True Confessions

I found this old blog that I had started months ago, March 17th to be exact. Yes, this year. And I decided to finish it. It's about time … (pun)

There is so much to create and so little time, that I don't feel like I have the time to read paper books. So I listen to audio or talking books while doing other things. Multi-tasking. 'Reading' while on long walks or long drives, or while cooking when lots of peeling and chopping is involved, or while waiting in waiting rooms, etc.

I haven't read a paper book in years, except for my own of course. All my 'reading' is listening. It adds another dimension to the book. A huge one. A narrator can enhance a not-so-great book, or ruin a wonderful story. Like the case of the older, perhaps even old, woman, obviously a smoker, reading as a perky 20-something gal. Aargh! Why?

Or the mysterious case of the authors who replaced a fantastic narrator, opting to read the 5th and 6th books of their previously quite enjoyable series themselves. Their reading of the 5th installment was notably, cringe-worthily AWFUL, with 5 capitals!

Word of advice - don't try to do an accent if you are absolutely AWFUL at accents and can't do accents at all. TV shows should remember this when casting English actors who are supposed to have French accents. But I digress.

Due to all my listening, I've become something of a voice aficionado. I have my favourite narrators. When I write and edit my own books, in my head, I hear the words spoken in my favourite narrator's voices. One of my favourite readers - Jayne Entwistle (Flavia De Luce Series) https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=jayne+entwistle&&view=detail&mid=C5B80035CB1C56F3AFD5C5B80035CB1C56F3AFD5&&FORM=VRDGAR

Ok, one more. Robert Garson reading Warlock Holmes. His Warlock Holmes voice is priceless. ROFL. Just Google Audible and Warlock Holmes and you can hear a sample.

Sorry I got sidetracked by that old blog - so now I am proud to announce that I published 3 books this year (2019) for 3 different age groups. And I'm happy with all of them. Looking at the 3 covers below, I realize I've been in a green mood this year. More about the books in the next blog, soon, maybe tomorrow. I'm feeling bloggy. Cheers!