Kay Hudson

grows almost as fast as the rows of  paper books on my shelves.  It’s so darn easy to hit that one-click button, so many of the books are inexpensive (or even free) and while there is technically a limit on what the Kindle can store, I doubt I will ever reach it.  Carrying a library in my purse is a very cool idea, but I’m already wondering how I will ever catch up with what I’ve already downloaded.  But then I also have several shelves of paper books that I really want to read.  She who dies with the most books wins.

In the last month or so I have downloaded the usual variety of books, starting with Entangled, a paranormal anthology benefitting the Breast Cancer Foundation, featuring ten authors, several of whom I have not read.  Here’s a good chance to sample their work.

Next came The Earl’s Bargain, another regency romance by my friend Cheryl Bolen, whose books, both new and previously published, are proving very popular as ebooks (for good reason), and The Lady’s Scandalous Night, a Tang Dynasty novella by Jeannie Lin, who has so far released two novellas to accompany her 8th century China-set romances.  A few days later Lin’s second novel, The Dragon and the Pearl, which I had preordered, arrived.

My latest foray (as yet unread) into understanding social media is Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer, by Kristen Lamb.  I will follow up on this stuff, but not until I’ve met my self-imposed deadline for finishing the work-in-progress.  I have twelve books in my Craft of Writing collection; I’ve read five of them, not including the Vanity Fair article on How a Book Is Born (expanded from the print version).  Also writing related is Oxygen, a science fiction novel by Randy Ingermanson (known to writers for his Snowflake Method) and John Olson, with added material on their writing process.

Other recent downloads include Gregory Maquire’s Wicked, a novel I’ve been meaning to read (but, as a life-long Oz fan, I’m a little cautious about it), and Wickedly Charming by Kristine Grayson (a freebie to promote the next book in her fairy tale series).

Just now I fired up the wireless connection on my Kindle to download my latest purchases, both local (Houston) authors.  Heather MacAllister has published at least forty romance novels since her Picture Perfect won the Golden Heart for Young Adult manuscripts in 1989.  Joni Rodgers has reissued her first novel, Crazy For Trying, as an ebook.  One more plug for a Houston author:  Deeanne Gist’s Maid to Match is available right now for free, to promote her next book, Love on the Line.  If you haven’t read Dee’s work, this is a good chance to try it.

I’ve had my Kindle since April.  Right now I have at least thirty novels on it (there are a couple of multi-book files in there), twelve books and articles on the craft of writing, and ten short stories and novellas.  All in that little package, at my instant command.  Now if I only had more time to read them.