Listen to Me Now and Hear Me Later ...

Finally got a copy of the audiobook for The Musashi Flex, from Blackstone, via my agent. The unabridged edition -- ten hours, on eight CDs. Kind of amazing that a book a fast reader can essay in a couple hours takes all a work day and overtime to read aloud.

The vox-actor/reader is Joe Barrett, and he does a good job. Dry, clear, and mostly he gets the pronounciation right -- though when I was writing it, I heard "Lazlo" with the European long "aah" sound "Laahz-lo," and he uses the American version with the shorter "a," (as in "lab.")

Interesting to hear your work read aloud, where the emphasis is put, the cadence and all, and that it isn't like you'd do it. I noticed this years ago when I was writing kidvid, how the actors would offer their versions, and I learned pretty quick that if I wanted it a certain way, it was best to write it out phonetically the first time it appeared in a script. I once stuck "Dirisha" into a script as a throwaway name for a character the audience didn't see. It's pronounced "Duh-rish-uh," no accent. The actor read that as "Dee-reesh-ah."

Sometimes in audiobook pre-production, they will call or write and ask about some of the sci fi terms, sometimes not.

Nice cover illo.