Interview with narrator Kelsey Navarro

1 – How did you come to narrate romantic novels?

I had always wanted to get into voice acting and was a lover of romance audiobooks already. It’s one of my favorite genres as a reader and listener and even still as I started narrating. 

2 – Have you narrated books from different genres?

Definitely!  I love nonfiction, YA, and I’ve recently started narrating more thrillers. 

3 – What was the most fun \ easy book you narrated?

I couldn’t possibly pick!  Romantic comedy are what I’m most frequently cast in so I would say that is the easiest for me.

4 – What was the most difficult book \ character you narrated and why?

I’ve only done 2 horror books and they were the hardest because I’m super afraid of horror books and movies!  It was a good learning experience for sure. 

5 – What are the preparations you make before each project? Do you read the whole book in advance? Do you rehearse out loud before the recording itself? or maybe something else?

I do read each book beforehand for preparation.  If I don’t know what’s coming, mistakes can easily happen (like a character revealing an accent in the 2nd to last chapter!  This has happened before).  I don’t read the whole thing aloud before performing as it would take too long.  But I like to create character breakdowns and understand who especially the main characters are before starting. 

6 – Is there a genre \ book \ character that you won’t agree to narrate? If so – why?

I’m pretty open to narrating just about anything.  The only thing I would say no to is books that glamorize no consent/rape in a story.  It would depend on the context and I’d need to know that in advance before I agreed to take the book. 

Also as far as character, accurate representation is really important to me.  I would not play a main character whose ethnicity is not represented by myself, especially as an ethnic minority.  If I couldn’t be cast as that character in a movie or TV show, I should not be playing them in an audiobook.

7 – How long does it take you to record an entire book?

It depends on the book.  A very research heavy nonfiction will take longer than a young adult book overall.  On average it takes me about 2 hours to record 1 finished hour of audio.  This does not include any of the prep time. 

8 – Are you working on more than one book at a time?

Yes!  I’m usually prepping one, recording another, and waiting for pickups for ones that I’ve already finished.  

9 – What is the genre you like to read in your free time?

I’m a huge fan of self help and non-fiction. That tends to be my go to since I read a lot of romance for recording. 

10 – Is there a writer you particularly like? To read or to work with

So many!  I couldn’t pick just one.  The first contemporary romance I ever read was Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren so that will always have a special place in my reading history.