MAYHEM ON MONDAYS

Don't give up on bookstores!

The sad news in Ottawa last week was the impending demise of yet another independent bookstore, Collected Works. The store is up for sale at $1 and if no buyer, or infusion of cash, presents itself before Christmas Eve, the store will close. That’s the third one for this city, this year. Nicholas Hoare closed earlier in the year and our other wonderful indie, Books on Beechwood, will follow suit in January.

A columnist in the morning newspaper seemed to think this was inevitable, what with the electronic world taking over our lives. But, you know what? I don’t agree. I truly believe there will always be a place for bookstores and although the numbers will not be great, those that remain will be serving a faithful clientele, one that could even see growth as this fascination with all things electronic whittles away to the norm and readers look back to the ‘good old days’. Even vinyl LP’s are making a comeback!

Did you turn on your radio this morning? Remember when that new gadget, the television was supposed to obliterate radio? Television was also seen to be the undoing of newspapers, too although they’re still around. I know, many are hurting, some have closed and others are cutting back…sounds like a pattern, doesn’t it? But will they totally disappear? I doubt it. Community newspapers, at the very least, will survive. And I that radio will always be with us. As will bookstores.

Flying home from Victoria the other night, I noticed several passengers continue reading their paper books while others of us had to shut down their e-readers, iPads and smart phones in preparation for landing. It’s those unforeseen advantages that are out there and will aid in the future of books.

I subscribe to the newspapers, have my radio on for much of the day, watch some television at night, read a book on my iPad when traveling, and have stacks of books throughout the house…many of them with bookmarks part way through them. These can co-exist!

So far this morning I have read the newspaper and read a few chapters of a paper book while enjoying my second espresso, before starting to work. And, this past weekend, I bought a book, a manual on how to use my iPad!

Long live the book!

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase

READ AND BURIED
Berkley Prime Crime, now available
A KILLER READ, also available at your favourite bookstores and online.

CRIME ON MY MIND

Technology...ugh!

Remind me again why we like technology so much? Why all the new "time-saving" electronics are so important? Why I even pause to ask these questions?

Maybe my computer needs cleaning or an overhauling. Maybe I need more RAM or whatever it is. Maybe I need more patience. It's just that I get so fed up with having to keep re-trying to enter a program; when Facebook tells me my password is not correct; when Twitter is overloaded so 'try again later'.

Who said we need all these gizmos, anyway? I'll admit, when everything works properly, it's pretty nice. It's good to have the world at your fingertips through Google. It's pretty nifty being able to communicate with friends across the country with just a few keystrokes. It's a help being able to edit a manuscript with 'cut' and 'paste' features.

But sometimes I long for the good old days of picking up the telephone, getting a letter or a card in the mailbox, using the old Remington to type up the manuscript along with scissors and a glue stick to 'cut' and 'paste'. It wasn't fast. It wasn't tidy. But it sure didn't raise my internal temperature the way my electronics often do.

Which is not a so great in the midst of our incredible heat wave. It's a good thing I've taken the day off from writing and will spend most of it in an air conditioned church, volunteering at a marvelous Music and Beyond concert. No electronics allowed there!

Hope you're keeping cool...inside and out! Speaking of outside, there's a cardinal calling me.

Linda Wiken/Erika Chase

A KILLER READ
Berkley Prime Crime, now available
READ & BURIED, coming Dec., 2012
www.erikachase.com