Audiobooks are the fastest growing segment of the publishing business right now, with 2013 sales of over $2 billion dollars. It’s easier now than ever before for authors to have audiobooks produced, and those audiobooks can create significant revenue streams.
But how are audiobooks made? What’s the process? Continue reading
Seattle Seahawks Running Back Derrick Coleman, Jr. Supports Children Born With Microtia
Seattle Seahawks running back, Derrick Coleman, Jr. enjoyed a fun afternoon tossing the football and signing T-shirts with children having Microtia (born without one or both ears) and their families at Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes, California on Saturday, July 12th. Continue reading
BY NINA MALKIN
It had always been “just beer” for Danny Smith*, who began imbibing at age 13. He never graduated to hard liquor or other drugs, nor considered his drinking a problem. Then, two years ago, while tinkering with an old jeep for fun, Danny moved a fender and felt sudden searing pain in his shoulder. Complications with surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff left the heavy equipment mechanic unable to return to work, and forced his wife to take a job in another state. “I was alone, depressed and basically felt worthless,” Danny, 57, recalls. “That’s when drinking took over.” As Danny describes it, he’d wake up, feed his dogs and crack his first beer–ultimately finishing forty a day at his lowest point.
Sadly, Danny’s story isn’t unique. According to the University of Pennsylvania Health System, older adults are hospitalized for alcohol-related problems as much as for heart attacks. And while alcohol remains the leading substance abuse cause of hospital admissions for people 50-plus, boomers are increasingly turning to illicit drugs. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s most recent national survey found illicit drug use among adults aged 50 to 64 rose from a rate of 3.4 percent to 7.2 percent over the last ten years.
Our Addiction Is Different
“Baby boomers struggles with addiction are different than those of younger people because their problems are very different,” explains Akikur Mohammad, M.D., associate professor of addiction medicine at USC’s Keck School of Medicine and director of LA-based treatment center Inspire Malibu. “Some are battling physical pain due to aging-related illness and diminished abilities. Others have emotional pain from a range of traumatic experiences, are burdened by caring for elderly parents, or face financial challenges due to life on a fixed, limited income.”
What’s more, we boomers came of age when recreational drug use was widespread–indeed, we coined the use of “party” as a verb. Plus, unlike our youngers, our generation is fiercely independent, so we can be more prone to the practice of self-medication. So even those not facing the physical, emotional or economic hardships of aging–folks who simply have too much time and disposable income on their hands–can descend into addiction. If you wonder if your partying may be a problem, take the self-test devised by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence here: http://ncadd.org/index.php/learn-about-alcohol/alcohol-abuse-self-test.
Our Treatment Is Tailored
If your self-test results concern you, know that help is available–and will be tailored to more than your age. “Treatment must be individualized to each person’s unique problems and needs,” says Dr. Mohammad. “No two people are alike in their struggles, so it’s important to perform a proper assessment to isolate the root cause and determine the best therapies, which may include medication along with proven evidence-based therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapies.” Recovery is a lifelong process–one day at a time, as they say–but Dr. Mohammad points out that the first step gets you halfway there: “Seeking help if you really want to change is 50 percent of the treatment.”
Danny, four weeks sober when he spoke to Fifty Is the New Fifty, is thankful that he took that step–and so are his wife, kids and grandchildren. “It requires a bigger person to admit you have a problem than to hide it and deny it,” he says. “Look yourself in the mirror, consider all the medical issues you’re creating for yourself and get the help you need.”
* Name has been changed.
An all-around wordsmith, Nina Malkin is a journalist, novelist, copywriter and memoirist. She’s also an avid collector of lovely things from eras past–read her musings athttp://www.vintagevirna.blogspot.com/
The hottest new trend in pop culture is the “Belfie,” also known as the butt-selfie.
According to AOL.com, “Plenty of celebs have jumped on the belfie train- obviously Kim Kardashian, Rihanna- with her more subtle belfies…And Heidi Klum, just to name a few. And we’d be crazy not to reference the glutes queen, Jen Selter! She basically became famous for her derriere. It even landed her a spread in Vogue.”
Jen Selter Instagram
But to celebrity plastic surgeon and butt specialist, Dr. Constantino Mendieta, getting a good belfie is nothing new.
He has worked on some of the most photographed derrieres around the world to make them the most coveted bottoms for decades now, and he has appeared on CNN, the TODAY show, EXTRA, Good Morning America, The Doctors and many other shows to discuss his groundbreaking technique of fat transfer to balance the natural shape.
Dr. Mendieta (R) with Anderson Cooper
For the past 25 years, Dr. Mendieta has made a name for himself as the go-to doctor for women and men who want a little more backside contouring done correctly, without health risks or grotesque outcomes. His talented work, combined with the fashion influences of actresses and artists like Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz and even the Kardashians has taken the focus away from the chest and put it squarely on the rear end.
He literally wrote the book on this procedure that is used by plastic surgeons around the world (The Art of Gluteal Sculpting) and he is completely without equal when it comes to talking about the trends of style, shape, size and options of implants versus fat grafting, which is his preference.
Dr. Mendieta spoke to Monsters and Critics and said, “I have noticed a recent trend, with more patients coming in with Belfies from their friends, pictures from the internet of celebrities instead of the retouched magazine photos they used to bring in. People want healthy and sexy and attainable curves, not ridiculous side-show Jerry Springer bottoms!”
VICE interviewed Dr. Mendieta for their online magazine and for the HBO series about the tragic outcomes and dangerous lengths some women will go through to get a bigger butt and how he has saved lives and restores the bodies of men and women from botched back-alley procedures. Dr. Mendieta’s restorative work has given people back their lives and their health.
Dr. Mendieta even referenced Internet Belfie queen and fitness model Jen Selter as an ideal example of proportions many patients are seeking when they come to him. Selter was interviewed by Huffington Post on how she gets her “selter butt.”
Anyone can acquire anything they set their hearts and minds to! It takes dedication, perseverance, hard work and consistency. There is no secret pill, no special diet. What it comes down to is how hard you push yourself and how you overcome the mental challenge of getting yourself to the gym even when you really don’t want to. Consistency leads to results. Diet is also important. I eat every few hours to keep my metabolism running and I try to stay away from overly processed foods. Lots of lean meat, vegetables and fresh fruit. Fitness is a lifestyle. You must be mentally prepared to commit to it and be consistent with your health and fitness lifestyle in order to see results and as we know results don’t happen overnight.
NEW YORK (MainStreet) — When Doug Pitman, M.D., sold his private practice to a hospital group 16 years ago, he had to see more patients, which meant less time with them. Eventually, he moved on and became a concierge doctor.
“There is no substitute for time spent with patients,” Pitman says. But this time squeeze is all part of a larger trend.
“Hospitals continue to acquire primary care practices at an increasing rate,” says Chip Harvey, a sales and service consultantat Corporate Benefits Service, a third-party administrator of employer sponsored health benefit plans.
Acquiring practices increases the clout of hospital-owned physician practices “and their negotiating power withinsurance companies,” Harvey says. However, as a consequence, these primary care doctors “lose their independence because they are required to refer patients who need specialist treatment or diagnostic services … only to specialists and diagnostic centers that are also owned by the hospital,” he says.
That close tie appears to affect how much patients are billed.
Researchers at Stanford University examined about 2.1 million claims from non-elderly privately insured individuals from 2001 through 2007. They found that hospitals that owned physician practices had higher prices. The study was published in the journal Health Affairs.
The researchers note that “hospitals may still be sharing profits with physicians who opt to treat patients at more costly facilities or with more costly procedures than is medically appropriate.”
The study didn’t look at the effect of hospital-owned physician practices on patient health outcomes.
The researchers noted that Affordable Care Act creates incentives that will likely increase the number of medical practices legally tied to hospitals, whether by ownership or contract. The ACA “rewards doctors and hospitals that join together in an accountable care organization (ACO) by making them eligible for cash bonuses from Medicare,” the researchers wrote.
–Written by S.Z. Berg for MainStreet
Actor Robert Downey Jr. has enjoyed a four-decades-plus career with two Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globe wins, numerous other award nominations and wins, notably starring as Tony Stark in Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes, and he is currently married to Susan Downey and has two sons (one from a previous marriage).
Downey Jr. has had a troubled history of his own with addiction issues. Early on in 1982, he dropped out of Santa Monica High School to pursue acting full time. His father, Robert Downey Sr., himself a drug addict, exposed his son to drugs at a very early age, and Downey Jr. would go on to struggle with drug abuse for decades. The actor’s drug-related problems escalated from 1996 to 2001, leading to numerous arrests, rehab visits and incarcerations, and he was eventually fired from the TV series “Ally McBeal.”
From the 2013 Daily Mail article:
” To a large extent, his [Robert Downey Jr.] myriad problems were the legacy of a recklessly liberal upbringing by his parents, underground film-maker Robert Downey[Sr.] and Elsie, his actress mother, in bohemian Greenwich Village, New York…His father cast his son in his first film, the avant-garde comedy Pound, at the age of five…But Downey Sr was a notorious drug addict and one day, as he watched the eight-year-old Robert drinking the white wine he had given him, he offered to let him try a cannabis joint.”
Emerging clean and sober in 2003, Downey Jr. climbed out of that big hole and built up his career with Gothika, Good Night, and Good Luck. A Scanner Darkly, Tropic Thunder and the films of the Iron Man, Avengers and Sherlock Holmes franchises.
In 2005, Downey Jr. married Susan Downey, who gave birth to their son, Exton Elias Downey, on February 7, 2012. Downey also has another son, Indio Falconer Downey, born September 7, 1993, from his first marriage to Deborah Falconer, from whom he was officially divorced in 2004.
Sadly, TMZ reports that the oldest child of Robert Downey Jr., Indio, has been arrested. Downey Jr. released the following statement to TMZ:
“Unfortunately there’s a genetic component to addiction and Indio has likely inherited it. Also, there is a lot of family support and understanding, and we’re all determined to rally behind him and help him become the man he’s capable of being. We’re grateful to the Sheriff’s department for their intervention, and believe Indio can be another recovery success story instead of a cautionary tale.”
Robert Downey Jr.’s son was arrested for cocaine possession in West Hollywood Sunday afternoon, law enforcement sources tell TMZ. Indio was observed smoking something out of a pipe according to the website.
An L.A. County Sheriff’s deputy pulled the car over, did a search and allegedly found cocaine in Indio’s possession. He was arrested and taken to jail for possession of cocaine.
Indio, 20, posted the $10K bail and was released just after midnight Sunday.
Frequent contributor to Monsters and Critics in the area of addiction is expert Akikur Mohammad, M.D., the CEO and founder of Inspire Malibu Treatment Center. Dr. Mohammad is a board-certified psychiatrist with a second board certification in addiction medicine. In addition to his role as Inspire Malibu’s CEO, Dr. Mohammad is Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor at Keck School of Medicine at USC where he is active in teaching medical students and residents the subject of addiction medicine and psychiatry.
Dr. Mohammad tells Monsters and Critics: “Robert Downey’s Jr.’s son drug possession arrest underscores that drug addiction is a chronic disease. Numerous scientific research studies support the fact that drug, and alcohol, addiction is a chronic disease with a strong genetic component, just like every other chronic disease including asthma, diabetes and heart disease.
“It’s disheartening that the young man’s disease is being sensationally publicized. After all, would we be throwing him into the limelight if it were discovered he had diabetes?
“The bottom line is that alcohol and drug addiction are chronic diseases. The debate on whether they or not is over. All the leading health and medical organization in the U.S. and worldwide support this contention, including the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization. But like every chronic disease, substance abuse addiction can be successfully managed with evidence-based treatment that includes medication, counseling and lifestyle modification. Robert Downey, Jr., is the greatest testament that a sufferer of alcohol-drug addiction can lead a successful, productive life.”
In the course of the 11 years writing for Monsters and Critics, I’ve interviewed top board certified plastic surgeons such as Dr. Constantino Mendieta, considered the finest butt man around and the author of the Art of Gluteal Sculpting. Dr. Nicholas Nikolov of Beverly Hills, whose deft hands gave many Hollywood stars beautiful noses and breasts.
They both told me the same thing, a great deal of their work was revisional surgery from botched procedures by other doctors, often times cosmetic surgeons who were unqualified. They saw heartbreaking things and did their best to restore bodies to a normalcy for their patients. It was their most satisfying work next to fixing a child’s face from congenital deformity or someone battered or scarred in an accident.
Enter a reality TV series that stars two of LA’s top board certified plastic surgeons, Dr. Paul Nassif and Dr. Terry Dubrow, who we came to know in “The Swan” and “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” These two talented physicians have joined forces for E!’s new series “Botched” which premieres Tuesday, June 24 at 9:00pm.
You will see some retreads from TLC’s Strange Addictions, the Plastic Surgery freakshow Barbie Boy who has money coming from somewhere (he lives in his underwear so you do the math), a poor woman with her frustrated husband tired of her uniboob, and other unfortunates who bet the farm and pulled up weeds.
World renowned doctors Paul Nassif and Terry Dubrow
World renowned doctors Paul Nassif and Terry Dubrow — the best of the best and leaders in their field — will be tasked with some of the most difficult operations of their careers when they try to reverse the effects of horrendous plastic surgeries.
For the first time on television, plastic surgery nightmares become dreams come true when “Botched” premieres Tuesday, June 24 at 9:00pm ET/PT only on E! and moves to its new day/time Sundays beginning June 29 at 10:00pm following plastic surgery fans “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”
In the premiere episode airing Tuesday, June 24 at 9pm, both doctors team up to fix some of California’s worst surgical results when they set their sights, and their scalpels, on Alicia, a woman suffering from what’s known as a “uni-boob,” and Michelle, an actress who’s had six surgeries in search of the perfect nose. Plus, the doctors make a house call to one of the Internet’s most talked about plastic surgery addicts, the human doll, Justin Jedlica.
Episode Description: Human Dolls (6/24/14)
Plastic surgeons Terry Dubrow & Paul Nassif treat a woman with a uni-boob, an actress who’s had 6 surgeries in search of the perfect nose, and make a house call for Justin, a self-proclaimed human doll.
Clip 2: Meet the doctors
Clip 3: Alicia “uniboob” meets the doctors for her consultation.
Clip 4: The doctors’ visit Justin “human ken” at his home to go over his possible surgery.
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, was elected the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church in March 2013, becoming Pope Francis. He is the first pope from the Americas.
Pope Francis has offered an olive branch of acceptance to the atheists. He is also fast tracking and sacking the financial reforms and panels put in place and launched by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, and overhauling the Roman Curia that includes the college of Cardinals andaggressively tackled the lingering clerical sex abuse cases. The Pope works for peace in the Middle East and tries to broker communication with the Israelis and Palestinians.
Now he is speaking out on something that is troubling him, the growing relaxation of marijuana laws in the western world especially in the USA.
“Drug addiction is an evil, and with evil there can be no yielding or compromise,” he told participants at the International Drug Enforcement Conference in Rome.
But like the church’s hardline stance on divorce, many Americans are not in agreement with Rome. Public sentiment isn’t with him; most Americans are voting in favor of legalization. In South America, countries like Uruguay have legalized marijuana.
Colorado and Washington state have made marijuana use legal, and in California, Nevada, Oregon, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Alaska it is legal if you get a doctor’s approval and the laws for pot were reduced. Several other states, cities and countries have decriminalized its use or have announced plans to do so. There are states like Texas and Florida where pot is illegal still.
Akikur Mohammad, M.D., is the CEO and founder of Inspire Malibu Treatment Center. Dr. Mohammad is a board-certified psychiatrist with board certification in addiction medicine, Psychiatry and Neurology. He tells Monsters and Critics, “Smoking is generally a poor way to deliver medicine. As a doctor, I assure you that it is almost impossible to administer safe, regulated dosages of medicines in smoked form. Morphine, for example, has proven to be a medically valuable drug, but no responsible physician endorses smoking opium or heroin.”
“However, to address the Pope’s statement regarding recreational marijuana… addiction has been around as long as humankind. It is a typical religious approach that addiction is EVIL, but science had proven that all addiction is a brain disease. However, in some patients, spirituality or religion may help to manage and overcome their addiction. I always advocated decriminalization but not complete legalization of drugs like marijuana.”
Dr. Mohammad adds, “Nicotine is legal around the world and the most common preventable cause of death worldwide, Nicotine kills more people than alcohol and all other drugs combined. Let’s educate the public!”
You probably don’t know Renee Raudman by name — but there’s a good chance you’ve heard her voice.
Raudman is one of the most requested narrators in the multibillion dollar audiobook industry, having recorded well over 300 books since 2006.
In less than a decade, the actress-turned-voice-over star has won several awards, critical acclaim, and changed the landscape of the genre.
“When audiobooks were first being produced for a more mass market, the trend was toward a ‘single-voiced’ read with, at most, subtle changes for each different character,” she says. “However, I didn’t know that when I narrated my first audiobook. I just assumed the approach I took — voicing a distinctive personality for each major character — would be best suited for this medium as well.”
Her goal, she explains, was to make a movie for the mind.
And she has succeeded.
Business Insider spoke with Raudman about how she got into the fascinating world of audiobooks, and the most exciting and surprising aspects of her job.
Business Insider: Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Renee Raudman: I was raised in the small town of Kalkaska, Michigan — a beautiful place to grow up. I graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications. (Go Spartans!) Immediately after graduating from Michigan State University, and about five years into the corporate world of advertising and marketing (and loving it) in the suburbs of Detroit, I decided that I didn’t want my life to pass by without finally listening to this little voice deep within me — that, up until that point, I was terribly afraid to even acknowledge — that begged me to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actor.
BI: What happened next?
RR: One of the girls that I worked with at the ad agency told me her brother was a pretty big agent in LA. I asked if I could interview him, and she kindly set up the meeting. I flew to Los Angeles and asked him to give me every piece of advice that he could, in addition to what he believes the biggest mistakes other aspiring actors make, that ultimately lead to their leaving the business unfulfilled. He smiled and said nobody had ever asked those questions, because they probably didn’t really want to know the answers, and he proceeded to give me a detailed list. I took copious notes.
Within 30 days, I moved to Los Angeles and had taken every step of advice he gave me. When I called and gave him this update, there was a stunned silence on his end of the phone. He said, “I never thought I’d hear from you again. And certainly not within a month!”
BI: So how did this lead to your narrating career?
RR: While having success in a variety of daytime and prime time television and film opportunities, my “voice over” star was rising. I had voiced hundreds of TV and radio commercials, including several national campaigns for retail and political ads, as well as cartoons and video games.
In 2005, I met someone who narrated audiobooks — which I personally always loved! Can you guess what I did? I sat him down, asked him dozens of questions, and … I took copious notes.
BI: Did you ever imagine you’d have a successful career in the audiobook industry?
RR: Well, when I was in third grade, my parents had given me a little cassette recorder for Christmas. I used to come home after school and take that tape recorder into the bathroom (no one bothered me in there, and the acoustics were fantastic) and I would act out all the characters from my history class I had learned that day. I would give each notable person from history a different voice, and make up all these stories about Eli Whitney and the cotton gin, the Hopi Indians, etc.. At seven years old I was recording and acting out full stories with different voices.
I still have that tape recorder.
When I tell you I loved listening to audiobooks, I mean I loved it. I would drive to San Diego from Los Angeles, just so I wouldn’t have to stop the tape. And do you know, it never occurred to me to pursue this medium.
BI: When did it finally occur to you?
RR: About nine years ago, I met a fellow who was dating my sister at the time named Scott Brick. He was, and still is, the male voice in audiobooks. And as I mentioned, I was fairly successful in my own right in the commercial VO world.
Given my fascination with audiobooks, I hung on his every word when he told me of his industry. We agreed to trade information about the other’s voice-over world. The rest is history, as they say.
BI: Did he help you break in to the industry?
RR: Yes. He kindly helped me put together a demo reel, I sent it out to seven companies and heard back from four of them within the month — which was unheard of at that time. Very few women back in 2006 had their own home recording studio, so it allowed me to work for several different publishers from home, and it also allowed me to work in every genre of audiobook imaginable.
In a way, it’s a “right time, right place” kind of story. The audiobook world was just beginning to explode with digital downloads and a lower price-point. Amazingly, this series of events led me to be able to make a living at something that I seemed to be destined to do from such an early age.
BI: Have people always complimented your voice?
RR: What an interesting question! I guess they have; yes. But I’ve worked really hard on what my normal speaking voice sounds like. In my early 20s I heard myself on a recording, and I thought, YIKES!
I then began to take note of how other’s spoke. For example: If they had a squeaky, tight, breathy, baby, or whiney voice. (Amazing at how it would match to their personality.) While at the same time, I would feel so attracted to people’s voices that were calm, relaxed, in control, at a lower more natural register, etc.
After a little research, I found that if I strengthened the muscles of my diaphragm and use them from which to speak, that it gave my whole being a sense of ease, control, and confidence. It did away with my shallow breaths, and higher pitch. Honestly, transforming my voice had an incredible impact on shaping who I am as a person today.
BI: Can you tell us more about what it’s like to record an audiobook?
RR: Without a doubt, audiobook narration has been the toughest work I’ve done in the world of entertainment. I’m not complaining, as there are other jobs in our world that are truly backbreaking hard and dangerous!
Narrating is like running a marathon versus a sprint. Unlike a radio commercial, which might take an hour to record, I work full eight-hour days, five days a week, with just two short breaks a day and lunch. I sit for long stretches of time in a dark small studio (usually by myself, unless recording with a partner). It’s fairly exhausting, because during those eight hours, I’m talking the whole time, and there’s never a moment where I can stop and return emails, phone calls, or not be in full performance mode. Let’s just say I’m not the best conversationalist when I get home.
BI: How do you prepare for a narration?
RR: It really depends on the project. While I do prep for every book I narrate, a non-fiction book typically takes a lot less time than a fiction novel. The prep on a non-fiction title is usually limited to pronunciations, and some research, based on either the author or the subject matter. For the most part, as the narrator, I am responsible for coming up with all pronunciations in the book. Whether it’s medical verbiage, names of towns in foreign countries, or another language all together, we are responsible for it being 100% accurate.
However, fiction is another story. Because of the number of books that I record, I’ve found that I can be more productive if I have assistance in the preparation of almost every novel I narrate. I, personally, pre-read the manuscript. Simultaneously, I’ll hire someone else who will go through and prep the physical manuscript. This will include creating character sheets, pronunciation lists, story summary by chapter, as well as “coding” the script.
“Coding” includes putting initials next to each line as to who is speaking, highlighting direction or emotion if it appears after the line of dialogue, and the change of character’s point of view.
As far as warm up goes: Other than a cup of coffee several hours before recording, and then a cup of tea and glass of water in the booth, I’m pretty much ready.
BI: What’s the typical starting salary for a new audiobook narrator? And how high can that number go for an experienced narrator?
RR: The wages tend to be pretty hush-hush. If the title is 10 hours long, you get paid an hourly rate based on the finished hours. I believe starting salary is approximately $100 per finished hour for newcomers, and can go up to anywhere in the neighborhood of $500 for the cream. This would not include celebrity reads.
BI: How many books do you record a year?
RR: I used to take every book that was offered to me. However, I’m trying my best to add more balance to my life. My new goal is to narrate no more than one to two books per month. I’m trying to go from approximately 40 books a year to 24 books a year. (Except I sort of blew it this month, because I recorded four titles and a short story in the last two weeks alone.) Exhausted doesn’t begin to describe how I feel!
BI: How long does it typically take to record an audiobook?
RR: A fairly standard title would take me about 1.5 times the length of the book. The audiobook world is measured by the “PFH” (per finished hour). So if a title is 10 hours, it usually takes me about 15 hours of actual recording time. However, two of the aforementioned titles I recorded in these last couple weeks, took over twice the PFH. One had approximately 130 different characters in it, many of those returning from prior books in the series.
BI: How many narrators work on any given book?
RR: Typically, only one person narrates an entire book. But some titles will beg for a full cast of narrators (for instance, The Bible). Several of the bigger name authors, like Catherine Coulter, can request — and their audiobook sales can support — hiring two narrators; usually a male and a female.
I’ve done several duo narrations for Catherine Coulter, and they are a blast to narrate. To make it more of a movie for the mind, Catherine allows us to take all the “he saids/she saids” out of the book. It’s also a real treat to get to read and play off of another actor.
BI: Do you have a favorite book that you’ve narrated?
RR: Boy, that’s so tough. Truthfully, I don’t have a favorite. Certain titles move me to tears. Others make me laugh out loud. Some provide me a day’s (much needed) escape. And in others, I fall in love. Who can pick a favorite? I will say, I was just recently chosen by Disney to narrate Tangled and because my 3-year-old niece absolutely loves this movie, this was a very exciting job to get.
While I can’t pick a favorite book, I am so, so, lucky to work with some of the best selling authors in the world. I have to pinch myself some days. Really! Danielle Steel, Catherine Coulter, J.T. Ellison, Suzanne Brockmann, Nora Roberts, Ilona Andrews, Deborah Coonts, and the list goes on and on.
BI: What’s the coolest or craziest experience you’ve had as an audiobook narrator?
RR: Perhaps that I lost an “Audie” (our industry’s Oscar equivalent) to Johnny Depp.
Will you indulge me one more?
BI: Of course.
RR: In addition to narrating audiobooks, my company also has professional recording studio, and we produce audiobook textbooks for online universities in Southern California and Colorado.
So, one day, I needed to buy an office chair, and had heard that a nearby garage sale had a brand new one. My fiancé and I went to take a look. The place was hopping with people, but for some reason the homeowner took a shine to me and began asking a lot of questions about what I did and where would I use the chair.
When I told her that I narrated audiobooks, she said, “You’re kidding! They’ve changed my life! I would never be able to get my college degree without taking courses from an online college. And I wouldn’t be able to get through the classes but for the fact they offer their textbooks in audiobook format. Have you ever heard of such a thing?!”
I said that I had. And then she said, “How cool is this?!” and whipped out her iPhone and pushed play: “Welcome to Anthropology 101. Narrated by Renee Raudman….”
My fiancé, John, started giggling and said, “that’s her” and pointed to me. We all had a good laugh.
But truly, I can’t tell you how proud I feel to be able to contribute something so worthwhile. I’m someone who learns much better by listening than reading. So that was a powerful and really cool moment for me.
BI: Do you listen to you own audiobooks after they’re completed?
RR: Once in a great while I’ll need to listen to characters from a prior series, or if I’m working on a new accent and want to hear how it came out. Though it does pain me. I’m completely hyper-critical. I always want to get back into the studio and fix a line here and there and find myself cringing. However, there are times where I’ll be listening and get caught up in the story and think: Hey, that was OK!
BI: Has a stranger ever recognized your voice?
RR: As I mentioned, I am from Michigan. Upon first moving to Southern California, I had a very strong Michigan accent. My very first radio spot was for Security Pacific Bank and had nine words: “College, clothes, my own car, Christmas vacation … spring break!”
My Michigan accent was particularly strong in words like car. I was in the McDonald’s drive through here in So Cal. After placing an order, the girl, through the speaker, asked, “Do you have a bank commercial running right now?!”
BI: What’s the one most surprising things about being an audiobook narrator?
RR: I guess a few things. One, I didn’t know it would be so labor intensive. Two, until recently, it never occurred to me that I might have fans. And three, that reading a love scene in a book is a whole lot different than acting one out. (I’m not saying it isn’t fun. I just have to be careful with what titles I recommend to mom and dad.)
BI: What’s the best part about being an audiobook narrator?
RR: I get paid to read what I’d read if I were on vacation; I get to be all the characters behind the mic; and I get to fall in love over and over again, every time I step into the booth.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/famous-narrator-worlds-coolest-job-2014-6#ixzz35TamCxje
The golden years, a time for easy living and to kick back and enjoy the slower pace deserved after a lifetime of schedules and the 9-to-5 treadmill.
But did you know that for many people, deviating from this routine of work, managing the home and raising children to one with lots of unstructured time on their hands can present some huge problems especially if those people are predisposed to addiction issues and never fully realized it until their senior years?
Addiction specialist Dr. Akikur R. Mohammad, MD sees many patients over the age of 55 who find out the hard way that they cannot handle alcohol or pain medicine and maintain their sobriety.
They turn to him for medically supervised detoxification and learn how to manage time, activities and their social lives so that they do not fall into bad habits and relapse.
Dr. Akikur Mohammad, M.D.,
Dr. Mohammad, founder of Inspire Malibu, considered an elite medically-based addiction rehabilitation center, tells Monsters and Critics’ readers to watch for these five flashpoints and offers some recommendations:
“When someone has no routine, they get lazy and slip into bad habits, letting physical routines slide and sleeping too much. A little structure can go a long way,” says Dr. Mohammad.
“Letting social situations and friendships slide and go by the wayside. This is the time to reconnect and join groups and clubs, reach out and volunteer. Extend yourself, get involved with your church or synagogue or civic center. Find a cause, whether it is helping tutor children with special needs, fostering abandoned animals, communal gardening or volunteering at the local library or museum, these activities will net new friendships and keep your brain active.” says Dr. Mohammad.
“Not having to work tomorrow lets many retirees drink every day; for those who are prone to addiction it all catches up with them. Don’t look for excuses to minimize alcohol consumption. Daily drinking is an insidious and harmful habit. Drinking alone is another dangerous habit,” says Dr. Mohammad.
“The worry, fear and progression of age, illnesses, and the older you get the more your close relations pass away, leaving you to feel badly about it. It’s not easy, but don’t let yourself succumb to negative news about parents, uncles and aunts, siblings, childhood friends. Try and keep your network of friends and social outlets up to date and work at keeping in touch with people, even when you don’t feel like it, it does help to talk,”says Dr. Mohammad.
“Living with chronic pain and aches takes a toll. The lack of mobility, the lack of quality sleep and constant pain are a huge issue. Senior ailments such as painful hips, knees, arthritis all offer an opportunity to abuse addictive pain medications. There are gentle exercise treatments like Tai Chi and Yoga that can help eradicate pain and in time strengthen atrophied muscles. Massage and swimming also are excellent options to explore,” says Dr. Mohammad.
Dr. Mohammad suggests that all seniors keep connected through family and community and faith groups, and buddy up in their neighborhoods. There are senior centers in many cities, and he urges adult children to actively help their parents find and connect with these useful resource hubs that are excellent directories for even more information and qualified help: