I’m pleased to announce that I am finished recording the audio book!  I’m pleased to be able to take a break now from my projects.  The audio book has taken up so much of my time and the last phase won’t require as much of me.  The concept of the cover art is still in the brain storm phase but I hope to have it finished before Christmas.  It’s going to be a very professional design.  The CD will come in a jewel case just like if you were to buy it from a retail store.  There will also be a little booklet inside and the CD will have the title or the cover art printed on it.  Rest assured it should look quite nice when all is said and done.  As I may have said before, the CD will be available on cafepress.com, via my online store.  I think it would make a great present for the holidays, *hint hint.*

I would also like to take this time to thank those of you who visit my website regularly.  I really appreciate your feedback and your loyalty.  So far, this site seems to be doing much better then my former site.  I do like the blog style much better and this allows me to update the site more frequently.  And I do apologise that I haven’t written the next chapter in the “Wade” series.  Now that I am finished with the audio book recording I should have more time to focus on “Wade” again.

Well, it’s officially my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving.  Yes, it’s awesome because you get to eat lots of amazing things!  I eat turkey a lot, but it’s a wonderful time to get together with friends and family.  I also get to think about wonderful Black Friday.  Yes I get to work tomorrow, oh great, I bet it’s going to be insane and I’m going to have a lot of crap to deal with.

Still, it’s thanksgiving and for now I can relax.  Also, you can start thinking about what you are going to get me for Christmas!  I would like a Toyota Prius, if you have an extra lying around you don’t want anymore, just give it to me!  I’d prefer at least a 2004 or later model, since you can convert it into a plug in.  What’s a plug in?  Well just got to http://www.pluginamerica.org/ and you can learn all about them.  Or, if you are really cool, you COULD give me an electric car.  And no not one of those toy cars, it’s a regular car that runs on electricity.  They may not as much range as a standard gasoline powered car, but it would be good enough for me!

But, seriously, lets get back to Thanksgiving.  We really need to focus and think about what we are thankful for.  During this time especially we need to really be thankful!  Times may seem tough, but we’ve been here before.  I know it will get better.  I’m optismistic.  So, I could be wrong, it could get a lot worse.  But, I’ll just assume that things will get better.  Isn’t that just dandy?

I’ve been moving along on my audio book and I think I’ve gotten some good feedback so far.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to record it at first.  I thought I’d try my hand at doing different voices for each character.  After a couple of chapters were done, it came to my attention that the voices were a bit over the top.  I felt that the character voices were taking away from the store so I decided to re-record those chapters.  I’ve been narrating the story like I would normally tell a store or read aloud.  That has proven to be much better!  Thanks go to Mark for his input.

I have decided, and please don’t feel sad for me, but I don’t like the sound of my voice hearing it from the outside.  You should really hear it the way I hear it every day.  I love hearing it, but when I hear it played back through my computer speakers I can’t believe that’s me.  This is pretty common.  Most people don’t like the way their voice sounds when it’s played back to them.  I actually think that’s interesting.  We know our own voices so intimately.  The way it sounds as it leave the voice box and travels all the way to our mouths and then out.  There must be something so pleasant to our own hears about it.  Then we cringe as we hear our voice being reproduced from speakers.  Just think if a computer could recreate the way it sounds from the inside out!  However, what it the opposite is true, and that pure replication of out voice from the inside out sounds horrible to other people.  I mean it makes sense right?  I love the way my voice sounds as I speak it, but don’t like the way it sounds hearing it from an outside source.  I know people like my voice as they hear me speak, but what if they would hate the way it sounds if they heard it like I hear it?

I suddenly feel like I’ve lost my logical process.  Anyway, I’ve gotten used to hear it now and so it doesn’t really bother me.  I’ve got six chapters done for the audio book.  The next three should be done in a day, but chapter nine is going to be a long one.  I hope to have all the chapters done by next week.  Then, I can work on the cover design and perhaps some bonus features.

So there are a couple of major announcements to make.

First off, I now official have a Kindle version of my first novel, “The Last Rejection,” just $4.80. What’s a Kindle?  Oh, well it’s a device that Amazon.com has created that allows you to read electronic books and short stories.  It’s supposed to be really cool.  The screen is clear and allows you to look really close to reading from paper.  It sounds interesting to me, but it’s a bit pricey at $360.  Yikes!  Still, it’s gaining in popularity.  I’m also making a kindle verizon of my short, “Little White Lie.”  It should be ready sometime next week.  Here is the link to download “The Last Rejection” if you already have a kindle: http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Rejection/dp/B001LROWPU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227435374&sr=8-2

Second, I am proud to announce that the production of the audio book, “My Imperfect Life,” has begun!  Yay!  I’ve really enjoyed writing this and reading out loud helps me edit the story as well.  I have two completed chapters so far and I am working on chapter three.  I am narrating the story myself.  Thankfully my years of studying acting are paying off.  I’m also playing all the characters, which is also very fun.  I slightly change my voice for each character.  I find that the humor comes out more this way, especially with the female characters.  Just for you guys and gals you can download the first chapter right here: http://www.scottdavidbrown.com/projects/chapter1.mp3  

*Please note that this is a rough version and the final edited version may differ slightly.

Also, I have sent in an application to iTunes asking that my audiobook be included in their online shop!  I really look forward to the possibility of my audio book being added to their library.  The audio book version that I am publishing myself, which will be on a compact disk, will be about twelve tracks long.  If there is till enough room I’ll be adding bonus content!  I’ll have a short introductory and some commentary about writing the story and making the CD.  Maybe more if I can make room!

I suppose that is about all there is to say.  Unfortunately, Wade will have to be put off as I am spending most of next week on the audio book.  Plus, Thanksgiving is coming up and next weekend is going to be busy at my real job.  I know I haven’t posted anything in my personal blog for a while.  It’s been mostly website update, however, expect to see one coming around Thanksgiving…

Just for fun, I went ahead and added an online shop for the website.  There really isn’t too much to choose from for now, but I will be using it in the future for self-publishing my short stories.  Right now, you can find various t-shirts with the cover art of “The Last Rejection” printed on them.  There are also coffee mugs too.  Eventually, I want to use it to sell CDs and books.

The shop is under my links section or you can click on this link to visit my humble store: http://www.cafepress.com/scottdavidbrown

Or rather CD?  It used to be that those people going on long trips or traveling a great distance could buy a copy of their favorite book on audio cassettes.  Just think, you can listen to a Stephen King Novel or a John Grisham right from your car stereo.  Of course there was the problem of storage space.  Then came the new technology of Compact Disks!

What’s this have to do with anything?  Well, I’ve been thinking for a long while about what to do with my latest short story and I thought up of something different.  I’ve been doing some research and one website that’s been getting a lot of press lately is Cafepress.com.  You can design all kinds of stuff on the site and sell them there.  They are a print on demand company.  The best part is that you don’t have to give them a dime!  Of course, there is the matter of doing all the design work yourself.  Still, it can be simple depending on what you want to make.  I found them when looking for a bumper sticker with an environmental theme.

You might be asking, “Scott, what does this have to do with anything?”  Well, I’m excited to officially announce that I am thinking of self-publishing my short, “My Imperfect Life.”  And I’ll probably be using cafepress.com to do it.  First off, I have to register the copyright.  Thank yo US Government for allowing electronic submissions now.  That’s ten dollars off the charge for registering my work.  $35.  Once that’s official then I’d have to get an ISBN number for it.  That’s $125 for the registering and then $25 for the bar code.  Why get an ISBN?  Well, so that you could go to your local book store and say, “Hey I want a copy of ‘My Imperfect Life!’”  It’s a universal database that bookstores for online and off use to find books.  So that is a grand total of $185 I’d be spending and with Christmas coming up I think I may have to put that on hold.  At least, a print version will have to wait.

That’s when I got the idea to make an audio book.  It may seem like a crazy idea, but audio books are on the rise.  A lot of people don’t have time to sit down and read a book or short story.  However, an audio book is easier for them.  You could listen to me narrate my story while you drive to work!  Just think, my voice booming over your car speakers(assuming you have the bass turned up.  I do have a low tone).  Not to mention that I have about five years of actors training under my belt.  And comedy is my bent as an actor.  This is an idea that is still in the concept stages.  I have to see how practical this would be and how difficult it would be for me to design the CD.  I’m sure I can fit the whole story on one CD, but I have to like the way I read the story.  I also have to be critical of myself.  Also, what if it’s too short?  I could add bonus content like in a DVD perhaps.  So, there are a lot of ideas floating around about how I want to publish this short story.  I’m happy to be able to do this as I have yet to publish anything since 2006.  I’ll be sure to give updates when available.

Also, a small update, the next chapter of Wade has been posted.  Just click on the download link on the Wade page.  It’s still in PDF form so you can just copy it over the older version.

After the past couple of months working on project “Larry,” I have finally finished the first stage of editing.  I now have a more official title, “My Imperfect Life.”  I’ll have it read by a few others close to me and then I’ll decided how I want to publish it.  It’s a romantic comedy about a guy down on his luck and I really love this character.  There is a dynamic between him and his best friend Bobby that makes them an odd couple.  I also enjoyed tying in current events into the story as well.

I’m still working on “Wade” though because of the editing process on “My Imperfect Life” I haven’t gotten much work done on it.  I’ll be more focused on it next week.

Off the topic, “Get Back” has begun production!  It’s an independent film that a friend of mine and his friend have been working on for a long time.  I play “The Pimp,” a creepy funny sort of charactor.  I’m excited to shoot my scene.  It will be the first time I’ve done anything like it.  Be sure to check the website in my link section.

Oh and I happy birthday to you mom!

Despite how you voted, I think we can all agree that our country has hit a new historical high.  It is indeed a first that I can appreciate and feel good about.  As the first African American elected president, Barack Obama has proven that anything is possible.  You can be anything you want, should you put your mind to it.  I feel this is a day to celebrate America.  I really do hope that we can now come together as a country.  It is very important that we end this stark divide.  We may have our differences, but we are all Americans.  We share common values and need a more perfect union.  The time has come to focus on what unites us.

I’m feeling rather patriotic today.  Maybe it’s just because I’ve been playing too much Fallout 3 lately.  It takes place in a post apocalyptic Washington DC.  There’s a lot of American history in the game and music that you probably have heard on the 4th of July.

Tomorrow is a very important day for America.  It’s time for all of us to do our civic duty.  Everyone has the choice to make, vote or not vote.  Hopefully most of you have decided to vote.  If you live in California, then there are quite a bit of propositions on the ballet(I for one am looking forward to the end of the proposition advertising on TV).  I’m not going to reveal my stance on who and what I’m going to vote for.  But, I wanted to celebrate this historical election.

Even though it there really only seems to be two candidates to vote for, Obama and McCain, there are in fact many other parties with presidential candidates.  Sometimes I like to vote for a third party candidate.  It may not really affect much, but if you are someone who doesn’t like the two main choices then why not vote for a less known candidate? 

And though I’m about to leave the subject, I would like to announce that I have finished my first draft of “Larry” and I’m starting the editing phase.  I still haven’t come up with an offical title yet and I’m not sure how I’m going to get it published.  I’m still excited with it though!  Also, the next chapter of “Wade” is going to be delayed a bit.  I’ve gotten a little busier then normal!