Sunday, August 16, 2020

Bloom of Youth Audio Book finished

Hey! Good news for those of you who enjoyed listening to the first chapter of the audio book for The Bloom of Youth! The entire book is recorded, edited, and submitted for the Audible review process. What I've found about this process, however, is that the time needed for approval varies wildly. My first audio book, FLEE, took nearly five months to go through the process. The second, The Unrighteous, took less than two weeks!

So really, it's anyone's guess how long this third audio book will take, but rest assured, I'll be letting you all know here once it's available.

Recording this audio book was quite the experience, as I did it while relocating across the globe. Due to the pandemic and sudden visa changes, my wife and I were forced to leave our previous home of eleven years and return to the United States. This means that approximately half of the book was recorded in my old office, a room in our high rise apartment, late at night when the traffic outside wasn't loud enough to show up in the audio. The second half was recorded in the home we are staying at now, which belongs to family. Living with more people and being in a new environment meant a lot of trial and error with recording times and locations, trying to find that sweet spot that would match the audio from the previous half of the book. Eventually, I managed, and I hope the transition from one recording locale to the next isn't too noticeable!

In other news, I haven't touched The Bloom of Youth 2 much in the last couple of months, but now that I'm settling in here and I've got much more time on my hands than before, I'll start chipping away at the remainder of the project. I still plan to release it this fall, so stay tuned...

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Spanish verison of "All Things New" now available!

Great news for you Spanish readers and speakers out there! The first Spanish-language version of All Things New (Todo Nuevo) is now available on Amazon. As usual, there is both the digital version (for use on Kindles, or on the Kindle app for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices), and the paperback version if you prefer a more traditional format!
A huge thanks to my tireless Spanish translator, Carlos, who originally reached out to me with interest in doing the translating, and then spent the next few months pouring himself completely into this project. I'm sure many friends will be both entertained and encouraged by the fruits of his hard work!

In other news, my wife and I have completed the move back to the United States. It's a little weird to be back here after more than a decade living abroad in Asia, and stranger still to be here during a pandemic (I'm currently writing from my new office: a repurposed garage space next to a refrigerator and a washing machine––but I'm not complaining!). We are happy to be with family and finally through the ordeal of our international travels, which were much more stressful than we'd anticipated.

The upside is that since we're finally somewhat settled and I've got more time on my hands, I'll be able to hopefully get this next book finished soon. And if I can find a quiet space to burrow away for a few days, I'll be able to finish recording my audio book as well!

Hope you all are doing ok out there!