Against the Flow : Lindsay McKinnon Guest Post

Header saying this post is a guest post by Lindsay Mckinnon

And now for something a little different...

I am delighted to welcome to my blog the multi-talented
Lindsay McKinnon. Thank you so much for joining us today, and sharing your experience of voicing your first audiobook.

Lindsay is currently producing the audio files for Samantha Henthorn's Curmudgeon Avenue series, and is not only a voice over actor, but a writer, singer, actor, and social media marketer.

Having read all four books in the Curmudgeon Avenue series, I can quite see why Lindsay has called her post '50 Shady Characters'!

And now I just can't wait to hear all my favourite characters brought to life in the finished audiobook, which will be available shortly.

50 SHADY CHARACTERS

~ or ~

Voicing Curmudgeon Avenue

by Lindsay McKinnon

I had been searching through the list of authors looking for narrators for their books for a while, nothing excited me though.

Narrowing down my pursuit to focus on comedy and a Manchester accent, I discovered Samantha Henthorn’s book Curmudgeon Avenue: The Terraced House Diaries.

The instant I began reading, I knew – this is my book! I loved Sam’s quirky characters and that the house itself is the narrator. I could actually hear the characters’ voices in my head.

It took me two weeks though before I could even get the audition recorded, as whatever could go wrong did; as I battled with strange noises and glitches and hums when I was recording.

Not that this is unusual, you understand. I am one of those people who has a strange effect on electronic gadgetry… I’ve lost track of the number of phones, watches and computers I’ve sent doolally, or the amount of times I’ve heard the expression “huh! Well I’ve never seen one do that before,” when attempting to get aforementioned gadgetry fixed. (Hands up those who have had Siri refuse to speak to you for a week and then tell you to “F*** off!” when it finally did?)

Eventually, I recorded the audition piece and uploaded it at unholy A.M. on a Sunday morning, praying that I hadn’t been pipped at the post. Five hours later I received the best possible reaction I could have hoped for from Samantha who emailed me with high praise, which I am way too modest to repeat (but I do have a screen shot of the email on my phone if you really insist on reading it).

Lindsay McKinnon and author Samantha Henthorn at book signing event

Samantha was so happy that I’d read her words exactly how she heard them when she was creating this glorious cast of characters. We were Sympatico. Curmudgeon Avenue is the first audiobook I have recorded and, though I was used to recording and editing software from my days as a singer, the spoken word is a whole different matter. Every breath, pop and sibilant is captured and can’t be disguised by whacking the backing up a bit.

The fun really started though when the list of characters grew and grew and grew. 50 shady characters, all of them with distinct personalities that required equally distinct voices.

After a few faltering requests of; “do you mind if I do this, with that character?” I was so happy when Samantha gave me free rein to interpret them as they came through.

I was a kid performing in my back garden again! I let my imagination run free and practised silly voices and mad characters as they came to me; usually when driving, in the bath or doing the dishes.

Incidentally, both sets of neighbours moved out during this time, but I’m sure that is purely coincidental.

I hope I have done justice to the wonderful array of dodgy characters in Sam’s book and I look forward to the fun and challenges of the next in the series The Harold and Edith Adventures.

Oh look, the new neighbours are moving in… I wonder if they’ll stay.

book cover images for the bookins in the Curmudgeon Avenue series by Samantha Henthorn

Purchase Curmudgeon Avenue #1: The Terraced House Diaries from:

Amazon UK Amazon US Amazon CA Amazon AU

Bio – Lindsay McKinnon
Lindsay was born in Liverpool, the youngest of five children in a Scots/Irish family. A born writer and performer, Lindsay wrote her first book of poetry by the time she was seven and regularly staged plays in the back garden, to which all the neighbours were invited (but alas, shockingly few turned up.) While in Drama college, she worked at night in the Merseyside Everyman Theatre; a perfect place to learn from the talented people who wrote and performed there, including Alan Bleasdale, Willy Russell and Victoria Wood, and performed by the amazingly talented John McCardle, Bernard Hill, Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent. Drama college was followed by a course on Print and Broadcast Journalism at Liverpool University; securing herself internships at Granada TV and on Radio City. Lindsay worked as a writer and performer for a Theatre in Education Co for a year before moving to theatrical digs in London, where she met the man who was to become her future husband and creative collaborator. They formed the duo Little Devils and performed on the alternative comedy circuit with fellow newcomers, Julian Clary (aka The Joan Collins Fan Club), Harry Enfield, Helen Lederer etc. Along with writing sketches for the show, Lindsay also wrote short stories for magazines including Jackie. Choosing a slightly more glamorous life, Little Devils became singing duo Cachet, and they spent the next couple of decades dividing their time between (apparently) glamorous overseas tours and (slightly less) glamorous working men’s clubs including regular spots at Bernard Manning’s club The Embassy. Lindsay also spent a year teaching creative writing to ex-offenders, while still touring the clubs at night. The couple lived in Canada for ten years where, between singing contracts, Lindsay appeared in a few plays, indie films and even an episode of The Outer Limits. Lindsay wrote, Toques Off Stetsons On which won best short film from the Actors Union in Toronto. Lindsay also worked as a dialect coach teaching Canadians, the nuances of American, British and European accents. When their marriage ended, the pair returned to the UK where Lindsay continued to work as a singer and compere on the club circuit. Here she met Blackpool comedian and impresario Tony Jo, and began doing the marketing and social media for his agency, HRH Entertainments. With a few voice overs in the UK and Canada under her belt, Lindsay is pursuing her love of voice over acting, leading to her collaboration with Samantha Henthorn, whose book she auditioned for on Amazon Audio. Curmudgeon Avenue: The Terraced House Diaries proved to be challenging in the number of characters there are to voice, but a huge amount of fun to perform. The project was made all the more enjoyable as Samantha gave Lindsay free rein on the voice and characterisation and even the accents for the inhabitants of her book. Samantha and Lindsay are looking forward to turning the rest of the Curmudgeon Avenue series into audiobooks, which will introduce an even greater range of characters who are standing in the wings, waiting to be given their voice.

Bio – Lindsay McKinnon

Head shot of voice actor and voice over artist Lindsay McKinnon

Lindsay was born in Liverpool, the youngest of five children in a Scots/Irish family.

A born writer and performer, Lindsay wrote her first book of poetry by the time she was seven and regularly staged plays in the back garden, to which all the neighbours were invited (but alas, shockingly few turned up.)

While in Drama college, she worked at night in the Merseyside Everyman Theatre; a perfect place to learn from the talented people who wrote and performed there, including Alan Bleasdale, Willy Russell and Victoria Wood, and performed by the amazingly talented John McCardle, Bernard Hill, Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent.

Drama college was followed by a course on Print and Broadcast Journalism at Liverpool University; securing herself internships at Granada TV and on Radio City. Lindsay worked as a writer and performer for a Theatre in Education Co for a year before moving to theatrical digs in London, where she met the man who was to become her future husband and creative collaborator.

They formed the duo Little Devils and performed on the alternative comedy circuit with fellow newcomers, Julian Clary (aka The Joan Collins Fan Club), Harry Enfield, Helen Lederer etc. Along with writing sketches for the show, Lindsay also wrote short stories for magazines including Jackie.

Choosing a slightly more glamorous life, Little Devils became singing duo Cachet, and they spent the next couple of decades dividing their time between (apparently) glamorous overseas tours and (slightly less) glamorous working men’s clubs including regular spots at Bernard Manning’s club The Embassy. Lindsay also spent a year teaching creative writing to ex-offenders, while still touring the clubs at night.

The couple lived in Canada for ten years where, between singing contracts, Lindsay appeared in a few plays, indie films and even an episode of The Outer Limits. Lindsay wrote, Toques Off Stetsons On which won best short film from the Actors Union in Toronto. Lindsay also worked as a dialect coach teaching Canadians, the nuances of American, British and European accents.

When their marriage ended, the pair returned to the UK where Lindsay continued to work as a singer and compere on the club circuit. Here she met Blackpool comedian and impresario Tony Jo, and began doing the marketing and social media for his agency, HRH Entertainments.

With a few voice overs in the UK and Canada under her belt, Lindsay is pursuing her love of voice over acting, leading to her collaboration with Samantha Henthorn, whose book she auditioned for on Amazon Audio.

Curmudgeon Avenue: The Terraced House Diaries proved to be challenging in the number of characters there are to voice, but a huge amount of fun to perform. The project was made all the more enjoyable as Samantha gave Lindsay free rein on the voice and characterisation and even the accents for the inhabitants of her book.

Samantha and Lindsay are looking forward to turning the rest of the Curmudgeon Avenue series into audiobooks, which will introduce an even greater range of characters who are standing in the wings, waiting to be given their voice.