I had a bit of fun yesterday. Kindle Publishing offered me the opportunity to turn a number of my books into audio books using AI. It was really simple. I had the choice of a number of voices – none of which sounded at all like me – and then clicked the button. Lo and behold a voice began reading my book. I was intrigued. Could the voice pick up the inflexion and nuance? What about words I had invented? How would they be pronounced?
It was a strange experience to hear my words being spoken aloud.
Anyway, it’s probably a mistake. I shall take them down at some point, but I am still intrigued. I shall find a quiet period and sit and listen to one of my books being read to me. If nothing else it’ll give me far greater objectivity.
From what I can see the audio books have not linked up to my UK Amazon but they are on the USA site. Not sure why that is? Maybe it takes a little time to hook up? Anyway, I don’t suppose it matters too much downloading works from anywhere.
Maybe you’re as intrigued as me?
Extract from God’s Bolt
After an eternity, the twilight horizon crept over the edge of the planet and the coast of the United States of America crept into view. Despite the mass evacuations it was still lit up like a giant funfair. The sight of it sent chills through me. I could imagine the scenes in the cities below me. I’d seen the news reports. It was pandemonium. Impact was centred right over the Eastern seaboard. One of the most populated places on earth. I know they’d moved most people out but it still did not bear thinking about. I could imagine the huge throngs of superstitious religious lunatics – those who had called the event God’s Bolt and believed this asteroid was an act of God, sent to punish us for the sins of humanity – gathered on the hilltops praying to God and exalting him to spare them. Part of me desperately hoped they would prevail even though my rational self ridiculed their foolishness and maliciously hoped a meteorite or two would land right among them and put an end to their nonsense.
Already the sky was lit up with a criss-crossing of orange streaks from the early vanguard of rocks liberated from the blasting of Chang’s Comet. They were harmlessly burning out in the heavens and putting on quite a display but one that was merely a precursor to the main show.
I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach and it was nothing to do with the lack of gravity. I was a seasoned pro when it came to weightlessness. No – I knew the number of planet-busting rocks that were heading our way. Shortly we would see whether all the preparations had paid off. The closer it got the more anxious I was becoming. My head was full of doubts. I could sense the uncertainty that existed down there on Earth. If they were not convinced how could I be? I just hoped our depleted and unpractised military knew what they were doing and could neutralise the threat. Ironically I just hoped that the long decades of peace resulting in the run-down of all military weaponry had not completely emasculated them. My confidence was not super high. I knew we had very little left in the kitty to throw at the threat. I knew more than most of the magnitude of the operation; it was running more on hope than logic.
At 10.23 p.m. Eastern Time the main show began.
Amazon.com: God’s Bolt eBook : Forsythe, Ron: Kindle Store
