Writing Gifts (December Theme) by Joan Holub

Who’s afraid of the big bad e-reader? My mom. I bought her a Kindle last year, and she returned it. She said she prefers traditional books. I do, too.

But, really, are traditional books all that great? Or are they just what I’m accustomed to? Traditional books use up trees, they’re tiring to keep propped open, and the reading experience of a poorly printed mass market paperback can be worse than an e-book read. I wonder if it’s just a matter of getting used to a new technology. A technology that’s in transition, hasn’t yet been perfected, and is expensive.

This year, I’ve been in Target looking at Kindles again. I like the Kindle Touch because of the touchscreen. I like the Kindle Fire because it’s color and has a bigger screen. My Goddess Girls writing partner, SuzanneWilliams, just purchased her first Kindle.

And I just bought my first e-reader--an iPad. A used one (the first version) from a friend, who is an early-adopter and has already moved on to the iPad 2. I like the fact that I can dim or lighten the iPad screen in numerous increments as opposed to the Kindle Fire’s limited three choices: white-on-black, black-on-white, or sepia. And, after viewing a picture book on KF’s small screen, I prefer the iPad’s bigger screen.

So this year an iPad was my gift to myself. A reading gift. A gift that will help with my writing, since books are essential to authors. My first e-book buy was our newest title, Goddess Girls #7: Artemis the Loyal, because I wanted to celebrate its December 6th release and to see how it looks in e-format. Fun!

Best wishes to you all for happy holidays and wonderful gifts--traditional or e-otherwise!

~ Joan Holub

Note from Holly Schindler, blog administrator:

Goddess Girls #7: Artemis the Loyal will be in stores on December 6^th.

To celebrate, Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams are giving away a copy if this newest addition to their popular Goddess Girls series.

To enter the giveaway, simply email Suzanne at sw at suzanne-williams dot com with the subject line "Artemis the Loyal Smack Dab Giveaway." The winner be chosen at random on December 16th.

About the book:

It's time for the annual Olympic Games, and the four goddessgirls are not happy--especially Artemis. Even though she's better at sports than most of the godboys, she can't compete because rules say the Games are boys-only. No fair!

Led by Artemis, Athena, Persphone and Aphrodite, the ladies of Mount Olympus hatch a plan to get Zeus to open up the games to everyone. Will they succeed--or end up watching from the sidelines again?