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My audiobook editor,
Eileen Hutton of Brilliance Audio, graciously invited me and my wife
to Grand Haven, Michigan, to watch the recording of my novel,
Whiskey Sour.
This was a thrill for
me, not only because I was able to see my words brought to life by
dedicated experts, but because it allowed me the opportunity to get
away from my kids for a few days.
EILEEN HUTTON
(The fat guy next to her is me. I'm wearing a
Hawaiian shirt because I'm lousy at geography, and I thought
Michigan was warm in January. It's a good thing I packed pants...)
We were treated like
royalty during our stay (which might have been because I told
everyone at Brilliance that my last name was Grisham). Grand
Haven is a lovely town, we had a chance to meet many of the
wonderful people involved in producing audiobooks, and the trip was
productive as well as fun.
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I've always been a big
fan of books on tape, and Brilliance is the largest independent
audiobook publisher in the world. They're also the best. Rather than
straight readings, Brilliance excels at turning books into audio
theater, using different voices for different characters to really
make the novel come alive.
 
SUSIE BRECK
DICK HILL
The award-winning
team of Susie Breck and Dick Hill lent their vocal talents to the
recording, reading the female and male parts respectively. They also
use dialects and accents to differentiate between supporting
characters. Listening to them, I'd swear that there were a dozen
people in the recording booth.
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Whiskey Sour wasn't just
read--it was performed. It was a strange experience to hear the
voices of my characters, having only previously heard them in my
head.
 
JOE
MARIA
During the recording
session, my wife whispered to me, "Wow! They're really making your
book sound good!"
Thanks, honey.
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Susie's portrayal of Jack was exactly as
I hoped it would be; tough and honest. She's a wonderful voice actor.
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Dick was named one of the
industry's Golden Voices by AudioFile Magazine. He's a true
professional. When I made a polite suggestion on how he might better
read a line, he completely understood where I was coming from, and
adapted accordingly.
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Laura Grafton, the
director on Whiskey Sour, was kind enough to let me lend my voice to
the production in several ways. Though I'm a bit of an introvert, I
gave it a shot.
LAURA GRAFTON
I recorded the
books' acknowledgements, and I also got to play the character of Steve, the
pharmacist. Though Steve only has ten lines, he's
easily the most important character in Whiskey Sour. I put so much
feeling and inflection into the line, "Stay away from nasal
sprays--they're addictive," that I brought the whole studio
to tears.
In fact, Mike Council,
the studio tech, was so broken up he had to turn away when Maria tried
to take his picture.
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Besides voicing Steve, I
also had the opportunity to read a story on my own. The One That
Got Away is a stand-alone short featuring my villain from
Whiskey Sour. It's a frightening tale about the serial killer
known as the Gingerbread Man, and it takes place a few months before
the events in the novel.
Brilliance Audio is adding this extra feature to the audiobook,
as a free bonus.
I was confidant with my
performance, because Mike promised he'd use a
digital processor to make my squeaky, whiney voice sound like
James Earl Jones. Next time you're in Chicago, Mike, beer's on me!
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After my arduous
recording session, I was treated to lunch with Brilliance Audio's
amazing Sales Team: Amy Hosford, Kimberly West, and Raynel White.
They were excited to meet a big-shot author like myself, so I
consented to pose for a serious picture with them.
Present in spirit, but not in body,
were Natalie Fedewa and Mark Fichtel.
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Whiskey Sour
is available unabridged, on both cassette (ISBN 1-59355-486-9) and
compact disc (ISBN 1-59355-488-5). Both versions
will include my extra short story, The One That Got Away,
read by me.
You can buy them at Amazon.com,
Brilliance Audio.com, and
wherever audiobooks are sold.
MORE PICTURES
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