Lori Prince CassAsks (Patreon)

This month for CassAsks, we have book narrator Lori Prince who came to the table! 

I hadn't really thought of interviewing people who weren't authors, tbh, until it was written in a comment and then sent in a couple of messages as suggestions. And I gotta tell you - brilliant suggestion! 

Lori Prince has narrated 5/6 of my audiobooks, and I appreciate all of the work she does to bring my characters to life. And yes, for anyone who might want to know, On the Same Page is going to be released as an audiobook and I have requested for it to be narrated by Lori Prince, as Down to A Science was, so the voices can align. I do not yet have a release date for this, though, and I will keep you all informed when I do. 

Coming up with CassAsks questions has never been SO easy, though, because I have no freaking idea what it means to narrate a book. I'm a very curious person, so... this was very illuminating for me. 

Lori can be found on her instagram here if you want to follow and keep up for any updates. 

When a writer agrees to do CassAsks, I specify the handful of questions for them and share a google doc for them to use. Lori asked me after I sent her the questions if it would be all right for her to verbally answer her questions in an mp3 file. 

I agreed, I love that she did this, I think it’s super fun, and I attached the audio file in this post!

Unfortunately, Lori originally answered each question as it’s own audio file, but I can only attach one audio per post. So I asked if she could string together her files, which she graciously did, while preparing to go on a vacation no-less, so praise be! But it also means that each answer she gives starts without a question prompting it. She gives about a ~2 second pause between answers.

To make it an easier listening experience for you, I went through the answers and wrote in the answer slot/question to correspond with what time in the video she is answering that question. So you can follow along in the audio while reading the questions here :)

If you are not into audio files, I also transcribed the answers to the best of my ability. They are not… exact… because I am not a transcriptionist! But they are all of her answers (just sometimes paraphrased or missing a couple words).

I do highly recommend listening, though; I really think Lori’s answers in her own words give them a lot more life!

All right – here we go!

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Heeeey! This is Lori Prince, and I am going to answer my questions verbally… because I am not a writer.

1. So far in doing CassAsks, I’ve only ever corresponded with authors, so this is pretty exciting for me! Can you tell us more about how you got into recording audiobooks?

00:14

So! I got into audiobooks in 2015. I do a lot of other acting in the voiceover world and audiobooks and narration was something that seemed extremely difficult, and I was really scared of it. I had a lot of friends in the narration world already, and I wanted to branch out and challenge myself, and I love reading…

So I kind of taught myself everything I could about audiobooks. I learned how to edit and master sound… I didn’t *need* to do that, but I did. And now I have about 135 books on audible!

2. What was your first fandom you ever joined (if you were into a fandom)? Did you read fic for it?

1:01

Okay, I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t quite sure what fandom is… my wife had to explain it to me. I’m old. Back in my day, we called them fan clubs. My first fan club was for an actress from General Hospital, Finola Hughes. And I was a little bit obsessed…

* This is a fun fact that I sent back to LP via email when I originally listened, which I will share with you all, here! I was huge into the Charmed tv show and fandom (OG Charmed, idk what’s going on with the new one that came out). But, teenage Haley loved fandoms and tv shows, and Finola Hughes was a recurring character on Charmed; she played the Halliwell sisters’ mother (dead too soon, RIP). But, as I was in the fandom, I know that Finola Hughes received the most fanmail from the entire cast! It always blew my mind, given that she wasn’t a main character. But, I learned, that it was because she always answered her fanmail, personally, and that really stuck with me, to this day. I love that kind of personal interaction. Moving on!

3. What have you learned about yourself through your work?

1:56

This is such a good question and it’s so hard to answer. I would say the main thing is that I’m extremely empathetic. Which, I think, helps me narrate books effectively, because I can understand the motivational arcs of multiple characters at the same time.

4.  What is the most difficult part about narrating a book? Making sure you get the correct tone, doing different voices… I can only imagine.

2:24

And speaking of the previous question! I think the most difficult part of narrating a book is the arc, it’s that you are creating – along with the author – a portrait of someone’s inner life. And you have to modulate it. And I think, sometimes, when we don’t have the sounding board of an audience or a director, and a lot of the times, I am narrating by myself, with a microphone. So it can be difficult to make those choices, without another opinion.

I think it’s hard to be both inside the book and outside of the book, at the same time… which is why there are directors lol.

5. Do you ever read a book and think something along the lines of damn, I would love to narrate this? If so – and if you are willing – which book(s)?!

3:24

I read things all of the time that I think “damn, I’d love to narrate this.” And then I think, “Wait. How the hell would I narrate this?!”

Most often, it’s because I relate to a protagonist. Which likely means that it’s because that protagonist is somewhat sarcastic and there’s humor, and there’s depth and heart.

6. What is your favorite food/meal of the day?

3:55

My favorite food/meal of the day… my wife said second breakfast. I don’t know if you know what that is, but – it is the second time you eat breakfast during the day. Which… I do love.

7. If you could have dinner with one writer, dead or alive, who would it be?

4:15

I think you have to say Shakespeare, right?

Not just because I’m an actor, but because it’s *so* complex. How did he write so many plays that are still in the zeitgeist today? That are *so* poignant? It’s astounding and genius and… what went through his brain?

8. What was the first work you ever voiced?

4:50

It was porn. And it’s under a pseudonym. That no one I know knows. Other than the publisher. And I am not telling.

(WHAT OMG)

9. Do you have any favorite characters you’ve voiced? Why?

5:06

I couldn’t say one character, I don’t think, but I can say that I love Young Adult and comedy. They both have something in common, which I will call “out-sized emotions.” I lean into that in my narration, and it’s fun to live in a world that you don’t typically live in day-to-day, so to be able to explore those emotions and then… leave them, is intriguing and enticing.

10. What book got you into reading?

5:59

When I was younger, I loved Alice in Wonderland and the Return to Oz books. I also read all of the Nancy Drew books, that were in my basement and belonged to my mom, growing up. I’m just making this connection right now – they were always female protagonists and young girls, who were navigating the world, by themselves.

11. What book got you into reading sapphic romance? Did you start reading the genre as a sapphic reader who enjoys romances or as a narrator?

6:35

My first book was actually a Radclyffe book, and back when I started narration, I did a lot of books for Bold Strokes Books. I deliberately sought out narrating books for sapphic literature and at the time, there wasn’t much on audible for gay women, and now, there is so much there in such a short amount of time. It makes me very happy to see.

12. What is your process when you’re preparing for a day of work? What does that look like?

7:29

I always read the book first, and then have questions for the author directly or for the publisher. Then I think about all of the voices that I have in this book and how they might meld together. And I have to think about – “Okay I can do this voice for that character, but can I sustain that? Is that voice going to be able to come back in book 3?”

So I think about all of that, ahead of time. Before I get in the booth. So when I’m in there, I’m just in the world of the story and no longer thinking about the prep work.

13. What is your favorite Taylor Swift song and/or lyric?

8:21

Lots of stammering, so my finding is – she is not a fan.

I guess Never Ever Ever Getting back together is… catchy?

14. Do you ever work on more than one narration at a time? How hard is it to switch between works when you’re done with one?

8:40

I have worked on more than one narration at a time, and it is difficult. I would not choose to do it regularly, but sometimes, with deadlines, you have to put a book on pause and go back to work on another. It is definitely not… my favorite. You have to wrap up your characters in one world to start a new one, and… I wouldn't recommend it!

15. What would you title your auto-biography?

9:09

It’s Not You, It’s Me.

16. Would you ever consider writing a book? Would you want to narrate it if you did?

9:19

I would *never* write a book! It’s really hard. But if I *did* I would want to narrate it, because I’m a control freak.

17. Finally – where would you put these characters on this seating chart:

Charlotte Thompson from Those Who Wait by me
Taylor Elliott from London Love Story by TB Markinson and Miranda Macleod
Kade Davenport from It's not a Date by Heather Blackmore
Hayley Carpenter from Media Darling by  Fiona Riley
Madison Prescott from The Road to Madison by Elle Spencer
Marty Bell from As Long As Love Lasts by Jea Hawkins

Explain your reasoning :)

                          Charlotte
                  Taylor            Madison
                 Marty              Kade
                             Hayley

I put them that way as I think they would be able to relate to the person next to them. Or, at the very least, be comfortable and not intimidated. Marty is the only character from a different era so I put her next to the two youngest characters.  I didn't want to freak her out entirely, she comes from a world where women didn't have jobs. I would like to host that dinner party, actually!