Restrictions

Congratulations Kristin Shandler! You are the winner of the giveaway from Krista Davis! Check your email for details!

Jessie: In New Hampshire, where the birds are starting to sing.

On Friday I received an unexpected package in the mail. My son decided the weather was favorable and volunteered to walk to the post office. When he returned he was bearing a lumpy envelope from my publisher.

I ripped it open expecting dust jackets for my second Beryl and Edwina Mystery, Murder Flies the Coop. Instead, I found five copies of the audiobook of the first Beryl and Edwina Mystery, Murder in an English Village. I was stunned and thrilled. This is my first audiobook and the good people at Recorded Books entrusted the job  of bringing it to life in an audible format to the acclaimed actress and voice professional Barbara Rosenblat.

When my publisher informed me several months ago tha they had sold the audio rights to the book I was delighted. This was my first experience with an audiobook being made from my work and I was eager to expand my horizons. I also loved the idea of people who prefer to experience stories in this way having a chance to try my work.

But here’s the problem: as much as I am delighted that the audiobook exists and am so appreciative that such a lauded professional has been willing to apply her talents and skills to a version of my work that has been evaluated as a wonderful expression of the book, I can’t bring myself to listen to it. I put all five copies on a shelf in my office and they have been staring me down all weekend.

The thing is, I know exactly how Beryl and Edwina sound in my head. They are talkative and generous women and neither of them holds back about what is on their minds. When I write the books it feels almost like I am a court reproter taking down what the witnesses have to say rather than that I am the one generating the stories. I plot my books so I know I was involved but it still feels like channeling rather than creating. I can see these women and hear them so clearly that I have a bit of trouble remembering that we haven’t actually met on the physical plane. Which brings me to my reluctance to listen to the audio version.

The fact is, I am scared to do so. I am afraid that if I hear the way another artist interprets how they sound I won’t be able to hear my version anymore. I worry that the voices I have come to recognize and the companionship I have enjoyed when commiting their stories to paper will evaporate into the thin air if I permit another version of them into my consciousness.

I may be worrying for nothing but I have decided that I cannot risk it. I have determined that the only thing to do is to give away four of the copies and to let my husband listen to the fifth. Maybe my kids will do so too. I am delighted to provide it with pride of place on the shelves in my office that I have set aside for the varying versions of my work. And I am content to leave the listening to others.

So dear readers, tell me, what self-imposed restrictions do you create for yourself? Writers, do you worry about anything altering the way your characters sound in your head?

I am choosing a subscriber to my newsletter to win a copy of the audiobook. If you sign up before the February newsletter goes out next Sunday your name will go into the hat! Good luck and if you win, let me know how you like the way it turned out!