Krystal Hammond

What was the first audiobook you performed?

Hahaha, noooo. You can have the TRUE answer to that once you’ve invented some sort of necromancy that can extract the answer from my post-mortem brain matter.

The first audiobook I’m willing to admit to?

Garden of Lilies by Eli Constant

What title or series are you best known for?

Swarm by Jennifer D Lyle

If a listener wanted to get to know your work, which of your audiobooks would you point them to?

This is My Body by Lindsay King-Miller
Breaking From Frame by Jazz Forrester
To Drown a Witch by Lindsey Olsson
Loser of the Year by Carrie Byrd
Linus and Etta Could Use a Win by Caroline Huntoon

What do you always have in the booth?

Water, tea, and my trusty cat skull!

How did you come to performing audiobooks?

I got cancer and lost everything. Then I joined a writing group for cancer survivors where we shared our written work out loud. The group loved not only what I had to say, but HOW I said it. They encouraged me, over and over, to pursue narration. I ignored them for about a year until one day I googled, “How to become an audiobook narrator.” I researched, made a TON of mistakes, got coaching and training, and ended up in this wonderful career. Thank you, cancer community!

Anything else you’d like a listener to know?

We make mistakes in the booth allllll the time! But we pick up and keep going, record over our mistakes, and let others–coaches, editors, proofers, etc–help us sound as good as we can. I think of our regular work process as a sort of mini life philosphy: It’s okay to be messy and screw up. Just don’t give up. Let others help you. And shine as bright as you can. <3