Check out the post on the Writer Beware Blog for an in-depth discussion. I don’t think authors have much to worry about since the quality of audio that the Kindle2 offers will match (if ever) the quality of a professionally produced audiobook. At best, the audio option will be a service to the visually impaired. I love audiobooks, and I’ve listened to quite a range of quality. A non-professionally produced audiobook can be entertaining for all the wrong reasons, but if I really want to enjoy a book audibly, then I’ll ante up for a professional production. The Kindle 2 offers a convenience only.
Author: Marie A Bailey
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I’ve been musing a bit about writing instruments. In pre-personal computer days (which I’m old enough to remember well and with nostalgia), I fancied pencils, usually the hard #5 which left such a spidery script that the lead faded in time. When pens came in more varied constructions from the usual ballpoint, I was in bliss. So many pens to choose from! But as soon as I found a “favorite” rollerball or gel ink, I could rarely find the pen again and would buy so many others, trying to find one that would give me the same pleasure in writing. Even when I had my first typewriter (an electric Smith Corona), the pen was my constant. The typewriter was for the final drafts of my work: the loud clacking of the keys and my poor typing skills did not provide for a productive stream-of-consciousness rump on the SC.
Then came the PC and my writing life was changed forever and, generally, for the better. Now my typing can keep up with my thinking and I can crank out reams of nonsense if I want (like I did for the National Novel Writing Month 2007). But I do need to use a pen or pencil much of the time still, and, believe it or not, I still struggle to find the perfect writing implement.
I’ve been a fan of Levenger for a long time. I love their Circa notebooks and all the Circa accessories. Their pens are beautiful works of art. I love the True Writer Demonstrator series, even though the pens are a bit large for my small hands. But the quality of the ink–well, I’ve bought cheaper pens that had better ink flow and quality.
I have tried fountain pens, both Waterman and Levenger, but again, I have serious issues with bleed-throughs, skips, and blots. I have a Waterman fountain pen that I still use occasionally, but not for every day writing.
I have extra fine point Sharpies in every color imaginable. They’re great for labeling packages and signing handmade greeting cards. But for note-taking during a business meeting? Well, there I prefer the standard black ink. So, I suppose I could use a black extra fine point Sharpie, but then I would not be “going green.” I had hoped, with my relatively new purchase of True Writer Demonstrator Pen (in “Always Greener”) that I would be minimizing my impact on the environment by using refillable pens. Well, I guess I will, for as long as I use it. And when I’ve used up all the ink refills, maybe I’ll just hang my True Writers on my wall as a kind homage to the writing life and buy a big box of extra fine point Sharpies!
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Every so often I get a comment on one of my posts that leads me to an interesting and link-worthy website. Such is The Virginia Creeper’s House of Horror. This website is hosted by Laura Wright, a “multi-published author” according to her bio. Now I have not read anything by Laura–yet–but her websites are definitely worth frequent visits. You will find free downloads of fiction and articles on horror writing. Be forewarned, however: some of the links are not yet live and navigation among the websites is a little awkward. Patience, patience. All good websites have to start somewhere.
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I’m sure by now that you’ve all heard the story of the “wovel” on NPR. (If not, you can read about it here.) The wovel is a web novel, a deceptively simple idea of serializing a novel on the web. This one has a twist that will surely create a horde of wovelites–at the end of each installment, the reader gets to vote on what happens next in the story. Victoria Blake, former editor of Dark Horse Comics, started this upstart of a publishing venture, actually posting not just a free serialized novel in which readers can direct the turn of events, but also posting other FREE writing. Yes, go to Underland and see for yourself. The wovel, Firstworld, is being written by Jemiah Jefferson, the author of a series of vampire novels including Wounds and Fiend. No, she is not a widely published author (like Stephenie Meyer, for example), but I think we should keep our eye on her. And drink up all the free prose available at Underland. Some might scoff at the idea of giving away art for free, but what better way to attract an audience?
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I recently created a profile on Facebook, at first to follow the lives of the younger members of my families. But I’ve since gone Facebook crazy with adding apps, including trying to add my blog posts. Although this old gal has a bit of a learning curve with Facebook, it is insanely easy to set up compared to MySpace and much more fun. But, you may ask, is there any value in Facebook for the aspiring writer? Jump over to Wicked Wordsmith for a great post on “Using Facebook to Your Advantage.” Blogger Angela Wilson interviews Mari Smith on the pros and cons of using Facebook as a marketing tool. It’s a great interview with lots of tips and insights for tyros like me and, maybe, you too!
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The Writer has a (too) brief interview with Kristin Landon, sci-fi author, in its January 2009 issue. This advice from Landon is something that has taken me years to learn and yet I still make the mistake. So here is it as (one of) my New Year’s Resolution:
“Wedging yourself into a genre because it sells is the road to mediocrity; so if your heart isn’t in it, don’t write it. Find the issues that spark your passion and build your story around them. If this is really what you want–if you’re telling your stories–then you’ve got a chance.”
Happy New Year, everyone!
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James Gleick has an intriguing essay in this Sunday’s NY Times, How to Publish Without Perishing. Although I’m an aspiring author, I’ve always thought that Google’s efforts to make millions of books available online was a great thing. Yes, copyright should be protected (published authors, please note: if I can read excerpts of your book in a bookstore, why can’t I also do it online?). What gets me excited about having access to so many books is: (1) the ability to search and find information much faster than I can thumbing through indexes; and (2) the opportunity to read those books currently out of print (which also makes me wish there were more “print on demand”-type books so I wouldn’t have to succumb to slogging through Amazon’s penny pile to find a beat-up copy of what I want.) And technology (i.e., reading online) will never take the place of the book that we’ve known and loved since Gutenberg. Computers are not designed for close reading, which is probably the real reason most web-based content is short, easily consumed in less than a minute. Ebook devices such as the Kindle or the now-defunct Gemstar (one of which I still own) are great if you’re on a long trip and want to have your library with you. I haven’t tried the Kindle as yet, but I’ve done quite a bit of reading on my old Gemstar (Jarhead, no less). But when I’m home, with the luxury of curling up on my couch for a quiet evening, there’s nothing better than a book, preferably, hard cover.
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I subscribe to a few literary agent blogs: Nathan Bransford-Literary Agent, Bookends, LLC–A Literary Agency, and Lyons Literary LLC. I’m sure there’s plenty more out there, but these suffice for my limited perusing time. The great part of these blogs is that they are interactive: that is, their posts encourage lively discussion, and they sometimes offer free critiques which they then post as part of their blog. They are educational, which is their greatest appeal to me. Although I’m not yet peddling a novel, it’s never too early to learn about agents, that crucial link between you and publication.
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Sunday’s NY Times Book Review section has a great essay by Terrence Rafferty called Shelley’s Daughters. Rafferty remarks on the irony that the “mother” of the horror novel gave birth to more sons than daughters, e.g., Poe, King, Lovecraft. And the few daughters she may claim did not always write prolifically in the genre of horror (Rafferty mentions Shirley Jackson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman to support this observation). The best part of his essay, of course, is the brief reviews he gives of contemporary women writers of horror. Don’t, however, expect to find reviews of the popular vampire novels by Laurell K. Hamilton and Stephenie Meyer: Rafferty notes that their novels “don’t appear to be concerned, as true horror, should be, with actually frightening the reader.” Rather, he comments on novels by Sara Gran, Alexandra Sokoloff, Sarah Langan, and Elizabeth Hand; writers new to me, but whose work I look forward to reading (especially, Langan whose novel The Keeper I just ordered).
Frankly, I would love to write ** good ** horror. I tried my hand at it in last year’s National Novel Writing Month and, most recently, in a short story that has been revised multiple times. But writing horror is much more difficult than I thought it would be. Anyone can write gory scenes of zombies eating humans or ghosts wielding axes and chopping off body parts; but to instill cold prickly fear in the reader requires skill and precision. I grew up addicted to horror films, mostly from Great Britain but pre-Hammer Film Productions, and the ones that always scared me the most were those that were heavy on suspense: What’s behind the door? Is the monster there? Should our hero open it? What’s behind the door?
Writing horror down is not for the feint of heart.
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If I had known that I would never see Max again, I would have taken his picture so I could share him with all of you. I’d want you all to see his tiny green eyes staring up at me from the folds of the cloth bag that he nestled in. I gazed down at his eyes every time I stopped for a red light as I drove us from J. Lewis Hall Park in Woodville to the Northwood Animal Hospital in Tallahassee.
I had first met Max only 15 minutes earlier: a small ball of gray fur that fit easily into my husband’s hand. My husband had been biking when he saw the frightened kitten on the St. Marks Trail. When he saw that the kitten had a wound, we decided to take him to Northwood.
At the hospital we were told that the kitten was a Manx—he was born without a tail—but there was a wound on his bottom, a wound that was infested with maggots. My husband and I agreed to take full financial responsibility for the kitten so he would have a chance at survival.
We went to dinner and talked excitedly about making a home for … Max. Within minutes of leaving him at the hospital, we had named him. Max the Manx. We talked about how we could safely and slowly introduce him to our three geriatric cats. All of them had been strays at one time; Max would be in good company. We ignored the obvious—the maggots and the “septic tank” smell that had emanated from Max.
So we weren’t prepared for the call from the Northwood Animal Hospital. We weren’t prepared to hear that Max had been euthanized because his condition was too far gone. Max had not only been born without a tail, but also without a rectum, a condition called “Manx Syndrome.” His bladder was hard as a rock, and his feces were backed up into his abdomen. He was in pain, and there was nothing else the veterinarians could have done for him.
Worse than my sense of loss was the realization that someone had purposely left Max to suffer and die. His death might have been inevitable, but his suffering wasn’t. He could have been dropped off at any emergency animal hospital.
Our only comfort now, when we think of Max, is that at least for the last few hours of his life, he was in the hands of people who cared about him. I only wish he had started life that way.
Marie at 1 Write Way 