Wednesday, June 25, 2008

sound bytes


I got a chance to spend the day at the Random House recording studios yesterday, where they are currently producing the audiobook of Ghost Medicine.

I had a great day, and it is really an amazing facility. Producer Dan Musselman was gracious enough to give me a tour of the place, including a trip through the warehouse, which was kind of like heaven... stacks and stacks of books going back decades, back to the era when people listened to "Books on Tape," which, I am told were little plastic things with wheels and a brown ribbon that wound from one spool to another.

I think Dan was just making that up.

Then I got to meet the director of Ghost Medicine, Jessica Kaye, who was really something else. I couldn't believe how she could sit there and catch when an actor did something like mispronounce a "T." The actor doing the reading is Mike Chamberlain, and he is doing a terrific job on the audio. From time to time Jessica and Mike would stop and ask me if something should be said one way or another and I would just shrug and say, "I don't know."

After all, I only know Ghost Medicine from the words I put on paper. It was a totally bizarre experience for me to close my eyes and hear those words being spoken by the voice of my characters. But I loved the experience, it was a great day, and Dan, Jessica, and Mike really made me feel welcome.

So thanks.

This weekend, I am heading down to ALA, and I will definitely post my take on that event.