It's Tuesday!

Time again for Tuesday Tales...with original work by 19 authors in a variety of genres.

Check it out here.

What Books Have Inspired You?

I've been reading Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island recently. It's not the first time I've read the book. Not even the 2nd or the 10th. I've been reading the book every year for...well, ever since I was about nine years old. In other words, a long, long time. The marvelous thing about the book, to me, is that no matter how many times I read it, the story is always exciting, the suspense always gripping, and the characters always fresh. I love Stevenson's descriptions. His dialogue, too.

From Treasure Island

...about three o'clock of a bitter, foggy, frosty afternoon, I was standing at the door for a moment, full of sad thoughts about my father, when I saw someone drawing slowly near along the road. He was plainly blind, for he tapped before him with a stick and wore a great green shade over his eyes and nose; and he was hunched, as if with age or weakness, and wore a huge old tattered sea-cloak with a hood that made him appear positively deformed. I never saw in my life a more dreadful-looking figure. He stopped a little from the inn, and raising his voice in an odd sing-song, addressed the air in front of him, "Will any kind friend inform a poor blind man, who has lost the precious sight of his eyes in the gracious defence of his native country, England -- and God bless King George! -- where or in what part of this country he may now be?"

~~~~~

Even now, after all these years, the tap-tap-tapping of the blind man's stick still haunts my dreams.That's the power of well-written prose, and a story well-told.

There are other books, too, I count on my all-time favorites list. They include, in no particular order:

• Room at the Top by John Braine
• A Separate Peace by John Knowles
• The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
• Morgan's Passing by Anne Tyler
• Final Payments by Mary Gordon
• The Women's Room by Marilyn French
• The Finishing School by Gail Godwin
• Hotel by Arthur Hailey
• The Darkness and the Dawn by Thomas B. Costain

That's my top-ten list of stories that have excited me, inspired me, made me stop and think, or in some other way have etched themselves indelibly upon my mind.

What's on your "top-ten" list?

Tuesday Tales

Check out this week's "Tuesday Tales" - a collection of stories and works-in-progress from a talented group of writers. You'll find tales from a variety of genres.

Our "Tuesday Tales" this week are all written from the prompt: GAME.

Coming Soon: Author Spotlight

Beginning next month, I'll be featuring various authors "in the spotlight", talking about their new releases, their inspirations, their aspirations, and everything in-between. I'll be focusing on romance writers, but they'll be from many different sub-genres: paranormal, suspense, erotica, contemporary, historical...to name just a few.

Romance Authors: I'm setting up my "Spotlight" schedule now, so please e-mail me if you'd like to be included. I'll be glad to send you additional information about the feature.

Romance Readers: If you have questions you'd like answered, send them to me!

KCChristinacole@yahoo.com

Confessions of a Kindle Addict

Oh, yes, I remember the old days. Back then, you lugged your books around in a backpack or a library bag, you held them in your hands, felt their weight, turned their pages, and maybe -- just maybe -- you scribbled notes in the margins.

Then, along came technology and people began talking about the end of the book as we knew it.

"Absolutely not. It's never going to happen." That was me talking back then. I laughed at the idea a lot, too. "I don't care what anybody says. Books will never go away."

I loved my computer, yes, but I loved my books more, and as far as I was concerned the twain were never intended to meet. The very thought of sitting in my hard-backed chair reading a book on my computer screen made me wince.

Actually, I did try it. I read a few chapters of Frankenstein on-line, and if you caught my recent post on Facebook, you already know that reading Mary Shelley's classic work is on my list of things-to-do in 2012. In other words, I never got through more than those first few chapters. Reading novels on a computer wasn't my thing and never would be. I was sure of it.

So, for the love of books, I lugged around that heavy backpack. People joked when I went away for a weekend. I couldn't leave home without taking along at least five or six different books. What can I say? My mind jumps from one thing to the next a lot, so I can never predict what I might want to read.

But, of course, technology ignored me and moved on, and while I wasn't looking (I probably had my nose stuck in a hard-bound book somewhere) a slew of new-fangled gadgets came along, all designed to make reading on-line easier and more convenient.

I resisted...as long as I could.

Finally, as I heard more and more about on-line publishing and saw more and more of my author friends' work available on Kindle, I became intrigued. Curiosity soon got the best of me, and I wanted to learn all about this not-so-new-technology I'd shunned for so long. In many ways, I felt a little left out, as though everyone around me were enjoying a festive party, and I'd been too stubborn to even open the invitation.

I downloaded the Kindle reading app for my PC. And for my smartphone. I searched around a bit, found a few free classics. Pride and Prejudice. Treasure Island. And, yes, Frankenstein.

Interesting concept. Free books. On my computer. Better yet, on my phone, tucked away in my purse or a pocket. Now, that was convenient, I had to admit.

Then I heard about other free books. Books on topics that interested me. Books about writing. Books about perfume. I began browsing the Kindle Store like a mad-woman. Search. Sort. Sort by price. Download. Read. Enjoy.

Soon, I was drooling over books that had price tags. My "wish list" began to fill up, and my will power diminished. Sure, why not buy that book? It's only $8.99. And while I'm at it, I'll grab that one, too. Just another $3.99.

Oh, it's so easy! I've become the Queen of One-Click. Say yes, download, start reading. Any time. Anywhere.

Now, imagine the thrill I get as I sit in the reception area of my dentist's office, waiting to be called back for my check-up...all the while reading about erotic massage techniques. Or the joy of brushing up on fiction-writing how-to's while I'm standing in a slow-moving line at the grocery store. And oh, what fun it is when I talk to a friend about my own romance novel and can whip out my smartphone and let them start reading.

For years, I've joked that I don't live in a house, but in a library, instead. My house looks like a library. I have books on shelves in the living room, books on shelves in the kitchen, books on shelves in the bedrooms, books on shelves in the basement. Some of the shelves are double-stacked with books two-deep. Of course, I've run out of shelves, so I have books piled up on the floor in just about every room of the house. Now, as more and more books become available on Kindle, I think about how nice and uncluttered my house might someday be. A biographer once described President James Madison as "the little man with the library in his head", and I've begun to think of myself as "the little old lady with a library in her phone." It's nice.

I do still have my book bag, too, though I rarely use it any longer. My research books are gathering dust on shelves and corners, while the books I use most often are conveniently stored on my smart phone, ready to be opened and read with a few taps on the screen.

Best of all, I can still curl up in bed and read. I can add notes, place bookmarks, and do just about anything with a Kindle book that I could do with a "real" book. And I can do it with a lot less hassle.

Imagine that. Me, becoming an advocate for electronic books. Not a mere advocate, but an addict. A real Kindle junkie who can't go a day without cruising the Kindle store, ferreting out bargains and adding a few new titles to my "wish list."

Who would have ever thought it would happen?

With Gratitude

I want to begin this blog by expressing my gratitude to the many romance authors who have inspired me on my own journey. As a member of the Lovestory group of the Internet Writers' Workshop, I've had the good fortune to get to know romance authors from many different genres. Through my participation in the group, I've read love stories set in Regency England, contemporary tales of love and lust in today's urban landscape, imaginative stories of out-of-this-world romance, and daring romps filled with murder, mystery, mayhem, shape-shifters, and werewolves, as well as inspiring stories with angelic characters who show that sometimes a match really is made in heaven.

I want this blog to be a place where authors can share their thoughts -- about their craft, their latest books, their ideas on marketing and promotion. At the same time, I want this blog to also be a place where readers can visit and get to know the wonderful women -- and men -- on the other side of the page.

Authors, I'll be setting up a regular "Spotlight" feature, so if you're interested in writing a guest piece, or being interviewed for this blog, please e-mail me.

Readers, if you have questions or comments, please let me know. I can be reached at KCChristinaCole@yahoo.com.