Writing for sound begins with a simple but transformative shift: the audio story is composed for listening first, not for reading on the page. The writer must consider how language will be heard by a listener who cannot see the text. Sound-based stories are experienced sequentially in time. Although listeners can pause, rewind, or fast-forward, […]
Author: kmatthes
Kathy Matthes is an online college teacher at three online colleges where she teaches various writing classes. She has her Masters of Professional Writing (MPW) and MSED degrees from the University of Southern California. She also produces audio stories with film music and sound effects for her stories2music project.
Multimodal Storytelling: Hybrid Illustrated e-Books as Companions to Audio Stories
Stories2music has always explored storytelling across multiple sensory modes (music, text, and images), but now it’s exploring an emerging genre: the hybrid illustrated e‑book. Three new companion e-books are not merely illustrated texts or picture books—they are multimodal experiences when paired with stories2music’s audio stories, offering a richer, more layered way to engage with the […]
Interview with Fred Greenhalgh
You can also listen to the interview on the s2m podcasts. I connected with Fred Greenhalgh via email after the passing of William Dufris when I sent Fred the link to the interview I did with Dufris in 2019. In 2023, I took a Creative Non-Fiction Writing class, and one project was a narrative journalism […]
Interview with Jesse Keller
You can also listen to the interview on the s2m podcasts. In fall 2021, I took the Acting for Radio and Voice Overs class online at San Diego Mesa College with Professor Jesse Keller, which was an absolute blast! In 2023, I took a Creative Non-Fiction class, and one project was a narrative journalism research […]
The Immersive Power of Radio Dramas
Imagine turning on the radio on Halloween in 1938 expecting to hear a radio drama but instead it is a news broadcast announcing that Martians had invaded New Jersey, and they were incinerating people with heat-rays! Police stations, newspapers and radio stations were inundated with calls from terrified people (Schwartz). The Mercury Theater on the […]
A New Genre of Audio Story
“Given the positive impact of music on film, one might wonder whether similar results would be found when combining specially-composed music with a fiction text” – Alicia Strong In her article “The Rise of Fiction Podcasts,” When Apple launched its new iTunes podcast app in 2005, it enabled radio shows such as This American Life, […]
Gender Bias in Audiobook Narration
Do you prefer a male audiobook narrator? Do you prefer a female audiobook narrator? Whitney Johnson: “I’m a female author, so why did I want a man to narrate my audiobook?” The Dilemma “I have been very public in my advocacy for women and girls. But something strange happened when my […]
Interview with Dr. Emma Rodero
You can also listen to the interview on the s2m podcasts. Dr. Emma Rodero agreed to do an interview about audiobooks for a feature article assignment for my Multimedia Writing/Reporting class at Palomar College. The feature article was posted on the blog as “We’re All Ears for Full-Cast Audiobooks.” She has graciously agreed to allow […]
Interview with William Dufris
You can also listen to this interview on the s2m podcast. William Dufris agreed to do an interview about audiobooks for a feature article assignment for my Multimedia Writing/Reporting class at Palomar College. The feature article was posted on the blog as “We’re All Ears for Full-Cast Audiobooks.” He has graciously agreed to allow me […]
Interview with Michele Cobb
Michele Cobb, Executive Director of the Audiobook Publishers Association, agreed to do an interview about audiobooks for a feature article assignment for my Multimedia Writing/Reporting class at Palomar College. The feature article was posted on the s2m blog as “We’re All Ears for Full-Cast Audiobooks.” She has graciously agreed to allow me to post her […]