The Miracle of The Voice of the Muse

Saturday, December 22 ~ Albuquerque, New Mexico

I leave Albuquerque's Shepherd Studios this morning clutching the two CDs that hold my recording of the audio tracks for The Voice of the Muse Companion CD set.

My heart is pounding and I can barely contain my excitement. I haven't yet listened to all 11 tracks yet, but what I've heard so far is beyond anything I could have imagined. Put simply, I've never heard myself sound so good or so professional.

This recording is but the latest in the string of miracles and synchronicities that have surrounded The Voice of the Muse project. In fact, there have been so many that it's hard to track of them.

The first occurred early on, with the cover design: When my first designer proved unable to capture the book's spirit and essence, a replacement -- the highly talented Richard Crookes -- emerged by seeming happenstance through a casual conversation on Facebook.

This latest miracle is no less magical.

From my earliest vision of the book, there was always a companion CD containing my recording of the guided meditations. As I write in The Voice of the Muse, "when a book I’m reading includes guided meditations that it suggests I record and use, I hardly ever do it. Instead, I close one eye and read the meditation with the other, hoping it will have the desired effect. It rarely does."

For the single CD of meditations in the original eBook, I used a Sedona friend's home recording studio. For the new book and its two CDs, however, I no longer had access to free facilities.

Assuming that a professional studio would be beyond my means, I bought some basic equipment and recorded into my computer. The result was not even good enough for a digital mastering facility to fix.

Suddenly, I was faced with a tough decision: trust that a solution would present itself or immediately scrap the CD aspect of the project. Immediately, because the book, which was 24 hours away from being sent to the printer, would have to be stripped of all references to the CD.

With some trepidation, I opted for trust and put the word out that I needed an affordable recording studio. Fast.

Within days, I was in the sound booth at Shepherd Studios, being coached by its owner. A while later, as we're listening to one of the meditation tracks in the control room, he slides over to the electronic keyboard. "I think it would sound even better with something like this," he says, as he starts to improvise a track of contemplative music.

He's right. It sounds incredible. But...

"What would something like that add to the cost?" I ask hesitantly.

"Does it matter?" he answers back, clearly channeling the spirit of the project.

The bottom line? The full cost of the professional recording, editing, engineering, mixing and music was barely more than I had planned to spend on mastering my original recording. And the quality of the studio recording is so exceptional that mastering is no longer needed.

As I listen now to all 11 tracks, I'm in awe -- not only of the sound quality and inspirational power of the 2-CD set but of the trust in miracles that brought it to life...that same trust that brings our words to life on the page, when we let it.


Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, whatever your genre or form, The Voice of the Muse book and companion 2-CD set will rekindle your creative fire, free your creative spirit and revolutionize your creative life. You'll never feel the same about writing again!

At 248 pages, The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write is 50 percent longer than its eBook predecessor and includes many new chapters, meditations and exercises. The companion 2-CD set (sold separately) contains my recording of the book's 10 guided meditations and an introductory track of instruction and inspiration. Although you don’t need the book to have a full experience of the CD set (or vice versa), the two work synergistically together to enrich your creative journey.

Click here to experience "You Are a Writer," the final guided meditation from The Voice of the Muse Companion CD set.

All copies of The Voice of the Muse book and/or CD set ordered before January 22 will be signed to you (or to whomever you're gifting it) and will get free U.S. shipping. (Normal shipping charges apply as of January 22.)