Audiobook Narrator Wanda McCaddon!

Susan Sarah here, welcoming our special guest at Word Wenches today: audiobook narrator Wanda McCaddon, who has recently recorded the audiobook of LADY MACBETH. The set (9 CDs, 13 glorious hours! *g*) is available to order directly from the audio publisher, Tantor Unabridged Audiobooks (www.tantor.com) and can also be ordered here: Lady Macbeth at Amazon.com (*please note Amazon's error in attribution – the CDs are narrated by Wanda McCaddon, not Josephine Bailey).

Originally from Staffordshire, England, Wanda now resides on the west coast. Her various careers include reporter, professor, stage and screen actress and audiobook narrator, and she has earned 16 Earphone Awards and has often been named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices. Wanda has narrated over 600 audiobooks under her own and other names, including Donada Peters and Nadia May. Some of her releases include Karleen Koen’s Dark Angels and Through A Glass Darkly; Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice; Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre; and countless other classics as well as nonfiction and recent novels. Her latest audio release from Tantor is my own Lady Macbeth.

Listen to an audio clip from Lady Macbeth here. 

I was thrilled to learn that Lady Macbeth would be released on CD--and a bit nervous about all the Gaelic and unfamiliar terms the narrator would have to pronounce. I contacted Tantor and offered to help, and they put Wanda in touch with me. I was impressed by her gorgeous voice -- as well as her careful attention to detail and sensitivity toward the needs of the story and characters.

I’m listening to the audiobook now, and it’s superb. Wanda’s rendition of Lady Macbeth is vibrant, subtle, and powerful. She adds a rich dimension to the story in ways that a writer, dealing with words on a page, can only imagine. I’m honored by her interpretation of my characters and story -- and it’s such a treat to sit back and listen!

I asked Wanda a few questions, which she graciously answered for us. Here are her responses ....

How I became a narrator:  I began out as a newspaper reporter in England, came to the USA, started on a PhD in English, taught at UC San Diego for three years, dropped out and became an actor. Doing readings for the local PBS radio station, in 1980 I met someone who turned me on to a couple in LA who were actually paying for people to record books on cassette. That was Books on Tape – basically a kitchen table operation at that time – and they were the pioneers. They paid $25 a recorded hour for men, and $15 for women!

How audiobooks get done:  In LA, New York, and a few other places, recording is done in studios, with the narrator at the mike in a booth, and an editor on the other side of the glass stopping them if they make a mistake or suggesting a change of emphasis or intonation. I would HATE that! I’m afraid I would be arguing with them all the time.
I am a holdover from the pioneer days. I work in a sound-proofed studio in my home – a monument to all the developments in recording over the last 28 years – cluttered with microphones, cassette recorders, DAT machines, ADATs, computers, M-boxes, hard drives and gizmos. My recordings go on CD or DVD to the publisher to be proof listened, and they send me a list of clicks, pops, extraneous noises and (heaven forfend) mistakes, to be redone.

How I set about narrating a book: Most narrators “prep” a book – pre-read it to familiarize themselves with plot and characters, check tricky pronunciations etc. I don’t  if I can help it (Lady M was an exception on account of all the Gaelic!), because a) I’m very good at tricky pronunciations off the cuff and most foreign languages, and b) I want to retain the spontaneity and excitement that is part of reading a book for the first time. I want that to come through in my narration (actually, even with Lady M I just “skim-read” it – just looking for names and Gaelic – and then consulted Susan by phone).

Voices and interpretation:  Some narrators (and some publishers) prefer a straight read without voicing the characters (in the trade, “unvoiced reading”). I’m in the other camp.  To begin with, in an audiobook something has to take the place of visual cues the reader would see on the page-- paragraph breaks, quotation marks etc.-- to alert them to who is speaking. And luckily, I can’t help it – when I read a work of fiction I hear different voices. 

The narrator’s job is to interpret to the ear all the author has packed into the words – what I call “teasing out the nuances.” It’s collaborative, and largely non-intellectual, and when the writer and narrator are in synch it can be astonishing. With Lady M it didn’t hurt that I am half Scots, know the land and the people and the history well and can do a passable Scottish accent! 

But that was only half the equation; the scenes were so vivid, I was so aware of sounds and smells and shadows and voices, of the fierceness of heart beat. Lady M just battered her way into me in the first scene, and that was it!  It was an exhilarating ride, and not always an easy one. I’m highly emotional, and many times I found myself in tears  -- a real pain in the butt for a narrator, as it means breaking off until the hoarseness clears and the nose stops running!

What kinds of books do I most enjoy? Fiction (well written!) is most fun, and most challenging because of the characters. History next, because I’m learning new and (hopefully) interesting things – although I rarely remember them beyond the next recording session. Biography last, and only if I like the subject.

Currently I’m lucky enough to be re-recording classics – Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Thackeray – what bliss!

Many, many thanks, Wanda, for visiting Word Wenches! This is fascinating stuff, and it's great to learn more about the audiobook world from such a gifted and knowledgeable insider. What a great job you have -- reading for a living would be divine.

Please help us welcome Wanda here at Word Wenches (wwwowww!). If you have more questions about audiobooks, feel free to ask! She'll be checking in to say hello.

~Susan Sarah

Comments

[Elaine McCarthy]

I'm amazed that it's possible to make a good recording from a cold reading, but that's based on my theatrical experience. Clearly, a book gives a lot more clues, so that you're unlikely to get to the mid-point and realize that a person you've been playing as a surly lout is actually a bewildered innocent.

Thanks for a fascinating peek behind the scenes.

[maryjoputney]

How fascinating to hear the inside story of how audiobooks are produced! I gather that it's a very special skill, not something that even trained actors can necessarily do well.

The clip from Lady M is delicious. I look forward to hearing more--and learning how the Gaelic is pronounced. :)

Mary Jo

[Susan Sarah]

I'd guess a good percentage of devoted readers are also devoted audiobook fans, and yet while there's lots of info and insights about how authors go about creating a book, it's rare to learn something about audio narrators. We don't hear from them very often, so it's a privilege to hear from an expert like Wanda.

In listening to the Lady M'beth CDs, and to other recorded books (a few months ago I listened to Wanda's version of Jamaica Inn, one of my favorite classics, on a long trip)... it occurs to me that audiobook narrators are very much the heirs of the great oral storytellers. It's fascinating to experience a story verbally, particularly when we're so used to reading words on a page.

I have been a latecomer to audiobooks, but I spend more time in the car these days, and I'm learning to listen to fiction -- I've always enjoyed nonfiction on audiobooks -- but fiction has been a bit of a stretch for me. I love books, I like to hold them, track the words on the page, absorb info visually.

But in listening to more audio fiction, I'm actually becoming a better listener in other areas of my life -- and I find that very, very interesting, an unexpected side benefit. Our brains have their preferred pathways, yet the paths are flexible and quickly adapt.

I'd love to know what you all think about audiobooks -- are you listeners or readers, or both, and why?

And do you think that audio narrators are the true heirs of the old oral traditions?? I kinda like that idea. And Wanda is so very good at what she does -- I can imagine sitting at her feet beside a hearth fire, utterly transfixed by her voice and a long, wonderful tale on a winter's night. :)

Susan

[Judith]

Fascinating interview! I usually listen to inspirational/self help programs, but my husband, a complete non-reader until he discovered audio books, is a dedicated fan, and I've listened to parts of the books he has. A good reader does an outstanding job of interpreting the different characters' voice. I'll have to search out some of Wanda's books!

[Jo Beverley]

Wanda, how fascinating.

(Off topic, but I have to ask, where in Staffordshire? I went to Keele, lived in Burslem, and did careers guidance throughout the Potteries.)

I love that you do this in your home, and I loved the sample of the reading. I know how tricky this is, because I decided to read chapter one of one of my books as a different kind of excerpt. It was hard work!

I also love audio books, but the reader can make or break it.

Do you ever start to read a book and realize you're not going to like it at all? How does that affect you?

Jo

[Sherrie Holmes]

Wanda! You have no idea how excited I was when Susan/Sarah told us you'd agreed to be interviewed! I am a HUGE audiobook fan, and don't understand why some people aren't as enthusiastic as I am. I just want to run up to strangers in the street and force them to listen to my favorite audiobooks. *g*

It must be wonderful to have your own home studio for recording books. Do you ever have a problem with hoarseness after long periods of narrating, and if so, what do you do to help? Drink honey and lemon? Keep water nearby? Throat sprays? How long do your narration periods last?

Do you stand or sit down when you narrate? Since you've been an actress, I'm envisioning you standing and making grand gestures to accompany your narration, but perhaps that would cause unwanted extra sounds in your recordings. *g* But if you sit, I'll bet you have to have a chair that doesn't squeak!

I'm really interested in the technical aspects of recording. Do you record directly onto a CD or tape? (Forgive me if my questions seem inane--I really have no idea how this is done) I'm also curious how you can remove little inadvertent sounds that may creep into a recording. I usually cannot tell when a narrator has switched the mike off to cough or have lunch, and then switched it back on when they return. In the old days, you'd hear a click. Not anymore. Recording equipment must be very sophisticated nowadays! And if the equipment is that sophisticated, how can you turn a page of the book without it being picked up on the recording?

Do you get to choose which books you'll narrate, or does the company decide? Have you ever heard from authors after you've narrated their books?

I hope I haven't bombarded you with too many questions!

[Susan Sarah]

Jo -- Wanda is originally from Stafford in Staffordshire county, which according to Wikipedia is in the West Midlands. :)

Susan

[NinaP]

Hi Wanda! Welcome to Word Wenches. Great Post!

I was never a fan of audio books until the travel company I worked for put me on the road two weeks out of the month. Then, I fell in love with audio books.

My favorite part is that I can listen and cry at the same time. Hard to do with a book.

[Jacquie Rogers]

The whole creative process of audiobooks is fascinating to me and thanks so much for granting this interview. It was very informative.

I listened to some books (obviously "unvoiced") in the early days, but stopped when I didn't have a long commute. Your sample is far and away superior to anything I'd listened to before. Just awesome. :) Now I'll have to get the CD, too.

I'm curious about Jo's question--how you go about reading a book that you don't particularly care for or relate to.

Conversely, do you ever find yourself so entralled in the story that you've read four pages without realizing it?

Thanks for doing what you do--it's great that you can take people away from their daily grind and give them a few hours of escape. :)

Jacquie

[Maggie Robinson]

My car is so old there's no CD player. *g* But my husband has listened to books on tape and the high school library I work in does a brisk business with audiobooks. They've been a godsend to English teachers who want their kids to get concepts of books that are too difficult for them to read. Of course, the discs come with books, too, and we make the patron take both. My commute is so short no doubt I'd be frustrated to end, but if we plan a car trip (in another vehicle), I'm going to give audiobooks a try.

[Delle Jacobs]

How fascinating! And what a beautiful narrative voice you have, Wanda! I'm very glad to learn a bit about audio books.

I just signed my first audio contract, and I must confess I'm both excited and-- well, leery. The book has lots of off-the-wall humor that sometimes seems to come out of nowhere. I can see it could catch a reader off guard. And although there's only one major sex scene in the book, I'm just wondering how a male reader will handle it, or if the giggle factor will take over. But I suppose a really professional reader will have enough experience to manage such things. Any comments on that?

[Lori]

Susan, I received my ARC copy of Lady Macbeth today, and I am so thrilled! I couldn't wait to start it -- and didn't wait very long, I can tell you. So far I am loving it. The first-person narrative is perfect for this story. It's supposed to be raining tomorrow, so I am looking forward to curling up with this book for a very long reading session!