Spring update

We’re still in lockdown, but life continue. I’m now doing audiobook research which is amazing. Something that can be done from home, and works around my other jobs. Perfect. Plus I am getting a bunch of fascinating stuff to add to my ‘watch later’ vids on YouTube. Youglish is my fav new site. You just type in a word and it takes you to a video where someone is using that word. The rest of the content varies, so you might hear a bit about astronomy and then get into a discussion on history or politics or even theatre panels. You never know how many places one little word might show up!

Speaking of YouTube… I have been posting a bunch of music there. I’m still waiting for CD Baby and YouTube to figure out how to get my album showing up on my YouTube page.

If I am ever having a ‘down’ day I just check out the comments on the Sailor Moon videos!

Now, off to do my taxes….fuuuuuuuuuun.

New year, new horizons

Audiobook #2 has been released! It’s coming out behind #3 in order so it feels like something new! I’ve also started a new part time job creating pronunciation guides for audiobooks. I’m kinda loving just sitting at my desk exploring words! Deciding which ones are tricky to pronounce; which ones might just need a refresher on meaning. It all goes into the list. Then I write them up phonetically. I did a bit of phonetics in theatre school and found it fascinating. I always meant to come back to it… I just didn’t realize it would take this long and happen in this way.

The research tools also mean I find some really cool new words and new videos to check out. Hopefully I’ll find ways to work them into conversation and into my repertoire. I think of Eliza Doolittle from “My Fair Lady” singing “Words, words words!” …although in the song she’s sick of them. Not me! I get words all day through…some for me…some for you!

The Forgotten Daughter

My newest audiobook “The Forgotten Daughter” is now live! You can listen to a sample, or download a FREE copy by joining Audible. NOTE: It is also available through Toronto Public Library’s Overdrive for free!I thoroughly enjoyed working on this beautifully written, part fiction, part history, all engaging story!

https://www.audible.ca/pd/The-Forgotten-Daughter-Audiobook/B0849ZWKDW?qid=1605556063&sr=1-1&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=b278ed0a-c3b2-4491-808c-7cb2190a487c&pf_rd_r=29SY11AHRXERH43982X9

Audiobook #3!

Looks like this audiobook thing might actually work out for me! I got hired for a big-time project (HarperAudio) for a beautiful story set in Montreal. After my sojourn in Kabul with all the accents, it’s a nice change to just focus on 1, Québécois!

This was my first book with a deadline. It’s a new experience to work with daily uploads, contact from a production team and help with research and audio.
We turned the guest room/my office upside down and put the mattress against the window to dampen any sound. There is a lot of construction going on in my neighbourhood, so this helped keep the noise at bay!

I’m thrilled with the final result. You can pre-order already! The Forgotten Daughter by Joanna Goodman.

The Joys of Recording

Since coming back from a truncated birthday trip in March (thanks Coronavirus…) I’ve been working on my 2nd audiobook: The Finest Supermarket in Kabul by Ele Pawelski.

It’s a challenging one for me as it is 1st person with 3 narrators…2 of whom are male. I’m learning more about audiobooks each time I take on a project. Right now, it’s less about the editing…I’m getting pretty good at that! It’s more about labeling! It’s pretty easy to mix up files and not know which file is the ‘latest’ version. In my first foray into audiobooks, I just erased each old version. The problem with that is that there isn’t a ‘safe’ copy to go back to if I’ve screwed up and over-processed things.

This time, I’m keeping old copies…but they pile up! Soon I will move everything onto a new storage drive and then I’m hoping I will over-label and know exactly where everything is.

I also recorded a new commercial demo with KH Casting. I’m still waiting for the final product (it’s been 2 weeks…. I think they forgot. The engineer is on vacation now! I wanted to record from home but that is when we discovered my very noisy computer fan. Time to switch to a laptop.

Sailor Moon Rising

I am a member of ACTRA. To become a member, you get a few ‘apprentice credits’, and when you get the required amount, you become a full member.

I had started working with an animation company singing on some cartoons. I was called in because they were dubbing a cartoon into German and needed people with language skills. From there, I started singing for other projects and one of them was Sailor Moon. I actually knew this show and realized that this work could get me my ACTRA status. So I got my apprentice papers and was off!

I had a great time singing for cartoons. I loved listening to the original, and then based on that and a translated lyric sheet, creating a new song. I would have loved to be a character as well, but that didn’t seem to happen for me. What also didn’t happen was credits on the show. I don’t know why, but only the speaking actors were credit for their work. Singers were not. So I lived in humble obscurity, occasionally petitioning IMDb to add my name to the credits…to no avail.

This weekend I got an amazing email, right here to my website. I didn’t think anyone even saw this site here! Corza Moon decided to follow up with Sequence Productions, the studio where Sailor Moon was produced, to fill in the blanks on some of the voices used in the show. And that’s how I finally got recognized for singing on Sailor Moon. I’m over the moon about it all! Check it all out here:

https://sailormoondub.fandom.com/wiki/Esther_Thibault

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I did get to do some screaming as the Snow Angels in the Sailor Moon movie Hearts in Ice- that was fun!

Something fun in non-fun times

I decided to make a COVIDeo (is that a term yet?) The Police wrote a great song… I just tweaked it a bit to reflect the current times.

https://vimeo.com/400310436

The new world

I just got back from a truncated vacation to Florida. The trip was supposed to replace our plans to go to Vietnam to visit friends. That was cancelled because the Coronavirus was just getting started in that end of the world. Re booking to Florida to visit the in-laws seemed like a safe choice. We were even going to have a side trip to Aruba, to make up for that destination being cancelled on a previous trip. Now, it seems like Aruba will never happen. That’s twice we’ve had to cancel going there!

Needless to say, now that Covid-19 is a full on pandemic, all travel is cancelled and staying home is the thing to do. After spending the last 5 days of vacation in Florida mostly in isolation, it’s funny how fast one gets used to the new normal. It kind of reminded me of life on the farm as a teen during the summer. There was nothing much to do but chores and reading, and watching tv. By the time we got to the airport, I was actually hyper aware of how close people were to me. It was odd to see so many people sitting so close together!

Now that I’m home there is lots to do. I will be working on my home recording studio to get ready for new online work! I already have one audiobook to record as a profit-share, and signed up with a company to do more! This isolation thing might actually turn out well for me to get into more voice work like I always wanted to!

I DID IT! Audiobook released

The audiobook has been released! My little home studio project is a success! Now that I know I can do this from home, I will be looking for more projects. Ideally getting paid for these jobs is the goal.
I do have a second book lined up (more on that later)
So far, I will say that Book #2 is a fiction-based-during-real-world-events, and for adults. I want to make sure I have a range of books to my credit.
It’s a nice way to start the decade.

SIX audiobook on Google Play

The scary bit…

So… after a lot longer than I intended…my very first audiobook is recorded and proofed! Next step is to turn it over to a sound engineer to master it so that it can be posted to ACX for sale!
This is the leap and faith portion. So far, most of this has been a solo enterprise that hasn’t cost me anything but time. Proofing was done by the brilliant author J.S Veter (my dear friend) and my darling hubby who is frighteningly detail-oriented, and therefor a great proof-listener and tech support.
I’m going to use Fivver for this project to keep the budget low as it is a labour of love.
Once that gets back to me…it’s off for ACX approval. Stay tuned!