Interview with Menewood narrator, Pearl Hewitt

Hild was first published ten years ago. The sequel, Menewood, will be out in four days. Usually I prefer to do my own narration but I don’t have the professional vocal stamina for this kind of massive project. Both audiobooks are instead narrated by Pearl Hewitt, like me a northern lass with a true love of the north and its landscapes. I was really curious about her experience and asked if she’d be willing to talk about it. This is a lightly edited version of our conversation.

The Conversation

I’ve narrated two of my own books. I got into it because I’d been doing public readings of my work for years and loved it, and thought I’d like to try doing it For Realz. But how did you get started—where did it begin?

I started narrating in 2007 after reading the first two Harry Potter books to/with my 12 year old son, Bobby. He got Book 3 in audio format and was enjoying the audio perfromance of the amazing Jim Dale. But half-way through he was missing our cozy, bedtime reading routine. He asked if I’d read the next chapter while he followed along. I got immersed in the story and performing each character’s distinctive voices. As soon as I’d finished, he literally took my face in his hands, looked me in the eye and told me I was really good at this narrating thing and I should do it as a job.

            Ding! It was lightbulb moment for me.

            I Googled ‘how to become an audiobook narrator’ and went from there. It’s been a long journey of discovery—I had a lot to learn.

So how did you figure out how to do it?

First of all let me just say if my husband was not the wonderful soulmate that he is I would never have been able to pursue this. He was behind me all the way and both of my kids have always been my avid fans.

            Second, many people are under the impression that audiobooks are recorded in a commercial recording studio where the narrator is behind glass in one room with an audio engineer in another room and possibly a director coordinating the production and calling the shots. But that luxury is gone now for all but a few high profile narrators or Hollywood stars. These days almost all working professional narrators work from their own home studios. And that’s what I had to do .

            I started by watching a lot of ‘how to’ videos on YouTube to pick up the basics. Then I volunteered for Houston Sight Into Sound Radio (formerly Taping For The Blind) where I recorded my first novels, in weekly installments, for the ‘mystery/suspense’ hour aired on Saturday evenings.

            I also made connections on social media with support groups for narrators where I learned about many available workshops and classes.

            From September 2007 onwards all my spare time and spare money was taken up with classes, webinars, workshops and the hard grind of try, try, trying again. I had to, first, learn how to actually be an actor at the microphone. And then, second, become tech-proficient in the booth: to record, edit-out mistakes, splice-in retakes and then master the audio so it conforms to the required specifications.

            It’s an ever-changing landscape and I still regularly attend workshops to learn the latest tips and tricks for successful audiobook production.  

What ended up being your first professional audiobook?

A Jane Austen fan-fiction by indie author, Abigail Reynolds, Mr Darcy’s Letter, in 2012. I both narrated and produced for her through ACX (The Audiobook Creation Exchange).

To finally narrate that first professional book after five years of learning and volunteering… Wow. How did it feel? 

I absolutely loved it, though it was challenging to narrate. It’s written in the 19th century style of Jane Austen, full of complex sentences that go off on a tangent then come back to the main point but take up a whole paragraph before the period (full stop). Just trying to figure out where to take a breath was demanding. I did many retakes. But I got there in the end and it felt amazing to see it for sale on Amazon/Audible and iTunes.

            In those early days I recorded in my closet and had to constantly stop and start when the AC kicked on and off. I didn’t have funds to pay other audio professionals to do the post-production, either, so I had to do it all myself: narrate, edit, proof and master. It took a whole month to complete.

What is it that you like about narrating?

My favourite thing is that, essentially, it’s an acting job and I get to play all the characters. Women, men, children, and even animals. I’ve been told I perform ‘cat-speak’ very well (in a cozy mystery series I narrate). I’m lucky in that I haven’t been pigeon-holed into one specific genre because my vocal style and acting capabilities are well suited to a variety of genres. I’ve now got over 200 titles under my belt in historical fiction, romance, mystery and suspense, crime thrillers, children’s and YA, history, biographies, memoirs, personal development, educational and many more. It’s never boring. I love my job!

Last year I narrated my novel Spear which, like Hild and Menewood, was set in Early Medieval Britain and used lots of Old Welsh and Irish—scores of words and phrases I had to figure out how to pronounce. But Spear is a short novel—Menewood is six times as long, and uses four different languages, not just two. That must have been daunting. How did you approach it?

A lot of research on pronunciation using websites, other online sources, the library, and contacting some universities. Macmillan also hired a language expert to record some of the pronunciations, and another lady that was recommended to me by a colleague.

So which language was easiest/hardest?

That’s tough to answer because each was challenging, just in different ways. Welsh was the most difficult to pronounce but the Irish words hurt my brain—many of the letters look the same as English letters but are either silent or sound completely different.

I loved the feel of Welsh in my mouth—do you have the same sensory relish with some of the languages of Menewood?

Many Welsh vowels sound like my own, native Geordie accent from north east England so I particularly enjoyed the Welsh. I would love to be able rattle off some of the Welsh words with a thick, heavy accent because it’s so satisfying to speak the words aloud. But I can’t easily roll my rr’s so that tripped me up a few times. I really love speaking with a Yorkshire accent. I find it rolls off the tongue quite easily. I gave Begu a Yorkshire accent and I was delighted she had a lot of dialogue throughout the book.

We meet Hild at the beginning of the first book as a 3 yr-old and by the end of Menewood she’s in her early twenties. How do you approach aging a character’s voice?

It’s important to take a step back and really analyse the character: their personality, how they look and not only how old they are but their level of maturity. We also need to consider the audience. Who are we projecting this character to? Are the listeners going to be young children or mature adults? Is it likely that a childish voice would be irritating or jarring to the listener’s ear and pull them out of the story instead of being engaging? I always have the wise words of narrator tutor and coach, Paul Alan Ruben, in the back of my mind. He constantly reminds us that the characters in a book are real people even if they are squawking parrot in a cage. They don’t know they’re characters in a story.

That’s always been my approach: characters have no idea they’re making history, they’re just getting through life day-to-day.

Yes, treat them as real people or beings with souls and don’t turn them into larger-than-life caricature versions. I could have made 3-year-old Hild sound like a little pipsqueak with a cutesy, high-pitched, baby voice. But not only would it have been very irksome for listeners, making some to stop listening, but we were often in the mind of Hild and her thought-processes were very mature. So I gave her a youngish voice but not a toddler’s. That would have been both wrong for the story and hard on my vocal cords—forcing my voice so high.

Pitch is just one way to distinguish characters. How else do you do it? Accent? Tone? Timbre? 

I’m lucky to have a good ear for accents and can usually mimic them but performing certain ones are challenging. Northern Irish, for example is my kryptonite. It may be because it’s not called-for very often so I rarely have an opportunity to perform it. In situations like that the only options are either to ask a native northern Irish speaker to record themselves speaking the lines you need to perform and emulate them or work with an accent coach who can advise how to create the relevant vowel sounds using tongue, lip or jaw placement etc. Tone and timbre are both part and parcel of interpreting emotions and feelings within the story which are inherently rooted in the subtext of the book—the nuances of their environment, descriptions of landscapes, relationships between characters, the mood atmosphere, and many other nuances. But if I’ve done my job properly and fully immersed myself in the story then the subtext should automatically inform my performance and so connect those emotions to the listener. If I’m disengaged from the story then the subtext won’t come through and the listener would simply hear the words empty of context or emotion.

Hild goes through many—many!—different emotional states in this book. How difficult or exciting was that for you?

Once I’m in the booth and behind the mic—have done my warm ups and facial muscle and tongue relaxation exercises—I get lost in the story and I’m in the characters’ heads, especially Hild. I feel her emotions. All of them. And I react to others’ dialogue as if I’m her and not me.

Like method acting?

It’s as if I’m right there as her and those emotions are real. Certain scenes of grief were very difficult to perform because I felt real devastation. I had to get out of the booth and collect myself twice and re-record the scene because I couldn’t speak for crying. It was very powerful. I felt those emotions and it was gut-wrenching. I sobbed. Great writing, I have to say.

And how did you convey some of the huge emotions—battle cries, grief—without breaking your voice?

It’s all down to acting and mic technique. My recording booth is a tiny 3’ x 4’ box so there’s no room for me to move back away from the mic and shout the battle cries. The cries had to come from my gut. The emotion is built up inside. First I imaged I was about to go to battle and physically punched the air, screwed up my face and silently mouthed the cries with all the passion needed. Then I spoke aloud using the same technique but speaking from the pit of my stomach so the sound leaving my mouth is not much louder than my usual speaking voice. As I said previously, the grief was difficult because it felt real and I had to keep getting out of the booth, taking some deep breaths and collecting myself before going back in but I spoke the words from my heart as I can only imagine a [redacted for spoilers] would. Once I finished that scene I had to take a long break.

If you had to pick your favourite scene, the one you’re most proud of, what would it be?

So many! Hild rousing her troops to get ready to fight. The scene where Hild and Brona meet and butcher the horse. Cian realising [redacted]. And that lovely scene where they climb the pollard and he shows her the carved hedgepig. The first scenes describing Menewood and how it was hidden from the world, as well as the growing community in the valley. I really enjoyed the anxious scene of the birth of the twin foals. Any scenes with a lengthy dialogue from Begu. She adds light relief and I love her especially because she loves yellow, like me.   

When I first contacted you to ask if you’d like to do this interview, you were busy doing pickups. Last time I did pickups it was almost all the same phrase that had driven me crazy during recording— ‘The Eingl have taken Deverdoeu’  —a phrase that came up a few times in the text but I just couldn’t seem to wrap my tongue around. (If I hadn’t written the book I would have wanted to strangle the author.) In Menewood did you have particular words or phrases that you tended to trip over?

I tripped over Hagustaldesham. Every. Single. Time! On it’s own it’s not bad but within a sentence, I just couldn’t say it. I looked up the modern name for it and realised it’s Hexham, which is a town I actually know and my sister-in-law actually works there. I kept wishing I could just use the modern name—

Sorry! I hope you didn’t want to strangle me!

—and since I’ve finished the book the name has been stuck in my head just like a song gets stuck and repeats over and over. [laughs] I can now roll it off the tongue with no problem at all!

            Not Menewood-related but in general two words that always put my tongue in a twist are grasped and clasped. They’re used a lot in Regency romance so I’ve come across them many times in my career.

            If I see hard words or a phrase I dread coming I take a 5 minute break, leave the booth, do some facial and tongue relaxation exercises as prescribed by a wonderful vocal coach Nicola Redman. It really helps. She has a YouTube channel with loads of free advice and ‘how to tips and tricks’ videos. She’s an amazing coach with a marvellous Northern Irish accent. One way to stay relaxed is to take a break, lie down, and do some ‘tapping’ meditation, breathing exercises, or both.

Any other favourite tricks do you use to keep your voice in shape on marathon projects? I drank gallons of chamomile tea in the studio and water all the time between studio sessions.

HYDRATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TRICK! Not just drinking water right before you get in the booth but drinking plenty of water at least two hours before. It takes that long for the water to fully wet your whistle, so to speak. Having a nice cup of hot Yorkshire tea often does the trick. Some people drink throat coat tea but I gag at that. I follow a regimen of vocal exercises outlined by Nicola Redman. It would be hilarious for anyone to watch me doing them. Gurning has nothing on these exercises. [laughs] It’s not just vocal warmups, it’s whole body stretching and relaxation. It’s mind boggling how it all works to release the voice. Sometimes, though, the vocal chords are just too tired, then there’s nothing that’ll help except complete vocal rest.

Menewood is a long book—more than twenty percent longer than Hild—long enough, I’m guessing, to test any narrator. How long did it take in the studio?

I started recording on August 9th and finished Sep 2nd and worked about 7 hours each day. So I completed an average of almost 2 finished hours every day. That means removing all my extra takes then giving the files a thorough check again before sending to the publisher. The audio ended up being almost 29 hours long.

Apart from the length, how else did the experience of Menewood differ from Hild?

I was so much more prepared for Menewood! For a variety of reasons. Ten years ago I was brought in to do Hild at the last minute because the previous narrator had to pull out of the project for personal reasons. I was a relatively new narrator in my first year of professional narrating but my producer, the late great, Bill Dufris,  who I’d worked with previously, had every faith I could deliver the audio files within the timeframe. We got it done!

I’m glad I didn’t know you were so new at the job then! I would never have guessed. How else did the two compare?

Both times, I really enjoyed the ancient language research although I did find it a challenge that some words just didn’t want to be found. I experienced a sense of home while narrating both books. Hild and Menewood are set in the north and north east of England, where I am originally from. I’ve been in Texas now for 22 years but I visit my mother in my home town of Jarrow at least twice a year. Many of the place names are very familiar to me. Tinamutha (Tynemouth), Arbeia (The Roman fort in South Shields),both less than 5 miles from my mother’s house. Bebbanburg (Bamburgh Castle, of which I have an original oil painting on my living room wall), Corabrig (Corbridge) and many more. Both my husband and I are from Jarrow on the south bank of the river Tyne where St. Bede, who wrote The Ecclesiastical History of The English People lived in the 7th and 8th century at St Paul’s monastery. Bede was the only historian of his day who wrote about Hild, later known as St Hilda, Abbess of Whitby. I visit St. Paul’s church every time I visit home. It’s such an ancient place and the ruins of the monastery Bede lived in are in the church grounds.

Have you visited any of the other places Hild would know? 

I went to Tinamutha and Arbeia a couple of months ago and on my previous visit I walked along the outstanding beach below Bebbanburg (Bamburgh Castle). No better beaches in the world, hands down! Shame the water is so cold. Bebbenburg beach is probably still the same as it was back in the 7th century. The castle that’s there now wouldn’t have been the same structure then but it’s amazing. Very imposing indeed. Hadrian’s Wall is a frequent visit of mine. I especially enjoyed references in the book to the Redcrest buildings. There are still remnants left today. It’s fascinating.

            Houston, Texas is where I live but it’s such a ‘new’ place. I revel in going back to being grounded amongst the ancient relics.  It’ll always be home.

Do  you think you’ll want to narrate the next Hild book? It might take a while…

I would love to narrate the next Hild book no matter how long it takes. I won’t be retiring from this job anytime soon. I’ll be doing it for as long as I can keep the AI demons at bay and hoping that will be for many years to come. To be honest I’ve felt very honoured to be the voice of your books because I feel a genuine connection to them. The landscapes described in the books are familiar to me. I could picture myself being right there. I loved every minute of it.

Pearl Hewitt

Pearl Hewitt is an award-winning audiobook narrator on a mission to bring stories to life and captivate the listener’s imagination, all while remaining true to the authors intent. Pearl narrates audiobooks across genres, specialising in regional UK and European accents. She can be found online on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Or take a look at her catalogue on Audible.Buy

For Gear Nerds

Here’s what gear Pearl currently uses:

Recording space: Studiobricks One recording boothMicrophone: Audio Technica AT4047Audio Interface: Solid State Logic SSL2Hardware: Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, iPad Software: Daw (Digital Audio Workstation) Twisted WaveReading software: Adobe Acrobat Reader and iAnnotate on the iPad 

And because I know how much some of you love geeking out about the gear, I built a whole sidebar page full of lots of extra info, including very generous why, how, and where-from advice from Pearl on creating your own set up. Knock yourself out!

Buy Menewood: the AudiobookApple BooksLibro.fmAudibleAudiobooks.comGoogle Play