The Society of Voice Arts and Sciences announced its nominees for the 2015 Voice Arts Awards on Oct. 8, and the list predictably includes celebrities like Beyonce, William Shatner, Garrison Keillor, Ron Perlman and….Heather Lende.
Last week, Lende found out she was nominated in the “Audiobook Narration – Author Performance, Best Voiceover” category for her book, “Find the Good,” which she wrote and recorded.
She is vying for the award alongside industry heavyweights Tim Gunn (Emmy-award winning fashion consultant and mentor to designers on the popular television show “Project Runway”), Garrison Keillor (author, humorist and host of the Minnesota Public Radio show “A Prairie Home Companion”) and Ron Perlman (Golden Globe-winning television, film and voice actor).
When Lende received an email informing her of the nomination, she thought it was some kind of prank. “I’m always polite, but I get a lot of interesting things from people. I just wrote and said, ‘Thank you very much. Is this for real or is this a joke?’”
After receiving confirmation that the nomination was indeed legitimate, Lende tried to figure out how her audiobook managed to be ranked alongside celebrities like Perlman and Keillor. Lende, after all, ended up recording the audiobook on a lark, as the company that bought the rights – Highbridge Audiobooks – hadn’t selected anyone to read and Lende volunteered.
Lende had to audition for the part of reading her own book, and got it. She ended up recording at a small studio in Juneau.
Lende said she was glad she earned the spot of recording “Find the Good,” because tone can considerably influence how something is interpreted.
“I like reading my own work and, truthfully, the reason I wanted to do it was I write about Haines. I write about our town, and I don’t want the tone of my words to be misinterpreted like I’m making fun of people or look how kooky it is,” she said. “I wanted it to read the way I feel it.”
Lende hasn’t decided whether to attend the Nov. 15 ceremony in Los Angeles when the winners will be announced.