Glass Eye Studio Winner!

Running behind again--as you know I sometimes do--
The WINNER of the $35 gift Certificate to The Glass Eye Studio is Diana Duncan! Diana, I'm being demonic. I'm waiting for you to find it so I can hear you scream...

I'm still collecting entries for the final drawing on New Years Day for:
A gift certificate for the tooled Leather e-reader cover- or $87 toward any other item in the Oberon Designs catalog.
One $10 gift certificate each to three winners to the winners' choice of Amazon, Glass Eye or Oberon Designs.

There are so many choices at Glass Eye and Oberon Designs that I can't even decide which ones for myself, so I wouldn't want to pick for you. The e-reader covers come in sizes and shapes to fit all Kindles and Nooks, and might fit other readers too, but I'd be very careful about that if you're the winner. Check your measurements carefully and then contact them directly to be sure. If not, there are many other beautiful products available.

The usual things will get you extra chances in the drawing.
Buy a 99 cent book on Amazon- (particularly HIS MAJESTY, THE PRINCE OF TOADS since it is climbing the charts right now).
Or give a copy to a friend if you've already bought one.
Comment on Face Book.
Comment on my blog.
Reply on Twitter.
Share or re-tweet  promo posts.
Write your own promo posts for me.

Each one will get you one more chance at the final prizes. Go on- help my TOAD reach the Big Time!

WHERE DID THE STORY COME FROM?

NEW COVER DESIGN!

First, before we get to our topic for today, because this it the book that always makes me think of those lightbulb creative moments:

FREE on Kindle Dec. 23rd and 24th ONLY: HIS MAJESTY, THE PRINCE OF TOADS

Downlload this free book, or buy another, and get a new chance at my drawing for the hand-tooled leather e-reader cover or handblown glass ornament. Or comment on my blog, re-tweet my tweets, comment on Face Book. Each one gets you one more opportunity. Be sure and let me know, though, so I don't accidentally miss you!

Now on with the show:

I'm convinced everyone has story ideas. But maybe they don't recognize them. And of course, a story idea doesn't come with a complete story- most of the time, anyway. It's a germ of an idea. Something that is a little, or a lot, different from the everyday thoughts that run through our heads.

Most authors will tell you they don't get story ideas from their dreams. I do, but only occasionally. SIREN popped into my head in a dream, and it wasn't just a concept. It was probably the first half of the story. And while I do remember my dreams, usually I don't get more than fragments. FAERIE, which will come out sometime, I promise, was a fragment, with the heroine's inner conflict but not too much else.

LOKI'S DAUGHTERS came about on a dreary Sunday afternoon when my daughter, son, and I were sitting around the table, watching the kids play. My daughter and I complained that we'd never found any Viking romances that didn't have that supposed "romantic rape" scene. We detest those. So the three of us got spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and composing a Viking plot where the Vikings were the good guys. I think it was probably more romantic comedy at the time, and in fact it sounded almost like a stage musical.

LADY WICKED came from a young male social work colleague, sweet thought he was, who absolutely refused to believe that barely a hundred years ago, in some places such as England, wives were considered the husband's chattel, and could not even make a will without their husband's permission.

FIRE DANCE was probably mostly the result of years of working with abuse survivors and learning so much from them in terms of human triumph and survival. I had to write a heroine who represented the amazing courage I had seen so often.

But HIS MAJESTY, THE PRINCE OF TOADS probably had the most unusual beginning:

Back in the ancient past of my writing career, a good friend and Regency-writing colleague named Shirley Karr sent me a joke about a very modern princess and her encounter with an egotistical  amphibian. You've probably seen it. It made the rounds of all e-groups lists the way jokes fly around the world on YouTube and Face Book today. I thought it was funny, but I thought it needed a more historical feel, so I re-framed it in a historical setting and sent it back to her:

Once upon a time, a beautiful, intelligent princess lived in a lovely kingdom by the sea.  One day as she strolled in her garden alongside her favorite fountain, a frog leaped to the fountain wall beside her, startling her."Good morning," said the frog as he strutted along the wall (no mean feat, considering the shape of his legs). "I have come to rescue you."The princess studied the frog quizzically, for she had never seen a talking, strutting frog before, and certainly could not imagine why she might need rescuing."I am not a really frog, you see, but an enchanted prince.  One kiss from you and I shall return to my former glorious state, whereupon I shall save you from spinsterhood and carry you off to my castle where you can cook my meals, do my laundry, and bear me dozens of sons who will all be as handsome as I am."That evening the princess sat down to supper at her table, set with the finest china and Waterford crystal, and smiled as she speared her Frog Legs Forestiére with her golden fork.

Of course, no heroine of mine would ever fry and skewer a hero, not to mention a frog. But it could happen metaphorically.. And you can tell by the epithet given him, "His Majesty, the Prince of Toads", that he is in dire need of a real lesson in loving. And there's nothing like a good romance to give it to him. And so the process began of finding said hero, and then, just the right heroine to deliver such a come-uppance. And, as is usual for me, I had to pay attention, for Lucas and Sophie did not have an ordinary story. It was truly their story, not mine!

Writers, the next time you find yourself struggling for a new story concept, the place to look is your own experiences. You don't have to stick with the details you experienced. How could you go to the core concept and expand to make a unique story?

And readers, if you wanted to write a story, what event in your life might trigger a story with a new twist?

Seriously? PopEye Muscles?

You know I've taken an interest in the new Kindle Fire. Okay, okay, so I love it. But I recognize it's not the perfect device for everyone. I'm taking an interest, in fact, to the opposition as well. And you know there has to be some. Some people hate everything Amazon. Some hate everything not iPad or Apple. Heck, there are even some people still living who hate e-books and are still predicting their imminent demise. I heard one just the other day. A used book seller.

Anyway, I came across a Kindle Fire review the other day  http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/06tech/gaming-gadgets/kindle-fire-panned-nielsen/index.html?iref=allsearch .I would have just read and dismissed it but by the time I finished reading, I was shaking with laughter. Read this:

"The Fire is a heavy object. It's unpleasant to hold for extended periods of time. Unless you have forearm muscles like Popeye, you can't comfortably sit and read an engaging novel all evening." 

Popeye, huh? Seriously? All I have to do is read a few hours a day and I'll get muscles in my arms? My PT will love that. Okay, let's drag out the old postal scale and do comparisons. It's not all that accurate but it ought to be close enough. This isn't even government work.

Kindle 3Gen, bare                           9 oz.
Kindle 3Gen w/neoprene sleeve    14 oz.
Kindle 3Gen w/lighted leather case 19 oz.
Kindle Fire, bare                           15 oz
Kindle Fire w/padded nylon case   20 oz
Kindle Fire w/ hardshell case         19 oz.
Apple iPad, bare (info from Apple's tech specs)  1.33 pounds (21.3 oz)

[Addendum 12-12-11: Trade paperback book, 320 pages   15 oz.] 

So Fire is not quite double the weight of 3Gen. About what I'd guessed. But almost all users I know both read and carry their e-readers and tablets in some kind of case or sleeve. My Fire in a nylon case is 1 oz. heavier than my hubby's 3Gen in its fancy leather case. And it's lighter than the iPad, bare (duh! the iPad is bigger!) Now, this guy is trying to tell this asthmatic over-the-hill flabby-muscled gal that the Fire is too heavy for him? That's after I read three books in two days? C'mon! Where are the muscles you promised??? My PT wants muscles!

"The lack of physical buttons for turning the page also impedes on the reading experience for fiction. On the older Kindles, it's easy to keep a finger on the button when all you use it for is to turn the page. In contrast, tapping an area of the screen disrupts reading enjoyment, is slightly error-prone, and leaves smudges on the screen."

Lack of buttons?  Isn't that the point of touch screens? Honestly, I didn't think I'd like a touch screen, and fingerprints? Yuck. But I started getting finger cramp with the old 3Gen. And for me the light tap on the screen, or eve a dramatic, flashy swipe of the finger across the screen is just plain easier. Fingerprints? Not any worse than my laptop screen, and better than my phone.

"The Fire screen also has more glare than the traditional Kindle."

Glare? Sorry, guy. I'm the world's best arbiter of glary screens. If you had my eye problems, you'd understand- I'm missing major parts of my eyes. One of them is almost bionic. I've returned laptops to the store in less than a day because the glare bothered me so much. This is not a glary screen. Think it's too bright? Dim it. It's very adjustable. Even better, use the sepia screen color. It's not depressing like gray is. It's soothing.

So is Fire better or worse than 3Gen? Depends on what you want! Entirely! Want long battery life? Low contrast screen? super light weight? Get the new Kindle Touch. Don't like touch screen? Get the old style with keys. Want bright colors? Flipping through covers at a touch? Fire is better. Need a bigger screen, computer competence? That's where you get into iPad.

The big thing is, these guys are looking for iPads at Fire cost. No, guys. Not gonna happen! Fire is not an iPad. REPEAT AFTER ME: FIRE IS NOT AN iPAD. You want an iPad? Suck it up and plunk down the big bucks because there is no substitute. But if one just wants to read books, why would he buy an iPad? (For that matter, if one wants to write books on the fly, the iPad is probably also not the best choice. Even jazzed up with a keyboard. But that's not its central purpose.)

What they just can't get is that not everybody wants an iPad. Fire is built to be an e-book reader. It's for media consumption. Videos, magazines, music (needs decent headphones), etc. The 3.9 -4 million buyers in November and December are buying it for media consumption, not its computer abilities.

What most of us are buying when we choose a reading/playing device is access to content. I'm not particularly interested in the content and stuff that attracts many people to iPads. And iPad, while perfect for what some people want, is too big to make a good reader to me, but too small to be the computer I want. Or more accurately, not built to be the computer I want. I could write books on one, but I can write more and faster on my little 3 pound MSI Wind. I can do digital art with Photoshop on it. I probably could on iPad, but ya know, sometimes learning a different way can be a pain. What's interesting to me is that suddenly I'm finding a whole lot of people looking at things the way I do, and I thought I was in a really tiny minority. Who would've thought, five years ago, that instead of books vanishing because people had become so jaded with video, millions of readers would re-discover the unique experience of reading a book?

But even though Fire should not be put in the same class as iPad, it looks like it's created problems for Apple. Word is, Apple is going to lower the price of iPad2 because it's lost so much market share to Kindle Fire. In less than a month, Fire has grabbed 13.9% of the tablet market, when it really shouldn't even be in that category, quickly passing second-place Samsung Galaxy, which at its best had 6.9%.  http://www.isuppli.com/Display-Materials-and-Systems/News/Pages/Red-Hot-Kindle-Fire-Blazes-its-Way-to-Second-Place-in-Media-Tablet-Market.aspx?cnn=yes

As far as those Popeye muscles go, well, I carried a large messenger bag with both mini Wind and Kindle, plus all those carry-on things from Portland through San Francisco to Maui in October. Didn't think a thing about it. Muscles? Nope, after a whole week in Hawaii, no bigger muscles. I just squeezed my arms again, just in case. Don't think it's gonna happen.

My, How the World Has Changed...

In all fairness, I have to say this article by Dan Reisinger was published in April, 2008, almost four years ago. The Kindle he's talking about was one I found not quite satisfactory enough, and I decided to wait a little longer. It was two more years before I finally bought my first Kindle, the granddaughter, you might say, of the original.

"Although some people see a reason to buy a device just to read a book, I don't. Some have said that Amazon's Kindle is the savior of the e-book market. I don't believe it. Others say that e-book readers will kill the book publishing industry and bring it into the 21st century. I think that's rubbish. The fact of the matter is e-book readers will never have commercial relevance."

Here, go read it for yourself. 
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-9911511-17.html

Four Kindle Addicts Compare Devices and Accessories

It's a family thing with us. If we're readers, we read ebooks. And that means, for at least some of us, we own Kindles or have Kindle software on our computers. So it really wasn't a big deal when four of us sat down after Thanksgiving to compare our Kindles and accessories.

Andy (right) is holding his brand new Kindle Fire. Pam (center), Jeff (left) and I (taking photo) all have Kindle 3rd Generation. But we have all chosen different cases and accessories.

This was a day before my new Kindle Fire arrived, and what you see in front is my old Kindle. I had a hard time being patient, especially after seeing Andy's, which was his birthday present. (See previous post.)

Jeff has that classy leather cover in orange with an extendable light. http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Lighted-Leather-Cover-Keyboard/dp/B003DZ165W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1323212758&sr=1-1 When he bought his cover, it was a lot more expensive than it is now- about $70, and he chose orange because he figured not many other people would choose that so it might make his Kindle a little less vulnerable to being stolen. Also he tends to mislay things and orange is hard to miss, especially in a household where the only other orange things are his shirts.

What he likes about Kindle 3: The e-ink screen is easy to read, and the pull-out light is handy if he's in a darker environment. He can read it outside, regardless of how bright the day is. And he likes the long battery life. Kindle books are so easy to download, he's starting to complain about impulse buying.

What he doesn't like: He loves science fiction, and his favorite authors are either expensive or not available in ebook format, but that has nothing to do with e-readers and accessories. The pull-out light can be annoying, with an odd glare on the screen. I wouldn't be surprised to see him up-grading to the Fire. But then again, he might not.

In this photo you can see he's reading with the Kindle propped on a small, lightweight plastic stand. He found holding the Kindle a little awkward so he found this little stand for something like $7. He even uses it in bed by propping it on his nightstand. He reads several books a week. The week we went to Hawaii in October, he actually ran out of Kindle books even though he'd stocked up well before leaving. We had trouble getting his Kindle to download new books so were forced to go to a real bookstore for a change.

Pam bought a silicone sleeve by Marware because the Kindle seemed vulnerable to being dropped.
http://www.amazon.com/Marware-SportGrip-Fitted-Silicone-Keyboard/dp/B0046A8YB2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1323215904&sr=1-1
 It's easier to handle, she says, and she has a bright pink sleeve with a clear window, by M-Edge, so it can be read without removing from the sleeve.
http://www.amazon.com/M-Edge-Leisure-Kindle-Jacket-Keyboard/dp/B0045EOWMY/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1323216209&sr=1-3

What Pam likes: She can't see any point in buying the Fire. Gray e-ink is easier on her eyes, and she likes the long battery life of the Kindle 3. She gets lots of cheap or free books, and she has no qualms at all about asking her favorite authors to get their books available in e-book format. She still reads lots of paper books, too, and often re-reads her favorite authors. Then there are audio books, to which she listens on her daily commute. She gets them mostly from her local library. So far she hasn't tried the Kindle audio feature, but says she might.

What she doesn't like: High book prices.

At this point, Andy hadn't yet bought a cover. He's thrilled with the Fire, which is actually his first e-reading device beyond his computer.

What he likes: At first he didn't like how easily the screen changes its orientation from portrait to landscape, but then he found the lock. He and I both though we would want the anti-glare screen protector. But the reviews aren't good, and we just aren't seeing any glare worth worrying about. He likes the sharp, bright screen and the ability to change screen text display to white lettering on black for night in-the-car reading.

The case he bought a few days later, by Inland, is lightweight and semi-rigid, with a zipper and an inner mesh pocket. He bought it at Fry's Electronics. He likes the extra protectiveness of the hard shell..
http://inlandproduct.com/prohttabletcasefitsmost7tablets02252.aspx
The mesh inner pocket would hold a USB cord, but not the charging cord one that comes with the Kindle.

What he doesn't like: He wishes he could have a longer battery life like the e-ink screen devices.The case doesn't have a strap, loop or lanyard and he had to add one of his own. He also thinks the pocket is too loose and prone to "fall-out".

That purple-encased e-reader in front, with no person attached to it, is mine, and I will be passing it on to a friend for Christmas. I just can't see letting a perfectly good e-book reader go to waste when it could enrich someone's life.

What I like: You know what I love about the new Fire. What I love about Kindle 3, though? It was the first e-book reader I could actually tolerate. My really crazy vision problems kept me from enjoying the older darker, dull-colored screens, but Kindle 3 was bright enough. And it was very lightweight and easy to hold. The long battery life means it will run for several days without re-charging. I did have to re-charge once while in Hawaii, and that charge lasted until long after I was back home. And I think I liked the old Kindle method of grouping books in lists, better than I do the flip-through color covers on "shelves". But the new more visual system is definitely growing on me.

As for the case: I didn't want the weight of a leather case, and I wanted one that could zip, thinking maybe it would offer better protection. This one was made by Tucano for the 7" Galaxy Tablet, bought at Fry's Electronics. It's sort of like this: http://www.tucano.com/IT/featured/radice?lang=eng&___store= 
It's a perfect fit, and is nicely padded but lightweight (also fits the Fire, which is essentially the same size). The outer pocket makes a great place for the cord when traveling. The case, possibly by adding some cushioned bulk without much weight, is actually more comfortable to hold than just the reader alone. So for now, I'm keeping this case for my new Fire.

What I don't like: The e-ink screen is not soothing to me. It's my eyes, I guess, and also something about the way I respond emotionally to color. Gray depresses me. The Fire is much more pleasurable for me to read. I had to find a separate light, and never did find one that was really satisfactory. I ended up with a Mighty Bright that folds. It does stay in place better than others, but none of them do a really good job. The Fire sure doesn't need a light!

Oh, the knitted lace tablecloth? Why yes, thank you, I did knit it myself.

Kindle Fire Lights My Fire

Frankie Blue-Eyes checks out the Kindle Fire

Okay, so I wasn't the first person to get my Kindle Fire, even though I was surely one of the very first to order it. Impatient though I was, especially when the one I ordered for my son on Nov. 1 arrived several days before the one I ordered for myself on Sept. 28, I'm okay with the fact that it finally got here the day after Thanksgiving. I tracked its progress across the country, through Phoenix, then Los Angeles, where it took a long nap, then right past me on the freeway which runs only 2 miles from my house, all the way north to Kent, Washington, where it again got a nice, long rest before heading south again, reaching my "local" post office in time to spend a lonely Thanksgiving there. But my post person is pretty super. Even though it was after 5:00 p.m. when the truck came by my house, she made sure I got it before she quit for the day. Two weeks after it had been shipped.

Never mind all that. I'm now perfectly happy. It's pretty much what I expected- few surprises and minimal drawbacks. But they might be significant to other people so I'm not going to pull any punches when I tell you about it.

The first thing I noticed is that it's quite attractive- although it looks pretty much like all the other tablet type devices available now. The back is sort of rubberized- probably a silicone backing, that helps to make it feel more secure in my hands than other tablet type devices I've held. It probably helps to keep the ceramic glass face from breaking if dropped, but I'm going to do my best not to test that. At 7 inches, it's smaller than the 10 inch iPad, so it's lighter and more comfortable to hold. But it appears to be about 50-75% heavier than my old Kindle 3rd Generation.

The display has the shiny black border we've come to expect, and the display itself is sharp and clear, but also has some anti-reflective properties. I was worried about the possible glare, since I find the reflections from the glossy screens very annoying. I can still see some reflection from the black border, but not enough from the display itself to be noticed. At a resolution and size of 1024x600 @169pixels per inch, pictures are sharp enough for me, despite my vision problems. I have no trouble reading even when it's set at the smallest font. Brightness is fully adjustable, and the display can be set in any of three combinations: the usual black font against white background, as well as white font on black (great for night reading in a car), and my favorite, a classy brown font on sepia background. The display can rotate when the reader is rotated. I find it convenient to lock it when I'm reading because it shifts very easily. I've heard some people say they can't read on a backlit screen for long periods of time, so they believe they can't use the Fire. I'd be surprised, since everyone I know who has said that hasn't given the Fire a chance, but maybe it's so. I have severe visual distortion problems, and I find the gray-on-gray straining, but I do very well with the cheery color screen. I do dim it slightly, and I find the sepia background soothing.

Some e-readers I've tried recently almost require a stylus, pressed rather hard, to send commands, and I would not buy those devices for that reason (as well as blurry display which is extremely annoying). The Fire responds to a light touch. You have to spend a little time finding all the settings and learning to manipulate the bookshelves, but it's not hard. All my books from my older Kindle loaded quickly with no problem. And I'm sure it's no surprise to you that buying a book is a simple one click. Amazon would never give up that feature!

The battery does last a full ten hours. Not much compared to the e-ink devices, I know.That's with wi-fi turned off. You should do that anyway, for any of the Kindles. I wish it lasted longer, but until color e-ink screens become practical, that's going to continue to be a problem with backlit color readers. I understand the new color Nook battery life is slightly better, but that won't really matter until it becomes perhaps 50% better.

I don't really like the transformer type charging cord, which is probably minimal in size, but it's still clunky compared to the cord for the e-ink Kindle. I'm guessing the backlit screen requires current conversion that the older e-ink design didn't need. No USB cable is provided. The old Kindle cord is convertible to a USB cord, a very neat arrangement. I bought a retractable  USB-to-micro-USB cord because I will need to import my manuscripts to the Fire. Incidentally, I also picked up a very small AC/DC charger that works in either a car or airplane, and it will work for the Fire as well as netbook, camera, phone, etc.

I wish it had a SD card slot. I don't think the memory capacity is good enough to not have any way to supplement it. There's the Cloud, of course, but I'm mildly opposed to having Amazon store all my personal documents there. I admit, it will probably not become a problem for me, since I bought a reader for reading pleasure, and I have my mini-laptop for actual work when I'm away from home. But I can see how a lot of people won't be happy with this.

So overall, I totally love my Kindle Fire. I can easily forgive its shortcomings simply because I know most of them are limited by existing technology. It's sort of like, way back when I was a kid, black and white photos were "good enough"-- until color became practical and inexpensive enough to actually use. And I remember when black & white TV was "good enough" because color wasn't all that good, and cost too much anyway. But nobody clung to black and white TV, once it became reasonably affordable. E-ink is "good enough", sure. But now that I have a great color option, why would I want dull gray?

The first book I read with my Fire was GABBY, about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. I was completely absorbed in it and read till I conked out from exhaustion, then picked it up the next morning to finish. That's something I haven't been able to do for years. I have to say, the Kindle Fire made reading an entire book much more pleasurable, with no eye strain or headaches. I'm resolved now to not read or buy paper books again except for those reference books that can't adapt well to ereaders. And that will continue to be a problem for me because color pictures have to be limited in size to the screen size. So maybe someday screens will unfold to expand to the size of full page spreads.

I'll rate it 4 3/4 Stars because I think the next one will address some of the issues I have with this one, like the SD slot. Technology will eventually solve all the difficulties, I'm certain.

Coming Next: Four EBook Addicts Compare their Devices, Cases, Etc.

Anne McCaffrey- In Memory

I took this from my son's web comic, "Too Much Information":

Anne McCaffrey passed away this week. She gave us so much. Like Little Ace above, we ride the backs of the White Dragon whenever we read her "Dragonriders of Pern" series, and tasted rich imagination and the triumphs of right and courage. It's impossible to find enough words to describe her impact on us, the readers and the writers-- unless we read every word of all her stories.