The Audiobook Adventure Part 2--Plus Life

It's been an eventful couple of weeks around here. In this little corner of the world, every October, a phenomenon called Neewollah takes place. Without going into detail, our little town swells to several times its normal population, a street carnival takes over downtown and excitement electrifies the typically calm autumn atmosphere. Since I live and work downtown, it's fair to say my life gets caught up in the madness.


But this year, something unexpected and unwelcome came to our house, just as Neewollah was getting started. The love of my life took not one but two tumbles, the second resulting in a dislocated shoulder. Everyone in our age bracket lives in dread of falling, but having taken a few spills myself, I can tell you that seeing my husband on the floor was far more traumatic for me than landing on my own keister. Fortunately, the damage was minimal and he should be good as new before long. But there's no way to minimize the shock of such an event for either of us. This was one of those times when getting older just plain sucks!


So we had revelry all over town, my hotel was filled with celebrants, and I had a patient at home who was doing a truly fine job of being patient despite his discomfort. My nerves were, however, a bit frayed. A getaway to a peaceful mountaintop sounds like something the doctor might order for me at this point. Still, life goes on, and there's an audiobook in the works, remember?


Somewhere in the UK, Matt (that's Matthew Lloyd Davies, my chosen narrator) is reading Shannon's Daughter in preparation for recording the first fifteen minutes for my approval. Funny, but I suspect I was far more stressed about his reading my book than I imagine he was about recording it to my satisfaction. What if he hates the story, or finds the characters impossible to bring to life? What if he's gagging on the dialog or grimacing at the narrative? The stuff nightmares are made of, I can testify!


But it turns out all's well on the audiobook front. I got the fifteen minutes a couple of days ago, along with a message from Matt. What an awesome experience hearing him read my words! We "chatted" back and forth about a couple of minor things. Turns out he does have a few insecurities after all, which was quite endearing. The really amazing thing he shared was that he dreads reading the end of the book, because it made him "very, very sad." Oddly, that makes me very, very happy! That's the point of this writing thing, right? Moving the reader's emotions?


So now he'll be working on the actual recording for the next month and a half or so. The final product is due by December 21. While life goes on here, while I try to get back to writing after the emotional brick wall of that tumble and its aftermath, while the cold weather moves in and we start moving into the holiday season, I'm sure every day I'll wonder what chapter he's recording and how it sounds. Wishing I could be a little mouse in his recording studio is futile. Still, being a mouse/spy on the other side of the pond does sound kind of intriguing. Hmm, that might be a nice story line for a little fantasy romance, not that I'm into shape shifting or time travel, but. . .no, think I'll just try to get back to Walnut Lodge and the work in progress for now!