Blog
A Killer Christmas Break
Book II in the Adair Family Mysteries Series.
A father/son/girlfriend/family-friend team of investigators has just cracked one of their town's biggest mysteries, and everyone is ready for a well-deserved holiday break. Soon they are all in the middle of another mystery involving the death of one of the vacationers on a coastal island in Maine. Do the Adairs (and friends) attract mysterious crimes, or do they have a knack for finding them? It's probably a little bit of both. This book was a fun journey into the uniqueness of the Maine accent. . . I hope I did it some justice without it sounding too stereotypical. It's a mystery for the entire family, from pre-teens to adults, and the story will keep you compelled to the very end.
The Wars of Bent Creek
July 30, 2020
Jeff Hill is a colleague of mine from Anoka Middle School. When he retired a few years ago, he started a new career as an author (he was a math teacher). This is his second book and his first full length novel. Naturally, I was delighted to produce his audiobook. Growing up in 1968, J.P. (the book's main character and narrator) had the gift of knowing people who had survived WWI, WWII, and Viet Nam. He was also in a culture that didn't get hung up on the fact that, during the summer, you were truly free to wander the town and interact with the many people and places in the community. This is a coming of age story, but it takes place in an age that is largely a thing of the past. The story is charming and heartwarming--and it makes you wonder if perhaps we'd be better off if we didn't shelter our kids so much these days.
It's Here
December 7, 2019
Check out Mistakes I made During the Zombie Apocalypse.
It explores the mental and physical trials of 17-year-old Ian, who has messed up big time. He's still hanging on, but he needs to do a lot of self-talk to make it any further.
Even if you aren’t a fan of zombie tales, this book offers a great look at how to live with the missed opportunities and paralyzing weaknesses that we all face when adversity strikes.
It’s a well-written, impeccably narrated , and delightfully disturbing tale just in time for the Christmas season!
With this release, I can now say that I am a bone fide "professional" audiobook narrator, because, as of this moment, the book has sold 4 copies. Of course, I have barely paid to heat the air for a couple of hours in the small studio room where the book was recorded, but this is a "long haul" adventure. I am happy nonetheless.
It's a bit difficult for me to listen to my work for too long. It's a great novel, and, overall, I think I did a pretty good job, but I know that there are many things I would like to do differently. As a teacher, I am familiar with this feeling. Each time I give a lesson, teach a unit, or look back on a school year, there are many things to reflect upon. Because it's human nature, many of those reflections are critical. The only difference is that there isn't a video or audio recording of my school year available on Amazon, Audible and iTunes. Thank God! However, I suppose that even if there were, at some point, I'd just need to let it go, learn, and make a commitment to growing. So that's what I am going to do here. Thanks to Michelle Kilmer for taking a chance with me.
Most of all, thanks to my family for allowing me to spend time cloistered in a closet, talking to myself, for hours at a time!
Almost Done. . . .
November 11, 2019
It's now up to the ACX gods to approve my latest project, Mistakes I Made in the Zombie Apocalypse, by Michelle Kilmer. I had a fabulous time with this project. It's written from the perspective of Ian, a 17 year old who is in major trouble during the zombie apocalypse. There were several voices with which to experiment and quite a few memorable characters. Ian (the narrator) even had two voices. As he's working through all of the issues that led him to this point, he speaks to a part of him that resembles his conscience. Early on, he mentions that his dad is a psychologist, and it's also apparent that Ian had gotten a lot of unsolicited advice from his father. "Dad" was certainly an inspiration for this side of Ian.
Edith, the housewife stuck in a Walgreens, is also one of my favorites. She's a bit wacky. She's a control freak with some rather interesting ideas about what to do when the world is infested with the undead. After all, the stress of zombie apocalypse can be a little much. I had to channel Mrs. Poole, Annie Wilkes, and Dolores Umbridge. How's that for a crazy character?
Check out this audiobook. It's gruesome, funny, tragic, and, (ahem) apocalyptic.
