Friday, July 30, 2021

Listen up!

By Mary Connealy
 Today I've scored a special extra day on Seekerville.

I've got a giveaway-palooza for you all.

I have been given multiple audio copies of my most recent series Brothers in Arms.

So today I'll be drawing names for winners.

These are NOT what you call Audible, that's the Amazon thing right?

It's something different but the instructions include how to get them. (I hope!)

I don't know much about audio books. I've listened to some of mine and it's always the same woman and she does a good job but wow, imagine having to read a whole book OUT LOUD with no mists. No hesitation. No stumbled ers, uhs, ums. 

Surely she has to stop all the time and back up a little then forge onward?

Anyway, not a skill set I possess. 

I've been listening to Father Mike Schmidts Bible in a Year podcast and it's the same thing. I wonder how long he works to get through the daily reading? He makes it sound so smooth, so easy. 

And all those Old Testament names and he just glides along.

Readers like that make it sound so easy but I suspect it's not, unless they're just naturals somehow. 

All my books (well most!) are available as paperbacks, large print hard covers, ebooks and audio books. 

I'll include here an excerpt here from the moment Falcon Hunt realizes he has no memory.

It was an aspect of this book that was really fun to write. Hard but fun.

A Man with a Past


He looked around, studied the water racing below him. Had he scratched his head somehow?

Been clobbered by a rock?

Most likely something of the sort.

He lifted his head, aware of something bothering him, more than the crease on his neck. More than drowning. More than the terrible chill and the terrible pain.

He couldn’t touch on it for some reason but it was there, it’d come to him. For now, one step at a time, he’d get himself out of this mess and track down the why of it later.

Edging back along that trunk, he reached the muddy bank and kept right on crawling until he was on dry land.

As he stood, he looked around and saw woods and mountains. That hollered ‘home’ and ‘safety’ for some reason. And he felt sure it was important for him to find safety. He just wasn’t sure why.

He staggered toward the dense woods, realized as he got close his vision was blurry and sometimes he saw two of a thing, sometimes one. He gained the trees and leaned against the first one he got close to. He walked along the edge of them, leaning when he could, staggering when he couldn’t, listening for anyone coming.

Before he could be caught out, he found a game train so thin he had to think it was made by rabbits. He turned into the woods, following it, heaving a sigh of relief to be out of view.

Then he plowed into a low hanging branch and knocked himself over backward.

Lying there, breathing hard, he had a flash of reason that told him why he was in such an all-fired hurry to find a safe haven.

He didn’t remember anything that had brought him to this moment.

Why was he in that stream? Why did he feel hunted?

And then as he chased those thoughts around a real big one hit him hard.

He realized he didn’t know his own name.

His thoughts echoed. His head empty and in agonizing pain. Who was he? How did a man go on if he had no idea who he was?

Lying there, looking up through the dappled leaves, he wondered if he knew a thing about how to go on. Touching his holster, he knew his gun was gone. In fact, just knowing he’d had one, for that matter, what a gun was, was a lot of remembering.

But he couldn’t remember his own name. Putting two hands flat on his face, he knew nothing of his own looks. He felt the scratch of a few whiskers on his cheeks. But no beard.

He looked at his hands and felt no recognition. The impact of realizing it, almost knocked him sideways and it might’ve if he weren’t already lying flat on his back. He stayed right where he was to think.

~~~~~~~~


Leave a comment and mention if you'd like to win a copy of an audio book and I'll put your name in the drawing.

And tell me if you're into audio books and if not, do you have an ereader? Or are you a print book purist?

What else have I got around here to give away? I might think of something. And right now I mean like today only or maybe still tomorrow...

The Accidental Guardian is on sale in all ebook formats for $1.99. It'd be a fun book to have around on your ereader even if you've read it before.

Click Here to Buy the Accidental Guardian


14 comments:

  1. So I got all set up IN A CLOSET to do my own audible book recordings the same month that everything closed down in 2020, and then there were two men at home... Men are noisy.

    They don't stay quiet. And there was nowhere for them to go, right? Not even a casual trip to the grocery because no one wanted to get sick and take the virus to Grandma Blodgett at 89 years old....

    And then it was farm season, and then more opened up, but then I had two fifth graders with me three days a week because we were REMOTE LEARNING.... which I was happy to do and yes, by the way, I am smarter than a fifth grader, but oh my stars... by the time school reopened in late April, we were into farm season again... so this winter, after the farm closes, I am going to try it! I love reading out loud, I love using my voice, so we'll see.... And I bought the equipment, it's all IN THE CLOSET!!!! And it scared my five-year-old granddaughter because she thought it was going to come out of the closet when she sleeps..... Oh my stars.

    I'm so excited that you're giving these away, sales on audible are going way up and it's fun for folks to be able to work or drive and listen to a book!

    YAY!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ruthy! You're going to make your own audio books? I LOVE THAT!

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  2. I won't put my in for the drawing because I already won an audiobook from you and I have to say the woman who reads them is fantastic! And just to let everyone know that it was pretty simple to set up and download. If you've used other apps, you'll be able to use this one as well. This was a new one for me and I didn't have any problems.

    Great books, Mary!

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    Replies
    1. Glynis, thank you for reporting in! I've never used this kind of audio book before so it was surprisingly easy and worked well.

      Delete
  3. A new Mary book! I haven't had time to read much as of late. Those 5 danged ole adorable grandsons take all my time ha. I love audio books. I live 45 mins from Lubbock so audio books come in super handy. I have found that ereaders give me a headache. I choose hard copy if I'm going to read. I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

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  4. Audio Books Are Not Read!
    Audio Books Are Acting Performances.


    Professional readers are actors who get to play all the roles in the story. They must have many voices. They must understand each role. They must emote. The listener should be able to feel what is happening by the voice modulation and breathing sequences of the narrator.

    Audio book acting can be much harder than live stage or movie acting because those actors do not need to have ten or more voices.

    Example:

    It's late at night. A child is in bed by himself when he hears loud knocking on his bedroom door. He says, "Who is there?"

    Can you read the line,

    "Who's there?"

    so that the listener knows it's a boy child's voice and that he is afraid?

    Then immediately afterward comes this line, spoken as a gruff old man,

    "I'm the monster who lives under your bed."
    (It's an R.L. Stine book.)

    Best Advice for authors: Never Read Your Own Book!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Okay, wow. I haven't done it, but I'll warn Ruthy! :) Hi Vince. Do you want an audio book?

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    2. Yes. I'd like the new system to try out. Brothers in Arms if possible. Thanks.

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  5. I like listening to audiobooks but I prefer print books.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Angeline! You're in the drawing. Check back on the weekend edition to find winners.

      Delete
  6. I do occasionally enjoy an audiobook and lately I'm feeling the need to listen to one. I normally choose paper but am not too picky. My local library has a great selection of audio, e-books and paper. If you could toss my name in, I would appreciate it!
    Perrianne Askew perrianne (DOT0 askew (AT) me (DOT) com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. perrianne (DOT) askew (AT) me (DOT) com - corrected e-mail

      Delete
    2. Got it! I'm mostly paper, too. But I've listened to the occasional audio book.

      Delete

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