"I want to be Stephen King!"

Full disclosure: I love King's work and admire him tremendously. He is a writer's writer who loves reading, who writes every day, who walks the walk, as they say.

Photo: Reuters

Too many writers claim to want to be King when what they really want is his money and success.  Or they want to write like him.  They want his freedom and his fans. I'm not going to tell these writers they shouldn't want these things. People write for all kinds of reasons, although honestly, if they want a guarantee of money and fame, they should probably do something else.

When I say I want to be Stephen King, I mean I want to write with passion and to touch people the way he has. His work leaves a lasting impression on readers and that is what I would like to achieve. To attempt to write "like King," writing horror stories or thrillers or gore the way he does, can only lead to a mediocre interpretation of a master. And mediocrity is not an option.

King admonishes all wannabe writers to read as much as they can.  To him, that separates the wheat from the chaff.  If you can't manage to read regularly, how can you be a good writer? And honestly, why would you want to write if you don't like to read? I teach ballet because I love to dance. If I can't pass along that passion, why do it at all?

How fast can you read on an e-reader?

Take this fun interactive test from Staples...and see how long it will take you to read "Harry Potter" or "War of the Worlds" from start to finish.

Source: Staples eReader Department

Kindle Love Or, A Book By Any Other Name Would Read as Sweet

What can I say about my Kindle that doesn't make me sound like I'm shilling for Amazon? I've had it for about a month so far and I love it. I think I've read more books since owning this thing than I did before I got it. Anyone who knows me knows I am neither a technophobe nor a technophile; I don't glom onto the latest of anything. And if you do know me, you know I'm a traditionally published writer and I want to continue to be a traditionally published writer, as well as a self-published one. So that's why you should listen to me.

Let me state first, though, that the version I have is the cheapest one they make, the so-called "ad-supported" version. I don't honestly know what that means since I never see ads on my Kindle.

So far I have read a manuscript written in Word, a script written in Final Draft, 6 free Kindle books, 4 free public domain books, 1 short story I wrote and published for Kindle, and 1 purchased Kindle novel. All of them were incredibly easy to download and read. Before I begin to buy books (many of which are very reasonably priced especially if the author is self-pubbing or the publisher wants you to sample the author's work), I will exhaust the free lists, which are numerous!

Reasons I love my Kindle more than my computer:

1. Battery lasts a month (or longer).
2. Lightweight, easy to carry.
3. It's way cool.
4. I'm not distracted by the internet.

Reasons I love my Kindle more than books:

1. I can change the font size.
2. I can load just about any book I want at any time I want.
3. It's way cool.
4. I can carry 3500 books at once.

My version of Kindle also has some neat things like a limited web browser, text-to-speech mode, and the ability to listen to music. Basically anything you can send to yourself in an email, you can load to your Kindle.

No, it's not color. No, it doesn't have email. No, it doesn't have a touch screen. It's designed to read things. Books, magazines, blogs, Word documents, and so on. And it does that, very very well. I don't want it to do much more than that. Just like I want my phone to make perfect calls to other people - and not take lousy videos or photos - I want my e-reader for...reading. I'm tired of having wi-fi where I drink coffee and coffee where I buy books.

I don't think every store/cafe/thing needs to be all things to all people (yeah, Starbucks, I'm talking to you: you don't need to sell CDs and books and sandwiches and oatmeal and have wi-fi in the bathrooms...you just need to make a good cup of coffee). What's so wrong with doing one thing really well?

That's what the Kindle is for: it does reading really well. And that's why I love it.

And it's way cool.