Dear Readers,
The production of The Curse Giver‘s Audiobook version is almost complete, narrated by the talented Melissa Reizian-Frank.After spending a decade as an award-winning and twice Emmy-nominated broadcast journalist, Melissa entered the world of full-time voiceover 14 years ago.
Since then, Melissa has voiced thousands of TV and radio commercials, countless e-learning training narrations and more than a dozen audiobooks, including Stonewiser: The Heart of the Stone, Stonewiser: The Call of the Stone and Stonewiser; The Lament of the Stone. Melissa has been involved in theatre her entire life. She believes in giving life to characters through voice. She graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she also minored in Theatre.
I asked Melissa a couple of quick questions about the project:
Hi Melissa! How did you become a voice actress? What are your favorite kind of projects? Why did you decide to audition for The Curse Giver‘s audible project?
Hi Dora! Thanks for having me! Well, I have been a full-time voice actor for about 15 years now. Before this, I was a television news reporter and anchor, but decided to switch careers to have more time for my then one—now three—sons. I do all sorts of TV and radio commercials, narrations, and e-learning trainings. But my favorite thing is to create audiobooks!
I didn’t really audition for Curse Giver as much as I begged you to let me narrate it, now did I, Dora? J I was still narrating your excellent Stonewiser trilogy when you started really promoting the paper version of Curse Giver. I knew I wanted to read another Dora Classic!
Aw. Thanks, Melissa. You’re making me blush! Tell us, do you enjoy narrating fantasy? And if you do, why? Is there a secret to making great fantasy audiobooks?
I LOVE fantasy! Sci-fi and paranormal too. You can have so much fun with other-worldly characters and sometimes you get to make up your own “language” for their accent. J
Hmm…a secret to making great fantasy audiobooks. Well, it starts with the BOOK part of “audiobook.” A well-written and well-crafted story ALWAYS translates better to the spoken word. An author who creates believable characters—no matter how fantastical their surroundings and situations are—and who writes them like real people no matter how many legs or arms they have is going to translate better to an audiobook. Period. Hey, I know someone like that! Eh-hem.
*****
About Melissa Reizian Frank
After spending a decade as an award-winning and twice Emmy-nominated broadcast journalist, Melissa Reizian Frank entered the world of full-time voiceover 14 years ago with the aim of having more time to spend with her family. Since then, Melissa has voiced thousands of TV and radio commercials, more than a dozen audiobooks, countless e-learning training narrations (Need to know anything from minute details about cerebral palsy? How to be a good bowling center employee? How to spot a money-laundering scheme? She’s your gal!)
She’s a talking detergent dispenser (in English AND Spanish) at many Laundromats across the country, and will even tell you which cash register to go to at many national department stores! Melissa has been involved in theatre her entire life, and has done some community theatre recently as well. Melissa graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she also minored in Theatre.