My Chat with Scott Bennett

Hello and welcome!

Today’s guest has a warm voice that is just right for story telling, it keeps my attention throughout the book, animated and rumbling at times, a pleasure to listen to.

Please welcome Scott Bennett !

Do you have a nickname?
Not since my days in high school. Between my junior and senior year, I went to a summer camp called Boys’ State, sponsored by the American Legion, where I was the coach of our group’s football team.  Other boys said I was trying to act like famous Alabama football coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, so they dubbed me “Teddy Bear.”  Other than that, I’ve never really had a nickname… that I’m aware of… though I’m sure I’ve been called a few behind my back by students in the school where I teach.  Haha

What is one word best describes you?
As a person, in general, I would hope it would be something like kind, friendly, or sincere. As a narrator of audiobooks I recently had to narrow it down, upon request of my coach Sean Pratt, to four:  affable, astute, relaxed, and folksy.  And in case anyone wonders, many audiobook narrators who aspire to improve seek the advice of voice acting coaches, and Sean, who does have a nickname: the Ginger Yoda, is one of the best in the business, having narrated close to 1000 audiobooks.

What makes you laugh out loud?
Many things:  cat/dog videos, good jokes, my own audio outtakes, sometimes I can’t believe the things that come out of my mouth when I try to narrate! … my granddaughter, my students, and I could go on.  I once made the mistake of having my wife listen with me and give feedback as I was trying to edit a somewhat spicy scene in an audiobook I was recording.  She had a fit of giggles and we both got tickled. Needless to say, I only let her listen to finished product now.  LOL

What is your favourite smell? What does it remind you of?
I like the smell of bread baking, bacon frying, a campfire on a fall evening, honeysuckle, when I’m riding on my motor scooter I love to ride in the country for this reason alone, and hickory smoke.  When I lived in Kentucky one of the best smells in the world was farmers who were “firing” their tobacco in the barns.  It makes me quite nostalgic.

Favourite place to spend time in.
Well, one of my favourite places to spend time is in my little 4 X 4 booth where I record audiobooks.  I really do enjoy the solitude and reading there.  If you mean where – away from home – I’d have to say in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee in a little cabin in the woods.  Gatlinburg is one of the places my wife and I enjoy going to on holiday.

What is your fave genre to read in your spare time? Do you have any spare time?
If I’m reading just for pleasure, not work related – and yes, I make myself carve out time for that, I most enjoy action/adventure and horror.  I’m a fan of authors like Lee Child, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, to name a few.

Audiobooks! What started them?
I enjoyed listening to audiobooks long before I ever attempted to break into narrating them.  I would read aloud to students all the time when I taught reading and English.  One summer, during break from school, I got involved with narrating books for Librivox.org which is a free service to listeners, pubic domain works.  From there, I decided to branch out into books for pay via Amazon’s ACX.

Is there a genre that you would not narrate?
I’m willing to narrate most any genre.

If you could choose another career what would it be?
Audiobooks IS my other career.  If I could do it exclusively, I would probably choose it over teaching – though I have enjoyed it quite a bit. Beyond that, if I could be a full time audiobook listener… that wouldn’t be so bad.

Does your work convey a specific emotion or message?
I try to always capture the emotion or message of the author and convey it.

Who is your intended audience and why should they listen to your audiobooks?
Again, my intended audience is that of the author.  She (or he) is the one who usually has fans and followers.  I just hope I don’t get in the way of them enjoying their favorite author’s work.

What is next in your narrating work?
I am currently recording a book by author C.F. Waller titled Waypoint: A Game of Drones.  It is a thriller and I am excited to be recording it.  The book Tourists of the Apocalypse I recorded is also one of his books and it has been one of my best selling audiobooks.  As well, it was recently named a finalist in the Audiobookreviewer Listener Choice Awards for 2018 in the Sci-fi category. I have a queue of about 5 other books beyond that – most from authors I’ve worked with before.

Congrats on the nomination! Looking forward to more of your audios. Thank you for taking the time to chat with me.

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Thanks for joining us and I hope you enjoyed the chat.

If you hear Mr. Bennett’s voice I know you will agree with me when I say he has a great story teller’s voice. I listened to a few already, among them “Grady Judd” by Ciana Stone and “But Not Forgiven” by BJ Bourg and they all got 5 stars on the performance. Have quite a few on my TBL list: “But Not Forgotten” by BJ Bourg, “Breathe” by  Christine Grey, “The Sorcerer’s Quest” by Rain Oxford are some of them.

I NEED MORE TIME!!! I better buy tickets this weekend, quite a few mills in the jackpot tonight and tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me 😉 then I’ll become full time audio listener!

I am confident you will find something you like to listen to in Mr. Bennett’s growing list in a wide range of genres. Here are links to find out more and keep up to date with his work.

website • Facebook • Twitter • Audible

To start you on your journey Mr. Bennett is gifting two codes (US or UK) and winners can choose from his backlist, GOOD LUCK there are so many choices! Sexy Mr. Random will pick the names after 3pm EST on Monday, April 16, 2018.

Until next time read a book, listen to a book and don’t forget to show your love by leaving a review!