When I first wrote Finding Heaven, my women’s fiction novel about a woman healing from an abusive past, I expected it to take a while.

For one, it was my first full-length novel.

For another, since I started writing it only several months after losing my son, I was giving myself plenty of grace and time in the writing process when I needed it.

And it did take a while. Two years, to be exact.

By the time I’d finished, not only did I feel like I’d achieved something epic (because I had—the book clocks in at 163,000 words), but I’d become a different person as I wrote it. I’d learned a lot about myself while researching Sarah’s world. And I’d worked through a good chunk of my grief.

But when I started the digitally narrated audiobook of Finding Heaven in November 2023? Well, I knew it wouldn’t be a fast process to generate and proof 163,000 words of audio.

But I didn’t expect it to take another two years to get this far, either.

Yet, here we are.

So, before I go into the story of why, I should tell you: Finding Heaven is now available in audiobook .

At the moment, it’s for sale exclusively through my bookstore. Delivery is through the Bookfunnel app, which includes one of the best audiobook listening apps I’ve used. And it’s the same price as the eBook, which is a pretty amazing deal.

Okay, onto the story behind the creation of this book.

Rose-Tinted Beginnings

This is the first project I started using the premiere digital voice service ElevenLabs.

I was excited to work with their app, because I’d already completed a couple of projects using a couple of other digital narration services, and, as an audiobook lover, I’d been a little disappointed with the results.

Are those books better than simply using a “Read Aloud” feature in an eReader? Yes, they are. But they would never be confused with an actual human.

And I wanted this book to be the best I could afford to make it, while finally having an audio version in the world. (Eventually, I’d love to create human-narrated versions of all my books, but, given the high cost and the length of my books, it will be a while before that happens.)

So, I happily went through the process of “auditioning” AI voices for the job, and was stunned with the results. Soon, I was creating my chapters, a few per month, and posting them as early-access rewards in the Books and Tea League.

Back then, ElevenLabs had far fewer tools than they do now, so the process to get a good result was lengthy:

Generate the audio for the initial chapter.

Listen to the audio. Regenerate any paragraphs that included artifacts, distortions, and mispronunciations.

Download and make note of those “punch-in” clips to edit into the final track later.

While I was posting the unedited versions of the tracks as early access, I was still going through all of these steps for each chapter. Since they average twenty minutes in length, that meant, just to get that far, each chapter took about forty to sixty minutes of my time. When I got to editing, it would be another forty minutes or so per chapter (a process I went through completely when I later created the audiobook for Every Bell that Rings).

I was eleven chapters and three months in when ElevenLabs discontinued the primary voice I was using.

I was… well, devastated seems too strong and annoyed seems too peevish for my practical self, but maybe frustrated would be close to the right word. But, after allowing myself about five minutes to be upset and decide what to do next, I picked a new narrator and started over.

The Mushy Middle

This time, I got twelve chapters in (for the second time) and realized I really didn’t like the male narrator I’d picked. He was pretty flat, and adjusting the settings to make him more expressive resulted in a lot of errors and artifacts per chapter—more than three times as many as my female narrator.

I decided I’d be better off choosing a new voice than having to deal with all those punch-ins for another 38+ chapters. By then, there were a few more options on the platform than when I’d started, but I still had a hard time finding one that was a good fit for audiobook narration and for Steve’s voice. Eventually, I selected someone who was “good enough”. But instead of starting over at that point, I just kept going, deciding to regenerate the first twelve chapters when I was done.

In retrospect, that turned out to be a good choice. Because, over the next year, ElevenLabs introduced more and better tools for editing that allowed me to regenerate smaller sections of text without using so many credits—and to allow me to download the completed, fixed chapter after instead of having to manually edit those in myself. (Supposedly, I can now even regenerate sections of sentences, but I find this never puts the appropriate silence after, so I still redo paragraphs at a time.)

I had finished Chapter 24 (nearly halfway) when I realized I no longer needed to download all those “punch-ins”. This sped up the process considerably.

But there were still another 26 chapters, an Epilogue, and all the back matter to go… plus, going back and fixing the first half of the book (and regenerating the first twelve chapters altogether).

By the time I finished generating the first draft a couple weeks ago (which was basically the equivalent of a draft-and-a-half with all the chapters I had to redo), I was two years into the project, and weary of revisiting a story that I’d written so long ago instead of working on something new in my limited “writing time”.

But I wasn’t done yet.

The Final Act

Audiobook publishers (even Bookfunnel) require files to meet stringent technical standards for audio quality and encryption. While my ElevenLabs plan allows me to export a single book-long file for publication on specific platforms that meet those standards, the individual chapters I’d downloaded as I went for use on other platforms did not. The metadata (information like cover image, track number, etc.) attached to them needed to be updated, as well.

I didn’t see that as a problem, since I have the skills and technology to engineer those final steps myself.

But, when I pulled those chapters into my DAW to upgrade the encryption, I discovered other issues: some of the files were corrupted and sounded like white noise. Others (many others) cut off the last several seconds of the chapter. And none of them included enough silence at the end of the chapter.

So… back I went to ElevenLabs, re-exporting the offending files. Unfortunately, this turned the final steps of this process from something I thought would take a few hours into something that took a day and a half.

Boy, was I glad to be finished with that!

Which I was, as of Tuesday afternoon.

As of Wednesday night, Finding Heaven was live for sale in my bookstore.

Which means, at long last, you can enjoy the fruits of all that labour.

Here’s a sample to get you started:

What’s Next

Earlier this year, I’d thought I might release this audiobook as part of my planned Kickstarter for a special edition of Finding Heaven. But, after all the setbacks during the creation process (and knowing that Kickstarter isn’t a platform that especially celebrates audiobooks), I just wanted to be done with this stage of the project, so I decided to release it right away instead.

At the moment, it’s only available in my own shop. Eventually, I may also publish it to Google Play Books and Kobo.

Currently, I’m using the matching cover that I launched for the eBook earlier this year:

I’m very glad to have my “writing time” back, and I’ve already started drafting the manuscript for my next release, Every Rose the Blooms (Peace Country Romance Book 3), which will soon be released chapter-by-chapter in an early access version for Books and Tea League members.

And, now that this audiobook project is done, I’ll be preparing the special edition for the Kickstarter, which I intend to launch early next year. (I’ve already started reformatting the interior!)

Coming Up for Air

Finishing this audiobook feels a bit like surfacing after a long dive. It took far longer than I ever expected, but I’m proud of what it became, and I’m thrilled to finally share it with you.

If you’ve been waiting to experience Sarah and Steve’s journey in audio—or if you’re curious what’s possible with thoughtfully crafted digital narration—now is your chance.

🎧 Listen to Finding Heaven

Available exclusively in my shop. Delivered through Bookfunnel’s excellent listening app.

Get the Audiobook

Thank you for being here for every twist and restart along the way. I hope this story meets you where you are and reminds you, as it reminded me, that healing takes time—and hope is worth holding onto.

Happy listening. 💛

(And I’d love to hear what you think of the audio quality. Let me know in the comments!)

What Readers Say

This book was originally published on November 14, 2017—almost exactly eight years ago. Since then, it has been loved by hundreds (maybe thousands?) of readers. Here are a few nice things they’ve said:

“The best novel I’ve read in a long time.”

“One of the most beautifully written books I have read.”

“A riveting, true-to-life tale of love’s power to heal and redeem.”

“The tears are how you know it’s good!”

“This book is a page-turner!”

“A moving and beautiful story of accepting who you are, overcoming the past, and embracing the future.”

“One of the best novels I’ve read in a long time.”

“It’s about unearthing the real you after being under the mudslide for so long. It still tugs at my heartstrings.”

“Masterful.”

“A  long read, but I couldn’t put it down—read it in one sitting. A visceral book that settles into your gut and requires ‘book hangover’ time to digest. Recommended.”

“One of those books you stay up late into the night reading, unable to put down. Inspirational and touching.”

“This well-written story touched my heart and kept me turning the pages to the very end.”

“I was on the edge of my seat—unable to put it down. It brought out so many emotions—tears of sorrow, tears of joy, a longing to have a Steve in my life.”

“This book grasped my attention right from the beginning and did not let go at the end. It is extremely well written for the gritty and delicate subjects it covers.”

“Very well written. Kept my interest from the very beginning. Made my heart ache, rage, feel hope, and love.”

“Excellent true to life story about healing from the hurts of so many levels of abuse, about learning to love and accept yourself, about discovering true and unconditional love and discovering purpose for life.”

“A book well worth reading.”