Update and Kindle

Okay, the fall season is upon us, and usually that sends me into a melancholy mood, thinking of impending snowfalls and bitter winter cold. But, instead, I've been focusing on the "next" project. Time Meddlers Undercover is presently in the editor's hands, and I must wait for news on revisions, and a release date. So . . . I've been researching and have begun to write the first draft of Time Meddlers 3. If you have access to Facebook, and have been tracking the books I've been reading, you may get a sense of which time period and what direction the next book will take, but I'm not giving anything away at this point.

The last few weeks I have been attending writers' conferences as well. It's always a great experience to meet with other writers, discuss the business, and get a sense of what is occurring in the publishing industry. The Amazon Kindle seems to be catching fire, even with agents, because of its convenience. However, I still think much more can be done with it. Considering the electronic age we live in, the amazing computer graphics, why can't they combine an electronic book with additional graphic components and make it more enticing to children? Since most kids are hooked on electronics anyway--you know you are--it would be the ideal solution to drawing them back to books. Imagine, the author describes a particular setting, or character, and you click on a highlighted word—-up pops the scene or character. Or, let's say there’s an action sequence that merits a second look. Click, pop, you’re actually witnessing the sequence, almost like a movie. I know it's been done with multimedia books, without the greatest success because of expense, but if the cost could be lowered, it might be another option for children other than video games. That's my opinion anyway.

Finally, I will be resuming school visits again this school year. If you're interested in having me visit your school, you can email me regarding a possible date, and I will be happy to discuss it with you.