Tag-Archive for » reading «

Read an EBook Week

08 Mar 2011 -

March 6th was the start for Read an EBook Week.

And here you thought the only thing that happened in March was St. Paddy’s Day. 

Mark Coker at Smashwords writes about the revolution in publishing, and though it might be a bit of a stretch to start with Egypt’s revolution and move right into publishing, it’s easy to follow how it started him thinking.

I believe the missing piece in all this talk of an ebook ‘revolution’ is that traditional publishing houses have editors, and that vetting and selecting process serves a hugely important function. It weeds out the real schlock. And people, there is some seriously bad schlock on those virtual shelves.

Yes, it’s fun to see your book up and in that cyberstore in an instant, but it often means that there has been too little checking of content. However, we are in the heady days of the beginning of all this and still feeling our way through it. I’m sure we’ll look back on these times like the horse and wagon delivery guy looked back at the introduction of the first car.

Transitions are messy. Which explains why that in-between time of purgatory is seen as a punishment.

I promise my book has been edited. This has now morphed into a shameless promotion piece. My ebook (available for purchase at Amazon and Smashwords is available now :)

After all, it’s Read an EBook Week.

Category: Books, Travel writing, Writing  Tags: , , ,  4 Comments

Jung, Archetypes and Survival

21 Feb 2011 -

As a species we spend a lot of time blaming ourselves for the sorry mess the earth is in, the environmental degradation, the overcrowding, the blah, blah, blah…and yes, I know that’s true. Trust me. I am not in denial of this salient fact.

But how about if once in a while we also celebrate that we’re pretty darned amazing too?

A friend sent me this short BBC video and I just knew it was something I wanted to share. So today, instead of burdening yourself with what a pox we are on the planet…shake it up and tell everyone you know how adaptable and cool we are.

Speaking of amazing (nice segue – dontchya think?) I spent Friday night at Vancouver’s Planetarium to watch the screening of the film, Dancing in the Flames. I’ve been thinking about this thought-provoking film ever since.

It was a sell-out crowd for the C.G. Jung Society of Vancouver and by the time the evening was over…I too, was a member. For a mere $25.00 I can now sign out books from their very cool library, get member priced-admission to the events and generally explore all things archetypal, symbolic and Jungian. Whether you live in Vancouver or are just visiting, it’s worth checking out their Facebook page to see if there’s something you’d like to take in. If Friday night’s event was any indication of how these things go…you’ll be in lots of great company.

The timing was perfect. I have a minimal understanding of Jung’s archetypes, basically getting lost somewhere near the top of that list; at the Fool. Can’t imagine why that would be?

I’m looking forward to taking in more of their events and learning how to work with these images and dreams in my writing.

I’ve almost finished the first book I checked out. It’s a total delight about the wonders of story called, [amazon_link id="081700436X" target="_blank" ]The Oldest Story in The World by Phil Cousineau[/amazon_link]. Next up will be [amazon_link id="157324824X" target="_blank" ]Coincidence or Destiny?[/amazon_link] by the same author.

And on a final note of the fabulousness of human survival…No visit to Vancouver’s West End is complete without at least one breakfast at Cho Pain on Davie Street. The croissants,  the pastries, the breads, the divine coffee and the small space, all combine to let me delude myself into thinking we’re back in Paris at a tiny perfect bistro.

Cho Pain

Category: Books, Events, Food/Restaurants, Photos, Travel writing, Video, Writing  Tags: , , , , , ,  4 Comments

Books and E-Readers

01 Feb 2011 -

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I have a Sony Reader. This digital device was a thoughtful gift from my husband the Christmas before last. I tried and tried to use this thing, but everything about it felt wrong;  it wasn’t tactile enough, not properly illuminated, I didn’t like pushing the little forward clicking arrow to turn the page, hated the fake pretending of turning the page even more…in short…it wasn’t working for me.

Kevin had thought, quite correctly, that it would be a great travel accessory. No more lugging around a million books as I do. I could have an entire library on this thing. Except, I pretty much hated it.  It has been gathering dust on a back shelf ever since. 

And then this weekend, at my request,  he loaded his extra digital copy of  Solar by Ian MacEwen on this digital device. Don’t ask me why I thought it was time. I think it was me doing a Mennonite-cheap thing. We need to read Solar for our upcoming book club and he already had purchased a digital copy for his iPhone and I guess I just thought it was prudent and frugal and all those boring words that are applicable here.  Or could we say I was being environmentally considerate? Doesn’t that sound better? Yes, let’s say that.

Well, as you know, God works in mysterious ways…because…I quite loved it.

Go figure. The text was just the right width for the reading glasses I use. I could read without feeling like my head was turning all the time like a bad Linda-Blair-in-the-Excorcist-scene. That factor alone was a huge bonus, and somehow that book just whipped along. I read for hours on Sunday without feeling like my eyes were strained and tired like they usually get with my regular books. 

I’m not sure if it read so fast because of the writing or the way the ebook is formatted and I’m also not sure if I really liked how fast it all went.  But I’m sure I could try reading slower…

Those small considerations aside, the Sony Reader is now polished up and placed with pride in its new priority spot on the nightstand. I’m wondering what I should download next.

And you know what? It will be really great for travel.

Category: Books, Photos, Product Reviews, Traveling, Writing  Tags: , , ,  6 Comments

Readers & Writing in Vancouver

27 Jan 2011 -

Andrew Pyper

Andrew Pyper may be a best-selling Canadian writer…but he’s also very, very funny.

Last night was the inaugrual kick-off to a great new series at the Vancouver Public Library. This new twice-monthly series of readings and discussions with writers from all backgrounds is called Incite(at)VPL.  (That should be written Incite with the @ sign and then VPL, however my program immediately reads that as a website, freaks out and creates a strange link…)

The Vancouver International Writers Festival has partnered with the VPL to present these free events. If last night can be used as an indicator, it’s going to be very popular.

Andrew Pyper was in fine company. His co-presenters were Amber Dawn and Michael Christie. (As you can see, I’ve added Andrew and Amber’s photos. Unfortunately I couldn’t find one of Michael Christie that wasn’t copyrighted…but I’ll tell you that he’s cute :)

The readings were very diverse, and very fine, with both Michael and Amber taking us in to some very unexpected and edgy places.

But Andrew Pyper had me doing some very unladylike guffaws at some of his asides and commentary. Who knew Farrah Fawcett bubble gum cards could wreak such havoc in an eight-year old boy?

Last night was definitely worthy of a very large happy face sticker on my calendar. If you’re in the Vancouver area, check out the link above and mark these nights on your calendar. I’ll see you there…

Amber Dawn

Category: Books, Photos, Writing  Tags: , ,  Leave a Comment

Round-up of the Best Books of 2010

01 Jan 2011 -

Just Say No to Grinches

Consider this my regifting of last year’s presents…Utne Reader has done the research for me and so now I’m passing it along.

Here’s a link to their article that has compiled some of the more notable lists from such icons as the New York Times, The Guardian, Esquire and Huffington Post for some of the best books from 2010.

And while I’m on the reading and writing topic…if you’re wondering about a publisher or editor and are feeling a tad concerned, just check out these two sites:

Predators and Editors, as well as  Writers Beware.

Now you can read and write with impunity in a Grinch-Free Zone. And if you’re not jumping on the e-book bandwagon yet, you might want to reconsider after reading this article from ReadWriteWeb.

Category: Books, Writing  Tags: , , ,  Leave a Comment
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