Like the first time

I had a strange and wonderful experience recently - I listened to the goose girl audio book, recently released from Full Cast Audio. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but I was pretty sure I wasn't going to listen to the whole thing. I just thought it would be too difficult to hear my words pushed through the filter of a bunch of actors who aren't the characters and couldn't possibly do it right. But I was curious how the intro music would sound, so I stuck in the first CD. Then I was curious what everyone's voice would sound like, so I listened to a little more. Before I knew it, I was circling the block so I could keep hearing the story.

It was one of the most fantastic experiences in my writing life. It was as though someone had given me the gift of being able to read my own book for the first time. I went through 30 drafts of that book, so by the end I was so sick of it I wanted to hurl it across the room. I never thought I'd be able to see it as a reader instead of as the writer.

There were certainly times when I wanted to yell, "That's not how he would say that!" There were a few times I laughed out loud because a character's casting was so off of what I had imagined. But those moments were amazingly rare. Mostly it was an unobstructed joy where I got to forget I was the writer and just experience the story. I fell in love with Geric. Completely. I was outrageously fond of the minor characters Gilsa, Ideca, Tatto, Odaccar, and the stablemaster. Ani was lovely. The narrator was so warm, so talented. It was a real joy. And a relief, frankly. I can't wait for enna burning.