An Interview with Lisa Hicks, the voice behind The Hairy Legged Mystery!

An Interview with Lisa Hicks,  the voice behind The Hairy Legged Mystery!

This week The Hairy-Legged Mystery burst onto the audiobook market and made a hugely hairy impact. With the audio fluffaciousness reaching the masses,  I felt that the world like to know a bit more about Lisa Hicks - the voice artist and producer behind the audiobook. Lisa trained as an actor, spent several years acting on stage, in TV and film, and then became an elementary school librarian.  I guess you want to know a little bit more than that... So here are some questions that will give you a better insight.

Q: How did you get into producing audiobooks?

I love “Kid Lit”, I love reading it, I love listening to it and I love being a matchmaker – finding just the right book for each kid.  Part of my job in the library was to read aloud to the students, and they enjoyed my readings as much as I enjoyed performing books for them. 

I am also an avid audiobook listener.  I listen during car trips, while walking and while doing housework.  When a narrator “gets” the author’s voice, then has the skills to communicate that voice, it is magic and I am transported into the book in a powerful way. 

A few years ago I began to wonder if I could combine my acting training, experience with kids, love of books and technical skills to become a narrator myself.  It has been two years of a roller-coaster-learning-curve, but I am enjoying the ride! 

Q: What do you look for when choosing to work on an audio book?  

For the moment I am sticking with what I know – kids’  ‘tween and teen books, but I feel sure I will branch out with experience.   I look for books which respect the intelligence of the audience.   I will not audition for a book if I feel the author is talking down to the young reader, or manipulating a reader of any age.

Q: What are some of your funniest/ weirdest and most awkward experiences within audio production? 

Hmm…  I’m something of a newbie.  Check back with me in a couple of years ;-)

Q: What was it about The Hairy-Legged Mystery books that appealed?

I fell in love with the characters and their family life.  I wanted to be in that family where the kids love to play outside, where they think fast, take risks and back each other up.  Hats off to their working parents, who manage to give their kids space, but hang with them at bedtime too, telling wildly imaginative stories. 

Also, I should mention Ruby that your writing style makes narrating easy.  You have a natural conversational tone with realistic dialogue, which made the job of a narrating this book an absolute pleasure.

Q: What are your favourite bits of The Hairy-Legged mystery that the readers should listen out for? 

Listen for the tea-time scene in which Ben and Jenny hide the creature under the table.   While banana peels and orange skins fly, the pair try to cover the sounds and distract their parents from discovering their secret.

Q: What advice do you have for authors intending to produce audiobooks?

GO FOR IT!  The audiobook audience is growing.  There are people like me who listen while doing mindless tasks, people who are learning English and will use your book to improve their language skills, and there are brilliantly intelligent people who are dyslexic and who appreciate a good read minus the agro of decoding .  GO FOR IT!

LINK TO THE HAIRY LEGGED MYSTERY ON AUDIO:
http://www.audible.com/pd/Kids/The-Hairy-Legged-Mystery-Audiobook/B01H2HF0XU/ref=a_search_c4_1_9_srTtl?qid=1466104902&sr=1-9

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Ruby Allure BOOKS ON AUDIBLE.COM
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NEW RELEASE: TINGLE DINGLE AND THE LITTLE MISCHIEFS

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NEW RELEASE: THE HAIRY-LEGGED MYSTERY

https://www.amazon.com/Hairy-Legged-Mystery-Ruby-Allure-ebook/dp/B01G2C0Y9Q?ie=UTF8&qid=1465049724&ref_=sr_1_2&s=digital-text&sr=1-2

WRITE.PRODUCE. RELEASE...

WRITE. PRODUCE. RELEASE.

I am very lucky because I have a friend who is quite brilliant. This friend managed to simply accumulate wealth. She does not have to try... Money quite literally gravitates to her. It is amazing. The thing is, because she is removed from the wasted mental energy needed to pay bills and make ends meet, she provides some fantastic insights. Last night's insight was about why we do things. What is our motivation? How does that motivation change as we mature?

Admittedly we have both matured in the last ten years. The way we approach things have changed dramatically. She has watched my writing journey with amusement. In the beginning there were heady ideals and great aspirations which gradually whittled away to become the purity of creation. My delusional ideals were quite hilarious now when I look back; however, they are what drove me to write daily. They motivated me to create discipline and conquer the inner critic, the inner saboteur and the deluded grandiose egotism that demanded that I prove to the world that I was special. I now write anonymously because I have no desire to be known. That is quite a reverse of the dream of standing in the spotlight!

On my journey I realised that I knew less than I thought, that ego was a dick and that actually the outcome is nothing in comparison to the beauty of being immersed in creativity. For me creativity is like being suspended in this beautiful light space where everything is possible. It is a space filled with magic, dreams, laughter and manifestation. I love it there. It has fairies, mythological creatures and all manner of hero waiting to take part in adventures. All the pieces of the puzzle are suspended in all directions and it my job to waft around the creative realm pulling all the pieces together into an adventurous narrative.

Over the years I must have written about forty books. Not bad going. I think about twelve are on the market, the thing is I actually stopped caring about the market, the acclaim or money. I have a good job which takes the pressure off the writing. The funny thing is when you stop caring about money or acclaim they come to you... What I have learned is there is a sense of privilege in being able to provide entertainment for others. There is a great feeling of gratitude in being given a creative idea that can run to completion and more than anything there is the true love of dreaming and imagining.

My friend then, in her own special way, pointed out creativity and writing was the opportunity to 'give' something of you to the world. That creativity is between you and your maker; however, once made you can share your creation with the world. That is why I publish the work - to share and to come to completion. Another great learning is that no one owes you anything, no one needs to read your work and no one owes you an income from what you create... This then leads people to the question then why create at all? THE ANSWER IS JOY AND THAT YOU ARE COMPELLED TO CREATE. Creativity has picked you to be the vessel to transmute an idea into reality. Isn't that a privilege?

This goes back to my friend and her insight: she arrived at a point in her life where she no longer needs to toil. Simplicity became the answer. She came to the conclusion after numerous successes that they meant nothing. The mastery comes from finding beauty in the mundane and when you master that then what do you need? It is funny how we both arrived at the same conclusion from very different paths. I was always competitive and taking part in sports competitions whilst writing books and climbing the career ladder. At the same time she set up businesses, developed property and had a family. Two very different paths but one conclusion - the joy is truly in the journey and learning to be authentic. By taking such paths we are open to learn who we truly are. At first we may aspire to be something or to have something. Yet the journey reveals us all the facets of self. During the journey we discover new pieces of the puzzle which can be slotted into the spaces that needed to be filled. During the journey we see our shadows and conquer our own dragons in search of the treasure. However, we are the treasure and yet we have looked outside for that validation. So with all that in mind, my approach is WRITE. PRODUCE. RELEASE. Today The Hairy Legged Mystery was released on audio. Fantastic job Lisa. Thanks for being the voice of the story! The amazing thing is that it already sells and I guess that is because I loved writing it. Those who have read it say they can feel the fun in it. What more can you want than that? People ask me about the money side of things - that is no longer the motivation - it is nice; however, the royalties become the by-product of the joy I felt in the creation. The value for me now is in creativity because ultimately money is a piece of paper with a stranger's face on that is used for exchange. Money is not the motivation the experience is and that is when things truly changed...

LINK TO THE HAIRY LEGGED MYSTERY ON AUDIO:
http://www.audible.com/pd/Kids/The-Hairy-Legged-Mystery-Audiobook/B01H2HF0XU/ref=a_search_c4_1_9_srTtl?qid=1466104902&sr=1-9