The Best Laid Plans ...

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Send to Kindle for PC

By BigAl 

For those who haven’t heard, last week Amazon introduced a computer program for PC owners called “Send to Kindle for PC.” (They’ve promised an equivalent for MAC owners is also in the works.) I’m bringing this up because it ties in well to two recent posts, one on the Alternatives to Amazon and another on The Case for and Against DRM. I’ll start with a brief description of what this program does, then give my views on what I think Amazon’s reasons for releasing this program are, and last talk about some less obvious potential positives for Kindle owners.

What it does

The short answer is that Send to Kindle for PC provides a quick and easy way to get a file from your PC to your Kindle. This could be an eBook or document file that can be read in its native format on the Kindle or can be converted to a Kindle compatible format by Amazon’s existing conversion programs. In functionality, this new program is virtually identical to sending a document to the email address(es) associated with your Kindle. However, this accomplishes the task slightly more easily.

Rather than starting an email, entering your Kindle’s email address, attaching a document, potentially putting the correct subject to induce conversion, and sending the email using the old method, the new method has less steps. Simply browse to a file in Windows Explorer, right click on it, and chose “Send to Kindle” from the menu. A dialog box will pop up where, if the default options are correct, you push the button to send. (You can also choose a different Kindle or multiples if you have them on your account, possibly a different delivery method, and whether to keep the file in the personal documents portion of you Kindle Archives.) Alternatively, from within any Windows program with a print function, you can choose the “Send to Kindle” printer, which will create a PDF of the output and pop up the same dialogue box.

The delivery methods available are WiFi and 3G (Amazon’s “Whispernet” service), depending on the capabilities of your device. There is a charge for those using the Whispernet service and some limitations on availability. I believe “personal documents” in your Amazon archives count against space in the “cloud drive” (a storage area provided by Amazon with the first 5MG free for each account).

What is in it for Amazon?

In addition to the obvious, that Amazon is all about maximizing the customer experience; and this is an incremental improvement in that, it also will tie the customer to Amazon in other ways. The convenience of having documents stored in your archive, with easy retrieval from any Kindle device on your account, will tend to sell the cloud drive service, just as the ability to store music and video content in the cloud enhances the Kindle Fire experience while potentially selling size upgrades of cloud drives. All of this ties the customer to the Amazon ecosystem.

More positives for customers

In the comments to both posts referenced in the opening paragraph was a discussion about how much easier it was using Amazon for all of a Kindle owner’s book purchases. Although I’m moving files back and forth from computer to Kindle all the time, I still find that when I’m picking the next book to review I’ll sometimes pick one that can be downloaded straight to the Kindle rather than retrieve my Kindle from elsewhere in the house and go through the steps to transfer a file. After installation of this program, buying and downloading a book from Smashwords or any other Amazon alternatives won’t require leaving the computer. While there are still more steps involved, the step that is most inconvenient and the most intimidating for those with less technological confidence is eliminated.

It also seems that there is an opportunity for Smashwords and other Amazon alternatives looking to enhance their customer experience. Although there may be something I’m missing, I believe that with some investment in software development it should be possible for these sites to provide a way so that clicking to “download” a file to a customer’s Kindle could download the file to your computer and fire up the Kindle to PC program so it is ready to send the file to your Kindle. It isn’t 1-click (which Amazon has patented), but comes reasonably close.

Conclusion

I’ve given the program a quick run through and have found it works as advertised. It is quick and easy. Try it yourself.

As a bonus, a few months ago I found a browser extension that, coincidentally, has the same name. (Maybe they should have registered a trademark.) This browser extension allows you to send the contents of a web page formatted as a Kindle book to your Kindle. It uses the Kindle email addresses to do so and works for most web pages. I’ve found this ideal for when I find a blog or other web article that I want to save to my Kindle, either for future reference or to read on the Kindle at a more convenient time.

Go to Amazon and klip.me to learn more.

The Other Side / E. Thomas Finan

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Literary Fiction/Short Story

Approximate word count: 30-35,000 words

Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Currently a lecturer at the University of Miami, E. Thomas Finan is a native of Massachusetts where he attended college, culminating in a PhD in literature and philosophy from Boston University. Finan’s short play, Reunion, premiered at the Provincetown Theater Company. For more, visit the author’s website.

Description:

A short story collection with various takes on the human condition, “The Other Side focuses on moments of personal growth as well as times of falling short---on the emotional hinges, defeats, and victories of life.”

Appraisal:

Upon reflection, the seven stories in this collection appear to be more different than alike. The lengths vary. The focal characters are both male and female. They’re rich, poor, and in between. They cover the full emotional range, from happy to sad. Yet the collection holds together because they all seem real, both the people and their tales. No reader will read each story and say, “I’ve been there,” but everyone will be able to say they got a glimpse of The Other Side.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four stars

The Epic Giveaway continues

Want to win a Kindle Fire? Authors Aiden James, Scott Nicholson, J. R. Rain, and H.T. Night are teaming up Jan. 11-13 to give away $1,000 in prizes, including four Kindle Fires, $200 in Amazon gift cards, and 45 free Kindle books.

There are four ways to enter during Jan. 12-13:

• Share this blog link according to the blogger’s directions. (For this blog, share using the buttons for Facebook and/or Twitter at the bottom of the post, add the hashtags mentioned near the end of the post, then tell me you've done it in the comments.)
• Share our free books and event from http://epickindlegiveaway.blogspot.com
• Spread the news about our contest on your favorite Internet hangouts and the Kindle Fairy is searching and putting names in her Magic Hat

TODAY’S FREE KINDLE BOOKS

(Verify book has gone free as scheduled before 1-clicking. The free books are different each day of the promotion.)

Scott Nicholson

Drummer Boy (supernatural thriller) Amazon US Amazon UK; The Red Church (supernatural thriller) Amazon US Amazon UK; As I Die Lying (psychological thriller) Amazon US Amazon UK; Creative Spirit (haunted house thriller) Amazon US Amazon UK; Disintegration (suspense thriller) Amazon US Amazon UK; Zombie Bits (zombie stories) Amazon US Amazon UK; Amazon US Amazon UK; Speed Dating with the Dead Amazon US Amazon UK; The Skull Ring Amazon US Amazon UK; Scott Nicholson Library, Vol. 4 Amazon US Amazon UK; October Girls (YA paranormal) Amazon US Amazon UK

H.T. Night

A Boy's Life (Young Adult) Amazon US Amazon UK; Boy Meets Girl (Young Adult) Amazon US Amazon UK; Everlasting Love (Poetry) Amazon US Amazon UK; Getting Yours (Romantic Comedy) Amazon US Amazon UK; Paranormal Love Stories (Vampire/Werewolf Love Story) Amazon US Amazon UK; The Werewolf Whisperer (Vampire Romance) Amazon US Amazon UK; Vampire Love Story (Vampire Romance) Amazon US Amazon UK; Winning Sarah’s Heart: Back to School (YA Romance) Amazon US Amazon UK; Winning Sarah’s Heart: Boys Being boys (YA Romance) Amazon US Amazon UK

J.R. Rain

BAD BLOOD - A Vampire Thriller Amazon US Amazon UK; BLACK RAIN: 15 Short Stories Amazon US Amazon UK; ELVIS HAS NOT LEFT THE BUILDING - A murder mystery Amazon US Amazon UK; JUDAS SILVER - An adventure screenplay Amazon US Amazon UK; LOST EDEN - An adventure screenplay Amazon US Amazon UK; THE BODY DEPARTED - A ghost story Amazon US Amazon UK; THE VAMPIRE CLUB - supernatural fantasy comedy Amazon US Amazon UK; THE VAMPIRE WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO -mystery novella Amazon US Amazon UK

Aiden James

Aiden James Vampires (Vampire adventure) Amazon US Amazon UK; Cursed Immortals (Supernatural Thriller/Vampires) Amazon US Amazon UK; The Raven Mocker (Horror/Mystery) Amazon US Amazon UK; Deadly Night (Murder mystery/Supernatural) Amazon US Amazon UK; The Forgotten Eden (Supernatural Thriller) Amazon US Amazon UK; Twice Bitten (Vampire adventure) Amazon US Amazon UK

If one of the four authors hits #1 on the Kindle Free list, they will give away another Kindle Fire. If at any time during the event, the four authors hold all the Top 10 slots on the Kindle Free list, they will give away a sixth kindle. Kindle Fire winners will be selected by the Watauga County (NC) Public Library staff using random.org.

The Bizarro Story of I / Wol-vriey

Reviewed by: Arthur Graham

Genre: Bizarro

Approximate word count: 25-30,000

Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: NO Smashwords: NO Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Wol-vriey is a Nigerian author whose work has appeared in New Flesh, Medulla Review, and several print anthologies including Like Frozen Statues of Flesh and The Big Book of Bizarro. He has another book entitled Invasion of the Ass Chickens. When he isn’t writing, Wol-vriey can be found playing his guitar and admiring the work of Czech surrealist Jan Svankmajer.

According to his blog, Wol-vriey recycles the ridiculous into “reasonable readable reality for the reader.” His philosophy of writing is WEIRRRD (Warp/Write Everything Into Realistic Ridiculous Readable Distorted Dream Dimension Descriptions). Astute readers may notice that there are a few letters missing from this acronym, but then again, the author is probably missing a few screws himself!

Read the full Bizarro Press interview with Wol-vriey here.

Description:

The Bizarro Story of I is, if nothing else, an appropriately titled book. It opens with a gang of spandex-wearing, cowboy-hatted bodybuilders who burst in through the kitchen wall one morning at breakfast, kidnapping the title character’s wife Anorexia and (adding injury to insult) absconding with his mouth as well. Believe it or not, things get a lot weirder from there...

Assisting I on his rescue mission are Stalker the bounty hunter, his ex girlfriend Nasty, and a half rat/half sundae called Chocolate Mousse. Steroid cowboys, fearys, and the Meat Puppeteer are just a few of the obstacles they must overcome on this quest of truly bizarre proportions.

Appraisal:

Since the bizarro genre itself is defined by over-the-top, genre-bending weirdness, it is only fair to consider bizarro stories with these conventions in mind. As should be expected, The Bizarro Story of I is rife with irreverent humor, absurd characters and situations, and more unbridled flights of fancy than you can shake a carnivorous, vagina-leafed stick at. In other words, readers with an aversion to such stuff would do well to stay far, far away. That said, it is this reviewer’s belief that a good bizarro story can be judged by how straight the author is able to tell it, and even the most potentially averse readers may be surprised by how effortlessly Wol-vriey manages to normalize even his most out-there material.

While frequent references to the title character “I” are somewhat jarring at points, causing us to wonder whether the story is written in first or third person, it doesn’t take long to catch on to the joke. By the time we get to “From its clothes, I thought the person was male” just a few short chapters in, we are already well aware of what Wol-vriey is up to with this play on perspective.

Certainly not everyone will like this type of book, but for readers who have never read anything “bizarro” before, The Bizarro Story of I is probably interesting enough to warrant a look. Besides, at a mere 99 cents for Kindle, it’s probably a better investment than anything on the McDonald’s value menu.

FYI:

Some sex, violence, and language that may be inappropriate for small children and little old ladies.

Format/Typo Issues:

A few typos here and there, but nothing detrimental. Some odd grammatical constructions may owe themselves to the author’s status as a non-native English speaker, and may actually add something to the unorthodox narrative style.

Rating: **** Four stars

EPIC Kindle Giveaway

Want to win a Kindle Fire? Authors Aiden James, Scott Nicholson, J. R. Rain, and H.T. Night are teaming up Jan. 11-13 to give away $1,000 in prizes, including four Kindle Fires, $200 in Amazon gift cards, and 45 free Kindle books.

There are four ways to enter during Jan. 11-13:

• Share this blog link on social media according to blogger’s directions. (For this blog, share using the buttons for Facebook and/or Twitter at the bottom of the post, add the hashtags mentioned near the end of the post, then tell me you've done it in the comments.)
• Follow the authors on Facebook (J.R. Rain, H.T. Night, Aiden James, and Scott Nicholson) and look for "Click to share" posts
• Go to their free books on Amazon, click "like" and then "share" each book on Twitter and Facebook, using the hashtags “free for #kindle” and “#epickindlegiveaway”

TODAY’S FREE KINDLE BOOKS 

(Verify book has gone free as scheduled before 1-clicking. The free books are different each day of the promotion.)

Scott Nicholson

The Red Church (supernatural thriller) Amazon US Amazon UK; As I Die Lying (psychological thriller) Amazon US Amazon UK; Creative Spirit (haunted house thriller) Amazon US Amazon UK; Disintegration (suspense thriller) Amazon US Amazon UK; The Harvest (technothriller) Amazon US Amazon UK; Zombie Bits (zombie stories) Amazon US Amazon UK; Transparent Lovers (paranormal mystery) Amazon US Amazon UK

H.T. Night

A Boy's Life (Young Adult) Amazon US Amazon UK; Boy Meets Girl (Young Adult) Amazon US Amazon UK; Everlasting Love (Poetry) Amazon US Amazon UK; Getting Yours (Romantic Comedy) Amazon US Amazon UK; Paranormal Love Stories (Vampire/Werewolf Love Story) Amazon US Amazon UK; The Werewolf Whisperer (Vampire Romance) Amazon US Amazon UK; Vampire Love Story (Vampire Romance) Amazon US Amazon UK; Winning Sarah’s Heart: Back to School (YA Romance) Amazon US Amazon UK; Winning Sarah’s Heart: Boys Being boys (YA Romance) Amazon US Amazon UK; Vampires and Werewolves Beginnings (Vampire Romance) Amazon US

J.R. Rain

ARTHUR - A modern-day spiritual adventure AmazonUS AmazonUK; BLACK RAIN: 15 Short Stories Amazon US Amazon UK; CURSED - Supernatural horror thriller Amazon US Amazon UK; DARK QUESTS: Two Adventure Screenplays Amazon US Amazon UK; ELVIS HAS NOT LEFT THE BUILDING - A murder mystery Amazon US  Amazon UK; GHOST COLLEGE - A supernatural mystery Amazon US Amazon UK; THE LOST ARK - An adventure novel Amazon US; THE VAMPIRE WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO -mystery novella Amazon US Amazon UK

Aiden James

Aiden James Vampires (Vampire adventure) AmazonUS AmazonUK; Cursed Immortals (Supernatural Thriller/Vampires) Amazon US Amazon UK; The Vampires’ Birthright (Vampire adventure) Amazon US Amazon UK; Cades Cove (Horror/Mystery) Amazon US Amazon UK; Vampire Twist (Vampire adventure/Mystery) Amazon US Amazon UK

If one of the four authors hits #1 on the Kindle Free list, they will give away another Kindle Fire. If at any time during the event, the four authors hold all the Top 10 slots on the Kindle Free list, they will give away a sixth kindle. The bonus Kindle winners will be selected using the #epickindlegiveaway hashtags on Facebook and Twitter.

The Facebook and Twitter hashtags must accompany a link to one of the free books, a participating book blog, or the contest home page at http://epickindlegiveaway.blogspot.com or it won’t count as a valid entry. Thanks, good luck, and enjoy the free books!

Love Ya Like a Sister / Tom Kepler

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: YA/Lad Lit

Approximate word count: 40-45,000 words

Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: YES Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

A school teacher for over thirty years, Tom Kepler hopes his writing experiences are something valuable he can pass on to his students. "There are two things I can pass to my students. I can hand them one of my published books, and I can also give them the knowledge of how they can publish their own writing. The book may impress them, but the knowledge empowers them." For more, visit Kepler’s blog.

Description:

Randy’s life is complicated. Two neighborhood sisters both want to be his girlfriend. Another friend needs help, which he wants to provide. And his Dad, the traveling salesman, is never home, which helps Dad avoid having to face the death of Randy’s mother, but isn’t so good for Randy.

Appraisal:

The author has described Love Ya Like a Sister as young adult chick lit with a male protagonist. While that seems like a strange description, it’s a good one. Although chick lit should have a protagonist who is a chick, that is the only reason this book couldn’t be considered chick lit. It has the other defining elements, primarily being “a personal and foible-filled journey toward self-understanding and self-awareness.” (I've been told this is called Lad Lit, although that isn't a term I've seen used much.)

Randy is an eighteen-year-old high school senior struggling with relationships of all kinds: romantic, friendship, familial — which kind does he want, with who, where are the boundaries of each, and how does he shape them into what he needs? In many ways Randy is mature and much more self-aware than a typical teen boy, but not overly so. For those who feel characters in a novel should be role models — giving the reader something to aspire to, rather than reflective of the norm – he’s your man. Love Ya Like a Sister is an entertaining read for young adults of both genders, and for older adults too.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four stars

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Eyes / Mike Dennis

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Noir/Short story

Approximate word count: 4-5,000 words

Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: NO Smashwords: NO Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

A former professional musician and poker player, Mike Dennis now makes his home in Key West, Florida, where he writes noir fiction. He has four novels available: The Take, which we reviewed last March, two in what he’s calling the Key West Nocturnes series, Setup on Front Street and The Ghosts of Havana, and Cadillac’s Comin’, a story set in Memphis shortly after the birth of rock and roll. Also available is Bloodstains on the Wall, a collection of three short stories. For more information, visit the author’s website.

Description:

“In this short story, Harry's a blackjack dealer at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. The kind of guy you'd never notice. Ordinary-looking, inconspicuous, practically invisible. Lives in a little apartment behind the hotel. Been working graveyard shift for twelve years now. Got no life of any consequence.

But one night Petra sits down at his table, and then…”

Appraisal:

There was a time when I read a lot of true crime and noir, which is in many ways the fictional equivalent, in that both are chronicling the world’s dark underbelly. Over time, I’ve gravitated away from both, but post-Kindle have added a little of both back into my reading diet. One of my favorite new discoveries has been Mike Dennis’ noir fiction.

This story uses the well-worn premise of “why is a girl like that even giving me a second glance,” and takes it in a direction that is a touch different … or is it? Harry knows he’s taking a risk, fantasizes about Petra while knowing his dreams aren’t likely to come true, and then we get a double twist ending. Not at all what you’ll expect, nor will it be what the things I’ve said might imply. A quick but fun read.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four stars

In an Uncharted Country / Clifford Garstang

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Literary Fiction/Short Story

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

A native of the Midwest, Clifford Garstang is a lifelong student (I count four graduate degrees in his official bio including a law degree and an MFA in Creative Writing). He has worked as an attorney for the World Bank and a Peace Corps Volunteer. His writing has appeared in many of the top literary magazines.

Description:

A collection of twelve short stories which are linked, in that they all take place in the fictional small town of Rugglesville, VA, with some characters and events taking place in one story being referenced in another.

Appraisal:

I’ve read a few linked short story collections in the past. Some were very good and others, not so much. As I looked back at what qualities made the difference, I realized that it could be illustrated using what is called “coupling” in computer science. (The computer geeks can read the Wikipedia entry, for others I’ll give my higher-level definition.) In simple terms, coupling is low if different modules or sections of a computer program mostly stand alone with a minimum number of links to other sections. Generally, low coupling is good, high coupling bad.

Those linked short story collections I didn’t like had too many things linking any one module (or story in this case) to many others. The stories were all clearly happening in the same short period, shared many of the same events and characters. In the worst cases, the reader ends up feeling as if they are reading a poorly structured novel with too many points of view.

In contrast, In an Uncharted Country has few linkages between the stories. A minor character in one is sometimes the main character in another. One story might reference a past event detailed in another story earlier in the volume. But each story stands alone with just enough links from one story to another to give the reader a little more knowledge about the current happenings. As knowledge and different perspectives accumulate, the reader immerses himself into the fictional town of Rugglesville, VA (where all the stories take place) and gets to know the people of the town a little better. By the time you finish the final story, you’ll feel like an honorary Rugglevillian.

FYI:

Some adult language and situations.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five stars

Secrets of a Massage Therapist / Andy Vogt

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Humor/Chick-Lit

Approximate word count: 65-70,000 words

Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

A professional massage therapist who is originally from Germany, Andy Vogt shares these and other characteristics with Angie (the protagonist of this novel). For more, visit Vogt’s website.

Description:

Angie is a professional massage therapist. Secrets of a Massage Therapist follows Angie at work and in her personal life, as a romance blossoms with Marcus, a mystery novelist.

Appraisal:

Although a novel, Secrets of a Massage Therapist reads like a memoir. That the author shares many characteristics with Angie, the protagonist, confuses matters even more. After I finished reading, I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

If viewed as a memoir, Secrets almost works. The experiences and awkward moments Angie has are what you might predict. Many revolve around the confusion you would expect with people not making the distinction between a legitimate massage therapist, hoping to alleviate muscle aches and pains, and someone using massage as a cover for practicing the world’s oldest profession. They are at turns humorous and titillating. However, if read as a memoir, it stretches credibility that one person would have had all of these experiences. On her website, the author says that, while she draws on her real life experiences, not everything in Secrets actually happened to her. That is credible.

But if we approach Secrets as what it is, a novel, it falls short. The reason for this is that the conflict Angie is trying to overcome or the goal she is trying to reach is vague. The only thing that fits is reaching a happily-ever-after ending with Marcus, but I never felt Angie had strong feelings about ending up with Marcus. These feelings could be against (with Marcus slowly winning her over) or she could be obsessed with catching Marcus. What they can’t be, if the goal is a compelling novel, is wishy-washy. Unfortunately, the massage stories, while enjoyable, were so numerous that they diluted the romance storyline too much and left Secrets in the no-woman’s-land between a romance and a memoir.

FYI:

Contains adult language and sexual situations.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: *** Three stars