Speaking at the opening night of the Sydney Writers Festival, Irish author Marian Keyes talked about the experience of reading her own novels for publication as audiobooks.
“It’s a very intimate experience… you’re speaking direct to your readers…”
Keyes enjoys the experience of recording her own books, except possibly for one aspect, the sex scenes. To laughter and applause from the audience at the Sydney Town Hall, Keyes told the story about her early experience reading her novels in the studio.
“I used to think sex scenes – no big deal, until I came to voice the audiobook. Then I would think, Oh God, why did I write that?
“Maybe that’s too intimate an experience…
“I was up this close to the audio producer in the little studio… I was behind the mic and he was pushing buttons on the other side of the desk. He was very professional… he kept a straight face, but sometimes he would push the stop button and tell me ‘put a bit more oomph into it.'”
Marian Keyes is one of Ireland’s most successful novelists. The multi-million copy, international bestselling author has been writing for the past thirty years. Books such as Rachel’s Holiday, Anybody Out There and Grown Ups have millions of fans around the world, as do her series of books about the Walsh Family. 
During her Australian book tour , Keyes also appeared on The Project, talking about ‘bad boys.’
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Marian Keyes talked about her sixteenth novel, which brings back some of the most loved Walsh family characters with themes including midlife lessons, break-ups and perceiving yourself differently.
Keyes was in conversation with author and Mamamia podcast host Holly Wainwright, in the Writers Festival session sponsored by the Consulate-General of Ireland.