Terra Harmony's Blog, page 6

‘Air, Book Two’ Free First Chapter

Oh geez, I’ve got a cold…and a stomach thing…and like half my kids have it too.  I just realized two posts ago I promised the first chapter of each of my books, then didn’t continue.  Sorry!  But in case you missed the news flash, ‘Fire, Book Three of the Akasha Series‘ is now available!!! Except for iBooks (grrr) – still not available there.  It’s been submitted but their approval process can take forevs.

Anyway, here is the first chapter to ‘Air, Book Two of the Akasha Series‘. Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Breath of Life

“I can see my breath.”

There was no response from the small, handheld radio nestled in my thick glove.

I clicked on the talk button again. “Did you hear me, Micah? I said I can see my breath. Time to go.”

Finally, a voice answered, though not through the radio. Do you not understand the concept of silent ops?

He was using our telepathic connection. I immediately shut it down. There were things in my head he need not know – not yet anyway. I couldn’t take the chance he would find them while tooling around in there. I clicked the radio again. “Then why did you bring the radios?”

I could almost hear his frustrated huff through the vast expanse of the Pennsylvania pine forest that lay between us. He had explained it to me before we separated; the handhelds were there in case we suspected someone intruding on our telepathic connection.

He came back, over the radio this time, and said, “I am almost to the cabin. Let me just check it out and then we can go. I am going silent – for real this time.”

“Don’t you dare turn off the—” my best warning voice was cut off by the hum of the radio, letting me know I was no longer connected to my counterpart. It was tit for tat with us.

I huffed, the same way I imagined him doing it. My breath formed a cloud of fog that lingered lazily in front of my face. I played with it, sucking it back in, then blowing out to form bigger clouds, and swishing it away with my hands. Anything to keep my mind off the cold. The wind picked up as clouds moved into the valley, darkening the midnight sky further.

I squinted, trying to pinpoint the cabin in the dark. The moon, fully hidden behind thick clouds, was no help. We had tracked Shawn this far, despite my protests. In my opinion, it had been far too easy – like following bread crumbs. But Micah’s need for vengeance surpassed my own.

Giving up on the cabin, I exhaled again. A gust of cold wind met the fog. I narrowed my eyes. This gust had come in against the oncoming storm. I watched as my breath cloud was sucked into an invisible black hole and disappeared, sizzling as it went. The wind followed its trail, straight into my lungs.

I turned, flailing my arms out to ward off whatever was attacking me. But how can you ward off air? The sucking persisted, panic and fear taking hold of me more thoroughly than the cold that had bit its way into my bones. Had it not been so dark out already, I’m sure I would’ve already seen the forest go black.

Falling to my knees, I reached out for the only element of which I had a strong grasp; water.  Particles were drawn from the clouds, the soil, and the trees. They rushed to meet me, then wavered in front of my face, hesitating. I wasn’t sure what to do with them. But there was more than just me at stake. In a desperate, final act, I sent them down my throat, into my lungs and into the very thing that sucked the life out of me. I flooded it with far more water, volume-wise, than the amount of air it took. Shortly, it proved to be too much, and the mysterious void of nothingness expelled everything. Water and air both flooded my system. I sputtered, choking up the water I had so desperately called to my aid.

As soon as I lifted myself from the ground, thoroughly soaked, I thought of Micah. Whatever, or whoever it was might be going after him too. The trail leading up to the cliff was steep and full of loose rock, causing me to slide most of the way down. Once my feet hit solid earth, I took off running. The forest was dense, but I avoided the protruding roots and clawing branches easily enough. There was only one thing on my mind. Without thinking, I opened up the telepathic connection and screamed his name, Micah!

There was no answer. I ran faster. The forest opened up into a small, circular clearing. As I entered it, I spotted Micah clearing the trees on the opposite side in a dead run toward me. We met in the middle, coming to a stop a few feet apart, both hunched over with our hands on our knees. A cursory scan of each other while still gasping for air was enough until words came to us. He was out of breath, but he was unscathed and handsome and dry – and I hated him for it.

Before he could say anything, I went first, in between breaths, “Well – was there anything in the cabin?” I didn’t bother keeping the bite out of my voice.

He held up a piece of paper in his hand, at least having the mind to look sheepish. “I found a letter.” He folded it up and put it in his pocket. “What happened to you?”

I fixed him with a stare as cold as the wind, “I found trouble.” Then, because I couldn’t help it, I shivered.

He sighed, taking off his jacket and wrapped it around me, “I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less from you, Kaitlyn.”

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Hope you liked it!  Don’t forget to get ‘Water, Book One’ now free pretty much everywhere as an ebook.  ‘Air, Book Two‘ is at a special price of $2.99.  Stayed tuned for the first chapter of ‘Fire, Book Three‘!

The Power of We

It’s Blog Action Day – and this year’s theme is ‘The Power of We’. So, what does this mean to me? With election day fast approaching in America, we are inundated with commercials, flyers, debates, banners, and public conversation in general about who are the right candidates to represent us.

For me, politics – and politicians – are one of the most frustrating aspects of America. They come from money, and they follow the money. Those with the deepest pockets, corporations and the wealthy, are more likely to sway the course of government. So when it comes down to taking time out of my day on November 4th to vote – will it really matter? The answer is, I’m not really sure…but HELL YES I WILL VOTE! I will not squander what opportunity is offered to make a difference.

For each of us, one political issue may stand out more than the rest; the economy, healthcare, women’s rights, foreign affairs, education, etc. Each of these items are on surveys conducted occasionally in my neighborhood. To my great disappointment, I have yet to see the environment on any of these surveys. Why is this not a top button issue? Policies in how we treat the environment certainly affect the job market, not to mention the health and well-being of future generations.

But maybe, using ‘The Power of We’, we can make this a top priority for our politicians, no matter who wins the elections. For those of you who still remain undecided over our presidential candidates, here is a short list of their commitment to the environment;

• Romney is criticized for flip-flopping on the environmental question. He was blamed for subjecting his will to the likes of big companies.

• Obama said, “So we have a choice to make. We can remain one of the world’s leading importers of foreign oil, or we can make the investments that would allow us to become the world’s leading exporter of renewable energy. We can let climate change continue to go unchecked, or we can help stop it. We can let the jobs of tomorrow be created abroad, or we can create those jobs right here in America and lay the foundation for lasting prosperity.”

• Romney, at the Republican National Convention, declared: “President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans,” pausing for the audience to laugh at the absurdity, “and to heal the planet. My promise … is to help you and your family.”

• Obama believes that carbon pollution can be put at check through a market based cap. This is not only an environmentally friendly measure, but will address certain energy challenges too. The income that is generated in the process of closing the carbon loophole will be returned to the people, especially those families, communities and business which are vulnerable.

• Romney ‘s detailed plans include stripping the Environmental Protection Agency of the power to regulate carbon dioxide, eliminate the production tax credit for wind projects, open all federal lands and waters for drilling, including the entire Pacific and Atlantic coasts as well as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and keep tax incentives and tax breaks for oil and gas drilling.

• Obama ‘s detailed plans include raising federal standards for fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks, maintain the EPA’s power to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels because of climate change concerns, maintain incentives for renewable energy; wind and solar-powered generation has doubled in size during his administration, eliminate the $4 billion a year of oil and gas tax breaks.

You can probably tell who gets my vote simply by the blurbs I selected. Please keep in mind both candidates are open for more offshore drilling, and support drilling on existing leases in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off Alaska. Both also support the use of hydraulic fracturing in drilling, whether it is controlled by federal or state safety standards.

So how, specifically, can ‘The Power of We’ help make the environment a top priority with our politicians? Here are just a few ideas:

petition the private sector to do their part
write your representatives – tell them what is important to you and your community and why!
share this post
VOTE!

So tell me – what does ‘The Power of We’ mean to you?

In Three Days…

In three days, ‘Fire, Book Three of the Akasha Series’ will be available for purchase on Amazon and B&N.  Shortly after that it will be available for iBooks.  Of the few books I’ve published so far, ‘Fire’ – by far – is the most exciting for me!  Let me tell you – it starts out with a bang. If you are squeamish, the first chapter probably won’t suit you. Whatever the case, make sure to put ‘Fire’ on your Goodreads TBR list now.

Each day until its release, I will post the first chapter of each of the books in the Akasha Series.  You know – in case you haven’t read them yet! Today’s first chapter is the opening to the entire series. Don’t forget ‘Water’ is now free on Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, and iBooks!

 

‘Water, Book One of the Akasha Series’, Chapter One:

There is nothing like an avalanche to put your life into perspective.  I leaned forward and the board strapped to my boots responded.  Slicing through the fresh powder, I made a sharp curve to the right.  A quick glance uphill showed the wave of snow was five times my height, and about to catch up to me.

The avalanche roared like an angry dragon, breath stinking of the earth churned up in its path.  The entire right side of the unmarked back country trail was a thick wall of trees, impossible to break through.  I pulled my toes up, arching back to the left side of the trail.  But I wasn’t going to make it.  Ice pelted me on the back of my neck, sending chills down my spine.  I pointed my snowboard straight downhill and put all my weight on my forward leg, hoping to outrun the beast.

I willed my board to go faster than I ever dared before.  The avalanche was faster.  It opened its mouth wide, closing in on me from both sides and overhead.  Gray blacked out the blue sky above and the trees to the side of me.  The mountain slope cracked and slithered forward, like a monster’s forked tongue.  As the force of nature dropped over me, I closed my eyes and threw my arms around my head.  My screams were swallowed by the creature.

Completely engulfed, I moved with the avalanche.  The whole of the trail had transformed into its body; an agitated, unstoppable river of churning snow and debris.  The world became darker and darker, the snow heavier and heavier.  Flashes of light were few and far between.

When I gasped for air I was sometimes rewarded with a clear breath but more often than not I sucked in a mouthful of snow.  Hacking to rid my throat of the slush, I came to the awful realization that I was drowning on dry land.

My hands, flailing for something solid to hang onto, finally caught hold of a tree.  Small as it was, it held fast against the merciless rush of snow.  I fought against nature, literally holding on for my life.  I wrapped myself around the trunk as two large branches just above me ripped away and disappeared in the churning white waves, along with my screams.  I squeezed so tight the rough bark scratched my cheek.  I inhaled the heavy scent of pine, as though the smell alone would keep me tethered to the tree.  I willed the roots to be strong.

They were, but I was not.  My grip started to loosen as my tired muscles and numb fingers were unable to hold on any longer.  I lost the stable trunk and returned to the tumble of snow.

I came to a halt just like the rest of the debris that used to be the Canadian mountainside.  A small air pocket had formed, allowing me to spit out the coppery taste of blood.  Suffocation couldn’t be too far off, encased as I was in an immobile block of ice.  Feeble attempts at movement proved useless.  Silence settled in on me as I heard the last of the snow come to a halt above me.  I tolerated its crushing weight because I had no choice.

As the numbness slowly receded, pain returned to one hand.  I wiggled my fingers.  They were free, possibly above the surface.  I grimaced.  Great – at least the wolves would find me.  Closed casket for me.

 

Hope you enjoyed it! Don’t forget to get ‘Water’ free, now on Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, and iBooks!

Between the Covers – Final Segment!

We are wrapping up the series of talks between me and author Christopher Starr on how these writers write. If you haven’t already, be sure to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. Now – on to the fun stuff!

Terra: How do you handle reviews – the good and the bad?

Christopher: Oh reviews! The joy and bane of every writer’s existence. We write in solitude and then exist for feedback, praying someone loves what we tried to do or an at least appreciate the point we were trying to make. When they do and they grace us with more than a couple stars and give us those nuggets of opinion, it’s fantastic. Until we realize they didn’t like it. And resist the urge to respond.

Like everyone, I just want an honest review on the merits of the story. But it’s always a little more complicated than that; I’m sure you can agree. My subject matter is fodder for plenty of discussion; it’s only a matter of time before I get not-so-savory reviews. I handle negative reviews immaturely—at home. I’ll rant and rave and finger point and curse but I’ll never respond to a review on any medium. I’m pretty adamant about that. If I get a fantastic review from a blogger and we have a relationship, I’ll thank them. If it’s on Amazon or Goodreads, that review, positive or negative, belongs to the consumers. I figure I’m breaking some great author-reader contract by intruding on their playground.

Some reviews I incorporate or might comment more broadly in a blog post, particularly if the point is good. Someone made a comment about why some angels die and why others regenerate. I addressed it in the book I’m working on now. Another person talked about the world I’d created and it spawned one of the most introspective blog posts I’ve written in a while. Reviews have been good for me.

Terra: Reviews were one part of the job I was not prepared for. Of course, I knew I needed them. And of course, I thought I would be receiving nothing but 4 and 5 stars. In my eyes my books are awesome. So when some readers didn’t think my books were so awesome, I was pissed. Some flat out hated my books; and I was shocked. Heartbroken almost. I did the same as you; rant and rave at home. I was all ready to respond to reviewers and maybe explain some things they overlooked in my book. But then I followed the advice of my husband, and I let it go. Eventually, I was able to take some advice from bad reviews, and I believe my writing is better for it.

Christopher: How do you separate yourself from the subject matter you write? You have some pretty tough stuff in your books—did you have to take a shower just to wash it away and be normal? Or was it more clinical for you—just a day at the office? And, once you wrote, how did those closest to you react?

I can tell you I killed a character my wife was very fond of (the character was actually based in part on her). She’s been hot with me for a while, even said I have to add a new strong female lead to fill the gap. I laugh about it now but I cried about it when I did it. I liked her. And that why she had to go.

Terra: Writing is sort of a form of therapy for me. I have all these plots, scenarios, and characters running around in my head – I don’t know how they get there, they have nothing to do with my life, but they would absolutely drive me crazy if I didn’t get a chance to hash everything out on my keyboard.

I do have tough stuff in my books; and friends and family react differently. All are supportive of course, and all have their preferences. My mother-in-law helps me edit – she likes to cross out all the sex scenes. My husband tries to get through my stuff, but fantasy just isn’t his thing. My Catholic grandma calls my books page-turners and when I call her she’s like, “Why are you on the phone? You need to be writing. I have to know what happens next!”

Christopher: My grandmother’s the same way—best advice she ever gave me was “Be good. If you can’t be good, be careful. And if you can’t be careful, name it after me.

So, what’s next for you? New series? Are you staying in the same genre?

Terra: Yep, new series. Mermaids and werewolves! Though I have been experimenting a little with Sci-Fi (short stories and such), so we’ll see where that leads.  How about you?

Christopher: The plan is to finish the Heaven Falls Series before jumping into something else. That’s the plan, mind you. I’m in the middle of the second book right now and it’s going along so swimmingly that I consider a new project daily. Still I’d like to say I finished it and I’d like my readers to have the complete story before I move onto something else. I think I’d be mad if, instead of telling me if Darth Vader was really Luke’s dad, George Lucas did Red Tails.

After Heaven Falls, I have a number of ideas and series that I’m considering. And I’m sure I’ll switch genres—my goal is to be like Ray Bradbury and write some of everything before it’s all over.

Terra: That about wraps it up! Thanks so much for doing this with me, Christopher. It was by far one of the most fun interviews I have done to date. Let’s stay in touch and good luck with everything!

Christopher: This has been remarkably amazing and refreshing to me! Writing is such a solitary endeavor, It’s always good to know you’re not entirely crazy as a writer. That what we do and go through is a bit more commonplace. That helps. In spite of the myriad voices in my head, they all generally arrive at the same sort of consensus. My overall world view doesn’t change. it’s cool to see things from someone else’s point of view. Thanks so much for letting me peek in your head.

 

“Did you ever notice how in the Bible, when ever God needed to punish someone, or make an example, or whenever God needed a killing, he sent an angel? Did you ever wonder what a creature like that must be like? A whole existence spent praising your God, but always with one wing dipped in blood. Would you ever really want to see an angel?”–Thomas Daggett, The Prophecy (1995)

Michael the Warrior.   Lucifer the Fallen.

Gabriel the Watcher.   Raphael the Healer.

For eons, these princes of Heaven have done the Father’s will, His way.  From the war between the angels to the second coming of Christ, the Heaven Falls series is their stories in their words.

From the Beginning.  Until the End.

The Road to Hell: The Book of Lucifer by Christopher Starr

Between the Covers…continued!

This is part 3 of an ongoing dialogue with Christopher Starr and myself. Catch part 1 here, and part 2 on Christopher’s blog here.

 

Christopher: Here’s my other question for you: you’re a mother, a wife, a professional and somewhere in there, a writer. How do you balance all the demands on your time?

 

Terra: And that is the big question, isn’t it? Lots of people want to write a book. A few less eventually start a book. Significantly less finish a book – and very few people keep on writing after their first book. There are lots of excuses to stop writing; discouragement, health issues, work, kids….life. I try to look at it as little pieces at a time. Baby steps. Not to get all self-help on you here, but baby steps really do work. My consistent goal is 1,000 words a day. This comes out to about two pages, depending on how much dialogue there is. It is very manageable. My secret to making sure it gets done is doing it in the morning. I wake up by 5 am, and do it before anything else. Ok, I’m lying. I hit the bathroom and have coffee first. But THEN I do it before anything else.

I won’t even open e-mail, check twitter, or look at news or weather first. I ignore the mess in the kitchen. The dogs have to wait to be let out. I work until the kids wake up (anywhere between 7 and 8). If I hit 1,000 words and can keep going, I do. If I don’t hit 1,000 words I make it a priority to make that mark at another point in the day; even if it isn’t until 11:00 at night. It has turned out to be a good, sustainable habit. Most of the rest of my day is spent at my day job and soccer games or swim lessons for the kids. If I have extra time that is when I’ll do the marketing for my book. But writing always takes priority over marketing, at least until my first series is finished.

Christopher: 5am? Man…I’m having a passionate love affair with my snooze button at 5am. Curiously, given that I’m a night owl and you’re up at the crack of ass in the morning, and that I live in Seattle, I think we’re actually both up writing at the same time. And that, my friend, is synergy!

So for me balance is really about choices. I work at home so my big thing is getting outside at all. When my kids are in school, they get my time from when they come home until they go to bed. My wife does too. So does Game of Thrones. 1000-1500 words a day is pretty good but it’s not always on a book. I’ve learned a lot this year about the value of blogging and maintaining a consistent relationship between my blog stuff and my readers. I’ve been doing a series on villains for the last 6 months and that has really helped me improve readership and make relationships with readers. And provide focus. That gets me writing on a regular basis.

I tend to write in the evenings (well, at night) and am willing to sacrifice being sleepy in the morning for progress at night. But when I’m writing the books, I’m all in. They really do take over and I struggle to turn it off to focus on the rest of my life. This is my long-winded way of saying I have pseudo-balance. The image of balance. I’m still working on the reality.

Terra: That is funny, we probably are up at the same time. I tried writing at night for a month, but I kept falling asleep and my laptop took several falls to the floor. In the interest of saving my stories, I bought an external hard drive for back up, and I started writing in the morning.

I absolutely love Game of Thrones! Haven’t read the series, but can’t wait for Season 3 to come out. I’ve been told the TV series follows the books pretty closely, so I may just have to pick up a book instead of waiting until next spring.

Christopher: I haven’t read the series either but I did buy the first book to see if the fuss was worth it. I’m about halfway through it now. The fuss is worth it: it’s amazing. And the TV series does follow the nooks exceptionally well. Gotta give George RR Martin his credit: homeboy can spin a tale.

 

 

Thanks for hanging with us and check back in with Christopher next week to see the next installment!

‘Fire’ Cover Reveal – It’s Hot!

‘Fire, Book Three of the Akasha Series’ becomes available in October. Wanna see the cover?

Beautiful, right?! This, by far, is my favorite cover of the series. Here they are together (with Earth still to go):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I already have the cover for ‘Earth’, which will be revealed in a few months, but I may make some tweaks. It is damn hard to make dirt look magical. I hope that after ‘Fire’, the ‘Earth’ cover isn’t a let down. Maybe I should’ve saved ‘Fire’ for the last book of the series.   You really can’t go wrong with flame. For your comparison, here are a few other ‘hot’ book covers I’ve come across:

 

Click to view slideshow.

 

Which is your favorite? Feel free to say mine! Haha. No seriously – feel free. I’m so excited, can’t wait for the release – stay tuned for the announcement!

Between the Covers

 

 

 

 

 

 

One great benefit to being an indie author is other indie authors. In general, the community is very open and friendly. During the Orangeberry Summer Splash Blog Hop, I crossed paths with Christopher Starr, author of ‘Road to Hell‘. He was kind enough to post his review of my book on his blog, then he started asking questions. I answered, then sent a few questions of my own. The exchange went on for more than a month and thus you have ‘Between the Covers’, a candid conversation in how writers write. Below is the first of five posts; be sure to follow Christopher’s blog to catch the next post later this week!

 

Terra: I wrote the first book not exactly planning on turning it into a series. Once it was complete, and especially after that cliffhanger, I kind of had to continue. I also never expected to enjoy writing so much. The first book was a work in progress for 10+ years, and went through many major revisions. The second book took only two months to write. The majority of the third was written in a month (thanks to NaNoWriMo), and I am now writing the fourth and final book of the series. So far, no breaks in between. How about you?

Christopher: It’s funny, our experience is surprisingly similar. It took me over 7 years to write The Road to Hell. And it went through about 4-5 rewrites, a change in main character, a change in POV, about 150 new pages and some pretty merciless cutting. Writing it was more an “I wonder if I can” process than an exercise in series writing. I do have an advantage though: I know which angels are going to live and the Bible gives me some pretty rigid plot points. I’m lucky in that respect.

Terra: Wow – a POV change must have been rough! First novels are always hard. I feel like I wrote a book – and THEN I learned how to write.

Christopher: I know exactly what you mean about writing a novel and then learning to write. The biggest thing is the discipline for me. I like to think that I’m all creative and the inspiration will strike me at some time and I’ll create this magical treatise the world will unite behind.

But that shit doesn’t happen.

So I learned the disciplined portion of it and the value of the rewrite. Get it out. Put words on the page. Advance the story paragraph by excruciating paragraph. Eventually, my right brain takes over and kicks in, finding pieces of the story I didn’t know existed. I’m learning that’s part of the process too.

How do you manage continuity?

Terra: I am laughing out loud right now because I really don’t think there was good continuity. Even after the first and second book were published, I was going back and making changes in order to fit the storyline of the next books. I really like to come full circle, so to speak, in my books, and make sure there are no loose ends. So in writing the fourth and final book (which has been probably the most difficult to write), I am trying to tie everything up. This means revisiting issues that maybe weren’t mentioned since the first book. And you?

Christopher: Continuity is, for me, a bitch. I figure the first book is set in stone—I can’t modify that story at all. What I keep doing is going back to the original, making sure I maintain the events or words. I never wanted to be one of those “spreadsheet authors”—you know the ones who build character sheets and plots through spreadsheets—but I understand the value of it. I guess it beats flipping back into my old book to try and remember what I said or the color of someone’s eyes. I’m currently working on my spreadsheet…

 

 Please post questions of your own!  Christopher and I will both be available to answer them!

E-book AND Print Book; No Versus About It

A few weeks ago, my kids and I were wasting time waiting for a movie to start (Brave – it was great; you should see it), and we came across a small, used bookstore. The experience was, to say the least, awesome. We each found our place in the store, lost among the shelves and shelves of books.

The kids picked a book to buy, and as we checked out the owner commended each of their choices and told them, “great job – keep on reading.”

I’ll say it again, it was a great experience. Compare that with the experience surrounding my e-reader. My Nook is a prized possession. It stays hidden, sometimes even while I’m reading. There is no way I will share it with my kids and their clumsy, dirty hands.

Now, I could choose to get them each their own. But something tells me they will get loaded with game apps, lost, or broken in no time at all. With three kids, it would be an expensive endeavor.

Granted, I would never give up my Nook – and do think it is the future of reading, but why do we have to choose one or the other?  We don’t – it’s all about balance. We can incorporate both into our lives:

Yes, my photo-shop skills need some work. I am sitting on the books while reading my Nook because I couldn’t fit my butt in the tiny purple chair. Also, I am normally wearing shoes when shopping in public…

But to do so, technology – and people – have a long way to go. We need to make content more ‘shareable’: Here’s how, specifically:

1. Allow users to gift their entire libraries. According to one article from SmartMoney Blog, “Someone who owned 10,000 hardcover books and the same number of vinyl records could bequeath them to descendants, but legal experts say passing on iTunes and Kindle libraries would be much more complicated.” Already, my iTunes library has turned out to be quite the investment, at least for my modest salary, so it is definitely something I want to see passed on.

2. Better E-book systems in our public libraries. Along the same lines of sharing, public libraries have lendable e-books, but not a whole lot are available and there are long waiting lists. It is a system worth making the investment to improve.

3. Donate used e-books: When I buy an e-book and am finished reading, it stays put in my e-reader. Why can’t I donate it to a bookstore, school, or a friend? Limited lending programs (two weeks or so) by Amazon and B&N don’t cut it. I don’t own digital rights to the material, so there isn’t a form of transfer that isn’t considered piracy.

Shareable ebook sites are starting to make their debut, but so is the legal department of Amazon. Amazon briefly revoked Lendle’s access, which proves the industry has a ways to go as far as shareable content. Furthermore, most sharing sites are only available in the US.

DRM (digital rights management) is something authors establish with their ebooks when they first publish. No piracy? Sounds great to me. Wrong! My books can still be pirated, and it just makes ‘sharing’ all that more difficult for the reader. Unfortunately, once DRM is selected for a book, the author cannot go back and change it.

So what can we do about it? The e-book industry is largely a customer-driven operation, much more so than the print industry ever was. Let’s use that to our advantage. Give feedback, and lots of it, anywhere you can. Ask for Demand for more shareable content!

I acknowledge shareable digital content may be a difficult thing to accomplish, seeing as how the industry finally has a pseudo-way to control content.  I mean, by sharing and donating hard copy books, were we just committing ‘analog piracy’ all along? Keep in mind, though (and maybe this is something we should remind publishers), they’ve still managed to sell books, despite all the ‘sharing’.   The same would apply to e-books.

On that note, have a great labor day weekend everyone!

The Power of Small Steps

I recently petitioned our local swim and tennis club to replace their old, unused, dilapidated tennis courts with a community garden, offering to head the fundraising and operations myself. Their lack of response tells me the interest just isn’t there. Frustrated that others couldn’t see the incredible value in this (I’ll spare you the point paper I put together), I was overwhelmed, and overjoyed to say the least, to come across a particular video on the TED Talks.

Pam Warhurst heads Incredible Edible, an initiative in Todmorden, England, that encourages growing food in the community, wherever there is space. The curb areas in front of houses, around the police station, even in cemeteries. Can you imagine going to the doctor for a routine appointment and leaving with a few fresh-picked tomatoes? Can you imagine your children walking by their food source every day to school? This is a community wide investment to ourselves, our children, and the environment, through the common language of food. The small step of shared gardens, bringing back our pollinators, changing the way we interact, changing the very system of food production and how we live our lives.

I could of course, go on and on, but I’ll let you experience the initiative yourself. Please spare 13 minutes to watch the below video and please, please, please share it. Pass it along; hopefully you can get just as excited about it as I am!

More about the Incredible Edible initiative can be found here.  Look for one of the initiatives near you, or better yet – start one yourself!

A Sense of Community

Today, as part of the ‘Celebrate Community Blog Hop’ hosted by Pavarti at Fighting Monkey Press, I’d like to share with you a very special community I become involved with over the summer.

This is a picture of my oldest son, preparing to dive in for the 11-12 year old 50 meter freestyle race. Swim team participation runs rampant during the summer, at least here in Northern Virginia. See all those people in white shirts holding timers? They are just a small part of what it takes to run a swim meet, and the swim team as a whole. 42 volunteers people. 42!!!  This is how many is required to help run the meet.

Data entry, relay takeoff judge, stroke and turn judges, marshals, table workers, runners, timers, announcers…take a deep breath…chief judge, head timer, assistant head time, swim team representatives, coaches, clerk of course, snack bar workers and scorers. I’m sure I’m leaving a few out here. Anyway, you get the picture – it takes a lot of people to make swim season happen for our kids.

But the point is, it happens. It happens in thousands of neighborhood communities. Summer after summer, we pull together through early morning practices, weekend meets, late Monday nights, fundraisers…take a deep breath…ice cream socials, potluck dinners, spirit nights…wow – hopefully I’m not convincing every parent right now to stay away from the swim teams. Because to tell you the truth, pictures like the one above make it all worthwhile.

Go to Fighting Monkey Press to check out the rest of the posts on community!