Falling in Love

Kindle Paperwhite - Guenette photo

I have fallen madly in love with my new Kindle Paperwhite! Okay, I was more than ready for the plunge. Having been without an e-reader for several days, I may have been slightly desperate. But all kidding aside, this Paperwhite is truly the cat’s meow.

Let me tell you why. It has cured me of my extreme fear of touching an electronic screen. The ease with which I can manoeuvre through the functions is amazing. I was able to create collections and file almost all of my books in next to no time. That type of thing took forever with my old Kindle. Watch out Emma, Subway Surfer here I come.

But here is the real kicker. This new version has its own email address. I can send Word documents to my own Kindle via email and when I open them up they are almost perfectly formatted for reading. Wow! At first this may not seem like such a ground shaking thing but let me elaborate. While traveling, if I would like to review a manuscript, I can’t always whip my laptop out everywhere I go. But a jazzy-looking Kindle is ideal. It is truly no bigger than a small paperback and barely a quarter of an inch thick.

And there’s more! (Oh my goodness – I’m starting to sound like a late-night info commercial for Kinsu knifes.) I have discovered that reading on this new e-reader is the perfect way to do my final proofreading. Two weeks ago, my editor and I finished line-by-line edits for Maelstrom. I let it sit for a week, emailed the Word document over to the new Paperwhite and started doing my final proofread. I see things on the Kindle screen that I would never pick up on my laptop or even on a hardcopy. There is something about such a different way of looking at this material that makes typos, extra words and even little bits of strange spacing jump out at me.

I’m glad I live in a semi-isolated area. If I was spotted yesterday, strolling up and down my deck with my e-reader in hand, reading aloud, suffice to say observers may have thought I had lost my marbles. But no! I was proofreading. And why sit when one can be in motion?

I am now busy with formatting and looking forward to a fall publication date for Maelstrom.

Bear in the Mountain Ash - Guenette photo

I’ll leave you today with a photo I snapped from the deck last week when our drop-in bear decided to scoot his way up the Mountain Ash tree. As branches cracked and snapped around him, he merrily chomped away on the bright red berries. That is, until Bruce pitched a well-aimed rock at him, shouting all the while, “Get out of that tree you crazy bear.” We were both amazed at the easy leap said clumsy-looking bear took from that tree to the ground, ambling away as if he had not just suffered the indignity of being beaned by a rock in the hindquarters. Not even five minutes later, he was back harvesting salal berries right behind the kitchen. It takes a lot to deter a bear from eating at this time of year.

Bear behind the kitchen - Bruce Witzel photo

Reminds me of this photo I snapped of a squirrel right outside the back door. He was far more interested in eating than in running for safety. Getting a full belly is currently the prime directive in the animal world.

Squirrel - Guenette photo

18 comments on “Falling in Love

  1. smilecalm says:

    wow, it’s like
    a book
    but better!
    nice to see
    the furry neighbors 🙂

  2. evelynralph says:

    I have a Kindle Paperwhite. Not this years, about three years. Dgtr says she thinks I can do that as well. Thanks for the info. Must check it out.
    Evelyn. Ps she reads you can spray disinfectant around to deter visitors.

    • I’m laughing, Evelyn, as I imagine walking around the place and spraying disinfectant. We’d need a lot. Though, close to the decks might not be a bad idea. Many thanks for the suggestion and do check out the email feature for your Paperwhite.

  3. noelleg44 says:

    I love my Paperwhite, too!

  4. I have an old Kindle. Hmm, you make a good argument to upgrade to the Paperwhite. That bear is cute but I’m not sure how I’d feel if he was hanging around my back yard!

    • Another feature that I’m loving with the Paperwhite, is the way the light adjusts as you walk from a light room to a darker one. Pretty cool. I’m not too keen on that bear getting too close to the cabin. I’m with you on that one.

  5. Behind the Story says:

    I was satisfied with my old Kindle until I read this. I’ll hold out for a little while longer. I especially like the idea, though, of walking around while editing. I get tired of sitting.

    You take such marvelous pictures of your wildlife.

    • Thanks, Nicki. If I hadn’t had that bathtub mishap, I probably would have waited until Christmas and dropped some hints to my kids for a newer version. But I sure love the way things worked out.

  6. It’s odd how changing the medium for draft books makes typos and mistakes more obvious. I tend to order a proof copy on CreateSpace and read that, noting (often with the addition of coloured stickies) the changes to be made. What you didn’t tell us is whether you’ll still read in the bath with your new Paperwhite.

  7. jackiemallon says:

    If you say so (she says unconvinced…Equally unconvinced by the proximity of that black bear…)

    • We recently had a visitor – the human kind – who had never, in her whole life, been on an isolated country road or to a place as remote as our cabin. A real city girl. It was educational to see the journey and our home through her eyes. When you get used to anything, it becomes difficult to get back to that stage when all was new and alternately exciting and scary. I try to imagine myself on the streets of New York and I run into a blank – can’t even picture it. But even this country mouse gives those big old bears lots of space 🙂

  8. jane tims says:

    Hi Fran. I have used my Kobo to proofread too. Walking while working … Thumbs up … Jane

  9. Hi, Fran. For some reason, my comments have failed to appear on other’s blogs, but I think the situation has been fixed. Anyway, I enjoyed reading about your Kindle saga and how thrilled you are with the new one. My wife has an ancient model but loves it over a regular book, mainly because she can enlarge the print to her liking. I, on the other hand, still need the “real” book in my hands. Of course, I’m all for Kindles and Nooks if folks want to read my stories in those formats! 🙂

    • The shift over to reading almost exclusively on the Kindle has been a gradual one for me. And it is one I never would have predicted. I suppose the old saying – never say never – is a good one. Thanks for stopping by, Mark. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.

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