Tag: author

Kindle is the future… apparently

On By kepagewriterIn Publishing1 Comment

Well, this is it, a sight not often seen. I am about to eat my words. It’s not often that you find me changing my mind about something. I’m nothing if not stubborn. In fact, bloody minded would probably be closer to the truth.

I’m going to blame my age for my resistance to all things new and technological. I was one of the last people of my friends to really take to using CDs, insisting on buying vinyl long past the point it was strictly necessary. You can still find me skulking around record fairs on occasion, coming out with bags full of delightful LPs. (The only difference being I now play them on a USB record player which means I can listen to them on my I-Pod. I’m not a complete Luddite.) And I do download music. It’s good because it means that I don’t need to leave the house or deal with other human beings, something I find less and less pleasant. (I blame my age for that as well.)

So, when  the Kindle first came out I was pretty vocal about the fact that I wouldn’t be getting on any time soon. Why anyone would want a cold, heartless machine in their hands when they could have a book that was resonant with the history of all the other hands that had held it and drank in its magic was beyond me. And to a certain extent, it still is. I love my bookshelves and I like to think that people get a fair impression of what I am like from them. No one is going to get that from looking at the screen of a kindle.

However, there are a few reasons for my change of heart. The first is, of course, the fact that my book will be published on kindle. I cannot be snobby about the very platform that has afforded me this chance to publish. Also, I have discovered the amount of people who are publishing in this way and am interested in seeing what sort of things are being published. I’d hate to think I was missing out

So, I have taken a deep breath, ordered a kindle from Amazon. In fact, I am actually quite excited about the idea of being able to have a book in front of me in minutes. And I will still buy books, I guess. After all, I still buy vinyl and CDs as well as downloading stuff. It’s not the end of the world for books just yet.

What next, that is the question…

On By kepagewriterIn Updates and informationLeave a comment

Okay, so I have finally finished proof reading Shattered Reflections and I am actually – against all the odds – still quite pleased with it. I think that I have solved all the issues that have been pointed out to me. The proof of that, I guess, will be what the wide world makes of it. A little bit scary that, but while I will continue to write even if no one buys this book, that is not the same as not wanting to be read. Everyone wants to be read. To me, that is more important than the amount of money I might make. Numbers of readers, that is my main concern. So I have to have faith in it. I have to hope that others will love the characters as much as I do, will think it relevant, touching, emotional.

The proofs have gone back and I am glad – while I obviously think Shattered Reflections is good – that I do not have to read it again. I will be happy to say it is finished and put all my notes and work away. It is tempting to keep tinkering but that is more to do with fear of actually putting the work out there than improving the book.

So the big question is what to write next and obviously I have ideas and I have been writing bits and pieces in the meantime. I try to write everyday, even if it is only a couple of hundred words. (The real world, where I have to go back to teaching in September, keeps intruding. How rude!) To that end, I decided to look through the draw where I have kept all my writing. Twenty odd years worth of writing as it turns out. Things that I had forgotten about. It is strange in some ways that Shattered Reflections should be the first thing to be taken to fruition. It certainly isn’t the first thing I’ve written. There are any number of projects here, some more complete than others. The question is whether it is a worthwhile exercise to actually look through it or whether it would just be a huge exercise in procrastination. I mean, could anything I thought when I was 25 still have relevance, still be worthwhile. Its hard to know.

Of course, there is also promotion and marketing to be done for Shattered Reflections when it is becomes available. And I am quite looking forward to the opportunity to work on my website and on learning about all the ways the Internet can help me. I am determined to be pro-active even though it is not really my nature. It has to be.

It is all excitement from here on in, then. For new projects and old. For the future. You’ll be hearing from me soon.