There is a bit of an explanation of this story at the bottom – I don’t want to give it away before you read it.
I spend a lot of my days waiting and watching for the perfect subject.
The squeamish ones are best; the ones who are coming to me for their first time. They keep their eyes closed for most of it, which means I can do whatever I want with them.
By the time they realise, it’s too late.
…I went up Arthur’s Seat today instead of writing a post. My bad. There are some photos on Flickr you can look at if you want.
I have written about the relative merits of tea and coffee before, as part of the readers Q&A series. Back in May I informed The Rogue Verbumancer that I saw tea as my staple writing drink, although I tend to kick-start the day with coffee.
It was a pretty riveting post.
Anyhoo, whilst this remains true, I tend to regard coffee as my rent-paying-job drink (journalism/writing is not my main income yet, but I’m working on it). This is because when I am conducting assorted administrative tasks in an office environment, I need to sporadically re-kick-start myself several times a day as opposed to the once or twice required when penning glorious fictions. I find the immediate caffeine boost of coffee sharpens my focus on envelope stuffing and email-replying better than tea – maybe because over the years I’ve imbibed tea more often and have immunised myself against its effects.
Continue reading “Ode to Coffee”
Today the Society of Authors are holding a conference in Edinburgh. I am not at it, but have been following the live tweets from Colin Fraser of Anon Poetry with interest this morning. And that got me to thinking, perhaps other people would be interested in following the conference today. And then I thought thanks to Phyllis of The Edinburgh Reporter, I have the technology to help people out with that. So I’ve set up a real-time feed for you.
Unfortunately Word Press won’t let me embed it on the page, but if you click the link below it will open in a new window.
A couple of days ago I was linked to an article in The Economist suggesting that soon people will stop using shelves for books and adorn them exclusively with knick knacks, much like that old lady you used to know who kept a faux-mahogany sitting room for special occasions (like drinking chintz out of the posh tea set). The blame for this lies squarely at the feet of ePublishing and the kindle and will lead to seven plagues and the death of literacy. Or something.
The article touches on the matter of eBook piracy, which is a very touchy subject and is often tagged onto the End of Publishing debate without much explanation. I’ve read articles by a few authors saying it is A Very Bad Thing, and still more articles by different authors saying that actually it can raise your profile and boost sales. A summary googling of the topic came up with piracy articles dating back over several years, which I shall now bullet point for your indifference: Continue reading “The Great Kindle Challenge: Day 10”
On several occasions in recent memory, I’ve watched with mild irritation while people risk life and limb by walking up the road with their nose in a book.
Ordinarily I’m pro reading in public places. It’s pretty hot, particularly if you’re reading something awesome. Well done those people – I’m sure you know who you are. You’ve got moxie.
However, if you’re walking down Leith Street between 8.30 and 9am (Sheila O’Flanagan reader) or up Broughton Road just after 5pm (Terry Pratchett and Terry Goodkind man) that is a time for LOOKING WHERE YOU ARE GOING. It is BUSY; there are lots of commuters and school children and occasional cyclists or dogs or buggies to negotiate. The fact you can read does not mean they ought to change their path to get around your meandering gait – stop being so bloody rude.
Continue reading “The Great Kindle Challenge: Day 9”
12 Books in 12 Months 