Recording BETWEEN CHAPTERS Was Its Own Chapter

How I laughed, cried, and blushed my way through it

I recorded the audiobook for Between Chapters this week in a small studio in Santa Monica, an Israeli producer, Ziv, in the next room. As I read one essay in the collection about being Jewish, he chimed in afterwards through my headphones: “Amen.”

I’d blocked two full days at the studio, 9 am - 5 pm PT, to record. By 3:30 pm on day one, I texted Kyle, “Done!” Here are the five things I wasn’t expecting.

1. Sobbing. My stepfather Howard died suddenly last October. Two days later, I sat at my mom and Howard’s kitchen island at their home in Arizona and wrote an essay about the pain and shock. His reading glasses rested by my laptop, the black cord curled around them. As I read that essay out loud, I couldn’t stop crying. I kept pausing, staring up at the ceiling, taking a breath, and continuing. I don’t cry about Howard every day, although I do miss him all the time. But reading about the loss, especially those raw emotions in the immediate aftermath, just slayed me. You’ll hear a very wobbly voice as you listen.

2. Stet. I thought the manuscript was 100% perfect given how many times my team and I had proofed it. But reading it out loud, I found three I hadn’t noticed before. Turns out, audiobooks are a fantastic proofreading exercise.

3. So fast. The start of the book is more about being in the throes of motherhood whereas by the end of it, my twins are going to college. Reading it all in one fell swoop, I was taken aback, yet again, but how quickly it all went by. Not in the moment, but looking back. Wasn’t I just one the sidelines of Super Soccer Stars? Now I’m watching the World Cup with full-on adult kids. I found myself feeling quite wistful. Also fast? Finishing the recording in record time.

   

4. Seriously? Wow. So many things have happened to me — and to all of us — over the last decade. All the major stressors and more. Moving. Career change. Divorce. Remarriage. Communal tragedies. Kid-related stuff. I found myself feeling even more grateful to Kyle, my family, and my kids for their role in all of it. It was a lot. I can’t imagine the next ten years can compete.

5. Sex. I’ve never felt more embarrassed than reading out the terms “hand job” and “blow job,” knowing Ziv and Lisa Cahn, my editor on Zoom, were listening. I mean, really. I was definitely blushing.

I hope when you listen to it, you’ll picture me in that little room, wiping my eyes, laughing, and blushing my way through it. I read it for you.