Like a Kindle in the wind 2

During these holidays spent between searing back pain and stacks of recycled cardboard boxes waiting to swallow my life, I was lucky enough to have some quality time to pass with my new Kindle.  I am indeed quite happy I finally decided to give it a try, and having it handy will somewhat decrease the sense of desolation best described as  “all my books are in lost in some box” which I will need to live with for the next few months.

While there are still obvious limitations to the eReader concept, the product totally surpassed my expectations, especially in the departments where the Nook immediately failed my hands-on test: ease of use and reliability.

The device worked very well, from the start, the screen is pretty good, although not as good as  the small Sony Pocket Edition I tried, which had higher contrast and whiter background. Still the Kindle is very readable, and the refresh fast enough not to bother me as I page through books, images and documents.  Needless to say I have been tossing at the Kindle every possible format document time to see how it behaves and renders the text and images.

Here is how it scored in various departments:

• It is very easy to grab documents here and there and direct them to the Kindle.  Moving files in and out is a breeze. Mostly I use Calibre, but direct access via file system is very simple and fast for supported file formats. For conversion even where Calibre failed, Amazon’s free service  worked flawlessly. Reviewing papers and book chapters is comfortable, better than on paper as my notes and corrections are saved directly in a clippings file. This could be improved having document-specific clippings (in a special folder) or being able to upload clippings  automatically to the Amazon web interface (right now this works, I am told,  just for Amazon-originated books and documents).
  

• The wireless connection: perfect! I get better reception in my poorly covered area than with Verizon cellphones. And downloading samples or entire books still has to fail, unlike what seems to happen with the Nook. I had already had that seen the problem in person during  a relatively short test at the B&N store. Needless to say it was a major turnoff.
  

• News reading: Pretty good. I used Calibre to download some papers (via RSS feeds)  and I started a trial subscription to an Italian newspaper. Calibre can be left to run somewhere (even a server) with a scheduled job, and mail the RSS-extracted paper (Amazon will charger $.15/mailing though) or can simply download to the USB-connected Kindle for free. The Italian paper is not bad, although it looks like a summary of the real thing. The essentials are there, however, and unlike what I read the articles are almost flawless and well suited  for screen reading.

• Manga/comics: hit & miss. Some look acceptable, others are printed too small for the 6” screen. But the main issues are software rather than hardware: next page and zooming involve too many clicks, that deter from the “natural” reading flow of comics. Sometimes zooming is just not adequate. Additionally, the lack of contrast controls make some of the offerings simply too “pale” to be appreciated. Most likely Kindle DX users have a better experience. What the Kindle is missing so far is better software to handle pictures. Even with limited screen real estate,  most the reading problems could be  solvable with a Comixology-like interface. While most of the commercial comics I have seen so far are just nor worth buying on the Kindle 2 (and the quality of the selection on Amazon is very poor in any case) “illegal” scans work surprisingly  well (in fact the results are more viewable of the “official” editions comics from Amazon). The solution to view well-rendered sequential images is Mangle. Mangle is a total no-brainer: just import a directory of jpeg page scans, outputs in a format optimized for the 6” Kindle.  I have used it to access the vast archive of fan-translated scans available on the web. Another example of open source (and illegal) work made necessary by the inefficiency of the official market.
  

• Music: well, this is not that great, functionality is very limited to playing mp3 files in sequence without even seeing what is being played. But what’s most annoying is the quality, with “skips” and crackles in the music when pages are turned or menus are clicked on. Definitely a “not there yet” for the Kindle”

• Web: this is surprisingly good given the several negative reviews I have read.  I am puzzled: What were people expecting? iPhone quality for free? It’s absolutely great to have quick web access to all sorts of things, from wikipedia to news headlines (hint: use the mobile phone version of the online newspapers), weather or even if your flight is on time. Some preparation might be necessary, of course, so I keep in my documents an updated version of a text file with links to the most useful sites. I just need to open that documents and click, and I’ll be reading the site in a matter of seconds, even with 1-bar coverage. I am totally happy with this, and much rather prefer a limited free service to a pay-for option. People with different priorities and needs that should probably buy a smart phone.
  

Overall: great fun, totally worth the cost and it might even get better once I take it on vacation.
 

Like a Kindle in the wind

‘Twas the week before Xmas, and I gave in to consumerist pressure, and ordered a Kindle2. I had of course immediate buyer’s remorse, went back to the site, but alas, it was already too late to cancel. Amazon is really happy about impulse buying, I guess, the whole Kindle philosophy is based on that. Oh well, I guess I will have to live with my poor choices.

But seriously, I had pondered for a long time about the opportunity to buy a eReader. I love books on paper, I collect them in various editions, read them in every possible place in the house (I’ll spare you the details) and leak coffee on them. Yes, never borrow a book from me, please. And I told everyone I know and their wives that it wasn’t yet the time to shell out the hard-earned dollars for a eReader, given what will happen in 2010 with the current ebook frenzy. Lots of people seem to be on the phone with China to produce new or rebrand old eReaders. Then there’s the Nook, dubbed the “most advanced eReader in the world.” I actually went to a store and tried one, and quickly realized that I needed something perhaps less advanced but that would actually work. I tried the Sony series, great screen (the non-touch version) but no user input. The touch version had great user input but terrible screen.

Then I went to the Apple store. Apple is allegedly working on an eReader killer that will do all sorts of things, some say it will look like a giant iPod Touch. So I tried a small one, for starters. Brilliant! But  the problem is, I don’t want a device that does all sorts of things. I don’t want it, because I have about just about a truckload of them already. They are called PCs, Macs, Laptop, Netbooks. They have brilliant shiny screens of the kind that I stare at all day every day, and I have no intention to spend additional time reading on one. There are nice apps for the iTouch, loads of them. Except my netbook has probably more, and they are all free. And I can use it to write too, with a pretty decent non-virtual keyboard. Sure, the iTouch fits in a pocket. But my pocket is already occupied by my Moleskine and Tradio pen. So no thanks, Apple, and I’m not looking forward to the iMyth tablet either.

So I went back home and I thought about what I really needed:

• A eInk reader, easy on the eyes
• Something I could use for a variety of materials, including:
• Books I read for reference, to check about the state of lit in the genres I might be working on. Very often is stuff that I do not care about having on paper.
• Scientific papers (so far I kept my day job, as it’s often recommended)
• Comics & manga... why not!
• All sorts of stuff I find on the web daily: articles, short stories, webzines, etc.
• News, again, as I'm tired of reading them on shiny screen

I realized that I buy 75% of my books from Amazon anyway (the other 25% being from local bookstores, 15% Independent, 10% big chains, and always on paper). And that I will keep buying the books that I want to keep and share on paper. At that point the choice was pretty easy. I’m still hoping of course that:

• Amazon will support at some point the ePub format
• The choice of newspapers and magazines will expand to include some I actually would like to read
• Amazon.fr will start selling Kindle-format ebooks. Because of the caution France is using in digital publications, and the desire to protect traditional outlets, this might take a while.

The truth is, there will be always a better deal and a better device next year, or even next month. The question is, will this one work for me and do all of the things I listed above? Waiting for the UPS Santa Elves to bring me the answer. Happy Holidays!

Almost... but not quite!

Steampunk is fashionable, these days. And this book had almost all the characteristics to make it a champion of the genre. I actually rescued it from the non-genre part of the bookstore, and indeed it  almost had the literary qualities to be shelved there. It reminded me a lot of Susanne Clarke (the main character, Edward Moon, really feels like a clone of Mr. Norrell). And indeed, the atmosphere of the book has almost the charm of the Jonathan Strange saga. The characters are almost as quirky as in a Gaiman book (and indeed the Prefects are totally lifted from Neverwhere, of which the Somnambulist unfortunately lacks the wit. Finally the grandiose underlying conspiracy, and the gothic details are almost as pictoresque as in any Adéle Blanc-Sec graphic novel.

Don't get me wrong: I almost had a lot of fun reading this one :)
Also cited, for anyone interested:

In other news and information

My story, Fatebook has been chosen to be one of the finalists at the Match-that-Artwork AnthologyBuilder contest. The finalists names have been now posted. It'd be a great Christmas gift to be the winner, but being one of the finalists is already pretty cool. Below the image that inspired the story.

Meanwhile I'm slowly (very slowly) dragging my feet through the first few chapters of the NaNoWriMo novel, Forgotten Sons (working title). Looking for the right voice, wrestling with words, seeking the vein to tap to get it to flow...

NaNoWriMo & Christmas

While according to the calendar, half month is now officially shot, the count still stands at a solid and round zero. I was glad however to discover that the story that delayed my NaNoWriMo start has been selected as "recommended" at the Spec the Halls Christmas Story contest.

Also, as of today I finally have an outline for the first novel of the Forgotten Children saga, the very one I should be writing this month. Sure, the outline still has enormous holes, with words like "rescue" or "something horrible happens" that takes the place of entire chapters. But even a safety net is full of holes, and I finally feel I can start to swing on the trapeze. Wooooh, the view is really scary from up here!

Rediscovering Magic: Indigo Springs

After few pages, I still didn’t know what to expect from Indigo Springs. It starts in medias res, and for a while I was wondering how to unravel all the information fed to me, taking in all the implications of  the wonderful and scary things that are hinted to.  Magic-powered terrorists on a rampage in the homeland? It reminded me a little initially of Palahniuk’s Lullaby, especially given the similar “frame story” setup . Except that all the havoc and the cheap thrills happen behind the scenes.

But what about the  liquid magic and the flying carpets: how could the author sink hardcore magic into a real-life setting, and make it believable? She succeeds, I think,  in a way that goes beyond fantasy: by making us care about the lives of ordinary, small town  people in extraordinary circumstances. A.M. Dellamonica masterfully interplays first person narration with the point of view of Astrid, the time-displaced protagonist, as she narrates the (re)discovery of blue magic. It’s an atypical cast of characters, whose status and relationship takes a while to absorb. But the payback is definitely worth the effort, and a thick narration is woven out of every person, place and object, unveiling the wonders little by little, building on anticipation.

And that to me, was the real magic.

NaNoWri: The Never Starting Story

Day 9 and my word count is still zero.

Tragic, I know. Yet, I have hardly rested. I finally finished a short story and (with some help from an exceptional editor) submitted it to this year's Spec the Halls Christmas story contest. And I have been working on the novel, I swear. I even have a working title, and a soundtrack to go with it.

More seriously, I have been trying to put some order in the chaos that accumulated in 4 or so years of notes about the universe and the story. It might seem like lots of material, and the problem is that it's possibly way too much for one novel. Sometimes it's divergent. Sometimes inconsistent (the main character changed gender and name 3 or 4 times through the years). So far I have written the "bible" of the novel (or perhaps, of the series of novels if this one clicks) and I have taken a stab at the cast of chracters, who they are, what they look like, what they want. Some of them are described in  a few paragraphs, other are half a sentence, translucent ghosts.

Now it's the most  dreaded time: working on a synopsis of the story. Stay tuned.

From:NaNoWriMo Day 9: Productive | Inkygirl: Daily Diversions For Writers

The Thrill of the Blank Page

NaNoWriMo essential inspirational words from John Irving

Full interview at http://bigthink.com/johnirving/big-think-interview-with-john-irving

NaNoWriMo: plotting

Let’s face it: I’m going to lose this year’s NaNoWriMo, big time. I haven’t even been abel to start, focused as I was writing a short story. Last night I finally typed the three magical characters (###) that indicate the end of the end in the standard manuscript format. More work is required, but it will be of the editing kind, which I will do later at night when all those creative energies are about to go to sleep.

But at this point we are 5 days into November, and I still have a big round ZERO word count. What is worse, I haven’t thought about a plot yet. Sure, we know what they say “No Plot No Problem.” But I want this month of November to count for something: even if I “lose” I want the stream of words to be produced to go towards a self-contained, consistent story which I will continue adding on, polish and restructure in the future.

What have now is several years of notes. I have thought in passing about this novel for a long time. Once in a while I would type up some thoughts, toss it in some folder, and forget about it. I almost thought I was suffering from a classic case of Worldbuilder's Disease, but what I lacked was the chance to put all of this together. Now, I have a (slightly less than a) month to do just that, to unravel the garbled yarn in my head, put some order into chaos, and hope that something worth reading will take place in the process.

And if you stay tuned I might even tell you how this is going to happen...

NaNoWriMo: And so it begins

The plan for this year:

• Cheer from the sidelines. Many more people I know are participating, and that makes it even more fun that usual.
• Meet other writers, perhaps, if we won't be too busy typing away
• Harness the energy. I'm once more playing to lose, focusing more on quality and structure than output, while living this wonderful yearly appointment with collective creativity.
• Have fun, as usual!
  

NaNoWriMo: be prepared!

NaNoWriMo starts in just a little over 24 hours. How to prepare for the month-long frenzy? 
This is what I did the year I won:

• told everyone you are doing it, so I couldn't back out
• patiently explained to my wife what I had to do and how it'll keep me in total isolation a few hours a day
• turned off the TV (well, I never had one, but all similar distractions should be powered down)
• rented a cabin in Kernville for Thanksgiving (if you've been to Kernville, you know why. Watch out for cabin fever)
• sharpened my technological pencils. Knew what tools to use for max effectiveness from day 1. More on this topic in the days to come.
  
• scheduled my day around it. I still had a day (and night) job, so  I’d spend 60 minutes of my lunchtime on it, every late night I wrote notes to develop the day after.
• Reminded myself every day to forgive my bad form and lack of interesting plot, and above all,  that I signed up for NaNoWiMo for FUN.

It was a great time. I proved to myself I could write a whole novel, and never stopped writing regularly since. Forget about the (likely poor) quality of the output. There are things you learn to internalize in such a month-long effort that stay with you forever.

Planetalyx Information Bureau - Of Infodumps and Exposition

Great starting point to learn to avoid the plague of infodumps:

Planetalyx Information Bureau - Of Infodumps and Exposition:

"Of Infodumps and Exposition"

My True and Vivid Writing class had a dialogue exercise this week, and that led some of them to a struggle with the practice of slipping exposition into their characters' conversation: a form of infodumping, in other words. They asked about ways to finesse this and I've quickly surfed up a few links to get them started:

http://www.fiction-writers-mentor.com/info-dump.html

http://www.writing-world.com/sf/infodump.shtml

http://research-writing-techniques.suite101.com/article.cfm/avoid_info_dumps_in_dialogue

http://www.therthdimension.org/FictionWriting/Info_Dump_Avoidance/info_dump_avoidance.htm

Has any of you fought this particular battle, and written anything about it? As always, links and tips are very much appreciated!

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

Back to the writing board

School is back in session, and I'm back doing the lunchtime writing thing. Since I'm again writing in English, so I thought I might as well send out some sort of signal to the unlimited depths of cyberspace, while warming up my mind and fingers to overcome the usual pitfalls of this barbaric language.

The fog is back on time, and walking outside to my writing perch feels like kissing Lady Death, in all her cold but sensual wetness.

Listening to: http://bit.ly/1zg43w