RonVitale

What Are We Losing with eBooks?

Shh, don't tell anyone, but I like to spy. I like to sneak a peek at what people are reading on the train headed to work. Yes, that makes me a bit nosy, but over the years I've liked to see the trends in reading habits of people in my area. I remember men and women holding the thick and bulky Harry Potter novels, desperately trying to hold them in their hands while standing on the train, practicing their surfer moves as the El  buffeted to the right and left. Or, years later people joining Team Edward or Jacob, reading the Twilight series. And last year, Stief Larson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo took the top spot.

And then something happened.

Many of the books went away, being replaced by Kindles, iPhones, BlackBerrys, Droids and even a few iPads. Before my very eyes, I began seeing people's reading habits change. But maybe, that's not exactly right. Let me rephrase that: I began seeing a change in the tools that people use to read. Books were going by the wayside and more electronic devices were popping up on my commute to work.

All my life I have been a book lover. I love the feel of books, the smell of them and have lost myself in staring at many art covers over the years. Yet now here we are at the crossroads between the past and the future. The Star Trek: The Next Generation tablet that Captain Picard always used on the TV show back in the '90s has become a reality. I look at the new technology in awe, but also am a bit sad. Of course, seeing what people are reading has become harder to do for when a Kindle is turning on, there is not clear indication of what book is being read for a nosy person like me. I'm saddened by this as I do like to my unofficial market research to see what various groups of people are reading, but there is also the loss of cover art. I wonder if future devices will display in color or if we'll see the decline of art as we have seen mp3 sales knocking albums and CDs to the wayside. Granted, when we visit the online stores we see pictures of the covers and ID3 tags do contain the .jpgs to the album arts for the songs we play on our iPhones and iPods, but with books it's different.

I know this is a minor thing as the Kindle does come with some amazing screensaver art. When the Kindle is off, the device displays pictures of famous authors. What would be more useful is a feature that would allow the owner to make the book that he/she is currently reading the default screensaver image. Again, a minor point, but as a consumer and book lover I do become emotionally attached to my books. Having the text on the Kindle is nice, but being able to easily see the cover would be a nice added feature.

But beyond the loss of cover art, what will all these ebooks mean for readers and authors? When I was reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I happened to be using a bookmark of a postcard from the movie Stardust (based off of Neil Gaiman's wonderful novel). The passenger next to me, a young man, excused himself and pointed to the postcard: "Have you read that?"

"No, I haven't, but I'd really like to see the movie."

"The book is amazing. I loved it...."

We chatted for a few more moments and, yes, I purchased the book later that night and read it, also loving it. Not only am I a writer, but I'm a reader. I will buy a book, read it and then give it to my wife to read or a friend from work will lend a book of hers to me--books are the social currency that are tiny priceless treasures. When you give someone a book, you're saying to them: "I think I know you'll enjoy this and that the plot, characters and emotional payoff will be fun for you to read. Here."

Yet with ebooks (in their current format) the social aspect of book reading is impeded (to be kind): If I were reading Harry Potter on my Kindle (yes, I know I won't be able to do this until the Fall of 2011), that young man sitting next to me on the train wouldn't be able to see what book I held nor would I have that Neil Gaiman bookmark. There's a loss of social interaction there. And as a writer, I want people to talk about my book to others. I want someone to take my novel and say to a friend, "Here, you have to read this!"

Amazon's current policy is to allow a customer to lend a book out for 14 days and during that time the owner of the book cannot read it. What's the problem with this policy? Fourteen days, are you kidding me? I work 40 plus hours a week, have two kids and am a writer: How am I supposed to read George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons in 14 days? It's just not going to happen. I have books from friends that have been sitting on my shelf for six months and I'm still working my way through the pile!

Look, I'm a writer. Yes, I want to make money off of my work, but like I said, I'm also a reader. I believe that word of mouth has helped sell more books in the history of publishing than any print ad or commercial. I am hoping that in the near future there will be a relaxing of the lending rules associated with ebooks.

And the good news is that late in 2011 around 11,000 libraries across the country will participate in lending ebooks out to Kindle owners (you Nook owners must be laughing as you've already had this for years). Yes, change is coming as ebooks have only recently exploded into people's consciousness so we're not fully there yet and the possibilities are extremely interesting.

What I believe is a step in the right direction is the highlights feature on the Kindle. When enabled, a reader can highlight a section of text and then tweet that out to their followers. I see possibilities with this feature. If you're not able to see what your fellow passenger is reading on the train, she can tweet out great lines from the book to the masses. The social sharing of books with your friends is becoming virtualized. I don't mind that, but I still believe that readers need a lessening of restrictions for lending. Is there not room to compromise between the fear of piracy and all ebooks being given away for free and being able to share a book with a friend for more than 14 days? I think there is.

We're living in an exciting time as the publishing world is changing as are how people consume media. Book reading will not go away, but more people will read ebooks. If you're a writer, it might be wise to pick up a reader so you can see what your readers are experiencing today.

But I'm a writer and I like to imagine and think of the future. When I first owned a Kindle, I extrapolated out into the future and remember reading Arthur C. Clarke's 3001: The Final Odyssey back in 1997. In that book, Clarke wrote of the "BrainCap" that enables characters to have real-time interfaces with computers. In the novel, people can send email and read books "in their head." Might seem far-fetched now in 2011, but didn't we all laugh and scoff at Star Trek communicators and Star Trek: TNG tablets? Technology will keep advancing and people will adapt along with it.

As a writer, I believe in embracing change and learning how the technology can work best for all of us. eBooks may not be for everyone, but when tens of millions of devices will keep being sold each year, it makes sense that our content is on those devices and that we help use the tools to help share our books with readers.

Interview with Author Claire Legrand

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Claire Legrand, author of The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, a middle grade dark fairy tale coming from Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers in August 2012 and wanted to share her responses with you. As a fellow writer, I really enjoy learning how other authors write and what motivates them.

Can you tell me when/how you decided that you wanted to be a writer?

When I was younger, I wrote all the time, making up stories to share with my family and friends. Most of them were adventure stories about talking horses, or magical horses, or magical talking horses (see the theme here?). They were dark, creepy stories, and violent, with magic and mayhem throughout. I remember deciding that I would be the youngest person in history to write a best-selling novel. Then, in middle school, I started playing trumpet and joined the band. Music became my life for the next several years, and writing fell by the wayside. Between my heavy involvement in band (section leader, drum major, All-State band, the whole bit) and maintaining my GPA, I simply didn't have time for it. It wasn't until two years into my college coursework as a musician that I realized I could no longer ignore the stories in my head. One story in particular grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go. I left music behind, changed my major to English literature with no idea what I would do now that my entire career path had changed, and never looked back. Everything I've done since then has been to facilitate the full-time writing career I hope to eventually have.

For me, I often "see" scenes in my mind and then need to rush to write them down. Can you tell me a bit about your writing process?

My writing process, at least the brainstorming part, involves lots and lots of listening to music. No doubt due to my musical background, my brain just works better with music to stimulate it. I've come up with a lot of my favorite scenes while listening to film scores, which comprise most of my music collection. I find them so inspiring! I spend a lot of time searching for scores that I know will help me in my current and future writing projects, and then I build scenes by pairing them with specific tracks and listening on repeat until the scene forms. I do this while I'm driving (lots of commuting in the great, wide-open state of Texas), cleaning, doing laundry, exercising, anything. Once I've built up a basic storyline through music (the main plot points, in other words, from beginning to end), I start fleshing things out in outlines, character profiles, encyclopedia-type notes, etc. Even after I start writing, I continually modify my brainstorming notes; scenes and characters evolve, the story world deepens. I try to sit down each day with some sort of endpoint in mind. Sometimes it's a certain number of words; sometimes it's getting to the end of a particular scene. I don't have a set process yet, but I'm learning more all the time, and anyway, I'm not sure my process will ever be exactly the same for any two projects. Each project, I'm finding, demands a different approach.

Have you ever had to deal with writer's block and, if so, how did you overcome it?

Well, I hate the term "writer's block" and don't ever call it that, not even in my head, but do I ever hit a tough spot in my writing? Do I ever get wound up in Plot Knots or find that the words just aren't jiving right? Oh, all the time! However, when this happens, I get really stubborn and defiant and kind of angry, and I do whatever I can to combat feeling stalled or stuck. If I'm working on a draft and the words aren't coming, I do something else related to the project--search the Internet for inspirational photos and illustrations; write a vignette starring one of my favorite characters, or a letter from one character to the other, or put a character from one project into the story world of another project entirely, and learn more about that character as he/she explores an entirely unfamiliar setting; lie back, close my eyes, and listen to the soundtrack I've put together for that particular project; and any number of other exercises I can think up that keep my head in the story world while providing a break from whatever I was having trouble with. Of course, sometimes, it's best to do something else entirely--clean, sleep, watch mindless TV. In addition, reading a great book and going on a drive with music blaring can usually rejuvenate and inspire me.

What are your thoughts on ebooks and the future of publishing?

I was resistant to ebooks for a long time simply because I am so attached to print books. I love seeing them lined up on my shelves, I love the smell of them, the feel of the pages in my hands, and running my fingers over the covers. However, I do have a Nook now, and I love it. The majority of my book purchases are print books, and I think it'll probably always be that way for me. But reading on my Nook is great for traveling, and also great for when I'm reading an exceptionally long book that would be bulky to lug around (hence why I recently read A Song of Ice and Fire entirely on my Nook, although I love those books so much that I will probably end up purchasing nice hardcover copies).

That being said, and also with the disclaimer that I'm no expert on the subject and therefore feel a teensy bit uncomfortable answering this question, I do think that the popularity of ebooks will continue to rise, just as the popularity of digital music has risen. However, I can't see print books dying away completely, as CDs basically have. I think a far greater number of people develop emotional attachments to print books than they ever did to physical CDs or records, and that it will be a long time (if ever) before print books disappear. As far as the future of publishing goes, even if print stays around for a good long while, I think publishing is and will continue to be in a state of tremendous transition and evolution. It's not just brick-and-mortar stores with print books anymore; it's online retailers, ebooks, and self-published books, too, and these sources of reading material grow in size and quality every day. And I think this means that the future of publishing is very bright indeed. Business models will change, no doubt, and everyone from readers to authors to publishers will be affected, but basically there will be more books in more formats available in more venues. It might in fact become easier to connect readers to their perfect book. To me, that sounds like a dynamic, flexible industry.

If you could meet any writer (from any time), who would it be and why?

J. K. Rowling. Absolutely. Unflinchingly. I've grown up reading the Harry Potter books, and they have been such an inspiration to me as a writer. I consider Rowling to be a master storyteller, and I would love to chat storycraft with her over a cup of tea, pore over her Harry Potter notes and watch her work for a while.

What are you currently reading?

I just finished a couple of incredible books: The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (pub date 9/11) and The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (pub date winter 2012). The former is a YA fantasy; the latter is adult magical realism. I can't rave enough about these books. Impeccably crafted, gorgeously written, they are still haunting me, days later. I'm taking a break to read a couple of friends' manuscripts, and then it'll be time for the next book of A Song of Ice and Fire, A Dance with Dragons. July 12 can't come quickly enough!

Tell me a bit about you work and where can people find out more about you and what you've written?

I write fantasy and sci-fi, primarily for middle grade and young adult readers, although I have a couple of adult projects planned for somewhere down the road. My debut MG dark fairy tale, The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls will be published August 2012 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers. Here's the logline from my blog:

While investigating the sudden disappearance of her best — and only — friend, Lawrence, 12-year-old Victoria Wright uncovers dark secrets about her seemingly perfect town and the reclusive Mrs. Cavendish’s living, breathing orphanage.

For more about me and my books, check out my blog! You can also find me on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Goodreads. I'd love to chat with you!

5 Tips for the Vacationing Writer

So you're packing your bags and you're headed to vacation. What's a writer to do? Here are five tips to help you balance fun and being a writer:

Stay Connected with the World (to a Point)

When I go on vacation, I like to have the internet as I don't watch much TV and enjoy reading articles from the various websites and blogs that I follow. Some might say that it's important to disconnect while you're on vacation and I would agree with that--to a point. The balance between being always plugged in and using smoke signals to communicate with the rest of the world is up to you, but I offer these suggestions:

• Find out where the local wireless hotspot is. Maybe it's a Starbucks, Borders or some kind soul who has an open access point. A simple Google search before you leave for vacation will help. Of course, if you have internet access at the place you're renting or in the hotel, you're set. Though on the other side of the coin, be prepared with Plan B as my wife and I thought a Burger King with WiFi existed about 1 mile away from where we were staying. Turns out that the Burger King had gone out of business.
• If you have a smartphone, check your data plan to see if you can turn your phone into a hotspot. Both Verizon and AT&T have such plans (about $20 a month for 2 GB). I activated my Verizon hotspot feature for my Droid X while on vacation and it worked well--when it worked. I never had connectivity longer than 20 minutes at a time and going to the Verizon store to solve the problem didn't help. Be prepared before you go.
• And if all else fails, be sure to have a pen and paper to jot down any ideas you might have if you opt not to bring a computer.

Experience the Unknown

Even if you head to the same vacation spot you always go to, there is bound to be something new and exciting to see and experience. For me, last week on vacation my family and I stayed in Brigantine, New Jersey. The good news is that I used to stay on the island as a young boy and much had changed in the 25+ years since my family and I used to visit. The bad news is that there wasn't much to do with the kids outside of going to the beach. Don't get me wrong: My family and I love the beach, but we would have enjoyed more activities on the island (miniature golf that was opening during the week would have been nice). Still, we took the opportunity to visit Ocean City, NJ and have fun on the boardwalk there.

On our last full day of vacation, we went to the Ocean City boardwalk and went to Gillian's Waterpark and had a blast on all the water slides. At one point, my son and I were climbing up the stairs headed for the Sky Pond slide and we looked out over the beach town, seeing the ferris wheel with gorgeous clouds framing the view. What a great moment to relax and just kick back and enjoy the day. As a family, we had never experienced the waterpark before and all of us had a wonderful time.

When you head to vacation, what can you do that you haven't done before? It doesn't matter if you have children or not, adding in some spice and excitement to the trip will help your unconscious mind work its magic. Remember, as writers we can't be on all the time. We're human. We need rest and relaxation too. Live a little!

Time to Read

One of my favorite parts of vacation is sitting somewhere with a book and just reading. I'll read on the sofa, in a rocking chair, on the beach, wherever. I'm just not able to read in the car as I get motion sickness. But when you head off on vacation, pack your books or Kindle (Nook, iPad, etc.) and read away. Bring more books that you can read in case you happen to have more time than you expect (rainy days or staying up late). On Brigantine where I went on vacation, there were no book stores (seriously), so I was happy to have two books with me and a magazine. My wife used our Kindle while we were away and was able to buy the second Game of Thrones book. Again, be prepared.

When I'm away on vacation, I try to dial down my TV watching and last week I saw the finale to Game of Thrones (on my Droid X using HBO Go as we didn't have HBO via our TV at the house we were staying at and the Verizon hotspot couldn't handle video streaming to the laptop). We also brought a movie from Netflix with us and that's about it for watching TV all week--unless you count the snippets of cartoons I caught that the kids were watching.

If you love your TV, think smart and bring some movies with you or, if you have internet access, using Netflix's instant watching. For me, I'd rather get caught up on reading or podcast listening while I'm away.

Go Exploring

Those of you who have been reading this blog for the last year and a half know that I've taken up running. While on vacation, I ran a total of 21 miles. As the island of Brigantine isn't that large, I was able to see a good portion of it on my runs. On Father's Day, I took my long run and headed off into the unknown. I ran near 4 miles to the end of the street and then jumped (literally) onto the beach and then ran another 2.5 miles until I came to a spot in which cars couldn't even go.

I kept running until I came to the end of the island and then looked out across the water to the next bit of land. There were no people within a mile of me in all directions as off to the left (fenced over) was a wildlife protected zone. What made the trip so special is that I had been at the same location with my mom and brother when I was a young teen. Now, at 40 married and with a family of my own, I had come back to the same location and had some time to reflect on life, the universe and everything before turning around and running back home.

If you're unable to easily go exploring, look up the local rental place for mobility scooters and plan in advance. Be adventurous if at all possible.

Think, Reflect and Do Nothing

If your life is like most, you're working, writing, writing and working, trying to fit in time to read, maybe raise a family and a whole host of other responsibilities. When on vacation, take some time to do nothing. Maybe just sit on the beach and stare out at the ocean or if in the mountains watch the sky at night. Wherever you are, just be. That might be harder than you might think. Try not to think about your problems or your deadlines or other responsibilities. Just tune out and allow your mind to wander and imagine.

To sum it all up, I hope these five tips will help you when you're on vacation, they helped me a lot. But want to know a secret? You don't need to be on vacation to use these tips. Now if only I could remember that!

 

How to Conquer Your Fears

It's hard to see in this picture, but that's me with the gray hair all the way in the back with a fist in the air. My fellow team members of Boot Camp Challenge: Team Yankee and I are crossing the finish line at last Saturday's 2o11 Mud Run MS Philly. The day before the race I decided that I wanted to run the 6.2 mile adventure run with 30 obstacles (all dealing with mud). Normally, I would have wanted to go yet not acted on it and the opportunity would have passed me by. But a friend helped me find an open slot on a team and my wife said she'd support me and come with the kids so bright and early on Saturday, June 11th my family and I arrived. By 9:30am my team had started, my wife and kids cheered me on and I was off. 

I had not known at the time, but the day would go down as one of the most life-changing ones I had had in a many years. For the last two years, I have worked hard on facing fears and trying to overcome them. In competing in the Mud Run MS Philly, I not only faced down my fears, but also helped raise money to fight against MS.

My team consisted of 13 people of all different walks of life. As we ran at our own pace, I gravitated toward members of the team who ran at my pace and I went through many of the obstacles with three other team members. Pictured to the left is "The Wall." Around 4 miles into the race, I came out of a pond of mud and had to climb up (with slippery shoes and all) over the wall, come back down and then finish the rest of the race (and the remaining obstacles). I climbed over logs, went through low tunnels, walked across ravines, slid down hills into mud pits, swung across a mud pool, climbed up a platform and then jumped down in a mud pool, and sunk waist deep into mud. My body was bruised, tired and yet I did not give up--neither did my teammates. Yet when I arrived at the wall, the intimidation factor kicked in. Tired and hurting, climbing over a wobbling "wall" with slippery shoes worried me. I feared that I would fall. The woman before me climbed up halfway and then had to stop as she thought she might fall. When it was my turn, I started climbing up and as I came to the top, this thought went through my head: "Are you nuts? Don't go up anymore! If you fall, you'll get hurt." I stopped for a moment and then made a decision: Onward and upward. I made it to the top, slung my leg over the wall, and then climbed back on down. I did not allow my fear to stop me. I simply kept going.

About a quarter of a mile further, we came up against the rope wall and waited our turn to try and climb over the four very tall obstacles. To my right, a woman in her late thirties was about to climb over the top. Fear suddenly gripped her and she started vocalizing her concern, pausing and she was frightened of the height and of falling. And then a magical thing happened, all forty so of us--all from different teams--started yelling up at her: "You can do it!" She looked down at us, we up at her and then she struggled with gaining her balance at the top and used her momentum to roll over the top and started coming down the other side. All of us clapped and cheered her on as she had made it safe and sound. What a great moment!

For the rest of the race, my team worked together to help each other up and over rope walls, out of thick mud pits until, as a united front, we held hands and slid down a large slide into a pool of water (yep, you guessed it--with lots of mud in it) and then on our bellies dragged ourselves under ropes until we ran the last 50 yards and came screaming across the finish. If you want a good laugh, watch the minute and a half video below:

Why did I sign up for this? Why did I put my body through this punishment? Seriously, why?

In the video above, you can hear my son and daughter cheering me on. I wanted to prove not only to myself that I could complete the race but to show my kids that it's important to help others and to not give up. My son's shouting "Go, go, go, go!" helped me get through that last portion of mud on my stomach. My knees ached, my legs were sore from getting banged up climbing over the wall and I was tired. But I did not give up.

Many people who read my blog are writers themselves or want to be writers. How often do we have to face our fears when we stare at the blank page and need to start writing? Or deal with problems in our personal lives or on the job? There is only one way to conquer our fears: Stand up to them and try to overcome them. I have failed more times in my life than I can enumerate here, but still I get up. On Saturday's Mud Run, I learned three important things: Challenge yourself, try new things and most importantly---many people you will meet in life are simply amazing. Our team Captain, Lisa Di Ciccio Caramandi, is a four year breast cancer survivor, a grandmother and a great leader.  Put simply: She rocks.

If I did not go to the race, I would not have met such wonderful people, learned much about my strengths or inspired my family to try new challenges. Now I need rest as I've earned it. Remember: Don't give up.