There's something surreal about hearing someone else read words that once existed only in your head.

When I opened auditions for the audiobook edition of The Room Isn't Empty Anymore: Book One, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.

What I certainly didn't expect was 81 auditions.

Eighty-one people willing to lend their voices, their time, and their talents to a collection of seventeen stories that began as ideas rattling around inside my skull.

I've spent a considerable amount of time listening to those auditions, and the experience has been both exciting and humbling.

One of the things I've always loved about audiobooks is the way a talented narrator can transform a story. A subtle pause, a change in tone, or a particular inflection can give a sentence an entirely different weight.

And with psychological horror, those details matter.

Sometimes the most unsettling thing a narrator can do is make something terrible sound perfectly ordinary.

That's what I've been listening for.

Not simply a good voice, but someone who understands the spaces between the words. Someone who can give seventeen different stories their own identities while preserving the atmosphere, humanity, and unease that connect them.

I've heard some genuinely impressive performances throughout this process, and I'm grateful to everyone who took the time to audition.

And now, I've made my decision.

An offer has officially been extended to one narrator.

I'm keeping the name under wraps until everything is finalized, but I will say that I'm incredibly excited about the possibility of working with this particular performer.

For someone who has spent years listening to audiobooks, getting to this point with my own writing feels a little extraordinary.

Nothing is official just yet, but I'm hopeful I'll have some exciting news to share very soon.

In the meantime, thank you to everyone who has followed this journey, supported my writing, or taken a chance on one of my stories.

There's something rather fitting about a book called The Room Isn't Empty Anymore finding its voice.

And with a little luck, I'll be able to introduce you to that voice soon.