Clearly I am unable to stay on top of even a monthly recap these days! Did May even have any Mondays in it? What’s that you say? Five? FIVE MONDAYS IN MAY? AND I MISSED ALL OF THEM? (Yikes!)...
Clearly I am unable to stay on top of even a monthly recap these days! Did May even have any Mondays in it?
What’s that you say?
Five?
FIVE MONDAYS IN MAY?
AND I MISSED ALL OF THEM?
(Yikes!)
Okay, so, here’s the thing. The freelancing life is feast or famine and I had a FIVE MONTH work drought from Nov ’20 to March ’21. No joke. All of that blogging I did in the first quarter of this year? Was I merely super generous with my time and knowledge? Sure, I guess… but honestly?
Nopeity nope nope nope. I was UN-EM-PLOYED. Those posts were a way to keep me busy and engaged with my career and contribute to the community when N.O.T.H.I.N.G. was happening.
But even though I felt like “nothing” was happening, I was actually doing a LOT of work – just none of it for money. I spent the entire month of January woodshedding (boothshedding?) and going back to what felt like Square One in many ways, mostly by coaching every week for five weeks with the lovely Carol Monda (you know her, you love her) and really buckling down and cementing my narration skills.
I worked every single day: When I wasn’t auditioning my heart out to deafening silence, I would take my favorite books off my shelf and read them aloud. Not only to put the work I was doing in my sessions with Carol into action, but to remind myself what I could do, even if I was the only one listening. I also coached with voice and speech genius Amanda Quaid to improve my (formerly) poor vocal technique and correct some bad habits.
Juggling all those new things, I think I re-recorded my new audiobooks samples (no joke) ten times before I felt comfortable enough to send them to producers and casting directors, in part, because I felt so defeated during those long long loooooong months of no jobs, and being without work makes your brain lie to you and tell you it must be because, to borrow the words of Linda Ronstadt, “You’re no good, you’re no good, you’re no good… baby, you’re no goooooooooooood.”
The only thing that kept me going was spite. I was NOT going to let that dang slump get the best of me! I was going to use that time to my advantage while I slurped cheap ramen and tuna and boxed mac & cheese. (Trader Joe’s. $0.99/box–or $1.29/box if you’re feeling fancy and splurge on the organic stuff.)
Eventually (because you do not have all day to lollygag around reading about my life), IT WORKED! All that unpaid work finally PAID OFF!!
As I mentioned in April’s post, I was cast in my first book for Penguin Random House, and now that book is going to be released TOMORROW!!
It is a fierce, feisty, funny-as-eff book for tweens and young adults (and not-so-grown-ups), EAT YOUR HEART OUT, by Kelly DeVos, and I’m part of a six narrator multi-cast with some truly humbling colleagues (click here to see who!)
I’m reading the part of Vivian Ellenshaw, get this… the (gulp) leading character!!
That’s Vivian: ON THE FRICKIN’ COVER!!!The quick and dirty synopsis is, Vivian is fat, but she knows she doesn’t need to lose weight, so she’s none too happy to find herself forced into a weight-loss camp’s van with her ex-best friend, Allie; a meathead jock who can barely drive; and the camp owner’s snobby son. And when they arrive at Camp Featherlite at the start of the worst blizzard in the history of Flagstaff, Arizona, it’s clear that something isn’t right. (Spoiler alert: it’s overrun by zombies!!!!)
Booklist said, in a starred review: “deVos superbly blends humor and horror in this sharp-witted, high-stakes adventure that unpicks genre conventions and wades fearlessly into the dialogue surrounding fatphobia. A gory, no-holds-barred zombie story that manages to both celebrate and terrify.”
And seriously, this book was the most fun I’ve had in my life! I got to go to John Marshall Media to record it and everything!! I can’t thank producer Kelly Gildea enough for thinking of me and for making the whole process a dream come true. Thanks also to Danny Campbell for guiding me through my first directed session with generosity and humor when I got completely marble-mouthed.
It still blows my mind I was at JMM!
I MEAN… HOW FANCY IS THIS?
I even got to bring Spencer with me!
ANYWAY… as Dean Martin once sang, “You’re nobody ’til somebody loves you” and once the ball started rolling, as it’s as if the universe said, “Okay, Kimberly. You’ve proved you’re ready, so, buckle up and let’s put the pedal to the metal!!”
And lemme tell you, this ride has been WILD!
In the last few months I’ve recorded books for Simon & Schuster, Dreamscape Media, Spectrum Audiobooks, indie authors Tracy Sumner and Linda Smolkin, and today, I start recording the second of three books in a romantic comedy series for Orange Sky Audio!
You also know from reading last month’s post, that I’ve started directing audiobooks too!!! I’ve now completed five audiobooks for Macmillan Audio, and have several more scheduled this summer! I’ve predominantly been working with authors recording their own nonfiction books (my favorite thing ever–I LOVE working with writers!), and I’ve learned about everything from the generational trauma that has wounded our country for centuries, to writing your way through hard times, to loving people more than stuff, to what the dead have to say about making the most out of your life.
I’ve also gotten to work on one fiction title so far, and it was The Husbands by Chandler Baker, and I worked with the supremely talented narrator Allyson Ryan, and I promise you, THIS IS ONE BOOK YOU ARE NOT GOING TO WANT TO MISS!!!
Pre-order it today! This will be THE book of the summer!!!
So… am I sad I spent all that time blogging instead of “working”? HECK NO!
The thing I didn’t realize then, was that all this (or some version of it) was lying in store for me, but I simply wasn’t ready yet. I needed that time to prepare myself for what was to come.
Famine sucks (no matter how tasty that mac & cheese is) and there’s no getting around it. And there’s no guarantee this little ‘coaster I’m on isn’t going to grind to a halt once again. It’s the nature of the beast. But if I can offer up any wisdom (such as it is) from the last nine months or so, it’s this: DON’T GIVE UP!
If you find yourself with time on your hands, embrace it. Learn something new. Revisit an old favorite. Get your naps in. Then take a few more. Be a sponge. Absorb everything you can while you can. Get all your ducks in a row early and practice being busy…
…because one of these days, the universe WILL come calling, and you’ll want to be ready so you can enjoy the crap out of it. 
Until next month (hopefully)…
