Q&A with Aundrea Mitchell, narrator of Beneath the Lake

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When did you know you wanted to be an audiobook narrator?

I was listening to more and more audiobooks and I just kept getting the urge to do it.

How did you wind up narrating audiobooks? Was it always your goal or was it something you stumbled into by chance?

I just researched until I found ACX, and on their website it talked about what you needed, how to do it and I just went for it.

Did you find it difficult to “break into” audiobook narration? What skill/tool helped you the most when getting started?

No, it was not difficult to break in but to stay in is a totally different story.

A lot of narrators seem to have a background in theatre. Is that something you think is essential to a successful narration career?

I don’t know if it’s essential, I have a very limited background from when I was in school. I love theater. However now I do find training very important. Getting an instructor for the type of narration you want to perform, attend seminars and classes in both performance and audio
technology – you should really know how to use the equipment you are utilizing and some employers’ will only accept your work if you are using certain technology.

What type of training have you undergone?

I am seeing a coach for non-fiction (Sean Pratt-@SPPresents) and another for fiction (Andi Arndt - @andi_arndt). Between the two a variety of topics in narration and the business of narration are covered. I see improvement every time I have a session, which is really encouraging, I am lucky that although I may not have years of professional acting or collegiate acting training I am able to utilize my coaches to help me improve and to learn more about what it is that I do.

How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for narrating?

For me it is a combination of things. Because of the performance aspect, if I am not feeing it, I try not to push through. I will walk away and do some of the many other things I am responsible for in real life. My hours are really flexible because I work out of a home studio, so sometimes it is just as simple as hanging out with the family. Other times, I find that listening to others narrate in the genre’s I work in really helps. Especially when they are good they will motivate me to want to get back in the booth.

Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?

Yes I am constantly listening! I love audiobooks! For me, I find myself listening while I am doing housework or playing the driver to the kids.

What are your favorite and least favorite parts of narrating an audiobook?

My favorite is recording, getting to immerse myself into another world. I also love the read through of the book; it really gets me excited and helps me to plan out where I am going to go. I guess editing is my least favorite part, but only in comparison to the other parts, I love to do it,
just not as much as performing or reading.

If you could narrate one book from your youth what would it be and why?

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – that book spoke to me in my soul on so many different levels I can’t even fully describe!

What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?

Maybe to them, but as a mother of five kids, I know everyone does not learn the same way, receive things the same way and we are very lucky to live in a time that we have audiobooks as a way for people to enjoy books.

What’s next for you?

The Elk Riders Series Book 1 – In the Darkness Visible and Book 2 – Voyage of the Elawn by Ted Neil.

About Aundrea Mitchell

After receiving her B.S. and MBA with a concentration in Health Care Management, Aundrea fell madly in love and decided to start her family. Ten years and five children later she was quickly living the full time wife, mother and household management life. Needing a temporary escape from time to time Aundrea returned back to her first love - reading! After devouring everything she could get her hands on she thought, -what if she could mix her love of performance and literature in a professional capacity? Once getting involved in the world of book narration she quickly became hooked and when not with her family you can find her in her studio working hard to grow in her own storytelling
abilities.

Connect: Website | Facebook | Twitter: @A5Mitchell

Top 10 Dream Vacation Spots by J. Keller Ford

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I love to travel. There are so many places in the world I want to see, but whenever anyone asks me what I’d like to see most, these seem to top my list every time, especially #1.  Of course, if money weren’t an issue, pack me up with my pups and my hubby and set me on a cruise around the world with stops in every port possible. But, seeing as I currently live on a very tight budget, I’ll settle for these glorious getaways. Who wants to go with me?  Pack your suitcases and let’s go!

  1. New England in the Fall (who doesn’t love seeing the leaves change colors?)

  2. The Grand Canyon (photographs can’t do it justice)

  3. Ireland (all of it)

  4. Scotland (all of it)

  5. New Zealand (I want to stay in a hobbit house soooo bad!!)

  6. Alaska Cruise

  7. Italy (all of it)

  8. Bora Bora

  9. Amsterdam

  10. London

Q&A with Alex Lidell, Air and Ash

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Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing? 

At the time I was writing AIR AND ASH, no.  But now that I am on the third book in the series, having heard Kaitlin narrate AIR AND ASH, I do hear the characters speaking in her voice as I write.

How did you select your narrator?

I listed to sample reels of many narrators and then invited Kaitlin to audition.  I really like the range of emotions and undertones she has within each character’s voice.

How closely did you work with your narrator before and during the recording process? Did you give them any pronunciation tips or special insight into the characters? 

Very closely!  I was really shy about sending her an audio file of my voice pronouncing some words, but it worked :)  We also have a shared google doc with character descriptions and we spent some time on the phone “auditioning” character voices.  It was one of my favorite parts of the process and the reason I SO love working with Kaitlin.

Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you? 

I’m a HUGE listener.  I fell in love with audiobooks listening to Master and Commander, where the narrator helped me understand some of the technical seamanship. My favorite narrator (aside from Kaitlin of course!) is Jennifer Ikeda

What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?

I say Safety First! When I get into a book, I can’t pull away from it - so I end up walking down the street, reading my phone (yeah, i’m one of those horrible people).  With audiobooks I can walk and listen!

In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of writing a stand-alone novel vs. writing a series? 

I think YA fantasy fans are often comfortable with a series - I know I am - and expect it.  Other genres have different fan bases.  From an author perspective, a series lets me tell more complex overall stories, but makes logistics difficult.  IE in book one, the distance between A and B might not matter so I say “umm, half a day by horse, sure, why not”.  And then in book 3 it becomes vitally important that it take a WEEK to get from A to B,... and I have to somehow deal :)

Do you have any tips for authors going through the process of turning their books into audiobooks?

Talk to your narrator and make sure you click as professionals. I really lucked out with Kaitlin because of her excitement level and flexibility - but some people prefer to have more “distance”.  It was a match with Kaitlin herself, not just her voice, that finally closed the deal for me

What’s next for you?

WAR AND WIND (Tides 2) comes out in audio in December.  SEA AND SAND (Tides 3) comes out in print/ebook in January!

Q&A with Pia de Jong, author of Saving Charlotte

Photo Credit: Chris Lane

Photo Credit: Chris Lane

When your daughter was just two weeks old, she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. You rejected all suggestions of any treatment, of which the most common was chemotherapy, and instead made the decision to wait and see. Was this approach consistent with your personality up until that point or did you surprise yourself?

I did surprise myself, especially because I was so certain about what to do. There was no doubt in my mind, no negotiating, no second thoughts. I just knew I had to have her home with me. I had learned to trust my intuition when I became a mother, though. Like all new mothers, I was bombarded with rules: when to wean your child, where and how to sleep, when to introduce food, etc. I had decided to follow my instincts regarding my kids. But then I often discussed those decisions and doubts with friends. This was different.

What material did you draw on when writing Saving Charlotte? Did you keep a journal or write notes during that year at home with Charlotte?

I wrote down notes, whenever I could, although not with the intent to write a book, since I was not a writer then. They were to help me remember her as she was then. Some sentences I wrote:
The hairs on her neck are damp. They smell like raisins.
Her smile flutters like a butterfly’s wings just before taking off.
A dove on the windowsill scared me with his staring eyes when I woke up. Then he tried to convince me he meant well.
I want to jump in the blue lakes on her skin and emerge without being scared.
Woke up frightened. At two in the afternoon, when walking home, Jurriaan found a caterpillar. It fit perfectly in his hand.

You quit your job when Charlotte was diagnosed. Once she recovered, what was it like to reenter the world and what changes did you see in yourself afterward?

I took me quite some time to reenter the world. I had grown accustomed to being in my cocoon, my small world where all that mattered were details. Outside, the rest of the world seemed unfamiliar. Too big to comprehend. I had no interest in other people or things. It took me a long while to venture outside. I had changed from an extrovert to an introvert.

How did Charlotte’s diagnosis impact and change your family, and how do you think it’s shaped your current relationship with her?

Our family became even closer than we already were. I had become a storyteller in that year. I made up one after another, and my children loved it. They still remember them. When in 2012 we left the Netherlands to live in the USA, we relived that closeness. How we were all in uncharted waters, and had to rely on each other. Charlotte has always been very close and trusting of me. She still is.
 
What did you learn about the Dutch medical system throughout Charlotte’s illness? How do you think your experience would have been different if it had happened in the United States?

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I feel very fortunate that my doctor supported our decision not to treat Charlotte. He realized that giving chemotherapy to her could have unintended consequences that were perhaps worse than the disease. The result is that we felt relieved of a burden of pressure. Some parents want to do everything they can: see every doctor in the field, raise money for experimental drugs. It is difficult to say how different my experience would have been if we lived in the United States. Doctors in both countries have established protocols for patients like Charlotte. They try to postpone treatment. Her oncologist agreed with and accepted our decision to not do anything at all.
 

What advice do you have for parents who find that they need to become health advocates for their children?

It takes a village to help a sick child. Try to be the mayor of that village. Conduct the orchestra of physicians, nurses, psychologists, etc. Take charge. No one else will do it the way you will.

Why You Need Integrity to Write Children’s Literature and Why Julie’s Cat Is Evil by Galia Oz

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Creating a living and breathing story and building a complete, convincing, three-dimensional world around it; portraying rounded and thought-out characters; writing without it seeming like you are trying too hard; writing a story that seems to have always existed but never put to paper. 

How does one do that? My first answer: I have no idea. I can recognize beauty when I see it, but I don’t believe in a magic formula. I only know how to try to write well. My second answer: You need to have talent to write well, but that’s not enough; you must have integrity.

About ten years ago, I published a short children’s book in Israel about a group of kids, written entirely from the perspective of Julie, the owner of Shakshuka, a little dog with big adventures. The book quickly became a series that has sold 150,000 copies thus far, and has been translated and published in France, Spain and Brazil. The first three books in the series were recently published in the United States as one book, under the title Dog Trouble.

 I'm not sure I was able to do half of the things I mentioned in the first paragraph. If only... At any rate, I hope I write with integrity. In other words, the protagonists of my books are not perfect in any way: Julie is jealous of the new popular girl who recently arrived at her school; insecure Effie is jealous of almost everybody; cynical Brody mocks Adam's stutter; Danny is a bit violent at first, although the conflict between him and the other children takes on more a sophisticated form later in the series; and even the cat adopted by Julie’s is described as ‘a really evil cat.’

And yet Julie and her friends are brimming with joie de vivre and drive, and a sense of confidence that allows them to be playful and inventive and imaginative. They thrive in an imperfect world with evil cats – which means they can come to terms with problems that don’t necessarily have an immediate solution.

True, there is also hostility. Many times, hostility exists alongside with love. Anyone who thinks it is possible to raise children in an environment free of hostility or conflict is simply lying to themselves. You cannot spare children pain; you can only spare them literary representations of it.

Here, I return to the second answer I gave to the question: Integrity. Integrity is vital not only for a writer who hopes to establish a three-dimensional reality in his writing but also for the children reading it. Otherwise, in the name of political correctness, children are told that someone who behaves well will always be rewarded, that the wicked are always punished, and that the rejected will without a doubt have some sort of curative experience. 
There is no limit to the manipulative practices of well-intentioned adults in children's literature. There is an underlying desire to “improve” the child, to socialize him, to impart a life lesson, to hide and protect him from the real world.

The point is children have an inbuilt lie detector. When you try to sell them a sermon dressed as a story, they shut down emotionally. They may enjoy the plot, but the moral will pass right over their heads.

In short, children understand nuance. They are able to empathize with complex characters rather than with saintly, stock characters. Simplistic messages and manipulation are an insult to their intelligence. When children are exposed to quality literature, they are likely to grow up to read quality literature. And most importantly: beauty has value in and of itself, and children, just like everyone else, have the right to enjoy it. Just as they have the right to read of evil cats without someone jumping to their defense.

About the Book

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Readers who have graduated from Junie B. Jones and Ivy & Bean will fall head over heels for feisty Julie and her troublesome new dog. 
 
Julie has only had her dog for two weeks, but she is already causing all sorts of problems. For starters, she is missing! Julie suspects the school bully Danny must be behind it. But it will take some detective work, the help of Julie’s friends, and maybe even her munchkin twin brothers to bring her new pet home.

Wonderfully sassy and endlessly entertaining, the escapades of Julie and her dog are just beginning!

Julie’s adventures have sold across the globe and been translated into five languages. Popular filmmaker and children’s author Galia Oz effortlessly captures the love of a girl and her dog.

Buy on Amazon | Barnes and Noble

 

About Galia

Galia Oz was born in Kibbutz Hulda, Israel, in 1964. She studied film and Television in Tel Aviv University 1984-87.

Her award winning series of 5 books titled DOG TROUBLE was published in France, Spain and Brazil – and recently in the US by CROWN BOOKS Random House. The series is a steady seller in Israel for over 10 years (selling over 150,000 copies).

Oz has directed several documentaries, all screened in international film festivals, and in Israeli leading television channels.

Over the years, Galia Oz has been meeting thousands of readers in Israeli elementary schools, and taught creative writing and classic children's literature to kids in public libraries.

Galia Oz is married and has two kids, a dog and a cat, and they all live in Ramat Hasharon, just outside Tel-Aviv.

New Species in The Dragonrider Legacy – What new creatures can we expect? by Nicole Conway

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Because a significant portion of this series takes place in Luntharda, there will be a LOT of new creatures and beasts introduced, as well as reappearances of some old favorites from the first. Here’s a quick look at some of what’s in store for readers just in SAVAGE …

FAUNDRA – We saw a few glimpses of them in The Dragonrider Chronicles, but they will play a much more significant role in this series. Since the elves are now at peace with their jungle home again, they are utilizing faundra once again. They use these majestic, elk-like creatures as mounts, as well as farming them for their meat. In size, they are taller than a horse but with a much shorter body length. The males have a set of long, regal white horns that are often worn by gray elf royalty.

SNAGWOLVES – The “scrunt” from Lady in the Water was such an impactful villain to me, and he was part of the inspiration behind these jackal-like predators from Luntharda. They have leafy-looking pelts that mimic the jungle floor so they can stalk their prey. Usually hunting in large packs of around twenty, they use their numbers to deter larger predators from attacking them. Their greatest weapons are their toothy jaws, which clamp down much like an alligator’s with incredible force. Once bitten, it’s nearly impossible to escape their grip.

SURTEK – A lone predator of Luntharda, this monster lives primarily in the trees and hunts by night. Despite its size, the surtek can move with incredible speed and agility – which it uses to stalk its prey of choice, shrikes. Gray elves fear this creature for its stealth, speed, and unsettling ability to electrocute its prey using a pair of bony, protruding pincers around its mouth. The pincers also have inward facing teeth that are angled inward so that the more a prey object struggles, the more stuck it becomes. Definitely not something you’d want to stumble across on your own!

And of course, DRAGONS – Can’t leave them out, can I? Once again, we will see lots from the dragons that call the sea cliffs of Maldobar their natural home. In size, they are typically twelve to thirteen feet tall. The dominant male, called a king drake, may grow to twenty feet. In the wild, they primarily eat fish and small game animals. Newly hatched dragons weight about fifteen pounds and remain at the nest to be fed and guarded by their mother. They remain close to her even after they learn to fly, which occurs about 3 months after they hatch. Female hatchlings will generally remain with the mothers longer than the males, who strike out on their own to compete for a social standing in their flock. They come in a wide variety of colors and temperaments, although the dragonriders prefer bold colors and patterns and aggressive, stoic personalities for their mounts!