Giggles and Silences - creating an audiobook of The Limner's Art

July 2015 I began to write the book which would become 'The Limner's Art', and the first of five (so far...) books in the Woodford Mystery series. Within six months the process of developing a fantastic group of beta readers had begun, many of whom have stayed with me ever since, employed an editor, Martin Fletcher, who is also a vital part of the team and has edited all except 'Snowflake, the Cat Who Was Afraid of Heights', and struggled my way through KDP's paperback and e-book publishing processes.

For the next few years I concentrated on writing more books in the Woodford Mystery series, a children's book, a stand alone book 'Silver Betrayal', and wrote the first book in the Yvonne Parker series 'Field Murder'. Throughout this time I kept dipping my toe into the unfamiliar world of audiobooks, and quickly withdrawing it. Finding the right person to read my books in terms of voice, intonation and availability proved beyond my abilities.

August 2024 I contacted Ed Bersey of Sylvafield Recording Studio to see if he would be willing to help me to create an audiobook. Fortunately he said yes, and for a couple of months we had a crash course in ACX and its whims and challenges producing the audiobook of 'The Limner's Art', nine years after the publication of the paperback and e-book.

Although there are many people who are involved in the creation of my books, this was the first time I was receiving face-to-face feedback at the time of creation. Normally before publication everything is done via email or notes written on the proof copies of the paperbacks, including with Martin which gives me time to think and reassess. He and I have never met, or even spoken to the phone. When I am writing it is just me and the dogs, cat and chickens in the room, and their contribution is usually FEED ME!

Certainly after the books are published people are kind enough to tell me what they think about the characters and story whether we are walking down Shaftesbury High Street or standing at a petrol station filling the car's fuel tank with diesel! I really enjoyed the process, if it was a little stressful at times, and I am looking forward to recording more of my books into this format next year.

As always with my journey as an author the support of friends and family has proved the driving force, and without you I wouldn't have completed 'The Limner's Art' nine years ago, let alone continued to write and publish more books. As for narrating one of my books, well, that was never part of the plan!

Thank you xx

The Limner's Art is now available on Audible, Apple Books and Amazon!