Is an eReader in Your Future?

In a 1995 article for Newsweek, Clifford Stoll, an astronomer and author, said “The truth is no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works.”

Mr. Stoll was not uninformed about the internet. Quite the contrary, he had been working on the internet for years and was one of the first ‘hack hunters.’ But the internet of 1995 was in its infancy and like a newborn it would take time to mature – make order out of the chaos. He went on to say no body would shop on the internet, it would never catch on, it was only a fade. Mr. Stoll contended the internet missed an essential ingredient, the human touch. There were other things he felt would be big stumbling blocks, dealing with money being a big one. The issue with Mr. Stoll’s position in 1995 was one of insight. He had none.

This past February, Mr. Stoll’s article was unearthed and was the topic of discussion on several blogs including Farhad Manjoo ( Slate Technologies) and Nathan Bransford.

Manjoo presented four principles for more successful predictions about our digital future:

1. Good predictions are based on current trends
2. Don’t underestimate people’s capacity for change
3. New stuff sometimes comes out of the blue
4. These days it’s best to err on the side of (technological) optimism

It goes past people’s capacity for change and to the heart of the matter. Stasis is not the norm.  So to Mr. Manjoo’s principles I have an addition. 5. Change is inevitable

In Nathan Bransford’s blog, originally posted in the Huffington Post, he looked at the ebook controversy and saw the ‘new skeptics,’ the Mr. Stoll’s of today.  He doesn’t speak about the enabling of the technology but rather the inevitability of it. He has his own predictions.

1. The ebook reading experience will only improve as ebook technology improves. As technology improves, new enhancements will be available, color photos and art, embedded interactive features and creative designs even in mass market books.
2. eReaders and eBooks will get cheaper as technology improves and production cost go down.
3. Finding the books you want to read will get easier, reading through the jumble of self published books to find the good books.  Many people have opined about the quality of the work being self published. Anybody can upload their novel to Amazon or other resources such as independent e-libraries, like Lebrary. New literary sites like Goodreads and Shelfari are tools readers can use to find well written, critically acclaimed, prize winning books.
4. People are ignoring the digital trend.  The economics of digital media is compelling. Digitization is cheaper, faster, and provides worldwide distribution. Other industries have embraced the trend (they too went kicking and screaming but that didn’t stop the shift): music, newspapers, and movies. Books are next.
5. Habits change. As people are presented with better options they quickly adapt.

Are we at the same point in publishing as Mr. Stoll was in 1995 with the internet? Will we be looking back at 2010 and see we lacked insight? Or will we look at Mr., Manjoo’s principles of predictions and reflect on those of Nathan Bransford before we put our stake in the ground?

I am more than just a consumer deciding on what device to buy or application to put on my iPad, iPhone or Blackberry. I am on the other side of this tidal wave, a writer. How do writers embrace the digital age when the skeptics, agents and published authors, advise against digital publishing? Is the argument that good writers will be tainted by the poor quality long associated with digital self-publishing real or imagined? Will the influx of poorly written books overwhelm the industry make it harder for good writers to be identified? Will good writers become discouraged and stop writing? What do the publishing professionals really think?

Jesse Glass, co-publisher of Ahadada Books, a self publishing press was quoted by Liz Worth on the Broken Pencil blog:

From the beginning of the history of publishing there have been bad writers and bad books. Though the new publishing technologies might help bad books to proliferate, intelligent readers have a sense of quality, of what draws them in, of what delights and instructs, and they will make an almost instinctive decision regarding what they will read and what they won’t. … Good work – and interesting work, inevitably – given time – wins out.

Neil Nyren, the Senior Vice-President, Publisher, and Editor in Chief of Penguin Putnam was recently interviewed by JT Ellison on the Murderati Blog.  He said eReaders will not kill physical books. He believes the more formats that are available, the more accessible we make books, the more people will buy.

He went on to say that the new technology is subtly changing the way editors do their work. The publishing industry is embracing the new technology to improve their own efficiencies and make their editors and sales people more effective. Some editors use eReaders to read submissions.

It doesn’t really take a crystal ball to see the future of e-publishing. The signs are all around us.

1. Change is inevitable
2. If good predictions are based on current trends, the digital press is the way of the future
3. eBook technology will improve and provide wonderful enhancements not available today
4. eReader technology will improve and become more affordable and grow the reading market
5. Well written and edited books will not disappear. Good books will always be in demand.
6. New literary sites will emerge and provide the reading public with a means of wading through the jumble and help them find well written, critically acclaimed, prize winning books. The reading public will learn which imprints to associate with good, well written and edited books.

I think there will always be a need for printed books. I have a Sony Reader as well as Kindle on my Blackberry. I buy on line, I borrow from the library online, and I still buy books.

… Ruth Seitelman (Also posted on A History of Romance)

To The Judges!

I’ve been procrastinating, stalling. Why? I wasn’t quite certain. I just couldn’t write another word. I sat down, stared at my computer. I tried to start but the strangest thing happened, my eyes would close. It wasn’t writer block. I had lots of ideas and things to say but try as I may I could not get it down on paper.

I decided to read, craft books, Donald Maass’ The Fire in Fiction and Noah Lukeman’s First Five Pages. I also read some good reads from my TBR list, Leanna Renee Heiber’s The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker (actually a re-read), Tasha Alexander’s A Poisoned Season, Barbara Michaels’ The Wizard’s Daughter and Elizabeth Peters’ The Cure of the Pharaoh. I read my critique partner’s entire manuscript while she was on vacation and sent her my comments. Yep, kept me pretty busy. I didn’t write a thing.

This month I got the responses to the two contests I entered and started to analyze the results, still no writing. Alas, my story didn’t final in either contest but as I read through the comments I realized the feedback was awesome. Some of the comments contradicted others but I found a pattern when I charted the results. Here are some of the pro’s and con’s in my own words. Judges quotes are clearly marked.

Con

• I’m dizzy from head hopping. Pick a person and stay there, at least for a scene.
• Try to vary the sentence length. It gets boring when you don’t and builds tension when you do.
• Sprinkling commas is not the objective. You have to put them in the correct place.
• I am on page 30 and finally got to the story.  This is where you need to begin. Don’t throw the beginning away. Find places where you can strategically input that text.

Pro

• “I found the storyline very intriguing. I think you have a winner here if you polish your text.”
• “You have a wonderful voice.” (I re-read that comment several times!)
• “Great job with your descriptions. I feel like I am right there. Very well done.” (Can you see me beaming?)
• “I know I have given you a lot of comments and some of them may have been hard to take but this story has a lot of potential. I hope to see your story in Barnes & Nobel!”

This is what I had been waiting for. I was inspired but still so hesitant. Would I really be able to cut the first two chapters out of the story? I checked the comments once again. Several judges, not just one or two, had pointed out where the story should start. It took me only a few seconds to highlight the text. It took me several minutes to actually push the delete button. Finally, I knew I was making one publisher happy. They asked me to get the manuscript down to 95,000 words.  I was well on my way.

All of a sudden I saw more opportunities for the story. The judges had given me enough tips and provided examples to drive home their points. So judges, thank you for your comments. Please know that your hard work is greatly appreciated. While this is not the outcome I would have liked, it was have been great to final and awesome to win, your feedback is valuable to me and in helping me to grow as a writer.

One last word about books, today, Leanna Renee Heiber’s second book in the Miss Percy Parker series was released, The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker. Congratulations! I can’t wait to hear you read at Lady Jane’s Salon this coming Monday.

Take Time ~ Author Unknown

Take time to think –  thoughts are the source of power.

Take time to play –  play is the secret of perpetual youth.

Take time to read –  reading is the fountain of wisdom.

Take time to pray –  prayer can be a rock of strength in time of need.

Take time to love – loving is what makes living worthwhile.

Take time to be friendly – friendships give life a delicious flavor.

Take time to laugh – laughter is the music of the soul.

Take time to give – sharing brings joy to your heart.

Take time to work – work is the price of success.

Take time to dream – dreams show you what is possible.

Take time to do your work well – pride in your work nourishes the mind and the spirit.

Take time to show appreciation – it’s the frosting on the cake of life.

My biggest challenge is to take time to write.  There is always something that seems to take away my writing time. *Sigh* But my story and my characters are eager to come alive. They don’t want to stay locked up in my head. So I add one more line to the poem.

Take time to write – it is the only way to make the story come alive.

Never Enough Time

I finished my story in August and had no idea what to do with it. In September, after a few minutes of Googling an entire new world opened before me and was off to my first RWA chapter meeting. By October I was a member of National attending my first conference.

I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea how to answer the simple question, “What do you write?” I launched into an enthusiastic description of my story, all 103,000 words. I look back and smile at how naïve I was and unprepared. But I digress. The first workshop was with Jennifer Crusie. A published author, of course she was the authority.

I listened as she spoke about the necessity to plot your novel, the three pillars. I looked in horror. She drew pictures that reminded of an expansion bridge. My heart sank. I stopped taking notes. I quickly tried to retrofit my story into the plot diagram she was building. I was relieved that for the most part, my story followed the pattern but we were only halfway through the workshop. Oh the agony!

You see, I hadn’t plotted my story. When I started writing, I spoke to my good friend, Denise, who encouraged me to write. We talked about the story but not about the plot elements. Back to Jennifer Crusie, I sat through the workshop convinced that I had done this all wrong. At the very end, just before she did her wrap up, she tossed out a comment that hit me between the eyes. ‘Of course if you’re a panzer, none of this applies.” Panzer? Some of us, or it may have only been me, must have looked a little stymied. She followed it with a definition, those who write by the seat of your pants without the benefit of plotting or planning. So that is what I am, a panzer.

That’s the back story. Fast forward to today.  I have joined some writing challenges that encourage daily writing, no matter how small, similar to NaMoWriMo. I realized today that I cannot write 500 words a day. Short bursts of writing don’t work for me. I need chunks, blocks of time. As a panzer, my characters and I are just getting warmed up, in the groove, when it’s time to stop.  No one is happy. I am stressed that I haven’t moved things along. My characters stay in my head and don’t quiet down. I’ve learned not to write before I go to bed. I just toss and turn.

My solution is to write in the morning on weekdays. With the children all on their own and the dog gone, my morning routine is pared down. I am able to get up early and spend some time writing before leaving for my office in Manhattan. The hour commute lets the voices settle and if needed, I can joint stuff down in my journal. On weekends, well, the time just flies on the weekend.

When is your best time to write?

… Ruth

I’ll Be Right There

Today’s post is a short story.

“You going with her, Cori? They’ll need some additional information.” Cori and Lieutenant Joan Frank stood next to the ambulance while the EMTs carefully secured Cori’s mother in the ambulance. The women had been friends in high school.

“Yes, I’m going with her. Thanks Joan.”

“I’ll see you at the hospital. Has anyone gotten hold of your Dad?”

“Yea, I reached him just before he got on the train. Chris will get him at the station.” Joan nodded, got into her squad car and started filing her report. She would be escorting the ambulance to the hospital.

“Cori,” it was David, the lead EMT. “You better get in.”

“Okay Dave,” Cori, a former Metropolitan EMT and currently a nursing student at the local university, was accustomed to blood and gore but this was different. This was Mom.

“She’s a bit agitated,” said Dave. “She doesn’t like the neck brace and she wants us to turn the ambulance around. She feels like her head is lower than her feet. I told we would be moving in a minute. It’s difficult on a hill.” He shook his head as he smiled and patted Cori’s shoulder. “As many parties as I’ve been to here, I never expected… well, I knew the address as soon as it came in.”  Friends since middle school, they went through EMT training together and gone their separate ways. They had not seen each other in years.

“Thanks Dave. I’m glad you’re here.” Cori recognized his uncanny ability to stabilize and calm victims. He had encouraged her to go into nursing. He helped her into the ambulance and worked his magic. Mom was calm.

It wasn’t a long ride. David kept Mom talking giving Cori time to catch her breath. She listened as her Mom kept insisting she was fine and just needed to sit up. She was still bleeding. With all that blood, she must have taken a chunk out of her head. Cori sat back and wondered how this very ordinary day turned out to be… she didn’t want to think what it might be. She thought back to the phone call.

“Hi Mom, what’s up? Chris and I are just getting ready to go out.” Cori’s face paled as she listened to her mother’s halting words. She had never heard her mother sound so, she searched for the word, was she frightened?  “I’ll be right there. Did you call the police? What about an ambulance?”

“Cori, what’s up?” Chris, watching her face, knew something was terribly wrong. He was at her side in a heartbeat.

“Mom’s fallen,” she told him still on her cell. She already grabbed her keys. They both headed for the door. “She hit her head on the corner of the door frame… Mom, Chris and I will be right there… No, don’t worry we’ll be there in ten minutes. Wait a minute.” It was usually a thirty minute drive in the best of conditions. It was rush hour and the trip could take an hour. She turned to Chris handing him the phone. “Talk to Mom and don’t let her go to sleep. Give me your cell I want to call the police.”

“Sure. You okay?”

She smiled trying to hide her concern but glad he was with her. “I’m fine. I just want to get over there.” She was already dialing 911.

“Metropolitan Emergency.”

“My mother fell down the stairs and hit her had pretty badly. I’m on the phone with her now. Please get MVAC over to 638 Ash Drive. I’m Cori Blaine, her daughter. I am on my way over there now. I’ll meet the ambulance at the house.”

“You say she is home alone. I’ll get an officer and MVAC over there right away. Do we break down the door if it’s locked? Any dogs we have to worry about?”

Cori hadn’t thought about that.The brass lion’s head knocker popped into her mind. She was young when Dad hung it on the door. She fancied that the lion would protect her from everything. She moaned. She could just see her Dad’s face looking at the shattered door but she did not hesitate. “Yea, break it down if you have to.” As for the dog, McDuff their bright Westie, had been gone for several years. “No, no dog.”

She was startled back to reality when the siren started. She looked up and saw her Mom smile still holding the ice pack on her head. She took another look at it. It was one of her younger brother’s ice packs. Even though he had been away at college for four years, Mom, or maybe it was Dad, still had his sport ice packs in the freezer. Cori just shook her head. They never threw anything out.

The ambulance pulled into the emergency drive at the hospital. Cori watched and waited as they brought Mom into the emergency room. She gave them as much information as possible. Chris had already left to pick up Dad at the station. Okay, she thought, now I can relax. She knew the hospital well. She did her clinical practices here. The emergency room rotation was last year.

“Are you Cori?”

“Yes.”

“Your mother is asking for you.”

“Thanks.” In familiar surroundings, just at the wrong end of the service, Cori walked through the curtain and looked at her mother. They still hadn’t found the wound. They were rinsing her hair trying to find it.

“Cori? What are you doing here?” said Dr. James as he walked through the curtain and saw her standing there.

Cori looked up to see the attending emergency room doctor. They had gotten along well on her rotation. He told her she had natural talent. All she could get out was, “My mom.”

He gave her what information he had, short and quick. “We can’t find the wound. I know that sounds strange. The bleeding is covering a wide area. We don’t know if there is a fracture. We are sending her for a scan.” The volunteer came in took Mom, bed and all, to be scanned.

She knew he was looking for skull fractures and subdural bleeding. She knew the likelihood of stroke… she stopped thinking. Dad came in with Chris.

“Dad,” she gave him a hug. Before he could ask, she told him all she knew about the accident and what Dr. James told her. They sat and waited. A rough and tumble tomboy, she remembered several trips to the hospital and her parents standing waiting for x-rays, doctor reports. She knew they were in for a long wait. Joan popped her head in.

“Hey Cori, how’s your mom?”

“They’re doing a scan now.”

Seeing Joan reminded her of the front door. A wave of nausea rolled over her. Dad was not going to be happy.

“Joan, how bad is the front door?”

“What’s wrong with the front door?” asked Dad.

“Nothing at all,” said Joan.

“When I got there I tried the door. It was open. You’re Mom is not to be believed. I walked in and called out. She invited me in,” Joan had to laugh. “She was lying on the kitchen floor with the ice pack on her head. We had a nice talk. She remembered me and asked how my Dad was doing. She told me she was making dinner. She came downstairs to take a look at the stew. She left the pot cooking and started up the stairs when she had second thoughts and wanted to turn off the pot. She took a step backwards and missed the step. She grabbed for the banister but the momentum of the fall swung her around. She lost her grip and flew across the foyer and hit her head against the edge of the wall. She said she touched her head and knew it was bad. She called you and, listen to this, while she was on the phone with you she took out the ice pack, turned off the stove, opened the front door and went back into the kitchen because she thought it would be easier to clean the kitchen floor than the hall floor.”

“Geez,” was all Cori could say.

“And Cori, she was very lucky. I looked at the wall where she hit her head. If she had landed an inch farther away from the wall, her head would have hit the corner of the baseboard and we would be having a very different conversation. She was very lucky. Well, I’ve got to get back to the station. I’ll stop by tomorrow to see how she’s doing.”

It was a sobering thought but Mom was not out of the woods yet. “I’ll walk you out,” said Cori. After saying good-bye, Cori stepped over to the nurse’s area and saw Dr. James looking at the scan on the monitor. Dad and Chris came up behind her. They all looked over his shoulder. There weren’t any other patients in the emergency room with head trauma. By process of elimination, this was Mom.

Dr. James didn’t look up. “What do you see?” he asked her.

She bent down to get a better look. She stood up and smiled. “No fracture and no subdural bleeding. May I?” she said. She wanted to change the view.

Dr James moved back and gave her room. Cori changed the view and up popped a strange looking picture. “What the hell is that?” she pointed to a large growth on her mother’s scalp. It was the size of a pack of playing cards two decks thick. “She didn’t have that before.”

“No, I suspect not. That is the mysterious wound. Your mother’s quick thinking with the ice pack kept the area cool and stopped the swelling from getting worse. She broke blood vessels and capillaries under the scalp but there is no lesion. The blood is pooling there and is draining through her scalp.” He got up from his chair and stretched. “No wound, no fracture, no stitches. Just more ice, keep her head wrapped until the draining stops. I’ll sign the release so you can all go home.”

* * *

“Mom, be careful getting into the car.”

“Cori, I’ll be just fine. Thank you dear.” She paused and gently touched Cori’s hand. “I felt much better knowing you would be here soon.”

They drove the rest of the way, all ten minutes, in silence. They pulled up to the house and helped Mom into the house. Cori followed behind. Before she closed the door, she touched the brass lion’s head and smiled. “Good job,” she whispered to the lion. She closed the door. The lion’s head sparkled just a bit brighter.

The End

Happy Birthday Cori!

My Audience, MySelf

I love reading romance, all genres. When I was a teenager I read stories about young women with whom I could identify. Okay, with whom I dreamed I could identify but isn’t that what romances are all about?  I had stories in my head all the time. I can remember going to sleep reliving what I read, hearing dialogue, seeing ball gowns, and walking on what I dreamed (I had never seen them) the Scottish moors. I was into historicals.

As I got older, I read other genres, suspense, fantasy, they all drew me in. I hated the villains and loved the heroes. The stories have been wonderful but I admit that I find it harder to connect with the young heroine today.

With that in mind I wrote To Hearth and Home – Rebeka’s Story about a heroine that is strong, independent and more mature as well as a story that includes the qualities I love in a romance. I know I am not alone. There are many romance readers like me who would enjoy my story.

So, I write for myself. I write the stories I want to read. This one is about a breathtakingly lovely woman, who is unassuming and secure in knowing her abilities and pits her against a hero who is equally as competent, an alpha male and female. Each is strong and accomplished but together, well together they are awesome.

Last weekend I pitched the book to three editors and an agent. The high concept seemed to grab them: Laura Croft meets Kate and Leopold. The manuscripts have been sent out *sigh.*  The waiting is difficult but I have already started the next book. That should make the time go by faster.

And the Winner Is

I volunteered to judge a contest this month. As an unpublished writer, I wasn’t certain I would meet the requirements but, based on my other qualification, the contest coordinator was very encouraging. A few weeks later I received four entries.

With a month to read, judge and return them, I downloaded the files and started right away. I read the first entry and made some comments but quickly realized it wasn’t working. What had I gotten myself into? These writers deserved a judge that could evaluate their work and give them feedback, that’s what I would want.

Discouraged but not panicking yet, I printed out the first entry, slipped it into my briefcase, and left for the train. I had thirty minutes. I could at least do line edits. I read, started commenting and asked myself why. Why did I suggest changing a word, why did a paragraph excite me, why did I feel the emotion, of lack thereof?  Critical thinking. I got it. I understood what needed to be done.

Bells started going off. I recognized some of the same words, sentence structure, point of view confusion that this writer had. It was in my manuscript. Now I understood. But that is another blog.

To organize my thoughts, I looked at the judge’s score sheet with its five major categories. Everything clicked into place. It took me longer than 30 minutes but that was fine. I couldn’t wait to get home, printout the next entry and begin to judge it. I did learn some lessons. I am more than happen to share …

Lessons Learned:

• It’s easier to edit hardcopy
• Use the judges score sheet as a guide
• Critical thinking – ask questions

I reread the entries, made comments, and scored them. Before I sent them back I reread all my comments are realized that I had given the writer a good sense of where I thought (and I stress I thought) their stories could be better. Now the challenge is to pick up my own manuscript and judge it with the same eye.

Judge’s Score Sheet

SCENE:

• Is the action “shown” and does it create an emotional response in the reader?

• Is the scene well-paced?

• Is time and place clearly established?

CHARACTERIZATION:

• Is there strong chemistry between the characters?

• Do you have a clear sense of the characters?

• Are the characters’ actions believable and well-motivated?

STYLE:

• Is the scene full of sensory details?

• Is the mix of dialogue and narration appropriate to the scene?

• Is the author’s voice unique and free of clichés?

WRITING TECHNIQUE:

• Is the point of view handled smoothly?

• Is the submission free of spelling and grammatical errors?

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

• Taking into account your emotional impact, how would you rate this scene?

Originally posted by Ruth on the A History Of Romance blog