August Kickoff

What is the month of August like in your neck of the woods?

August will be straightforward for The Walking Book Club, but still full of goodness. I’m writing this from one of my favorite places in the world that refuels my soul. Honestly, I didn’t realize how low my tank was until it started to refill.

Do you ever have that feeling? It’s not always an easy thing to attend to spiritual self-care, especially in stressful times. My next hurdle is college drops in COVID-19 hot zones, thus the reason August will be a little lighter.

Here’s the scoop for this month:

Our group selections are The Night Swim by Megan Goldin, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman and  Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin.

If you listen and move to The Night Swim, please review on Goodreads.

#MilesandMinutes

Please join our virtual collective walk around the world by tracking your weekly totals in either miles, active minutes, steps or kilometers. Download the calendar page in The Walking Book Club Discussion Group.

If you’re just joining us, please be sure to check out the resource page.

You will find tons of free bonus materials such as audiobook platforms, fitness planning stickers, FAQ Guide plus all the links to past updates.

Audiobook Narration

Interview with audiobook narrator, Sara Sheckells, part three:

What makes a great narrator? 

I believe great narrators facilitate the process of losing oneself in a book. First and foremost, they are storytellers who can effectively deliver the author’s intent. Great narrators allow the story to be the central focal point of a work rather than their voice. 

Do you/how do you alter your voice for age, character, genre? 

Through coaching and experience, I have learned effective narration is more about how I carry and position myself (mentally and physically) when recording than it is about creating voices. When prepping a book for narration, I will assign characters a unique physical stance and mental attitude and from there the vocal delivery flows.

My males stand differently than females and children have a different perspective due to their size, so I make those subtle physical and emotional shifts. (They have to be subtle because narrators need to be aware of any extraneous noises while working!)

Sometimes, I find images I feel depict characters and will post them in my booth for reference when recording. 

A more recent narration I completed was a memoir written by an author in her 80s. I watched videos featuring her and listened to her narrate one of her earlier books until I felt I had a sense of how she carries herself. Her book really resonated with me and it was important that her personality came through in my narration. I found by adopting some simple mannerisms, I was able to act and think as she might; I feel the result was better than if I had used mimicry to recreate the sound of her voice. 

Finally, please share your Sneaker Ratings for July in our discussion group.