Where does the time go?
After leaving Phuket, finally, at the end of July, it was back to Italy, high summer and a ton of work to do in a garden intent on returning to nature. Needless to say, more creative pursuits were put on the back burner for a while.
However, as the virus spirals every which way and as of last weekend, our part of Italy is in the red zone — maximum lockdown — we are hunkering down for a fast-approaching winter. Loads of wood cut and split, wine a-plenty and the olive harvest done and dusted, it’s time to get back to the keyboard and hit creative mode.
Progress on The Whistling Man is that the tale has been largely rewritten, although far from finished yet, and since there’s no longer any whistling, I’m looking for a new title. As yet nothing has materialised from the ether, but it’s out there somewhere, waiting to be recognised.
Meanwhile, there’s another project in hand, something I’ve been thinking about for a while — audiobooks. There’s an ever-increasing market out there for audiobooks and now seems like a good time to join in. However, if you go down the route of engaging a professional narrator, it all gets rather expensive, so I’m trying the alternative approach of doing it myself.
I’ve now bought a fancy mike, fancy headphones, a pop filter and downloaded free recording software — Audacity. Most importantly of all, I’ve created a sound studio. But before you start thinking of a Radio One state-of-the-art set-up, think instead of a Bedouin tent! Following the guidelines of a course I subscribed to — Audiobooks Made Easy by Derek Doepker — I commandeered a pile of old duvets and bedspreads and built a sort of Wendy House that the average six-year-old would sell his or her younger sibling for. The aim is to minimise external sound, which up here in the woods is not a huge problem anyway. It works well enough, so over the next few weeks and months. I’ll be working my way through my seven titles with a view to getting some onto Audible, and one at least as part of a giveaway deal.
As it turns out, the timing is good since literally today, 21 November, Book Funnel have announced an expansion of their services into Audiobooks that will roll out in the new year. All very exciting.
The first book I’m recording is An Imperfect Revenge and I may well be releasing it chapter by chapter before long. I’ll keep you posted.
