Wow, This Is Why I Never Take NyQuil…

What I Am Reading ~ A. D. Christopher: Necessary Temptation

Necessary Temptation by A. D. Christopher
From: Ellora’s Cave

Only one night of sexual testing stands between Dawson Gray and his destiny. If he can endure a public ritual without succumbing to his desire for another man, he will claim his female mate and his future as head of his wereleopard pride. That future is in his grasp, until one man approaches…

Logan is an Unfree slave whose only chance at freedom is to become the warrior-mate of a Pride-born son. But there’s one thing Logan desires more than his freedom — Gray. This is his only chance to tempt the man he loves to his side. He’ll use every weapon at his disposal to prove to Gray that their feelings are more than desire, and that this night is the beginning of a shared destiny, not merely a necessary temptation.

I think I saw this pose on A Nightmare on Elm Street. His ear looks like a bite size cinnamon roll.

Tags: A.D. Christopher, Ellora's Cave, Gay, Weresomething Romance

A Good Question Deserves An Answer.

Zadia wrote… I am waiting to see how my favorite ebook writers respond to this gadget.

Thank you for the comment Zadia, and you made two very good points here in one line about the Amazon Kindle. It is a gadget, a $399.00 gadget that I can not whole heartedly endorse.

When all is said and done, it is currently a product that forces you into using Amazon’s DRM and Amazon’s hardware to read Amazon’s eBooks. Which is pretty limiting to me with it’s current price tag.

Would I buy a Kindle?

Sure, but I am a hard core gadget freak and I am willing to take chances on potential. Kindle is nothing but potential right now. They are taking the existing Mobipocket library and converting it over to a device that will allow you to buy any Mobipocket title from anywhere the Kindle can make the connection to the Internet from. That is some powerful stuff there. A eBook Reader with a built in delivery system is nothing to sneeze at.

But… There are still holes here. If I was Lora Leigh with a lot of books on Ellora’s Cave or a big author on Loose-Id I would be hounding their collective butts right about now on why they were not included in this enormous event for this new eBook platform.

The promotional capability of having your traditionally published books listed right along side your back list eBooks is what the Amazon Kindle is providing to the established eBook authors lucky enough to have had eBooks being offered on the Mobipocket Site and that is some powerful stuff indeed to have happened on the busiest store on the Net. Talk about making a big entrance with not much effort… There you go!

Anyway, that is really all politics and positioning and potential and not what a prudent practical minded person should buy into yet. If you worry about every penny then let the dust cloud settle and wait this one out if you can. The Amazon Kindle could be the greatest thing since sliced bread for eBooks and ePubs or a gigantic flop.

It is still too close to call yet.

If I wanted to buy an eBook reader that I did not consider strictly a gadget and that I knew was gonna be supported for a long time coming I would head over to Amazon.com and check out the PALM T/X currently listed for about $257.00 and if you read my review you would know it is also wi-fi connected and reads Mobipocket, Adobe Reader, Palm eReader. Which gives you three DRM choices to buy eBooks in and I highly recommend it if you can handle it’s screen size. If you are really diligent remember they are found at Walmart and you know those local sales there.

If I was really truly really EVIL… And you know I am. If I worked for say Samhain, I would see what wholesale actually is on a load of Palm T/X’s because there are HUGE discounts for businesses buying these things in bulk and I would sell them at cost on their website.

Why? Because, it’s all about the eBooks and I am The VEPB!

There is my personal endorsement for the holiday season all wrapped up for you.

Happy eBook Reading!

Tags: Hacking eBooks

Amazon Kindle eBooks Ahoy!

My bad! I figured out all the weirdness and oddities on what Amazon is offering as far as eBooks from ePubs on the Kindle eBook Listings. Seems they are converting from the Mobipocket site on the fly. Spotty sometimes inaccurate author listings and all.

Tags: Hacking eBooks

Amazon Digital Services: Now On-Line

I was wandering around Amazon.com today and noticed something funny.
Suddenly I was seeing Samhain eBooks for sale.

From what I can tell Amazon.com is now selling Samhain, Amber Quill Press, Aspen Mountain Press, New Concepts Publishing and Cobblestone Press eBooks.

But… only in Kindle format.
So you will find those ePublishers who allow other retailers to sell their latest eBooks but not Ellora’s Cave or Loose-Id.

This is gonna put eBook authors and eBook Publishers front and center.

Check it out!

Tags: Samhain Publishing

Happy Thanksgiving!

There is nothing that makes me happier than seeing an eBook author do something amazing.

J.L. Langley just got two positions on the Gay and Lesbian top ten bestsellers list on Amazon.com with these two books.

That is so cool!

Tags: J.L. Langley

What I Am Reading ~ Anne Douglas: Accidentally Were?

Accidentally Were? by Anne Douglas
From: Loose-Id

Pearl Gordon wakes up after her first ever one-night stand to an empty bed, a plethora of love bites, and every stray canine in town serenading her bedroom window. Something’s not right — neither the dogs, nor the strange canine tooth marks in the middle of all the hickeys she now wears around her neck make any sense.

When her pal Shaun can’t come up with any better excuse than she was bitten by a werewolf — seriously, as if! — Shaun suggests Pearl double check with her neighbor, Rex Dixon. After all, the handsome, burly, bear of a man might be practicing as a vet, but he also trained as a GP.

Angry that a Were in heat was so stupid as to sit herself down in the middle of his waiting room, Rex reacts. Only there’s a few things he doesn’t know about Pearl, and it seems Magic is about to poke a pin in the side of his confirmed bachelor balloon. There’s a prophecy to fulfill and Fate’s out hunting, and she’s loaded for Were-Bear. When Miss Priss in pearls meets Mr. Proudly Plaid in flannel, there’ll be more flying than just blue sparks and fur.

Tags: Anne Douglas, Loose-Id, Straight, Weresomething Romance

Teddypig Hacks An eBook: Winter 2007 ~ An eBook Reader Review

I knew it would come to this. It’s OK, I understand. Just let it out honey it will be alright. So let me guess. You decided to go looking at eBook Readers and got abused again. Hey, we have all been there. “So what does the Teddy Pig recommend?” you ask while drying the tears from your eyes and checking around for something to smack me with. Well…

First do yourself a favor and checkout sites like MobileRead and their eBook Reader Matrix which is the shit. Or… You can hang out here while I do my little soft shoe routine and show you how easy it is to decipher the crap they try and sell you when looking at these dogs with fleas.

So on with the show!

Name: iRex iLiad
Reading Size: 8.1 inch screen Gray Scale
Price: $699.00
DRM eBook Format: Mobipocket
Has Wi-fi

Name: Bookeen Cybook
Reading Size: 6 inch screen Gray Scale
Price: $350.00
DRM eBook Format: Mobipocket

Name: Amazon Kindle
Reading Size: 6 inch screen Gray Scale
Price: $400.00
DRM eBook Format: *Kindle Proprietary* Mobipocket
Has wi-fi

So first off I just wanted to group these three together. Why? Simple, because they are basically Gray Scale and Linux based and do one thing. They all support only one DRM: Mobipocket. You buy one of these and that’s all you are getting as of today is a stupid Mobipocket Reader.

See, I do not listen to promises. People promise you anything to get you to buy junk and then they head out the first time they are asked to cough up the goods. So the over priced iLiad looks good with it’s list of promises about what it could do but I ask a simple question “What does it do today?”

The answer to that question is that it does the exact same thing as any of the smaller eBook Readers in this category do, or in the case of the Amazon Kindle, promises they will do.

See just more promises. Listen, you want an eBook reader then do what I do and look at the bottom line…
What mainstream DRM Formats do they support as of today?

Name: eBookwise 1150
Reading Size: 5.5 inch screen Gray Scale
Price: $109.95
DRM eBook Format: IMP

Name: Sony PRS-505
Reading Size: 6 inch screen Gray Scale
Price: $299.99
DRM eBook Format: BBeB

Now you might be sitting there saying Teddy Pig “Why do you group these together?”
Because this is some funny ass shit. Big old Sony is basically pulling a Fictionwise. Both are running websites that sell eBooks and both are providing their own proprietary DRM format eBook Reader.

Now who do I trust here to provide support in the long run? Remember Betamax? Remember the Sony Clie?

So for the cheap price, for the support and for the simple fact they have been doing this for a while I would lay the money down for the eBookwise before taking a chance on a more expensive one trick Sony gadget that, if you notice, does not have a Sony VAIO tag on it. That is a dead giveaway to me what will eventually happen to the Sony eBook Reader when they get tired of throwing money at the publishers to support their DRM Format.

SUCKERS! Yeah, I bought a Sony PSP too… Why? I still have no clue.

Name: Palm T/X
Reading Size: 4 inch screen Color
Price: $282.54
DRM eBook Format: Mobipocket, Adobe Reader, Palm eReader
Has wi-fi

Ah, now we are getting into things that make sense to the gadget minded pig. This is a Palm. Everyone knows what a Palm is and everyone has played with these before. It supports both Mac and Windows for its sync program. It is now in color with the introduction of the Palm T/X. There simply is no surprises with the Palm and it supports Three DRM Formats. Mobipocket, Adobe Reader, two of the most stable, well known, fully supported and easily bought eBook DRM Formats today and Palm’s own eReader to boot.

I say with all that going on this is actually an eBook Reader that calls itself a PDA. Hell, this is such a run-of-the-mill, no brainer purchase, you can run down to your local Walmart and buy one of these things and be using it in seconds. Palm does not make false promises, they simply continue to provide executives across the globe with pocket toys. Get it? Executives… No Brainer? *heh* Solid bland old Palm is probably a better bet than a Sony eReader since just about every Fortune 500 company I have worked at hands these Palms out like candy. I always trust there will be tons of third party support for a business related product for a long time to come.

Name: HP iPAQ 211
Reading Size: 4 inch screen Color
Price: $449.99
DRM eBook Format: Palm eReader, Mobipocket, Adobe Reader, Microsoft Reader
Has wi-fi

Jeez, getting a little more expensive. This iPAQ is still $250.00 less than a iRex iLiad! Are you figuring out that a lot of these eBook Readers are sold to people who are a little lost in the shuffle? Why get a one trick pony when you can have one of these jumping through any hoop you buy? Let the Geeks with lots of money play in the shallow end of the pool. So here you get color, plus wi-fi, plus the damn thing supports 4 major DRM Formats. It’s almost a sure bet that any eBook you want will be available to be purchased and read on this Windows CE running iPAQ. Thanks HP!

Name: Sony VAIO UX280P - VAIO® UX
Reading Size: 4.5 inch screen High Resolution LCD 120DPI
Price: $1094.00
DRM eBook Format: ALL eBook DRM Formats and ALL eReaders on Windows XP SP2
Has EVERYTHING!

So here is the end of our tour folks and I’ll just sit right here and drool over this baby. See, when I look for gadgets I like going all the way and this is alllll the way. 48 GIGS of solid state memory storage running on a 1GHZ chip with 1GIG of on-board memory and a LCD screen that can pull off 120DPI without breaking a sweat *talk dirty to me daddy*. All that jargon should tell you this thing is tech speak for REALLY GREAT SEX. It even comes with a dock station that you can hook a full size monitor and keyboard to and use it just like a laptop. In fact look it has the Sony VAIO tag on it so Sony will support this thing for a long long time.

Because baby it is what it is. A James Bond-like laptop, the size of a paperback like The Thorn Birds or Roots or The Stand, that fits in your purse. It can hold every eBook you have and let you download more to your hearts content anywhere you want to be. This thing is all about immediate, delicious, instant gratification while giving you stunning Mega-Tokyo eye candy. Try and top that for this price at Overstock.com Jane. Uh-huh, yeah, who’s your daddy now?

Think of it this way. It’s only $500.00 more than a stupid iRex iLiad.

So you ask “What does the Teddy Pig use?”

This is my hulking 12 inch *Sha-wing!* G3 iBook that I bought for $300.00 off Craigslist. Actually it is nice and small. I typed this whole article out for you on it and I read all my eBooks with it. Sure it does not support Microsoft Reader and a couple of other DRM Formats but hell, it was cheap and it does everything I want.

Without eye strain.

Listen I am not against buying toys. I bought an Apple iPhone, I bought a Sony Playstation 3 damn it! These are all extremely expensive risks. Some have surprised me with doing more than expected even after I got them. It’s just that in my mind the gadget either has to be so ground breaking (iPhone) it makes some sense or is so practical (PS3 + HiDef TV = Bluray DVD Player + Awesome Video Games) it sells itself.

That’s the point folks, this market is all over the place and it constantly changes with new promises of better functionality every day. The major problem I see is ancient DOS level-like functionality (Displaying a text file) and hardware (Crappy gray scale eInk screens) being thrown together on freebie Operating Systems with some hybrid DRM no one else supports and sold at Snake Oil prices. So know all your options and make your choices carefully and above all else…

Happy eBook Reading!

Tags: eBook Tools

New from J.L. Langley

With or Without: With Caution by J.L. Langley
From: Samhain Coming November 20th!
Read An Excerpt

A brother’s vow. A lover’s promise. Both could put them all at deadly risk.

Remington Lassiter is trying his best to stay out of trouble while he learns the ropes of being a werewolf. When his little brother turns up covered in bruises, he is driven to finally bring their abusive father to justice. To do it, he must face a past he hides behind his cocky, trouble-making attitude. A past so dark it haunts him only in dreams.

Jake Romero, a crack private investigator with a bad-boy biker image, realizes he has his work cut out for him when Remi asks for his help. From the first moment he turned Remi into a werewolf in order to save his life, Jake has been fighting to keep his inner demons at bay. He’s torn between the desire to tell Remi they are destined to be mates, and the need to first let Remi get used to the werewolf life.

Jake will do anything to protect Remi and help him break the cycle of abuse he has endured all his life, but his investigation is about to uncover something far more sinister and deadly than they ever imagined.

A past that could put all their lives at risk.

Cascadia Wolves: Wolf Unbound by Lauren Dane
From: Samhain Coming January 1st!
Read An Excerpt

Tegan Warden has lost her heart and her mate. It’s a devastating thing for anyone, but for a werewolf, the consequences are even harsher without her anchor. She’s spent the last four years alone, putting all her energy into her job and protecting the Cascadia Pack.

Ben Stoner is a hard edged cop with a taste for sexual dominance but a need for a woman who’ll be his match.

Through happenstance, the two come into contact and the universe of the Cascadia wolves unites, challenges and threatens them both - as a couple and as individuals.

Tags: J.L. Langley, Lauren Dane, Samhain Publishing, Werewolf Romance

J.L. Langley & Loose-Id Going Strong!

I am a very good friend to J.L. Langley and I just wanted to congratulate her.

Not only has J.L. Langley maintained a top ten position on Amazon.com in the overall Gay & Lesbian Bestseller List with The Tin Star for pretty much the whole year but now she has hit number one and number two Bestsellers for Loose ID with the new sequel The Broken H going into print.

Then recently I was walking down Castro Street in San Francisco and what do I see in A Different Light’s front window display?

You go Jenn! You go Loose-Id!
This is honestly the first time I have ever seen a eBook author get such notice for a book from an eBook Publisher.

Tags: Gay, J.L. Langley, Loose-Id, Western Romance

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