Daniel Weyman is is a prolific actor whose varied career spans film, television, theatre and audio work. He won Audio Narrator of the Year at the Audio Production Awards 2016 and has worked on audiobooks including Paula Hawkins' Into the Water, John Preston's A Very English Scandal and Christine Donlan's The Untapped Mind.
I get involved around the time a text is being finalised for publishing, normally at least a month before recording as it gives me time to properly prep the project. I read the book out loud making notes on the manuscript to help me find the dramatic arc of different sections, the pace changes, the character voices and when they speak to each other (so I can adopt their voice within the recording without stopping), any pronunciation issues (I recently recorded a book with over 600 Spanish pronunciations which I had to research!) and any words I don't know the meaning of (even though I've recorded nearly 100 books there is always a word or two I've never come across before!).
Creating an audiobook adds a layer onto traditional book publishing as the narrator can use the words to create vivid imagery and atmosphere right inside the listener's head. When I record a book I often get lost in the world that is being created; they begin to tell themselves through me. I normally start a session at around 10am and finish around 6pm. With only two small breaks and lunch, I'm concentrating for a huge part of the day, but this is what I love because it allows me to immerse myself in the book. If the book is an epic requiring 5, 6 or 7 days in the studio it often means that I come back to the real world at the end of it slightly unsure of where reality is and where fiction ends, and at that point I know the book has worked its magic.