Multitasking

I am cold. I am sitting in my office with the door closed and a room heater running. It is doing double duty, as I have a sweater that I don't put in the dryer hanging on a hanger off the back of my desk chair, and the heater is blowing right on it. So it is almost dry, and I am warm. Multitasking at its finest.

The book I am listening to while I am multitasking (I am also watching the eagles on youtube and playing at a video game) is narrated by Julia Whelan. I don't know when I discovered that she is an excellent audiobook reader, but now I listen to anything I find that she is reading. Sometimes this leads me to authors I might otherwise have overlooked. 

Back in the early 2000s, my favorite book reader was Dick Hill. Hill, I'm sorry to say, passed away in 2022 after narrating more than 1,000 books. The first works I recall hearing him read were The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. But after that, like Whelan, I listened to most anything he read.

In fact, I sent Mr. Hill a fan email in 2008, and I still have it and his response:

Dear Mr. Hill:

 

I have been enjoying your work with audiobooks for quite some time. Today I found your website and I had to let

 you know how much I appreciate the characterization and life you bring to a novel.

 

I have discovered a number of authors I otherwise might not have read because of your work. I will pick up an

 audiobook regardless of what it is if you are the narrator.

 

My husband, who is not a book reader, is also a fan and I have been delighted to be able to introduce him to the joys of a good story through your voice.

 He started listening to you as I listened to Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind and he has since come to know that if I'm listening

 to Dick Hill read, he'll likely enjoy it.

 

I look forward to listening to you for many years to come.

 

 

dick hill	Mon, Jul 14, 2008, 1:31 PM
to me

Thanks for the kind words Anita.......I hope the publishers feel the same way so I can continue doing this work.  

I love it, and love working with my wife Susie Breck, who engineers and directs our projects.  

It's a good fit and we count ourselves blessed.  Glad you've been enjoying the Goodkind.  We sure did.

 

I do end up recording some not so great things, so it's probably good to make sure you check

 out a synopsis or something going in, so you know what you're in for.  I'll make a couple suggestions

 though, things I've really been enjoying..........Crawfish Mountain by Ken Wells is a whole lot of fun, and 

for mysteries the Dr. Alan Gregory series by Stephen White is great.  

Thanks again for the kind words.........it's nice to know actual living people hear this stuff, and I'm not

 just reading into a microphone.

 

dick