Birthday Presents and the Friendly Skies

Filed in: blog | events | friends and family | slice of life | travel    Tags: alison goodman | EON | kindle | MCRW | signing | workshop

Guest spot: Trish Milburn interviewed me for Romance Bandits. The post is up today. Come by and reminisce about what games you used to play

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I got my birthday present early from hubby!

Isn’t she all pretty and shiny? I love my Kindle already. I didn’t need to hook up a single cable to sync it with my Kindle apps on my computer. Yes, apps plural, because I have an app on each laptop so I can read from anywhere. I’ve also downloaded a couple of sample chapters and bought a couple of titles on it. Hubby is happy that I like it, and I think he’s also happy I didn’t ask for the iPad instead which was about three times the price.

One book that I couldn’t find on Kindle was EON by Alison Goodman. No worries because that very same day, a package arrived in the mail from Little Sis. Apparently, we still share the same brain, because she’d sent me a hardcopy of EON for my birthday.

She said she hasn’t read it yet, but had an idea I might like it. How did she know? Just because there’s a woman wielding two swords and a dragon on the cover doesn’t necessarily mean that…Okay, so it was an easy call.

Little Sis said she sent EON to me so I’d have reading material on the plane, but she needn’t have worried. I gushed to her about the Kindle and how tiny it was. No more big bulky books on planes. No more grabbing something from the newsstand in the airport when I don’t have anything to read.

Through a last minute arrangement with the day job, I’m going to be flying on my birthday (Nov. 16) to NYC. Perhaps I can meet up with a couple friends for drinks. I feel so cosmopolitan.

After that, I get a quick stop at home before I head to Nashville for a workshop and signing. I’ll get a chance to visit with my fellow Ruby Sister Kim Law.

That’s a lot of flying for one week, so I’m glad I have my nifty new Kindle. With all the traveling I’ve done in the past, surprisingly I’ve never flown on my birthday before. Hubby said the airline gave him a bottle of wine when he had to fly on his birthday. I don’t know if service is that good nowadays. Maybe an extra bag of pretzels?

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But I don’t have an e-reader…

Filed in: blog | ebooks | new releases    Tags: digital formats | ebooks | eharlequin | kindle | nook | the taming of mei lin

The Taming of Mei Lin will be available as a digitally published short story on Wednesday, September 1. I’ve had more than one person contact me, concerned that they wouldn’t be able to read it because they didn’t have a reader. I’ve also had people ask about what format they should use.

I’m thrilled that people want to read the story enough to take a foray into e-reading. Actually, I’m thrilled that people want to read “Mei Lin” period. I hope you enjoy it and it’s worth the jump into digital reading.  I wanted to give a quick run down of the electronic formats in which the story is available depending on where you purchase it.

First, eHarlequin. Many people have gone to eHarlequin to search for “Mei Lin”, but the story won’t be listed there until September 1 which is the release date. Trust me, I will be updating all my links and telling the world next week!!

eHarlequin can be quite intimidating! There are so many links. It can be found under the “Ebook Store” section under “Exclusively in Ebook” and then “Harlequin Historical Undone”.

The four formats available are Adobe EPUB, Adobe PDF, Microsoft eBook, and Microsoft MOBI.

The Adobe formats can be read on any laptop or computer. You need to download Adobe Digital Editions — which is no biggie for me since you have to have a plug-in to read regular Adobe PDFs as well. This is how I read my downloads from eHarlequin. I like the format and how the chapters and the text look.  (The text has been blurred on purpose so I don’t get nabbed for unauthorized use of Stephanie Draven’s Wild, Tethered, Bound.)

Adobe Digital Editions - Read on your Laptop or PC

The Microsoft eBook format can be used on any Windows platform once you download the Microsoft eBook software. Activation is required — which I’m assuming means you give your information to Microsoft when you get the download and they send you a key. Microsoft MOBI is for use with the Mobi device.

Next up: Amazon. The Taming of Mei Lin is for sale through Amazon for the Kindle. This is most suitable for reading if you have the device. There is also software you can download to read Kindle files on your computer.

Finally: Barnes & Noble. Similar to Amazon, you can purchase “Mei Lin” here for the Nook. This is best used if you have a Nook device. There may also be software that allows you to read it on your computer.

It seems like a lot to take in, but once you pick a format and use it, I’ve found that reading on my computer is quite convenient and the text quality is really good. But I’m shackled to my computer for most of the day, as you know. That alone might be worth getting a reader in the future. I need to unhook from this thing before it starts to assimilate me….

All in all, I’m very pleased that people want to read The Taming of Mei Lin! I hope you enjoy it and that the digital format doesn’t chase anyone away.

*The free download of The Taming of Mei Lin for the September 15 Launch Celebration drawing will be from eHarlequin so it will be available in one of the four formats listed above.

*Edited to add — it appears an iPad is able to download and read Kindle formats as well as Nook  and Borders eBook. It shouldn’t have any issues with Adobe EPUB or PDF either. More brownie points for the iPad!

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