Nevermind...

I decided against the Kindle HD. Mainly because I don't want to be locked into reading documents only available for Kindle. Plus the reviews I read indicated Amazon's Silk browser is not equipped to use Adobe Flash, which many websites incorporate. Not that I mean to do a lot of web browsing on a tablet but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. No, I just don't want to have to hassle with upgrading a tablet to do basic things when I can get one that already does what I want.

I've decided to get a Samsung Galaxy 2 when my best friend takes me with her to Costco this weekend. Yes, it's smaller than the Kindle HD 8.9 but only by 1.9 inches. Kindle's big marketing push was all about how wonderful movies and games are on its bigger screen. I don't want to watch movies on a tablet, I want to read ebooks and stay in touch with email and social media while I'm traveling. If I can play a game or two, okay, but that's not the center of my universe. I'm so far out of the gaming world, my last big favorite was Tetris on a Gameboy. I loved Tetris. It would be best if this Samsung doesn't have it so I don't waste valuable reading and possibly writing time trying to fit long rectangles into square pegs in time with funky Russian folk tunes. Damn, that used to be so much fun... I have so many ebooks I want to read and review, I can't afford to play games.

Anyway, I'll let you know how it all turns out after my big East Coast Sojourn. Ciao, baby, see you on the Coast!

~Jude

The Jump

I will be making The Jump to Kindle soon. I should order one by the end of this week for my upcoming trip to the East Coast. Yes, I'm late to the party. Everyone already has one, or a Nook or a Kobo, or some other reader.

Not that I haven't been into or championed ebooks. On the contrary, I was learning to format for ebook publication way back in 2004--when you had to know HTML code to format a different version for every type of reader. (What a pain in the patootie that was!) But I read ebooks on my PC or laptop, so I didn't see a burning need to acquire the portable device.

But now I've seen the Kindle Fire in action and realize it can allow me the access I'd had with my laptop without the bulk and weight. Plus I can load that puppy with all the cool ebooks my fellow authors have written to read on the plane and/or train--without wearing glasses if I elect not to. The technology has evolved greatly and the price has decreased as most "toys" of the techno nature tend to do. Heavens, I remember when a VCR cost $700...

I'm looking forward to exploring this new gadget's capabilities. I may even figure out how to deal with apps and play Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja. I used to love playing Tetris on the kid's Gameboy...do those still exist? 

Having this portable Kindle will let me finally, FINALLY read all the books I've stashed on this PC. I can hardly wait.

Wish me luck!

~Jude

Psychology, Slot Machines, and Writing

I spent last weekend in Laughlin, Nevada. This is a small town with Vegas-envy situated across  the Colorado River from Bullhead City, Arizona. Las Vegas is where the Young, Sexy, Rich, and Hot go; the Old, Infirm, and Less-Affluent hang in Laughlin.  And yes, I know the group in which I fit.

Casinos in general aren't my cuppa. I don't have any moral objections to gambling, per se; in my opinion, adults are free to choose their actions and consequences. I simply don't like handing money over without getting a guaranteed tangible return. No casino will ever put me on a "whale" comp list, or a black list for that matter. (For those of you who may not know, a "whale" is a person who gambles exorbitantly obscene amounts of money and casinos are thrilled to have them lose those amounts at their places, so they "comp" their stay-- everything is provided free for such folks, aka "comped", meaning complementary. The "Black List" holds all the names of people caught or suspected of cheating at a casino, and it's usually shared with every gambling establishment in town. Not being mathematically inclined, counting cards or calculating statistical probabilities to cheat ain't never gonna happen in this brain, so they have nothing to fear when I walk through the doors.)

What I found fascinating is the complexity of gambling psychology. A few decades ago, casinos were divided fairly evenly: maybe 30% slot machines, 30% table games (blackjack/twenty-one, roulette, and craps), 20% higher staked table games (bacarrat and poker rooms), 10% Keno (like bingo) and maybe 10% in a small sports book where people could watch and wager on horse racing, greyhound racing, and professional sports. Then gambling on college sports became legal in Nevada (and only  in Nevada to this day, though New Jersey is making a bid in their legislature), exploding into a huge money-making venture and immediately permeating American culture. Native American reservations legalized gambling on their lands and suddenly everyone was within driving distance of a casino. No need to take a vacation to Las Vegas; Grammy and Gramps could drive to the Rez, gamble a few hours, eat at the buffet, and be home by nine.

And that has changed the casinos in Laughlin. Now the percentages have skewed to 60% slot machines, 20% table games, and 20% sports book. Keno is gone and the separate poker / bacarrat rooms are gone, incorporated as individual tables amid the blackjack, roulette, and craps section.

Slot machines have morphed drampatically as well. There are machines for every interest: Maltese dogs, TV shows, Native Spirits, movie stars (yes, i saw a John Wayne machine), and cats. Lots of cats. I played "Miss Kitty", which is the name of my mother-in-law's cat, and "Kitty Glitter" because it had an orange tabby that looked like my own Fritzgerald the Bastard Cat of Tombstone. I practice a philosophy called "Hit and Run": as soon as I win anything, I cash out and leave. I may not win much, but I certainly don't lose the farm.

All these different interests embodied as slot machines are the perfect example of using psychology marketing. You learn what make people like, what they enjoy, what hooks their curiousity and then blam! You entice them to push buttons with pretty pictures, flashing lights, and pleasant/familiar/happy sounds from their fave TV shows or personalities.

This is what writers need to consider. Think about how many slot machines focus on animals/pets. That's why the series involving a mystery-solving cat is a huge seller. Black Beauty, The Black Stallion, and Misty of Chigoteague are but a few horse-centered stories. I'm not saying we all need to write animal stories but we all need to seriously ponder who is the target audience of what we write before we get started. Narrow your focus to that audience and you'll develop a following of readers who flock to your books like cat lovers in Laughlin line up to feed "Miss Kitty" some five dollar bills.

Some of the other machines I saw were a Michael Jackson machine featured prominently in the central layout of the casino, "The Hangvoer" of movie blockbuster fame, TV shows  such as Hee Haw, The Munsters, Wheel of Fortune, Charlie's Angels, and I Dream of Jeannie. I wonder how much casinos pay out in licensing fees; obviously it is nowhere near as much as they take in from folks who hope to win big but usually are lucky to break even.

Next blog I'll share finding inspiration in playing tourist away from the casino...

~Jude

Beauty Inspires

Beauty around us can inspire wonderful stories. Tucson had a very rare and freakish winter storm last week that deposited snow in the desert. We've had snow now and then but usually it melts in an hour and that's it. Not this time. Two inches fell in the morning, lasted till early afternoon, then at 4:30 that afternoon, huge fat flakes began again.

That's not a snowball, it's one flake falling by a saguaro...

Writers' biggest challenge is how to describe an event or condition in a way that transports the reader into that exact moment. When the snow began that afternoon, fluffs drifted down from a grey-white sky individually, like feathers dropped by a dove as she preens her wing. The flakes grew larger and heavier, soon filling the air in an all-out earthbound attack, besieging  everything in their path. The soft hiss of crystal water particles falling through motionless air to land upon their mates muted every sound as they bound together to smother every tree, cactus, and bush in white frigidity.

There was no visible sunset that evening. Grey day turned to darkness without a hint of color. Yet the snow seemed oddly iridescent without the sun, refracting grey into tiny nuances of blue.

A night-blooming cereus and barrel  cactis mantled in snow. Pricky Pear in the background...

Odd how the snow actually kept the plants from frost damage like the sheets we would have used to cover them. No hard frost bit their arms or burned delicate leaves. The snow lingered through the night into the next morning, laying heavy on palm fronds and willow branches until the sun finally banished the last marauding clouds, welcomed with open arms by saguaro and humans alike.

Reading Aloud

 Do you read your work out loud? Whether to a trusted friend or to yourself? Reading aloud is one of the most valuable tools anyone ever suggested to use as a writer. Not only does vocalizing your word choices allow you to catch those pesky cut and paste errors of omitted letters or typographical oopsies, it sheds a different light onto your composition. To hear the language combination brings a scene alive in a way that simply scanning words on a page visually misses. Non-fiction author and literary professor Verlyn Klinkenborg explained some of the process in an Op-Ed piece in the The New York Times:

 Reading aloud recaptures the physicality of words. To read with your lungs and diaphragm, with your tongue and lips, is very different than reading with your eyes alone. The language becomes a part of the body, which is why there is always a curious tenderness, almost an erotic quality, in those 18th- and 19th-century literary scenes where a book is being read aloud in mixed company. The words are not mere words. They are the breath and mind, perhaps even the soul, of the person who is reading.       

Published: May 16, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/opinion/16sat4.html?_r=0

This past weekend I was was fortunate to be involved in a Readers' Theater presentation with Gecko Gals Ink, and one of the contributing playwrights commented that the play she co-wrote with my friend Ashleen O'Gaea  "seems funnier read aloud onstage than on paper."  She sounded wonderfully surprised by this observation. "Suddenly, Without Warning" is a funny one-act farce about actors at the mercy of the narrator of a play that veers from space adventure to Western to science fiction quite suddenly and without warning. Cast the roles with actors who love to ham it up and it was very entertaining.

I encourage you to read aloud - and as often as possible. I loved reading aloud to my son when he was small, and I enjoy reading my works in progress with one of my closest friends. It gives me a chance to try and experience the story from a different perspective and see if the emotions I hoped to convey shine through the language I've chosen. I enjoyed doing readings at signings, so I'm looking forward to March 3, 2013 when I'll be reading from my works at the The Los Angeles St. David's Day Festival - National Day of Wales at  Barnsdall Art Park.

 

Read with more than your eyes and fully experience the joy of storytelling, whether the book is of your own creation of not. It will enrich your experience and strengthen both your joy of reading and your writing.

~Jude

Writers and Marketing

I love talking with other writers. There is always something new to learn. One universal bane of those who are published is marketing. It never seems to end. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus, blog tours, websites, group chats...it can be overwhelming at times.

What free time I have I would love to spend writing, absorbed in my little cocoon of creation. But, sad to say, reality constantly demands my presence, whether to participate in my real job to put food on the table or to try and garner attention to my books. So I try to choose marketing techniques that 1) I am comfortable with and 2) don't take hours and hours of time.

My blog tends to suffer from my time constraints, and for that I apologize. I do try to post at least every two weeks if I can't get to it weekly. And my goal this year is to share reviews of books I've read and interviews with authors I've met (either personally or in cyberspace) so those of you who also write may glean information from more than just my experience.

I will say that hard-sell, constant bleating on Twitter or Facebook immediately turns me off. I don't know how many other folks feel that way, but it's not something I care for and, therefore, try not to do. I'm sure it's an effective way to market or people wouldn't keep doing it, but it's not my cuppa tea.

What does work for me are speaking appearances, signings, keeping up with Facebook/Twitter, and talking with other authors. I sell more books in person than online, but I hope to work on that this year as well. 

So watch this space for upcoming events, reviews, and interviews. I plan to include books and people you find interesting, perhaps provocative, and definitely informative!

Happy January!
~Jude

Starting the New Year

Oh my goodness, how the time has flown! Happy 2013, my friends!

Source
http://www.hogwild.net/images/Misc/jetsons.jpg

Didn't you think we'd be living like The Jetsons by now? Flying cars and houses way up in the sky? Heck, I thought we'd be off the planet's surface by 1999. But here we are, still happily held by gravity to an incredibly resilient Mother Earth.


The start of a New Year often motivates people to make Resolutions. I don't. I try not to make promises I can't keep and to me, a resolution is a promise. I will, however, Aim To Accomplish Some Things:

1) I solemnly swear I am up to no good .
For 2013, I aim to misbehave. Translation: I will kick up my heels and LIVE more freely. When the chance comes to run into the rain, I hope to take it. When an opportunity presents itself to act silly and dress up, I aim to seize it with both hands. Life is too short to be so damn serious.

2) I will work hard to maintain my health.
In 2012, I lost 60 pounds. My aim for 2013 is to keep it off and try to whittle off another 10-15 ...slowly. I don't want to be in pain as I grow older. I intend to walk all over Wales, Australia, Alaska, Argentina, Peru, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, Russia, and Spain before I am 70 years old.  (Well not ALL of Russia, just a big chunk.) Research for books in my head needs to include on-the-ground-locale recon, and you can't do that if your knees or hips are screaming. Yoga will be a more consistent part of my routine to keep increasing my ranges of motion. 

3) I will endeavor to learn more about my craft by reading more varied genres.
The process never ends, really. My reading has sadly taken a back seat to marketing and writing, so this year I hope to read more than ever. Even if it's in the bathtub at 2 AM.

4) The turkeys ain't getting me down.
I'm going to take the attitude of, "Meh, it isn't personal." Even if it is, I am going to practice blowing it off instead of blowing a gasket.  I have too many places to visit to be sidelined with a stroke.

So there you are, kids. My Aims To Accomplish for 2013. What are yours?