Kris’s Kolumn

It’s time to come clean. I bought a Kindle and I am totally, madly, seriously in love with it.

Half the world has asked me if I have an ebook reader.  I have always said no for two reasons.  First of all I never have much extra cashola and second of all…I love the feel of a book in my hand.  Don’t you?  Pages and black letters and the smell of the world you are reading about and the weight of the lovely thing on your chest when you fall asleep every night. Oh Lord have mercy – I love books~!

But then I saw how many of you buy books on Kindles and Nooks and whatever in the hell else is out there.  Not just any books either – MY BOOKS. One day three weeks ago I just up and ordered a Kindle and thus my affair began.  Now I can barely stand to be more than five inches from the lovely thing.

I usually write down the names of books I want to read on little slips of paper and then order them when I remember where I put the little pieces of paper.  The first time I remembered I could simply order one and it would be there in a literal blink of an eye I confess I was a little teary-eyed. There it was, in not minutes, but seconds. Well, it doesn’t smell or look  like a book and you have to plug it in now and then – but wowowowow.

Deep into research for my tenth novel, and there’s a @!#%load of research for this baby, I am still needing to get real books.  It’s quicker for me to reach over and pick one up and read and re-read passages and information that I need. And who doesn’t want to have the real book of a favorite author on their shelf…(hin, hint, hint – new book coming out in two weeks…) There’s also that whole autographing thing.  Yes, I know about electronic signatures but get real here – because they ain’t real.

So my Kindle has it’s place and I think it always will but there’s still nothing like the real thing.

And I’m thinking about what a deal this is for all of you – me too, I suppose.  I worked for 1.5 years on my new novel – Tuesday Night Miracles and you can buy a real book or a cyber-book for under $15. Book rights and sales are another topic – we seriously don’t want to get into that right now or this blog will turn into a novel.

But you should know that last night I feel asleep with my little Kindle on my chest and I swear it felt just like a book..and I didn’t have to turn the light on to read.

It’s been one of those years – you know? Losses and gains and challenges and change and me always getting up out of bed with my fists clenched and ready for the fight and folly of the day. I especially love the folly part.

So the other day I was out hiking, which is like hot yoga, free beer, a massage, or a huge pork roast to some of you – depending on what floats your boat. Besides the glory of silence, and blue skies, and the crunch of tree droppings under my boots, I saw the must unusual bird in the most unusual place. This is especially interesting because I am writing about birds right now and there was a sweet black and white messenger laughing at me as I threw my angst around the forest.  Then just as my partner and I were about to leave the trail I heard the clump, clump, clump of an approaching human. I stopped in my tracks for two reasons.  First of all I wanted to brace myself for the person who was intruding on what I thought was my sacred space and secondly, the clumping was unusual.

The man who appeared seconds later only had one leg and was using crutches to hike. And yes, he took my breath away.

I’ve always thought that when life is hard for me it’s harder for someone else. I’ve always thought that things could always be worse no matter how worse they already were and the moment I saw the man clumping down the trail I called myself an ass.

Sometimes I am an ass and I’ve never really been afraid to admit that true fact.

But I’m also lots of other things, the least of all being that I’m honest, and I know I can always do and be better.

The man in the forest was a lovely gift and so was the bird and so was Sally who came to see me today from Chicago.

I’d never met her before but she’s written to me and sent me some precious emails and today she held my hands and told me that my writing was a gift that had helped her and many of her clients. Sally was just what I needed today – and she has two legs. She also has a lovely heart and a great husband and the courage to say the things that need to be said. She was like a sweet bird that landed at the the edge of the stream and I’m here to tell you there are birds, and Sallies, and clumpers all over the place.

All we have to do is look.  Really.

Lift up your head and look around and then move forward with one leg, or two, or with your hands or whatever in the hell you have to propel yourself.

That’s what I’m doing.

You may have seen my float past your window just a moment ago.

I could care less what the rest of the world says or does.

I’m flying baby…….