Audiobooks and the Cost of Sound | Delicious Narrators, Dodging Traps, and Keeping Your Shirt

It has been a hot minute since we started this conversation. When I published the first two installments of this series back in early 2025—you can find the first two parts here and here—the audiobook world was staring down automated narration with a mixture of wide-eyed curiosity and defensive panic. We were debating whether algorithms could capture the emotional heat of a romance novel and wondering what Amazon’s shiny new Virtual Voice invitation meant for independent publishing.

Notes from Deanna's Desk #6 | Robot Voices, Reading Races, and Reader Privilege

I don’t know where October went because one minute I thought I was getting on top of things, and the next minute I was drowning in work and October turned into November.

Do you remember when we were kids and we wanted the days to go faster and we couldn’t wait to grow up? What a rort that is!

What Deanna Read #122: October 2026

I'm starting this on the 6th of October at team writing sprints (of course!) and I'm fairly certain that this month is going to whoosh by at the speed of light too. Hang tight!

Here's what I read in the last month.

The Emotional Range of a Dill Pickle | Linda Howard’s (Not So) Dream Man: Great Writing Craft, Bad Book Boyfriend

It’s been a very long time since I’ve written an opinion piece where I’ve jumped into it as a freeform stream of consciousness as opposed to a thoroughly researched piece that’s been plotted and structured, so I hope you’re ready for a heck of a ride. I know I am cos I have no idea what’s coming next.

Hang tight… and be prepared for tangents—

What Deanna Read #121: September 2026

Happy (what was) September everyone. Can you believe that we are in September already? For me and my authors, we're at the pointy end of the year which means end of year releases, looking at next year, and planning 2027 releases which starts in October. That's only a month away. Aaaaahhh...

I'm starting this month's reading wrap up on the 5th of September. Let's see how I track for the month, shall we?

Here's what I read in the last month.

Notes from Deanna's Desk #5 | Sunshine after the rain... Sort of...

Greetings from a somewhat refreshed Deanna. We’ve just got back from a little mini break and right this moment, as I’m typing this, I’m at team writing sprints. If you follow any of my What Deanna Read series posts, you’ll see I do this a lot—write during sprints. The reality is team writing sprints are the only times I get me time when it comes to my writing. Otherwise, it’s mostly author client work and writing.

The mini break was wonderful and much needed. I do plan a wrap-up at some point for Substack, but I had a little fun with these two small updates here and here.

Notes from Deanna’s Desk #4 | Blame It on the Genes

Hello hello. Welcome to another “Notes from Deanna’s Desk.” Let’s just stick with the notes, okay? My actual desk is very messy since it’s a working desk which includes my computer (obviously), two jars of lollies, an oil diffuser, pens, hairbrush, nail polish remover, lip balm, a protein bar (I don’t know how that got there)… but you get the picture. Not tidy.