No, that’s not a misspelling.
I hope lots of people read this today. Since this is a blog, I’m gonna blog about something I think is important: Independent Bookstores.
They’re disappearing faster than ethics in politics. And book buyers are the only ones who can rescue them.
It’s not an easy call. The economy’s bad, we’re all being more cautious with their money now, and, sadly, for most of us, including me, there isn’t an independent bookstore for miles and miles. So for a lot of reasons, we order more from EBay, Amazon, discount houses, and online. But whenever it’s possible, please, please, please, patronize an independent bookstore. Here’s a site where you cal locate the one nearest you.
The Phoenix print book is available online but it’s also in independent brick and mortar stores such as Giovanni’s Room, TLA, and Lambda Rising.
Independent Bookstore Finder:
http://www.indiebound.org/indie-bookstore-finder
And while I’m on the subject of book-buying, if you get e-books, please don’t order them from one of those “free-download” websites. They are nothing more nor less than pirates who are violating international copyright. Maybe they’re not making money from the sale of the e-books but they ARE FOR PROFIT. They get a lot of advertising. Most people, I really believe, don’t knowingly support piracy. But now you know. An author puts months and sometimes years into writing something, work, research, frustration, heart and soul. Every free download is money taken away from the author. So if you’re ever tempted by the seduction of “Free” please stop and think before you hit the download button.
- About the Author
- Posts in the Past
I’m one of those people who is as interesting as drying paint. No kidding. I married my high school boyfriend and am still married 49 years later. He’s the only guy I ever dated and the only man I’ve ever seen nekkid (at least in print.) I love writing and reading; I love history, biographies, and historical fiction, but also poetry and… oh, a little of everything else. I don’t tweet, twitter, or text but I do sometimes blather. I’m old but would like to be young, short (4’11”) and would like to be tall, jobless but would like to be idle rich instead of just idle. I’d like to be Angelina Jolie but have to settle for Pooh Bear. I love my family and friends and fans in particular, and people in general, except for the occasional pain-in-the-kiester who irritates me.
I wish those who frequent the pirate sites actually cared about copyright infringement. But thanks for reminding everyone about their local booksellers. We’re squeezing them out of the marketplace with our technical world.
I will make it a point to visit a local store this week!
Thanks, Ari. I love independent bookstores. We had a lovely one a few miles away that had an ambiance no chain store could come close to. It was very Dickensian, with nooks, and odd corners you came upon unexpectedly if you were new to it. It even had an old-fashioned high desk and stool, like one Bob Cratchit would have worked at. But it’s gone. I have to drive nearly two hours to find another, so, unhappily, I wind up ordering a lot from Amazon because gas is so expensive. But I hate doing it.
The piracy thing is a real problem. I’ve never understood why the labor of an artist of any kind is not held in as high regard as the work of a teacher, or a lawyer, or a bricklayer, or a factory worker. None of them would work and then smile cheerfully while someone else profited from what they did but did not pay them for doing. (Bad sentence, but you know what I mean). It took me twenty years to get The Phoenix finished from the first word of the first (of many) drafts to the edition that Lethe just published.
Thanks for caring!
You go, girl!