Voice Artist | Xe Sands, Audiobook Narrator

xe sands narrator narration audibook audio books storyteller voice artist reader literary ficton audiofile publishers audible highbridge dreamscape tantor macmillan romance memoir audies earphones harper

"...an extraordinary

audiobook experience."

- AudioFile, Euphoria Audie Award Winner

Natural...

Authentic...

A Direct

translation of

author intent

to listener Experience.

The truth of

the moment

Carried with

grace, intimacy

and credibility.

Author...

Listener...

voice.

Literary Fiction - Age Work - 1st Person POV

00:00 / 00:00

First Person - Accent/Character Work

00:00 / 00:00

Romance - Male/Female Dialog

00:00 / 00:00

Horror - w/Male-Female Dialog

00:00 / 00:00

Literary Fiction - 3rd Person POV

00:00 / 00:00

Romance/Humor - 1st Person POV - Unknown Artist

00:00 / 00:00

Nonfiction - Personal Development

00:00 / 00:00

Fiction-SciFi - First Person

00:00 / 00:00

s o u n d t r a c k

i n s i d e t r a c k

Word round the station...

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

AUDIOFILE - Earphones Award

Between Rooney's story and Sands's craftsmanship, this WALK will sweep listeners off their feet. Sands captures the essence of 80-year-old Lillian Boxfish. On New Year's Eve, 1984, Lillian walks toward her usual New York restaurant. But this New Year she's seeking sustenance beyond food. Through Sands we feel the force of Lillian's personality w/ all its drive, wit, & grace, as well as the counterforces that seek to constrain it.

Now That You Mention It

AUDIOFILE - Earphones Award

The first-person point of view, coupled w/skilled narration by Sands, immediately draws the listener into Nora's story. Sands smartly voices the Maine accent of Nora's mother and other islanders. Sands has the listener laughing as she brings the comedic elements alive and pulls their heartstrings at the sad moments, both of which give the story rich dimension. Because of the skillful narration, listeners themselves will want to hop the ferry to Scupper Island.

The Wife, by Alafair Burke

AUDIOFILE - Earphones Award

Sands gives us the flat, fragile voice of Angela, the damaged wife in this psychological thriller. We meet a once-happy homemaker, or so it seems, who has put a horrifying past behind her but now watches the life she has achieved crumble. Is Angela a reliable narrator? Is Jason guilty? Sands gives him a voice that is warm & amazingly masculine. Overall, Xe Sands's delivery grips the listener's imagination and makes Burke's compelling mystery unforgettable.

Atomic City Girls, by Janet Beard

AudioFile Magazine

Xe Sands's ability to create dynamic characters that remain true to the author's intent shines in this story of four people whose lives converge during the last year of WWII. Sands's smooth delivery, w/a hint of a Southern accent, is softened for June. Sands's portrayal of Joe, a black construction worker, emphasizes his weariness & how much he misses his wife & children. Finally, she captures physicist Sam's struggle to come to terms with his role in building the atomic bomb

Reckless Daughter, by David Yaffe

AUDIOFILE MAGAZINE

Find yourself some Joni Mitchell music. Turn it on. Softly. Begin listening to this audiobook. Float away. We learn a great deal about Mitchell and her songs. Sands adopts an intimate conversational tone that not only supports Yaffe's intent but pretty much sums up the era in which Mitchell shone the brightest. Sands alternately speeds up and slows down her delivery, but that only serves to keep our attention and makes it seem as though she is speaking only to us.

Plague of Giants, by Kevin Hearne

AleHorn Blog

...It’s going to be hard to keep the characters straight at first, but it’s easier than ASOIAF. Listening to the audiobook helps– there is a male and female narrator and both are top-notch. Some of the voices will start to sound the same (especially with the female narrator, Xe Sands, although her chapters are still equally evocative and beautiful and hold some of my favorite memories from the novel...

Descent, by Tim Johnston

Publishers Weekly

... Sands, with her distinctive, natural delivery, quickly identifies the chapters devoted to daughter and mother, distinguishing them by using a firmer, depressed delivery for the suicide-prone Angela and a spacey, helpless natter for Caitlin. Sands also captures an infuriatingly patronizing passive-aggressiveness for Caitlin’s captor. Bray is responsible for a larger portion of the book, giving voice to the chapters featuring Grant and Sean...

Caught in the Revolution

AUDIOFILE - Earphones Award

...Sands is a subtle and empathetic narrator--not the voice you'd immediately think of for a story of violent upheaval. Rappaport's narrative, too, told from the perspective of Westerners in the Russian capital in 1917, might initially seem narrow and parochial. But together they bring the listener down to street level to witness firsthand a chain of events that seems astonishing even today..

The Book of Joan

Library Journal - Starred Review

Sands delivers this Book w/control, even detachment: the almost languid tone chillingly amplifies the hideous near-future Yuknavitch exposes. Christine is in her “last year until ascension,” an anachronistic term that signals “dead is dead” for residents of CIEL – “the aftermath of earth-life” that hovers above the ravaged planet.
Verdict: Once again spare yet compellingly multilayered, this new work is sure to attract new fans of post-apocalyptic Sci-fi

The Dragon Behind the Glass

Library Journal - Best Media 2016

Treasured as a good-luck talisman and status symbol, the Asian red arowana has become critically endangered in the wild. Journalist Voigt succumbs to the obsession herself and, after visiting farms where arowana are bred in captivity, undertakes expeditions to New Guinea, Myanmar, and the Amazon, hoping to see the fish in the wild. Narrator Xe Sands does an extraordinary job enlivening the world of exotic fish and capturing the suspense of Voigt's travels.

The Vanishing, by Wendy Webb

Publishers Weekly Narrator of the Year 2014

Sands brings the right tone & pacing to Webb’s supernatural thriller set in an old mansion. Julia Bishop is looking to escape her past...Sands’s performance fully embraces the rich gothic storytelling of Webb’s prose. She excels at projecting Bishop’s growing sense of unease and foreboding. Most impressive is her take on elderly Amaris Sinclair. Sands gives her a sincere, caring voice, but with an underlying hint of sadness that fits well w/the story.

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

AUDIOFILE - Earphones Award

Between Rooney's story and Sands's craftsmanship, this WALK will sweep listeners off their feet. Sands captures the essence of 80-year-old Lillian Boxfish. On New Year's Eve, 1984, Lillian walks toward her usual New York restaurant. But this New Year she's seeking sustenance beyond food. Through Sands we feel the force of Lillian's personality w/ all its drive, wit, & grace, as well as the counterforces that seek to constrain it.

Now That You Mention It

AUDIOFILE - Earphones Award

The first-person point of view, coupled w/skilled narration by Sands, immediately draws the listener into Nora's story. Sands smartly voices the Maine accent of Nora's mother and other islanders. Sands has the listener laughing as she brings the comedic elements alive and pulls their heartstrings at the sad moments, both of which give the story rich dimension. Because of the skillful narration, listeners themselves will want to hop the ferry to Scupper Island.

The Wife, by Alafair Burke

AUDIOFILE - Earphones Award

Sands gives us the flat, fragile voice of Angela, the damaged wife in this psychological thriller. We meet a once-happy homemaker, or so it seems, who has put a horrifying past behind her but now watches the life she has achieved crumble. Is Angela a reliable narrator? Is Jason guilty? Sands gives him a voice that is warm & amazingly masculine. Overall, Xe Sands's delivery grips the listener's imagination and makes Burke's compelling mystery unforgettable.

Atomic City Girls, by Janet Beard

AudioFile Magazine

Xe Sands's ability to create dynamic characters that remain true to the author's intent shines in this story of four people whose lives converge during the last year of WWII. Sands's smooth delivery, w/a hint of a Southern accent, is softened for June. Sands's portrayal of Joe, a black construction worker, emphasizes his weariness & how much he misses his wife & children. Finally, she captures physicist Sam's struggle to come to terms with his role in building the atomic bomb

Reckless Daughter, by David Yaffe

AUDIOFILE MAGAZINE

Find yourself some Joni Mitchell music. Turn it on. Softly. Begin listening to this audiobook. Float away. We learn a great deal about Mitchell and her songs. Sands adopts an intimate conversational tone that not only supports Yaffe's intent but pretty much sums up the era in which Mitchell shone the brightest. Sands alternately speeds up and slows down her delivery, but that only serves to keep our attention and makes it seem as though she is speaking only to us.

Plague of Giants, by Kevin Hearne

AleHorn Blog

...It’s going to be hard to keep the characters straight at first, but it’s easier than ASOIAF. Listening to the audiobook helps– there is a male and female narrator and both are top-notch. Some of the voices will start to sound the same (especially with the female narrator, Xe Sands, although her chapters are still equally evocative and beautiful and hold some of my favorite memories from the novel...

Descent, by Tim Johnston

Publishers Weekly

... Sands, with her distinctive, natural delivery, quickly identifies the chapters devoted to daughter and mother, distinguishing them by using a firmer, depressed delivery for the suicide-prone Angela and a spacey, helpless natter for Caitlin. Sands also captures an infuriatingly patronizing passive-aggressiveness for Caitlin’s captor. Bray is responsible for a larger portion of the book, giving voice to the chapters featuring Grant and Sean...

Caught in the Revolution

AUDIOFILE - Earphones Award

...Sands is a subtle and empathetic narrator--not the voice you'd immediately think of for a story of violent upheaval. Rappaport's narrative, too, told from the perspective of Westerners in the Russian capital in 1917, might initially seem narrow and parochial. But together they bring the listener down to street level to witness firsthand a chain of events that seems astonishing even today..

The Book of Joan

Library Journal - Starred Review

Sands delivers this Book w/control, even detachment: the almost languid tone chillingly amplifies the hideous near-future Yuknavitch exposes. Christine is in her “last year until ascension,” an anachronistic term that signals “dead is dead” for residents of CIEL – “the aftermath of earth-life” that hovers above the ravaged planet.
Verdict: Once again spare yet compellingly multilayered, this new work is sure to attract new fans of post-apocalyptic Sci-fi

The Dragon Behind the Glass

Library Journal - Best Media 2016

Treasured as a good-luck talisman and status symbol, the Asian red arowana has become critically endangered in the wild. Journalist Voigt succumbs to the obsession herself and, after visiting farms where arowana are bred in captivity, undertakes expeditions to New Guinea, Myanmar, and the Amazon, hoping to see the fish in the wild. Narrator Xe Sands does an extraordinary job enlivening the world of exotic fish and capturing the suspense of Voigt's travels.

The Vanishing, by Wendy Webb

Publishers Weekly Narrator of the Year 2014

Sands brings the right tone & pacing to Webb’s supernatural thriller set in an old mansion. Julia Bishop is looking to escape her past...Sands’s performance fully embraces the rich gothic storytelling of Webb’s prose. She excels at projecting Bishop’s growing sense of unease and foreboding. Most impressive is her take on elderly Amaris Sinclair. Sands gives her a sincere, caring voice, but with an underlying hint of sadness that fits well w/the story.

...from listeners...

“She just has a way with bringing whatever book she is narrating to life, bringing the characters and all their quirks and personalities to life"

– Always with a Book Blog

The Wife, by Alafair Burke

...and authors...

“[Sands] wants it perfect. She wants every word to express the right emotions, and we spoke about the character of Monica for a long time - what she wanted, how she sat, where her fear was. It was deeply creative and deeply satisfying."

– CD Reiss, Author of

The Submission Series

2016 Audie Nominee

xe sands narrator narration audibook audio books storyteller voice artist reader literary ficton audiofile publishers audible highbridge dreamscape tantor macmillan romance memoir audies earphones harper

Conversations...

AudioFile Magazine Spotlight

Sister Act (Library Journal Interview)

Q+A: Xe Sands (Little Fiction Interview)

Xe Sands: Voicing Romance

"Between Rooney's story & Sands's craftsmanship,

this WALK will sweep

listeners off their feet."

- AudioFile Magazine

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

Earphones Award Winner

"In a perfect marriage

of words and voice,

narrators Vance and

Sands join author Lily King

to produce an extraordinary audiobook experience."

-AudioFile Magazine

Euphoria

Audie Award Winner

"Sands's delivery grips the listener's imagination and makes Burke's compelling mystery unforgettable."

- AudioFile Magazine

The Wife

Earphones Award Winner

"Sands doesn’t miss a beat, deftly building the tension until it unravels in the confusion and clarity of the final pages."

-Booklist

Motherless Child

P A S T

t r a c k S

P U B L I S H E R S

& A w a r d s

publishers

audible

AUDM

bLACKSTONE

BLUNDERWOMAN PROD.

BOOKS IN MOTION

BRILLIANCE

DREAMSCAPE

HARPER AUDIO

HIGHBRIDGE AUDIO

IAMBIC AUDIOBOOKS

IDEAL AUDIOBOOKS

MACMILLAN

PEAR PRESS

PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE

podium

RECORDED BOOKS

SCHOLASTIC

SERIAL BOX

SPORTYBOOKS

TANTOR

AUDIOFILE EARPHONES AWARDS

The Wife

Now that you mention it

caught in the revolution

lillian boxfish takes a walk

cruel beautiful world

the ancient minstrel

the lightkeepers

the muralist

american ghost

euphoria

is this tomorrow

magnificence

the bird sisters

the sweet relief of missing

children

AUDIE AWARDS/

NOMINATIONS

2015 winner: euphoria

2016 dual nominee:

beg tease submit

control burn resist

VOICE ARTS AWARDS/

NOMINATIONS

2015 winner: acceptance

2015 winner: euphoria

2016 nominee: the muralist

2018 Nominee: sisters

passing it down...

I carry you with me

I carry you with me here
right here, in this tender spot
in this hollow space
I carry you with me

I carry you on the tip of my tongue
just on the tip...
so that I can carry you with me here
in my words

in my sounds
- there- that word, that sound
said just as you would
just as you have
because I carry you with me

side tracked

GOING PUBLIC...

a celebration of work in the public domain or shared via creative commons licensing. Recorded for the joy of reading something

that resonates at the moment.

whistle stop...

what happens when

a narrator smacks

into a nigh-impossible

-for-them-to-do

accent? Welllll

sometimes, ya gotta

take it all the way...

even into the

doctor's office.

A B O U T

over a decade of experience

bringing stories to life through narration and performance.

From powerful first-person

narrative, to honest and

compassionate Personal

development, to passionate

and sensual romantic fiction,

a performance that is

intimate and real.

delivering clean, punched

audio from my home studio in

the pacific northwest.

Listening is a journey...

Come along for the ride...

I've got an amazing story to tell you.

VOXOLOGY@XESANDS.COM

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk

AUDIOFILE - Earphones Award Between Rooney's story and Sands's craftsmanship, this WALK will sweep listeners off their feet. Sands captures the essence of 80-year-old Lillian Boxfish. On New Year's Eve, 1984, Lillian walks toward her usual New York restaurant. But this New Year she's seeking sustenance beyond food. Through Sands we feel the force of Lillian's personality w/ all its drive, wit, & grace, as well as the counterforces that seek to constrain it.