Pashing the Kindle

It's been a dizzyingly good day so far, and it's not even lunch time!

First I woke up to a mad flurry of Twitter action that proved Arsenal had actually (for once) put its money where its mouth was and BOUGHT REAL PLAYERS in the eleventh hour of the transfer period. So yes, being slaughtered by Man U was good for something. We have a defensive line again, and a real grown up midfielder with experience rather than potential!

Dizzy, I tell you.

Then I hit the 70,000 word mark on my Nancy Napoleon novel. It's not finished yet, but lurching into the final act, and oh boy. Giant monsters, bitchy goddesses and pretty boys covered in blood. I must get this novel finished while I'm still in love with it!

But the big feature of the day has been my first real chance to play with the new household toy. My honey decided what he wanted for Father's Day was a Kindle, and he's been happily buying & reading books on it for the last two days (father's day came early, obviously).

Now, I was what you would call a Kindlecynic. When it comes to the Mighty Empire of Amazon, I've been backing away slowly, and doing my best to support the less enormous booksellers in our industry. For the most part, I succeeded in this, except for my recent Audible addiction. But I have to admit, the Kindle is pretty awesome. It's so much lighter than the iPad, and so comfortable to read! I was finally able to get hold of Lucy March/Lani Diane Rich's The Fortune Quilt, a book I've been wanting since I first started listening to back episodes of the podcast Will Write for Wine. I've picked up the e-book of Nick Mamatas' Starve Better, which I have been eyeing off for weeks. I've also stocked up on Octavia Butler, the complete works of Mary Shelley and a bunch of other SF and urban fantasy titles – plus my wish list is growing substantially!

I was excited to see when I searched for Nicola Griffith that her Ammonite is available as a pre-order from Gollancz later this month – SF Gateway ahoy!

Oh and, ahem, worth mentioning that my first two Creature Court novels, Power and Majesty & Shattered City, are both available through the Kindle (though I assume only to Australian & NZ readers) and they are looking a bit lonely for lack of reviews. So much so that my honey took pity on me and wrote one himself, which is equal measures of embarrassing and adorable. I'm coming down on the side of adorable. I have so many fantastic reviews over at GoodReads, so it feels churlish to ask, but I would be supremely grateful if any of you with Kindle/Amazon accounts who've read the books could post a review up there, or cut and paste you have already written over at GoodReads. THANK YOU!

From a practical point of view I've noticed only a few niggles – like the books don't disappear from the wishlist when you buy them, and the 'books recommended for you' are full of unavailable titles. For the most part, it's a smooooth reading experience, and the clarity of the screen is almost scary. (John Steinbeck is staring at me right now and I can see every bristle of his moustache!)

So yes, my cynicism has been hurled under the carpet and thoroughly stomped on. Excuse me, but I've done my writing for the day, and there's a skinny pretend book waiting for me to read it. Wheeee!