Banter…okay, yes I love to talk and to read aloud. So under the banter heading you’ll find my audiobook narration info.
My “mic-name” for narration is RR Cummings. You can scroll down to listen to a few of my demos or you can check out all of them on my narration website here.
Why Audiobooks? I will admit that until 2020, I was actually not a fan of audiobooks. At least, not fiction audiobooks. I’ve always enjoyed non-fiction books on audio. But fiction? I tried many times to get into audiobooks but I had a few problems:
I read fast. Like, really fast. So I can read a 300 page book much faster than I can listen to one. And audiobooks always felt torturously slow to me and I had this constant feeling like I was wasting time.
I struggle to pay attention to audio. I do much better when I have words in front of me.
Sometimes I just didn’t like the narrator’s voice and listening to the book was more of an exercise in frustration than something relaxing and entertaining—which is what I read fiction for, to relax and be entertained.
But now? I always have at least one fiction and one non-fiction audiobook cued up on my audible. What changed? 2020 happened. Remember that time we were all stuck at home all day and night? Yeah, I was in need of distraction and going outside was a healthy thing to do so I started taking bike rides in the park. And do you know what goes really well with bike rides? Airpods & Audiobooks. I decided to give them another try, tweaking some things to make them work for me and I fell in love:
I do read fast but I don’t have to listen to an audiobook at the regular speed. I can increase the speed a bit and make it more “my speed” while at the same time recognizing that audiobooks work best for me at times I wouldn’t normally be sitting down to read. Discovering that I can listen to a book while I exercise, drive, clean, cook, etc…was revolutionary for me. I can clean my house much more easily when I’m doing it while also wrapped up in a great story. The time goes by quickly, I get to “read” and I get the job done without dreading it. Win-Win!
I do have ADHD and following what someone is saying without the help of watching their lips move or seeing their hand gestures, etc. is not easy for me. But, I discovered I can pay attention much better when I’m doing something else at the same time. Something that doesn’t require much brain power but keeps my monkey brain occupied so I can listen to the story (ie. playing a silly iphone game while listening, or the aforementioned bike riding or cleaning). I also learned that many, many people with ADHD pay better attention to audiobooks if the speed is cranked up. It’s a hack that forces us to pay attention and it truly works.
I wasn’t listening to the right narrators. The narrator makes or breaks the audiobook. So I just learned to make sure I liked the narrator’s voice before I chose the book (sample audio is always available to check out before you purchase or borrow an audiobook. Don’t skip this step. Make sure you enjoy the sound of the narrator’s voice before you dive in). I ended up finding several narrators that I love and I look for books they’ve narrated, which also helps me expand my book choices.
So how did I go from hating audiobooks to narrating them? Again, thank you 2020. I may have spent an obnoxious amount of time online that spring because, duh. What else was anyone doing? While scrolling FB one day, I saw a post from an author I follow. It read: “Help me pick my narrator!” and below the headline there were three audio files and a request from the author to vote for the one I liked most. Intrigued, I listened to the samples and voted for my favorite one. And then I thought, “Wait a minute…you can audition to narrate audiobooks?” I don’t know how I assumed these audiobooks got made but it never occurred to me that it was something one could audition for. My wheels started turning. (We weren’t allowed to go to work so I had LOTS of time to think about this.)
Could I narrate audiobooks? I love acting, reading out loud, doing accents…I think I might actually LOVE doing that for a living. Hmmmm. So I got to work. I started learning everything I could about becoming a narrator. I bought the equipment, took a bunch of courses and started auditioning. It took several months but I eventually won an audition and I was on my way! I truly love narrating audiobooks and I’m looking forward to doing it for a long time.
