“The beginning is always today.” — Mary Shelley |
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Duet narration by Troy Duran & Mackenzie Cartwright |
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This week's FEATURED saleS |
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SFN: What gave you the idea to add narrating audiobooks to your life and career? |
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AMcF: Quite frankly, the film/commercial cameras keep getting better and my face and butt keep getting worse, so I was looking for something off-camera. Also, this work is intellectually and emotionally so engaging that it lights me up. I live in Michigan, about 45 minutes from Brilliance Audio. So I sent them a demo and got called in to audition. It was glorious to work there with engineers and directors. I learned so much from them, and from veterans like Kate Rudd, Tanya Eby, Nick Podel and Luke Daniels, among others. I've been incredibly fortunate (like, literally it's incredible--hardly believable) to be able to work a LOT in this field of acting. It keeps me sharp and connected to text and to the parts of myself I bring to every book, and every piece of acting. I try to do a stage show once a year to have a chance to interact with other actors and make magic with other humans in real time, too! |
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SFN: Could you please tell us how you prepare to voice a character that is written with a dialect or accent that is new to you? |
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AMcF: I have condensed methodology for learning/brushing up accents. My college roommate, Siiri Scott, is an accent rockstar, and the head of Acting and Directing at Notre Dame (Go Irish!) so she has taught me a lot. I listen, listen, listen to as many native speakers as I can and do all of the tedious (but also super fun) phonetics work. I get to a point where I can just use the accent in daily life so that the character sounds like a real person. Being technically perfect at the accent isn't as important as playing a person with a heart and soul, wants and needs. If you want to geek out about this with me, here are the 4 Basic Steps: Vowel Substitutions, Consonant Substitutions, Musicality and Attitude. I taught 2nd grade for a long time, so phonics is kind of a superpower of mine. |
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SFN: What is your least favorite word to pronounce in a narration? What is your favorite word to roll around in your mouth? |
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AMcF: Well, I gotta call out Kait here. She gave me the phrase Rural Tourism in multiple books. That phrase always sounds ridiculous, even when I get it correct. BUT! Kait sent me a wonderful mug (see pic) so that made it all worth it. Yes, I am mug-motivated. |
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SFN: Do you split your recording day between multiple projects or do you work through one book before moving on to another? |
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AMcF: Oh, wow. I don't think I could ever mentally do two different projects at once. It's hard enough to do fixes for one book and then record my current project. |
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SFN: What are you reading/watching/eating/whatever floats your boat these days that you want everyone else to try? |
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AMcF: I think everyone should have a tube of Nestle's chocolate chip cookie dough in their fridge, which you can eat raw with a fork, or bake into actual cookies like a not-animal. And I am totally into Eddie Bauer fleece-lined zip up hoodies. These things are not inspirational per se, but they make me happy, especially during Midwest winters. |
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SFN: What's the oddest object inside your booth? |
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AMcF: A stuffed sloth. It was a gift from Camilla Monk, because she has a killer sloth in one of her books. It was terrifying. And hilarious. Also I keep a wrench in there in case my booth door handle breaks or I get trapped during a rogue flood or something else equally probable, like that sloth coming to life. |
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Congrats to last week's winner: Cassandra D! |
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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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