Hi Erin, thanks for stopping by my blog to today to talk about what it's like to be a narrator. It's always fun to meet the face behind the voice.
Tell
us about yourself and your career path:
I am an
actor and voice artist in New York City.
My happiest places to be are onstage and in the recording booth. In my free time, I may be a little too
obsessed with feng shui. www.erinmallon.net
Awesome! I don't know how you do it. I get tongue twisted, cotton mouth, and never have the right inflection. Have
you narrated other audio books?
Yes! I record a lot of YA fiction and Adult
romances, so I’m forever surrounded by teenaged vampires, werewolves, angels
and demons, and folks involved in angsty love affairs. It’s the best. Everblue, however, was my first foray into
the world of mermaids!
You've also read for my BAFF, Kristie Cook which I'm listening to right now! I'm thrilled Everblue could be your first dive into the mer world. What
was it like reading for Ash?
I had a
blast with Ash. It was such fun for me
to return to high school. I myself went
to an all-girls catholic high school, so I enjoyed getting to swim around in
the world of co-ed public school, where your crush can brush past you in the
hallway at any minute and the lunchroom is full of drama (not that we girls didn't have our own kind of drama at lunch).
Could I ever agree. Personally, I went to a small private school, so there was no new Mr Fabulous walking down our 1 and only hall. Did you read Fin's chapters in between your chapters?
And yes,
I absolutely read all of Fin’s chapters between mine. I think it’s really important to read the
entire book, even if I’m only narrating a portion of it, as wonderful writers
such as yourself weave rich character details throughout the story that help
narrators make decisions. I’d be missing
key information if I skipped those sections.
Plus, as someone who was enjoying the story, I just didn't want to miss
out on all the great stuff that was happening underwater!
Awe. Thanks. I'm glad their personalities are just as powerful for you as they are for me when writing them. Did
you have difficulty with any scenes or characters?
Not
really! One thing I love about Everblue
(there are many) is how you’ve created these two very distinct worlds for Ash
and Fin. I think Chris, who co-narrated the book, had the tougher job in terms
of discovering broader characters and dialects, as his was the more fantastical
world. Ash’s environment felt very
natural and comfortable for me. The
characters felt like people I know and love, and I was right at home digging
into the joys of awkward/exhilarating phone calls with boys and good ol’
fashioned sibling rivalry at the dinner table.
Often times Ash's world felt boring compared to Fin's fantastical world in Natatoria. You made her drab life sound way more exciting than in my head. Which
was your favorite character?
I have to
say Georgia. That girl is completely
hyped up on life! I mean who else would
get so jazzed by hair gum? I found her
enthusiasm to be contagious and great fun to play.
Oh my gosh! You totally nailed Georgia :) Did
you converse with Chris at all during the process as he read Fin's part?
Would you
believe it if I told you we’ve never actually met? We just finished co-narrating another book
together too! I’ve started joking around
that he’s my secret audio boyfriend.
While I didn’t speak with him directly during the recording, I did
listen to some of his narration and got updates on his process from the
directors and engineers. I wanted to get a sense of his take on Fin and weave
it into my narration in a way that felt cohesive.
I was so jazzed you two wanted to co-narrate. It's funny you've never met. I think you need a work potluck! Any
funny stories?
Yes! As you already know, instead of pronouncing
mermatron as mer- MAY-truhn (like one would pronounce a “matron of
honor”), somehow we lost our minds for a second and pronounced it
Mer-muh-TRON. Surely you knew you wrote
a book with mermaid robots? Don’t worry
everyone, we fixed it. J
Yes... that was funny! And I'm forever saying mer-muh-trons in my head whenever I write it from now on!
Thanks for stopping by, Erin! I love your name by the way... I have my own Aaron myself and we're quite fond of the name.
