The Scene That Hits Harder in Audio (And Why)

There’s a moment in Moons and Shadows that lands differently when you hear it. For me, it’s Chapter Two.

What most people don’t know is that this chapter was written on the day my husband had an stress-induced heart attack. I had taken the day off because I couldn’t handle much more, but even in that space, I found myself stuck on this chapter, trying to write something that needed to hit in a very specific way, and it just wasn’t coming. Because this chapter isn’t simple. It’s not just a scene. It’s a moment of confrontation, the kind that feels like sitting in a counseling session or watching someone you care about walk into one. That moment where everything starts to surface, where pain isn’t avoidable anymore, and healing hasn’t quite begun. 

That’s what this chapter is for me. Izayah on his knees in the gravel, the weight of realization settling in, the edge of anger rising and the need to hold it back, everything he’s realizing for the first time pressing in all at once. And while I was writing it, I was living in a space that felt very similar. Sitting at home, waiting, not knowing what was happening with my husband, trying to steady myself and process everything at once while still holding it together. That chapter didn’t come from a place of planning. It poured out.

And hearing it now, it hits differently. Because in audio, you don’t just understand the moment - you hear it. You hear the breath before the words, the strain beneath them, the control trying not to break. There’s a rawness to it that can’t quite be captured the same way on the page, and the performance carries that weight. It stays grounded and controlled, with just enough restraint that when the emotion finally edges through, it lands exactly where it should.

I’ll be honest, by the time the chapter ended, I was crying. And I don’t say that lightly. I know what went into that moment. I know what it pulled from me. And hearing it brought to life like that is something else entirely.

There are so many moments in this story I could point to, but this one still hits me in the gut. And when you hear it, I think you’ll understand why.

You’ll know it when you hear it.

Have faith, my friends. We are just getting started.