You be the judge:

I will say this:  The zombies have finally shown up.

I’m a self-confessed gadget geek. It’s not a pretty sight, really. But I’m also relatively easy on my technology. (I finally gave up on the stereo I had as a teenager after I had been married a few years and had two kids. And I still have the computer my parents got me twelve years ago … and it still works.)

The writer in me has found plenty of gadgets to feed my habit over the years: AlphaSmarts (Neo, Dana, AS2000, AS3000), the Asus eeePC, the MobilePro 770 I got on eBay, the Apple eMate I can’t use because it won’t transfer data to my PC, inkjet printers, laser printers, multifunction printers, scanners, photocopiers, electric staplers and pencil sharpeners—it gets a little ridiculous after a while. Such devices feed both sides of my personality: the creative side and the nerdy/geeky side.

But what does a gadget-loving reader do to stoke the flames of geekihood? For years there has been talk of e-books taking over the planet, and so far those predictions have rung hollow. I tried reading e-books on my computer (even with the big, nice, LCD screen). Not encouraging, especially to someone diagnosed with chronic dry eye from too much computer use over the past few decades. I tried the portability of e-books on my Tungsten E2 PDA. Sure, convenient and portable, but again, eye strain galore after only a short while. Not a long-term solution.

And then, after hemming, hawing, and doing the pre-buying research I always do before a gadget purchase, I took the plunge in late October and bought the ultimate nerdy gadget for today’s prolific reader: the Amazon Kindle.

I can’t begin to tell you just how delightful it is to read books on my Kindle. Using it is a breeze. Downloading books is almost too easy. (You can transfer books with a USB cable, much like transferring music to an iPod, or you can do it directly from Amazon on the device itself using their Whispernet cell-phone technology, which is free.) The eye strain issue I’ve had even with some hard copy paper books is wholly gone with the Kindle, not just because of the amazing e-ink/e-paper technology (no backlighting, crystal clear lettering), but also because I can adjust the font size on the fly. If my eyes get weary late at night, I can increase the size of the text on the “page,” something I can’t do with my paper books.

And, when I go on vacation in two weeks, the Kindle will replace the five or six books I would have packed in my suitcase. I’ll have hundreds of books at my fingertips, in only 10.3 ounces.

Six months ago, my thoughts on e-readers in general were quite different. But now that I’ve taken the plunge and given myself an early Christmas present, I don’t have a single ounce of buyer’s remorse. (Usually I don’t with technology because I do my homework for a long time first.) I’m almost never an early adopter of technology (due to an inherent skinflint nature and not wanting to be an inadvertent “beta tester” with my hard-earned dollars), so my having bought Kindle 1.0 shocks even me. I am, though, so thoroughly thrilled with the device, the system under which it functions, and Amazon’s terrific customer support that I am now a devoted Kindle user.

Tune in next time for my thoughts as a writer on the topic of e-readers and e-books. . . .

This month marks my favorite month of the year. Since 2004, National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org) has been mostly responsible for my ability to write a novel every year. (I’d add in the purchase of my first AlphaSmart in that year too, as well as my entering these novels [or some permutations thereof] in the Operation First Novel contests each autumn.)

As someone who had previously edited herself to death and took a decade and a half to finish a novella, I now have reason to cheer. Even if I am currently behind on my word count for the month. (By the end of today, I should have 23,338 words, and I’m sitting at an iffy 19,184 at the moment. So, what the heck am I doing HERE? Note to self: Can I use these words as part of the novel?)

This year’s entry is tentatively titled Societal Smackdown. And although I had every intention of it being a serious, brooding, end-of-the-world, possibly-zombie-infested thriller and/or horror novel, it presented itself quite differently to me once I got into the zone about a week ago. You see, the main character, who is currently nameless, is quite the sarcastic little b*tch. Who knew? I didn’t have a clue when I started writing that she would simply dominate the story and tell it her own way. And she’s mighty odd in her behavior now that she seems to be the only human being left in the world.

So, the huge white board filled with brainstorming ideas conjured up by me and my two creatively brilliant daughters (for an apparently different novel titled Collapse) is now figuratively tossed out the window for the month. (Hey, gargantuan white boards ain’t cheap—of course I meant that figuratively.) And in its place is, well, an apocalyptic comedy tour de force. (Note to self: Look up “tour de force” before you end up using it wrong and pissing someone off. You’re a proofreader. Act like one. Oh wait—THAT pisses people off. Never mind.)

And so, with the month nearly half over, I am finding that the annihilation of the human race is suddenly funny, albeit in a Keystone-Cops sort of way.

I think maybe I’m behind on sleep or something. . . .

Linda

My sixth foray to the week-long St. Davids Christian Writers’ Conference (www.stdavidswriters.com) has come and gone. This was our second year on the campus of Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania, and I think we kinda like it there. The campus is gorgeous, the weather was incredibly cooperative (cool, crisp, no fans necessary in the dorm rooms), and the seminars were amazingly helpful and informative.

What’s best about St. Davids each year, though, is the fellowship. Not just with other writers. I’ve been to other writing conferences where I got to rub shoulders with editors and writers and other types of freelancers in the publishing business. Those were often slick, professional, and well-managed. However, St. Davids isn’t just camaraderie with writers. It’s a family reunion.

And yet, it’s not cliquish. Newcomers are welcomed into the family the same way babies or newlyweds are welcomed into a family by birth or marriage. There is celebration, fun, and genuine love, care and concern for each other at St. Davids. The fact that we also all share a love of words and writing is just icing on an already sweet, delicious cake.

To be honest, I was skeptical the first time I attended St. Davids in 2003. Although I’m a writer and a Christian, I rarely write “Christian” fiction or humor. My writing tends to be more, well, generic than that. So, what was I doing at a specifically Christian writers’ conference? My fears were quickly gone. This was a group who also struggled with the same issues I did as a writer who was also a Christian, whether or not we were writing explicitly Christian material or not.

So, this particular week at St. Davids, I was happy to reunite with friends I see but once a year. We giggled at night in our dorm rooms. We sang Monkees songs in the snack bar in the evenings. We bid outrageous amounts of money on useless crap at the Wednesday night auction (all to fund scholarships to the conference). We didn’t worry about mealtimes because we could sit with strangers, new folks, old friends, or butt in on a group already chatting happily over their food. Everyone is welcome at St. Davids, and the bonds we share as writers and friends—and as Christians—are for life.

It’s like a spa treatment for my writing brain and soul. I always come home from St. Davids recharged and rarin’ to go. This time I’ve been prepping the proposal for my cozy mystery, which will hit agents’ mailboxes this summer.

And I’m already planning for St. Davids 2009.

What writing (or other work-related) conferences do you attend? What do you particularly enjoy about them?

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How much can you tell about a person based on his or her reading choices? Sometimes I’m sure that a person’s reading list tells you everything you need to know. Then I look at the stack of books (and “stack” is putting it mildly) sitting on my coffee table, in various stages of read-ness, and I shudder and hope against hope that it’s really not true.
 

Sitting on the end table next to the comfy wing chair recliner right now is Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. This post-apocalyptic, sparse, bleak novel is, well, sparse and bleak. I’m just past the halfway mark. I’m at a stage where I concurrently dread and anticipate sitting down to read more. I can’t imagine that the two main characters—a father and son—have any chance whatsoever of getting out of their current, mid-novel situation, except for a few obvious, movie-like endings that I think I would hate. And yet, the thought that McCarthy will continue this bleakness right through the end feels suffocating even now. I’ve read no other McCarthy before this, and I’m captivated by his perfect choice of voice, tone, and style in writing this particular story.

I realize my position won’t win me any points with the ultramodern crowd, but tough. There are ways to break the rules that enhance the writing or, at the very least, don’t detract from it. But once your rule-breaking creates story-confusion, you’ve gone too far.

On my coffee table, also with bookmarks at various spots, are a few other books.  I’m nearly a third of the way through David McCullough’s John Adams.  I sheepishly admit I started it right after the first episode of HBO’s miniseries based on the book (starring the brilliant Paul Giamatti, on whom I think I have a small, frightening crush now, despite the bad teeth and funny hair in the series). I haven’t plodded through nonfiction in a while, so this is a refreshing, amazing change of pace. Am loving it completely.

Also there are Gene Wilder’s My French Whore (hey, I have to give my first love, Gene, a shot, right?) and Jenny Gardiner’s Sleeping with Ward Cleaver. I also have to wrap up Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up. Then, it’s on to Stephenie Meyer’s New Moon.  And, a friend’s new novel, Stonewiser (by Dora Machado) is coming from Amazon even as I type this.  If you enjoy accessible sci-fi/fantasy (or even if you don’t, because I thought I didn’t!), this book is a ton of fun! She’s created an entire world that she manages expertly throughout. (I got to read it in advance, so I already have a bias in favor of this one.)   So, let’s add up what we have here: Post-apocalyptic novel, Historical biography, Historical novella, New “chick lit” for not-entirely-young chicks, Current comic biography, Vampire YA novel, and Adult sci-fi/fantasy. What does this say about me? Do I even want to know?