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If you have subscribed to Real Live Preacher and have not received an email from me regarding your access to the subscriber page, let me know. I hope I haven't missed anyone. In the future, there will be a notice on the top right (in purple) whenever something new is added to the subscriber page.

OR if you've donated in the past and want subscriber status, just tell me when it was. I didn't go back in the past looking.

thanks, 

rlp

I've created a new audio file and opened an audio section here at Real Live Preacher. For the next year, I'm going to be producing AT LEAST one audio file a week, and probably more than that. Once I get this down, it shouldn't take me long.

Next up, my wife Jeanene and I are going to sit in front of the microphone and talk about what Real Live Preacher has done to and for our family. You'll get her perspective on this thing. Neither of us have felt very much in control of it. Real Live Preacher kind of took over our lives. We're still trying to figure out what this means for us. It will just be casual conversation. Like you were sitting down and talking with us.

The RLP podcast will probably be ready by the end of the month.

As I said in my recent State of the Blog Address, the audio section is a way of saying thank you to RLP subscribers. But the first version of it is open right not to anyone.

rlp

Click to listen to chapter one.

The studio work is done. The cover has been finalized and is at the printer. It won't be long now until the CDs come in the mail. This is the first step in realizing a dream I've had for more than a decade.

I suppose it was ten or twelve years ago when I first told Jeanene that one day I would like to write dramatic versions of the stories that make up the birth accounts of Jesus as found in Matthew and Luke. Over the next few years I prepared these stories to be delivered as storytelling sermons at Covenant Baptist Church. I did "Simeon, the Man Who Waited," "The Shepherds on the Hill," "The Story of the Manger," "The Story of Three and a Half Magi," and "Cowboy Gabriel."

In December of 2003, I completely reworked the manger story, keeping the characters but changing most of the dialog and adding some new details. I renamed it "The Christmas Story Uncut" and posted it online at Real Live Preacher, one chapter at a time. Now this story has been recorded as an audio book and has a new title, "A Christmas Story You've Never Heard."

It is unorthodox to release a book in audio form before print publication. But the blog world is opening up new possibilities and new ways of doing things. And these stories were originally meant to be "told" anyway.

I do plan to pursue print publication of this story sometime in January, hoping to have the book out by Christmas of 2006. At that time I also plan to release another of these Christmas audio books, though I haven't decided which story to do next. If all goes well, I'll do this every year until all seven are done. That's my plan, but of course no one knows what the future holds.

I've created an mp3 file of chapter one, which you can listen to or download. It's about 5 meg. in size. The CDs themselves will be ready to ship this month, but I don't have an exact date yet. I'm still counting the final cost of preparation, shipping, etc. The price will likely be either $10.95 or $11.95. The book will also be available in a downloadable format at iTunes and other places for around $8.95.

rlp

Okay, I managed to figure out what I was doing wrong with my mixing software and hardware, so I now have an audio file of yesterday's essay, "The Beginning and the End of Wisdom." I'm beginning to create audio files in part to respond to some very nice requests for such a thing. I also think audio books and the like are going to be an increasing part of the world in which we live.

A good part of writing is learning to listen. You have to hear your writing. You need to know what it SOUNDS like. Reading my work aloud and with expression is a big part of my own process. If you hear me reading, you will know how I imagined an essay sounding.

I'm still not happy with my reading style, but I'm working on it. I think a big part is learning to relax and pretend that you don't have a microphone in your face. It's also a challenge to both read and run the software.

The music is from the CD "Our Lady of the Guitar" by Ben King, Ruben Romero, and Frank Corrales. The music is used with permission from Talking Taco.

rlp