let me talk to you.

When I did a reading last summer in Bend, Oregon, a fantastic, young blind woman was in the audience, and also at a fire circle my host Beth Patterson held afterward. "I'd really like to read your book," she told me after the reading. "I'll record it for you," I promised.

Last Wednesday, I was honored to speak at the 90th birthday party of Ruth Lawrence, here in Asheville. I don't know Ruth, but her daughter had heard me speak and asked if they could hire me to come talk to the 64 women who would attend the luncheon.

You just don't turn 90 every day, do you? Of course I said yes, and in lieu of payment, asked them to make a donation to the local Red Cross. At 50, I was the baby in the room. Most of those in the room were between 80-95 years old. Such wisdom, and such beauty. All dressed up for lunch. And with social calendars that made me feel like a real slacker.

At the end of the party, I had fantastic conversations with many of the women there. One, a woman with thick glasses came up to me. "I'd love to read your book," she said, "but I can't read anything anymore because of my macular degeneration."

For both these women–and many more who have disabilities that preclude their reading Life is a Verb–I am creating a five-CD disc set to capture the stories of the book, along with some additional behind-the-scenes stories about the writing of the book.

I'll be the narrator for the set. And because I love Irish and Scottish and lovely Southern accents, two or three of the stories will be read by others, too.

So I am practicing my best radio voice. I hope you might enjoy it also, or know someone who might.

Right now, it's available at a special pre-sale price until March 20th. The Audiobook 5-CD set will ship in early May!