Narrator Spotlight: Aaron Shedlock
Cool, Confident Swagger
I'd like to say my love of audiobooks began with hearing some smooth-voiced narrator whispering sweet nothings in my ear, but alas that's not the case. In fact, for a long time I considered audiobooks boring. My youngerspawn, who's dyslexic, found the joy in audiobooks long before I did. And then something changed. Someone (*cough*Julie Collier*cough*) introduced me to good audiobooks. Then she introduced me to AM Johnson’s novel Let There Be Light. And I loved it so much I wanted to read it over and over again. So I put those two things together and grabbed the audiobook of Let There Be Light. And holy eargasm, y'all!
I've listened to that audiobook so many times. Partly because it's a freaking awesome story. And partly because the narrators brought it to life! It was the first audiobook I'd listened to narrated by Aaron Shedlock. And Bookwyrms, I was hooked. Not only did his voice perfectly match his character, but his tone, infection, pacing, his inherent intention or portraying the character was incredible. I was still a newbie to audiobooks when I listened to Let There Be Light, but something Aaron’s and Teddy Hamilton's performances brought home to me was just how well the right narrator could bring a character off the pages and into the movie in my mind.
After I finished listening to Let There Be Light the first time, I instantly searched out other audiobooks Aaron narrated. I binged Protecting You and Fighting for Us by Claire Kingsley, Not So Sincerely Yours by A.M Johnson, and so many more. Most recently, I dove into Cowboy Seeking Someone to Love by Janice Whiteaker. And whoa! Swoony cowboy, anyone?!
One of the things that impresses me most about Aaron is his range and versatility. It's a special and uniquely talented human who can traverse the landscape from a sensitive, young lgbtq+ college student to a brooding wounded small town hero to a velvet voiced, smooth & swoony rancher, and Aaron does it all so freaking well. Aaron has over 500 titles listed to his credits on Audible, so trust me, you’ll have no trouble finding something amazing to listen to.
But the thing that truly resonates with me more than anything about Aaron is how incredibly friendly he is. How responsive he is to his listeners and fans. I first met Aaron at Indies Invade Philly in 2021. I had no clue who most of the narrators were, but Julie walked through the line with me as I got signatures and asked what to listen to first. I got zero pictures, because I was an anxious train wreck hot mess, but I had plenty of memories and things to start listening to. Then, Sunday morning, the elevator doors at the hotel lobby opened and there was Aaron. I honestly don't remember everything I babbled, but I remember it including being sad I hadn't gotten a picture with him the day before. And something about loving his scarf. And then I had a selfie (us-ie?) with Aaron. And a fun story to tell about how I unintentionally ambushed this poor man when he was probably just trying to get to his room and rest after a crazy-busy weekend.
I did remember to get a photo with Aaron in Philly in 2022! Go me!
And this April I get to add to that album when Aaron joins us at Charm City Romanticon!
Yes, I absolutely admit to breaking out into a massive fangirl happy dance when AM Johnson connected me with one of my favorite narrators. I think my family’s ears are still ringing from how loud I screamed when he said yes to being an attending narrator. And I’ve promised Julie I won't pass out when he walks through the door at Turf Valley. We'll see how that goes.
You can find more information about Aaron on his website: https://www.aaronshedlock.com/
You can grab Aaron’s audiobooks on: Audible
You can find Aaron on social media here: Facebook Instagram Twitter/X
And you can join his Facebook group: Aaron's Angels
