Audiobooks discussion

Good Morning. This is Aurelia for AudioFile and as promised, Lorelei King will be joining us today and tomorrow to answer questions and chat about all things audiobook.

Lorelei is the voice of such popular series as Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum and Darynda Jones’ Charley Davidson. She also narrates non-fiction and such literary fiction authors as Jane Smiley.

Here’s Lorelei’s website: http://www.loreleiking.com/.

Here’s her AudioFile page: http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/narr..., and an audio clip of and link to AudioFile's most recent Stephanie Plum review: http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/revi....

In honor of Lorelei’s visit, AudioFile has a contest - CD sets of the two most recent Evanovich/King audiobooks will go to two lucky GR Audiobook Group members who post questions and comments. The drawing will be random.

Welcome Lorelei! Let me start the ball rolling with this question. Did Stephanie Plum’s voice come to you immediately when you read the first manuscript or did you try out a few attitudes and voices before settling on just the one?

Welcome Lorelei ,
I'd like to ask how long you've been narrating books ?

Also , do you listen to audiobooks yourself , and if so , what are some of your favorites ?

Thank you.

AudioFile wrote: "Good Morning. This is Aurelia for AudioFile and as promised, Lorelei King will be joining us today and tomorrow to answer questions and chat about all things audiobook.

Lorelei is the voice of su..."

Afternoon for me here in the UK, Aurelia! ;)

This is a great question! First person narration is always a challenge, and I find it's best to stick as close to one's natural voice as possible, so I decided straight out of the box to make Stephanie neutral, while still allowing her whacky personality to come through. A regional accent can get old pretty fast and you always have to think of the comfort of the listener. :)

But the wonderful thing about Janet Evanovich's books is the cast of supporting characters - and I love going to town on their accents!

Julie wrote: "Welcome Lorelei ,
I'd like to ask how long you've been narrating books ?

Also , do you listen to audiobooks yourself , and if so , what are some of your favorites ?

Thank you."

Hi Julie! Thanks for stopping by. :)

I've been narrating audiobooks for what feels like a thousand years - but I think I started in the late '80s. When I was ... um... three years old. Yeah, that's right. ;)

Because of my workload, I don't get to listen to a lot of audio, but when I do I like crime fiction, and some of my favourite narrators are Steven Pacey and Adjoa Andoh - and (of course!) my husband, Vincent Marzello. :)

Good Morning! hmmm... but if you are 5 hours ahead of me, it's probably afternoon where you are... ah well...

I have to admit that when I went to look at the different books you have read, I was even more impressed than before. I had already listened to you read the books by Darynda Jones, We Need to Talk About Kevin - chilling book - and a couple of the Kathy Reichs books, so I was already a fan. But, you do books all across the genre spectrum. I suppose my question is, did you make the choice to record that many different genres or did it "just sort of happen"? It may be that I just have no clue how narrators are chosen for different books, but it just doesn't seem that many narrators record such a wide variety of genres, so I'm interested in why some do and some don't. <><

Hi Lorelei, You are one of my favorite narrators. I looked at my reading list and I think you hold the record for the narrator who I have listened to the most. I think Scott Brick and Stefan Rudnicki are a distant second.

I just wanted to pop by and say that I loved your narrations in the Stephanie Plum series. You did Grandma Mazur and Stephanie so well. I had a very hard time adjusting to the other narrator.

For my question, How much time a month do you spend narrating and how do you decide what kind of voice to give the characters?

Welcome Lorelei.

Do you have a preference in the genre that you narrate? Most of your work that I have listened to is urban fantasy.

If you do have a preference, do you specifically seek out work in that genre? Or does the work seek you out?

Do narrators get stereotyped by genres? Recently Audible presented narrators who were the voice of specific genres, which is what made me wonder.

Nothing like being bombarded with twenty questions. That's 3 down for me. 17 to go. :)

Good day,

I was wondering what got you interested in narrating. Also when you finished your first few recordings was it weird to hear your voice.

Ok, I'm gonna turn right around and ask a second question. While I haven't done it in the past, this year I am entering the narrators in my list of books I listen to this year. Since I'm old and retired and have lots of time to listen to books, I've listened to 33 books so far, but what is interesting about it is that of those books only 1 narrator has read more than one book. Many of the narrators are new to me... actually, most of the narrators are new to me, and I've been listening to books for at least 15 years.

And here is the question, because there are so many new narrators, does it make it harder for the "tried and true" narrators who have been around a while to get the "good" books to read?

I think that at this point, I'm a little afraid that some of my favorite narrators will stop doing it, because the competition is just getting so stiff. See, that's two questions about how narrators are chosen for a project. Told ya I didn't know anything about how it is done. <><

Msjodi777 wrote: "Good Morning! hmmm... but if you are 5 hours ahead of me, it's probably afternoon where you are... ah well...

I have to admit that when I went to look at the different books you have read, I was e..."

Hi, MsJodi!

Yes, it is afternoon here. A rather grey one. :D

I think the answer is, 'it just sort of happened'. I'm a jobbing actor, and if I'm offered a book, chances are I'll want to do it - I think I've just been very lucky to have had the chance to record so many genres. (Ever since I was a child, I've read widely - literary, comedy, horror, crime - and it's wonderful to have had the opportunity to record across the spectrum too.)

It's wonderful to be able to go from something like the dense, lyrical language of Margaret Atwood to the zany, dialogue-heavy fun of Janet Evanovich. Jumping genres keeps me fresh and keeps me learning!

I can only speculate as why some narrators record numerous genres and some don't - perhaps it's personal choice, or perhaps some narrators do so well in certain genres that they keep being offered books in that genre?

And ps, I'm so glad you mentioned We Need To Talk About Kevin - wow! That was a dark and challenging record. Loved doing it!

Hi Lorelei, it's so good to finally have you chat with us!

You're one of those narrators whose voice I find soothing to listen to and fun at the same time. I usually turn to anything you've narrated when I'm stressed or just don't feel myself. Besides I'm in love with Charley Davidson ;) and Ooooo you make her sarcasm so realistic, sometimes I just feel if only I had a visual.

I'll drop in from time to time with my questions but for now:
Do you read the whole book before you start to narrate?
Have you come across any of the books offered to you that just are not something you like? If yes, do you say no or just go with the tide?
Would you mind recording a personal message or a nice little poem just for me? ;) LoL just kidding..

Wish you all the best!

Donna wrote: "Hi Lorelei, You are one of my favorite narrators. I looked at my reading list and I think you hold the record for the narrator who I have listened to the most. I think Scott Brick and Stefan Rudnic..."

Hi Donna!

Thanks so much for your kind words! I love Grandma Mazur too. What a gal! :)

It's hard to say how much time I spend a month narrating as the schedule is never really consistent. Some months there's a ton of narrations to be done to a tight deadline, and other times I'm off doing other projects and might not do any books at all.

But I can tell you roughly how much work is involved in a single book: the actual record usually takes three to five days, depending on the length of the book (some take longer), and the preparation (reading the book through, making notes, researching pronunciations and so on) takes almost as long.

Which brings me to the next part of your question about character voices, as that is part of the preparation process. Creating voices is one of my favorite parts of the job! :) Sometimes the author will specify an accent or voice quality, which helps, but if not – I often just hear a voice in my head for that character (which has to do with the way he or she is written), or I construct one using a technique I invented for myself called ‘layering’ (a method of putting vocal elements together in a way that gives me a wide range of voices). I also 'collect' voices when I'm out and about - if I hear something unusual or quirky, I file it away mentally for future use.

But in the end, the main thing about voices is clarity for the listener - so in addition to being characterized, voices have to be mapped quite carefully. If, for example, two characters have a lot of scenes together, you want to make sure they sound quite different from each other.

And much depends on the style of the book. Something more comedic can handle broader characterization, whereas a dark, dramatic book might need something more subtle.

There. Probably more than you wanted to know! ;)

Hi Lorelei!

Ohhhh man, I'm gonna have to track down the audio for We Need to Talk About Kevin now -- I've been holding off from watching the movie until I can read the book.

I've recently been sucked into the Mercy Thompson universe (listening to book 2 as we speak) and I wondered, how long does it take (on average) to record an audiobook? Do you do it over the period of several days, a week, multiple weeks?

Janice wrote: "Welcome Lorelei.

Do you have a preference in the genre that you narrate? Most of your work that I have listened to is urban fantasy.

If you do have a preference, do you specifically seek out wor..."

Hi Janice!

Glad to be here! :)

I love all genres, and am lucky to record across many (as discussed in a previous question). I do have a soft spot for comedy and snark, as I like to laugh, but I also love the emotion of 'heavier' genres.

I don't specifically seek out books - I normally wait to be asked. *blushes demurely* Having said that, on very rare occasions when I've heard about a book that I feel would really suit me, I might gently suggest myself. But I've only done that once or twice. :)

Your question about narrators being stereotyped is an interesting one - and I'm afraid I don't know the answer! I think in most jobs, not just narrating, if you're good at a particular thing, you keep being asked to do that thing. Maybe it's as simple as that. But that's just speculation.

Looking forward to your next 17 questions... ;)

Lori wrote: "Good day,

I was wondering what got you interested in narrating. Also when you finished your first few recordings was it weird to hear your voice."

Hi Lori!

Good question! :) I think narrating found me. I was an actor, and solely because of my American accent (I live in the UK) I was asked to record a book of short stories - and I loved it! And it kind of built from there...

And yes, it's strange hearing your own voice, isn't it? I'm used to it now. But I should say that it's extremely rare for me to listen to any of my own work - I hear enough of myself when we're recording! :D

Msjodi777 wrote: "Ok, I'm gonna turn right around and ask a second question. While I haven't done it in the past, this year I am entering the narrators in my list of books I listen to this year. Since I'm old and re..."

First of all - 33 books so far in 2016?! HOLY MOLEY! You can't see me, but I'm doffing my hat and bowing! Respect. :)

Oh, MsJodi, I hope we old- I mean, *cough*, we 'experienced' - narrators won't be put out to pasture. :) The business is certainly changing - digital has made audio so much more affordable, and the appetite for audio is growing. So I'm hoping there will be plenty of work for narrators new and old.

Narrators are usually chosen by publishers, and - as with most things these days, it seems - decisions are often commercial.

For example, I am the co-owner of a small digital publishing company myself (www.creativecontentdigital.com), and when we choose a narrator for a project, we're looking at our bottom line. So we want someone who is not only talented with a great voice (that goes without saying), but who is also fluent. That means less time in studio and less time editing - ergo less money spent! :) I'm not saying all publishers make decisions on that basis, as there are other things to be factored in - name recognition, popularity, fanbase and so on - but it's certainly one part of it.

There. Again, probably more than you wanted to know! :D

Lorelei
Do you have a "Dream Book" you'd love to narrate ? Maybe one that has already been done, or even has yet to be made into audio .
Is there one book you'd really love to do ?

Vishakha wrote: "Hi Lorelei, it's so good to finally have you chat with us!

You're one of those narrators whose voice I find soothing to listen to and fun at the same time. I usually turn to anything you've narrat..."

Hi Vishakha!

Aw, that's a lovely thing to say. I like the thought of being soothing AND fun. :) And who doesn't love Charley? I live vicariously through that gal!

To answer your questions:

Yes, I read the whole book in order to avoid any surprises - something like an unexpected 'he said in his deep, Mississippi accent on page 378! :D

And that's a great question about saying no to books. If I can fit a book in, I will normally do it, even if it is not a favorite genre - I may find a new writer I like or learn something along the way. But having said that, there was one book I had to think long and hard about recording - 'The Stranger Beside Me' by Ann Rule, which was the true story of serial killer Ted Bundy. The material was so dark and upsetting I wanted to be sure I was in the right frame of mind for it. I did it in the end, and am very glad I did, as I learned a lot, but it was certainly challenging and difficult.

A personal message? Oh, I couldn't possibly...

https://soundcloud.com/lorelei-king/v...

xx

Ashley *Hufflepuff Kitten* wrote: "Hi Lorelei!

Ohhhh man, I'm gonna have to track down the audio for We Need to Talk About Kevin now -- I've been holding off from watching the movie until I can read the book.

I've recently been su..."

Hi Ashley!

I haven't seen the movie yet either - but it's on the list! :)

Oh I LOVE recording the Mercy books (by Patricia Briggs, if any of you are unfamiliar with them). Just finished recording the most recent one not long ago.

Recording a book can happen a number of ways - sometimes I record three or four days in a row and just get it done, or sometimes it's a 'patchwork' of sessions over time depending on my schedule - squeezing in sessions when we can. I've recorded books that have spread over one or two months - not ideal, as you need to keep that 'world' in your head. :) These days I prefer to work fewer hours over more days. Less strain on the voice, and I think you can actually get more done if you're not too tired.

Julie wrote: "Lorelei
Do you have a "Dream Book" you'd love to narrate ? Maybe one that has already been done, or even has yet to be made into audio .
Is there one book you'd really love to do ?"

YES, Julie! I would give anything to record Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. But someone's beat me to it - rats! :)

And I would also LOVE LOVE LOVE to record the unabridged versions of books 1-6 in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I've done abridged recordings of them (for the UK market), but the unabridged versions have eluded me. :)

Ohh my you are so kind!

I'm going to save that message for life. It was just lovely to hear my name, which was by the way pronounced just right, from a narrator I adore!

Lorelei wrote: "Vishakha wrote: "Hi Lorelei, it's so good to finally have you chat with us!

You're one of those narrators whose voice I find soothing to listen to and fun at the same time. I usually turn to anyth..."

Vishakha wrote: "Ohh my you are so kind!

I'm going to save that message for life. It was just lovely to hear my name, which was by the way pronounced just right, from a narrator I adore!

Lorelei wrote: "Vishakha ..."

;) xx

Did you grow up in a family that loved books, and were you read to a lot as a child ?

If so, what were some of your childhood favorite books ?

And have you narrated any children's books or would you like to ?

Hello Lorelei,

I'm one of those people who sometimes chooses books based solely on the narrator, and you are one of my favorites. I always know that a book you narrate will be a good experience. Every character has his or her own voice, and the personality of each comes through in your narration. Thank you for that.

I'm wondering, do you hear the characters as you read books? When you read for pleasure, do you hear their voices?

Julie wrote: "Did you grow up in a family that loved books, and were you read to a lot as a child ?

If so, what were some of your childhood favorite books ?

And have you narrated any children's books or would..."

Oh, I LOVE this question, Julie!

YES, I grew up in a family of booklovers - especially my father. He ALWAYS had his nose in a book and taught me to read when I was very, very young (3!). Both of my parents read to me a lot - and when I could, I read to them too! Poor things. :)

I loved Nancy Drew when I was young, but my FAVORITE books were the Oz books by L Frank Baum. My father used to prowl around used bookstores in downtown Pittsburgh (my hometown) and brought home whichever ones he could find. My favorite in the series was The Patchwork Girl of Oz.

I have recorded some classic children's stories like Little Women (OMG, no spoilers, but at a certain someone's death I was blubbing so hard we had to stop recording!) and What Katy Did.

And a few years ago I did a FANTASTIC children's book called The Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski - adored it! It's one adults can enjoy too. :)

I got so excited, I've never thought or imagine you narrating a dark book so I went ahead and spent a credit on The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy The Shocking Inside Story, again to listen more of you and this would be my first true crime (a genre I've been wanting to try)!

One more for you:

Have you ever received a negative/positive feedback from an author?
If a piece of the book is recorded, does it have to be approved by the author?

Lorelei wrote: "Vishakha wrote: "Ohh my you are so kind!

I'm going to save that message for life. It was just lovely to hear my name, which was by the way pronounced just right, from a narrator I adore!

Lorelei ..."

Kelly wrote: "Hello Lorelei,

I'm one of those people who sometimes chooses books based solely on the narrator, and you are one of my favorites. I always know that a book you narrate will be a good experience. E..."

Hi Kelly!

Aw, thank you for saying that! :)

Yes, sometimes the characters are written in way that you just KNOW how they want to sound. Other times you just have to do what makes sense.

And yes, I'm afraid it's an occupational hazard - I can't read for pleasure anymore without mentally making notes on character voices and mentally underlining words that should be stressed! :D

Lorelei wrote: "I have recorded some classic children's stories like Little Women (OMG, no spoilers, but at a certain someone's death I was blubbing so hard we had to stop recording!) and What Katy Did."

I just found and added Little Women to my wishlist on Overdrive! I was already planning to read it this year anyway but your narration is going to be excellent I'm sure, so I'll probably wind up listening-while-reading :)

Vishakha wrote: "I got so excited, I've never thought or imagine you narrating a dark book so I went ahead and spent a credit on The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy The Shocking Inside Story, again to li..."

Oh Vishakha - maybe listen to that one during the daytime! :) Ann Rule (who died recently) is a wonderful writer. I hope you find it interesting if not enjoyable!

Some authors leave everything about the audio version to their publisher, and some have more input in choosing the reader. It depends. It would be extremely unusual for a recording to have to be approved by the author after it was recorded. Most of those decisions are made before recording.

I have never received negative feedback from an author - I'm not saying I haven't deserved it, just saying that it's never made its way back to me ;) - but I have been lucky enough to have compliments from some of 'my' authors.

I think the biggest compliment was very recently when I saw that Darynda Jones had dedicated The Dirt on Ninth Grave to me - I cried like a baby! :D

Ashley *Hufflepuff Kitten* wrote: "Lorelei wrote: "I have recorded some classic children's stories like Little Women (OMG, no spoilers, but at a certain someone's death I was blubbing so hard we had to stop recording!) and What Katy..."

Yay! I hope you enjoy it, Ashley! :) xx

Lorelei wrote: "I think the biggest compliment was very recently when I saw that Darynda Jones had dedicated The Dirt on Ninth Grave to me - I cried like a baby! :D."

I think I can somewhat relate to that, your message kind of made me feel that way :)

I'd be looking forward to reading the Ted Bundy story and Little Women too. I'm sure I'll like them.

Vishakha wrote: "Lorelei wrote: "I think the biggest compliment was very recently when I saw that Darynda Jones had dedicated The Dirt on Ninth Grave to me - I cried like a baby! :D."

I think I can somewhat relate..."

:) xx

Hello Lorelei!

You know I ask every book if there is a lot of LuLu and Grandma because they are my favorite characters .
Do you ever have to stop recording because you are laughing at a line in the books? Do you save your outtakes? I know I laugh out loud to the Plum books.

I am looking forward to Turbo Twenty-Three


Do you have a home studio you work from or do you go to the publishers, or a combination of both?

MissSusie wrote: "Hello Lorelei!

You know I ask every book if there is a lot of LuLu and Grandma because they are my favorite characters .
Do you ever have to stop recording because you are laughing at a line in th..."

Hi Miss Susie! :)

Yes, I love Lula and Granda Mazur too - I know we share that love! :D

Oh, I can't count the number of times I have to stop because of laughing when we're recording Janet Evanovich's books. It's downright embarrassing. :) I can't wait for Turbo Twenty-Three either!

I don't have a home studio, nor do I go to the publisher. Normally the publisher hires a studio, and I record there. It's nice to have at least an engineer and sometimes a producer too for company! :) And I'm lucky to record in studios in quite a few cities. They're all pretty much the same, except for the lunches. New York is best for that. ;)

Hi Lorelei,

I follow the Mercy Thompson series--devour them the day of release and loved the latest one--and am up to the seventh book in the Charley Davidson series. Absolutely love your work on these!

To be nosey, how did you get to the UK to live?
You mentioned your own publishing company, what inspired you to start that?
Do you sell on both sides of the Atlantic and what differences do you find between the UK and North American markets?

I have more questions, but I'll space them out. Thanks so much for sharing your time with us!

Abner wrote: "Hi Lorelei! Hope you're doing well over yonder across the pond.

My questions have to do with your preparation in recording an audiobook. What aspects of your acting training and experience do you ..."

Hi Abner!

Great questions! I think the skill that has come in most useful when narrating audiobooks is my background in radio drama. I've often been called upon to play many different characters in one play, and you learn how to get creative with voices.

I don't really 'get into' each character the way I would in a play or film - mostly because there are too many of them! :) It's more a technical thing. And with a good book, the writing itself does a lot of the heavy lifting.

And I LOVE flipping between characters - when a lot of them are in the same room, it's a bit like a party!

And thanks for your 'p.s.'. From your mouth to God's ears, as they say in the old country! ;)

Jeanie wrote: "Hi Lorelei,

I follow the Mercy Thompson series--devour them the day of release and loved the latest one--and am up to the seventh book in the Charley Davidson series. Absolutely love your work on..."

Hi Jeanie!

SO glad you're enjoying those series. Darynda Jones and Patricia Briggs are such great writers...

I came to the UK mostly for the climate and the cuisine.

I'm kidding. :)

I kind of ended up here by accident. I was going to stay here for three days, but then I made friends, and then I fell in love, and before you know it - wait, what? It's the 21st century?! :)

The publishing thing kind of just happened (OMG, I'm beginning to see a pattern in my life!!!). I had worked with Ali Muirden, then head of audio at Macmillan Publishing UK, for years (both as a narrator and also organising an annual charity quiz night). Ali is super-smart and saw the potential of digital years ago, and she decided to start a digital-only publishing company. She asked me if I wanted to partner, as we both have experience of audio from different sides. I knew I'd be crazy to say no! I still can't believe my luck at having such a great partner, and I love learning more about this business each day.

We sell worldwide, and I think the UK and north American markets are similar in that they both love crime fiction, but when it comes to non-fiction, the US perhaps buys a bit more in the self-improvement line, whereas the UK likes history and politics (like our title on the upcoming EU referendum, "The Lowdown: the EU - Should We Stay or Should We Go?"). And of course north America is a bigger market. :)

And as one of us is English and one is American, I like to think we have a good balance. ;)

Hello Lorelei,

While I have not come across any of your works (yet), I do know of your high reputation and renown. I just wanted to pop in offer my thanks for joining us. It is always fun to learn more about those who make the industry "tick".

Grumpus wrote: "Hello Lorelei,

While I have not come across any of your works (yet), I do know of your high reputation and renown. I just wanted to pop in offer my thanks for joining us. It is always fun to learn..."

Thanks for those kind words, Grumpus! I'm having a blast here. :)

If I'm not misremembering--always a possibility--you did some author interviews with Darynda Jones that were placed at the end of several of the Charley Davidson books. Really enjoyed those interviews--I sure hope I'm remembering correctly! ;)

How often are you able to interact with authors prior to a recording?
Would you like more access to the author of a book or do you prefer more autonomy in your part of the creation?

Jeanie wrote: "If I'm not misremembering--always a possibility--you did some author interviews with Darynda Jones that were placed at the end of several of the Charley Davidson books. Really enjoyed those intervi..."

You remember right, Jeanie! Author interviews are one of my favorite things to do. Janet Evanovich and I have done some as well - so much fun!

In my experience, it is unusual to have contact with the author prior to recording. Any questions are usually funnelled through via the publisher. I've been very lucky in that I've been able to meet some of 'my' authors - a real treat!

While I welcome to author input before a record, my experience has been that writers are usually happy to just let us get on with it. :)

Hello Lorelei,
First up, I don't have a CD player plus am in Australia so I'm not up for the prize!
You are also a noted actress and I loved Cold Feet, I wondered if, when narrating you miss the interaction with actors, and does working solo make it more difficult to get in the groove!
Bec

Audiothing wrote: "Hello Lorelei,
First up, I don't have a CD player plus am in Australia so I'm not up for the prize!
You are also a noted actress and I loved Cold Feet, I wondered if, when narrating you miss the in..."

Hi, Audiothing! :)

Aw, I'm glad you enjoyed Cold Feet - such a great show to work on!

I love the variety of my career - so although working with other actors is great, I also like narration as I get to play all the parts MYSELF! ;) x

Hi, Lorelei! You're my favorite narrator, and your narrations of the Stephanie Plum books helped me through my divorce back in 2005 (laughter is very healing), and got me hooked on audiobooks!

By searching for other books you'd narrated, I fell in love with the Mercy Thompson series (my first foray into urban fantasy, which led to other UF series I love), and I have also stayed current with the Charley Davidson series. I've listened to the Lizzie & Diesel books, as well as the first Rose Harbor book, Tallgrass, and more.

My teen kids also listen to audiobooks, and the Mercy Thompson series are among their favorites. Your voice has become part of the fabric of our family. Thank you for that.

Which books/series that you've narrated so far are your favorites? Do people ever recognize you by your voice alone when you are out and about or making ordinary phone calls?

And if you're up for another personal greeting that would make the days of my kids (Marian, Leo, and Sophie), that would be amazing!

Thanks for everything.

--Whitney

Whitney wrote: "Hi, Lorelei! You're my favorite narrator, and your narrations of the Stephanie Plum books helped me through my divorce back in 2005 (laughter is very healing), and got me hooked on audiobooks!

By..."

Whitney, what a lovely message!

Okay, I'll tell you which series is my favorite if you tell me which is YOUR favorite: Marian, Leo or Sophie! ;D

Seriously, I love all the series I do, and couldn't really choose - but I do admit to having a particularly soft spot for Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, as it was my first series, and the dialogue and characters are so wonderful. They're like family now!

Funnily enough, I do sometimes get recognised by my voice - mostly by London cabbies who listen to a lot of radio and audio! :D

Sending you and yours loads of love... Oh! And this.

https://soundcloud.com/lorelei-king/w...

Hey Everyone, Aurelia for AudioFile here. This having Lorelei with us so cool. Only one more day, so don't put off asking your questions and making whatever comments you want. Lorelei is on England time, so let's hope she's headed to sleep now and will have rested her fingers for tomorrow. Cheers.

AudioFile wrote: "Hey Everyone, Aurelia for AudioFile here. This having Lorelei with us so cool. Only one more day, so don't put off asking your questions and making whatever comments you want. Lorelei is on England..."

You can't make me go to bed, Mom! ;) xx

Thank you so much for joining us and thank you AudioFile for making this possible!!!!!! Like so many others Stephanie Plum's books in your hands are among my favorite audiobooks!

I have always wondering do you switch between characters or do you read the story in order has written on the page. For Narrators like yourself that puts so much into making each character different I wondered do you record all of Grandma's lines together?

When recording what kind of on the fly feedback do you receive from the engineers and others?

Since you have recorded so many of her books do you speak with Janet as each new book is released?

Well thanks for considering my 101 questions! It is indeed an honor to chat with you!

Hello, Lorelei!

I'm another big fan of the Mercy Thompson books from Patricia Briggs, so I'm very excited about the just-released book.

I have two questions for you:
First, you mentioned that you read the whole book as part of your preparation. I've read comments from some other narrators that they don't have time to read the book first. Do you have any insight as to whether most narrators prefer to read the book first or not?

Second, you commented earlier that you'd love to go back and do unabridged versions of the early Stephanie Plum books. Do you find that there is less of a market for abridged books than there used to be? I've had discussions with some of my audiobook-fan friends who have also been listening for years about this; it seems to us that in the days of cassette audiobook recordings there tended to be more abridged books.

Thank you for taking the time to come here and chat with us.

Haven't been on Goodreads for awhile...and just stumbled upon this thread!
I've listened to all of the Stephanie Plum novels and loved the narration!
You really breathe life into your characters Lorelei!
Such amazing talent which just "feels" so like I am in the room with all of your voices!

As you are a voracious reader as well, I am curious to ask if you have entertained ideas of writing a novel yourself?
You certainly have a plethora of background material from which to call upon!
And then reading your own words! :-) Sweet...