S is for Scrivener

I listed Scrivener in my blog: 13 Best Resources for Writers, it's a amazing tool for writers and is available on Mac and PC. Here's some reasons I love Scrivener:

• You can write your scenes and chapters into separate documents, but have them all listed in your sidebar as part of your novel project. Then you can move them around into a new order or add scenes between others. 
• All your images and research handy in the sidebar. 
• There are templates for character profiles and settings.
• You can switch views to index cards, this is great for us visual people who like to chart out our story, it also helps with plot building before you start writing.
• Scrivener AUTOMATICALLY saves as you go - no more lost manuscripts.
• It can compile and export your files to Word, PDF or many other formats.
• Best of all, it will format your finished manuscript into a Kindle document or other ebook format.

There are many tutorials on the Scrivener site in video format, if you're thinking of switching to this program, check those out. There are also lots of blog posts about to help you with formatting your documents and getting the most out of Scrivener. This one is a real winner, it's a list of Scrivener templates you can download to suite your genre. Want to write to a traditional mystery novel structure? Download the template - I've grabbed all of these templates, they're gold!:

S M Worth - Scrivener Templates

At first Scrivener was only available for Mac, then they made a PC version, but soon (very soon I hope) Scrivener will come to iPad. That's exciting news for me, especially since the newest iPad just about replaces laptops. Check out the latest news on that:

The Cellar Door - Scrivener for iPad

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Apples and Zombies

This week has been huge.

The Apple populated world suffered the loss of an inspiration and innovator, Steve Jobs. It has been an amazing experience seeing people respond to this incident in such a big way. Interesting to see a corporate leader admired and worshiped as much as a mega-movie star. I'm starting to think it would be disrespectful for me NOT to buy an iPad now.

But on a more cheerful note, October 8th was World Zombie Day. Queensland Emergency Services tested out their QLD Alert website with tweets and updates on preparing for a zombie apocalypse. 

It was lots of fun, you can see the conversation in Twitter by searching the hashtag #zombietest - even QLD Rail got involved so you'd know which escape route to take once it was already too late and the city was overcome by zombies.

I've been on school holidays and spent most of that time working on our house (getting it all pretty to sell, then I can pick out my next house in Brisbane, hopefully outside of the zombie-zoned areas).

Edits on MY ZOMBIE DOG are coming along, with the protagonist jumping from 11yrs to 14yrs old. I need to get more of a move on with that and send the revised MS back to the publisher for consideration. But school goes back tomorrow and I MUST finish marking about 80 newspaper articles written by Yr10 students. Ugh, I hate marking - anyone want to do it for me?????

I will not be distracted, I will not be... I wonder if I can find a cute little sign saying 'Beware of the zombie dog' online?

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Will the App Replace the Ebook?

The Kindle VS iPad for reading debate is about to heat up again. For some time now bloggers and book people have been discussing the possibility of the ebook completely replacing paper books. I still love both, so can't see that happening, but I do see a shake up of the book industry and a complete revision of how books are chosen and a shift in power. The new book industry will be consumer run rather than publisher run (sorry writers, there'll still be someone to answer to - the customers).

But what I do see as an interesting innovation is the apps that are appearing in place of ebooks and books. Probably the best known one being Al Gore's Our Choice, as presented by publisher/app creator Mike Matas:

Just shows what books can become. But my favourite was when I came across this app for a children's book. Check this out it is amazing (and an Australian publisher!):

I was blown away by how easy the language could be changed (I'd love these for my Spanish class), the interactivity and the ability to have the book read to you (audiobook style, not Kindle robot style). This book wouldn't work well on my black and grey Kindle, but is a treat on the iPad - have they finally found a way to push Kindle aside? Maybe Kindle will produce a colour touchscreen device (rumoured for mid 2011).

I LOVE the idea of books as apps, although I'm not keen on fiction being distracted with videos and such, but maybe having an audiobook embedded into the ebook, so you could read, but switch to audio when you are driving or tired. It would sync to your place for you. Can you think of any creative ways to turn fiction into book apps?

Want to know more about the publishers of the children's book app? Check out:

Blue Quoll Publishing

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The Kindle vs iPad Now

I was adamant the Kindle was for me, even after the fancy new iPad came out. But, hubby the techno lover, was all for iPad. So, our house has both (although I rarely get to touch the iPad).

So, how do I feel about Kindle now that we have the shiny Mac version?

• Kindle still has the best screen to read off. The iPad is lit like an iPod, so I find the glare distracting, even if you tone it down.
• There's a lot of books I can't download for Kindle if I'm from Australia, even though they are available. 
• The books available just for the iPad are very limited - but I expect that will change, we have some publishing rights issues down under.
• I find the way Kindle stores my books a bit messy. Just long continuous lists.
• The iPad has a way better interface. I love that it shows little pictures of the book covers. My Kindle only lists the titles - I don't want to give up covers, weirdly they are part of my reading experience.
• The iPad is colour. That's a big plus for any picture books.
• Kindle does not allow me to share books. If I bought a paperback I could pass it on when I'm done, I could also photocopy a page if I wanted to use it in the classroom, I was surprised to learn I couldn't print a page from Kindle for Mac. To be fair, I don't think you can do this with the iPad yet either?
• I can get pretty skins for my Kindle (looks matter to me - that's why I like book covers).
• Kindle is lighter and easier to hold.
• iPad has a bigger screen.

In summary? I still prefer to read fiction off my Kindle. The screen is as easy on my eyes as reading out of a paperback novel. But. I like looking at the books on the iPad because of the colour and I wish, wish, wish Kindle would use book cover pictures in a bookshelf style like iBooks does. If it did, I would upgrade to the Kindle DX

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K is for Kindle

There's been a technological war going on in our house. My husband is ashamed of me - I want a Kindle more than an iPad. It's like I've turned against the Apple church.

I know he loves me, I've proof of that - he upped our download quota to 50GB per month, nothing hearts more than downloads :-). And he's not giving up on my Mac soul either, he scours the web for the zillion blogs and articles that support the holy iPad as 'The One'.

I fell in love with Kindle books a while ago. Now I read them on my iPhone. I LOVE that I have my book with me all the time, but the downside is the screen is so small and I need my font large enough, that it just shows a paragraph at a time. The backlight is also an issue for me, I find I can only read a couple of chapters before my eyes get sore.

The iPad is not yet released in Australia, almost the whole country will be waiting to see how cool it is when it comes out (except my dad who asked me 'What's an iPad?' when we were in the Mac store). And it's cool. I do want one (eventually), I want it for the cool apps, watching tv shows and the internet browsing, but my priority is an e-reader and that's where the iPad is not impressing me. I'm hoping the backlight won't be as intrusive as the iPhone, but I'm dubious. The only thing that has tempted be toward the iPad is that you get your books in colour. Come on Kindle, why aren't you fighting back with a colour version? Help me out here.

Want more comparisons?

Click on the picture for an article comparing the iPad vs Kindle vs a Weimaraner:

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