Category Archives: Narration

Susan Hanfield narration.

AudioFile Magazine’s Review of The Game of Love and Death! #2017 Audie Finalist

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So happy to share this lovely review from AudioFile Magazine for The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough!  Published by Scholastic Audio.

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THE GAME OF LOVE AND DEATH

by Martha Brockenbrough | Read by Susan Hanfield

Young Adult Young Adult • 11 hrs. • Unabridged • © 2015

Narrator Susan Hanfield embodies the characters Love and Death, who wager on the love between Henry and Flora, a pair of teenagers in Seattle in the 1920s. Hanfield uses a stoic voice when Death points out that because Flora is African-American and Henry is white, there is no way their love will endure. From Love, one hears notes of wistfulness and desperation–as he is tired of losing his wagers with Death and wants this forward-thinking pair to thrive. Hanfield believably portrays both Flora and Henry from childhood to the story’s present as well as creating vivid voices for secondary characters, ably handling accents and foreign languages, and even occasionally breaking into song. Historical fiction, romance, and magical realism make for a compelling listen. A.F. 2017 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2017]

Listen to a sample of 2017 Audie Award Finalist The Game of Love and Death!

 

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“Today she is everywhere…” The Second Line of Defense – now on Audio!

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61dgv7sdj5l-_sl300_Lynn Dumenil’s The Second Line of Defense: American Women and World War I offers an in-depth look at the role women played during World War I and how they crossed personal, economic and political boundaries to help the United States mobilize for War. Published by Blackstone Audio, this was such a compelling book to narrate!

The women of this era fought fearlessly, volunteering on the home front, working as laborers in factories, serving as nurses overseas, and challenging racial divides at home – forming a true second line of defense. Anne Emerson, captured the essence of the early 20th century “new woman” beautifully in her 1918 Forum Article: “Today she is everywhere; a Salvation lassie, serving coffee and doughnuts on the firing line; in the Red Cross Emergency Hospital at the front; in the munitions factory at home; filling the gaps in man-made industry everywhere. . . She is omnipresent.”

Indeed she was.  It was an honor to narrate this book. I hope you enjoy it.

YOUTH WILL BE SERVED – Today’s story from Nightmare Magazine! Have a listen…

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1Youth Will Be Served  by Andrew Fox is a deeply enthralling short story that I had the incredible joy of narrating for Nightmare Magazine, produced by Skyboat Media.

I won’t give all the details away as I hope you’ll stop by Nightmare Magazine to have a listen, but this dark tale centers around a young girl who is about to celebrate her thirteenth birthday. This is not just any birthday, as this particular girl has Hutchinson-Gilford Pregoria syndrome, a heartbreaking disease whereby a child ages rapidly and rarely sees their fourteenth birthday.

Andrew Fox’s moving story toggles between the present and fourteen years earlier where we meet a clique of elderly ladies who call themselves the “the nobody-to-call-us club.” Years ago, these ladies made a deadly deal with a sea creature called Mr. Grayback, in the hopes of regaining their youth. The terms were steep and the end result not exactly ideal, but when we return to the present, this young girl’s aunt thinks perhaps it’s time for just one more deal…if only to guarantee that her niece reaches her fourteenth birthday…

The ocean is an immense eating machine, and I’m an edible speck bobbing up and down between its lips. Waiting for it to notice me.

Mr. Grayback?

Are you out here?

We need to make a deal . . .

Thrilled to be a 2017 Audie Award Finalist!

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So incredibly happy to have learned that I am a 2017 Audie Award Finalist in the Young Adult category for THE GAME OF LOVE AND DEATH, exquisitely written by Martha Brockenbrough and published by Scholastic Audio!

My deepest thanks to Paul Gagne  for trusting me with this beautiful book that so captured my heart from the very first moment. Heartfelt thanks also to Debra Deyan, Jorge Reyes, Sebastian Zetin and the amazing team at Deyan Audio! What an incredible joy to work with all of you. Thanks also to the Audio Publishers Association!

Huge congratulations to all of the 2017 Audie Award Finalists!! Your work inspires me every day.

 

Two Identical Doors. Behind One, a Lady. Behind the Other, a Tiger…

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fth-finalSuch a joy to be a part of FROM THE HEART, a month of free audio put together by the extraordinary Xe Sands and Jennifer Conner as a way to say thank you to our listening community!

Today, I’m up at bat with an intriguing short story called The Lady, or The Tiger?  written by Frank R. Stockton. This riddle immediately caught my attention and I love how Stockton leaves it up to the listener to decide which door our protagonist opens! If you’re unfamiliar with the story, here is a brief look behind the two doors…

In a land far far away an unusual punishment is imposed by a semi-barbaric king in which the accused must leave his life to impartial and incorruptible chance as he chooses between two identical doors. Behind one door is a beautiful lady, who the accused man would immediately wed after choosing that door, behind the other is a ferocious tiger who is ready for his next meal.  Our protagonist has fallen in love with the princess. Upon learning of this forbidden relationship, the king sentences this young man to the choosing of the  doors. Meanwhile, the princess has discovered the secret behind the door and signals her lover. But which door does she signal? If she indicates the door with the lady, she must watch the man she loves marry a woman she despises. If she leads the man to the tiger, she must watch him be torn to pieces. What do you think? Which did he choose The Lady or the Tiger?

The Lady or the Tiger was first published in The Century magazine in 1882. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, author Frank Stockton is best known for this short story.

 

Exciting night as a nominee at the 3rd Annual Voice Arts Award!

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Had a fun night on the Warner Bros. Studio lot last night as a nominee for the 3rd Annual Voice Arts Awards! Thrilled to be nominated with the cast of Hemingway in Love: His Own Story by A.E. Hotchner for the 2016 Voice Arts Awards.  This was an exciting night!

In this moving memoir of Hemingway’s life, I had the joy of playing Hadley Richardson. This, in addition to working with such an awesome cast, made this project a dream to work on. Our full cast includes: Alex Hyde-White, Joan Baker, Gabrielle de Cuir, Steve Marvel (pictured here with me) and Susan Hanfield.  Hemingway in Love: His Own Story is published by Macmillan Audio and produced by Punch Audio.

Many thanks to SOVAS and to our fabulous hosts Joan Baker and Rudy Gaskins for such a wonderful evening!

Congratulations to all the winner and nominees!

Thrilled to be a nominee at the 2016 Voice Arts Awards!

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Congratulations to my many friends and colleagues who received nominations today for the 2016 Voice Arts Awards!!

I am so excited to learn that I’m also a nominee, alongside a sublime cast (Alex Hyde-White, Gabrielle de Cuir, Joan Baker, Steve Marvel) for Hemingway in Love: His Own Story  written by A.E. Hotchner, published by Macmillan Audio and produced by Punch Audio.

In this poignant memoir, I had the immense joy of playing Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife. To step into Hemingway’s world in the 1920s and learn who this extraordinary woman was, is an experience I will always treasure!

Hemingway in Love: His Own Story is available on Audible and at Amazon.com.

You, Fascinating You – First Glimpse Inside the Upcoming Audiobook!

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I couldn’t be more thrilled to be narrating this exquisite novel written by Germaine Shames, produced by Punch Audio.  You, Fascinating You is based on the true story of Hungarian ballerina, Margit Wolf, who leaves Hungary at the age of 17 with dreams of dancing at La Scala.  Once in Italy, she meets Italian composer, Pasquale Frustaci, the man who would become the love of her life.  As World War II becomes imminent and in the wake of Mussolini’s edict banishing foreign Jews from Italy, Margit returns to Hungary with their young son. She would not be reunited with her Italian maestro for another 22 years.

In this brief clip, older Margit takes us back to the day when at 17, she breaks the news to her parents that she has received an opportunity to dance … at La Scala. Have a listen!

“We never saw them coming”…. NINTH CITY BURNING – now available on Audio!

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Thrilled to be a part of this very cool multi-voiced audiobook, Ninth City Burning, written by the incredibly talented J. Patrick Black and published by Penguin Random House.

I had so much fun portraying the quirky, always outspoken inventor Kizabel and her alter ego or “instara” (a.k.a. spectral assistant) Lady!

Set 500 years in the future after an alien attack on planet Earth, suddenly Earth is at risk once more. A select group of 7 individuals come together from unique locations around the globe, each needed for their rare talent, if they have any hope of saving the planet. Written from various perspectives, all in first person, Black has created wonderfully rich characters that are a joy to portray.

Ninth City Burning is now available on Audible and at Amazon.com.

Engage! The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years – is now on Audio!

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51WNF-WB+3L._SL300_The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From the Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek by  Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman has just released – on Audio!

The Next 25 Years begins with Star Trek: The Next Generation and beams through to present day.  I had so much fun portraying a myriad of incredibly talented women in this audible history of Star Trek! An added highlight, was the opportunity to portray two of my favorite women in space – Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher) from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway) from Star Trek: Voyager. Such an honor to be a part of this exciting (audible) history, as we commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek.

Published by Macmillan Audio and produced by the great team at Punch Audio, The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years is now available on Audible.com and Amazon.