The Art of Listening

I sat in a padded sound booth for over 22 hours, not consecutively, thank goodness!  And, Ta-Da!!, the audiobook version of Not Yet! is officially birthed, and I am officially exhausted. For a woman my age, between the book and the audiobook, that’s a lot of labor. 

Even though I was digging into memories, painful, funny, and sometimes startling, the writing of the book was a familiar enterprise. I had the experience of writing my one-woman show and the Blah, Blah, Blog.  I didn’t realize that the audiobook was going to be a new and very different adventure.

I assumed because I had been “The Actress” for most of my life, recording the book would be a walk in the park.  It turned out to be a Mt. Everest climb… without oxygen. 

Thank goodness, my friend and manager, Lynnette Najimy, who, in full disclosure, is also head of Beansprout Productions, the publisher of Not Yet!, knew Grammy-winning audiobook producer/director, Paul Alan Ruben, who read the book and came on as Director of the the production.  

Paul worked via Zoom with local audiobook engineer Jason Brown of BMA Audio, so I didn’t have to travel to the city for the sessions.  This trio had their work cut out for them.  I had never recorded an audiobook in my life.  Did that stop me from telling everyone what they should do and what I was going to do???  Are you kidding???  Who are we talking about???  Ms. Know-it-all, that’s who.  Thank goodness they didn’t give up on me.

The most important thing I didn’t understand was that I wasn’t performing the book.  I was reading the book.  Not performing.  Just reading. 

Aw, come on, guys, this moment needs some extra drama, maybe a little Beethoven’s Ninth in the background.  Whatcha think?

They were so good.  They never officially shot down any of my ideas.  They simply cataloged them for further discussion.  Diplomats… all diplomats.  

I am not sure how Paul did it, but he managed to rescue me from the many bridges and cliffs I was heading towards. When he stopped stopping me to ask for another take, I thought he had finally given up on me.  He hadn’t.  He explained he wasn’t stopping me because he didn’t need to… Hallelujah!  By the middle of the book, I finally “got it.” I had just learned a new skill.  

For this 91-year-old, who was only 90 at the time, it made me feel like I was… like I was… like I was 85.  Every time I write these numbers I swear I think I am writing about someone else. 

I was about to complete the audiobook recording when fate and COVID morphing into pneumonia stepped in and changed the timing of the project.  The audiobook was originally supposed to be offered at the same time the book was being published.  On reflection, I am one grateful son of a gun that everything was only delayed and not permanently terminated.  I’ll take a delay over the other alternative every time.  Amen.

It is now complete.  You can choose to read my book or listen to it, or if you’re really a glutton, do both.  I don’t know about you, but personally, I think it couldn’t come at a better time. The political arena has governed my life over the last few years.  I am far from hollering ‘Uncle,’ but a little respite is definitely called for.  Even when I was writing my book I needed to take periodic breaks to refresh the process.  Through your eyeballs and/or earballs, I offer NOT YET! in the form you prefer, paperback, e-book, and/or audiobook, as a respite from the recent storm.   

Alright, already, I sound a little self-serving. Let’s face it: if I don’t serve myself, I can get very hungry.

Right???
Of course, right!!!

Love, Sally-Jane

P.S.  Check out my website for the many ways you can get your copy in your favorite format.

P.S.S. Don’t forget to send Amazon, Goodreads, and your ex-mother-in-law your positive review of the book.