Audiobook Mania

Today I had the honor of writing a review on an awesome audiobook blog, Audiobook Heaven. Call me the guest author for the day.

Audiobooks is a craze that isn’t going away any time soon. It’s not a passing fad, instead it seems to be the end of curling up on the sofa and reading page by flipping page, by holding an actual book in your hand.

We have Ebooks, Ereaders, Audiobooks and the same with publishers. It scares me as a writer, to want to get my book ‘published’, because what does that mean exactly? Will it be on pages, read by people or will it be in an audible format or Ereader where no one will fill their hands with my actual words in a paper bound book?

Audiobooks are to the writing industry, what cell phones are to landlines, what email is to snail-mail, what the massive exodus of internet and social sites are to speaking face-to-face, they are a quick means to an end.

While I love the audiobook industry, ripe with bloggers-a-plenty. The Twittersphere is crawling with audiophiles; Facebook is streaming with pages of audio lovers, and I can also find a couple of the narrators there too. The internet is all abuzz with sounds; with the likes of YouTube, you never have to leave your desk chair. The audiobook community is a world of its own there.

Audiobooks are a sheer delight in that, you DON’T need to be sitting in a chair to read your book. You can be exercising on a treadmill, running the morning’s park-path, driving in the car, everything except shower (until they come up with a water resistant mp3 player)!

Audiobooks are here to stay just as the internet is here to stay and deliver you the information you just couldn’t get from a face-to-face conversation or leafing through a book. Sometimes an audible rendition is good for the soul, too.

We listened to the book I did a review for while driving to Omaha. It’s a six hour trip in the car so having an audiobook was a welcome distraction to the long drive ahead of us. This book touched my heart in many ways. This is a non-fiction book, and while I’m close to the author/publisher/editor of Audiobook Heaven, non-fiction is not his niche of audiobook reviews, as you will see when you visit his site, Audiobook Heaven.

Talk-o Tuesday

Rom. 2:19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
***

Wow, I haven’t had a talk-o Tuesday in quite some time. Talk-o Tuesday is where I go on and on about audio books and their ascent to being the top listened to way of hearing a good book in a car, on a treadmill or even just sitting with your legs crossed by a roaring fire, in the dark. Audio books is the route to take.

Why do I want to tell you about audiobooks? Because my beau has an awesome site where he does reviews. Now many of you already know, my beau is blind, but this does not hinder his time on this thing we call a computer. Nope, instead he has a screen reader and he plows away at the books like they were sand in his shoes, shakes out a couple of audiobooks in a week and gives an in depth review at Audiobook Heaven, not revealing too much, but you can get a pretty good idea if you’d like to read the book.

And there have been plenty of reviews and publishers requesting reviews! So his day is pretty consumed with listening and writing reviews. And what is also exciting? The man can write! Two years ago when he initially started going blind, to sway him from the pits of depression, I suggested he start a blog. “Just write all those mixed feelings out,” I said, “Free your mind and free your soul, write!” I have a tendency to tell a lot of folks to do the same thing, “Write to heal!”

In the beginning there was Drums in the Deep,(still going strong by the way) the diary of a blind mans quest for life. Then as his days of listening to books grew, he decided to start a blog on Audiobook Reviews. The site went through a bit of constructing and reconstructing in the beginning, but finally he hit a stride, and now taps out 3 reviews a week, in the least!

The pits of depression were all put on hold because a man,  who fought to know the love of God and decided along with God, that writing was the emotional healer that would get him through some of his darkest days, and nights too, if truth be told.

Why not check Audiobook Heaven out and show some support, you won’t be sorry. :)

Talk-o Tuesday

There’s a new blog in town. Audio Book Heaven which is the same one as Critical Mass Media, and Reviews from the Deep. Why the old switcheroo?

Well let me tell you. My beau, who has gone blind, sits around and tries to find things to do. Blogging seemed like an interesting thing to do since he sees the joy it brings to me. I would let him mow the lawn, but my son and I love that too much. I would let him take the car for a spin, but for obvious reasons, I can’t let him do that.

Then there is blogging. He started with a journal of sorts of what it is to go blind and how he’s adjusted, but that turned into a journal of the past and present. It allowed people into his world, where normally being a very private man, friends and family were all in the know of what his personal life was going through.

Then he decided on audio book reviews, since he listens to them in the millions, (exaggeration here) so now he reviews them. Good reviews of your audio book arsenal if I do say so myself. Not just a one liner of, good book, either. He gives a really good in depth review and what I find interesting, if I haven’t read the book, it gives me a glimpse into the book and if I’d like to read it or not.

It can be very frustrating this blogging world. I mean being blind, having to listen to your screen reader tell you all the widgets and stuff that are available, then trying to do the entire layout. Beau didn’t like the name Critical Mass Media, so he switched it to Audio Book Heaven.

I think this name will stick, no matter which blog he chooses to pick from, whether wordpress or blogger. I hear wordpress has better graphics and widgets and they even have a help desk that really helps you! How cool is that?

So all in all the blogging world has a kind of new blog in town and Audio Book Heaven sounds just heavenly to me, but one never knows when the wind will sweep in again, so you just need to check my blog frequently, right? Write!

Or is that Write Right? *wink*

Writing Wrap-up

Luke 10:3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

This is the year in review:
Have you ever heard the saying, “Comes in like a lion goes out like a lamb?” I know they say it for the month of March, but that has been my year. It came in like a roaring lion and went out like a gentle lamb.

January found us struggling with the state of Texas for some kind of assistance for the blind. Allow me to be the first to tell you that Texas caters to the healthy and wealthy and NOT the poor and down-trodden.

By the month of April we knew that Texas was no longer the affordable place for us, so with the help of family back in Nebraska, we packed up and moved up a few states. Now let me also say that Nebraska’s health department is efficient, quick, and caring! As are the people. There’s a whole different breed of people up here that I’ve never experienced in Baltimore or Texas!

Come summertime, which was extremely more comfy than Texas, found us surrounded by family and friends. We got most of the help we needed, from the state and Commission for the Blind, and all of the love and support we needed from the family. Summer sped by like a lightning bolt! Now you see it, now you don’t!

September found us scurrying about getting ready for the festive holiday’s which we knew were right around the corner. My writing had taken a back seat to the year of activity. A post here, another there but I maintained my blog and tried to give you all a little of what my life was like and as faithful friends who stand by me, I deeply appreciate your caring love and presence!

November found us with a lot of family events. Too many visits to mention and before you knew it Christmas and the New Year were staring us right in the face! Snow fell and more snow fell. Coming from six years in Texas where we seen nary a flurry, in Nebraska on Christmas day, we were struck by a blizzard that kept us safe at home.

My fiancé went through the holidays with his music, since he is still blind and we await the promising news that this is only temporary and he will soon get the operation he needs to see again. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time and we’ll be fine.

The lamb I refer to is the calm serene Christmas week where we shared each others company, his family had gatherings, we visited the eye doctor, and then the New Year will be rung in this evening showering us with blessings for the New Year!

On a sad note...I lost a dear friend at Writer’s Village University this year. Miss Connie will always be in my heart. She had a way of making me feel special! I had no family of my own (meaning blood relatives) supporting me and these virtual people have become blessings in a grand scheme of things!

So to you all, I wish the Lamb to lie with you as you bring in this New Year and that blessings fall on you like sugar from the sky making this next year sweet to the taste. Be blessed in knowing that He loves you and that you will NEVER be alone!

John 1: 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Talk-o Tuesday

I went into a McDonald's yesterday and said, 'I'd like some fries.' The girl at the counter said, 'Would you like some fries with that?' ~ Jay Leno

* * *

I’m always being teased by,you know who, about my names for my ‘special days’, like Quotation Saturday, Poetry Sunday, and I used to have a Funny Friday.

Well, you know who says I should have a Taco Tuesday. He remembers the olden days when Taco John’s had Taco Tuesday, so now he thinks I should have a taco Tuesday. So for him I am declaring today, Talko Tuesday!

You heard/read me right, Talk-o, for him and his audiobooks. You see, my fiance went blind only months ago although he struggled with his sight for a few months before that and years before that with infections, a cornea transplant and what-not, but in any case, audiobooks became a big part of this avid readers life. He loves to read. I never seen a man so hooked on the written word. Maybe there are a few guys out there that will admit to liking reading, but besides his computer, books are his thing.

Since becoming blind, books have been swept away from him like dust on the floor; taken away and placed in the wastebasket. Then the audiobooks came along and kept the man reading. Now he has a talking screenreader and by daggone it, he can now use the computer AND hear his books on his mp3 or the audio system that the NFB set him up with. He’s almost in heaven!

What does a bored man do? Only what he knows best, he writes reviews of the books he listens too! He has two blogs and maintains them all on his own without my help. One thing I’ve learned is to back away and let the man do things for himself. He does beautifully for someone who was thrown into blindness and learning on his own. We’re learning together actually, but he is, more than me because I’m a sightie. I like to think of myself as his guide dog. ha ha. Always by his side, I’m soft to the touch, and I roll over and play dead!

Do you wanna know whether to read the next book or listen to it on a ten hour trek in the car? Maybe you listen to books while on the treadmill and just don’t know whether a book is good enough or not. I’m pushing his blog because I’ve found that the man can write too! What a guy! He’s honest in his reviews, gives the duration of the book, lets us in on who is the voice, and you know what else? He doesn’t give the whole story away. He let’s you decide if the book sounds good to you, then you can decide for yourself whether it’s worth listening to.

Why not give him a click, you’ll be glad you did. Reviews of the Deep, my mans blog!