Somebody asked me yesterday why my books were not available for the kindle (or any other device) when it was such an easy format to carry around and read from. The simple answer is: nobody can see what you're reading on a kindle and that's a big deal. Despite its portability, you're also a lot less likely to pick it up, actually get on with reading and take in what you have in front of you without being distracted. You can't loan the book to somebody else when you're done with it - neither can you make a gift of it and have it mean something. Nor does a visitor come into your house and crank up your kindle to see what kind of books you have about the place... there are dozens of reasons but mostly, I think it's important to exist in the real world.
ebooks are like being involved in a long distance relationship. ebooks are like watching a travel show instead of booking a plane ticket. ebooks are a 'gateway drug' to not reading at all. ebooks are like diluting your whiskey. I could go on forever with these but the fact remains, the further we get into The Cult Of Data, the more soulless it gets - and that hurts.
And it's good to hurt because it means you still have a piece of your soul left.
It's about the love of reading, writing and books. It's certainly not about lining my pockets and certainly not lining those of a data-farmer.
This soul is not for sale.
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Some of you may feel the need to point out that The Eternity Ring is available - free - for digital devices in my store - and you would be correct. I wanted to see first hand what it felt like to be a part of the experience and I don't like it, so it won't be there for much longer. Just long enough for me to make it available as a pocket sized book. More on that later this week. The phrase 'stand for something or fall for anything' is truer now than it's ever been out there.
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Currently telling everybody: who will stop and listen for two minutes that they need to open their ears and spend some time with The Dead Daisies.
Currently reading this: and it's damn good. Not what I expected from Tony Parsons but maybe that was his intention.
