Jezelle updates and Audio Books!

If you’ve been keeping your ear to the cobblestones, you know things have been stirring in the shadows. I’m still working away at Jezelle: Theif of Oaks. It is currently at 53,474 words or roughly 200 pages, and I’m in love with how it is unfolding thus far.

Jezelle’s story—raw, bruised, and burning with defiance—has continued to claw its way into the world. She’s still out there in the alleys of Grafton Notch, weaving her way through the smoke and broken glass, facing ghosts both old and breathing. Thank you to those who’ve walked beside her so far in the Absolution of the Morning Star (AMS) series. In this new work, we see where her path began. What’s coming is more focused than war but sharper than betrayal. And when it strikes, it won’t miss. I’ve dug deep into the tar on this one. Jezelle’s story is gritty, raw, and full of adventure.

I can’t say more without ruining the blood and bones of it—but know this: she’s not finished changing the game.

Now, for the big news…

All my novels are now available in audio. (UPDATE: below was not a good move. The quality was lacking, and I have since removed all Virtual Voice audiobooks.)

Amazon offered us indie writers a pleasant surprise in the form of Audio Books by Virtual Voice (Beta), an AI-generated voice platform for our books. And no, the speech doesn’t sound like Stephen Hawkings. The AI-generated voices are clean and human-sounding- some of the best text-to-speech I’ve heard, and it’s very exciting. For those who are unfamiliar, hiring a voice actor can be incredibly expensive, which limits the Audible market to large publishers. The audio version of Dawn of the Lightbearer alone is 17 hours long. All my books together is 109 hours or 4.5 days of solid speech. At just a modest hourly rate, that’s a lot of dough. Even at the low end, the average Per Finished Hour (PFH) is $150 (and can go up to $500), which means this new service is worth at least $16,350 to me. Unless my books sold like hotcakes, I would never be able to afford that, and it would take me a decade to recoup the investment.

Is this new service perfect? No, at least not yet, but it is still a game-changer.

Now, you can liven your commute with my adventures! Whether you’re returning to Blackdown with Erikson Gray in AMS, facing the Threshold in The Novice of Thanatos, or creeping through the dark forests of Maine in the Island of Stone—you can now hear every breath, every blade, every whispered threat brought to life.

If you’ve been waiting to dive in—or want to re-experience the story in a new way—this is the perfect time. If you already own the ebook, adding audio is just $1.99. My worlds have never sounded so alive. Or so dangerous. The direct links to the audio versions are below.

Dawn of the Lightbearer (AMS book 1)

The Mourning Son (AMS book 2)

Noonday in the North (AMS book 3)

Destiny of the Daystar (AMS book 4)

The Novice of Thanatos (The Order of Thanatos book 1)

Island of Stone (paranormal thriller)

The Slaying of the Bull (historical fiction with a touch of fantasy)

Thank you, as always, for walking these shadowed roads with me. Until the next step…

Cheers!