Guest Post-Kath Russell

Please welcome Kath Russell Author of "A Pointed Death" !

The Joy of Hearing a Daughter's Work

My mother has macular degeneration, and one of the frustrations over the last year as I published my mystery, A POINTED DEATH, and my coming-of-age novel, DEED SO, is that Mother cannot read these books herself. She is beyond the point where a larger type book or the type resizing feature on an eBook reader would help. We have lots of friends who have finished reading A POINTED DEATH, and they come over and chortle about the zany character, Janie Belle Billingsley, and how much she 'reminds' them of Mom. She is really bummed.

As Christmas approached and she kept pining about not being able to read anymore, I decided I had to do something. I researched the Audio book business and studied up on companies who prepare professionally narrated files for distribution to Audio book outlets. Anyway, I chose iScript.com and the company seemed very excited about the project. I expect to receive my MP3 file of A POINTED DEATH at the end of the week. Assuming I approve of the narrator and the job they have done on the narration, I'll be good to go.

I bought Mom an iPod nano for Christmas along with a cute little speaker that comes in its own pouch. To occupy her while she's waiting for her daughter's books, I bought her a couple CAT WHO books and DEWEY, the library cat book. Mom is big on novels featuring animals. She can still play solitaire using the cards with the big numbers, so she plays cards and listens to the books. She is very pleased with her gift. I think this new technology has taken her back to her radio days. (She is 91.)

I never thought I would be a big audio purchaser, but now that I have listed to a few selections, I almost wish I didn't work in a home office, but rather had a daily commute so that I could listen to a favorite author uninterrupted. I am looking forward to our next lengthy car trip, so we can plug her nano or my Kindle into the car outlet with the little adaptor I've bought and cruise along listening to some new acquisition.

Another thing I like to do with audio books is play them when I'm filing paid bills or organizing stuff for taxes. I find that someone like David Sedaris, the humorous essayist is the perfect anecdote to the IRS.

I am counting the days until Mother can hear A POINTED DEATH. Just imagine the look on her face when Janie Belle Billingsley, the flask-toting, altar guild card sharp makes her entrance! I'll keep you posted about the commercial availability of the audio version of A POINTED DEATH. I wonder who they'll get to play Skootch?

Thank you, Kath!

I will be reviewing "A Pointed Death" tomorrow.