Was 4th of July Weekend Busy For You?

Do you sometimes find that Holidays can be more busy than workdays? That turned out to be the case for my 4th of July Holiday weekend which extended through Monday. The time flew by.

One reason is I'm on the committee at our local festival, Frontier Days, in Arlington Heights, so I volunteered to wrap hot dogs for Disability Day, plus be a marshal in our parade keeping kids diving for candy away from moving vehicles.

Two of the days I also signed books at the Frontier Days Marketplace with fellow author friends, Debra St. John, June Sproat and Margot Justes.

Any other free time was spent cooling off at home, until evening came along and I went back to the Festival to enjoy the entertainment. We were very lucky the rain passed us by for the most part. Only one incident where it poured for about half an hour at an off time when I wasn't there. Then it went away the rest of the Fest.

Now I'm back at work, which is not as much fun. The only good thing about returning to work is the air conditioning. It is very hot in this part of the USA lately.

What about you? Were you busy this past Holiday weekend? Or did you use the time to relax or get more accomplished on your WIP?

ARE NEWSPAPERS DEAD? by Morgan Mandel

I wonder how many people read newspapers any more.

We get the Daily Herald delivered to our doorstep every morning. I read the Neighbor Section, the front page, sometimes the Business Section, depending if I'm running late for work or not.

It used to be newspapers were our primary source for news, along with radio and TV. Now it seems most people find out what's happening faster on the Internet instead.
To accommodate this, the newspapers have set up web sites. Many columnists have their own blogs also. Often something that's just happened appears on a newspaper's website right away, which gets confusing.

Despite trying to keep up with the times, I've heard that newspapers like the Chicago Sun Times are hurting for readership and laying off people.

So, I wonder how many people are still faithful to the printed word? Also, how does this apply to books?

At the Frontier Days Festival when I was selling my mystery, Two Wrongs, and my romantic comedy, Girl of My Dreams, I had one woman ask if I had audio versions. It's the only way she can fit books into her busy schedules.

Since the Internet and everything associated with it is so popular, ebooks are gaining in popularity. What used to be the cache of small publishing companies has now become a marketplace for NY publishing houses. Let's face it, ebooks are very convenient. They fit on just about any gizmo, even the popular Iphone, plus you can loads scads of them and carry them around in your purse or pocket, unlike the printed books.

Still, there are many diehard readers out there who prefer the look of paper, the feel of turning actual pages, the satisfaction of physically opening a new book.

I'm glad to say both my books are in print and ebook forms. To me, they both have their merits.

Which do you prefer? I've got a small quiz here where you can show your preference.

Thanks,
Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
http://mysteryturtlesblogspot.com