I have been working to get my novels into audio format for quite a while. Almost two years ago, I contracted with a young man to produce Lost Coast Rocket as an audio book. We worked closely together and shared a lot of common background, including being National Guardsmen, and he was doing an excellent job reading. Unfortunately he vanished, and I spent about 4 months trying to reestablish contact with him, to no avail. What hurt so bad is it seemed entirely out of character for him to just quit without explanation as I felt we had actually become more than business partners and were friends, but I was finally forced to terminated our contract.
About fifteen months later I got a message from him, written by his wife. He had finally remembered that he was doing the project and struggled for 40 minutes trying to find the words for his wife to send me. He had been in a severe automobile wreck and suffered major injuries, including head trauma, but was recovering far more than his doctors thought possible. It was a pretty devastating letter to receive and it matched the fears I had when he disappeared. J.K. Mayberry, God speed to you and your great little family. Keep striving and fighting, my friend, to recover all your great abilities. Thank you for all the ideas and feedback you gave.
I put Lost Coast Rocket back up for audition and received an excellent submission from Cheyenne Bizon, a young actress, and we signed a contract. As life does, it threw up barriers for her but she fought them down and prevailed. Excellent job, Cheyenne!
So... What do you think?