THE SMALL THINGS MATTER

With the tragedy in Las Vegas, my personal and phone woes seem trivial. Nevertheless, even small problems become annoying and distracting.

Our internet was down, along with that in several states it seems, for a long time. It's like having your car in the shop. Even if you don't need to drive anywhere, not being able to creates panic. At least the internet is working again.

Then my iPhone decided I was not who I am and kept looping to get a password. I spent two hours on the house phone to determine how to make my cell phone mine again. Thank goodness for the lady at Apple. Now the phone accepts me, but I have to put in a &^%$ code every time I want to use my phone. That's a small thing that's just plain annoying!

I believe we can deal with the big things--illness, accidents, moves--in our lives, but the little things (like a code before I use my phone) nag and niggle at us until we're stressed. So, I propose to think about all the good things happening around me.

Fall is here--at least this week

The weather is lovely here this week. Cool enough to be comfortable outside. In Texas, that's a big plus. Next week we may have summer again, but for now we're good.

My family, if not a hundred percent healthy, is upright and able to function quite well. When so many people we know aren't experiencing good health, this is another blessing.

No, this is not one of  Vonnie Davis' characters, this
represents me at my computer

We have many kind friends across the nation. Many are online friends with whom we feel great kinship. Others have become face-to-face friends for which I'm grateful. One never has too many friends. Of course, I'm grateful for my friends and for my family and pets.

Sebastian, our attack cat at work

Hero just announced that he's taking me out to dinner. Now there's a small thing that boosts my morale in a big way! He's one of the things for which I'm most grateful.

What are the things for which you're grateful?

Battle of the Book Formats

Oh how the battle thickens.

It’s no longer a question between paperbacks or hardbacks. It’s evolved past physical book vs e-book. Oh no, my friends. It’s become so much more complicated.

You can’t just choose ‘e-book’ anymore. Now you must choose which format of technology to read these precious stories.

Kindle, Nook, Kobo Mobile (iPhone or Android), laptop, tablet.

.pdf, .mobi, .epub, and probably 10 more I can’t think of right now.

The choices expand every month. 

Forty years ago, you still had options of which material you wanted your book printed on, but imagine…what if not just paper, but perhaps cotton, leather, wood, chocolate (yes please!), or stone (try balancing that on your head!).

And the battle continues, with additional, equal amounts of confusion and choices.

Which do you prefer? Physical books or e-books?

If you prefer physical, the main choices are hardback and paperback.

If you prefer e-books, which format do you use most?

And an even more dangerous battle to wage: what price are you willing to pay?

I’ve realized that most e-books $2.99 and under are significantly shorter than full-length novels from just 5 years ago. My normal expectation is anything less than $3 is a novella or dime-length novel (pretty sure I just aged myself with that term). Perhaps my expectation is inaccurate, but that’s the impression I have. Or perhaps its because everyone’s attention spans are significantly shorter than a few years ago…

What was I saying?

Wait, one battle at a time.

Personally, I’m still 70% physical books. At first my reluctance to move to ebook was because I loved the feel of the paper in my hands, turning the pages between my fingers, and more importantly the smell. There are not so many things in the world better than that new book smell. But now my excuse is far more superficial. It’s more along the lines of maintaining a full battery in my electronic devices long enough to read what I want, and the data usage charges my wonderful wireless carrier imposes on me every time I download a book.

The remaining 30% for ebooks (if I actually have a charge on my device and I’m not over on my data usage), I go back and forth between iPad and my iPhone. I have evolved (slightly), as is the publishing industry.

Just in time for me to purchase my first pair of reading glasses, which I’m sure is just around the corner for me.

By Susan Sheehey

Author of Audrey's Promise and Prince of Solana

Follow Susan on Twitter or Facebook and her website