You will enrich your life immeasurably if you approach it with a sense of wonder and discovery, and always challenge yourself to try new things.” –Nate Berkus
Have you ever wanted to try something new? Even if you weren’t really sure you could do whatever it was? I suppose we’ve all met challenges like that. Perhaps when we first sat behind a wheel of a car to learn to drive. Perhaps when we took a new baby home to care for and love. Maybe going back a little younger, when we learned to balance a bike and ride down the road all alone without training wheels.
While I can’t remember back when I rolled the first piece of paper into my typewriter (it was a long time before computers) and typed “Chapter 1” for the first time, I’m sure that took a bit of daring if not exactly courage. Of course, when I set out to write that very first mystery when I was ten or eleven, I was having too much fun to consider writing a book from the first word to the last might take courage. Since then I’ve typed those daring words of “Chapter 1” many times. I just did the same this week for a new book. A new story road is beckoning.
But sometime last year I decided to try something new. Something I wasn’t sure I could do. I wanted to see if I could narrate one of my own books. Most of my books are already audio books, narrated by professional readers, but a few missed out on being turned into audio books. Last year I contracted with someone to read my first Hollyhill book, Scent of Lilacs. She did a fine job, but I wanted to try it on my own. Years ago, I read some of my early books for the state library that had a program of producing audio books for people who had visual difficulties reading. I went to the library, sat in a soundproof booth and read while a library worker monitored my reading and let me know when I read something wrong. I enjoyed that.
So I did know I liked reading aloud. But recording it myself? That was the challenge. Fortunately, how to books are out there. How to videos and articles can be found online. Programs can be downloaded. Microphones can be bought. A recording booth of sorts can be fashioned with blankets hung around you. A person can open a book and read “Chapter 1.” And I did. It was more work than I expected. I wasn’t a perfect reader. The technology was new to me and strained my brain. But I read Orchard of Hope, the second Hollyhill book, and I edited it. With the help of my agency I designed a cover using one of my photographs and got it approved by Audible and up for sale on Amazon. Do you like the cover we came up with?
Now I’m on to the next challenge – getting those who enjoy audio books to listen to the story as read by me. To help get that started, I have a limited number of free downloads of the audio book to give away. I even have some for audio book fans in Britain. If you enjoy audio books or think you might like to give my book a listen even if you haven’t tried audio books before, I’d love to send you one of the free downloads. I sent one to my daughter already and she said it was easy to download. She does listen to audio books all the time. She says I didn’t do too badly but that it took a while to get over the thought of that being her mother reading in her ear instead of some other narrator. I don’t know why. I used to read to her all the time, even if that was some years ago. 
If you are willing to give the book a listen and maybe leave a review, let me know. This summer I finished the narration of the third Hollyhill book, Summer of Joy. It’s not available yet, but I’m hoping it will be in a few weeks or months.
So have you ever challenged yourself to do something new that you weren’t sure you could do? How did you meet the challenge?
“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson