Oooh! I can't believe I wrote it!

Wednesday I blogged about the Booktown Mysteries being on audio.

Well, they arrived.  (Did you hear me whooping it up from coast to coast?)


This is not my first experience with having one of my books on audio.  My first book, Murder On The Mind is also available on audio from Audible.com, Books in Motion, and on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  (If you're looking for it on CD -- go to Amazon and Books in Motion; Barnes & Noble is selling it as an MP3 file for only $12.40, which is considerably cheaper than Audible.com.)  It's read by Kevin Foley.

Um ... I haven't had the courage to listen to it, although I've had my author copy for well over a year now.  Before I got it, I listened to the sample on the Books In Motion web site.  It's a scene that's very vivid for me--the end of one of my very favorite scenes in the book, so it's a pivotal moment, and I must say an excellent representation of the book. 

However . . . the performer got Richard all wrong, at least in that scene.  He came off as bombastic, when in fact he was extremely worried about Jeff's sanity.  That intonation scared me away from listening to the book.  (So much so, I've never opened the packaging.)  Still, I have had one report that the audio version was good.  (A Goodreads review.)  It made me think I ought to give the audio version a chance.  (And besides, my mother has been nagging me to loan it to her.)

I'd love it if people would find this version of the book.  I mean, in a year I've made exactly $15 in royalties.  (How's a starving author supposed to eat?)


I don't think the audio version of the Booktown Mysteries will have that lack of sales problem.  First of all, the series is many times more popular than my poor Jeff series.  (Pout!  I love Jeff, Richard and Brenda and I'd LOVE for them to find a HUGE audience.)  Cassandra Campbell performs the books. 

As soon as the Fed-X man left yesterday, I ripped open the package and ran into my office to play the first part of Murder is Binding.  Whoa!  It was great--so great, I couldn't believe I wrote the thing!

I found it too distracting to play while I'm working (even on boring stuff like emptying my spam filter--I want to listen rather than work), so I'll be listening to all the books while I do housework and cook (Why do I suddenly have this urge to do laundry, too?) or driving in the car.

I sure hope a whole new audience will find the books.  I was proud of them as books; I'm even more proud of them as audiobooks.

Any chance you'll give them a listen?  (Hint, hint--libraries are the biggest audiobook buyers!)