Can you hear me now?

On a long solo drive, I like to listen to an audiobook. The last one was Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler. Hoowee, that one is mind-melting!

I’m not the only one doing some “reading” with their ears. Audiobooks make up ten percent of all book sales. They reach people that print editions can’t, including those with a vision, attention, or reading disability.

That’s why I’m partnering with local sound engineer Ken Rundel to produce an audiobook edition of Welcome to Eureka Springs: The I-Sh*t-You-Not History of America’s Quirkiest Town.

As a DJ, Ken crossed paths with the biggest names of Seventies rock. That has helped him land big interviews for his current project, the internationally syndicated Flower Power Hour with Ken & MJ. A recent episode featured John Lennon’s sister talking candidly about the challenges and traumas she and John faced growing up.

Naturally, I’m thrilled to have Ken at the recording table.

To make the audiobook experience as delightfully quirky as its topic, I have a plan – and an offer.

I want a different Eurekan to narrate each chapter. Ken would introduce them, for example, “Chapter 24: Festus Orestes Butt. Narrated by Eureka Springs resident and Evening Shade Inn proprietor Shawn Fouste.”

Shawn has generously agreed to be my guinea pig for the first session. The first half of my book is done, so recording of those chapters can start while I’m working on the rest.

Each chapter is short, so the whole process should take less than half an hour in Ken’s studio. Also, Ken is a wizard at helping beginners find their “radio voice.”

That offer I mentioned? For each person who narrates a chapter, I’ll donate $25 to a local charity of their choice.

If your home address says Eureka Springs, and you want to be part of this fun, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at jude@judegaillot.com or message me on Facebook.

Can you hear us now?