Big news this morning, delivered gym hair and all: my audio engineer sent over the final files for the Luck We Carry audiobook. Which means today’s job is listening to myself talk for several hours.
It’s not glamorous. Hearing your own voice played back never sounds like you—remember old answering machines, when you’d think, “Is that really what I sound like?” I’ve decided this deserves a name. Vocal dysmorphia. Steal it if you need it.
Hudson wandered in partway through to investigate the noise. Moral support, or snacks. Unclear.
But underneath the cringe: this is the last real step before the audiobook goes out into the world, on Audible and beyond. Which means more people get to sit with Ken’s story in whatever way works for them—read, or listened to, in the car, on a walk, in the dark.
Also coming soon: my book talk video (the one I give at signings) is headed to YouTube, likely by early next week. Newsletter subscribers will see it first. Subscribe below!
Back to listening to myself. Wish me luck.
Ron Stempkowski is the author of The Luck We Carry: Love, Loss, and the Stories That Shape Us, a memoir-in-essays about learning to move with grief instead of moving on. If this story resonated, you can grab a signed copy—complete with a handwritten note—at ronstempkowski.com, or get your copy wherever books are sold. And if you'd like more stories like this one, join the journey and get them straight in your inbox.
