For audiobook narrator Cheryl-Annette Parker, bringing a book to life can require a home studio, a character spreadsheet and, occasionally, knowledge the author hasn't yet shared with readers.
Parker, who lives in the Royse City area, has been narrating audiobooks professionally for about two years, primarily working in science fiction and fantasy. But she has been reading aloud for much longer.
“I started actually reading aloud pretty much my whole life and have been my family's unofficial audiobook for decades now,” Parker said.
Her father read books aloud to Parker and her family when she was growing up, a tradition that continued into her teenage years. Eventually, the roles began to reverse. Parker would read to her father while he drove or worked on a chore.
After she married, she read during long drives with her husband. She read to her children. Eventually, Parker realized something she had been doing for much of her life could become something more.
“A couple of years ago, I realized I could actually do this for other people,” she said.
Building a book one voice at a time
Professional narration, Parker said, requires considerably more preparation than simply opening a book and beginning to read.
She first reads through the entire book, taking notes about characters, their appearances and pronunciations she needs to confirm with the author.
That can be particularly important in fantasy, where an author may have invented not only character names but places and words unique to the fictional world.
Parker also keeps track of when each character appears. Someone introduced near the beginning of a book might vanish for dozens of chapters before returning, and the voice needs to sound the same when they come back.
“There may be a character who shows up in chapter two and you won't see them again until chapter 35,” Parker said.
Creating those voices is one of her favorite parts of the process.
Authors sometimes provide Parker with information about a character's background, personality and relationships to other characters. That can include details readers won't learn until much later in a book or series.
Knowing that two characters are related, for example, might lead Parker to give them similar vocal characteristics. Knowing that a character is secretly royalty might influence another performance choice.
Fantasy also gives her some room to experiment.
“Another reason I love fantasy is I can play with accents that aren't true accents on this planet,” Parker said.
She might combine elements of recognizable accents to create something that belongs specifically to a fictional culture.
“If you get it wrong, nobody really cares because it's a fantasy world,” she said. “It's more about that character and their personality.”
Some characters remain vivid enough that Parker can return to their voices from memory, even after they have been absent from a story for a long time. Others require a trip back to an earlier recording to rediscover the performance.
Parker describes it as remembering where a character's voice “lived” in her head.
A changing business
For people interested in becoming audiobook narrators themselves, Parker offers encouragement with a warning: don't expect quick money.
“It is not a field that would be lucrative to get started in,” she said.
Parker said the audiobook narration community can be welcoming to newcomers, with experienced narrators sharing information and advice. But building the skills and body of work necessary to make money takes time.
Artificial intelligence has added another challenge as synthetic voices become increasingly prevalent in audio production.
“It is not a field, especially with AI becoming as prevalent as it is, that you are going to just jump in and make a lot of money in,” Parker said.
For Parker, that's another reason passion for the work matters.
“You have to love it in order to try to go after it,” she said. “You also have to be willing to commit yourself to always bettering your craft.”
More imaginary worlds ahead
Parker currently has two books in production.
One has another Northeast Texas connection. Wizard's Gambit, by Greenville author Bill Kincaid, mixes science fiction and fantasy.
Parker describes its premise simply: an astronaut becomes trapped on a planet where magic exists.
“Basically, ‘Engineer vs. Wizard’ kind of a book,” she said.
She's also working on Within Forsaken Shadows by Marissa Miller, the second book in the Fallen Reign series, which Parker describes as a dark fantasy and an “emotional rollercoaster.”
Whether a story arrives through headphones, an e-reader or an old-fashioned printed page, Parker said the important part is that people continue finding their way into books.
“Keep reading whatever format of book it is out there,” Parker said. “Whether that's an e-book, a print book, an audiobook, keep reading.”