Hooked on the Nook

Have you seen the nook?  That sleek new ereader by Barnes and Noble?  Well…I never thought I’d say this but I’m hooked on the nook.

Before the newest ereader was unveiled…before it was even leaked, I was slowly coming around to the idea of a Kindle (Amazon).  It was a tough decision for me because I really didn’t see the need for a book gadget.  I just love books too much.  How could I ever replace a book with something cold, hard, and lacking the simplicity of just turning a page?

A coworker told me about his Kindle one day.  He’d received it as a birthday present and was thoroughly enjoying all the free classics he could get his hands on, and a lot of obscure ones too.  So I started looking into it.  Maybe there was something to this gadget thing for book nerds.  Then I realized how often I’d been reading ebooks via the Gutenberg Project as of late.  If I wasn’t home, but had a computer, I was still able to read some good fiction.  It even helped me last year with a few stories I needed for class that I didn’t feel like purchasing a thick ass collection of on top of tuition.

I got to thinking…maybe I didn’t have to stop loving my bound and inked books.  Maybe I wouldn’t have to miss that oily musk that grows with the age and use of a room full of books.  Maybe I could have that and a handy little gadget.  Essentially, my “cake and eat it too.” Lord knows it would have come in handy in Hawaii during our honeymoon this year when I finished my second book half way through the trip and discovered the third I’d packed was one I’d already devoured a few months before.  In that situation, I could have turned on my ereader and downloaded any number of books within minutes.

So, yes, I’m getting an ereader.  But not just any ereader.  When I researched the Kindle there were several things that I felt were missing, things that didn’t help sell the Amazon gadget to me right off the bat.  Some of those things were its lack of organization, no cover pictures, the tiny buttons, the accusation that it had trouble with PDFs, the fact that I couldn’t increase storage.

When pictures of the nook were leaked last week, my right eyebrow perked up.  Hmmm. I began stalking every gadget site and every online news page I could to find out more.  Yesterday they finally released the real details I’d been waiting for, but because I shut down my news reading after dinner, I didn’t see anything on it until this morning.  And there I was, spending way to much time at nook.com, drooling over accessories and colored images of book covers.  The nook has what most readers wanted all along, including book sharing and app potential.  I could care less about the book sharing – I don’t lend books (see Denys Finch-Hatton in Out of Africa on that one).  But the rest of the package looks delicious.

M has already promised to give it to me for xmas.  I’m getting antsy, though.  Thankfully it isn’t out on shelves until the end of November, so I can’t ruin my gift by running out for it now.

The Magic and Mayhem of Critiques

Good news.  The story I handed in was critiqued and, despite some ne’er-do-wells, received some fairly nice praise.  The visiting professor suggested I aim for publication with this one and gave me an “A”!

When I mention “ne’er-do-wells”, I am thinking of one classmate in particular who, because she works in the medical field, felt she was instantly an expert on Victorian medicine.  She decided to attack my facts without checking her own.  I never go on the attack without checking my facts.  No sense blasting someone when they could be right.  In this case, I’d done my homework.  I had several pages of well researched notes and a few books on hand to prove it.  There was only one thing I admitted she could have been right about – which was the actual cause of death in childbirth…I had an extremely difficult time understanding the old medical journal I read on the subject.  It’s very possible I made a mistake there.  Everything else, fact.

Question my plot, point to a weakness in detail, shout out a flaw in character…OK, I’ll take it into consideration and look at what I can improve.  But tell me that I have my facts wrong and I go on the defense.  Maybe that comes from my journalist days.  I got real tired back then of angry, hateful people trying to slam me against a wall because they didn’t like what I said even though it was fact.  Sure, there’s the occasional bad journalist out there that’s sloppy or lazy or super bias, but most care about the facts.  That’s why they do the jobs they do.

Anyway, I didn’t intend for this to be a rant.  I’m planning on spending time thinking hard about my next story.  It may be chapter two of my fantasy novel, but part of me wants to delve back into the world I just left in the last story.  And part of me wants to come up with something new.  Not sure what will win the battle this weekend.  Maybe I’ll base it on a joust…the Maryland Ren Fest is still on and it’s Oktober Fest!

Have a magical weekend:

Twig at 2008 Festival 78 on Flickr - anoldent

Envy

Three weeks until I have to present a second story for workshop.  I’ve had no luck thinking of a good one, so I gave in to The Pocket Muse 2 by Monica Wood.  One of the pages mentions writing a story about shoes.  That suddenly had Winona Ryder’s voice from Mermaids running through my head about a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes worn by a popular girl at school – shoes that she worshiped like one would worship a god.

I put a quick storyboard together to help with inspiration, but it is far from making much sense or even forming the elements necessary to make a story.

1 – escaped? on Flickr – Laenulfean

2 – Jimmy Choo’s Jazz

3 – Getty Museum #11 (Venus Reclining on a Sea Monster with Cupid and a Putto) on Flickr – kevindooley

4 – Hate on Flickr – Duncan Creamer

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UPDATE 1 Oct 09

I tried running with this last night and it fell flat after the first paragraph.  I’m not sure it has a direction that I have time to untangle before my due date.  Must consider other ideas this weekend.

A Winter For Letters

Winter is creeping up on us.  I always think of winter as dark and blustery, spent by the fire, reading a book, writing…perhaps writing letters to dear ones far away.

I have always had a love for writing letters.  Though correspondence often dwindles, renews, then dwindles again, I have been handwriting and receiving letters from my cousin A since I was a teenager.  She has moved around a lot over the years and currently lives in New Orleans, which I think is her forever home at this point because her letters suggest such a deep love for the city and its soul. 

Letters capture something, the way a journal does.  It can capture the time, place, or inner workings of the one who penned them.  I’ve saved all my letters from friends and family over the years.  I’ve even saved several emails from M when we were dating.  It is touching to go back and read them.

This winter I may start picking up a few books on letters.  These are a several that have sparked my interest:

Letters of Jane Austen

What female writer who appreciates romance doesn’t love Austen?  This list isn’t in any particular order, but this collection of Austen’s letters is most certainly at the top of my list.  I’m intrigued to find out more about this immortal woman who wrote so much about society and love, yet never married.

Bright Star - Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne

I have adored Keats since high school.  His poetry has always had a place on my bookshelves.  With the intensity of his love poetry, I can only imagine his love letters.  I must read them and swoon like a silly girl…seriously, I probably will.   

My Dearest Friend - Letters of Abigail and John Adams

Now here is a couple who stand out in my mind as one of the best matches in history.  I watched the HBO John Adams series with M.  We loved it and it made me want to know more about his relationship with his wife.  They were portrayed in the film as the deepest of friends.  She supported her husband and inspired him.  He was devoted to her.  These letters, while no doubt exposing some of history, must be touching and perhaps even enlightening.

Elizabeth I - Collected Works

If I could invite five people (dead or alive) to a dinner party, Elizabeth I would be one of them.  I find her so fascinating.  What a brave, strong, and intellegent woman in a time when men typically had the power. 

Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn

Of course, following my interest in Elizabeth I, there is her father and her mother.  This is one couple in history that had passion to the point of hate.  I’ve read about them over the years and recently got wrapped up in HBO’s The Tudors.  Being disappointed in what appear to be inaccuracies in Philippa Gregory’s books, I thought some of the real thing would be good.

Letters of Abelard and Heloise

The reviews on this boast that Abelard and Heloise are as famous as their fictional counterparts Romeo and Juliet, but I have never heard of them.  Apparently their love affair was so crazy they had to seek sanctuary in a church as a monk and an abbess.  Hmmm, sounds sinful in a sexy medieval way. 

Letters of Vincent van Gogh

Ok, this artist, while amazing for his work, was nuts.  I can’t help but wonder what his letters are like. 

Mother Teresa - Come Be My Light

I’m torn on this one.  Mother Teresa has always been interesting in my mind.  When advertisements got out about this book exposing letters she had written and never wanted seen by the public, I straightened a little in my seat.  To know that a saint had her moments of serious doubt and struggle – now that’s human.  Always one to be interested in human nature, I was initially drawn to it, but after reading reviews I can’t help but wonder how much of her struggle was cut out by the editor.

Am I concerned about her privacy like so many others who are upset over the release of her letters?  Ok, a small part of me feels bad for her, but not really.  If you write something, you know that there is a chance it will be seen by more than the intended audience.  When I’m dead and gone, I’m not going to care if my journals are exposed to the world.  How many letters and journals have come out of history and are read by the public?  I’m sure if asked, most of the authors would have said they didn’t want those read, but it can’t hurt their feelings now.  Case in point, Anne Frank.  I’m sure she would have said heck no to the idea of the world reading about her having her period. 

As for Mother Teresa, who can say that she isn’t helping others with her letters today?