Out of Zion Audiobook is in Production
Today was one that I’d hoped and dreamed would come to be from the time I began writing Out of Zion. I’m a big fan of audiobooks. I have friends who are big fans of audiobooks. And I have a few kids of my own who are audible learners and would prefer an audiobook over a print copy any day of the week. So, when Christian audio bought rites to produce an audiobook for Out of Zion, I was elated!
I was doubly elated when they approved my reading sample and gave me the okay to narrate my story. Though I’m not a professionally trained narrator, it was impossible for me to envision another woman’s voice attached to my story. Thanks to Covid-19, the recording has been three months in the waiting since our initial record date.
I spent 3 ½ hours at Eastern Sky Studios this morning narrating Out of Zion. It’s comical the places my brain traveled while I attempted to keep it harnessed to the story. After three hours, my speech slurred and I felt like I was babbling. It’s like wires in my brain came unplugged. David, the studio owner, told me that Tiger Woods had recorded at his studio, and even “laser-focused Tiger” was overcome by fatigue after three hours. David seeking to comfort me that I’m no different than Tiger worked.
Below is a before pic and an after pic. Whew, I have gained an immense appreciation for the endurance and skills of voice actors!
We called it a day and we have three more of these ahead of us. When I arrived home, I barely made it to my bed where I collapsed for several hours until the exterminator finally wooed me out of bed with his phone calls to alert me that he was standing on my front porch. As a result of my emaciated physical and mental condition, I don’t have anything pithy or deep for you this week. I just wanted to invite you to celebrate with me.
I’ve felt a wave of emotions today. I still marvel that this is my life. Without a doubt, I could never have master-minded it to unfold this way nor would I have thought so out-of-the-box. I can’t help but ponder Psalm 139.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
I’ve wandered through many seasons of desolation. Those seasons seem to make seasons of consolation, like this one, feel that much more undeserved.