Uvi Poznansky: The Woman Behind Anita's Voice

Thursday, February 14, 2013

The Woman Behind Anita's Voice

So today I would like to introduce the narrator behind the voice of my character, Anita, featured in My Own Voice (volume I of the series.)

To find her I listened to numerous auditions of talented narrators and actors. But when I heard her voice, I knew instantly that I need not look any further. What set Heather Jane Hogan apart was not only her sultry, intimate voice, not only her talent in doing Anita's Southern twang, and not only the heartfelt interpretation of the text, but most of all, this: hers was no performance. Heather did not play Anita--she WAS Anita!

So in designing the cover for the audiobook, I have already added her name in the bottom left corner of the image. Graphically, there is the 'busy factor' consideration: taken together, the book title, author name and the names of the narrators add up to a lot of text, but I wanted to avoid cluttering the image.

This is why I chose the color of the font to be very similar to the cool turquoise background behind it--just a little bit brighter, so as to separate from it in a subtle way. You will also notice that the shadow cast down from the letters is soft and fuzzy, no hard edges, which helps separate the letters from the background over which they are floating.

And here are a few quotes of what Heather says about herself:

"I work as a Voiceover. In case you’re not sure what that is, Webster’s definition of a voiceover is, “the voice of an offscreen narrator, announcer, or the like.” For me, it was an easy transition from stage and film acting to voice. I love telling a good story, so voiceover has been a great fit for me."
"In 1999, I went skydiving. I’ll never forget it. It wasn’t what I expected. I thought it would be exhilarating; that I would land and shout something like, “WOO HOO!!”… but… at least for me, it was more of an overwhelming experience. Afterwards, I just wanted to sit and contemplate my belly button."
"In 2003 and 2004 I won the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), hosted by http://www.nanowrimo.org. They host a challenge every year during the month of November for you to write a novel. It doesn’t have to be good, no one reads it for proof (the contest is honor-based) – but you have to write 50,000 words in one month (the definition of a novel). It’s a great and challenging exercise, even if you’re not a writer."
"I sing in the car. Loudly. I’m that woman you see on the highway, belting out tunes as if she were on stage somewhere and blissfully unconcerned that other people on the highway can see me."
"I love roller coasters. The more twisty-turny-upside-down-back-and-forth-hair-raising, the better."