I'm 25 and single. I have a wonderful mom, dad, and sister, and a large extended family including a couple dozen aunts and uncles and 30+ cousins (mom has 12 brothers and sisters).
What part of the world do you come from? Live now?
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Suburbs actually but close enough. I went to college in a tiny town called Kirksville in northeast Missouri so I got a sample of small town life for those four years. I'm back in St. Louis now, living in my parents' basement, enjoying the good company and free rent and food while I finish my degree.
What do you do in "real life"?
Part time librarian, part time grad student in library school. Hopefully will be done in May.
How did you find out about Librivox?
I was taking three classes in the Fall of 05 and two of them led me here: Intro to Information Technology and Library Materials for Teens. In my Teen Lit class we had podcasting as a discussion topic. I had not heard of it before then and around that time I got an iPod for my birthday so I discovered the world of podcasts and started subscribing to a bunch of them. Then for my IT class I decided to do my final project/paper on podcasting. Part of the project was starting up my own podcast and I decided to do free audiobooks. I didn't find LibriVox until the end of November when I was wrapping up research and already podcasting Pride and Prejudice. Of course I joined right away and they welcomed me even though I was recording something they were already doing. And I revamped my paper to include a big piece on LibriVox.
Have you had any previous experience in this area? ie theatre, radio, podcast
Well, if you count starting my own podcast a month before I found LibriVox! But really no in terms of performing or recording. I guess I do have storytelling experience, though, my mom is a preschool teacher and I've spent a lot of time reading books to bright eyed 4 and 5 year olds.
What was your first recording for LibriVox?
I believe it was Sonnet 23 by Shakespeare - a weekly poetry project.
What helped you personally to get through "what-if-i-suck" stage?
Initially, a commitment to try out podcasting for my class project, and soon after that, great feedback from my podcast listeners. Everyone hates the sound of their own voice at first. It just doesn't sound the same as it does in your head. But eventually you realize there's nothing you can do about it so get over it and don't let it hold you back.
What is your recording and editing set up and do you routinely do anything to "sweeten" your audio?
I use a Logitech Headset Mic and Audacity and that's about it. Nothing fancy to it!
What do you do here ie read, proof listen, coordinate? and why?
I started out just reading, like pretty much everyone else here, but Kara soon invited me to be a moderator since I was spending pretty much all my free time here anyhow.
I coordinated a few group projects and that went well. Back then Kara was the only MC (cataloger) and things were starting to really pick up with more volunteers and completed projects. Betsie (thistlechick) had joined at the same time as me. Kara trained Bets to be an MC and after that Bets trained me. My focus as an MC has always been poetry - weekly poetry, short poetry, poetry collections, whatever. But I also MC'ed a lot of other stuff along the way. A month or so ago I was starting to get burnt out and I realized it was because I wasn't reading anymore. The amount of time I have to devote to LibriVox each day was getting spent doing MC work and moderating. So I am going into MC semi-retirement, thanks to the help of the other MCs and the many wonderful new MCs in training. From now on I'll focus on being an MC/BC for poetry and doing my solo work. I recorded a lot of chapters in the beginning but I've been trying not to volunteer for too much stuff that I know I won't be able to get to anytime soon.
Is there a particular LibriVox book which you like the best because of the quality, the overall effort involved, its popularity, or for some other reason?
It's a bit like asking a parent to choose his/her favorite child isn't it? So difficult... my all time favorite is Kara's reading of The Secret Garden. This was one of the first "real books" (not a picture book) that my mom would read to me before bed when I was little. Having Kara read it to me was deeply reminiscent, plus she has such a pleasant, calm voice. I also loved her Yorkshire dialect in it!
Favorite group project I've listened to is Treasure Island. One thing I love about LibriVox is just the variety of voices and accents. Treasure Island is great fun to hear not only different voices and accents but different PIRATE voices and accents!
Looking forward to Ulysses very much, especially the sections that folks have been collaborating on so extensively.
Of the projects you have worked on, which did you like most?
Two come to mind - Anne of Green Gables and Huck Finn. Anne is very dear to my heart - this is another one my mom read to me when I was little. But I identified with her soooo much, being another Anne "with an e" who would rather be named something romantic like Cordelia and with a temper that can get me into trouble.
I have watched the movies countless times growing up and still watch them often. I don't think I had read the books since I was little and it was so wonderful to go back to them. I hogged a ridiculous number of chapters and had so much fun doing them that for my next solo project I'm going to just do the whole darned thing. And Huck Finn. Reading aloud, or listening to someone read aloud, makes a person slow down and hear every word. You can't skim when you're reading aloud. Twain's writing is so rich and the book is brilliant on so many levels that reading it aloud brings so much to my attention that I'd never caught before. It is laugh out loud funny at times and heartbreaking at others.
Which drove you crazy?
Huck Finn. I know I just said it's a favorite but it's driving me mad and I'll be glad when I'm through with the last two chapters. The dialect is difficult, and there isn't just one dialect, there are several. It is a LOT of editing to get it right.
What type of literature do you prefer to read/help with?
Poetry is my favorite, followed probably by children's literature. I also enjoy reading nonfiction works - with no dialogue in them it makes for easy reading and editing.
Who is your Favorite author(s)?
Pat Conroy, John Irving, Louise Erdrich, John Steinbeck, Kate DiCamillo, Louis A. Meyer, J. K. Rowling, Tolkien, David Sedaris, Joann Sfar, Marjane Satrapi ....
What do you do for fun ie hobbies, reading, knitting?
Definitely reading is number 1. Lately I'm really into graphic novels. It's been a while since I've knitted but I do occasionally. I actually prefer cross stitching to knitting, although it is not as practical and takes a longer time. I love music, pretty much all kinds, and I played the oboe from 6th grade through college... would love to pick it back up someday. Painting is something I do on occasion, although more as a mental health thing than a hobby.
My latest hobby is web design. I've been taking classes on it for school and having lots of fun with it. In an average week, how many hours do you spend in LibriVox recording / forums / etc. (what does LibriVox "etc" mean to you?)
Oh lord! (as Lydia Bennet would say)... probably 1-2 hours a day so around 10 hours a week?! To me LibriVox means making literature more accessible to more people. And having a helluva lot of fun doing it!
In an average week, how many hours do you spend outside? [you know, not in a building, that kind of outside]
As little as possible.
At least this time of year. This past week our temperature has been 100+ and heat index 120+. Last night we had the worst storm that anyone who lives here can ever remember. It was the spookiest thing I've ever seen and we were lucky that our power was only out overnight. Today they say about a half a million people are without power which is frightening in this heat. A state of emergency has been declared and there are 250 national guard on their way apparently. I took me a half hour to get to work today, which is one mile away from my house. No traffic lights, trees everywhere, streets blocked, power lines down. I got to work and our power was out. Only two of us (out of five who normally work Thursday mornings) made it in and after a couple hours it started to get toasty in there so we went home. It's frustrating, not so much because there is work to do, but because people kept coming to the door, looking to get out of the heat and we had to turn them away. So... that was a huge tangent but let's just say it is not pleasant to be outside in St. Louis right now. What makes you tick? Or, in a nutshell, what is your philosophy?
Don't take anything for granted, enjoy every happy, healthy day you have. I was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease four years ago and went through some really rough stuff. Basically in bed with vertigo for a year, too dizzy to read, ears too sensitive to listen to music or audiobooks or watch tv, eventually surgery and long slow rehab and recovery. Those long hours riding out the vertigo with nothing to distract me changed me in a fundamental way that I really can't put into words. But it certainly made me appreciate everything in my life far more than I did before. And the constant knowledge that relapse could occur at any time is a reminder never to forget to value what I have.
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Thanks, Annie!
All Spotlight interviews can be found here:-
http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/SpotlightOn
