Last week, I found out The Dead Whisper On has officially gone to a second printing...which is wonderful news. Once again, it looks as if my dear mother has managed to purchase several thousand copies.

I've also neglected to mention the trade paperback edition of Waking Lazarus, which has also gone into a second printing, and an audiobook version of Waking Lazarus over at audible.com, read in full-throated brilliance by Tom Stechschulte. This now gives me one degree of separation from James Ellroy and Cormac McCarthy, both of whom have had books read by Mr. Stechschulte in audiobook format.

I must confess to being something of an audiobook junkie; on long trips, I love to listen to audiobooks downloaded onto my iPod, and at least a dozen books I "read" every year are in audio format. Something of an art form in itself, good books are always made better by talented readers, and I always enjoyed Frank Muller's work on Stephen King stories; heck, I'd probably enjoy Frank Muller's work on anything. An old version of Cold Sassy Tree, a book I would not typically read, I must admit, was captivating as read by Richard Thomas. My nephew, who is perhaps a bigger audiobook aficianado than I, is most enchanted with the work of Jim Dale...but that may be because he's the voice of all the Harry Potter audiobooks.

But I'd have to say, perhaps my favorite single audiobook of all time is James Lee Burke's In the Moon of Red Ponies, as read by Will Patton. I can still hear Patton's rendition of Wyatt Dixon, psychotic rodeo clown, as he talks about drinking his "chemical cocktails." If you haven't read Burke's Bitterroot or In the Moon of Red Ponies, get thee out and read them now. Better yet, get thee out and find a copy of an audiobook read by Will Patton.