{"id":2823,"date":"2013-09-25T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2013-09-25T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/?p=2823"},"modified":"2013-10-15T17:49:01","modified_gmt":"2013-10-15T22:49:01","slug":"interview-with-audiobook-narrator-melissa-reizian-frank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/?p=2823","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Audiobook Narrator Melissa Reizian Frank"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MelissaNewHeadshot\"<\/a>Melissa Reizian Frank<\/a> is the voice talent behind the new audiobook version of Cassie Scot: Para<\/del>Normal Detective. When I put Cassie Scot up on ACX for auditions, I got over two dozen applicants! After listening to the first few paragraphs of my book that many times, I was getting pretty tired of hearing it. Plus, no one sounded exactly like Cassie. I suppose that was never going to happen, but I had at least hoped for a touch of her attitude.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I heard Melissa’s audition. Confession time: I had my hand on the stop button, ready for the tiniest little thing to convince me to stop listening. I mean, after two dozen auditions, it was just time to pick someone already, right? Melissa started speaking, and in the first few seconds I thought, “Nice voice, too mature.” But then something happened: She cleared her throat. I stuttered over that stop button, wondering if it was an accident but then realizing it wasn’t. She’d put it in for dramatic effect right before Cassie tells us that her parents named her (ahem) “Cassandra Morgan Ursula Margaret Scot. You can call me Cassie.”<\/span><\/p>\n

I moved my hand away from the stop button and kept listening. That’s when something amazing happened. After listening to the same paragraphs over and over again for weeks, I suddenly found them interesting again. Melissa wasn’t just reading the words on the page. She was having fun with the story and character.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In case you missed it yesterday, here is the first chapter of Cassie Scot, read by\u00a0[hb-Melissa\u00a0Reizian Frank:<\/p>\n

[hb-single-audio aid=2]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And now, without further ado, here is Melissa Reizian Frank:<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

What do you love most about narrating books?<\/p>\n

Really, it\u2019s the liste<\/em><\/span>ner\u2019s reaction and response that gives me joy after narrating an audiobook. I love doing dialogue-heavy scenes, where I get to play all the characters in an intense conversation. I hope to convey the feel of the old radio dramas. (No, I\u2019m NOT old enough to actually remember them! ) My goal is probably the same as the author\u2019s: to put the ima<\/em><\/span>ge of the story in the reader\u2019s\/listener\u2019s mind with words. The best books I\u2019ve read engender actual visual memories in my head of the story.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Tell us a little bit about the career change you made from TV reporting\/producing to voice acting. Why did you do it and do you ever look back?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

nd of mom I wanted to be. I had big shoes to fill with my own mother being heavily involved in all aspects of my school. So I actually went to grad school, thinkin<\/em><\/span>g I would go into the field of Family Studies and address parenting issues. Turns out I am incapable of doing a 9-5 desk job, and after about 6 months in that field, I knew it was not going to be a good fit for me\u2014I\u2019m very creative and project-oriented. So I had an epiphany one day\u2026many people over the years had commented that it was my voice that really stood out to them in my television work. So I thought I\u2019d give vo<\/em><\/span>iceovers a try. Luckily my research skills as a reporter allowed me to navigate through the business side of the business fairly well and I made a number of contacts who graciously gave me a shot\u202613 years later, no, I never look back. I do miss it sometimes when a big story breaks and I\u2019m not on the \u201cinside,\u201d but I wouldn\u2019t trade the time it\u2019s enabled me to spend with my sons: Jarod, Gryffin and Kiayl.<\/em>\u00a0year after my first son, Jarod, was born, I began to realize that the crazy, long hours of being a TV reporter just did not jibe with my vision of\u00a0<\/em><\/span>nd of mom I wanted to be. I had big shoes to fill with my own mother being heavily involved in all aspects of my school. So I actually went to grad school, thinking I would go into the field of Family Studies and address parenting issues. Turns out I am incapable of doing a 9-5 desk job, and after about 6 months in that field, I knew it was not going to be a good fit for me\u2014I\u2019m very creative and project-oriented. So I had an epiphany one day\u2026many people over the years had commented that it was my voice that really stood out to them in my television work. So I thought I\u2019d give voiceovers a try. Luckily my research skills as a reporter allowed me to navigate through the business side of the business fairly well and I made a number of contacts who graciously gave me a shot\u202613 years later, no, I never look back. I do miss it sometimes when a big story breaks and I\u2019m not on the \u201cinside,\u201d but I wouldn\u2019t trade the time it\u2019s enabled me to spend with my sons: Jarod, Gryffin and Kiayl.<\/em>the ki<\/em><\/span>About a year after my first son, Jarod, was born, I began to realize that the crazy, long hours of being a TV reporter just did not jibe with my vision of the ki<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

How many books have you narrated so far? Can you tell us about some of your other projects?<\/span><\/p>\n

I have now finished more than 15 audiobooks. I have done everything from non-fiction to science fiction\u2026with some good old guilty pleasure bodice ripper romances thrown in for good measure\u2026have to admit, those are fun to read! \uf04a Besides the wonderful Cassie Scot series, my favorite project lately is Stonewiser: the Heart of the Stone, by Dora Machado.
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Was it difficult to learn to mimic a variety of accents and voices, or did this come naturally to you?<\/span><\/p>\n

I am a fairly good mimic, but what I admittedly need to work on in the (near) future are authentic dialects and accents. I would never take on a book that was really heavy on an authentic accent at this point\u2026so no first-person accounts from Ireland, I\u2019m afraid\u2026but when I get a minor character who has an accent, I sometimes will ask a fellow voice actor who is actually from that country to record the lines for me, and then I do a pretty good job at mimicking. I hope! Be kind in your reviews, please!
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Do you do any other kind of acting, either voice or live performance?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My focus and steady stream of audiobooks is fairly recent. I mostly have been doing TV and radio commercials, e-learning training, IVR for phone systems\u2026I\u2019m even a bilingual talking supply dispenser at some laundromats! I have done video game voiceovers here and there as well. Last Spring, I was excited to make my triumphant return to the stage, after just a brief 24-year hiatus. I sang and danced in a huge musical review here in Lexington, Kentucky, called \u201cGrand Night for Singing.\u201d It was a blast! I minored in theatre in college, and had done plays all my life, but I had been more of a stage mom (the GOOD kind) for years now to my theatre kids\u2026and to be an \u201con stage\u201d mom was refreshing. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What kind of books do you most like to read for pleasure? (Not necessarily to narrate.)<\/span><\/p>\n

I love sci-fi\/fantasy\u2026and specifically dystopian and speculative fiction.
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What do you do for fun?<\/span><\/p>\n

Fun, what is this \u201cfun\u201d you speak of? \uf04a Well, when I\u2019m not locked in my tiny padded room (we call it a \u201csound booth\u201d ), I love hanging out with my three sons. I love to scrapbook, but haven\u2019t had time in way too long. I love singing karaoke\u2026.and I will pretty much play any board or card game. I\u2019m very competitive. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What are you working on next?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am finishing up a non-fiction book about the ACLU called \u201cHow Sex Became a Civil Liberty,\u201d and then I\u2019m staring in on book 2 of the Stonewiser series\u2014\u201cStonewiser: The Lament of the Stone.\u201d Then, hopefully, I\u2019m going to find out what happens to Cassie!!!!
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

What did you enjoy most about Cassie Scot: Parnormal Detective?<\/span><\/p>\n

I loved that Cassie was such a real character. She is flawed. Her life is kind of a mess\u2026she isn\u2019t some cookie-cutter heroine\u2026and you can\u2019t predict where the story was going. It is a real page-turner, and for a narrator, that\u2019s a blessing, because it makes you truly look forward to going to work!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you so much, Melissa!<\/span><\/p>\n

Melissa’s Website<\/a><\/p>\n

And here’s where you can buy Cassie Scot: Para<\/del>Normal Detective on audio:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melissa Reizian Frank is the voice talent behind the new audiobook version of Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective. When I put Cassie Scot up on ACX for auditions, I got over two dozen applicants! After listening to the first few paragraphs of my book that many times, I was getting pretty tired of hearing it. Plus, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2823"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2849,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823\/revisions\/2849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christineamsden.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}