Charles Norman

Texas, Western, southern, refined, cultured, snooty, country, redneck, hillbilly, educated, academic, news announcer, storyteller, aged, sexy, arrogant, wise, authoritative, reverent, preaching, bombastic, reasonable, smarmy, persuasive

I have produced five books on the Audiobook Creation Exchange, including a self-help marriage-counseling book, a religious/political nonfiction work, a book of social commentary, and two science-fiction novels. I also work as a narrator on the Umanoapp.com site, where I have over 150 clips posted to date. I was a drama/theater major in at Austin College in Texas and worked in several productions, including some lead roles; after I transferred to Michigan State University, I changed my major to Liberal Arts, in which I hold a B.A. After graduation, I studied for three years toward a Master of Theology at Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology, was ordained Deacon, and served as a Methodist minister for four years. I was noted for my preaching ability. I left the ministry and applied my talents to teaching; I was a public- and private-school teacher for more than twenty years, in which career I was noted as a talented and spellbinding storyteller. After I left teaching, I worked for more than ten years as a caregiver for the elderly and disabled; I often read to my visually-impaired clients, and also volunteered for a time as a reader at the Dallas/Fort Worth radio station for the blind. Earlier this year, I was finally talked into auditioning for some audiobook narration work on the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) site; the following day, I had two contracts, and six more by the end of that week. I recently took on a part-time gig as a news reader on the Umanoapp.com website, and to date I have over 150 articles posted there. I work at home in a sound-insulated space, using a Rode NT1-A cardioid condenser mic and an Avid Fast Track Solo preamp and interface, both connected to my Mac. I have Pro Tools, but I have found TwistedWave to be better software for audiobook work. I use a custom processing program for mastering my recordings that was designed for me by George Whittam of EdgeStudio, which guarantees clean audio and a proper noise floor. I have a remarkable command of English spelling, grammar and syntax, and have, as favors for friends and occasionally for payment, done copy-editing and proofreading on both fiction and nonfiction works. I have written professionally as well, and my editors often told me that they could send my work direct to layout because they knew it was technically flawless. I was once offered a book for narration, but I told the rights holder that i wouldn't do it unless I could correct it first. They paid me to do the editing, but gave someone else the narration. I can speak off-the-cuff, extemporaneously, with no difficulty or nervousness, before large groups or small. I have a vast repertoire of stories I can tell, which stands me in good stead as a substitute teacher -- I begin talking, mesmerize them, and for the rest of the day they're mine. No discipline problems; I just have to promise them another story (and I deliver!) I know a lot of jokes, too, many not suitable for the classroom.... I have other talents that don't relate so well to voiceover -- e.g., I'm a fairly quick and skilled cartoonist; it saved me a fortune in stickers in my teaching career. I'm a good math tutor -- I've helped high-school and adult students get A's in Algebra, some of whom had failed it three times in night school. I also sing a pretty fair bass, though I fake it; I don't read music...