An Interview With #Narrator Leslie Ellis--The Search For Emma by Karen Rose Smith

I've developed 16 books into audiobooks through ACX.com.  Each time I post a project for auditions, I consider the point of view of my main character as the foremost aspect of choosing a narrator.  I was sure I wanted a woman narrator for ALWAYS DEVOTED, though many of my romances are narrated by male narrators.  ALWAYS DEVOTED--a romance/mystery--is definitely Emma's story.  So I went on a search for the perfect voice for Emma.  I sent messages to narrators, asking them to audition.  I received several auditions for the novel after I uploaded the audition script.  Leslie's audition easily stood out from all the others.  As soon as I heard her voice, I knew she was perfect to tell this emotional story.

My readers often ask me about my narrators and the process of reading an audiobook.  That's why I do interviews with my narrators.

So...let me introduce my actor/narrator for ALWAYS DEVOTED, Leslie Ellis.

Leslie, can you tell me where you were raised?

I was raised outside of Boston, MA.

Did you read a lot as a kid?  As an adult?

It's funny, but I didn't read a lot as a kid.  I came from a very academic family and I was the black sheep, so to speak.  I just wanted to act and sing.  I really enjoy reading now, when I have the time and I love supporting my friends who have become indie writers!

Where did you attend college?

I attended Carnegie-Mellon University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Acting and Music.

What did you expect to do after college and, in reality, what did you do? 

After school, we all shipped out to New York City to take the world by storm.  While I was there, I played some lead roles on Broadway (Griz in CATS; LA CAGE AUX FOLLES; CITY OF ANGELS) and Off-Broadway in a revival of THE ROTHSCHILDS.

Since those early days, what else has furthered your career?

Since my days in New York City, I've acted in movies, industrial films and commercials and become a hard-working voice over artist.  I narrated before for films and then got into book narrating, which I absolutely love.

Why did you decide to begin narrating audiobooks?

I have listened to audiobooks forever and always thought I could be good at it.  I love the variety of characters that I have to embrace and analyzing the different ways, pitches and speeds of their voices.  Teenagers speak VERY differently from their dads!  I would love to get into doing more accents in future books as I studied dialects in school and absolutely love acting with dialects.

Can you explain to our readers what is involved in the process from setting up a home studio, to editing, to putting the book for sale.  How long does it take?

In my case, I had some help setting up my home studio.  I got advice from a fellow narrator in LA and a friend in Nashville who is a professional studio engineer.  I use an AT2020 USB mic and either Audacity or Protools.  Both of these programs make it very easy (albeit time consuming) to edit the files once I have them read down.  I think people would be really surprised to find out how much time goes into one hour of narrating.  As I'm approaching it from the standpoint of an actor instead of a reader/narrator, I'm sure it takes me a lot longer because I really need to get the characters and their emotions right.  I will work anywhere from three to six hours to produce a finished hour of audiobook.  I work through ACX.com so they handle all of the sales elements of the finished book.

I want to mention here that Leslie is a perfectionist in the best way, redoing an audition piece until it's right, going over editing to improve sound in question.  When I hired Leslie, I knew she was the voice of my heroine and she never wavered from that.

What is the toughest part of narrating?

Keeping my voice in shape.  In addition to books, I do professional voice overs, sing demos and do live music shows.  I have to keep disciplined about warming up, talking, singing and resting!

Why narrate a romance?  

I have narrated young adult books, mysteries and what they call "Chick Lit."  I've also narrated tech stuff.  ALWAYS DEVOTED was my first romance novel and it intrigued me.  I wanted to make the sensual scenes sound really real--not corny or overly dramatic.  I took the challenge because I've been told my voice would lend itself well to a romantic story.

Leslie's take on the love scenes was perfect.  Not overly dramatic, not underplayed, but just right.  Perfect for the tone of the book.

Can anything in an author's history sway you toward narrating thier book?

If I'm doing a book for royalty share, I have to feel that author has a sense of sales and promotion because that's the only way I get paid.  When I'm not sure of what to expect, I often opt for the union per hour wage to ensure I use my time wisely.

What do you like to do most when you're not narrating?

I would say singing, acting and songwriting.  I love flipping around among all of it.  It keeps things interesting!


Find out more about Leslie at http://www.leslieellis.com

Hear a sample of ALWAYS DEVOTED or buy at:

ALWAYS DEVOTED Audiobook on Amazon

ALWAYS DEVOTED Audiobook on Audible




ALWAYS DEVOTED now avaiable in audiobook

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©2014 Karen Rose Smith

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Part 2 Interview with #Narrator Alexandra Haag by Karen Rose Smith

From Alexandra Haag--

Alexandra's Website

Do you feel as if you become the characters as you narrate?
I do.  As an actor I draw on my own experiences and emotions to realize the characters.  While many characters are quite different from myself, we all experience joy, fear, anger, love, uncertainty, etc., and that's where I try to find common ground.

Do you read the book before you start or narrate scene by scene?
Oh, yes, I read the entire book before I narrate, and I outline which characters speak in each chapter.  It's vital to know how the book progresses and where the characters end up.  Sometimes characters seem to be one sort of person at the beginning, but when you learn their backstory through the book, they may end up being entirely different.  To know the details of the story is vital to believably portraying the characters.

What is the toughest part of narrating?
Listening to myself for so long!  And making sure the continuity is right--the tone and quality of the voice is consistent throughout in both the narrative portions and in the character voices.

How do you protect your voice?
Lots of water and resting when the voice starts sounding strained.

What's involved in the process from setting up a home studio, to editing, to putting the book for sale?  How long does it take?
Well, most narrators who record from home start off in a closet surrounded by blankets.  It's quite an expense to put a proper studio together where the sound is completely dampened and the outside noise isn't too disturbing (but nothing can really block the sound of engines on land or in the air).  Then there's the need for a quality microphone, lighting, boom, copy stand, A/D interface, headphones, computer, monitors, recording and editing software.  I took the plunge to create a purpose-built studio and editing bay rather early in my career.  At that time, I sat as I narrated (as do most narrators), but now I stand.  In that way I'm reminded on multiple levels to take breaks often.  I also wear headphones (some narrators don't) because I feel I can better hear various extraneous noises that can intrude on the narration.  Regarding the time to create the audiobook, it actually takes about 7-8 times the finished length of the audiobook to prepare, narrate, edit, produce and master the book.

What do you look for in an author's history to sway you toward narrating their book?
When an author has a website and blog, and has developed a fan base as evidenced in reviews and online interaction with the author, I am most happy to be part of their projects.  If the author is enthusiastic about the narration, she or he will promote it on their site.  Then, the fans who love the books will likely be excited about hearing the book come to life through audio.  This, of course, is a two-edged sword.  Fans may be disappointed if the voice in their ear doesn't match the "voice in their head" that they heard when reading the book.  But I've found that, generally speaking, if the author likes the narration, the fans will as well.

What do you like to do most when you're not narrating?
I enjoy travelling with my husband, playing golf, snow skiing in season, walking in the neighborhood or on the beach, watching films, visiting with my now-grown children, doing community and church volunteer work with friends and, of course, reading!

What are you planning next?
Thankfully, mu dance card is pretty full for a few months.  After HEARTFIRE, I'm working on a couple of thrillers, several romances, and a couple of historical fiction mysteries.  It's just so much fun to immerse myself in these stories, much as I do when I read a book.  But as an actor/narrator, I get to live the stories, and by doing so I find myself, more times than not, falling in love with the characters and stories.  And, for that, I'm very grateful to my authors who entrust their stories to me.

HEARTFIRE on Audible

©2014 Karen Rose Smith

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Spotlight On Narrator Gary Dikeos--From Thrillers To Romance

Gary Dikeos has a fascinating background.  It was a pleasure working with him.  His audio quality is superb.  He easily became Noah, my hero in FALLING FOR HER BOSS, with a depth of feeling that increased with each chapter.  I hope you enjoy getting to know him a little better.

Where did you grow up?

I moved around a lot as a kid and lived all over the world!  Our family moved every two to four years back and forth from Washington DC to somewhere overseas.  I'm from a lot of places!

What was your schooling?

I attended American University for a couple of years, then George Mason University for a couple of years, and I finally graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in political science.

How did you train to become a narrator?

First, I studied to be an actor when I moved to Los Angeles in 2001.  I took several classes in voice over and then I took a two-year Meisner acting program.  I was cast in several plays and student films in Los Angeles.  Then I took an audiobook class from Pat Fraley in Los Angeles in 2010.  One of the guest teachers in Pat's class was from Random House Los Angeles and he ended up casting me in my first book--POWERLESS by Matthew Cody--a young adult title.

What's been your experience with narrating so far?

After my first title with Random House, I went to the Audiobook Publishers Association Conference in New York and was able to meet other audiobook publishers.  I started working with Blackstone Audio, Oasis Audio, Brilliance Audio, Harper Audio and Audible, Inc.

Do you listen to audiobooks?

I listen to snippets of audiobooks of narrators I like.  I really don't have time to listen much at all.

Did you read a lot as a kid?  As an adult?

I did read a lot as a kid and now I love to read mostly thrillers and mysteries and action/adventure novels.  I also love history books.

Why did you begin narrating audiobooks?

I'd wanted to narrate for a long time but was working in an unrelated industry for many years doing meeting and event planning which requires a time-consuming and demanding schedule.

How do you know what voice to use for each character?

I let the emotion of the action dictate the voice and also the character and physical description helps!

How do you keep them straight?

I punch record using Pro Tools when I narrate in my home studio and I prepare a separate character track beneath my main recording track.  I name and copy a sentence or two of each character and I can call them up if I forget what the character sounded like. 

Do you feel you "become" the characters as you narrate?

I don't feel I become the character, but I can get deeply involved in the feeling and the situation the character is going through, depending on the level of the writing.

Do you read the book before you start or do you narrate scene by scene?

I pre-read the titles as much as possible.  I don't want to be caught finding out at the end of the book that the main character has a New York accent!

What is the toughest part of narrating?

The toughest part of narrating for me is maintaining the energy of the story throughout the many hours of recording over several days.  The key is trying to keep the same tone and energy from day to day and maintain it throughout.

How do you protect your voice?

I try not to go too long during the day, especially if I have a lot of characters who have deep, raspy voices with a lot of dialog.  They can irritate my voice after a while.  If I have a lot of deep raspy-voiced characters, I tend to drink more tea throughout the day!

Why narrate a romance?  What other genres are you narrating?

I wanted to narrate a romance because there are fewer men narrating romance titles and I think my vocal tone lends to the genre.  I mostly narrate thrillers, mysteries and sci-fi.  I also narrate non-fiction, history, young adult and Spanish titles.

What do you look for in an author's history to sway you toward narrating their book?

Amazon ranking and body of work are two things I look at when deciding to audition for a title.  I also read book reviews and ask friends and family what their thoughts are about the author/title.

What do you like to do most when you're not narrating?

I like spending time with my family, watching sports and traveling.

What are you planning next?

I'm currently working on a series of politically-driven international spy thrillers for Audible, Inc.

Gary's Website

©2013 Karen Rose Smith

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