Lessa Lamb

Being an audiobook narrator is literally Lessa Lamb's dream job. Seriously, she used to have actual dreams about it. When she was a kid, her mom used to read to her. Then she started listening to audiobooks. She never thought she could be "one of those people," though, because she didn't have a big, fancy acting degree.

What she did have, however, was an incredibly deep passion for listening to and analyzing the way people talk. Not just the way they communicate (by which she is also fascinated, and has studied extensively), but the way they actually speak.

How do people's mouths form the words they say? Do they have an accent? If so, from where, and how can you tell? What makes some people's words sound different from others? What makes men's and women's voices different? In short, what makes people sound like "themselves?"

The investigation of this fascination has taken Lessa all over the world, and led to countless hours of video reference study, discussions with linguists and speech pathologists, conversations with native speakers . . . the list goes on.

When Lessa's cousin's wife started writing and self-publishing her books, she was let in on this whole world of self-made authors and narrators . . . and she started thinking that she might actually be able to do this thing she had dreamt of for so long. She started narrating and producing her audiobooks, and slowly built a small portfolio.

But the big turning point came when she got fired from her job at the time (the nicest thing they could have done for her, honestly), and decided to pursue audiobook narration full-time. With the help of her stunningly supportive partner (and his master's degree in mechanical engineering), she embarked on her full-time narration adventure, and she eventually built a sound booth in their office.

Lessa has now narrated more than thirty projects, and she honestly plans to do this work until she literally can no longer speak . . . which, if she's good to her vocal folds, she hopes to prolong until shortly before her ultimate demise. She imagines that to be a good few decades hence, so she's hoping there are hundreds more audiobooks in her future.

Lessa's aim, always, is to read a story the way an author hears it in their own head. Her ultimate goal as a narrator is to render the content in so enthralling a manner that even its original creator becomes completely engrossed in listening to their own story. With that in mind, she hopes to transport every listener who encounters her work as fully as possible into the author's creative vision.

It is Lessa's most sincere hope that her narration will transport you, too.