Guest Focus
Christopher Rain
Narrator
Q. How long have you been narrating books?
A. I started narrating in 2015 when I was informed by a good friend that Audio books were starting to make a big presence in the book world. Sales were skyrocketing for audio books. He said, "You already have a degree in Audio Production and Engineering, as well as the equipment to record your voice. Why not try recording yourself narrating audio books?" At the time I was instructing guitar lessons and slowly realizing I did not want to continue to teach lessons for the rest of my life for a career. I instantly took my closet apart, started putting studio foam in it to make a booth in my apartment, and began sending in auditions to ACX. The rest was history.
Q. Did you begin with the MM genre? How did you fall into it?
A. Essentially, yes I did. I did a couple of short stories and very quickly I started getting feedback from essentially MM Romance authors asking to work on their books.
Q. What is the most challenging thing about doing narration?
A. Getting over feeling like an impostor. I had to force myself to just record, and do my best to improve my audio quality, as well as my acting skills.
Q. What do you enjoy most about it?
A. I think what I truly enjoy the most is when I lose myself in a story, or even lose myself in the acting/narration to the point where I lose track of time. It doesn't always happen, but when it does, I can look at the clock at 8am and then look at the clock again, and it's noon.
Q. Where have you set up your studio?
A. In 2015 when I started narrating, I had a closet in an apartment with a roommate and we both had significant others. Making my ability to record good quality audio so much harder. That is the biggest reason I took a break from narrating and started again in 2019. I currently live in a home where there are no more distractions or audio issues than most home recording studios would have. So I feel very comfortable now recording the best audio I can.
Q: Is there a certain time of day you find best to work?
A. Normal work hours from 8am to 5pm is fine. Currently it does not matter too much when I record. If I want to record at dinnertime I could, and if I want to record at midnight, it's not really any better or worse than if I record at noon. As long as there is not a lawn mower going around at the moment. (Luckily does not happen often.)
Q:. How do you feel narrating sex scenes? Do you find it awkward? How do you get in the mindset for that type of scene or for other emotional scenes?
A. I used to feel a little weird about narrating sex scenes, and when I first started I thought I would narrate very slow, but I realized that just like a real life sex situation, it's not all slow and mellow, and it's not all fast and chaotic. It's all of that and in between and is more like a roller coaster. So now it's more comfortable to record a sex scene.
Q. In The Ballerino and the Biker, did you feel closer to Morgan’s character or Zeke’s?
A. In my opinion, most POV books I have read, there is usually a character that I feel has more of a presence in the story, or the story is based on maybe 60-40% between the two characters. And I think the younger character or the one that is portrayed as the one in trouble or not a physically masculine, will be the one I usually either relate to or feel is the 60% of the story.
Q. You are currently narrating book two of my Hedonist series. How is it different from your experience with book one?
A. I believe book one and book two have different vibes. Explanation: Book one, there was this angst that was always lingering about Morgan being in trouble physically. And Zeke not knowing why he was attracted to a man when he had not been before Morgan. Book two, Swish has a past that is tragic, so I feel that he has seen the worst, and I don't think that there is that angst during the story (but) before the story. And Dante's past is wild because he knows his future is nothing but drab.