So ... my husband is a manly man. And I love that about him. He's a country boy from Northeast Texas who flourishes in an open-air environment, putting his back into whatever hard work task might be at hand. Living at Hurst Haven, in the country, provides plenty of opportunities to sweat it out. Hard work is a way of life out here.
All of that being said, my Honeybear has been action oriented his entire life. Which means that sitting down and reading a book, actually turning the pages and digesting the words written there ... is not something that he is able to apply his energies to.
So, one year after the release of The Brothers I Choose, print edition, my technically challenged self was finally able to get the audio version of the same, online. My incredibly sweet and supportive non-reading husband, also my de facto guinea pig, immediately purchased the audiobook as a test for downloadability, playability on the phone etc. He clicked on each chapter to make sure it could be heard and test, test, test. All systems go.
Bless his big, beautiful heart, even though the book was not about fishing, baseball or better methods for better hay crops, he couldn't bring himself to delete the test files.
While driving through the Rocky Mountains on a recent road trip, we lost signal for the baseball game and the interior of the car went silent for a while. I knew he still had The Brothers I Choose on his phone, so I asked if he minded if I played them. He did mind because again, he's a guy's guy and not into romance novels. But he hates total silence almost as much as he hates stillness, so he begrudgingly agreed to listen.
Five hours later, we'd driven much further than we intended, and he was wishing he had his earphones so he could keep listening to the rest of the book as we lay down in our hotel room to go to sleep. :)
While I appreciate all the kind accolades that my readers send my way, my HoneyBear gave me the best compliment I've received to date, several times over the last two days. He kept telling me how impressed he was with the story. How he could envision what was happening as if he was watching a movie.
"Push pause, Babe. Why would you do that to me??? Why did you put that part in the story??? I want to punch that guy in the nose!!! Okay, push play. I have to find out how they fix this."
And now, I'm off to get the other books online in audio format at the request of my manly man. We've got another road trip coming up later this week and he wants to hear the rest of my stories. I really love my HoneyBear y'all.