by krj | Oct 6, 2011 | misc
I sometimes find it crazy how the death of someone you didn’t even know, let alone never met, can hit you so hard. I’m speaking of Steve Jobs, of course. Maybe it’s because I’m such an Apple fanboy, or maybe it’s because I understand where he came from with his design philosophy, or maybe it’s because I appreciated his minimalistic design aesthetic, but it’s a painful loss. For me, personally, I’m fine and I’ll be fine. I’ve always been able to roll with the punches where death is concerned–call it a bit of a curse, realization, understanding, and acceptance that death is an inevitable component of life. But for others–his family and friends–they likely aren’t in that same position, and for them, I’m sad. I’m also sad for us, those who didn’t know him but have been touched by him. It’s not overstating it to say that he changed the world. Don’t believe me? Look at every phone that has come out since the iPhone. There were predecessors, you say? Yeah, but did they have anywhere near the same success? Steve Jobs was a genius. I don’t know if his IQ would have placed him in MENSA, and frankly it’s not important. His genius was in seeing into the future, in seeing how and why a product would be useful and be desirable. He was also a hell of a marketer, but that doesn’t take away from the absolute fact that his decisions, his inventions, his vision has shaped the world. iPod. iPhone. iPad. Oh, and that little thing called the personal computer. Remember that? You can thank Steve...
by krj | Sep 16, 2011 | misc
There was a thread going through the Kindle Boards this week about writers who don’t read. It linked back to an article on Salon about an author who, essentially bragged about not reading. While the discussion about the quality of journalism and of making assumptions based upon a single source was interesting, I don’t really care about that. If you’re a writer, you read. It’s that simple. A writer who doesn’t read is like a chef who doesn’t eat. So while the article (and resulting discussion) was amusing, I was left with was a realization (reminder?) that I’ve been spending so much time writing that I haven’t set aside much time to read lately. To be fair, writing is a lot of work which, especially for an indie, encapsulates a whole host of tasks, but that’s beside the point. I have a handful of authors who I follow and will read anything they write, and seeing as I’m behind in their catalogs, this is unacceptable. There used to be a time when I could get through a book a week. It didn’t happen all of the time, but a two-week maximum for reading was fairly common. I know there are going to be people out there who can and do get through things much faster (I remember a former coworker who could get through a book so fast it was almost laughable–we’re talking about an hour or two, and with full comprehension), but for a guy with a regular job and a family, and all of the responsibilities that come with that (have I mentioned the dog and cat...
by krj | Jun 2, 2011 | misc
This is going to become the post that no one ever sees, but since one needs to start somewhere, this here we are. This site is a work-in-progress right now, and rather than go through the hassle of setting up some sort of landing page type of website which in turn blasts you out into a new tab (or window) to the blog (which is actually what you want to read), I figured I’d make the blog the landing page and let everything else link off of it. If you came here looking for something other than the blog, and also somehow ended up reading this post, then please accept my apologies and start clicking around until you find whatever it is you’re looking for. For the rest of you, I’ll be updating this periodically as I begin my journey of self-publishing in the Kindle, nook, and iBooks world that so many have done before me. It’s a brave new world out there and this is an exciting time for writers, if not a little scary. While established guys like JA Konrath and Barry Eisler seem to have a good grasp on epublishing, us indie folks you’ve never heard of are learning by bruising our knuckles (and by reading how others have done things so we don’t have to make the same mistake — thanks!). For now, I’m actually in the middle of editing one manuscript (though a few others await) and looking into getting artwork done, possibly hiring a professional editor (and/or reader), and considering the myriad questions and problems that are bound to arise as I stumble...
