There's a lot of talk about Artificial Intelligence these days. As an author who's novels…
Interview with the Narrator of In A Far-Off Land Audiobook
One of my favorite author-moments was opening up an email one morning from the narrator of the In A Far-Off Land audiobook. I didn’t even know it was available as an audiobook! Brittany had written to tell me how much she loved the story, and went on to say that she had to stop recording several times toward the end because she was tearing up. I’m always thrilled when I make someone cry and I was so excited to hear from the ‘voice’ of Mina.
Brittany did a fantastic job narrating In A Far-Off Land and that is just the beginning of her many talents. She graciously agreed to answer some questions for me about narrating, acting, and film-making. I hope you find this interview as fascinating as I did. (Scroll down below the interview for a list of some of Brittany’s upcoming projects and a little about her Christy-award-nominated novel, If You’re Gone.)
1. How did you get started with audio book narration? What other kinds of acting do you do?
I have been an actor since I can remember. I started off in community theatre when I was barely old enough to read and eventually began working in professional theatre before I had even graduated high school. My entire professional career has involved some sort of performance whether it be stage performance and directing or film/tv acting or directing, (including time spent living in LA that really made me feel connected to Mina and her journey) but I never considered the possibility of becoming an audiobook narrator until late 2018!
I’m also an author, and had decided I was interested in having an audiobook made for my own book, If You’re Gone. I started looking into the process and discovered the platform ACX, Audible Creation Exchange, where independent authors and publishers can list titles for open audition and anyone can submit. (I’ve since written a blog about how to get started on ACX which can be found at http://www.brittanygoodwin.com/blog. I put together a few auditions and, much to my surprise, quickly received several contract offers. It was a big learning curve in the beginning but I quickly fell in love with the process and the opportunity to flex my acting muscles, create new voices and learn new accents, and get my reading in, as my job.
2. How do you decide on the voices for each character? Is there a trick that helps you remember what each character sound like as you read?
Coming up with voices for each character comes relatively easily to me – more often than not I can “hear” a character’s voice almost immediately as I begin prepping a book. The character’s name, their physical traits, their background and how they speak jumps off the page and I can quickly develop a voice that fits the vision I have of them. This, of course, varies by genre, but I like to picture each book like it’s own movie and envision how the character would sound on screen.
Often times the character’s voices will just live in my head, but when there are lots of characters or if I am working on multiple titles at once, I keep a little dry erase board in my sound booth where I briefly describe each character and their tone. These notes may look non-sensical to anyone else… sometimes I will describe a character’s voice as simply as “Me” (meaning my natural low speaking voice is the tone for that character), or “Mary Ann” (a character I voiced for 9 books in a series with a higher, sweeter voice). Before I begin recording each day I go back to the my work from the day prior and listen to a few snippets to “get back in the groove” but I find when a book is well written and characters are well defined, it’s easy to slip right back into their voices and continue bringing them to life!
3. How much practice does it take before you record a book?
For each individual book, I don’t require much practice but it does require prep. Learning about the characters and deciding on voices, overall tone for the story, any pronunciations that need to be looked up, accents that should be learned or perfected, etc. But in terms of practice as it relates to becoming a narrator, it’s important to spend time working on your vocal stamina, learning the best workflow that works for you, discovering the best settings for your software and recording space, etc. There was a lot of trial and error in the beginning, for me, but I now have a routine that I find is best for me. The process certainly varies by narrator!
4. And lastly, thank you for your beautiful rendition of Mina’s story in In A Far-Off Land. Do you have anything you’d like to share about Mina’s story?
I continue to be moved by this powerful story, especially as someone who has experienced the “Hollywood” life first hand. It’s easy to lose yourself when chasing a dream and I saw so much of myself on the page as I narrated this beautiful book!
Thank you so much, Brittany for taking the time to talk to me about narration, acting, and the projects you’re working on.
If you’re interested in learning more about Brittany, find out more at http://www.everynewdaypictures.com, where she and her husband strive to create wholesome, quality, family-friendly films for children and adults of all ages. Their projects are Faith-based, thought provoking and meant to inspire. Or see more at http://www.brittanygoodwin.com/
Check out these links for more of Brittany’s creative talent:
Most Wonderful Time (Christmas 2021)
Lifetime thriller A Jealous Friendship (March 2022)
the Lifetime RomCom The Wedding Arrangement (Spring 2022)
the faith-based drama Cream of the Crop (Summer 2022)
A faith-based thriller I also had the pleasure of writing/directing, All is Calm (Fall 2022).
You can find Brittany on Instagram HERE or listen to her in the audiobook version of In A Far-Off Land on Audible.com or Audiblebooks.com (free 30 day trial membership!)
Do you listen to audiobooks? Why or why not?
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