9 Questions with Marami Hung

 

She's the voice of my Calendar Girl audiobook, an amazing actress, and now a budding erotica writer.  I can't tell you how lucky I feel to have had her work on my project.   I hope that this audiobook will sell enough that I can entice her to do future projects with me as well.  I thought this was a very appropriate time to introduce you to Marami Hung.

Kylie Gable: You were on my short list when I first posted the audition script on ACX.  I wanted somebody who could be both perky and stern without being too angry and you were one of 4-6 girls who stood out.  What attracted you to the product?

Marami Hung: First of all, it fit my voice type.  These were characters closer to my age, and I felt I could be more comfortable and confident in my delivery without forcing myself into a too-low range in order to sound more mature.  Plus, I liked that the girls were in charge.  It felt empowering, especially to act it out.

KG: Was the subject matter strange to you?  I know you said you were entertained by my blog, which made me feel very flattered, by the way.

MH: I didn't find it strange.  I try to keep an open mind about projects I consider, so nothing really weirds me out anymore.

On a side note, I partly started to read your blog from the beginning so I could get a better idea on what pronoun to use for you, but I'm still not entirely sure, haha! [I go by he, but this is a complicated issue in some of my books.  I had to rewrite Calendar Girl a bit just because I was constantly writing things like "He put on her heels so he could walk out the door."]

KG: Have you ever dressed up a guy for a crossplay or Halloween or anything?

MH: I had a friend back in college that I forced into a corset my freshman year.  I can't remember if it was his idea or mine.  He was wearing a T-shirt underneath, and his hair was short and his face a little stubbly.  He would not have been able to pass as a girl, but I did take a few pictures of him looking over his shoulder and flirtatiously holding his fingertips to his lips.  A few years later, my roommates and I started to pluck his eyebrows for whatever reason.  He was a never a misogynist, but one of my roommates said something like, "Think about this next time you take a girl for granted!"  That's when I started to feel bad, because although he was a big flirt, he treated women well.  I'm not sure if I would be able to forcibly feminize anyone because of my overpowering guilt.

KG: How did you get into doing voice overs?

MH: I'm pretty nerdy.  Back in 2007, I saw a video on YouTube of one of my favorite video games, which was made before full voice acting was commonplace.  But somebody dubbed over the video and it was really well done.  I thought, "How cool!  I can do this too!"  

I also thought that I could perform better reading aloud with just my voice than I could with my face or body.  I never know what to do with my limbs on stage.  I'd rather be a floating head.

KG: Was there one scene in Calendar Girl that you enjoyed recording either because you liked the script or because you thought you really nailed it?

MH: I really liked recording for the kissing booth part.  There are so many different characters in the scene.  I had to do the girls, plus college boys, plus a college boy dressed as a girl.  I had fun playing around with the Brandi voice.  I was a woman recording as a man pretending to be a girl.  I hope I gave Brandi in that scene a nice balance.  I remember liking it a lot when I was editing the audio. 

KG: That's so Victor Victoria :).  The Brandi voice really grew on me too.  I never expected you to nail that character's voice the way you did.  I think my favorite character you did was Cindy.  There's something really humiliating about such a friendly and enthusiastic person teaching you to walk in heels.  I also really liked the way you did Brandon.  Did you have a favorite.

MH: I want to say Sharon.  She was described pretty hot, and she seemed like a really cool person I would want to hang out with.  Also, I like the voice I gave her.  Laid back and "don't mess with me."

KG: What kind of studio setup do you have?  You really get a very professional sound.

MH: I record in a car.  Super professional, right?  I'm not cool enough to have a studio, haha.  

I have a lot of friends who record in their closets, but I feel like a car provides just enough sound isolation without sounding muffled.  The mic I use is an AKG Perception 420.

KG: Now, you also have your first erotic book coming out.  What can you tell us about that?

MH: Yes! :D It's called Licking Lollipops, and it's going to be released on Halloween, my favorite holiday!  It's about a college freshman who sells her body in order to pay for her college tuition.  She gets pretty creative with toys, role playing, and costumes, which is perfect for Halloween!  It's an explicit erotica, but there is a romantic subplot that I find absolutely adorable.

It's also available for preorder here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O0H7POS

KG: I've asked every interview I've done the same question, so I thought I'd end with that.  If you could crossdress one male celebrity, who would you pick?

MH: I want to say Troy Baker.  He's a huge voice actor in video games, having recently voiced the latest Joker in the Batman Arkham games, Joel in The Last of Us, Booker in Bioshock Infinite, blah blah blah, and he's super coooool!! *fangirl*  I also think he'd make a very pretty lady.  Just look at that blonde hair and pretty blue eyes.