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

Karen's Facebook Author Page

©2014 Karen Rose Smith

IN TOUCH with KAREN ROSE SMITH ezine
Karen Rose Smith's romance website
Karen Rose Smith's mystery website

SPOTLIGHT on Lara Asmundson, #narrator of CASSIDY'S COWBOY--From Physical Therapist to Narrating a Cowgirl

CASSIDY'S COWBOY is a special book to me.  It's an emotional story about a heroine who has dyslexia and keeps it a secret from everyone but her foreman and her housekeeper. The hero's wife left him and their daughter, and his daughter has withdrawn.  They've come to Cassidy's Twin Pines Ranch to heal.

I knew I needed someone special to narrate this book--to BE Cassidy.  When I heard Lara Asmundson's voice, I realized she was Cassidy.  She had just the right timbre, just the right intonation, just the right inflection for my cowgirl.  And the emotion she injected into the story was perfect.  After our interview, I realized why.  Lara could convey compassion so well because she began as a physical therapist and research scientist.  She spent many years working with and studying stroke patients and their recovery.  When her colleagues remarked on her very warm, calm and friendly voice, the seeds of being a narrator were sown.

What came next?
Lara says, "As any voice actor will tell you, it's not about the voice, it's about the acting.  So,when I decided to pursue voice acting, I was lucky enough to find one of the the best voice acting schools around, Voicetrax, SF.  It's run by an amazing woman with years of experience in the biz, Samantha Paris.  I made my commercial demo in the Fall of 2011 and signed with an agent in San Francisco in January 2012.  I have a body of work in the commercial and industrial narration world that includes a promo for Nike professional NFL uniforms, tv and radio ads for a political proposition in California's last election, a tv PSA for Spare The Air and a tv spot for a new breast cancer gene detection test.

What type of formal training have you undertaken?
"Formal training.  I have taken classes at Voicetrax SF for almost 7 years now.  The classes have included everything from basic acting to improv to creating characters for animation and video games to narration for everything from educational tv to industrial tutorials to audiobooks."

How do you train to be a narrator?
"Training to be a narrator is training to be an actor.  You have to make the story come alive with your voice.  So it is a bit different than being trained to be a film or stage actor.  You have to convey the emotions and the scene of the story with your voice only.  Not always easy!  But acting is acting, so that is where you begin.  Narrating audiobooks is the marathon of narration.  And the challenges are many.  But for me, once I get involved in the story and get to know the characters, it becomes very engrossing.  I get caught up in the story and it develops its own flow."

What is your favorite genre to narrate?
"I am definitely a fiction narrator.  And as for genre, I find myself drawn to romance, fantasy and sci-fi.  But as a reader I am a sucker for a good love story and a strong female lead character.  So if a book has those, as a narrator I know I will be able to give it my best as I will be engaged in the story, too."

How do you create each character's voice?
"When I get the manuscript from the author, I sit down and skim through the whole book, writing down each character, their gender, age and relationship to the other characters.  Basically any detail about that character I can find.  With that information, I can start to figure what they would sound like.  If they are young, they will have a lighter voice as well as if they are female.  But their personality plays a role, too.  Are they kind, impulsive, stubborn, evil, insecure?  Those personality traits help me figure out what they should sound like too.  Once I have decided on a voice for a character, it's pretty easy to keep them straight throughout the story cause now I know who they are.  Though when a character only makes 1 or 2 appearances in a book, I do find that I need to go back and listen to what I did to make sure I'm consistent."

Where did you grow up?

"I'm a California girl born and raised, with a brief interlude on the East Coast (Maine and Massachusetts) for college and post college work."

When you're not working, what do you like to do?
"When I'm not working as a commercial voice actor and audiobook narrator, I spend time with my family.  I have a husband and 2 children ages 7 and 11 and we love spending time outdoors.  We are currently on a mission to visit as many National Parks as we can!  We love camping and hiking.  To relax on my own, I garden, knit and practice yoga."

CONTACT Lara Asmundson
Email: laravoices@gmail.com
Website: Lara's website

Cassidy's Cowboy Audiobook on Amazon

Cassidy's Cowboy Audiobook on Audible

Cassidy's Cowboy Audiobook on ITunes

©2013 Karen Rose Smith

IN TOUCH with KAREN ROSE SMITH ezine

Karen Rose Smith's romance website 

Karen Rose Smith's mystery website

Karen's Facebook Author Page