WHY I DO WHAT I DO

To Me, Audiobook Narration is More Than Just a Service

There's little I love more than the comfort of a good story. Well told. Well performed. It's the accelerant that ignites imagination.

When I was in my early 20's, I moved to Phoenix, AZ. (I won't tell you how long ago that was, but I had a flip phone and a 5-disc CD changer in my car.) In those early years, while I tried to figure out my life there, I felt incredibly alone. I longed for the openness of the California high desert where my parents lived. Where there was always something freshly baked on the table, the bray and whinny of horses in the paddock, and miles upon miles of beautiful desert just beyond the large picture windows that flanked the fireplace in the home's great room. A stark contrast to the constant whirring of city life, and I needed that.

Often on Friday evenings, I would leave work with a weekend bag packed and waiting in my car, a full tank of gas, and the first 5 discs of an audiobook already loaded in that disc changer. I would head west on I-10 and feel myself decompress, as the traffic thinned and the city lights began to recede in my rear view. Once past the city limits, I would push play on the book, engage cruise control, and allow myself to be drawn in to the story as the scenery whipped by my window. I could rack up dozens of miles without even flinching, as long as I had a good audiobook.

Looking back I realized...audiobooks were not simply entertainment. For me, they were survival. Without them, I might never have dragged my road-weary frame across the threshold of my parents' front door just before midnight. Might never have had the mental stamina to drive that last excruciating leg on Highway 395's desolate landscape, if not for the captivating performance of award-winning narrators keeping me engaged.

Though audiobooks were once a tool I used to weather monotony, I came to look forward to those 7-hour road trips out to boondocks CA (although in those days, I arrived in closer to 6). It was like having Scheherazade with me, stringing me along just enough that I wanted to get back in the car for the 7-hour trip (or 6) back to Phoenix and hear how the story ends. The experience became synonymous with home. I fell so in love with the craft, it was my absolute pleasure to learn I could offer it to someone else. Perhaps on your next road trip, it will be my voice in your speakers, guiding you to your destination. Guiding you home. XO