People and circumstances….
There are no accidents. It’s people who help create circumstances, but they can also keep us ever-aware of how none of us are ever truly alone. There will always be those who encourage or influence us, serve as a model for us, or take a hand in the directions our lives follow.
The gist? Speak your intentions out loud. When you tell people what you’re doing, things begin to happen.
Will write for fun and food….
My writing career (as unsensational but gratifying it has been) all began with Joann — a woman at the Sacramento Bee who looked at a sample column I submitted to her for a section of the paper and said yes.
I was in my forties by the time I saw my byline in the newspaper every Saturday morning. It appeared above a column talking about the ins and outs of buying newly constructed homes — something I was an expert at because I sold them at the time. That led to syndication, co-writing and ghostwriting books, penning magazine articles, professional blogging, recording podcasts in a faraway recording studios (my first taste of the voice acting world), a stint writing for Forbes, and my continuing Psychology Today contributor saga.
Gazing at the tracks in the sand behind me: Sadly, Joann is gone and newspapers nearly went the way of the dodo. Forbes replaced most of their editors and cut my column. Psychology Today remains a constant, but now I write about healthy aging, routinely wagging a finger at those who think getting older means relaxing in perpetuity.
Honestly. There is only ONE way to relax in perpetuity….
Will voice-act for fun and food….
Voice acting sprang from listening to audiobooks ad nauseam while wanting to jump into the sound booth in which they were created. All the goofy, sexy, accented voices within me were screaming to be set free. Besides, it was not until I found out people made money doing it from home that it truly got my attention.
The path? Editor friend Heather (here we go again) referred me to local former radio jockey voice coach Kim, a who gave me my first look at a home studio. She gave me an overview of the audio world — microphones, what recordings to present on my website, and how to go about getting work. Kim rocks. She recently launched a movie production company and is taking her life to the next level.
Soon after I told one of my coworker editors that my goal was to narrate audiobooks. And I was to find this quiet man lived a double life as a post-apocalyptic romantasy writer — complete with demons, fair maidens, twisted savants, and servant imps. So it happened that one of the first books I narrated was his. HUGE learning curve.
Facebook voice actor groups have often saved me. Eager to shed sweatshirts and yoga leggings at last, I posed a question to them about how they go about networking IRL. Local writers’ guilds. Yeah? I looked some up. Now? I belong to TWO — the only voice actor these authors have ever met. I am currently narrating one of their members’ series of books and more are in the wings. Am I burning up the town with audiobook jobs? Not really, but I am having a ton of fun and still earn a living writing as well.
But wait. There’s more…..
Will narrate movies for fun and food…
My most recent journey is into Hollywoodland. I ADORE movies. I always thought I “shoulda been a contendah” in the land of the celluloid — either writing, editing or producing scripts and screenplays.
Enter my new friend Alexander — a guy who sells state-of-the-art audio equipment online. Have I lost you yet? I hope not.
When it came time to upgrade my microphone, Alexander was the guy who helped me find just the right mic to capture the nuances of my low alto voice tone. How is a salesperson taking me on my next adventure? We bonded over the phone in ten different ways, tearing down barriers between cultures, generations, and expertise as we jabbered away. He loved my voice, loved my moxie, and adored that I could speak a few foreign languages. “You know, you’ve got everything it takes for audio description work.” Yeah?
Stay tuned.