No, I’m not about to tell you a parable. Instead I’m going to tell you about my latest non-writing-related project – audiobooks! For the past year or more I’ve worked with several extremely talented narrators to produce many of my books on audio. What a fun project! I’ve been able to listen to auditions by many awesome narrators, and then select the perfect one for each book or series.

Some of my books have been available on audio for a while. Just As I Am was my first, and I actually recorded that one myself. That was a lot of fun, but while I’m a good reader, I’m not a professional “voice.” So from there I was happy to turn over the task to the pros.

Erin Novotny recorded The Days of Noah. She has a voice that is clear and smooth, and at times haunting and tense – perfect for that book.

I partnered with the multi-talented Becky Doughty for the Tales of the Goose Creek B&B books. I love her portrayal of Millie and Al, and especially of Tuesday Love!

The minute I heard Lauren Holladay read a sample, I thought, “Oh my goodness! That’s Allie!” Actually, her voice was perfect for all three of the Sanderson sisters. She has that quirky-yet-dramatic tone so necessary for the Sister-to-Sister series. Since this series is very personal to me, I was thrilled to find a Voice who was so perfectly suited to the characters.

I’d never worked with a male narrator before, but since The Amish Widower is written from the perspective of Seth Hostetler, the book really needed a man to record it. You have no idea how thrilled I was to find Logan Harper. He not only has a soothing, easy-to-listen-to voice, he nails the Amish dialect. And his acting experience gave the audiobook a truly entertaining quality that I absolutely love!

Historical novels require a different style of voice than contemporary ones. Sarah Kate has a lyrical, smooth style that was absolutely perfect for the Seattle Brides series. My job during the production process is to listen to the recording and let the narrator know if anything doesn’t sound right. With Sarah’s narration, I was so caught up in the story I forgot to listen for corrections! And there weren’t any.

The Amish of Apple Grove provided some unique challenges for a narrator. First, the Voice must portray both female and male. The male has a Texas cowboy accent – but not too much, which would be distracting. The female is Amish, so the narrator needs to be able to pronounce Pa Dutch terms and read passages from the German Bible. Cecily White contacted me because she is such a fan of Lori Copeland, my co-author on this book. The minute I heard her read a scene from the first chapter of The Heart’s Frontier, I knew she had the exact qualities to make these audiobooks a success.

Have I piqued your interest? Then I invite you to visit the Audiobook page on my website for links to all my audiobooks. And for a limited time, you might be able to get a free audiobook by entering the drawing on the Reader Fun page.