A million books for Christmas

We have a Christmas Day tradition in my immediate family.  Sometime in December we each choose a book to buy and save.  That way on Christmas Day we have something to sit and read, to relax as the stress of Christmastime ebbs.

I mentioned this to my husband on Christmas Eve and he pretended to think, "Hmm, did I buy you a book for Christmas? I'm not sure."  Turns out he'd bought me one of the new pocket edition Sony Readers.  He'd bought me a million books.

So what did I curl up and read on Christmas Day?  "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.  "Cleanskin" by Val McDermid.  "A Study in Scarlet" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-- the first Sherlock Holmes story.  And "The Third Pig Detective Agency" by Bob Burke, an author I'd never heard of, but was listed high up on the pages and pages of ebooks for sale at Waterstones and WH Smith.  The Classics I acquired from the Sony website and Project Gutenberg (the latter a necessity for everyone to visit at least once, ereader or no.)

I've had the instrument for all of 4 days so I can't yet make any sweeping comments about the future or ebooks and regular books, but I do have a few comments.  First of all, it's a joy to read.  There was no eyestrain despite how much I read and I already have more new titles I'd like to buy and read on its nifty screen.  There's an iTunes-like interface (compatible with my Mac, hurrah!) that lets me organize my books but doesn't limit me to any one source.  It feels light, the battery seems to be immortal and the device does not become too warm to hold.  I'm looking forward to trying Nathan Bransford's Ziploc bag solution to read in the bathtub.

Second, I still have many titles I wouldn't buy via ebooks.  I think the world will be able to support both formats.  If other readers are like me, they'll be impressed both with the ability to grab a book from the internet whenever they'd like, and also still hooked on the idea of a signed copy, meeting the author, having a collectable, etc.  There'll still be fabulously bright and beautiful children's illustrated books and coffee table books and books by authors we adore, books we want to have seen on a shelf.  There will always be books we need to hold in our hands.  We won't all buy two copies of each book, but we'll buy one of this format, and another of the other format, etc.  I feel no worry that one format or another will absolutely reign or be completely stifled.

Third, Sony has done the right thing by creating a device that you are free to load with your own books and documents, in many different formats, without charge-- something that the insanely proprietary Kindle really lacks.  Kindle is more of a mobile-bookstore.  The Sony Reader is an instrument in itself, can be used however I'd like it to be used, and runs no danger of disappearing my books if Amazon changes its mind.  Also unlike the Kindle, the Reader can read open ebook formats (eg. epub) and this allows you to borrow ebooks from libraries.  The Sony website even has a search function that lets you find libraries near you that offer ebooks.  This makes the librarian in me very, very happy.  But of course it's not an issue of choosing between just Kindle or Reader.  There are so many ereaders being produced right now you're spoiled for choice.  That's as it should be.  Great products are not produced in stale no-choice environments.

I'm very glad I received this as a gift because I know deep down that I wouldn't have been able to make a choice about buying an ereader for some time.  I would have always been waiting to see which direction the technology went, how high or low the prices went, and what the reaction was on through publishers and authors.  But this way I get to try it out sooner, and I'm thrilled.  It's sitting here beside me now, full of unread books, asking me why I'm not reading.  Ack!  Now I see the real issue with ereaders.  They should be labelled as addictive substances.

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My extremely frustrating ebook experience the other week involved Mobipocket.com and DRM so paranoid that wouldn't even allow me to view the ebooks I'd legitimately purchased.  This is another reason I wouldn't have bought a Kindle, as Amazon also owns Mobipocket.  But if you have one, feel free to tell me why it's fantastic!

Reimagining Sherlock

A little while ago Pride and Prejudice and Zombies caused a few raised eyebrows and many grins by combining "The Classic Regency Romance" with "Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!"  And now, if you Google Sherlock Holmes the top two hits are for the "dynamic new portrayal" which reveals "fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect."  (The third hit finally goes back to its literature roots.)

Perhaps as a writer I should recoil from this trend of "reimagining" classics, but I can't.  Instead I love it.  A good amount of respect should be maintained for the original spirit of the stories, and of course they're still important as demonstrations of entertainment and society of the time.  But given that, I adore the idea of bringing them forward into modern relevance.  Elizabeth Bennet was always seen as a revolutionary female protagonist, and I'm happy for her to be a hell of a warrior, also.  And though my current television/film portrayal of Sherlock Holmes is dear to me-- that's Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation, as I reveal my nerdy roots-- casting Robert Downey Jr. as a rough and roguish fighter (I'm just going by the movie trailers here) might work to remind me why Holmes was such an eccentric and difficult character from the beginning.

What about the people who haven't yet read any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories and will only know Sherlock the way Warner Brothers produces him?  I just can't be worried.  I didn't know anything about Alexander Dumas before Kiefer Sutherland played Athos in 1993.  Something might click in this new Holmes film, and bring a few fans back to the original text.  The ALA think so, as evidenced by their marvellous new poster.

As for why modern relevance demands more action and violence, I'm less qualified to comment.  But I'm sure someone will, somewhere, and probably at length.

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Sherlock Holmes Statue photographed by shining.darkness at flickr.  ALA poster available to buy! at the ALA store.

The TWG Contest! etc

The Terrace Writers' Guild Fiction Contest has been judged and the winners have been contacted! (Or they will be soon-- that wasn't my role, so apologies if I've jumped the gun.)  I am particularly excited about this year's contest because I was honoured to be a judge.  Every story on the short list was memorable for its own reasons, but a few in particular stood out, and I'm so very glad I got to read them all.

Congratulations to the winners, but also everyone who put themselves and their stories out into the world!  It's commendable and requires much more bravery than a lot of people realize.  This month was important for me, too, because I sent two short stories out to contests, an almost unthinkable achievement for me, who usually pokes at her stories until they snap back and then leaves them alone.  Whether I win or not, I have announced my intentions as a writer to the world, and shown a little of my creative talent to at least a few people outside my usual sphere.  Congratulations to all of us.

"Argh!": An Ebook experience (revised)

I spent this morning becoming increasingly frustrated with Mobipocket.com until I finally gave up and conceded that I should have done better research before believing I could ever read their ebooks.  They belong to Amazon, and share many of Amazon's irritating and occasionally insulting ideas about ease of use and the proximity of the Kindle to the center of the universe.

I then wrote a post about this, my first ebook purchase experience, and how frustrating it was, so that even I-- usual advocate for the future of ebooks and regular books living together in harmony and happiness, with dreams of pleased readers and users travelling around with their paperbacks and their Stanza libraries bundled together-- Yes, even I decided I'd rather retreat to the room furthest from the computer with a "real" book and marvel at how easy it was to turn the pages, and how good the paper smelled.

But I have shuffled that post away into the long archive of "Things I might regret later."  Instead you get a muttered and ill-defined reference to Pandora's Box, something about Hope always being last to appear, and a non-sequitur reminder that birth is always incredibly painful no matter how much you want the baby.

The 100 Days Project

I've joined the 100 Days project.  The idea is to do one thing every day for 100 days, in an effort to better yourself.  Admirable!  You can follow the project at the website, on Facebook or Twitter, and with the Twitter hashtag #100days.

I could have chosen something writing-related, but I'm good at bettering my writing skills, occasionally to the exclusion of other interests.  So I will be taking one photograph each day (I can't promise just one, but just one for the project) that represents something about my life that day.

Here's #1.

It's my current scrap notebook, complete with scribbled notes about my WIP.  If you could read them all you'd probably know what happens in the end.  Don't try!

I'll be posting each photo to the "100 Days" set on my flickr site, and may also post them here, depending on how suitable the content is for a writing blog.  I may not upload them to flickr every day, but I'll be taking them every day.

Some years ago I tried the 365 project and dropped out in February.  But this one seems like a much more manageable goal.  I encourage everyone who enjoys a challenge and thrives with a goal to look into the project and consider if this is a good way to start 2010.  A poem a day, a page a day, a letter a day...?  Anything you like!

And hey, if you've just come out of NaNoWriMo, don't you need something else to occupy your every free moment?  Of course you do!