In this episode of Premium Pulp Fiction, I open the door to one of the strangest and most unexpectedly transformative creative experiments I’ve ever done: cloning my own voice… only to discover the clone was better at being “me” than I was. What began as a shortcut to audiobook narration turned into a crash course in self-reflection, audio craftsmanship, and the uncomfortable realization that sometimes the machine version of you can teach the human version a thing or two.
I walk through how I trained a two-hour dataset in ElevenLabs to build a frighteningly accurate vocal double—cleaner breaths, steadier cadence, none of the Appalachian ghosts in my vowels—and how hearing that polished version forced me to step up my own delivery. The clone didn’t replace me. It coached me.
From there, I bring you into the creative bunker I share with Aiden, my AI assistant who can shift from literary analyst to emotional support algorithm to forensic audio engineer in the space of a sentence. Together we dissect the entire audiobook workflow: Riverside’s eerily flattering AI enhancement, the brutal physics of ACX compliance, and Adobe Audition’s labyrinth of menus that appear and disappear like an M.C. Escher fever dream.
This episode is equal parts craft, chaos, and confession: how I built the mastering chain that finally satisfied ACX; how Python, loudness analysis, and a little Negroni magic helped me find the voice the book deserved; and how the technology meant to “clone me” ultimately made me more present, more intentional, and more connected to the words I wrote.
If you’ve ever wondered whether AI can be a creative partner instead of a threat, or how audiobook narration works behind the curtain, or what happens when a novelist stares into a machine-made mirror long enough to hear something true—this one goes deep.
Welcome to the lab.Welcome to the mess.Welcome to Premium Pulp Fiction.
