
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and be sure to check out his work in this week's featured sale audio: You Spin Me by Karen Grey |
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Congratulations to last week's winner of an HCB mug, Tammy F! |
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And if someone forwarded this email to you, we'd love to have you join us! (PSST: IT'S TOTALLY FREE) |
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