On November 13, I had the pleasure of watching Julia Whelan win the award for "Best Narrator, Audiobook for Teens" at the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS) award ceremony for her work on Plus One. It was a thrill to see her passion and professionalism acknowledged by an organization devoted to voice arts. Just as it's done at the Academy Awards, the winner is announced by opening a sealed envelope, which made the ceremony delightfully, nail-bitingly suspenseful. This photo is of us on the glitzy Warner Bros Studios red carpet before the event. :)

The audiobook of Plus One has been nominated for a 2016 Voice Arts Award in the category of "Teens - Best Narrator." I'm so proud of the work Julia Whelan and I did on this production. I couldn't be more thrilled that her smart and sensitive narration is being rewarded in this way! Here's the full list of nominees.

Last fall I produced the audiobook of Plus One with the help of Julia Whelan, narrator extraordinaire. The recording is everything I hoped it would be, and more: Julia even sings along to a ukulele as both an eighty-year-old Belgian grandfather and a ten-year-old girl! For the musical introduction and the closing credits, my child Jean composed and recorded an original song called "One Whole Half." You can play the song below; I think it's catchy and meaningful and moving. The whole project was a privilege for me to work on, and a labor of love for everyone involved.

​Yes, I'm passionate about audiobooks. I believe every single book should be available in audio, and here's why:

• Audiobooks increase reading time, sometimes so significantly that a non-reader becomes a voracious reader.
• They allow you to enrich yourself with books while you're working with your hands, exercising, or driving.
• They help people with learning differences to read more easily.
• They're an excellent way to re-read your favorite books, or to hear another reader's interpretation of the story.
• They're darned fun—didn't you love being read to as a child? Why should that end when you're an adult?

If you're an author whose work was not picked up in audio, I encourage you to ask your publisher to revert the sound rights to you (if you sold them), in order to produce your own audiobook. You can accomplish it relatively easily through ACX, especially if you hire an experienced narrator like Julia, or you can approach an independent producer (for example, Ideal Audiobooks) and hand the reins over to them. 

The audiobook of Plus One is available for purchase on Audible, Amazon, iTunes, and available in libraries via Overdrive. It's offered in CD format by Dreamscape Media.