MorningStar Smiles

This section is for all posts of news or updates made in 2006.

I'm still alive! Really! And with good news! I just discovered that the first fan dub I was ever in....has been finished! This is so amazingly awesome because this is the first project I've been cast in that has ever been finished (the downside to the VAA is the percentage of projects that actually get finished are extremely low) and I'm really happy right now! You can download the episode from here. It was a small role (Mayu in Ai Yori ~Enishi~ (ep. 9)) but really fun because I basically get freaked out because there's a fire on the lawn and then once I see it's a campfire, proceed to argue about why roasting marshmallows is better than roasting sweet potatoes XD My acting seemed to be well received too, which I was very honored by, and makes me even more happy and excited to keep working on more roles.

Updates: Because of all of the crazyness with the end of the semester (finals are in about a week and the student art show is tomorrow evening) the filming for the student film has been pushed back until next semester. I'm happy that the cast and crew seem really eager to work hard and get started though because that means it will get finished.

I've had no time to pursue professional work (much to my dismay) but I've been attending teleseminars hosted by voice coaches such as Debbie Moore and James Alburger so at least I'm still learning. Next semester looks as if it's going to be extremely busy as well but I'm taking two voice classes (oral interpretation and stage dialects) at least. I think I stand a fairly good chance to get a large role in the spring play and with the film, it looks like I might have to wait until this summer to try getting professional work. I'll make it happen though! I'm keeping my ears open for opportunities!

New Character Demo Status: ...well....I've started it! ^^; I've got a couple of auditions for some projects I really want to be a part of coming up this week so I hope I can work on my demo here and there too. Really though, with finals and everything, it might be a little while.

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

Oy it's been crazy busy this semester because I'm now an upperclassman. Sorry for the lack of updates. I really didn't have anything new to say in regards to voice acting. There's so much to do to prepare for graduation next year. I've only been able to do three AVA roles all semester. I pass the place I record at every day on the way to class and I often find myself looking at it longingly, wishing I could be in that stuffy sound booth with all my heart.......

In other news: I was cast as the lead girl in a student film (currently untitled) that is scheduled to be filmed from the end of November to January so I'm pretty excited about that because I loved the first five pages of the script I was able to read before auditioning. I can't wait to read the rest. A friend of mine was kind enough to write me in as the lead girl in a script he's working on for a short film too but I'm not sure when that will all get underway.

I'm also working on a new character demo! It's long over-due and I finished the script a few weeks ago but I wasn't able to record because I came down with a really horrible cold. I'm all better now though so I hope that after I'm finished with a few auditions next week, I can begin recording it after Thanksgiving. I'd like to fix a few things on my character demo and actually make a narrative demo one of these days....

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

?Theatre Physics! XIII was a huge huge success (all 5 shows had completely packed houses)! Local Newspaper article about it. I'm the one holding the flag in the second picture on the left by the way.

I went through a slight withdrawl after it was all done because it had been so crazy and fun and I missed seeing everyone on a daily basis. We're all doing our best to stay in touch with each other though. I put a few pictures up in the Stage Roles Section but I hope I can have some more soon (especially one of the full cast and the cup stacking skit).

This weekend I'm going to try and get caught up on the lines I owe my VAA directors, possibly participate as an actor in my college's Red Eye Film Festival (make a short film in 30 hours), and prepare for heading out into the local professional world of voice overs (put together a cover letter and touch up my resume and commercial demo). Wish me luck!

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

Today's news is actually based on my professional VA work! Whoo hoo!

1. I just found out my first paid commercial is finally finished! I wish I could redo it though...I would have taken a much more natural approach rather then the advertising voice approach. Ah well. We don't learn by being right all the time. I'll definitely do better in that situation next time.

2. I also receieved an e-mail this morning from a construction software company's adverisement I had auditioned for via the VAA a few weeks ago. TONS of people on the VAA had auditioned for this because paid roles are very rare there. But more importantly, professional voice overs are worth so much more on a resume. Well before you all get too excited for me, I didn't get it haha. BUUUUUT the guy e-mailed me because he said that I was their second choice and it was very close. He said that he would keep my name and e-mail address for future voice over projects so even though I didn't get this one I have a good shot of getting one from them in the future! Yay for networking! ^_^

3. Things are insanely busy these days with being a full-time student and acting in Theatre Physics XIII but our performances are next weekend and after that I'm going to have so much more free time to do something I've been wanting to do for a while now. I'm going to start networking and trying to get work in the Mankato area. ^_^


Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

I have been, slowly but surely, editing and updating this site here and there. So keep checking back because I'm working hard to make this VA site rock darn it! :P ...too bad the same can't be said for my Graphic Design webpage XD haha oh well. One pant leg at a time. One pant leg at time...

One interesting thing I also want to mention about this site is that this is the first time that I've actually kept and maintained a wepage for this long. It probably helps that I always have things to add to it for my own record. Also, it's nice that on the VAA my site has started to gain some recognition. Granted, it's for my art (lol) but hey, while they're visiting, they probably check out the VA stuff too :P I hope I can get my new character demo finished as soon as the sound studio is finally done being renevated so I can up my chances of getting scouted for roles. I've been scouted a few times for the old demo but the sound quality on that thing is sooo terrible so I really need a new one asap. I'm really looking forward to this one too. It's going to be really funny ^^

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

I've finally been booted from SingIt! Season 2. It was an honor to be in that long considering I don't really have any sort of a singing background of any kind but it was kind of a bad way to go.

Begin Rant:  Each week the person in last place is the person kicked out of the competition but I wasn't even in last place this week! I was second-to-last (a rank I think I could have boosted had I known that the host had extended the deadline another day without telling some of the contestants including myself) but I was still kicked out because the host had allowed a new person to join the competition and that meant two people had to go. Now why someone is allowed to join EIGHT WEEKS into the competition when the rest of us have all been working hard each week is beyond me (especially since they could have just joined next season) but anyways, that meant that I was kicked out as well as the last place person. Boo.

On one hand, it's good to not have to worry about it anymore. It was stressful because of the very few recording hours I get each week. It's just kind of disapointing because I didn't expect to win but I had hoped I'd make it just a little farther then the final 8.

/rant.

I do think that I learned a little bit more about singing and though I have no plans to become a professional singer, having the ability to sing well can only open up more voice acting job opportunities so I'm going to keep working on that.

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

The site is definitely in need of some construction. It's starting to get a little crowded! I think what I'll do is start a seperate site for my art and just have a link to it on this website. I'm going to change the way I post roles too so that it's quicker to look through. I'll add voice samples too.

Cool things as of late: I went to Texas for a week last week to check out the area (apartments, towns, and voice acting production studios, hang out with some relatives, etc) with some friends. It was very cool and with the help of some connections, we got to see the inside of Funimation! I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to talk about so I'll just leave it at that but the whole experience was very cool and I'm really looking forward to living in Texas someday. I really loved Ft. Worth and Arlington especially. Those areas are really nice. It seems like there are a lot of opportunities for Graphic Design and Theatre work. Yay!

I'm also still in the SingIt! Competition. It's currently down to 10 compeitors now including me, though I haven't been doing so well lately. We'll see. I'm just happy I've made it this far. It's defintiely good practice and I've learned some helpful tips about singing which would be another great tool to add to my voice acting skills. I need to get to work on learning more accents now too!

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

New site layout! Yes I know this is the third time in about 2 months lol but I think I'm finally almost happy with this one. It looks professional and yet has a little bit of my style put in. So I've been kinda bummed that I only get about two hours a weekday to record and edit for the VAA because of the Commuication Building's summer hours. I found out it's barely open at all in the summer. It means I miss auditioning for a lot of projects that look like fun and it also means that I might pick something to audition for and then not even get a part. I mean, my success rate has been pretty good so I'm not complaining about that. I just wish I had more time and could audition for everything that looked fun like some other AVAers so I could get as much experience as possible. I only have a couple more years before I get the chance to try and make it in the big leagues after all...

But I won't give up! ^_^

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

So wow there seem to be a lot of firsts these days. A couple days ago Fate Avenue from the VAA interviewed me about being an amateur voice actress for his podcast. It was really fun but I think I rambled a lot ^^;;; Oh well! Hopefully he'll edit it a bit so it sounds better haha. It's not the first time I've been interviewed for my acting but it was the first time I've ever been interviewed about voice acting so I don't know; it made me feel more official ^_^ When he finishes his podcast, I'll put a link up to it on the site.

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

I just found out I got cast in my first fandub on the VAA! I'm so excited because this is the absolute BEST experience one could get in this field. Plus my character (Matori in Shin Tenchi Muyo aka Tenchi in Tokyo) is evil which will be really fun to play! ^_^ Here's a link to the project and cast list: Shin Tenchi Muyo Fandub

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

I won Sogencon 2006's Voice Actor Idol! The tournament was so much fun and it makes me want to keep voice acting 10x more! What's the coolest though was that the judges were well-known voice actors and directors at ADV and Funimation! Just getting the chance to perform for them was so rewarding in itself!

Details are posted in the awards section.

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

So I am now in the midst of my 1 week summer vacation! Whoo! Then it's back to Mankato to work full-time for the summer in Housekeeping (blah). But I'm doing it so I can keep recording this summer even if it'll only be for a couple of hours each day. I love it too much to be away for long. I also got a tip off about a possible opportunity of doing audio books for a publishing company in the area so I'm definitely calling those people up as soon as I get back.
    I'm looking forward to this weekend most of all because it's Sogencon 2006! Yay! I'm terrified to death of my first "Voice Actor Idol" because I'm severely limited in my numbers of impersonations that I feel I can do adequetely but I would be a coward if I didn't do it. At least I'm freaking out now so I'll be mellow when the time comes. It's all in good fun ^^
    And, of course, I'm cosplaying but I'm not sure a whole lot of people will recognize me even though the show I'm cosplaying from (IGPX) is on Toonami right now. I'm going to be going as Fantine Valjean (her blue dress and sunhat outfit). It's so incredibly simple because of my horrible procrastination but it's a pretty outfit ^^ I also died my hair blonde for it last night and I'm in the process of adjusting to the initial shock one always gets when doing a hair color change they've never done before. I've never been so light but actually Fantine's hair is even lighter so I shouldn't complain. It's a good color.
    2:55 am. Hmmm...I should go to bed.

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

Unfortunately because of the play (Everyman), finals week next week, etc. I haven't had time to audition for many new AVA roles. I made my first commercial demo though and gave it to one of the local area radio stations and I will definitely continue voice acting this summer. The site is still being tweaked and updated every now and then when I can squeeze in some time so I know it still looks kind of shabby now but I'm working on it! Organization is the key problem right now because sometimes things overlap and I'm not sure which page to put them on ><  Oh well.

Enjoy Everything!
-MorningStar Smiles

I update! Really I do! I just don't often have the time to post something here talking about it. As you can see, there have been a lot of additions and construction underway on this site as I am getting more roles.  I got offered my first paid job today! Yay! This brings me to an important point I want to bring up because a lot of people when they hear that I do online voice acting ask if I get paid and give me the "you're so getting ripped off" look when I tell them that I'm not. Here's my policy on it:

I enjoy Voice Acting. If I could never be paid for it,  I would do it anways because I love it. But, alas, I need money to survive too.  So here's my rule, if my director/employer is getting financial benefit off my work then I request that I be paid for it (which is fair). If the director is poor like me and is just doing a project for fun and no profit will ever be made off it, then I work for free. Why should I charge them if they're not making any money off of it?

So what's the point of doing free projects? Well, for one thing, they're in a much higher supply then paid jobs are at this point. We're all working together to do what we love to do  and building up practice, experience, and our resumes all at the same time! Who wouldn't want that? ^_^

At this point I would also like to wish my youngest sister Lydia a happy golden birthday! 10 on the 10th! *glomps Lydia* \^o^/

Enjoy everything!
-MSS

Welcome to MorningStar Smiles.com! My name is Crystal Lonnquist. Nice to meet you! If you think I've met you but I have no idea who you are, my grandpa's twin brother's grandchild's name is also Crystal Lonnquist. XD  Otherwise, I have an identical twin sister named Katrina (yeah, identical twins run in the family) or I just have the memory span of a parakeet and you'll have to refresh my memory.

I'm not sure if this site will be temporary or if I'll have it for a long time. We'll see! I just need a place to put my resume and graphics for the time being. But anyways, I hope you enjoy your stay and find the information here helpful!

A little about me: This and more will probably be moved to the Bio section later. I'm currenly a college student and an online amateur voice actress in my free time. I'm majoring in Studio Art (for Graphic Design or Illustration) and minoring in Theatre. My current dream is to be a voice actress (especially for the English dubs of Japanese Anime but also any other voice over work) so getting to do amateur voice acting work online is so cool for me! Even when I'm just auditioning I always walk out of the recording studio with a huge smile on my face. I also love art so graphic design and/or illustration are my back up plans so I don't go through life as a starving artist.

Well, I guess that's enough (or too much) information for now! See ya!

Enjoy everything!
-MSS