“I think we all have something in our lives that we’ve been doing for so long, judging for so long, that we’ve lost the thread of beauty. Here’s to the sacred moments when we’re given a window of opportunity to find it again.”

I’d been waiting on it a long time, but now that it’s finally here I’m like a kid watching a scary movie— I have my hands over my eyes as I slowly move a pinkie out of the way to maybe see just a little of the entry in Audible by the talented narration of Melinda Cumming. My strategy of looking away might work, except it’s something you hear, not see. I’ve finally gotten Stealing Ares on audiobook. Even though I’m not narrating the audio, I’m as hesitant as I am to hear my voice on a voicemail. Why?

I finally get the guts to listen to the sample. As Melinda speaks, I become aware that my head is turned away slightly. What in the world do I think that is going to do? Again, it isn’t visual! I’m not being stuck with a needle where looking away will help. What the heck is that about? Maybe it’s just the simple fact of knowing that these are my words, and I’m responsible for them. Every. Single. One. Of them. I think when I die, the Almighty won’t just replay my life back for me as if on a screen. To really convey the gravity of the situation, he will have Melinda Cumming narrate my life for me as I tremble before the pulsating light of eternity. He knows how to push my buttons now.

Melinda did great voice acting on Stealing Ares. You’ve got to hear her read the Irish barkeep Mike O’Malley. Seriously, she could step off a plane at the Shannon airport and no one would know she wasn’t returning home. While preparing to make the recording, she asked me questions about my characters, cared about my vision for them, and really wanted to capture their essence—and she did! After finally listening to this book, I feel like I’m experiencing my work in a whole new way.

I think we all have something in our lives that we’ve been doing for so long, judging for so long, that we’ve lost the thread of beauty. Here’s to the sacred moments when we’re given a window of opportunity to find it again. It’s almost as if I’m hearing someone else’s story. Most authors I know are tough on themselves. I’m no exception, and maybe that’s part of the fear of listening to my work, but I’m happy to report that it made me love my story again, appreciate it more, and almost shed a tear at the time I spent being so tough on it.

Maybe I just needed someone to read it to me to really appreciate it. Maybe I needed to go back to the basics when I appreciated story for the pure wonder of it: before I was responsible for the tale; before I had to see it through the lens of everyone else and I just enjoyed fiction for the love of story. You know, like when we were kids lying in bed, and the story begins: “Once upon a time…”

And we just listened.

And we just dreamed.

Thank you, Melinda.

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