If Amazon Didn't Love Me Before, They Do Now

I finally did it--two weeks ago I actually bought two ebooks. I know that I've said before I have so many free ebooks on my Kindle that I probably have the equivalent of a 5-year reading list, but I thought that it was important to start supporting authors whenever I can. Well, at least when I have a gift card laying around...

The two books I purchased were John Lennon: The Life by Phillip Norman and Last Train to Istanbul by Ayse Kulin. Clearly these titles do not belong to indie authors, but indie authors are the ones that offer their books for free, so the support for my indie peeps is still there.

I purchased the first book because it was just $1.99 and I discovered the deal through BookBub (proof that BookBub works--they actually enticed me to pay for an ebook). I'm also a full-on geek about the Beatles, so it was an obvious choice. You'd think I would have learned everything from the dozen or so Beatles-related books already on my bookshelf, but this book has went above and beyond my current knowledge, and I'm only 11% into the thing.



And that brings me to the other reason I really bought this ebook: I've looked at the hardcover copy at a bookstore before, and this is an 800+ page tome. For less that two bucks I saved myself months of neck and wrist pain from trying to read the physical copy. Totally worth it just for that!



I haven't started reading Last Train to Istanbul, but Amazon caught me just at the right time with this one. It was the next morning after I purchased The Life and it was a recommendation in one of my many daily Amazon emails. At just $2, I checked out the synopsis and decided that I had to get it--after all, the next biggest thing I geek out about besides the Beatles is a good WWII tale. I have to get a few other titles read first, but I can't wait to dig into this one.

What was the first ebook you spent money on? 

The Ups and Downs of Mondays

I watched the Grammys last night and I'm pretty sure I'll never make that mistake again. I could go on for hours, but I'll just say these two things: when Jeff Lynne is on stage, YOU STAND UP. And no one turns off Paul's mic. NO ONE. And these weren't even the issues that anyone thought were controversies... I mean really. This made me regret not switching the channel to Sister Wives.

Five versions of the same song--this is love.

At least my mail carrier loves to brighten my day. Three packages came, all of which have contents that were totally free or paid for with gift cards (don't want anyone to think I'm just pretending to be poor!).


Seriously, the highlight of my Monday. I've been able to add to my vinyl collection and I received another Influenster VoxBox. As always, if you want to read more about the products from this box, please visit Showered in Beauty over the coming days and weeks for reviews, photos and other fun stuff.

Products provided free from Influenster for testing.

In terms of writing, I found another social media site that may be worth checking out. It's called Biosgraphy and is looks like a great place for personal essays and photo essays. In fact, I'm currently working on something to post into my Thank You/It's All Your Fault biog. Stayed tuned for that.

I think I may be giving up on Tsu--because of the potential to earn money, no one on that site is interested in making a genuine connection. Pity, because there are some great people over there. They just need to stop concentrating on the pennies that the site divvies out.

Aside from hanging out on social media, I have been working on that grant application I mentioned last week and revising the heck out of a few pieces so I can get them out by the end of February. Still looking for gainful employment as well, but I'm not to the point where I'm lowering my standards. I have to believe that I'll be my authentic self in my job, and nothing that's quick or easy to get has been the right fit yet. Although, if you talk to me again in a week that may change. ;-)

A Weekend to Remember

My weekend was absolutely amazing, though it was relatively free of writing. Why was my weekend so great? I went to see Paul McCartney in concert on Sunday with my brother. Though I'm a very reserved person in public, believe me, I was screaming like a little girl on the inside. McCartney/The Beatles mean a great deal to me, and have since I was a little kid, so this was really the opportunity of a lifetime. Absolutely nothing could ruin it. Not even the fact that the only two drunk people in the whole Fieldhouse were sitting in the row ahead of us.

 

And since I've only attended a handful of top-act concerts in my lifetime (I'm pretty sure this is only the third), it made the night even better. I was even able to forget about money for awhile -- even though the concert did remind me that I had a lot of work available when I bought the ticket two months ago.

Anyway, that's my excuse for slacking off on the novel this weekend. No more distractions will I have... unless "Paperback Writer" starts playing from the speakers. Then I may have to get up and dance.