From Idea to Bookshelf

STEP 9: THE AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR (Penelope Rawlins)

Brief bio 

Penelope has over 20 years experience as an actress and voice artist. Her voice is used regularly in animation, computer games, narration, audiobooks, audio drama, ADR, continuity, ELT, commercial and radio. Nominated by Audible for Narrator of the Year, Penelope has voiced over 250 audiobooks. Favourite titles include: Gorillas in the Mist, The Turn of the Screw, Homeland: Carrie’s Run, Homeland:Saul’s Game (based on the TV series), The Heartfix, Sympathy, Let the Light Shine, The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes, Hattie B Magical Vet children’s series, The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory and the young girl Pip in Future Friend, alongside the author, David Baddiel. Radio dramas for the BBC include Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, The Professor, The American Senator and Portrait of a Lady. See her full bio and work here. 

Tell us about your job: how did you become a voice artist / audiobook narrator? 

I trained as an actress at Guildford School of Acting and started doing VoiceOver jobs in-between my theatre work. I was keen to narrate audiobooks as I love storytelling and communicating to others through stories and voicing different characters. It’s a joy to transport myself and others with stories, and also travel in the mind terms of time and location. I’ve narrated nearly 300 audiobooks so far and I love it. Every story is different so it’s always a new and unique experience with each story I narrate. 

Tell us about your work on The Clockwork Girl: how did prepare to read the parts? 

I read the book and made notes on the characters. Being a narrator is like being a director and detective in one. You have to work through the script and look for clues the author may have given to help guide you in terms of what the character may sound like.

Can you tell us a bit about the recording process? What does it look like? Do you have anyone helping you?  

I have a home recording studio so for this project, I recorded The Clockwork Girl in my home studio. I also record in external recording studios too. Then, I would have a sound engineer/producer in charge of the recording and following the script along with me as I narrate. Proofers are the unsung heroes – they listen to the audiobook after it’s been recorded and listen out for any errors, mis-reads, extraneous noises, mis-pronunciations etc. They are a God send!

What else have you worked on recently?  

I’ve just finished recording Series Three of Rainbow Rangers – an animation series currently airing on Netflix where I voice Lavender and Indigo. It’s a delightful series focusing on looking after our planet! I’ve also recently been recording Stan Lee’s animation series Superhero Kindergarten – voicing 5 year old Jackson Jet alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. I’ve quite a few audiobooks coming out, including Behind Closed Doors by Polly Curtis, The Italian Island by Daniela Sacerdoti and When Marilyn Met the Queen by Michelle Morgan.

Do you have any advice for someone wanting to work as an audiobook narrator or voice artist?  

Practice reading aloud. Anything and everything. And get an audience – children, friends, family. Practice practice practice. And listen! Listen to audiobooks, voiceovers, other voice artists. And most importantly, play! The more you play and explore with different voices, the more you’ll discover!

 

Listen to the audiobook on Audible.