I have always been a good reader. I learned to read early, and my reading level was always a grade or two ahead. I always volunteered to read aloud in class, and I was even given the opening monologue for my 6th grade choir show without even auditioning for it. To this day, I enjoy reading new books; discovering new characters and diving into new worlds. All that being said, I don’t know why it never occurred to me before to look into audiobook narration! I mean, really. I get to spend my time reading, and get paid for doing so! A few months ago, I signed up with acx.com, which is a service that partners with Amazon to produce audiobooks. I found books I was interested in, recorded my auditions, submitted them to the authors, and waited. I definitely wasn’t consistent with auditioning, but when I did submit to projects, I always went for more than one at a time. Gotta put the odds in my favor, right?  

*Unfortunately, Suzanne Collins did NOT ask me to narrate her trilogy.

  So I waited to hear from these authors whose books I want to read, and some simply didn’t choose me; others reached out to say they appreciated my audition, but would be going with someone else. But then, one morning, I had the great fortune for TWO authors to select me for their audiobooks! The first was Karen M. Cox, who has written a delightful modern variation on Jane Austen’s Emma, called I Could Write a Book. I have already recorded the first couple of chapters, and I am excited to work on the rest! The second author was Andrew McGregor, who has written an historical fiction piece called The Last Highlanders, about the Jacobites in 18th-century Scotland. As my mother got me hooked on Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, I am really excited to jump into this one! Now, when I first started this, I definitely did not know it would be so involved! I got the equipment I needed, and set up my little studio. Then I recorded everything, and went back through it a couple of times to make sure that there wasn’t any excess noise. Whether from the room, or from my breathing, the only noise you SHOULD hear is my voice, telling the story. I think I accomplished that on my first sample, and it will take many hours of work to ensure I accomplish it with the rest of my projects.   Rest assured, friends, as soon as my audiobooks are available for purchase, I will provide a link for you to use so you can have my voice in your ear as often as you like! 🙂