9 Nov 2012

My little Kindle - Pros and cons ...

What I like about my little Kindle:
- It's easy to carry.
- It never gets to heavy in my backpack.
- It's comfortable on the eyes.
- I get the books I buy in seconds.
- I can read heavy books without getting a strain in my neck.
- I can lay on my abck and hold it in front of my nose without dropping it on my face.
- There's free access to loads of free classics I haven't read before.
- I can buy a book in the middle of the night if I want to.

What I miss about my Kindle:
- It doesn't smell as good as a book.
- I can't flip back and forth the way I can with a book.
- I can't make what we call "donkey ears" - that is, I can't fold down the upper corner on pages when I find something I'd like to read again, or just to remember where I left off.
- I can't spill anything on it without ruining it. (My most cherised books are spotted with jam and coffee stains, and spills from whatever dinner I'm cooking while reading).
- It has boring covers - or sleeves. Even though the cover I have now makes it look like a fine, old leather bound book. (I like colours!).
- I can't lend books (at least not until I've figured out how. And anything technical that takes more than three minutes, is something I never bother to use time on).
- I can't give away books.
- It's too easy to buy books, only to discover I don't like it!

And most important of all:
 I can no longer read the first chapter, browse through pages, get a feel of the book and read the ending before I decide to buy it. I can't walk around Amazon and read a little here, check out a book there, sit down on the floor and pull out a stack off books - and really enjoy myself before I buy a book - or ten.
That's why I will never give up books for good. And also because bookstores are the only stores I can stand being in more then five minutes. I can stay in there for hours without getting bored to death ... anyshopping mall or High Street without a bookstore has no interest for me.

What do you think?

1 Nov 2012

From a Serial Writer's Diary ...

I signed a new contract yesterday - on Halloween - and I'm not sure if that's good or ... or not good. The contract was a standard contract with one of my current publishers (yes, I have two). It basically says that they will pay me a certain amount of money so that we - the publisher and me - can develop my idea and when and if it actually turns into a new series, then we'll write a new contract.
Sounds easy, doesn't it?
It's standard. It's the kind of contract you get when you have written a proposal and three chapters, and they think its good enough to invest an editors time into it.
I put the contract in my backpack (Norwegians rarely have handbags, we have backpacks - after all, we do have manuscripts to carry, books and pencils and whatnot), and because I had preperations for a 50th birthday to prepare for, I forgot it there.
Now I like contracts, I celebrate each and everyone - not with champagne, I'm not much of a drinker - but there are rituals to follow even so. Usually I don't forget them like this.
So when I pulled out my notebook from the backpack, it got me thinking. Writing romance series like I do, is hard work. I haven't been to a movie in almost two years (Yeah, really), and it occupies my mind a lot. I make sure I write other things too - there's a children's book coming in March 2013 - but it's hard to get enough time. And also thinking time. (My writing muscles are the only muscles I train on a regular basis ...)
It takes  a year or two, to go from an idea to a finished first book, then there's the at least six or seven books that has to be finished before publishing the first, so that you can write without "deadline-panic". So this new idea might hit the stores in late 2014 or early 2015.
That's what got me thinking. It's still 2012.
Planning my life that far ahead is a new experience.
It's okay, I'm not regretting the contract. My idea is good, very good actually, so I'm not worried about that. I can do the work.
But so far ahead is spooky. Usually I have problems thinking ahead to tomorrow ...