The Creation of an Audiobook: an Interview with Shiromi Arserio
I “sat down,” as it were, recently, with Shiromi Arserio, the extraordinarily talented actress who brought The Demon of Darkling Reach to life for audiobook. In anticipation of TDODR’s second debut next week (for Audible, iTunes, and more), I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the process. And about Shiromi, herself.
You can view Shiromi’s film credits , and her audiobook credits here.
And please, if there are any questions I forgot to ask, or anything you’d like to know more about, let me know in the comments.
Tell me about your background.
My background is in acting. I have a degree in Theatre Studies. For a long while I mostly did stage acting, with the exception of a few stints here and there for TV. A few years back I fell into voice acting when a friend needed a new voice for a documentary he was working on.
How did you come to narrate audiobooks?
I worked in voice over for several years, and once I realised that audiobook narration was a thing you could do and actually get paid for, I decided this is what I wanted to specialise in. I’m notorious for acting out scenes in books, and reading aloud to my dog, so this was a no-brainer for me. I went out and got more audiobook-specific training. Narrating audiobooks is the equivalent of a marathon versus the typical short-form voice over work, so that did require some prep.
How do you choose your audiobook projects?
I usually stick to the genres I enjoy reading, which is why the majority of the books I narrate are in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. When you’re working on a book for 50+ hours, you want it to be something you enjoy. I read as much as I can of the book. Both the audition piece and the Kindle excerpt to get a feel for the writing, and whether or not I connect with the text. My audition scene for The Demon of Darkling Reach was one of those scenes I really connected with, as Isla puts herself up as a bride for Tristan. I really felt Isla’s turmoil in that scene, which made my job easy.
Do you find that your own enjoyment of the story and characters affects your ability to perform well as a narrator?
Yes. Absolutely. It shouldn’t be the case, and I honestly try to always do my best, but the truth is when you’re recording a book that’s well written, engrossing, with strong characters, it makes my job so much easier, and it makes me want to give that little bit extra.
Tell me about your process. Do you read organically and worry about fixing errors later? Or are you always stopping and starting?
When I first get the book, I read it all the way through while making notes on pronunciations, character lists and attributes, as well as highlighting the dialogue in different colors which makes it easier later when it comes to recording. That way I can see right away who is speaking next and change my voice appropriately. When I’m done with my copious note taking and have completed any additional research, I work on voices for the main characters. By the end of the book, I’ll typically have a few ideas. Usually I will mentally cast someone in my head for each role. This gives me an easy mental image when I’m switching between a half-dozen different characters in one scene. With Rowena, I couldn’t get Lucy Punch out of my head. She was in Ella Enchanted and even looks a little like how I imagine Rowena. So I pulled a little from her, and added some of my own sense of whiny, self-entitlement to the voice.
Once I’m done with the character voices I’m ready to record. I record using a punch and roll method. Which basically just means I stop and start a lot. You can record the whole way through and edit afterwards, but I find it rather slow-going for recording long form. With the punch and roll, I just stop the recording and basically re-record as I go. Some people find it breaks their flow, but I’m pretty used to this method by now. Once all the audio is recorded, I will send it to my proofer to listen and catch any errors, mispronunciations or continuity issues. Once any errors are corrected, it’s off to my editor to tighten up the pacing and make it sound pretty.
