Why Audiobooks?

     Many of my bestselling ebooks are also offered in audio format.  Listening to an audiobook is a different experience than reading the same book the usual way.
     First, deciding whether to read a book or listen to the same book in audio format is a bit like deciding whether you want your ice cream in a cup or a cone.  A lot of it has to do with the way the material is presented, and also the environment you'll be in when you consume it.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both.   With an audiobook, the main upside is that your eyes and hands are free to do something else while you're experience the story--such as driving, for example, or doing your laundry.
     The following are the most common reasons people listen to audiobooks, or at least the reasons they start listening to them.
- Commuting back and forth to work via car, bus, train, ferry, etc.  Great for reducing boredom and alleviating stress, such as when stuck in traffic.
- Exercising/working out/hiking/walking
- Performing repetitive tasks such as housework/cooking/gardening, etc.
- Doing hobby or craft work such as knitting, painting, pottery, modeling, etc.
- Traveling on long trips by car, bus, train, or plane (audiobooks are very popular with truck drivers)
- Taking a bath or sunbathing, when the light isn't conducive to reading, you want to lay back and relax, or you simply don't want to risk getting your book or ereader or tablet wet.
- Experiencing a story in a group setting (with family or friends while on a road trip, for example).
- Learning English (or the language in which the book is narrated) - hearing the tone and pronunciation of words can help learners become more natural speakers.
- Increasing your "reading" time - in general, audiobooks allow you to consume new material at times you otherwise could not.  Many book reviewers have started listening to them to increase their output.

     As I said, these are the main reasons that people start listening to audiobooks.  What many folks discover after they try one or two of them is that the experience is quite different than reading, and that it has one unexpected advantage:  the ice cream "cone" itself tastes good, too!  A great narrator can add to the drama as the story unfolds and the overall impression that various characters make.
     When I was in the sixth grade, I was lucky enough to have a teacher read a novel aloud to us for 30 minutes every day when we came back from lunch.  One was the bestselling thriller Failsafe.  To simply say he "read" the book to us is doing the man a great disservice.  He had a lot of acting experience, and he didn't just read the book, he performed it for us, almost like a stage play. The story made such a powerful, lasting impression on me that I've never forgotten it. I can still vividly remember various scenes and bits of dialogue, and that was almost 50 years ago!  A good narrator can  definitely enhance a story, increase the dramatic impact with his/her voice.
     Of course, there are downsides to audiobooks, such as the fact that you may not like the way the narrator interprets the characters or the story. But I've found that if the narrator is skilled, most readers will enjoy audiobooks and the hands-free, eyes-free, group listening advantages they provide.  I spend a great deal of time auditioning narrators and choosing just the right one for each book, the one that I think is the perfect fit and brings the most to the story.
     So, in summary, please don't think I'm pushing audiobooks on you, or that I believe they are superior in any way to good, old-fashioned reading.  I simply want to provide all my books in audio format so that those who want them can have them.  It also pleases me to see my work interpreted and "acted out" by talented people--an audiobook is an interpretation of a book, similar to a movie or stage play.  As an author, I would be thrilled to see every one of my books adapted in all these different forms.
     And who knows?  If you've never listened to an audiobook before, maybe you'll try one and discover a new form of entertainment with benefits that will surprise you.  To try a three hour audiobook totally free of charge, you can listen online or download Lust, Money & Murder, Book 1 on SoundCloud here.

#FreeDailyReadingFix - Wild Child 1, Part 8

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Chapter 1.10

The next morning, Kyle’s father’s secretary, Sheila, showed up at the door of his English class.  Kyle felt a paralyzing sense of dread pass over him.  Professor Morelli walked over to the door.  Sheila said something to him in a low voice.

Morelli turned around and scanned the classroom.  His eyes focused on Kyle.

“Mr. Dunlap?” he said.

Kyle got up, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and walked over to the door.  Sheila motioned him outside and Morelli pulled the door shut, leaving them alone in the hallway.

“Your dad wants to talk to you,” Sheila said.  “He said it’s extremely urgent.”

Kyle nodded and followed her down the corridor, his heart pounding harder with each step.  The situation brought back a painful memory.  The last time he had been called out of class was when he was eleven years old, when his mother had died of a massive stroke.  The assistant principal had simply told him that his father wanted to talk to him; he didn’t learn that his mother was dead until he reached the hospital.

When he and Sheila came around the corner where the English department offices were located, he was surprised to find his father standing in the hallway, next to a small room reserved for seminars.  Kyle had assumed that he was waiting in his office in the engineering building.

Kyle Senior thanked Sheila as she continued down the hall and out one of the exits, leaving them alone in the hallway.  Something was definitely wrong.  His father’s face was drawn and cheesy looking.

“Son,” Kyle Senior said, his voice strained, “I want you to know, I didn’t have anything to do with this.”

Kyle swallowed and glanced at the seminar room door, which was closed.

“With what?”

“There are some people here who want to talk to you.  They’re from the—”

The door opened.  A well-built man in a dark blue suit looked Kyle over, then turned to Kyle’s father.  “We’d like to speak with him alone, professor, if you don’t mind.”

“No,” Kyle Senior said, looking guiltily at Kyle.

“Come on in, son,” the man said.  He put a firm hand on Kyle’s shoulder and guided him into the small room.  Something about the way the hand felt told Kyle that it had spent much of its life guiding people into small rooms.

There was another man sitting at the conference table. He also wore a suit, but he didn’t have the athletic, clean-cut look of the first man—he wore glasses, had a sagging belly, and his brown hair was a bit disheveled.  He merely nodded to Kyle.

The brawny man motioned to a chair directly across from the other man.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” he said to Kyle.

Kyle guardedly set down his backpack and complied.  The brawny man sat down next to the other man.  They both just sat there, side-by-side, gazing at Kyle as if they were sizing him up.

“Mr. Dunlap,” the brawny one said, “we represent the United States government.  We understand that you know the location of this unusual water that the chemistry department has been testing here.  Is that true?”

Kyle looked at him for a moment, then at the other man.  “What are you, CIA agents or something?”

The two men exchanged glances.  “That’s really none of your concern,” the brawny one continued.  “Do you or do you not know where the water sample came from?”

“Why do you want to know?”

They glanced at each other again.  “Listen, son,” the brawny one said, “you could be in a lot of trouble here, and I would strongly advise you to cooperate with us.”

“Kyle,” the other man said in a much gentler tone, “that water is very...special.  If it fell into the wrong hands, it could be very dangerous.  You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

Kyle let out a short laugh.  “I’m not in the fifth grade.  I know all about the specific gravity being greater than one, and the isotope theory.”

The two men exchanged glances again, both looking surprised.

“What do you want it for?” Kyle asked.  “To make a weapon or something?”

The brawny man’s face seemed to turn to stone.  “Now you listen up, son.  We don’t have time for any crap.  You can either tell us where this water came from or—”

The smart-looking man touched the other one’s wrist.  “Let me handle this, will you?”

The brawny man glared at Kyle for a second.

Brawn and Brains, Kyle thought.

“We can see that you’re a bright young man,” Brains said, in an academic tone that reminded Kyle of his father.  “I’m sorry if I seemed condescending.  Of course you’d want to know what we intend to do with your discovery, and—”

“It’s not my discovery,” Kyle interrupted.

“Oh?”

“It’s nobody’s ‘discovery.’  It’s just water from a spring, that’s all.”

“Well,” he said, smiling, “I’m glad that you feel that way.  And if that’s the case, there shouldn’t be any problem telling us where it is.”

Kyle looked at Brawn, then back at Brains, groping for some excuse.

“We know about your friend, Kyle,” Brawn said.

Kyle tried not to show any reaction.

“Where is she?” Brains asked.

Kyle was silent.

Brawn slowly rose to his feet.  “Look, son, you can either tell us where she is now or—”

“Kyle,” Brains broke in, “it’s very important that she get immediate medical attention.  We really have no idea what her, or anyone’s, reaction might be to a new water isotope.  I know you don’t want her to fall ill, and neither do we.”

Kyle chuckled softly.  There was greed in both men’s eyes.  “You don’t care about what happens to her.  All you want to do is see what it did to her and find out if you can do it to somebody else.”

They glanced at each other again, as if they were surprised at Kyle’s audacity.  Brains took off his glasses and polished the lenses with his tie.  “I can see that you have a very jaded view of your government,” he said, “but we really are interested in the new isotope for humanitarian purposes.”

“Oh, is that so?  Like what?”

“Well,” Brains said, putting his glasses back on, “there are a lot of possible applications.  It may be useful in medicine...agriculture...environmental cleanup...”

“Yeah.  And it also might be fun to dump it into the water supply of some unsuspecting country you want to manipulate.”

Brawn took a step forward.  “I’ve had enough of your smart-ass college-boy crap!  You can either tell us where this water came from and where your friend is, or you can be placed under arrest right now.”

Kyle just sat there.  He was scared to death, but he thought they were bluffing.  “Is there a law against knowing where a spring is and not telling?”

Brawn’s eyes became so focused and intense that he looked like the Terminator.  “You don’t know what you’re dealing with, kid.  When it comes to matters of national security, the law doesn’t mean a damn th—”

“Stop!” Brains said, raising his voice for the first time.

“But he—”

“Sit down and let me handle this before you say something you wish you hadn’t.”

Brawn grudgingly lowered himself back into his chair, but his piercing blue eyes stayed riveted on Kyle’s.

“Now there’s no need for us to get in a big scrap over this.  You’re absolutely right, Kyle—we can’t force you to cooperate with us.  You have to do so willingly.  So you just go on back to your English class and think about what we’ve talked about here.  You seem like a man of high principles.  Think about the right thing to do in this situation.  Your friend may become seriously ill.  The isotope you know the whereabouts of could fall into the wrong hands and be used for purposes I can’t imagine you, or any other thinking human being, supporting.”  He shrugged.  “It’s really very simple.  You can choose to stop that from happening, or you can choose not to stop it from happening.  It’s up to you.”

He rose and offered his hand to Kyle.  “Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.”  He glanced over at Brawn, who simply scowled.

Kyle reluctantly shook hands, then picked up his backpack and went out the door.  His father was still standing outside.

“Kyle, listen.  I—"

Kyle brushed past him and kept moving.

Next Part =>

Let's Bring Back the Serials!

I'm excited to announce that I will be publishing some of my books serially on my blog, absolutely free, in pieces small enough to read in just a few minutes each day.  The old fashioned serialized novel, where an entire book was published in small parts in magazines that arrived in the mail each week or month (Charles Dickens is probably the most famous author who used this approach), is coming back strong!  People these days are much more pressed for time, but many enjoy having a piece of a book "delivered" to them that they can regularly read each day, perhaps at the same time, and keep up with the story and the characters.  It's a pleasant few minutes to look forward to each morning or evening, something to spice up the monotony of daily routine.

This is an experiment for me, of course.  If it is successful, I will publish more of novels in this way.  Please feel free to comment on this - reader feedback is encouraged and appreciated.

Enjoy the first installment of Wild Child, Book 1!

#FreeDailyReadingFix - Wild Child 1 - Part 1

Chapter 1.1

“Let’s swim over to the cliffs,” Briana said.

Kyle opened his eyes.  The gentle rocking of the boat had almost lulled him to sleep.  He looked across the water at the shore opposite them.  The cliffs appeared to rise up out of the water like the back of some long, gray dinosaur.  They were at least a half-mile swim from the boat, maybe more.  Kyle said nothing and closed his eyes, hoping she might drop the idea.

After a few seconds, one of her tanned feet jabbed him in the side.  “Come on, Kyle.  Don’t be a major snooze.”

“I’m not being a snooze.  I’m just not sure it’s a good idea, that’s all.”

“Why not?”

“It’s too far.”

“No it’s not.  Not for a person who’s in good shape, anyway.”

Kyle sat up.  “I’m in good shape,” he said defensively.  He gazed back at the dead-still expanse of water she wanted to swim across.  It was a typical wild-ass Briana Fox idea, the type of thing that could get you killed.  He groped for another excuse.  “What if another boat comes along?  They might not see us.”

Briana laughed and pretended to choke on the beer she was sipping.

“Get real, Kyle,” she said, motioning to the deserted lake with the beer can.  “Who do you think’s gonna come?”  She finished off the beer and tossed the empty can into the stern of the boat, where it rattled around with the others.  She looked back at Kyle and, raising one of her sun-bleached eyebrows, said, “I think you’re chicken.”

Kyle sighed.  “I’m not chicken, Brie.”  He glanced up the lake towards the dam, then back in the other direction, where it split into a series of smaller and smaller coves.  She was probably right about there not being any other boats around.  It was a Tuesday and they had come out to the lake at noon, right after Kyle’s last class had ended, and they hadn’t seen a single boat since.  Now, it was almost three, and it would be at least another couple of hours before the after-work fishing crowd began to arrive.  But he didn’t like her pushing him into going along with another one of her crazy stunts.

“We can’t just leave the boat out here in the middle of the lake,” he said.  “If my dad found out, I’d be in big trouble.”

“Your dad,” she said with mock gravity, imitating Kyle’s deep voice.

“That’s right, Brie.  It’s his boat, not mine.”

She considered this, then gazed past Kyle and out across the water.  He could almost see the devious machinery turning behind her pale blue eyes.  “We’ll take the key with us.  What could happen then?”

Kyle smiled and patted the sides of his swimsuit.  “No pockets.”

“I’ve got a pocket,” she said.  Her face took on a mischievous expression.  She stood up and lowered one side of her bikini bottom, revealing a small pocket that was sewn into its mesh.  In the process, she also revealed a lot of skin, which drew Kyle’s eyes like a magnet.  But he resisted the temptation to look.  He had long grown tired of that routine.

Briana snapped her bathing suit back into place, clearly disappointed that he hadn’t taken an eyeful.  “So you’re out of excuses,” she said, holding out her hand for the boat key.

Kyle sighed and pulled the key out of the ignition.  He knew this was one of those times that she wouldn’t leave him alone until he gave in.  Besides, if she could swim across, he could.  He handed the key to her and she put it into her bikini pocket, turning her body to the side this time, as if he didn’t deserve to see anything.

“Race ya!” she said, then dove into the water and started swimming.  Kyle made a quick check of the boat’s interior, making sure nothing valuable was in sight—both their cellphones were locked in the glove compartment—then dove in after her.  By the time he started swimming, she was already twenty yards ahead of him, doing a hard American crawl.  But he had no intention of “racing” her anywhere—he knew that for this particular journey, he had to swim at a steady pace and conserve energy for the long haul.

After a few strokes, he decided to roll over and swim on his back.  As he kicked, he made a conscious effort to keep both his feet near the surface.  It was only mid-September and the water was still relatively warm, but every now and then, he passed through a cold spot.  This kept reminding him of how deep the lake was (ninety feet where they were swimming, according to the boat’s depth finder), which in turn would remind him of all the decaying junk that was down at the bottom of it.  Lake Carlton  was a man-made body of water.  The Army Corps of Engineers had dammed up the Stones River about thirty years before to both control flooding and generate hydroelectric power, and the resulting body of water covered acres and acres of developed farmland.  Somewhere at the bottom of its murky depths lay algae-covered barns and rusting cattle fences and dilapidated cars, all of which made Kyle uneasy.  It was like swimming over an underwater ghost town.  Of course, the water was so deep that you wouldn’t ever come into physical contact with any of it (in theory, anyway), but knowing it was all down there bothered him, just the same.  And rumor had it that down at the very bottom, in the center of the main channel where the river had once been, there were catfish big enough to bite your leg off at the knee.

Briana yelled something and pulled Kyle out of his thoughts.  He stopped swimming and spotted her.  She was a good fifty yards ahead of him.

“What?” he called back.

“Can’t you keep up?” she said, laughing.

“I’m not trying to keep up,” he said irritably.  He rolled over and started swimming his backstroke again, this time at a leisurely pace to emphasize his point.  She loved proving again and again that she was the better swimmer—she had been doing it ever since they had taken scuba diving lessons together in the tenth grade, which was how they first met.  The teacher had divided the class in half, and he and Briana had ended up becoming “breathing partners” and had learned to share a single air regulator, swapping the black rubber device between each other’s mouths.  At first they could hardly stand each other, but they soon became close friends, and later, lovers...almost.

Kyle heard another sound and he immediately stopped swimming.  This time, it wasn’t Briana yelling.  It was a faint buzzing sound that you could not only hear, but feel a little bit in your throat.  He knew it well.  It was the sound a boat’s propeller makes in the water.  On weekends during the summer, you could always hear a whole chorus of them whenever your head was under water.

He spun around in a circle, scanning the lake.  He saw nothing but his dad’s ski boat, which was now about 100 yards behind him, and a lot of flat, still water.  He let his ears dip under the waterline again.

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

There was no doubt in his mind—a boat was somewhere nearby, maybe not within sight just yet, but close...

He spotted it.  A speedboat, barely visible on the other side and to the left of his dad’s ski boat.  The sleek yellow and black craft was moving fast, zipping across the water, its bow sticking up aggressively.

He spun around towards Briana.  “Brie!” he yelled.  “There’s a boat!”

She was swimming as mechanically as a robot and didn’t seem to hear him.

Next Part =>

The Mysterious Disappearance of Kurt Kramer Released in Audio

Narrator Sue Sharp

The Mysterious Disappearance of Kurt Kramer, a romantic paranormal thriller about a 16 year old boy who mysteriously disappears during a family vacation, has just been released in audio format on Audible, iTunes, Amazon USA and Amazon UK.  Sue Sharp, the voice artist who narrated Lust, Money & Murder, also did the narration for this book, and she did an excellent job.  I'm quite sure that listeners will be impressed by her work and thoroughly engaged in the story. I hope you'll give it a listen.  Although classified by publishers as "young adult," I believe many readers of all ages will remember their teenage years and enjoy this unusual tale.

Synopsis:

Seventeen year-old Rachel is crazy about Kurt, but she’s not sure the feelings are mutual. When his parents invite her and his best friend on a family vacation in Aruba, they see a meteor come down on the beach.  When they go to investigate, Kurt vanishes.  He soon begins to communicate with Rachel and his family in bizarre ways that shake everyone to the core. Rachel realizes that Kurt is stuck between worlds...and that she’s the only one who can bring him back.

Reviews (of ebook): 

"Mike Wells has written an imaginative thriller and left us hanging on the precipice of a magnificent mystery." - Dan Glover

"I really like Mike Wells's style, and this story did not disappoint. The pace is fantastic, and the plot is engaging. I could not put the book down. It did it for me, once again!" - Johanna K. Pitcairn

"Mike Wells knows exactly how to craft a short story. It captures mystery, intrigue and a summer vacation. Great writing." - Ed Blythe

"This book is a combination of sci-fi, mystery and a childhood romance all rolled into one gripping package." - Janice Spina

"The Mysterious Disappearance of Kurt Kramer" Soon in Audio!

The Mysterious Disappearance  of Kurt Kramer, my paranormal romance about a 16 year old boy who disappears under strange circumstances during a family vacation in the Caribbean, will shortly be released as an audiobook on Audible.com, Amazon, and iTunes. I'm lucky enough to have Sue Sharp, who did an expert job narrating the Lust, Money & Murder series, narrating this book. We should be uploading the polished files to Audible in the next couple of days, so the audiobook will be available for downloading on the forementioned sites in about a week's time (May 10th-15th).

Sue Sharp, Narrator

Synposis:  17 year old Rachel is crazy about Kurt, but she's not sure the feelings are mutual. When his parents invite her and his best friend on a family vacation in Aruba, they encounter a strange object on the beach. Kurt disappears. He begins communicating in bizarre ways that shake his family to the core. Rachel realizes that he's stuck between worlds...and she's the only one who can bring him back.

Review by Rae Smith, Book Reviewer (ebook version)

*Possible Spoilers Ahead* Kurt Kramer is good looking, athletic, smart and off to MIT a year early. Though technically not his girlfriend, Rachel, was ambivalent about their being separated. Now she realizes she may never see him again. Rachel is a thinker. She hears as well as listens as she observes what is going on around her. At his father's request two trusted fellow scientists try to assist them in retrieving Kurt from the unknown. Kurt is the main priority for one of them, but the other has a hidden agenda. Throw in a couple of nosy island cops, Kurt's guilt ridden and jealous younger brother and his alcohol dependent mother and Rachel has her hands full trying to keep the peace. Especially, when all she really wants is Kurt back. But, does Kurt even want to return? Mike Wells' followup book is an amazing blend of human frailties, including the ever present man's inhumanity to man. He shows us how taking our family members for granted can lead to addictions and co-dependency. He also shows us that even in these modern times there is a possibility that mutual young love can last a life time.