Confession of a reader. My journey to E-Books.

 Friends, I was not always an E-book and E-reader enthusiast. I remember seeing the Sony Reader when it was first put on display at Borders. (Yes, I did in fact shop at Borders.) I was not an early adopter to say the least. It took time for me to warm up to the idea of switching to digital books. As time passed I grew tired of always having to order and wait for almost ANY book that I wanted to read. When the nook Simple Touch came out I decided to make the jump. The arrival of the nook revolutionized my reading lifestyle. Now when I finished a book at eleven at night I simply opened the app and purchased the next book in the series that I was reading. No more waiting for my next day off to journey to the bookstore or waiting on a delivery and hoping that the book did not fall victim to porch pirates. It was awesome!

From there I ventured into digital comics and enjoyed many of the same benefits. Comics and manga  look amazing on my iPad and I do not have to pay the excessive delivery costs that some of the comics publishers charge to mail out a comic. Another win for E-Publishing!

More than a few years have passed since the e-readers made their first appearance and they are now more relevant than ever. I don't have to worry about social distancing while trying to find the book I want. I don't have to worry about having to consult the internet to find out if the bookstore I want to visit has changed their hours or if they are still in business. I simply find the book I want, purchase it, and download. Established authors, indie authors, they are all available on my E-reader. This simplification to my life is still most welcome. Because, let's face it, we don't need anything else to worry about.

Don't give em' the cold shoulder, horses are awesome! (Affiliate links included)

Before we begin there are a few housekeeping matters to attend to. This blog will update on Wednesdays from now on. I am also an Amazon affiliate and have included affiliate links to some of the products that were used.

For some reason modern society and a large toy manufacturer got it into their heads that it was not ok for guys to like horses. Where this notion came from, I have no idea. I just know that it has been around for most of my life. Throughout history men and women have both shared the journey that is life with horses. The knights of yor used mighty horses to defend their realms. Farmers used the horse to travel and carry much needed goods to market. Paul Revere warned of the approaching British from atop Brown Beauty, a horse that had been borrowed from Samuel Larkin. We have a rich and long history with horses. A history that should not be divided based on gender. 

Phantasm or Phan for short is a character that I developed in high school and college. I recently decided to draw him in anime style. I used my iPad and a Wacom Bamboo stylus (because I forgot to charge my other stylus) to digitally ink the drawing I had made in my Bellofy sketch book.

Affiliate Links

Wacom Bamboo Duo

https://amzn.to/3eEbnuS

Bellofy Sketchbook

https://amzn.to/3iz2x2m

 

Life and writing tip: Never be afraid to look backward.

 We spend so much time looking toward the future and wondering what it might hold. Sometimes we need to take the time to pause and look backward. The past lives on in the present and there is much that we can learn from and be inspired by in the pages of history. Hollywood is an excellent example of what happens when you are ignorant of history. The Incredibles 2 became infamous when the flashing light sequences triggered epileptic episodes in the audience. The sad part is that back in the 80's and 90's the entertainment industry had made rules and issued warnings about flashing lights. Then came the Avengers movies. People complained that the last of the movies was too long. The concept of intermission seems to be a relic of the past. It appears that the studios have a case of collective amnesia and in people have suffered. 

We can also draw inspiration from history too. I am a huge fan of golden age mystery novels and I find the different periods of technological innovation fascinating. Remember, if we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat it. 

Don't Miss out!

 Smashwords is holding their annual summer/winter sale and I have two books that are featured.  The sale ends July 31st don't miss out!