Electronic publishing, the future of the book?

Books have always been close companions. It find it unthinkable to go anywhere without a book or several books along. I love the smell of paper, the feel of the book in my hand, the adventure awaiting on the next page I can turn. I go to bed with a book every night, reading until I fall asleep. I've been kept awake, reading through the night because the story was too exciting to put down. I can't resist buying books, nor can I bear to part with the ones I have. I need books for entertainment, enlightenment, inspiration, comfort, information, and education. What would I do without books?

I am delighted when I see young people, especially my grandchildren, have the same love and reverence for a book that I do. I am also in awe of kids who navigate the latest electronic devises with ease and comfort. They are growing up in a different age than I did, an age of exploding information and technology. My grandchildren have known and operated computers from toddler-hood. Cell phones, iPods, and all kinds of electronic reading devices are familiar to them.

With the variety of e-readers on the market and the ability to read a book on a cell phone, I wonder whether the book as I know it is on its way to becoming a relic of the past. I guess my biggest concern is that people continue to read, whatever method they utilize. If a child wants to take a Nook or a Kindle or an iPad to bed instead of a bound book, at least they are reading. Whatever the device, as long as it gives access to entertaining stories, inspiration in the written word, information, enlightenment, and comfort, it's a good thing. I'm grateful they have choices. For this reason, I'm determined to make all of my books, those written and those still to be published, available as e-books. So far, I have four books available this way on Smashwords.com, and one on Amazon.com.

Happy reading, everyone, any way you like it!

Think You Can!

Henry Ford so wisely said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't—you are right."

Even though we may know this to be true, slipping back into negative thinking about our abilities is as easy as falling off a log. Well, it is falling—falling back into the rut formed as a child when both peers and adults found it easier to point out faults and failures than our goodness, talents and skills.

Depending on how deeply our self-doubts were ingrained, it may take just one little thing or an accumulation of problems to push us over the precipice into the aforementioned rut. It could be debt, declining revenue, loss of support, loss of a loved one, an accident, injury, health problems, or even something as little as steadily increasing clutter in both our physical and mental environment. Any one of these things may be enough to derail the best of intentions and restart our negative self-talk. Negative self-talk leads to an "I can't" frame of mind. And the result? Sinking back into the rut so deeply that makes the challenge of climbing out feel like scaling Mount Everest—more than the average person is willing to attempt.

"Life balance is like a seesaw. It has it's ups and downs and the occasional perfect midpoint." (Linda Samuels, from her book, The Other Side of Organized)

I have often compared life to a pendulum swinging from one extreme to the other as I sought the perfect balance. The seesaw simile works just as well. The encouragement I found in reading Linda Samuels' book, is the assurance that I don't have to be perfect all the time, nor do I have to solve all my problems or finish all my projects at once—like right NOW.

Goals met are an encouragement; a motivation to keep thinking positively about life. It is self-defeating to make goals that are too big to be completed in the designated time frame. To emerge from the self-defeating rut of negativity, start with small, specific goals. "Reduce stress and increase focus by singletasking rather than multitasking." (Samuels)

Each small goal met will help you think you can. And the more you believe in yourself and your dreams, the more you will achieve.