E-book Sale–or Time to Have Some Fun

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“I got to realizing that I wanted to record, I wanted to experiment. And doing those same old songs the same old way – I said, ‘I think it’s time for me to have some fun.” ~ Buck Owens, country music star, musician, songwriter

When I read that quote this morning, I thought (after a bunch of memories of Buck Owens on television back in the day) that I have arrived at a similar mindset. Which is why I jumped at the chance to publish Sweet Dreams at the Goodnight Motel in Apple Books’ experimental program with AI narration. I’m having delightful fun being a part of it. I have reached a place in my life where I see the value of making everything I do be fun. I’m at a place where I’m willing to take chances and try things. One will do for love and fun much more than one ever does with the nose-to-the-grindstone mentality. I’m glad I finally learned that.

When I first listened to the sample of the Sweet Dreams audiobook, I laughed out loud. Not because it sounded silly, but because the voice sounded so real. This is not the text-to-speech voice. It is a lovely flowing woman’s voice. Oh, she pronounces some things a bit oddly, but then don’t we all? I mean, people from the northeast pronounce words far different than we do down here in south Alabama. The first time my husband read the road sign for Roanoke Rapids, he, never having heard the town name before, said, “Ro-nook-ie Rapids.” I took that in with great hilarity and even would bring it up twenty years later.

When the AI woman’s voice read the beginning of Chapter 1, I was struck with awe, not only with the voice but with the story and the way the words sounded when read, and not by me. Here is the opening:

Chapter 1

Shreveport, Louisiana

May, 1997

Sometimes a person sees or hears something at a particularly pivotal moment. Behind the moment, though, is a lot of time, years maybe, where all manner of unfed desires and dashed dreams have been jammed down and compressed, very much like packing in an explosive. Then comes that particular moment that ignites the fuse. The lid is blown off, and all those desires and dreams come spewing forth, which accounts for all manner of both passionate crimes and daring new lives. . . This is what happened one evening to Claire, a lonely but mostly reasonable woman.

I still chuckle and nod as I read that. After so many years I read the words as if written by someone else, some stranger. And I relate.

If you do purchase the audiobook, please let me know your impressions of the AI reading. After all, this is an experiment. Inquiring minds want to know. Debate over using AI narration is raging in writer circles.

As for my other novels, we are investigating the best path forward for audiobook publication. More to come!

Blessings,