Like the first time

Posted on the Squeetus Blog November 22, 2005 09:07 PM PST. 
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.
Original Post