Monday madness, new release, chatting, and other assorted insanity.

You know, a smart, organized person would have written this post up in advanced and had it scheduled to go live automatically.

I am apparently not that person.

For starters, I'm chatting over on Goodreads today and tomorrow, on the BDSM group there. It's a discussion forum kind of format, so you can drop in anytime. Feel free to participate in the chat or the Q&A or just hang out. :)

Goodreads BDSM group link

Tonight I've got DnD with friends, and have been working on refreshing myself with the rules. We're playing 3.5 and I stopped playing somewhere around the original or AD&D version, with a lot of GURPS mixed in. I'm picking it back up, though. Yay! I still have trouble figuring modifiers sometimes, because we weren't using the D20 system way back then. (Geez, that makes me feel fracking old! LOL)

Also, Dexter -- WHAT THE FUCK??? I am really pissed off. I thought no show could come up with a series end worse than The Sopranos did.

I was, sadly, wrong.

If you haven't watched all of Dexter, stop at about season 4. Seriously. Just stop.

And do NOT download IOS7 yet. UGH. I made the mistake of going ahead and putting it on my iPad, and I. HATE. IT. In addition to it looking cheesy, they took away the swipe-to-delete function on email, and that REALLY pisses me off. I should have known better not to update, but I did it anyway. I should have learned. I will NOT be updating my iPhone 4S anytime soon. GRRR!

I also have a new release today! Hope Heals is live on BookStrand's site. It'll take 4-6 weeks to hit third-party outlets like Kindle, Nook, etc. but you can buy the various formats there and manually transfer them (some tablets/devices support direct downloading), OR if you have a Kindle, you can enter your device's email address into your BookStrand account, and they'll send the file TO your device for you. Easy-peasey!

Kindle how-to link for BookStrand

Hope Heals on BookStrand

People ask me if I pull from real life for my books, and this book is a prime example of that. In my mind, the Heckmans' property is the property my dad's parents used to own while I was growing up in, yes, Odessa, Florida. My grandmother's sister lived next door (in Betty's house, in my mind). They had some sort of long-term war going on, however. My grandmother took great pride in waiting to burn leaves and stuff until the wind was just right and blowing smoke over toward her sister's house. LOL Next door to them, on the same property, was a tiny wood house built by my great-grandparents'. Although, in my revisionist history I've transformed that into the large, spacious home the Hope men now own.

Nope, no goats, chickens, pigs, horses, or steers (with or without tennis balls) in sight, although we did have dogs. And they didn't have a pool, just a lake. (Why on earth would they have a pool when they had a lake? LOL seriously, that was their mindset.)

I remember lots of times my dad loading up a couple of mowers (they sold and repaired them) on the trailer, and taking me and my sister over there, and we'd spend hours happily zooming around and mowing.

Yeah, who'd a thunk free child labor could have so much fun? LOL We only lived a few minutes away from them, and had fun swimming in the lake. I learned how to water ski on that lake.

The shop Dana works at really exists, although the man who runs it, his name is Rick, and he's awwwweeeesoooommme. (In fact, I have an appointment with him later this week. Time for more blue highlights. LOL)

One of the highlights of my grandmother's life was when former Tampa Bay Buccaneer bought a house one property over from them and moved in. She proudly showed us a couple of large frames she scavenged from their garbage, giggling that they used to belong to someone famous. (I don't know if she ever reused those frames or not, or just enjoyed knowing they were now hers and had been touched by fame.)

They eventually sold that property and moved farther north in the state to be closer to my aunt. It no longer resembles the house they owned, because the new owners gutted, rebuilt, and expanded, and added a barn and horses. The little wooden house is also gone. My grand-aunt's house is still there, owned by her son. But my memories of the place will live on.

Books are funny things. Sometimes, I'll get a single line of dialogue or snippet of an idea, or even a title. Sometimes, it's a character, or more than one character, but no plot. Sometimes, the whole idea slams into me and forces me to write it out of my brain just to shut it the hell up.

Hope Heals was the latter. I was lying in bed with Hubby one night, trying to go to sleep, when the scene where Sarah is questioning her dad about Big Mac's tennis ball slammed into my mind. My eyes popped open and in five minutes, the whole plot was THERE. I had to get up, get my laptop, and start writing. I got that scene written immediately, which was enough to satisfy "the voices," apparently, into letting me go to sleep.

I got up the next morning, read through it, and still thought it was good. Although I wasn't sure it was as funny as I thought it was. So I called Hubby in, he read it, and laughed his ass off.

If  I can make him laugh out loud, then I know it's funny.

So that's how Hope Heals made it to life, asshole ninja assassin pet goats and all. :) I hope you enjoy it.

And yes, there likely will be more stories from that gang in the future. Nothing concrete from "the voices" yet, but they're rumbling. My other stories that this one bumped are still chattering more loudly at me, so I'm back to working on those.

Happy Monday! :)

How long until your books get on Kindle/Nook/Kobo/etc.?

Remember, if you have a Kindle or Nook (or whatever) you don't have to wait until my books come out at third-party stores to buy them. You can get them directly from Siren-BookStrand on release day!

Kindle - Set up your Siren-BookStrand account with your Kindle email address, and make sure your Kindle is account is set up to receive emails. OR, use the USB cable, download the file (.prc/.mobi) to your computer, then drag and drop it to the Documents folder on your Kindle like you would as if it were an external hard drive.

http://www.sirenbookstrand.com/customers/kindle.htm

Nook - Buy the .epub format, download the file to your computer, and drag and drop it via USB cable to your Nook's Documents folder.

http://www.sirenbookstrand.com/customers/nook.htm

Kobo - I believe Kobo uses .epub as well, so ditto the Nook procedure.

http://www.sirenbookstrand.com/customers/kobo.htm

Sony, et. all - You should be able to download your format (consult your reader's documentation) and transfer it to your reader.

http://www.sirenbookstrand.com/customers/ipad.htm
http://www.sirenbookstrand.com/customers/sony.htm

You can also use the Calibre e-book software to manage your book files: http://calibre-ebook.com/

Kobo comparison part one.

Well, because I'm a geek addicted to gadgets, I picked up a Kobo e-reader from Sprawlmart today. (They also sell nook and I believe Sony and another reader I'd never heard of and can't remember.)

So far, I'm not impressed.

I paid $129. For $20 more, you can get a basic nook.

Pros: lightweight, not a lot of bells and whistles.

Cons: not a lot of bells and whistles, so far haven't succeeded in making it recognize my wireless network.

You can drag and drop content directly to the reader on your desktop, or supposedly wirelessly (but since I can't make it connect to my WiFi network, I can't try that).

As I play with it more, I'll report. I also want a color nook, but I haven't been able to get my hands on one yet. LOL

So far, my favorites are (in order of preference): nook, Kindle (close second), iPad, Sony e-reader (PR-505 is the model we have, an older one), Kobo.

I can also read on my Droid X, and that's not bad at all.

iPad notes and comparisons (part 4)

Are you sick of me and my iPad yet? LOL

Well, I have the plug-in keyboard dock for my iPad, but one serious limitation of that is you're stuck in portrait mode, limiting your screen space. I don't like that. So I ended up buying a Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000 yesterday that works great. That was an interesting story. Let me tell it, literally as verbatim as I can remember.

Me: *walking into national office supply store chain, to woman who works there who'd just asked if she could help me* Looking for a bluetooth keyboard.

*Note, I didn't have my glasses on, so I had to squint to read.*

Her: Oh, let me get Bob (or whatever his name was) to help us. *She flags kid over.*

Him: Yes?

Me: I need a bluetooth keyboard for my iPad. *By this time I'd squinted enough to spot a sign over his shoulder that said "bluetooth" on one of the keyboards on display.*

Him: We don't have any bluetooth keyboards.

Me: None?

Him: Nope. Sorry, we don't sell them.

Me: *pointing* What's that?

Her: *laughing* Looks like it says bluetooth. *Mind you, she works with him and is enjoying his fucktardary at his expense.*

Him: *frowning* It won't work with a Mac. It's for PC only.

Me: *grabbing box from other woman who obligingly handed it to me* It says here it'll work on Macs or PCs.

Him: It won't work on your iPad.

Me: *arching eyebrow* Why not?

Him: It just won't. But you have fourteen days to return it. *slouches off*

Needless to say, I bought it, it works fine. Ironic it's a Microsoft keyboard and works on an iPad. I like that. It suits me.

iPad notes and comparisons (part 3)

Okay, I've been tooling around the iPad App store and found some gems I'm going to be trying out and reporting back on. Keep in mind I'm reviewing this gadget from the perspective of a professional writer first, reader second, and nerdgasming geek third.

Also keep in mind I'm a speed touch typist, meaning the "keyboard" really pisses me off because it limits me to a two-fingered (more or less) hunt and peck system. Frankly, the iPad is never going to be a portable "replacement" for me, especially since I've got the Wi-Fi only version. (It's not practical for me for checking email when I'm on the road and not near a Wi-Fi source.) At home I run only PC laptops, not a Mac in sight. To interface and transfer files like ebook files I have to use the iTunes software. (When my iPad is connected to my wireless router via Wi-Fi, I can download apps directly from the Apple App Store, and apparently some of the file transfer programs I've got to experiment with allow direct Wi-Fi connection to my laptops but I haven't played with that yet.)

I have a BlackBerry, which all my mail funnels into. I've also used the note taking feature on it before to jot stuff down, or email myself notes. I've used it for reading e-books with the Kindle and Mobi apps too. (I need to see if there's a B&N app for it.) My calendar and contacts are synced automagically with my Google calendar and contacts.

e-Book apps:

iBooks - Default app, you can load .epub books (non DRMd) that you already have via iTunes, or .pdf files. (There's a switch in the interface to change modes.) You can also buy and download books from the Apple bookstore.

Kindle - Free app you download from the App store. Works pretty much like you'd think it does if you're familiar with how the Kindle app for PC and other devices works. Adds another virtual Kindle to your account.

B&N - Ditto. You can download your B&N books from your account into it.

Notetaking/writing/journal apps:

Notes - The default app that comes with the iPad and looks like a virtual legal pad. (The menu shows up automagically if you have the iPad rotated to landscape mode.)

Pages - Paid app, if you need a word processor, this is apparently the biggest one available right now. You can export to .doc files if you're normally running a PC with Word or Open Office.

Notebooks - Paid app. You can set up different "books" and add notes to them. You can set up passcode protection on some or all of the books/notes. Export to mail and other options. Lots of features.

Daily Notes - Snazzier interface, you can also passcode protect, set up tabs, but you're limited to one note per tab per day, so if you want a bunch of notes under one tab (say you have one for work notes) they'd all be under one day, whereas in Notebooks you can separate them by note and by "book." Lots of features.

EasyTask - App (can't remember if it was free or paid). To-do list management.

iBrainstorm - Haven't played much with this one yet, so can't give you an opinion on it.

MomentDiary - Basic journaling software.

Secret Diary - Another journaling software.

Calendars:

Calendar - Default included option. You can sync it to Google Calendar. (That's what I use, so I can't speak to other options.)

Informant HD - Paid app, uber-calendar for those needing more details, you can also sync it to Google Calendar (among others).

Contacts:

I use the default contacts, synced to my Google contacts.

Mail:

I'm using the default mail, with my Google accounts synced into it.

Misc:

Facebook
Twitter
AccuWeather
WeatherStation
TWC Max+ (The Weather Channel)
Connect (Memeo Connect Reader - lets me view my Google Docs)
Y! Messenger
GoodReader (pdf manager, but that was before I realized iBooks reads .pdfs)
Netflix
BlogPress (mentioned in earlier post)

I've also loaded some various news apps, like BBC, Mashable, AP News, etc.

So for now, that's what I've got. I will continue to update stuff as I go through it in more detail.

iPad notes and comparisons (part 2)

Okay I did some research and found this app for the iPad called BlogPress and I'm obviously experimenting with it now. It was $3 I think. You can also use it for Facebook and Twitter posts and a couple of other things. So there is a workaround for basic blog updating, but IMO, it's not a perfect solution. I'd prefer a dedicated Blogger interface. But that's just me.

Meanwhile, the iPad exploration continues...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

iPad notes and comparisons (part 1)

I've been playing with my new toy, our 32g iPad. We have the one that's Wi-Fi only, because at home we have a wireless router.

Some notes - if you're like me and want to sync your Google contacts and calendar to it, don't set it up with the Gmail option, go to Google's site first and read up on how to set it up so it pulls all that information:

http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=138740

Here's another article about it:

http://www.gilsmethod.com/how-to-sync-your-gmail-google-contacts-and-calendar-with-the-ipad

You have to use the Microsoft Exchange option for email and plug your Gmail account in that way. It's kind of a pain in the butt, but it's doable.

Yes, you can (if you're like me) add several Gmail accounts to your iPad at once. The interface is a little bulky for my tastes, but usable.

If you're like me and you're a PC and not a Mac person, some things like the Safari (web browser) interface might feel a little funky. Personally, I'm not fond of iTunes as a vehicle for file syncing and transferring, because it always seems to want to re-sync stuff I don't want touched, etc. I wish Apple had allowed users to interface with the iPad quickly, easily, and painlessly with the same file management you have in Windows. (Which I've seen older versions of Mac and you can move files/folders that way too, not sure if newer versions of the OS took that away, but whatever.) There are some ways to transfer files via Wi-Fi, but if you're not a geek, chances are you might find yourself a little frustrated.

Ebooks, if formatted properly, look nice. Backlit, so those who want that can read in the dark, but to me it's hard on the eyes for long-term reading. I like the finger touching to turn a page. However, the screen gets marked up like crazy as a result and must be wiped down.

Battery life isn't as long as the Kindle or nook, and even my little Toshiba Satellite if I have the screen brightness turned down and I'm only running one program like Word is fairly comparable. The nook battery is replaceable, Kindle and iPad isn't. (Don't think my Sony is, but don't know about the newer Sony readers.)

Now, I play very few games on a computer, I don't do a lot of video watching or music listening (I have an iPod and use that). I can see where someone who does a lot of that would benefit from an iPad over another reader. You can download the Kindle app for the iPad (free) and read Kindle books on it, ditto the B&N app for your nook books. So if you have your computer, a Kindle (and/or nook), and the iPad hooked up to the same account, your family isn't fighting over the ereader. LOL

I don't like the layout of the iPad bookstore. It doesn't feel very user-friendly, then again like many people, I'm spoiled by the Kindle store layout.

Also, I'm a touch typist. I have to say that typing without a "real" keyboard takes a lot of getting used to and it's annoying being reduced to a two-fingered hunt and peck system. I'm going to have to look at the keyboard charger/dock they've got for the iPad.

Unlike nook or Kindle, you can load apps for various things including social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. So if that's important to you, you'll like that. But if you already have an iPhone, you're basically loading the same apps you use for that device. Since you can also get apps for things like Netflix (Did you know you can max out a Netflix queue? We did that. LOL) you can use it for things like home entertainment. Since we have a wireless router, that means hubby can be watching something through Netflix on the Wii in the living room and I can be sitting in the bedroom watching something else.

Unfortunately, when I tried to compose this blog post on the Safari browser, it wouldn't let me type in the text box, so there's some sort of conflict there. This means your functionality, while greater than on a Kindle or nook (which both have rudimentary browsers) is still reduced compared to a laptop or even some smart phones. (I've done some research, and apparently it's a known issue. You can set up your Blogger account to do the posting from email, but that means you can't go back and easily edit on the fly. So if you're planning on using the iPad as an on-the-go Blogger tool, think again. I don't know yet if there are workarounds because I tried one suggested one, using the Edit Html post mode, and it didn't work for me. Maybe if there was a Firefox or Chrome iPad app (hint to developers, please, thank you). I thought I might have a workaround with the browser built into the Readdle Docs app, but apparently it's Safari-based too.

I bought the Pages app and will test that as a back-up word processor. Supposedly you can export into .doc format, so it might be an option for me as a back-up, but if I seriously anticipated being on the go, I'd have my laptop with me.

I still have to say I prefer reading on my nook or Kindle or even the Sony because the e-ink screen is easier on my eyes. (I use a booklight like I would for a regular book.) The backlighting for reading isn't easy on my eyes.

If you want a dedicated e-reader, stick with Kindle, nook, or Sony, IMO. If you want a gadget, sure, the iPad is cool for that. And yes, you have the added bonus of being able to add the Kindle and B&N apps onto it so it's like three in one. (Sony doesn't apparently have a reader app for the iPad yet.) But if you have a laptop, or even a smart phone, and you're looking for an e-reader, you can save a lot of money and not need to plop extra money down for a 3G connection like you do with an iPad. If I go off somewhere and want an e-book, unless I'm near a Wi-Fi connection, I can't get squat on the iPad. But the nook and Kindle, usually you can (unless you're not in a service area). And there's no additional subscription for the wireless for the nook and Kindle like for the iPad.

On the iPad, you can't multi-task and there's no tabs for browsing which, I must say, I'm used to. If I want a computer for browsing, I want a laptop computer so I can really browse.

As I use it more, I'll post another review.

New toy!!

Happy anniversary to us, we are now the proud owners of a 32g iPad. I'm working on a comparison to it versus my small Toshiba laptop, Kindle, nook, and Sony reader.