My Kindle
W&S is a twice-monthly newsletter about reading, writing, and publishing by author Colin Wright.
My Kindle
I bought my first Kindle about 15 years ago, and part of the justification was that I was traveling full-time and couldn’t feasibly haul all the books I wanted to keep on hand in the carry-on luggage out of which I was living.
It was a nice little bonus that those older model Kindles also had physical keyboards and a free, always-on 3G internet connection that granted free access to a simple version of the web even when there was no WiFi available (this came in very handy at times).
Today’s Kindles aren’t as versatile, and Amazon seems to be doing all it can to make the user interface worse, hobbling it so that all you can really do is peruse, purchase, and engage with their offerings.
But at the moment, knock on wood, you can still connect your Kindle to library services and side-load ebooks acquired from anywhere. The screen and build of the Kindle Paperwhite is high-quality, especially for the price, and despite my qualms about the company that makes it (and their seeming drive to ruin every product they sell, not to mention the infrastructure underpinning the industries in which they operate), my Kindle is one of the few devices I’ve ever owned for which I would gladly pay more than its sticker price. The value-utility balance (for my use-cases, at least) is just remarkably good.
I strongly suspect (to the point of foreknowledge) that at some point Amazon will push too far, will drain the device of utility until it’s so completely enshittified and locked into their ecosystem that I have to flee to a competitor. The company’s incentives are just so openly antagonistic toward their customers that this seems inevitable.
For the moment, though, I love my little black-and-white tablet, and can’t believe I can carry so many readables with me at all times. I also appreciate that I can write something that readers on the other end can so casually download, carry, and consume it at their leisure.
As an author, I hope these channels become more permeable, more equitable, and more open with time. I want more creators to make a real living from their work, and I’d like more power to be put back in their hands.
As a reader, I’d like to see more openness in these hardware-software ecosystems, and to know that my devices will last a long time and won’t ever lock me into a walled garden that’s costly or painful to escape.
At the moment, though, while I continue to love my Kindle, I’m always glancing out the door, eyeballing alternatives so I know where to jump when things (probably inevitably) become worse, then worse still, until I finally have to set it aside for good.
If you’re a writer (or want to be) and use a Mac, you might enjoy my daily writing ritual app, Authorcise, which I made for myself but decided to share (for free) because we live in the future and that’s possible.
My Works In Progress
Yore (Adult Sci-Fi / Fantasy hybrid)
Querying: 8 rejections, 1 partial manuscript request
Methuselahs (Adult Sci-Fi / Thriller hybrid)
Writing: Two drafts completed, jumping into a third this upcoming week
Some Writing (& Such) Links
Some Audiobooks Are Outselling Hardcovers
This isn’t entirely surprising to me, and probably won’t be for anyone who listens to audiobooks, or even podcasts (as you’ll understand how easy and fun it can be to establish a regular listening-to-audio rhythm/routine).
What it says about the shift in mediums (and the pricing of those mediums playing a role) is interesting, though, especially considering the additional costs associated with producing an audiobook (though of course there isn’t the same per-unit cost as you find with printed materials).
From the piece:
Author S.A. Cosby’s southern crime novel “King of Ashes” was a critical hit and a New York Times bestseller earlier this year.
But more of Cosby’s fans have listened to the story than read it. The audiobook, narrated by actor Adam Lazarre-White, has outsold the hardcover edition, according to its publisher, Macmillan Audio.
Cosby has had the same narrator for multiple novels, giving listeners a sense of consistency. He said in an interview that getting the audiobook via Audible—at a price point lower than the hardcover—“also made it more accessible.”
Iceland’s Only Forensic Pathologist Is Teaching Crime Writers About Death
I’ve lived in Iceland and have struggled to explain to people in the US just how little crime they have over there. I guess it makes sense, then, that their only full-time forensic pathologist might spend a decent amount of time consulting on crimes for writing purposes, rather than working on real ones (Iceland is also a very book-happy, writer-filled country).
From the piece:
When an Icelandic author needs help getting their crime-thriller just right, there is one man they turn to: Pétur Guðmannsson, the country’s only full-time forensic pathologist.
After responding to individual queries for years, Guðmannsson launched a course about three years ago to educate all those aspiring authors.
“It’s a really interesting job and I think it’s fun to interact with writers and creators of fiction about the reality of my work,” Guðmannsson told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
As a forensic pathologist, Guðmannsson performs autopsies on bodies when a death is deemed to be unexpected, sudden or suspicious.
It’s cases like those that he talks about during his seminars on death and dying through Endurmenntun Háskóla Íslands, an education centre operated by the University of Iceland. Guðmannsson says it’s basically forensic pathology 101. He talks about traumatology — which is the study, diagnosis, and treatment of physical injuries — as well as the process of dying and what happens to a body after the person dies.
100 Notable Small Press Books of 2025
This is a stellar list. I hadn’t heard of most of these, and added several to my TBR list.
From the piece:
There were times our definition of “small press” was tested. Was Tin House still a small press after it was acquired by Zando in March? Yes, we decided, since Zando was not a big five publisher. Were university presses that published well over 50 books yearly small presses? We decided they were so long as their creative offerings fell under that number. We tried to stay nimble and responsive, while sticking to the project’s principles.
There are a few important things this list is not: This is not a best of list. This is not a comprehensive survey of all small presses. This is not a juried selection of books. This is instead the product of a group of enthusiastic, committed reviewers reading hundreds of small press books from the past year and choosing the few they heartily recommend.
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Traveling the country in a Tractor Trailer with my husband, my Kindle is also invaluable since there is limited room for the necessities much less physical books. I can carry a whole library with me, including several of your books.