TJ Richards is an audiobook narrator with a love for diverse LGBT+ fiction and damned fine stories!  She is also an LGBT+ activist, National Co-Chair of the LGBT+ Embrace Network, a Trustee for Q:Alliance and on the founding committee for RoundabOUT; Milton Keynes' Inter Company LGBT+ Network.  A busy woman indeed!

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I'm an American currently living in the UK with my wife.  I grew up a military brat so have lived all over the US and the world.  My accent is fairly region free but as a Mississippi girl I can hold my own with most American accents.

 

I have been a story teller all my life, a passion handed down to me from my parents who loved to fill my head with various forms of fictional nonsense.  My father told me once that if I swallowed bubble gum and farted it would blow a bubble of hot hair out of my bum and I would float away like a hot air balloon.  It made just enough sense in my head that I believed him - hot air balloons float, farts are warm, and bubble gum makes bubbles so why not?

 

I have never swallowed bubble gum.

 

I carried on the sport with on the spot bed time stories made up to scare my baby brother.

 

*spooky voice*

 

"Every 500 years Christmas falls on a full moon, and when that happens Santa turns into a werewolf and gobbles up any children he finds not sleeping when he visits their house. "

 

This did not have the intended effect of convincing him to go to sleep, but instead ended with him crying and me being grounded.  See how I suffer for my art?

 

My wife is dyslexic and loves fiction, so I spend a lot of time reading books aloud to her.  I absolutely adore reading to her and watching her face as I work to make the story come alive for her. 

 

She suggested once that instead of just reading books to her, I should try recording audiobooks so everyone could hear them - and I am generally not one to scoff at my wife's brilliant ideas.  (Although I am partially convinced this idea was born of her desire to spend more time fishing and needing to find a way to convince me that I had fun things to do at home while she was at the lake.)

 

As it turned out, I adore narrating and producing audiobooks.  It allows me to tell a story while still giving an outlet to my inner geek, who adores slaving over EQ curves and noise floor levels to get that perfect sound. 

 

While I love telling almost any story, there is a special place in my heart for fiction in the LGBT+ category, because representation matters!  Sci-fi, fantasy, adventure, thriller, mystery - you name it, I'll read it.  

 

So have a browse around my site, and if you have any questions, drop me a line!

 

In my day job I am also the (very!) proud National Co-Chair for Santander UK's Embrace (LGBT+) Employee Network -  a position I am extremely passionate about.  I am also a trustee at Q:Alliance, MK's only LGBTQ charity serving the local community, and also of RoundabOUT, MK's Intercompany LGBT Network.  I like to keep busy!