All I know is that having my audio book done up by a professional narrator has just blown my mind!
When Security Through Absurdity first hit the scene in 2014, with Book One: Little Yellow Stickies, people began asking me if the story was available as an audio book. Naturally, I didn’t pay this inquiry much attention. I had brand-spankin’-new, shiny, hard bound and soft cover books to wave around!
Next, because Security Through Absurdity is on reading lists in the Rhode Island and Connecticut Public School Systems, the high school students, who had no problem telling me that they were dyslexic and couldn’t read very well, started asking me about audio book availability. Their friends liked the story and told them to check it out. I made a note of that, of course, but still wasn’t convinced that I needed to invest in the production of an audio book. I was heavy in the throws of editing Book Two: Bubbles Will Pop and Book Three: The Big Show at the time.
Meanwhile, folks on Facebook were letting me know that they really liked the books! These same people had elderly parents who might enjoy the story in audio book form. At this point, it was clear that I needed an audio book and I had begun the process of recording and narrating the book myself. I would go every other weekend to meet up with a sound guy in a really hot, second floor apartment in Providence. We had to open the windows because it was scalding and the sound of traffic would completely ruin the recording. I’d have to start over again and again and again because I would inevitably mess up the pronunciation of a word, or just skip a word, or start laughing. By the third or fourth weekend of this, I had pretty much made up my mind that I must have been smoking crack or something thinking I could narrate my book myself. Sure I wrote it. Sure it’s in my native language, English, but for goodness sake! It was hard work and it wasn’t turning out right. So I stopped recording and the audio book project kind of died.
But then, I went to my lawyer to talk about some stuff regarding the film adaptation of Security Through Absurdity. We talked a little bit about the plot and some of the fun facts included in the books. He was all about it! He thought it sounded great! I had a soft cover copy of Book One: Little Yellow Stickies if he wanted to read it. He smiled and pushed the book back over to me. “No. I really only do audio books now while I’m driving.”
And that’s what settled it! So, I posted the book over on ACX (an Amazon company) and listened to the auditions of professional narrators. The talented Cynthia Hemminger caught my attention and the rest is history! She and I are happily contracted for the entire series.
I cannot believe how this book sounds outside my own mind. All of the sudden the story of Jocelyn McLaren seems so much more real! It’s not me talking to myself anymore. It’s someone else telling me MY story. I am literally as excited about the release of this audio book as I was when I released Little Yellow Stickies in 2014! I’m just giddy about this. It’s a totally different experience than reading the book yourself. Trust me. You’ll see!
