Tag Archive for: e-books

The Best Job: Telling Stories

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By Sparkle Abbey

We have the best job! We’re storytellers.

Not only that, we’ve been blessed recently with readers who have taken the time to email or tell us in person about their experiences in reading our books.

One lovely reader shared that she got through an illness abroad ship with our first three books that she had on her Kindle. Another read to her mom who was hospitalized and they laughed together at Caro, Mel, and the indomitable Betty and her shenanigans.  Several others have shared that the books have been an escape at a time when they needed one. A lift, a laugh, a little bit of fun along with a whodunit that kept them guessing. Can you see our big smiles?

We absolutely love it when readers tell us they laughed out loud while reading a Sparkle Abbey book and got funny looks from others on the train or in the break room at work. Sigh. That’s just the best.

The truth is that, as readers ourselves, there has been some time in our life when reading and books got us through a bad time, an endless wait, or just provided a get-away when we couldn’t actually get away. And whether an author writes humorous mysteries like us, or straight serious storylines, or romances, or dark thrillers, we all want to transport readers. We want to envelope you in our fictional world. We want to share our story people with you.

We believe writers write because they have to. We can’t stop. There are stories in our heads and we’re compelled to capture them. Ask a room of writers why they write and you’ll hear words like passion, joy, and need. They’ll often say things like, “The story nagged at me until I finally had to write it.” Or something along the lines of ,“That character just kept talking to me, insisting I tell her story.” You can see why we have to hang out with other writers, can’t you? Other people might question our sanity. We’re sure our friends and families have at times.

Ultimately, writers write not only because we have to, but because we want readers to be pulled into our worlds. We were entertained, enlightened, shaped, and sometimes even saved by books. And we want to do the same for others with our own stories.

So, readers, don’t ever hesitate to tell an author (in person or via email) what their book meant to you. We need to hear that. It’s what keeps us going when the characters won’t behave or the plot won’t untwist.

It’s what keeps us telling stories.

Sparkle Abbey’s first book in the Pampered Pets series is currently part of a drawing for a giveaway of 55+ cozy mysteries and the grand prize of a Kindle Fire. Details are here: Book Sweeps

Also, our publisher is running a special on our 7th book Downton Tabby and it is $1.99 in all ebook formats until April 15th.

Amazon
Nook
Kobo

Stay up-to-date on new releases and other Sparkle Abbey news by signing up for updates at: SparkleAbbey.com

The Mind of a Writer

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by Sparkle Abbey

“The mind of a writer can be a truly terrifying thing.
Isolated, neurotic, caffeine-addled, crippled by procrastination, consumed by
feelings of panic, self-loathing, and soul-crushing inadequacy. And that’s on a
good day.”

Not exactly complimentary, yet as soon as Robert DeNiro
delivered those words on the Academy Awards show last Sunday, Facebook and
Twitter lit up with cyber-nods of agreement from writers everywhere.

Yes, we’re an odd lot.
So what really goes on in the mind of a writer? 

For most of us we’ve always known we were different. Or at some point we’ve had an ‘ah-ha’ moment where we realize that not everyone rewrites the endings of books or movies.

Writers are curious. We’re interested in almost everything. We take movies apart, we question, we dissect. Writers study people and things and motives and places. We wake up in the middle of the night and write down story ideas. Sometimes they even make sense in the morning. 


A writer’s mind wanders off – sometimes in the middle of a conversation. We’re sorry about doing that. It’s not that we’re inattentive or uninterested in what you’re saying. It’s just that something you said clicked in our heads, and suddenly we’ve figured out that troublesome plot point. Or you said some random thing like “oranges” and it get us thinking about Florida and we realize our suspect couldn’t have been the real killer because he was on a plane to the Sunshine State.


We shamelessly eavesdrop on strangers’ conversations. Writers are people-watchers. Observers. We wonder what makes people do what they do. And then we wonder what might make them do something different. We ask, “What if?” The writer’s mind is always working. Always questioning. Writers see story possibilities in almost every situation. An off-hand comment, a newspaper article, an overheard personal drama.


Writers spend hours searching for the perfect word. We work very hard to find the precise words to describe for you the stories in our heads. To help you see the characters who are so real to us. Then we change the words, polish them, revise them. Sometimes we dump full sections of a chapter we’ve spend hours on. And then we begin again. We want it to be perfect. Yet we know it can’t be.

The writer’s mind is packed with worry. When we’re stuck, the doubts come trooping in. Can we do it? Maybe this time we really did bite off a story idea too big for our skills.

The mind of a writer is also magic. It creates people and worlds from nothing more than a speck of an idea. And then it somehow gives us just enough courage (or maybe insanity) to throw our hearts, our stories, out there to share with the world.

At least on a good day.




Our publisher has recently repriced all of our backlist on Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook and we also participated in a fun short story collection. We hope you’ll check it out. 

Three Highlights of the 2012, Two New Babies and a New E-Book

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Justice

We were delighted to welcome two new great-grandbabies into our family. Brings the count to 13.

Aleena  

And near the end of the year I tried my hand at e-publishing one of my books. I was a dismal failure all the way around. First, I couldn’t understand the directions that so many people find so simple. I wrote a desperate email to a friend who was doing great with her self-published book on Kindle. She confessed she wasn’t the one who had formatted her book for Kindle, it was her husband. He took pity on me and formatted the book. My friend went through it and found some errors which I corrected. And of course I needed a cover–someone was recommended to me and I hired her.

Then despite great directions I couldn’t figure out how to put the whole thing up. (Are you beginning to get the idea that I might have a learning disorder?) What I have found is that the older I get the longer it takes me to get the hang of something new. Friend’s husband put the book up for sale.

Of course I promoted like crazy. Sales were just okay, nothing like people have been reporting all over the place. So, I decided to try the free route for two days only. Another thing to figure out. A good friend sent me explicit email directions and I managed to to do it.  Again, lots of promotion. The download numbers were okay, but nothing like others reported. And, I still had no reviews.

Several of my author friends said they downloaded it and I begged for reviews. Finally one appeared. Will all this result in sales like is supposed to happen according to all the successful souls doing this? Haven’t checked lately, but when I did, I had one.

This isn’t the kind of book most of the people who frequent this blog read, it’s what I call a supernatural mystery. It borders on horror and has strong Christian elements.  Here’s the first review:

By Pat
Browning
 
I sat up all night reading THE DEVIL’S FOOTHOLD. That always
happens when I take a “quick peek” at the opening chapter of a fascinating new
book. In a departure from her popular Tempe Crabtree series, Marilyn Meredith’s
new book tackles devil worship in a small town in the Northern California
foothills. The cult has pulled in members of the town elite, motivated by lust
for power, and a few teenagers who just want a little excitement.

The
book has some gruesome aspects and a distinctly religious tone. However,
Meredith is a thoughtful writer with enough experience to make it easy to read.
Fans of the Tempe Crabtree series will appreciate familiar characters — a
female deputy, a romantic pastor, and a lazy sheriff who looks down his nose at
the female deputy. The ending is a humdinger.


http://www.amazon.com/The-Devils-Foothold-ebook/dp/B009R7DZ1S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357568848&sr=8-1&keywords=the+devil%27s+foothold

And one more tidbit about this book. This began as the first book in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. When I wrote the second one, I realized the tone of the book was much different and decided to change this one with a new setting and new characters. I missed one of the names–which Pat pointed out to me. Hopefully, I’ll have that fixed soon–if I can figure out how to do it.

Next up for me will be a new Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery called Dangerous Impulses. This series has been called a cozy police procedural which I write under the name F. M. Meredith.

Marilyn

My Take on the Publishing Game

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Most of my fellow Stiletto Gang members are published by New York publishers. I started that way–eons ago–and then the editor who signed me left the company. The one who took her place wasn’t interested in my next book. After many rejections, it was accepted by an independent publisher who really looked great–and the owner and his son ended up in jail after gambling away everything they made in Las Vegas.

I kept on writing. A mystery was signed on by a publisher I found in Writer’s Digest big market book. He did a great job of editing and formatting the book, but it turned out he was an e-publisher, one of the first. This was in the days long before any sort of reading device. It was far too hard to even order the book (I tried) and there weren’t all the ways we have today for promoting. A few years later, when the Rocket eReader came on the scene, I tried several e-pulishers. One turned out to be less than desirable for a number of reasons. Since that time, I resold that same mystery (became a series) to two different publishers, one went out of business, and now Oak Tree Press has published the whole series (Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series) and several other of my books as trade paperbacks and e-books.

My Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series also followed a bumpy path. The second, third, fourth and fifth book in the series was published as mass market by a small publisher in a nearby big city. Previously she’d published beautiful coffee table books about flying. We became friends and did promotion together. She knew nothing about e-pubbing so I still had those rights which I sold to a prominent e-publisher of that period and she brought out the first in the series as a prequel in e-book and trade paperback.

To make a long story short, the publisher who became a friend died unexpectedly. The e-book publisher put all the books out as e-books. Eventually that publisher quit the business. I met the owner/publisher of Mundania Press who is now publishing that series and bought out the other e-book publisher, so Mundania now has all those books.

Though I know that authors make more money going the Kindle route themselves, I’m quite happy to have someone else put my books on Kindle and all the other e-book sites and take care of all the other publishing chores.

Now there are all sorts of  ways to read e-books and though I’m no longer with a New York publisher, these days I don’t think it matters. In fact most of them don’t quite understand the e-publishing world yet.

Back when I was first e-published hardly anyone knew what that meant. I joined Epic which was and is the main organization for e-published authors and I learned and am still learning a lot from them.

Agents are changing their roles as they have realized that having an agent isn’t quite as important as it used to be. I heard an agent speak who is with a large agency in San Francisco. Though she’s still active as an agent, she’s also hung out her shingle to help authors promote their e-books. I’ve read about other agents who are now working with authors to turn their manuscripts into e-books for all the different e-Readers.

The bottom line is publishing has been turned upside down and as authors, we need to pay attention to what is happening.

Marilyn, who knew all this was going to happen but it took much longer than she expected.

http://fictionforyou.com/

The Takeaway

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Ten days ago, I spent the morning at The Tuckahoe Public Library. It’s been months since I gave one of my library talks – and I’d forgotten just how much fun they can be. For authors, what could be better than to be with readers who both enjoy the mystery genre and are eager to understand the creative process? It’s an honor and privilege to share what I’ve learned in writing.

And inevitably, I learn as much, if not more, than my audience. They share their favorite books, as well as what they don’t like about books they’ve read and found wanting. This group of about 10 should get a special shout-out because they braved frigid weather and icy streets to come to this discussion. I found it interesting that only one person in the group had a Kindle, and in fact, another had been gifted with one and then re-gifted it to her son within a few weeks.

Even as Rhonda and I have been busy cannonballing into the deep end of the e-book pool, this was an important reminder that not everyone is so eager to give up the heft and feel of a print book. Yes, it’s undoubtedly generational. A recent New York Times article revealed that many preteens are now proud owners of e-book readers and that the market for YA e-books is literally exploding. Perhaps it will take longer for the older generation (and heck, I’m one of them!), to embrace the technology, but I suspect it will be sooner rather than later, if only because it means that the reader can enlarge the typeface of all books. If I were one of the publishers of Books in Large Print, I’d be worried about the future direction of my company.

The conversation that morning inevitably returned to the concept of collaboration. On a basic level, there’s always the question of mechanics.

Literally how do Rhonda and I write a story together? Does one do the rough draft and the other do the polishing? No, we each write scenes and pass the story back and forth dozens upon dozens upon dozens of times (and that’s just an estimate for a short story!)

Do each of us write certain characters? Nope, we both write all the characters. No one has a proprietary hold on Mac, Rachel, Whiskey, or Brianna.

Of course, the final question is always, when are the two of you going to meet. We used to joke that it would be on a very special Oprah, but now that Ms. W is going off the air, we need a new punchline (ideas are welcome).

When I speak to these groups, I always hope that the takeaway, beside maybe a few sales, is that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams – whatever they may be. Rhonda and I had each harbored a secret fantasy that we’d become mystery writers. Didn’t seem likely as the years went by. I’m not sure either of us would have had the staying power it takes to become a published mystery writer without the collaboration. That’s not a reflection of talent. Rhonda could write dozens of books on her own. But writing with a partner means showing up with something when you’ve said you would write the next scene, even if family and work demands are pressing. It means not wanting to disappoint someone else, even if you would be willing to disappoint yourself. Of course it also means having someone to gripe to when a rejection letter arrives; and someone with whom to shriek in joy when an acceptance or good review appears.

The Stiletto Gang is a diverse group of talented women. We write different kinds of stories but we share similar dreams. These library events remind me again just how lucky I am to be a writer, to be a co-author, and to have had the opportunity to pursue my dreams. Best wishes to all of you that your dreams come true.

Marian, the Northern half of Evelyn David


Brianna Sullivan Mysteries – e-book series

I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries
– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah
– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah
– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah
– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

The Sullivan Investigation Series

Murder Drops the Ball (Spring 2011)
Murder Takes the Cake
– Paperback – Kindle
Murder Off the Books
– Paperback – Kindle
Riley Come Home (short story)
– Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

The E-book Revolution

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By C.J. West

Last month I moderated the e-books panel at Bouchercon in San Francisco. The Gang asked me to stop in and share my reflections and I’m delighted to visit.

It became clear during my research that e-books address the most serious problems facing the publishing industry. Returns? Check. Shelf life? Check. Selection? Check. The big surprise came when I downloaded work from each of the panelists. I expected the books to come quickly, but I didn’t expect to enjoy reading on an electronic device. I staunchly supported paper books until I tried an e-reader. Now I’m a convert. I bought my Kindle at Target yesterday.

The question in my mind after this panel is not so much whether there will be a revolution, because it is coming. The question is: what kind of a revolution will it be?

Are e-books an economic revolution?

The economic arguments for e-books are strong. The marginal cost (what it costs to produce one more book) are miniscule compared to print books and the implications for distribution are many. Consider a third-world school in need of textbooks. If the publisher can cut cost 95% by switching from hardcover to e-book format, they can afford to be generous with donations. In fact, it may be cost effective to donate the e-readers and e-books rather than offer hardcovers for multiple subjects.

There is another swirl in the economic wind. Authors earn 70% royalties on e-books distributed directly through Amazon. Because authors get most of the purchase price, many more authors will earn a comfortable living when the e-book market matures. That means no day job and more time to create.

Is this a class revolt?

E-book only authors tend to be younger and more hip than their Dead Tree Book (DTB) counterparts, but they aren’t the only beneficiaries of the revolution. I went to Barnes & Noble to shop for the authors on my panel. Of the seven authors, the store carried books for only one. It is even less likely you’d find our books in a supermarket or a Walmart, but the playing field for e-books is conspicuously level. All seven of us have e-books available for download and this erodes the advantages of the mega bestselling authors. I predict that midlisters who embrace e-books and go independent will be among the biggest winners in this revolution.

E-books are also a proving ground for new talent. One of the panelists, Boyd Morrison, published The Ark on Kindle after being rejected by 25 traditional publishers. The Ark sold so well on Kindle that Boyd signed with Simon & Schuster. The Ark has received excellent placement and has been translated into several languages. Boyd’s success will encourage new writers to follow his path and publishers to scour e-books for the next Boyd Morrison.

Are e-books a creative revolution?

I’ve heard Tim Hallinan call e-books a creative revolution and I’m a believer. The simplicity and low cost of e-book distribution allow authors to publish books they want to write. This applies to new authors breaking into the market and established authors who want to try a new genre or a story publishers don’t find commercially viable.

This discussion sparked a firestorm during our panel. One author blanched when his sale of e-books on Amazon was called self-publishing. The term self-publishing ignites heated debate over the quality of the work and who has the right to bring books to market. Whatever your opinion on gatekeepers, the digital levy has been breached and the tsunami of electronic titles is out there waiting for you to dive in.

How do you view the revolution?

Have you used an e-reader? If not, what’s stopping you?

—————-
Footnote: After this post was written, two important pieces of e-book news were reported. PW reported e-book sales spiked 150% in September as compared to a 40% decline in hardcover sales. The NY Times also reported that it will begin a bestseller list for e-books in January. If you’re an author not involved with e-books yet, here is your wake-up call.

—————-

CJ West is the author of 5 thrillers. His latest, The End of Marking Time has been called “a modern 1984 meets Prison Break.” CJ interviews thriller authors monthly on Blog Talk Radio. His first novel, Sin & Vengeance is in development for feature film by Beantown Productions, LLC. (http://www.sinandvengeance.com/)

The End of Marking Time on Amazon Kindle

Sin & Vengeance on Amazon Kindle

The Brave New “E-Book” World

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Electronic Books? E-books. Have they arrived? I think so.

It wasn’t that long ago that electronic mail was new and strange – a novelty instead of a daily communication tool. Not anymore. I don’t remember the last time I wrote a personal letter. A note maybe to go along with a package. But a letter? Like it or not e-mail is the way of the world now. Just as I think e-books will be in less than five years. The number of e-books on the market is exploding. The number of e-readers (the devices and the people) is increasing every day. Publishing contracts today include electronic rights along with foreign and domestic print rights. Yep, e-books are here to stay…in one form or another. (Hey, I’m old enough to have lived through 8-tracks, cassette tapes, cds, and digital downloads for i-Pods – so I know nothing is forever!)

But not to be left behind on the e-book super highway, my co-author and I have recently published a short story collection – I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries and a single short story – Riley Come Home at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It was quite a learning experience. And we are still trying to figure out some of the formatting tweaks. My co-author says that learning how to do a clickable “Table of Contents” has become a point of pride with me – not something that we absolutely have to include in our e-books. She’s right (she’s right a lot of the time but let’s keep that fact just between us). I admit that I have developed an obsession with figuring it out. (Yes, I know there are people out there making a living whom I could pay to do it for me – but what’s the fun in that?) I will conqueror the problem as I do most things – through time, trial, whining, and error. Lot’s of whining and error.

On the bright side, did you know that on-line bookstores such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders have their own software applications that can be downloaded free to your e-reader and/or your PC (desktop or laptop)? You visit their site, search for e-book software applications (if you don’t see an ad for one staring right at you when you arrive on site) and click on the download button. It loads itself and all you need to do is set up an account (if you don’t already have one there for all those print books you’ve been buying for years) and start buying e-books. You can be reading in seconds on your computer without actually purchasing a Kindle (although the current price of $139 is becoming very tempting) or a Nook (Barnes & Noble’s popular e-reader). You can also buy e-books for the Apple i-Pad from the on-line Apple store. Tony Burton, publisher extraordinare, has an on-line store, The Digital Bookshop. You can find lots of great e-books and print books there (including Evelyn David’s Sullivan Investigations mystery series).

And here’s another surprise – there are free e-books to be had. Free! Amazon and Barnes & Noble have free e-books offerings. All you have to do is download them.

Now be warned, my co-author and I aren’t giving away our books. (Are you kidding after all that blood, sweat, and whining?) But if you’re counting your pennies, buying e-books can save you money. Our short story collection, I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries is priced at $2.99. Riley Come Home is a mere 99 cents. The Kindle versions of Murder Off the Books and Murder Takes the Cake are $5 each at Amazon versus the very reasonable just over $9 price tag for the trade paperback editions.

So here’s my question? Have you tried an e-book yet? If not, why not?

Rhonda

(Oh, and if anyone wants to give me some tips about that clickable “Table of Contents” thing, I’d appreciate it.)

I Never Fancied Myself a Romantic Suspense Author, by Misa Ramirez

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I started out writing middle grade fiction (the wonderful Ellis Island time travel story is tucked away somewhere in my study…perhaps to be resurrected one day) and moved on to children’s books. I was teaching at the time, so my head was in kid-land.


But after one fluke sale of a picture book story, I couldn’t sell another kids story to save my life.


Enter Lola.


Every Monday night, I’d been meeting with a friend at a coffee shop, as much to get out of the house and away from the kids (new baby and 4 others at home) as to write. My frustration at the pile of rejections was growing. I decided I needed a change. I decided to write something for adults. It would be fun and sassy, would have swearing and, egads!, sex.

Lola Cruz came to me just like that. It was like she was there all along, just waiting for me to call on her. I like to say she’s my alter-ego, if I were a smart, sexy, Latina detective. 😉 My husband is Mexican and I’ve always loved his culture. The food, the language, the community, the stories and legends, and more. So when I envisioned Lola, she represented my own children in a way.


After the first couple Lola books sold, I was at a crossroads. What to work on next?

I couldn’t imagine not incorporating some cultural element into whatever book I write (funny, since I’m a blonde-haired, green-eyed white girl!). The thing that popped into my mind was the story of la Llorona. La Llorona is kind of like the Bogey Man. It’s a story told to kids to keep them in bed.

That quintessential ghost story, Latino-style. My husband’s family would tell this story at camp outs, just as it had been told to them when they were kids.


I did a little research and learned the roots of the story. It dates back to the Aztecs, interestingly, and from there, four different versions evolved. The story in my head took roots and grew. But la Llorona is a ghost, and not a nice one, at that. My light, sassy voice had to adapt. The only way it would work was as a romantic suspense. I couldn’t see myself spending my entire writing career crafting suspense. There’s enough darkness in the world that I don’t want to write about it, too (light mysteries, like Lola Cruz, and my new cozy series don’t make me feel that darkness, interestingly).


But this story wouldn’t leave me alone. I wrote it. It became CURSED.

Buy Cursed for your Kindle!

Buy Cursed at The Reader Store!


The hero, Ray Vargas, had a brother, Vic. He needed his own story. The other thing that fascinates me is the curandera, a healer. Combine that with the urban legend of chupacabra (a vampire goat-like creature), and the makings of another story began. Same town. Another legend come to life. When I read a real-life account of a tree that had been saved from disease by the chain strung around it’s trunk, I knew I had stumbled upon a crucial and symbolic element.


That book became The Chain Tree.

Buy The Chain Tree for your Kindle!

Buy The Chain Tree at The Reader Store!

They’re out now in e-book form and I’m so excited! I wonder if others will find the legends of la Llorona and chupacabra as fascinating as I do. I hope so! If you have an e-reader, I hope you’ll give them a whirl and let me know your thoughts. I have a third story brewing based on yet another Mexican legend. Who knows, maybe two will become three: The Legends Trilogy.


Now, I have to go buy an e-reader so I can download my own books!


Happy e-reading!


~ MIsa

Straight to E-book

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A few years ago, I never thought I’d be part of the e-book revolution. I was so focused on my print books and publishing the traditional way, that it never occurred to me to go straight to e-book.


But then I wrote several romantic suspense novels that I thought were awesome. My agent thought they were awesome. My crit group thought they were awesome. Only thing was, they were not dark enough (not a good thing in serial killer romantic suspense world) to sell. My suspenses center around Mexican legends and specific motives, not sociopathic murderers. Wrong time, wrong place.


They never did sell.


I tucked them away (on my hard drive) and moved on.


Fast forward a few years. I moved wrote my Lola Cruz Mystery series, and am working on my NAL Dressmaker’s Mystery series. But those romantic suspenses have never let go of their grip on me.


See, I just love them.


Enter e-publishing. Diversion Books, to be exact. A chance for these books of mine to be published and find a potential readership. They’re going to be released in a few short weeks! If you have an e-reader, look for them! They take place in a small ranching town called San Julio along the San Julio River. The first is called Cursed and the second one is called The Chain Tree.


One problem I’m running into is how to promote these books on my own site, Books on the House. See, from what I understand, Amazon doesn’t allow gifting of books so I can’t give away copies of it! I can’t even buy copies and give them away by giving them to someone else to upload (a MAJOR flaw in their e-book selling division, if you ask me). I don’t know about Borders or Barnes & Noble’s e-book divisions. I think I can gift books with the Nook, but not having an e-reader myself, my knowledge is woefully deficient.


So, I need your help…desperately! What can I give away when I feature my new romantic suspense e-books on Books on the House that people will want? And can I gift e-books? Maybe I’m wrong.


Help!!

The Kindle

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Yes, I broke down and bought a Kindle. I love it.

Frankly, I didn’t buy it merely to read books. My main purpose was to have something to demonstrate while I gave talks on e-publishing. I’ve been doing that for a long time, and I had two such presentations lined up in a row. I was on a panel at the California Crime Writers Conference in Pasadena and doing a talk on e-publishing for the Public Safety Writers Association’s Conference last weekend.

I downloaded Gary Phillips latest book on the Kindle because he was the moderator for the first panel. He’d never seen a Kindle so obviously not his book on one either. He was tickled.

I also purchased a couple of my own books on Kindle to see what they looked like: No Sanctuary and an old romance, Lingering Spirit.

The Kindle is great, easy to figure out and nice to read on.

The one drawback is it is far too easy to buy books. I have about six on there now. I’m saving them for when I go on a trip and that’s all I have to take with me.

Because, I have a huge stack of regular books to read. I got three books from a publisher to read and review–and they are really big and rather literary, so they’ll take awhile. Then, while I was at the PSWA conference I bought way too many books. When the author is there and talks about his or her book, I can’t control myself. Oh, and that brings me around to one more drawback about the Kindle–you can’t get the author to sign them.

Most of the big publishers haven’t figured out yet that you shouldn’t charge so much for books. E-publishers who have been around for a long time, know that the cost should be low if they expect to sell a lot of books. All of my publishers are putting their books on Kindle as well as all the other e-book sites. Yes, there are lots of ways to read an e-book–iPhones, iPods, Sony E-Reader and others, Kindle is not the only one.

Over the years I’ve had several e-readers, but you had to connect to your computer to buy a book. The Kindle is magic–you can order the book through Amazon’s Internet site if you want, but you can just as easily go to the book store on the Kindle and order. In 20 seconds the books is there.

And that’s what I have to say about my new Kindle.

Marilyn a.k.a. F. M. Meredith