Tag Archives: real books

February 13, 2012 · 2:10 pm

Save our local libraries

Living in a rural community in Bedfordshire I am so aware of the importance of the local library service especially for the younger and older members of the family. The memories of going to a library as a child are extremely precious for me, to treasure in the same way as going into a sweetshop. Bookshops too are fantastic for kids but there’s nothing like a child being able to browse though a variety of colourful picture books to choose for themselves the ones to borrow for the week ahead. When it is time to leave, what a fantastic way to teach values for a child to take their chosen books to be scanned, stamped in my day of course, and put carefully into Mum, Dad’s or Grandma’s shopping bag. This is even more true for towns which have no bookshop in which to browse. You just can’t get the same relationship with or feel for an online book.

Once at home it’s wonderful for children to experience the rare quiet and solitude of being absorbed in a book, letting their imagination to soar in their fantasy world. This is totally different to watching TV or playing games on the internet. Then of course there’s sharing a book at bedtime. What a soothing end to a child’s day!

For manyof us, our busyworking have cut out the simple pleasure of visiting the library for books, although I have used mine for research purposes, even ordering books unavailable locally. For a small fee I even had one book sent over from a library in Guernsey. That’s service for you. I have also given three talks now in my local libraries, all very enjoyable experiences; platforms to speak of my journey into writing to interested people. As for using the library on a regular basis I have to admit that I don’t. I am torn between using the library and the need to support my favourite local bookshop Horatio’s in Ampthill, with an apostrophe that is! I would be upset if either closed.

During my talks I am aware that other main libray users are people in retirement with more time on their hands to read and less disposable income, especially due to extremely low interest rates on their savings in the last few years. The library is a fantastic, endless resource of reading matter of their choice but it is also a meeting place and somewhere with internet access if they have no computer at home. In the larger libraries there is often a cafe too. The other group, who may have more time to spare to enrich their lives by reading library books, are those unfortunate to be not employed for whatever reason.

With all this in mind I fully support campaigns to keep our local libraries open but like any othet local facility, if you don’t use it, you lose it!

What do you do to support your libraries? Do let me know.

 

Another surprising use of Ampthill library I’ve just discovered in looking for photos is on the blog of Nadine Dorris. Here you can find a picture of the friendly staff at Ampthill library praised for looking after the MP during her surgery.

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Filed under Book reading, Book Shops, Libraries, Research

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July 7, 2011 · 2:02 pm

e book revolution – From a writer on the edge

I have read several articles recently about the e book revolution and how it is changing not only how we read, publish and advertise our writing but also that the whole industry is in a state of flux from publishing companies to bookshops. As a writer this can be quite exciting, albeit a bit daunting. Personally I feel as if I’m standing on the fringe, on the outside of a revolution watching it happen, almost as if I’m watching a fast action movie, when you’re left in suspense but your brain is trying to tell you it’s not real.

Years ago I had a similar experience in a space simulator at Universal Studios.  However hard I told myself that I was sitting in a capsule which was suspended over a 3D screen and that we had barely moved half a metre since the start of the ‘flight’, the signals to my brain were contradicting reality and I felt as if I’d journeyed through several time zones, shooting through the air, narrowly missing buildings towering in front of me. Later on in a theatre I even felt mice rushing under my feet. How did they do that?

I digress. Form all the articles I’ve read, I’ve been gleaning how it all affects me as I write?

  • It gives choices barely contemplated a couple of years ago
  • It provides opportunities for writing to be available to an audience almost immediately
  • With Social Media Networking it is possible to reach that audience equally fast, to all parts of the globe
  • The writer appears to have more control over their writing

I’ve said nothing new here so what are the pitfalls:

  • Ensuring that the quality of the writing is not undermined
  • Not being tempted to short cut the vital editorial process. The final novel should still be as perfect as possible before it reaches the public
  • The writer’s time is no longer taken exclusively with the creativity of research, writing and proof reading but in experiencing hands on marketing in a way never seen before, a far cry from the odd book signing or library talk of the past- this can be a positive thing but it is also very time consuming
  • The novel itself, the creation which took months of painstaking work, can be read and deleted almost as instantly as it arrived, whoosh, back into the ether

Do you think the two worlds will be able to live amiably side by side for a while?

I do hope so because as a reader there’s nothing quite like reading a real book and there are those I’ve kept for years because I treasure them so much. Sometimes life is just too instant. How do you wrap up an e book to put under the Christmas tree and think of the festive season without anticipation of wondering which book lies inside the wrapping?

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Filed under Book Shops, Marketing your novel, Reading a novel, Writing, Writing a novel

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