This week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Can you say this sentence describes you? READING IS MY PASSION.
It’s certainly a passion of mine. I feel like writing is my more significant passion, but reading supports the writing too. And purely in terms of time spent on an interest, I spend more time reading than I do on just about anything else!
This week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you read via eBook and if so which one(s) and why?
I suspect all my book-reading friends who know me off the internet have already heard the answer to this question… I do not read ebooks. I still hang onto my paper ones. I very, very rarely read a book on my computer (usually beta-reading for a writer friend).
There are a few reasons I haven’t switched to an ereader. The big one is that reading is my one major activity that doesn’t involve a screen. I work at a computer for most of the day, and in off time I write novels and blog posts, then relax with television… Socializing doesn’t involve screens, but my one solitary leisure activity that doesn’t require a screen is reading. I’m not prepared to give that up!
Advocates of ereaders tell me that it’s not really like a computer screen…but it feels like one to me, when I’ve looked at other people’s devices. People have also pointed out that they can carry 1,000+ books around with them. But I don’t need a thousand books. I carry one book, and the only time this question is really relevant is extended vacations, which only come up about once every two years. Last argument? Ebooks are cheaper than paper ones—but the library is free, and that’s where I get the vast majority of my reading material.
I’m not anti-ebooks for anyone else, but none of the arguments in favor have ever weighed much for me personally. And paper books have a charm and a character and a warmth that no device will match!
I was hunting for a bookish topic for this week, and as I often do, I went looking through the archives of Top Ten Tuesday from the Broke and the Bookish. Which led me to one of their past topics: authors I want another book from!
1) L. M. Montgomery, because, obviously–I’ve run out! But I’d settle for someone publishing the 200 unpublished short stories sitting out of reach in an archive (they’re real, and they’re unpublished!)
2) Edgar Rice Burroughs, not because I’ve run out of his or because I would expect anything new or innovative in one more novel, but–because he never finished John Carter and the Skeleton Men of Jupiter. I don’t want a new novel from him, I want that new novel. And similarly…
3) William Shakespeare. Love’s Labors Won, anyone? A play, not a novel, but close enough.
4) Harper Lee, but only in a perfect world where her second novel was not that terrible book I prefer to pretend doesn’t exist.
5) Terry Pratchett, because…Terry Pratchett! And even though the last Discworld book was satisfying, even though there are others by him I still haven’t read, it still makes me sad that there will be no more new ones.
6) Diana Wynne Jones, because she was the first author who died while I was actively following her work. And I am sad there will be no more new ones from her.
7) Susan Kay, because she only wrote two and one of them was Phantom and my favorite book ever, so what else might she write?
8) Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, who wrote three wonderful classic Star Trek books, then went off and wrote a bunch with William Shatner that I didn’t like as well. I’d love to see another one that’s just them.
9) Tamora Pierce, because her last book came out in 2013, and we’ve been waiting ever since for her next Tortall book, which has an ever-receding publishing date (some time 2017, currently).
10) Robin McKinley, because her last book came out in 2013, and we’re still waiting for her promised sequel to Pegasus. From what I can gather from reading her blog, she’d quite like to have a new book out too.
What author would you like to see another book from? Do you have hope it will happen, or is it just a wish?
This week’s Book Blogger Hop question: Do you give books as gifts?
I do tend to default towards books and movies as gifts…those are typically the only things I want, and that’s what I think of giving too! I give my parents books for Christmas frequently, and my book club does a book white elephant swap every year. Another group of my friends also does a white elephant most years, and last year I brought a copy of Pratchett’s Hogfather to both exchanges. Well-received at both, because my friends are awesome.
Despite all that, my instinctive response is that books can actually be a very hard thing to give. Tastes are so particular! Predicting what book someone would like is more challenging than I think people often believe. (“Oh, you like fantasy, you will like any fantasy book!” And…no. Not really.)
I also think a downside to ebooks is that it removes the option of giving or loaning books to a friend. I mean, yes, there are ways to still do that with ebooks, but you can’t unwrap a digital book. And it’s more meaningful when a friend entrusts another with their own physical copy of a book.
Do you give books as gifts? Do you struggle with finding the right one for the right person?
Today I’m happy to offer an interview with Aaron Safronoff, author Sunborn Rising (read my review here). First, a bit about Aaron, and then we’ll get into some questions!
Aaron Safronoff is the author of the Discovery Award winning science fiction novel, Spire. Since his debut, he’s published a sequel, Fallen Spire, and a novella of literary fiction, Evening Breezes.
Safronoff’s diverse background includes the formal study of computer science, bio-chemistry, and culinary arts. However, most of his career has been in the videogame industry in quality, production, and design.
Today, Safronoff is the co-founder and Chief Storyteller of Neoglyphic Entertainment, and is busy writing his fifth novel, the second installment of the Sunborn Rising series.
Aaron: Thank you, Cheryl, for inviting me to answer questions for you and Tales of the Marvelous, on this virtual tour. Fun stuff 🙂 .
Cheryl: What advice would you give writers as they’re starting out?
Aaron: Get outside once in awhile! Seriously, your exploration of the world shapes who you are, and nothing will inform your characters better than having a breadth of personal experience from which to pull. Learn about something other than writing, unless you want to write about writing. Continue reading “Interview with the Author of Sunborn Rising”
Tales of the Marvelous 