by Liz Solar | Aug 28, 2020 | Embark the Podcast
The author as a young girl with her mother, father and paternal grandmother.
This is part one of an interview with E. Dolores Johnson, author of Say I’m dead, A Family Memoir of Race, Secrets and Love, published June 2 by Chicago Review Press. Dolores has additionally published essays on mixed race, racism and identity. This interview was first published on actsofrevision.com. The audio version is on embarkthepodcast.com.
LS: Hey Dolores, thanks for talking with us today. Congratulations on the book.
EDJ: Thank you very much. Yes, the book has been out in the world six weeks, and I’m very excited. It’s getting some good coverage in the media and lots of appearances have happened. So, I hope this audience will enjoy our discussion about it and the issues that are embedded in the story.
LS: Your memoir is a family odyssey of race, love and courage. It traces the story of your black father and white mother, who fled Indiana in the 1940’s because interracial marriage in that state was illegal. You follow four generations of females. But one figure that looms large in your book is your dad. I’d love you to read a passage from the book that talks about your dad and the challenges of being a black man in the United States.
Hear the excerpt from ‘Say I’m Dead’ on the Embark Podcast (more…)
by Liz Solar | Aug 24, 2020 | Voice Over
For years, as a Boston broadcaster, I shared stories from NBA coaches to politicians to authors, in weekly radio interviews. When I later became a full-time voice-actor, I also pursued my first passion, writing. As a presentation coach,I help professionals tell better stories about themselves and what they do.
What all of these things have in common is storytelling. Experience says whether it’s in fiction or real life, our most compelling stories involve change. Some of it good. Some, well, I’m looking at you 2020. (more…)
by Liz Solar | Jul 3, 2018 | Voice Over
When I was in college, I approached projects as any self-respecting student would: I waited until the last possible moment to start my research, then craft a lengthy essay on the lesser-known works of Chaucer, or argue the merits of Kant’s moral theories.
It did not go well.
At the crack of midnight, I was bent over texts that could double as door stops, studiously writing away. By two a.m., curled snail-like on the sofa, energy depleted, eyes bloodshot, brain lacking in conscious thought I lay still until creative inspiration kicked in.
My next move? (more…)
by Liz Solar | Apr 30, 2018 | Voice Over
At the start of each new year, the number of attendees in my yoga class doubles from the usual 25 devotees. Swarms of earnest wannabees clutch sticky mats, and aspirations for inner peace. Welcome to January, that aspirational time, when we re-commit to the virtues of hard work, achievement, and re-invention.
Just as the would-be yogi comes to the mat in search of enlightenment, and a fabulously toned core, we voice actors strive to book ever more work, organize our computers, sharpen our performance, and market ourselves every day. (more…)
by Liz Solar | Mar 8, 2018 | Voice Over
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Conferences are like a ‘box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.’
The reviews are in for last weekend’s VO Atlanta. Outstanding! Moving! Better than ‘Cats!’ More than 600 voice over actors, producers, agents and managers assembled in one hotel. That’s a lot of talking.
But the weekend was about more than the business of voice over. (more…)
by Liz Solar | Feb 28, 2018 | Voice Over
About ten years ago, I awoke with two things I never experienced before: a sinus, and ear infection. Neither my PCP, nor even an ENT could see me, so I drove to Emergency Department of my local office.
There was no quick remedy or pixie dust cure — In fact dust was one of the culprits – to alleviate my painful and congested sinuses. Diagnosis: myriad allergies dust mites, grass, dogs and cats. While I was equipped to forgo housework, no way I would give up my trusty canine, when a Neti pot, and Claritin were in abundance. (more…)
by Liz Solar | Feb 6, 2018 | Voice Over
Trigger warning: This post is packed with sports analogies and clichés.
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” Wayne (The Great One) Gretzky
This past weekend, an audition came through my email which demanded my attention. It was for a high-profile client, with a rate over minimum wage. How special. How rarified was my talent orbit that I was one of the chosen few to be invited in to Voice Over Mecca. (more…)
by Liz Solar | Jan 20, 2018 | Voice Over
Silence is always beautiful.*
Said no business owner ever. The absence of a ringing phone, or pinging email means: A. You’re in a remote location – perhaps against your own will– severed from your electronic lifeline.
Or, B. It’s January, the season that inevitably follows the joyous holiday season, also referred to as Fourth Quarter. In the world of voiceover, where I reside, silence is not only disturbing, it’s against the laws of nature. We talk for a living.
Sure, you feel all clean slate-y, and ready to embrace new beginnings, only to soon find yourself gazing out your office window, regretting the purchase of that organic watermelon radish you bought at the winter farmers market. The anxious crunch provides little more than a palate cleanser to the bad taste of your own stasis.
Stop brooding, and get busy with these 8 ways to be productive right now. (more…)
by Liz Solar | Dec 1, 2017 | Voice Over
Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning. – Maya Angelou
Looking for that perfect, one-of-a-kind gift for someone special?
How about: your voice?
Our ability to employ speech to express human emotion is a gift. We are empowered to tell stories, make someone laugh, or buy something they didn’t even think they wanted. Unique as a fingerprint, the human voice – a wondrous result of individual physiology, environment and background – vibrates to the world who we are.
How about sharing some of those good vibes to make the world sound a little more human? (more…)
by Liz Solar | Oct 20, 2017 | Voice Over
You can’t be everything to everybody. A truism because it’s, you know, true. In life, we are many things to a variety of people: Spouse, partner, parent, sibling, employee, manager, cook, athlete, artist, voice actor. It’s exhilarating. And exhausting. Why do we insist on being some many things in our voice careers when, let’s face it, we’re only really excellent at one, and pretty good at a couple other things?
All that time spent pitching jobs we perform adequately, if not brilliantly, might be better spent unearthing projects – some right in our own back yard – that best flaunt our talent, and better suit our unique sensibilities. Streamline and simplify. In other words, find your niche. (more…)