FEATURED ARTIST: KAREN COMMINS

Have you heard that Murder & Mayhem in Goose Pimple Junction is now available in audiobook? Well it is, and today I want you to meet the narrator, Karen Commins. Karen is a professional narrator with over fifty audiobooks to her resume. We had such a long talk, I'm breaking up her interview into two parts. Today, I want you to get to know Karen the person. On October 20, Karen will be back with Part 2 where she talks more about the audiobook process. She has a lot of great information, so please stop back. Scroll to the end of this post to hear a sample of Karen reading Murder & Mayhem. And now . . . here's Karen . . .

INTERVIEW WITH KAREN COMMINS

Karen, tell us a little about you.
I have been blessed to be married to Drew, fellow Atlanta native and the love of my life, for over 30 years! We love to travel; most recently, we took our 13th cruise, this time to Canada and New England from New York. My favorite city is Paris, and my favorite thing is the Eiffel Tower. We are proudly childfree by choice, and we have an adorable miniature schnauzer named Yogi. I worked for the US government for over thirty years, mostly in information technology positions, and am thrilled to finally be a full-time audiobook narrator!

Where are your people from?
Daddy was born in a small town in south/central Texas, and Mother came from a small town in NW Georgia. They met and married in Atlanta.

As you said, you’re happily married, but do you ever fall in fictional love with a character?
I don’t fall in love with a character as much as I can love the way an author describes that character. I always hope to fall in love with an author’s facility with the language throughout the story.

What’s the first thing you would order at Slick & Junebug’s Diner?
I’ve heard that Slick makes the best cheeseburger you’ll ever put in your mouth, so I’d get one medium-well but without the garden (lettuce and tomato) or a rose (a sweet Vidalia onion) with fries and a Coke. I’d want one of those hand-dipped milkshakes in the silver cup that you can only get at a great diner, but I think I’d have to pass on it so I could have a slice of chocolate cake with that oh-so-yummy inch-thick icing or lemon meringue pie.

Oh yeah, those are excellent choices, and Slick could totally hook you up! What’s one thing that drives you crazy?
Weedeaters! I can’t stand the sound they make. Fortunately, I don’t hear them when I’m in my soundproof studio!

What’s your favorite/most visited Internet site?
It’s a 3-way tie among ACX, Amazon, and eBay.

What’s in your refrigerator right now?
Drew and I eat out most of the time, so the refrigerator contains several take-home boxes, along with bread and cheese for sandwiches, hamburger buns, and condiments. As Atlanta natives, we have the requisite cases of Coke and Diet Coke, and we have a pitcher of sweet tea that is getting dangerously low and needs a refill!

A woman after my own heart. What is the most daring thing you've done?
I bought a scooter, and Drew taught me how to ride it. However, I’m not really an outdoorsy girl and would much rather ride in the air-conditioned comfort of a car. We sold the scooter a year later.

That is daring! What is the stupidest thing you've ever done?
When I was a teenager, I let a boy I liked convince me to put some dish detergent in an amusement park waterfall. Since I was a “goody two shoes,” maybe he thought my punishment wouldn’t be too severe if I was caught, or more likely, he didn’t care. The waterfall made an incredible amount of suds that were probably difficult and time-consuming to clean. I hereby apologize to the park employees that I was ever part of such a stupid prank!

Ah, the things we’ll do for a boy. What choices in life would you like to have a redo on?
Every moment has meaning, so I try to live with no regrets. However, if I had a time machine and could go back to Munich, Germany on 5 March 1994, I would ask the person who was working in the record store to sell or give me the poster that was hanging in their window promoting the supposedly upcoming Barry Manilow Munich concert!

I already knew from his fan club that his European tour was cancelled, so that Munich concert wasn’t going to happen. I decided that night I should have asked for the poster. We went back the next day, but we couldn’t find the store again in the maze of unfamiliar streets. I’ve started looking on eBay for that poster. I saw the one from the cancelled Frankfurt date, so I know that Munich poster has got to be out there somewhere!

What do you like to do when you're not reading or narrating?

Words are my life! If I’m not recording a book, I might be writing an article to help authors or narrators in recording books. I write in my journal, am learning calligraphy, and play Words With Friends relentlessly! I also spend time playing with and walking Yogi, who is the executive producer of all of my audiobooks. I search eBay for antique Eiffel Tower inkwells and other collectibles that catch my eye. I like to swim and am sad to see pool season coming to an end. Of course, the best part of any day is the time I spend with Drew!

ABOUT THE NARRATOR

Karen Commins is a professional audiobook narrator who has given voice to over 50 audiobooks. She is an Audible Approved Producer who specializes in performing cozy mysteries and sweet romances. She especially shines in books containing humor and/or Southern voices. Karen also has excelled in narrating biography, history, self-development, and other non-fiction titles. In addition to earning a BA in broadcast journalism, Karen has completed extensive specialized training in voiceover and audiobook narration technique, as well as digital audio production. Visit her web site KarenCommins.com to hear demos, see a list of her titles, and watch a video demonstration of her stunning soundproof studio. She writes articles about audiobooks for DigitalBookWorld.com and curates and maintains information for authors seeking to create audiobooks at this link.

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