Griffie World Happenings

Being an author, I love books, although it seems somewhat axiomatic to say so. I enjoy holding them in my hands, turning the pages and diving into the world that the writer has created for us. That being said, with the advent of e-book readers the world of books as we know it is changing. There may, one day, be no page to turn, except in a virtual sense.  Now, some people I know are actively against using an e-book reader, but I will admit that I can’t wait to have my own Kindle.

My reasons are simple, yet many. I really like the aspect of being able to carry an entire library around with you in the size of a single paperback and not even the same weight in most cases. With the Kindle as well, there is the ease of downloading new material pretty quickly. I can shop, preview the material and have it as soon as I need it. No having to wait to get home from the store or if you are the point and click variety of shopper like I am, no waiting for the book to ship. That’s another plus, no shipping costs. Since I have severe dust allergies, an e-book reader removes the factor of dust caused by page decomposition over the years, plus the amount of dust that collects (and so quickly too) on the number of books that I own.  The reduction of the carbon footprint is also a draw; fewer trees will be needed to produce paper, fewer chemicals will be processed to make the ink, warehousing requirements are reduced or eliminated.  Theoretically, that should mean either an increase profit margin to the publishing company who should then share the wealth with the author, or pass the savings along to the customer, or a combination.

Although the e-book concept has not yet caught on as much as some would have hoped, I believe that it is an idea that will continue to grow in popularity until the majority of books which are published will be published in printed and e-book format, and will continue along the spectrum until the e-book is the given publication and the publisher will consider whether or not to go to the expense of the printed book.  Until the e-book reader format has been improved to provide a full color page capability, there will be a segment of books for which the e-book format is not practical.

Once the full color e-book reader has been established, will that then mean the death of the book?  Will it be within our lifetime that printed books become a memory?  While no one can answer that with any degree of accuracy, my bet is that there will be fewer and fewer printed books over time and an increase in e-books.  But, until Fisher Price, or another company of that ilk comes up with a relatively inexpensive, indestructible e-book reader for children, printed books will be alive and well in the Children’s section of your virtual bookstore.
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LK Gardner-Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit:
Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.
To read book reviews by LK Gardner-Griffie, visit: The Lulu Book Review

Today was a red letter day for me. A long awaited copy of Misfit McCabe has finally shipped. I will be getting the copy next week and will have the first hard bound edition in my hot little hands. What makes this one so special?

The completion of the production process on this special edition book marks the beginning of the of the companion project that I have been spending a lot of my “spare” time getting off the ground. While it will still be a couple of weeks for the remainder of the books to ship, Book 1 shipping out is a major milestone.

Some of you may be asking yourselves, so what is this big project anyway? “Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?” has been set up to chronicle the travels of 8 special edition copies of Misfit McCabe as they are passed from person to person. For a sneak peek while we are waiting for the remainder of the books to ship, please check out Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
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LK Gardner-Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.

As you further develop your writing skills, you need to know that there is something called the “flow” of a story. The flow of the words on the page can help create a mood for the reader without you having to spell it out specifically. Short, punchy sentences packed with verbs heighten the feeling of anxiety or action, while longer sentences full of adjectives may give a calmer, more relaxed feeling. Are the words you have put down on the page the right ones? Do they work together to tell the story, or can they be awkward, not fitting together quite right? How do we, as the writer, know whether the story flows well or not?

The single best piece of advice I can give you for being able to tell whether your work flows well or not is to read it out loud. Hearing the words gives you a sense of how they actually flow. Any time you stumble reading something out loud, mark it and continue on because you know that you need to go back and re-look at that passage. There is probably something that can be done to make it better. I realize that, at first, reading your work out loud will be uncomfortable, but it is a very important step to make sure that everything “sounds” right in your story.

I don’t embarrass easily, but when starting out writing, any time I read my work out loud (or heard someone else read it) I would turn bright red and wish the floor would open up so I could sink through it. When I was writing Misfit McCabe, I took a writing class and the structure of the class was that we had to bring in two typewritten pages each week and hand them in, and the class reader would then proceed to read everyone’s work one at a time, and then the class would discuss it and provide the feedback. When I realized that I had to sit in a class of strangers and hear my work read out loud by someone else, I was mortified. What if I wasn’t a very good writer? What if what I wrote sounded stupid? I was the youngest person in the class - what if I was just too young?

When it came my turn and the reader started reading my two pages, I couldn’t lift my eyes from my desk and I felt like my face was so bright red, I could have replaced Rudolph at the front of Santa’s sleigh to lead the way. I managed to survive and the teacher liked my work and provided some positive comments and gave me one or two pointers where I might make it even better. After the class, one of the other students asked me if I saw the teacher’s face when my pages were being read, and of course I had to say “no”. Week after week, it got a little easier to hear my work being read by someone else, and after that first week, I was able to read my own work (while by myself) without blushing.

Why am I sharing one of the moments in my life when I felt the most embarrassed? Because I want you to know that even though it may feel weird to read your work out loud, to hear the words you have written, that it will get easier with time and it’s very important to do. If you have someone who can read the words out loud while you follow along with a printed copy, it’s even better. The reason is that when someone else reads it, they don’t know the story and they will stumble over words that you as the writer know in advance and can unconsciously tweak so that they don’t sound awkward to you. It’s just another way to help you make your work better.

I have caught more mistakes in my writing by the simple method of reading the words out loud. Before I sent the book to a test reader group, I sat at my computer and read every single word in the book out loud once again, to make sure that I had taken care of all of those areas where the words might not be quite right.

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Copyright 2008 © LK Gardner-Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World
To buy Misfit McCabe, visit my store at Lulu.com or purchase at Amazon.com
To track Misfit McCabe across the country, visit:
Where in the World is Misfit McCabe?
Own a Kindle? Download Misfit McCabe in an instant.
To read book reviews by LK Gardner-Griffie, visit: The Lulu Book Review