The Drones Are Coming!!

So you want to read a book but you don't want to go to the library or bookstore.  Sure, you could grab your tablet or smart device of choice and download practically anything in a few seconds.  But suppose you want the feel of paper, or perhaps a leather bound copy of some old classic.

Well, worry no more.  Soon, Amazon will have flying robots bring you a book quicker than the pizza can get there.  No, I'm not kidding.  Amazon Prime Air promises to use drones for deliveries.  And if you've noticed, these quadcopter drones are all the rage right now.  I've drooled over several myself, and watched countless videos of them.

The problem, I believe, will be that these suckers will get stolen left and right.  They are unmanned, just flying along, and someone shoots it out of the air, or grabs it when it's on the ground, or throws something at it when it's low to knock it out of the sky.  Good ones today sell for 400-500 bucks.  One that has GPS, is completely automated, has a 10 mile range, and can carry a few pounds will easily sell for a grand or more each.

But still, technology is way cooler each year.

Upcoming Posts - Changes

So much old literature is starting to bog me down.  I need something newer.  I'm starting to crave modern books!  So my master plan of not migrating to mid-twentieth century classics until 2015 has got to change.

I plan to start the new year with a few of the Gothic Romance novels I promised you, but then I'll jump right into early-mid 20th century books of literary merit.  I'm not saying there won't be a few modern genre fiction novels thrown in just to bug you, because it may happen.  Since that's what I write myself, I've got to stay current with what the public is reading.

Thank you for your support.

Audiobook Narration

Is it just me, or do you hate to hear an audiobook narrated with the "wrong" voice?  A British novel should not be narrated by an American.  A southern drawl should not be faked.  Mark Twain books should not be narrated by someone from Brooklyn.  And when I listen to Tolstoy, I prefer English with a Russian accent.

On the way to work the other morning, I popped in a CD audiobook of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  It was a standard midwestern American accent.  Boo!  That book is supposed to take us back to early Victorian England, and anything but a British accent just doesn't cut it.

As far as male/female, it should be based on the main character.  Normally, authors write main characters with the same sex as themselves, but not always.  I would expect Jane Austen novels to be narrated by a British female.  But Charles Dickens novels might be a British male or female, depending on the book.  And I certainly don't want to hear Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt stories narrated by anyone but a tough sounding American male.

Are you with me?  Good.

So anyway, what are you guys doing tonight?  I'm up for anything.