Saturday, June 05, 2010

The voice thingie

You'll notice my masterful command of the English language in the post title. It can only get better.

Pacatrue has started us on a round of blog voice thingies and mine is below. For a full list of participants you can go here.

This is mine. It's a bit hissy and a bit rushed. I'll have to rely on my English accent to woo you! (Not so effective with other English people, sadly.)

[edited to add: I've just found out that I didn't have the mike plugged in. No wonder it was hissy! Here's a cleaner version. The old one is at the end in case you want to know what the original commenters heard.)


Here's the text of the story if you want to follow along:


The small shop was full of customers poking around in the mixed nuts and searching for vitamins on the long shelves. Tracy was on her own again and she was struggling to serve the long queue of customers when a young lad in a hoodie came in. He went straight to the shop’s one blind spot and soon after there was a loud crash.

Tracy sighed and ducked under the counter. The middle-aged man whose pile of body-building tubs was still only half rung up tapped his fingers loudly on the counter. A woman at the back of the line frowned into the biscuit aisle with pursed lips.

It was always like this when the manager left early. Only last week Tracy had found a young boy stuffing sugar free sweets into his pockets. The security guard had let him off with a warning and banned him from the shop but Tracy would have prosecuted him if she’d had her way. Young people today were all the same.

At the back of the shop, she found the youth bending over with his hand on the neck of an elderly woman who was lying in a heap on the floor. Tracy could feel her heart thumping. Surely not a mugging this time. She couldn’t see a knife but still. Her voice squeaked as she asked, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“She’s got a pulse,” the boy said, “I think she’s just fainted. We ought to loosen her clothing.” He flushed and moved back slightly. Not a mugger then but a rescuer and a shy one at that.

“I’ll open her collar,” Tracy said. “You call the ambulance.” Maybe there was hope for the younger generation after all.


Original version

20 COMMENTS:

JaneyV said...

Consider me wooed. I adore your voice Gina. It's the perfect voice for story-telling. I'm so glad that the Yoof in question was a hero. If the Daily Mail is to be believed the mere wearing of a hoody or indeed just being a teenager, is enough to have you publicly birched!! I have a sneaking suspicion that Tracy may have been a reader...

fairyhedgehog said...

Jane, you read my mind! My mother used to be a regular Daily Mail reader and I despaired of getting her to see that the Mail's slant on anything wasn't the only possible one!

(Oh and thank you for the nice words. *blush*)

Felicity Grace Terry said...

What an amazing gadget. I hate to hear my voice, though I'm reassured that we geordies have the accent that makes us the most trusted of people.

Ps Known to my blogger buddies as Petty, my real name is Tracy & I was delighted to hear a story that didn't portray us as somewhat loose characters - British yourself I dare say you have heard all the 'jokes' at the expense of us Tracys.

fairyhedgehog said...

Do you know, Petty (or do you prefer to be called Tracy?) it hadn't occurred to me that any name I choose for a story might be someone's real name! I don't even know why that one came into my head! I'm glad you felt the story didn't follow any usual stereotypes for Tracy.

Old Kitty said...

Oh Wow!!! Lovely to hear your voice!!! And read out so professionally too!

And your story is really quite sweet - the kids are definitely misunderstood!

take care
x

Sylvia said...

You're such a good reader - it's not *just* the accent! I love listening to you read, I might try to bribe you to do mine next time!

I liked the story and the happy ending, I was really hoping he'd be a good kid when she said they were all the same!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Syl - you are a great reader, and it's not just your accent (though I swooned and swooned over that quite a bit as it was.) Your intonations are lively, the pace was quick, you didn't belabor anything but you also didn't rush. Bravissimi!!

PJD said...

Le sigh.

I do so enjoy your voice. Also, echo what Sylvia and Aerin said about the lovely reading.

pacatrue said...

You do have a lovely reading voice. I also envy the way you can tell an entire scene so quickly. Efficient and well done.

fairyhedgehog said...

Thank you, all of you! You'll turn my head, you know. The story was a rushed one and in need of some serious editing so I'm glad some of you liked it at all.

Kitty, professionally, eh? That's very kind of you. I think a lot of people are prejudiced against kids (especially Daily Mail readers, as Jane pointed out).

sylvia, I do love reading aloud. I'm glad you liked the ending. I felt like I needed a happy ending this time!

Aerin, you're far too kind! I was a bit disappointed at how hissy it sounded but just getting it recorded at all was a real challenge.

Peter, I'm glad I was able to provoke le sigh. I love it when you speak French!

paca, speed has never been the problem!

Thank you all for listening and for your kind comments.

Phoenix Sullivan said...

Totally wooed over! Great intonation and a happy ending -- though I did wonder if there were another shoe to be dropped later on. I think I've been too thoroughly indoctrinated in the cult of the Daily Mail, which come to think of it, I've never read. It's influence must be brainwashingly vast...

fairyhedgehog said...

Phoenix, I think that having boys myself makes me feel well-disposed to young men in general! They do tend to get a very bad press. (Oh and thanks!)

Talli Roland said...

That's a cool widget! And I love your voice, by the way.

fairyhedgehog said...

Thank you, Talli!

Robin B. said...

Hi FH,

Just realized you'd posted a voice thingy - and I'm so glad I listened. Your voice makes the BBC folks sound like pitiful wannabees.

Loved the way you said "Vitt-a-mins" and after hearing that, I smiled all the way throuhj, which made the happy ending even more pleasurable.

raine said...

Gina, you have a lovely reading voice!
Honestly, you could do audiobooks!

Bernita said...

Yes, you have a charming voice that is a pleasure to hear, with good balance and intonation for narrative.

fairyhedgehog said...

Oh Robin, you're so easy to please! All I need to do is speak in my English accent!

raine and Bernita, thank you!

Whirlochre said...

This is terrific — well written and well read.

fairyhedgehog said...

Thanks, Whirl. You're too kind!

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