I don’t get great international sales on Given the Circumstances because American football and baseball are mysteries to most readers outside the US. On the other hand, there’s the risk of turning off readers who don’t understand the sports or aren’t interested. Playing pro sports are these guys’ lifelong dreams, and you’re cheating the reader out of some part of their identity if you just say, “he’s a football player, isn’t that hot, now let’s never discuss football again.” And I just don’t see the point of giving someone a job like quarterback or outfielder, and then not painting that part of their lives. I do a lot of research for my books, and I want my readers to feel like they’re really living the lives of my characters. The pro sports part is a big balance issue. But, as most writers learn, your story and your characters change on you as you write, so the outline has to be rewritten on the fly, to include the arc changes you find yourself making.

I’m totally dependent on the Seven Point Story Structure format to start – I get the bones of the whole book out there first. When writing a story that covers so many subjects, a man questioning his sexuality, coming out of the closet, substance abuse, and combine that with a burgeoning romance and professional sports…well, how do you keep it from getting out of balance? Not one or the other overwhelming your main storyline?.“Oh my God that sounds terrible! I put out a terrible audiobook!” Only after I listened to the sample on iTunes, which was much higher quality, and bought the official product, did I realize that Amazon skimps on the web page sample quality, so that’s why it sounded so terrible.

I was originally horrified when the first audiobook, A Little Too Broken, came out, and I listened to the Audible/Amazon samples. It’s always weird at first to hear a recorded version of your own voice.

As an author, how does it feel to not only be your own narrator but hear your book when the audio version is released? Are you surprised? Are there any differences in the way you imagined it would sound?.

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words was lucky to have Brad Vance here today to share his thoughts about his latest novel now out as an audiobook and his part as its narrator and author.

Release Date: JLength: 03 Hours 30 Minutes Title: Given the Circumstances by Brad Vance