I should have come here and said something sooner, but things have been crazy behind the writing desk lately. If you didn’t see my announcement on socials already…. Rise of the Ash Kingdom is getting an audiobook!
This wasn’t planned ahead of time, but I found myself on ACX (Audible) and decided to submit a clip from the book and open it to auditions. It was sort of just for fun and sort of just out of curiosity. As someone who isn’t typically an audiobook fan, I expected nothing but became memorized the moment auditions steadily trickled in. I was amazed at how different the story felt—at how it came alive. I got to experience my own story in a completely new way. And I just had to have it.
I received 50 auditions, one of the first being Arya Jacobs, and I was hooked. I listened to every single audition I received, but Arya’s is one that landed with me and didn’t budge no matter what else came through. She captured Briar’s voice perfectly. I wound up asking for a second audition, one that included the Dark Queen’s voice, and ya’ll…none of us are ready for this. Recording begins in December, and we have an estimated finish time of February/March 2026! So exciting!
Because of this unplanned addition, the publication of The Sun and Moon Tales book 2 is going to be pushed back a bit. Hopefully not by much, but spacing things out is necessary for the budget :) I still plan to release it within the 2026 calendar year. All other book 2 updates (title reveal and cover reveal) are still on track to release by the end of this summer.
If you liked what you heard in the clip, this is only the audition! Arya plans to begin her 15 minute checkpoint (a test run of all the character’s voices) sometime this month. This is where we will flesh everyone out and get them sounding exactly how we want them in preparation for December. We’ll be sharing sound bites throughout the process, so if you’re an audiobook fan, be sure you’re following us on socials!
