Audiobook for Flameborn Kicking Off

John Pirhalla will be starting recording on Flameborn shortly, and I CAN'T WAIT to get started on hearing & reviewing the chapters! This is the point at which it becomes truly real for me since most of my personal "reading" is done via audio on my commute.

This week I've been listening to The Blacktongue Thief written and narrated by Christopher Buehlman, and it is spectacular so far. His (learned) accent and his love for language help this unique, intriguing world come to life and thrive. Kinch is such a great character. I think I hear some "tape hiss", or whatever you call it, that I don't hear when I listen to other high quality narrations, so I wonder at his recording set up. I might like to record my own audio versions someday, and a few folks have asked me about doing that, but since (A) I have a limited amount of time to do more things for these books other than write them and chuck them at Amazon hoping more people will discover them, and (B) it would take me, I'm guessing, 25 hours (not to mention a substantial chunk of money) to research and figure out the setup and procure the equipment necessary to do a good job. And even then, (C) I think John is still going to do a better job. I mean, I believe in myself and I think I would eventually get very good at it, too, but it might take me a few (or dozens?) of books to get good, where John's already there (and well past good). And, you know, I might be wrong about getting good no matter how long I try!

But back to The Blacktongue Thief, listening to Beuhlman dance with words is inspiring to me as an author, or maybe better said, intimidating. He's so good - the main character is great, the imagination is great, the world building is rich and deep, the characters are nuanced, believable, interestingly flawed, all while still being both inspired and inspiring. So many great and interesting ideas packed into a short space keeps the book going at breakneck pace without seeming rushed. His accent is so perfect for the book that I thought it was his native accent, and was shocked today to read a bit about more about him and his native land... of Florida. Apparently he was a ren faire performer and studied the accent?!? Incredible.

Anyhoo, when my books' sales disappoint me, or I think they are underappreciated by the market, the fact that books exist out there like The Blacktongue Thief or Book 7 of Dungeon Crawler Carl, or a thousand other great books reminds me that it's okay to underperform them, because they are VERY VERY GOOD! Mine can be good in their own, less heroic, way.