By Evelyn David

I recently was given an iPad. I feel like the coolest Grandma in the world. As hip as my twenty-something daughter.

When my husband and I were looking for a cover for the iPad, he asked if I wanted one that had a built-in, traditional keyboard, rather than use the touchscreen of the iPad. I declined. I actually don’t think I’ll be writing any Brianna stories on it. I see the gadget more for email exchanges on trips, web searches, reading, and of course, all the games. I’m already in a Scrabble match with a complete stranger from Australia.

But as I was writing thank you notes for this marvelous gift, composing the words on my computer, I realized that I had made the complete transition. I can’t “create” without a keyboard. Writing the notes in longhand is part of the legacy of childhood and good manners. But finding the right words before I put pen to paper has to be done on a computer.

I can remember learning to type on a manual typewriter – and thinking that an electric one was nothing short of a technological miracle. But it was when we got our first computer that I discovered the real miracle. Word processing, with the cut and paste option, made revisions, if not a snap, then at least, manageable.

No longer was I burdened by the concept that those pearls I had crafted, word by word, would be lost forever if I decided to cut a paragraph, scene, entire chapter. Instead, I could neatly cut the offending words out of the paragraph, save them, and even use them in another book, if that’s what I wanted.

When I told the Southern half of Evelyn David my idea for a blog, she joined in the Hallelujah chorus. “I don’t think I would have started writing without the computer. I can think fiction and type at the same time – can’t write long hand and think fiction. Total disconnect.”

How about you? How dependent are you on your computer for your writing?

Marian, the Northern half of Evelyn David

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Brianna Sullivan Mysteries – e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle (Exclusive at Amazon this month)
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
A Haunting in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Lottawatah Twister – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

Sullivan Investigations Mystery – e-book series
Murder Off the Books Kindle (Exclusive at Amazon this month)
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle – Nook – Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords

Romances
Love Lessons – Kindle – Nook – Smashwords