Download the .mp3
I've read so many awesome books and most of them are classics, but Dan asked for our fondest memory of a book or books. I've loved being read to as much if not more than I've enjoyed reading for as long as I can remember. My Mom read to me well past the age where I needed it. I've read to my own children and credit that for igniting a love of a good tale well told. When I was a kid, there were these things called records and it's a book and record and the journey it started that I'd like to share.
The earliest memory of audio fiction I have are the GI Joe Adventure Team book and record sets. With it, you got a comic book and a 45 RPM record. The vinyl disk and book are, in my memory, a gateway to the worlds of action and adventure that I'd revisit a hundred thousand times over during the course of my life. The story was brief, since it had to fit on the record, but it was fun and suspenseful. I must have played it fifty times if I'd played it once, sprawled out on my bedroom floor. That taught me the valuable lesson that even the campiest stories can be enjoyed more than once.
The sound effects were campy and the voice acting was overdone. This was something aimed at children, but re-listening to it even as an adult makes for a pleasant trip down memory lane. I certainly didn't know it at the time, but these kinds of stories would come back to my ears in the form of podcast fiction. It comes back to being able to enjoy the story in a slightly more passive form. I say slightly, because for me at least, it does give me the advantage of being able to close my eyes and use my imagination to paint the pictures. I know that's not the case for everyone. I asked my circle recently about this and some people just don't enjoy that sort of consumption. I get that. I do prefer to read where I can.
Thinking about the lasting effect this book had on me has been eye opening. There was a time I'd worried about the future of the book. I look at the stories my mids are consuming through TV, movies, and video games and marvel. They have options as readers I didn't have. Inventions like Google glasses and Oculus VR headset open incredible opportunities both as creators and consumers. I don't worry as much any more. I know there are people that will always gravitate towards having stories told to them. The more I think about it though, the more I hope that it acts as the proverbial gateway drug to not just basking in someone elses story but telling your own. That's what it's done for me.
Bio:
Scott Roche craves only caffeine and the clacking of keys. He pays his bills doing the grunt work no one else wants to take, bringing dead electronics back to life and working arcane wonders with software. His true passion is hammering out words that become anything from tales that terrify to futuristic worlds of wonder. All that and turning three children into a private mercenary army make for a life filled with adventure.
Check out the IndieGoGo campaign for his newest book here.
This was much fun to write!
ReplyDeleteAnd read! Thanks again for writing it up and sharing it! It was super fun.
Delete