How do you feel now?
That’s what everyone’s been asking now that the dust has settled around my decision. The succinct answer (for my father, who said he liked the Q&A format of my last post but that the A person rambled too much): I feel great.
The longer answer (Dad, skip this paragraph): I am sad about leaving a supportive work environment filled with people that I consider friends more than coworkers. I am nervous about letting go of one trapeze to reach for another — of not having a safety net. But most of all I am optimistic, and giddy with all the possibilities spread out before me.
Again, my day job won’t officially end until sometime in February, but in the mean time, I’ll still be reading and writing as much as possible.
Speaking of my Dad (and reading), guess what he got me for Christmas?
Pretty, no? I have to admit, I never thought of a Kindle as a device I had to have — or even necessarily wanted — but now I love my little Nora (named after Nora Roberts). She’s light as a feather, holds over 3500 books (though I doubt I’ll ever prove that myself), and even plays Scrabble with me! What more could you want from a friend?
(Books = friends. Kindle = books. Kindle = friends.)
I’m not going to get into printed books vs. e-readers (see this hilarious Open Letter to Books for that) but I will say that I read over 40 books in 2010, and that felt great, so I’m hoping to read as many or more this year. I went ahead and set up a 2011 Reading Challenge for myself at GoodReads. 50 books. Seeing as I’ve started 6 or 7 already, lol, I think it’s doable. What will be interesting, though, is seeing which ones I read in print vs. which ones I read on Nora, and how many of each. I honestly have no prediction.
Right now I’m reading MATCHED (in print, borrowed from Sarah). What are you reading?
13 responses to “Digesting”
Did I mention I’m jealous? Cause I am. I’m glad you feel great about it, the apprehension I can see being totally normal. 2011 is the year of “you”, go get ‘er.
I do want a Kindle but dammit I’d have to actually like, read, to justify it haha.
Hilarious books vs. e-reader link. Thanks for sharing. I don’t think I’ll ever give up on books–there’s an emotional attachment there. I may be the last person at the bookstore come 2012, we’ll see.
Yeah, that link pretty much sums up how I feel about books vs ebooks, although I think it’s easier to go back and find passages in real books rather than ebooks, but perhaps that’s just the way I remember things, more tactile than mental.
As for what I’m reading, well, a bunch of non-fiction that I just pick up here and there when I want to skim something. A couple of books about the wolves at Yellowstone, a graphic novel about Niels Bohr called “Suspended in Language.” Oh, and I’ve really been enjoying “Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.” I learned that it’s okay to split infinitives! And about the interrobang.
Since I’m reading non-fiction, that means no ebooks. (I almost exclusively read fiction on my Kindle or iPad.)
Glad you’re doing okay with everything. It will be fun to see how it all goes. :)
Ha, you dad!
I tried to send you a friend request thing on Good Reads but I’m not sure it went through! I don’t read nearly as much as you do, but if you’d like to add me, my username is akakrista. then you can see what silly books I’m probably reading. ;)
I’ve been thinking about getting a Kindle…I have three friends who just got them for Christmas and they are in love. I’m getting kind of jealous! :)
You can play Scrabble on the Kindle?! I’m still a fan of printed books (partly because I spend so much time staring at a screen when I write that the idea of doing it to read makes my eyes hurt, just thinking about it) … but for Scrabble, I may have to change my mind ;-) I am so addicted to that game.
I’m currently reading an AMAZING manuscript written by one of my friends, but before that I read J. Courtney Sullivan’s “Commencement” and I have books 2-4 in Nora Roberts’ Bride Quartet series up next on my list.
So excited for you and this wonderful journey you’re embarking on!
Great gift! I still haven’t gotten an e-reader, but it keeps looking more tempting. Just finished reading Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (AWESOME book!)
So very nice of him to get you such a nice Christmas present. Congrats.
Aww, poor books (speaking about the link), but I feel the same way and I don’t have a Kindle yet. Probably the only bit of technology I will fall for.
Kristan, so glad that you’re feeling good. You should. It’s going to be a grrrreat year!
I’m not setting reading goals–too much to concentrate on besides the writing goals. However, I’d like to read a couple each week. Just finished Incarceron and 80% of me loves it, while 20% of me thinks it could have been a bit tighter with the ending/plot.
Les-
Haha, yeah, Kindle + no reading = no sense.
Jon-
Nah, me and my writing group will be there too. We meet at B&N every week, and one of us usually buys something.
Sonja-
Yes, flipping in real books > flipping in Kindle. Not sure how they could fix that…
You and your graphic novels! I feel like it’s becoming a thing. (Or has it always been a thing?)
Krista-
YAY we be friends. I *think* you would like a Kindle… but snag one of theirs and play for a while if you want to be sure!
Shari-
And a few other games (crosswords?) but Scrabble is my fave. Oh, I’ve heard good things about the Bride Quartet. I need to read some more NR… I just reread all her old books that are my faves, lol.
Sarah-
Now that I’ve read one of your books, all underlined and marked up, I dunno about you and the Kindle, Sarah… I mean, you can take notes in a Kindle, but I have a feeling you like putting your little pencil to the page. :P
I won a Kindle last year and even though I still prefer print, I loved taking it on vacation with me. I read about a book a day and it was so much easier than lugging eight books in my suitcase :)
WON a Kindle? Niiiice! And yes, travel is when I notice its perks the most, although I do use mine at home too. (Mostly for Scrabble…)
Kristan-
First time stopping by your site. Fun to read!
OK, what I’ve read since first of this year (been meaning to start my own list, so this is as good a time as any). The 3 Hunger Games books. (Pretty good.) New book by crime novelist Robert Crais, The Sentry. (Also pretty good, probably liked better than Hunger Games; but it’s different, so that’s not totally accurate.) Harlen Coben book called Long Gone. (OK, not his best.) Hit List, by Lawrence Block. (Pretty boring; should’a been a short story.) Just started Murder City by Charles Bowden. It’s non-fiction about El Paso/Juarez.
Good luck with your big move. I took a year off to work on a novel. It gave me time to really immerse myself in that world. Not being able to do that before was one reason I’d started a few but never got past 50 pages or so. Now I need to do some editing on it — OK, major editing — but I’m more concentrating on the next one, which I’m about 25k words into.
I’d be interested in hearing about your e-publishing experiences (or maybe they’re on your blog and I just haven’t noticed them yet).
Keep after it!
Thanks and hi and welcome, JimBo! :)
Probably the most I’ve talked about my e-publishing experience can be found here: http://we-do-write.blogspot.com/2010/06/interview-with-kristan-hoffman.html
Otherwise, if you have specific questions, feel free to email me about it. I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, since I wasn’t going at it whole-hog, but I’ve certainly learned a lot from my experiment.