eReading and eWriting

"What would I do if I knew that I had only six months to live? Type faster."

Isaac Asimov

I'm writing as fast as I can, Isaac. Mud Bay http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Mud-Bay/jd-chandler/e/2940012306227/?itm=1&USRI=jd+chandler is available at Barnes & Noble. So is my collection of Richard Esher short stories Crime Family http://search.barnesandnoble.com/crime-family/jd-chandler/e/2940012422491/?itm=2&USRI=jd+chandler. I'm still working my way through the www.smashwords.com system and soon Mud Bay and Crime Family will be available in a Smashwords Edition, which means amazon.com and the world.

I have a couple of new science ficition stories up at www.goodreads.com/jdchandler : Moebius Script and A Penny For the Old Guy. Anybody that has known me for a while might recognize them. These are freshly rewritten and I think better than ever. Let me know what you think.

I have been having a lot of fun rewriting my science fiction and soon I will have a new version of Nice Day if it Don't Rain. I ahve been working on this for years, but now I have been inspired and the short story may lead to further adventures of Billy Robinson.

I also have two novels in the works: Squareface www.squarefacetony.blogspot.com and Better Things. I have been working on Squareface for years and now just need someone to read and help me decide how to edit it. Better Things is coming along, better not to speak of it at the moment.

I knew that there were good writers out there looking for their audience and I'm starting to find them. I have three very promising writers with pieces for the book conspiracy anthology http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/537656-book-conspiracy-anthologies. I'm getting a little overwhelmed with reading at the moment, but that doesn't mean I don't want more submissions. Please check the link above and submit something!

I am becoming very interested in short stories about the end of the world or what I like to call Apocalyptic Tales. I have been reading some good stuff along these lines. If you're interested you might want to check out Warm Beer, Cherry Poptarrts and a Bloody Shotgun by Larkin Williamson it's over at http://www.short-fiction.co.uk/newstories/show_story.php?story_id=7849 another interesting read along these lines is http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/53436 17 Stories About the End of the World by Luc Ried. Luc is the master of the ultra short story and he has some amazing visions of the Apocalypse.

Mud Bay

Mud Bay is the story of a detective trying to solve the mysterious car-crash death of his partner. Richard Esher travels to Olympia, Wa to investigate his friends death and is forced to confront the ugly truth about her before he is through. Esher loses everything as he relentlessly pursues the truth.

My story has been praised for establishing a very strong sense of geography. That was one of the main goals in writing this; I wanted to make Southwest Washington a character. I think I have succeeded. In fact I had such a strong sense of place and time while writing it, that the book has quickly become outdated. Now it is a sort of historical fiction set in 1995.

I wrote Mud Bay while I still lived in Olympia and the area comes across very strongly in the book. It took me several years of rewriting and trying to get attention for the book before I decided to self-publish in 2001. The book was a small success, but only a small one. Reading through the paperback edition I would often cringe at the lack of editing and the lapses in proofreading.

Recently I had a chance to go back and correct what I saw as errors. In the new edition I have tightened the writing significantly and clarified the plot a bit. What results is a better story with tighter writing, but still all of the characters that my readers have loved.

Esher began for me as a short story, Gone Daddy, I wrote while I was in college. That story and two other Richard Esher mysteries will be appearing soon in a collection called Crime Family that will be available as an ebook soon.

I am very proud of the cover art on these new editions. The drawings come from my father's sketchbooks. He was an artist all of his life, but he was very shy about sharing his work. After he passsed away I inherited his sketchbooks and I am proud to have them gracing the covers of my work.

The new edition of Mud Bay is available here http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Mud-Bay/jd-chandler/e/2940012306227/?itm=1&USRI=mud+bay

Greetings!

Finally the time has come around for me to begin sharing my thoughts with all my friends out there in Internetland again. I have been off on several strange adventures since I stopped doing Slabtown Chronicle regularly.

Along the way i aquired a NOOK eReader. I love my nook almost as much as I have always loved books. I find eReading to be faster and more convenient. I never have to worry about carrying a spare book when i get down to the last few pages of what i am reading. I always have a good supply of books to choose from. I even read faster, who knew that changing pages could slow you down so much?

As a writer I find my eReader to be a valuable tool as well. I can quickly convert Words documents into a form to read on my nook, so I can read my manuscripts very easily.

EReaders are creating exciting new opportunities for writers and artists. Self-publishing in electronic format is very easy. A new edition of Mud Bay is already out (I will post about it next.) And I am working on several collections of my work. I have some other anthology projects in mind as well. I intend to fully explore the opportunities this new technology offers.

Let me know what you think. Do you have an eReader? How do you like it? What do you like to read? has your eReader changed how you read or what you read?

If you don't have an eReader, you better get one and join in the discussion.