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Hello and welcome.
This month has been hectic for me, learning new skills. My new skills have challenged my little grey cells, as a certain Mr Poirot would say. First, I have a brief update on my upcoming second book, which I hope to release early in the new year. I recently deleted at least four chapters and have now re-written them, adding a few more plot twists and character changes. After a solid week of writing and editing, I am writing chapter 15, which is proving to be exciting and perhaps giving Tom the most significant challenge he has ever faced. Will he overcome this and be successful? We shall have to wait and see. Writing for me is a journey. I know where the end goal is. However, I never know what I will see along the way. The different roads explored and decisions at the crossroads I choose are always something I decide at the time of writing and are never pre-planned. If one road becomes too emotional or doesn't feel right, I will change it and take another. In this way, I hope you, as the reader, will follow and enjoy the journey and destination. Back to my hectic week and an announcement, which I hope people will enjoy. I have recently begun to seriously explore the possibility of an audio version of my first book and narrating by myself. This had proved to be quite the challenge. First, I researched the possibility of hiring a studio and sound engineer to help with the process. This would probably be the absolute best option if I had the budget to do so; however, as a self-published author, I did not want to waste money in this way, only to sell just a few copies. I decided to record this myself from home. After a lot of research, by which I mean youtube, Facebook forums and other such places, I discovered a Cardioid condenser microphone with an adjustable mic gain and boom arm, along with a shield to reduce plosives. Added to this list, an inti-vibration mic holder is essential for obvious reasons for recording. Once you have this equipment, you will need a quiet room, soundproofing and an excellent recording programme for your PC or laptop. All this can be purchased at very reasonable costs either online or from a good music store. Then the challenge will really begin, as you will have to learn about peak levels, floor noise and many other recording terms. Sadly this is not the end of the learning curve, as now it's time to practice reading aloud. This is an area I have always considered to be a strength of mine. How wrong I was! Reading allowed is one thing; reading allowed and acting the different parts is another. I am not a trained actor. However, Youtube again came to my rescue and helped me decide the best way forward. I posted a few smaller videos on TikTok to gauge people's reactions, with some comments suggesting I have an ASMR voice. Argh! More research for me. To see how I got on, please follow the link to my Youtube channel and post your comments; it will be interesting to read them. Take care, everyone, and have a great month. https://youtu.be/pxTVgn7RxII |
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