Finally, after years and years of not trying, I have got my books onto Google Books.

After doing so, I had an interesting offer: be a part of their beta for auto-narrated audiobooks. Auto-narration means that a modern day Microsoft Sam reads to you, entirely failing to understand nuance and emotion, but randomly being pitch perfect when you least expect it. Usually when he has to swear.

Given the number of people who have recently asked me if I have audiobooks available because they can’t read for various reasons, such as dyslexia (it’s three – three people asked), and the currently-prohibitive expense of flesh and blood narrators, I thought I might as well give it a go with book one, Shadow of the Wraith. The result isn’t terrible, bar for the inability of the platform to let me control the length of pauses or use any kind of emphasis. I quite enjoyed listening to it, even if the content itself did make me acutely aware that I wrote most of it when I was twelve and thirteen.

The partially robotic delivery certainly won’t be for some people, and I obviously intend to eventually make real audiobooks – probably after Hollywood gives me an advance for the Avengers-style film series it wants me to write and direct – but hopefully this will allow some people who are interested in the book, but can’t read it, to enjoy it.

Listen to a sample here.

Meanwhile, Shadow of the Wraith is currently free as a clever/crafty way to try to get more sales for the better other books. Find your version of choice here.