Narrated by Jeremy York & Jill Smith

Narrated by Willa James & Oliver Highpoint

SFN: What's your pre-recording ritual?

OH: For the longest time, the ritual was, shut the door and hit record. Over the years, I've gotten turned on to straw phonation, and it really tends to help: both in keeping my vocal tone consistent as well as overall vocal stamina.

SFN: What do you love to do on your days off?

OH: I love the outdoors and am a DIY'er at heart. Last year I renovated a house on a lake that had sat for almost 8 years that needed major structural work. Afterward, we painted and put in new floor and the family enjoyed it all this past summer. Additionally, I tore an old pontoon boat down to the pontoons and completely rebuilt and refurnished it.

SFN: Audiobook listeners love bloopers! Do you have a favorite blooper you’ve saved or author pickup you’ve gotten during the recording process that has stuck with you?

OH: I remember narrating a technical book on creating image recognition software that posed a hypothetical situation where you had the image of a banana that for some reason I found hysterical and could not stop laughing.

SFN: What is your least favorite word to pronounce in a narration? What is your favorite word to roll around in your mouth?

OH: When authors favor present perfect tense with a contraction. i.e. "She's finished...." I have the hardest time making that sound correct. I think one of my favorite words that I never knew how it was pronounced until I had to narrate it out loud is "detritus" - I use it all the time now.

SFN: What's the oddest object in your booth?

OH: When I built my booth, I knew I needed a rug or something as opposed to the hard floor. Both for acoustics and comfort, and I specifically sought out a rug that looks like "the rug" from The Big Lebowski. It does tie the room together if I do say so myself.

Be sure to check out Olivers's work in this week's featured new release, Sterling Clay by LB Dunbar and say hi to him on Instagram at @oliverhighpoint!

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