Improvisations on Reality

I think that one of the best things a plane could have would be a scenery camera.

I’m very sure that I’m stating the obvious, but it’s cross-country flights like this one where I get reminded exactly why I adore flying as much as I do.

Taking off from NYC, I get a bird’s eye view of my own neighborhood, and yes, the skyline view. At night, that skyline view is phenomenal; all the lights and buildings seem to almost wink at you. And landing/taking off from Minneapolis, I would get a stellar aerial of a park. Can’t identify the park, considering I’m not from the Twin Cities, but the view of it coming in, of floating over it en route to the Tarmac – now that is great.

One of my favorites is of Coral Gables/Coconut Grove when I’m flying for a cruise. Believe me, if you watch CSI: Miami, it’s both exactly and nothing like it. Of course, none of the gold-cast that’s on the cam lighting, but the sun floods on all those in-ground pools, and for a second, it almost feels like you’re on set.

Of course, I’m typing this as the Grand Canyon is coming into view outside my window.

It’s definitely one of the best sights. Even from 35,000 feet up, you see the different layers of the rock, the grooves and valleys where water had taken thousands of years to carve them out. Once in a while, a crater or two. This region is one of the best earmarks for how old our world actually is, and it’s humbling. Considering I write sci-fi, it’s a confirmation as good as any that the universe is a vast and beautiful place indeed.

Views like these are easily the best part of a cross-country journey. I love the jazz fest I’m heading to, but this – the view, seeing nature at its finest, between the Rockies and the Canyon – has to be one of the best parts of the trip.

It makes me feel alive, so alive that I have few words to describe it..

K.G.

I can’t even tell you how ecstatic I am to be aboard a plane again.

I came to the conclusion that I’m not flying enough. I need to explore more cities, more destinations… Hopefully, with the real estate thing, I would be able to get myself enough money to actually do all the exploring I want.

This will be a productive flight, of that rest assured. If I don’t finish the screenplay on my way to California, then I am pretty confident that I will finish it on my way back. Same goes for the minor touch-ups to Book 4. Yes, maybe 3-4 typos… This is what happens when you do the editing at two in the morning in tax season.

Really, I ought to learn by now: if your brains are Swiss cheese, then you really, really, really should refrain from doing tasks that require your full attention. Else it will not be good.

But it is okay. As I said before, it’s a human endeavor, and a human labor. It will happen. Such is the nature of this work.

So. I’m somewhere over Illinois right now, going through the Great Lakes region. I’ve written a guest post for Kathleen Doyle, which I will link as soon as it goes up. I’ve also started putting together some author interviews for people who had contacted me about guesting here. So you guys will have a whole different mix of things coming up.

As to where I’m going? I’m once again chasing music in Newport Beach, CA! It’s time for the annual jazz festival, and I’m personally looking forward to a great reunion with friends, sweet CA sunshine, and some stellar music/photos.

I just need to actually force myself to stay awake  through the entire flight. This is only the first leg. I got so into my writing that my body started to remind me that it’s on a plane and every plane, without fail, has a soporific effect on yours truly. I am honestly fighting to stay awake!

Until next time…

K.G.

Once in a while, I would go out of my way for a show, knowing that I’m in for a treat, and this show right here has to be one of the highlights of this year’s jazz season. And it occurred to me that I’ve dug so deep into my photography that I forget to write about the music that I love.

Here’s to hoping I get back into the routine with this write-up.

So! Smooth Jazz for Scholars, held annually in Milford, CT. A train ride and a small schlep away, but it’s a balm for the music lover’s soul.

A brainchild of keyboardist Jay Rowe, the SJFS show is a fundraiser for music education in Milford public schools. Considering the slashes at extracurricular activity funding, events like these are a must, and when you look at the lineup, you are bound to see great artists. Jay will not tell you, though, that the show is absolutely electrifying, and you do not know what to expect on stage.

Among the highlights were Paul Taylor and Nelson Rangell, both on saxes, a visit from Shilts, and Nick Colionne on guitar. Fantastic lineup indeed, and each and every one of them has stellar stage presence.

Nick Colionne is someone you will recognize immediately if you’re into jazz, and if you’re not, then I recommend you have a solid listen. His guitar is Wes Montgomery/Chicago cool; strong and melodic enough to catch your attention, but you won’t catch him sticking to a script of any kind. He gets onstage and makes sure that he has your attention from the first few minutes. And if you don’t recognize the guitar, then know this: to date, Nick is the only person I know to pull off a full-scale, sharp, bold Zoot suit.  I will certainly not be the first to say that he gets an A+ for stage presence, and that has nothing to do with the suit. I promise you: he will make you laugh. More than that, he will make you take notice of his sound; he does not pull punches on the strings, and his music is as strong as his presence.

And right alongside Nick, who on the sax but the one, the only Shilts, formetly of Down to the Bone. If you want funk, this is your man right here. If you like a strong tenor, he’s got one. If need any further convincing, download Back on the Hudson. That, ladies and gentlemen, is funk. Shilts also brought a new CD with him, and new and old songs alike to the stage, including my personal favorite, the more sedate, contemplative Good Evans.

After Shilts – Paul Taylor. NY doesn’t see Paul often; come to think of it, nor does the East Coast with any sort of regularity. Some people may even call Paul commercial. However, when he kicks out something as entrancing as On The Move, you stop and listen. And when he’s on stage, he is fun; he is fun and he makes sure you have it too. Paul Taylor thrives on that stage; he gets the audience into his music, he gets everyone on stage with him into the show, and whether or not he plays the more recognizable material like Ladies’ Choice, or gets into  Prime Time material, which is a lot bolder, you’re right there with him. Together with Chieli Minucci on both Special EFX music and his own, he left me smiling.

And then, there was Nelson Rangell.

I took notice of Nelson accidentally, and comparatively recently (a couple years ago!) when Pandora kicked out Starting Now. By no means a new track, but one that didn’t really leave my head since…still in there, really. Since then, I made a point of browsing through Pandora’s stash of Rangell music, and found that his style is to my liking. Simple, lyrical, straightforward, and very melodic. Starting Now probably won’t pull you in at first, but it will make you take notice. It’ll wrap itself around you and warm your nerves. And Nelson has a unique ability: he whistles in perfect pitch.

If you don’t believe me? Mosey on over to Youtube and look up Sonora. I am telling you, I didn’t take a single photo of when he had whistled Sonora at SJFS because my jaw was busy resting on the floor. How often do you hear someone whistle note-perfect as part of a jazz show? This was a first, and a very intriguing first at that. When Nelson would come back through NY, I hope to be there. That was brilliant.

The closing was something that I can only describe as outrageous. Nick Brown/James Colionne. That is all I can say, and it was brilliant. Outstandingly rousing, delightfully over the top, and perfect.

Major props to the Foran High School jazz band and chorus alike; those kids have talent.

Also, props times two to Dolly, Estella, and Kelly. Love my ladies.

Facebook album can be found here. It contains only a tiny percentage of the photos from that night, and if you’d like to see more, I will upload them to SmugMug soon…yes, I’m getting an account.

K.G.

When we the writers do our job and write our story, we focus more on plot nuances, grammar, spelling – all important things, and all essential in creating a good book. But we cannot discount than, when we endeavor to write a book, we have to keep our audience in mind and market to it.

Think about it. Let’s say you’re writing a hard-nose detective story. People who are in their early teens may not be as likely to read it unless it’s their thing. People with an eye for mystery likely would, regardless of age. YA stories are also read by people far older than the typical YA range of 13-19, but you would not market a YA story to forty-year-olds. Primarily, it’s marketing. If you feel that anyone can enjoy your story, great – but your marketing would need a slant.

To change gears just a little, let’s talk about gearing towards YA. I’ve been reading The Hunger Games lately, and I love the way it’s written. Sure, it’s out of my age range, so to speak, me being newly twenty-seven. However, the plot is brilliant, and I find myself getting into the story the same way I got into Caroline B. Cooney when I was in the YA age range. However, if I had to really analyze the plot of The Hunger Games, I have to ask myself: how did this classify as YA? Is it suitable for a fourteen-year-old to read about a battle-royale played out between poverty-stricken kids for people’s entertainment? Because that’s what The Hunger Games boil down toward. But teens are reading it, they’re liking it, and they’re asking The Tough Questions that Collins raises in the Games. And of course, Suzanne Collins’s publisher is well aware of it and models the marketing towards the audience best suited towards it: teens who are wanting to read and think.

That is the key: best suited. And that matters a great bit as to what happens with the book’s success.

I’ll be the first to admit, I had no idea how to market when I published Mages. First books for a self-pub author are usually trial-and-error; unless you study your marketing beforehand, you find yourself learning on the fly. What I knew about my audience was this:

- They’re artistic, eclectic people who ask questions

- They’re older than 15

- They’re younger than 50

- They like to follow the characters.

Theoretically, I should’ve gone to my campus and pushed this book to people in the theater major programs. The Pace University theater people were a cool, varied, hippie bunch who never hesitated to follow along with a great character. I got some interesting book recommendations from them. But I published this after I graduated, and considering that my knowledge of marketing back then was next to nonexistent, I never thought to actually use the Pace campus as a marketing platform.

Big mistake. I will admit: it cost me sales in the long run. But know what? You live, you learn, and you try again.

However, now that the first arc of the story is wrapped up, I can definitely go ahead and go back on campus and say, “Hey. You like The Hunger Games. You like sci-fi and adventure. You will like this.” Why? Because as dystopian fiction such as The Hunger Games is getting more acclaim, paranormal-fic series as a whole are gaining a steady audience, one that isn’t necessarily constrained to an age group. Major caveat: the younger people do gravitate more towards this brand of fiction. 8 our of 10 of my readers are under 30.

Therefore, I will have to gear my efforts towards YA. I also have to market in a magazine, possibly, if I want it to reach my target audience. Which means my marketing budget needs an overhaul.

This sort of knowledge, however you come to acquire it, is possibly the most valuable knowledge that you can acquire in your publication journey, whether you’re already published, or stepping into the pool for the first time.

K.G.

I am happy to host a blogger once again! Please read on for some words from Anthony T. Caplan on balancing a writing life.

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The Balancing Act of the Writing Life

Anthony Caplan

One of my earliest memories is my mother calling me over to the sofa where she was reading a Time magazine. She showed me a picture of a fishing boat on the sea and explained that it belonged to a man named Ernest who fished and then wrote stories and was famous for living all over the world and writing about it. “Wouldn’t that be great?” she asked. “No.” I answered. “It would be boring being in that boat all day.”

I couldn’t see it then, but as I got older, the life of a famous writer beckoned wiih greater appeal. I started writing after dropping out of film school in the late 1980s. I was 27 years old and I figured I might not get published right away, but, as opposed to making movies, all you needed was a word processor to find your chops. Boatloads of rejections later, I’m still writing. We’re in the midst of a revolution in the world of books with the decline of mainstream publishers and the rise of e-books and the Internet revolution of self-publishing.  The opportunities to find an audience for your work as a writer are greater than ever. I might still be writing, and I might yet make some money at it, but leisure is a concept that is as foreign to me as fishing in a boat off the coast of Cuba.

The roller coaster of life only gets wilder with time. I went to my first funeral this morning for a fellow teacher, murdered in her home by her husband when she asked him for a divorce. We celebrated her life of service and self-less giving, and I felt guilty because I am not as good a teacher as she was. When you’re a writer you live a double life. Your service is your words on the page, and everything else is the nut you pay in order to feed “the compulsion to open your heart” as Edvard Munch put it. During the day I am a competent classroom manager, but nobody sees the midnight oil I burn trying to get the words down and tell a story that makes sense, not only to me, but to some mythical reader whom I don’t even know exists. Nobody can measure the amount of faith, some might call it delusion, that it takes to keep up that level of effort through the years. And it does take years to develop the craft of writing, make no mistake about that.

Nowadays, writers, both traditionally published and independent, must also master the world of publicity and promotion, because it’s one thing to write the work, it’s another thing to convince people to support you with their hard-earned cash.

Self-promotion comes easy to some, not to me. I suspect that’s one of the main reasons I’m a writer, because I am not naturally a vocal, outspoken sort of person. But I was able to overcome that natural introspection in order to become a decent teacher, so I should be able to get the hang of book marketing, right? Maybe. The ins and outs of convincing people to buy books have eluded the pros on Madison Avenue, so it’s not a given that anybody can get it right. I remember an editor at Faber and Faber in London showing me his office with piles of unsold books stacked against the wall. “That’s V.S. Naipaul over there. That’s Edna O’Brien in that corner. We can’t even sell their books. Why should we take a chance on you?” I had no answer for him. But if I’m crazy enough to write, it must mean I believe someone will like my book. The trick is finding those people. It’s an all-consuming task. It might even take a lifetime. Over the years I have learnt to balance my life with my writing. Now, in the interest of connecting with readers, I am learning to balance my writing life and my Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and blogging habits. Someone mentioned Pinterest. I haven’t gone on there, but I’m thinking I should. In the meantime I better check the rice hasn’t burnt.

Anthony Caplan is a writer, teacher and homesteader in northern New England. He is the author of Birdman and French Pond Road, road novels tracing the life of Billy Kagan, and the forthcoming Latitudes – A Story of Coming Home,  published June 30, 2012 by Hope Mountain Press.

http://thenewremembrance.blogspot.com

http://anthonycaplanwrites.com

http://twitter.com/anthonycaplan1

Or, better put, more on the “real book” illusion.

You may have noticed that a lot of self-pub authors are not releasing print versions of their books anymore, but instead are going right to the e-book process. As a result, they are apt to hear, “But it’s not a real book!” for various reasons. I’ve addressed the genre-based prejudice of the “real book” here. But now let’s talk presentation medium.

In 1440 or thereabout, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. Prior to this, books have been handwritten, hand-copied, and the more effort put into a copy, the more it cost. As such, they became signifiers of wealth for the longest time, until the printing press enabled mass production of print material, making books more easily accessible. The Industrial Revolution took over and made print reading material available widely.

Until the e-reader was invented, people just could not conceive of a book being presented any other way but printed.

That was in 2007.

Think about that: the e-reader has been around for only five years, and it already changed the way books are presented, and 562 years of precedent is shaken up. Just like that. With a page-sized electronic device.

However, think about this. That’s the e-reader. Not necessarily the e-book. The Internet has, inadvertently, made us all online readers since e-mail became the norm. E-reading is the same thing as what you’re doing now, except it’s on a handheld device.

Think about it. You’re reading this blog right now. I have enough entries in here to publish it as a book in and of itself. If you’ve stayed with it for some years, you’ve effectively read a book online already. If you’ve read a draft of a story online – congratulations, you read an e-book. Just not on an e-reader, but an e-book nonetheless.

No matter how solid a printed book feels – and I will be the last to deny a printed book’s effect; I have paperback versions of every book I’ve published so far – it doesn’t take a print version to call a story real. A story is real by the simple virtue of being written, as I’ve explained in the linked post above. Someone had spent weeks, months, or years of effort into making this story happen. It is completed and released. That alone, in and of itself, makes a story real. What we’re discussing here is a presentation medium, and having the presentation medium be electronic does not – contrary to whoever tells you otherwise - does not take away from the story being real.

That said, let’s discuss the print book as a medium. Apart from the solid feeling of having it in your hands, the “new book smell” – yes, it’s a beautiful flavor…come on, you know it! – it’s also not as likely to sell for an independent. Personal experience: I moved more Kindle copies per month, invariably, than my CreateSpace prints. When I run a promo on any of my books, the other books sell right alongside the free one. For a self-pub who’s new on the scene, this would mean that e-books are a more viable way to market and make revenue. And, considering that uploading is usually at no cost, it’s a guaranteed profit. To release a print book, you may pay for a proof (or not, since CreateSpace introduced an excellent digital proofing option). You would have to wait for the proof to land, read it, send it to the editor again, make the corrections, lather, rinse, repeat until it’s perfect – a standard that is extremely subjective – and then release it. And then there are the shipping costs in sending out review copies. And then the rigmarole of getting a bookstore to carry them.

But the print book has also been around for 562 years. The e-reader and the idea of having a library on a portable device is still about five years old. You know how they say that old habits die hard. The e-book and e-reader are still new, and they’re a splash in a very established and very stalwart market. We’ve seen the decisions that B&N and the Big Six had made in the wake of the growth of self-pub. Things are not going to change swiftly, but they are changing, whether the people like it or not.

Again, let’s not discount the main crux of it all: the story itself. You’re getting a book, whether or not it’s in printed form or in a file on a reader. It is real, any way you cut it. Any distinction of “more real” or “less real” based on presentation medium, genre, author’s background, publisher or lack thereof, exists only in the head of the person making the statement.

There was also an address of quality control in self-publication, with the assertion that self-pub books are poorly edited, poorly formatted, etc. I won’t deny that such books exist. However, they exist across the board. Major publishers sometimes do not format their e-books well, and proof to the fact are my copies of Philippa Gregory novels and Gone with the Wind. Great stories to read, but the formatting on the e-version, honestly, sucks. I own Philippa Gregory paperbacks. Why is there nothing wrong with the layout, but the e-version lacks paragraph breaks in several locations and is more expensive than the printed version? Let’s get real: if we’re going to do quality formatting, then let’s do quality formatting across. the. board. Don’t tar self-published books with a brush unless you are willing to put all books under scrutiny.

Self-publishers sometimes do work alone. Thusly, the editing quality may lack until they gather enough to hire a professional editor. I will be the first one to admit that someone’s first book will not be edited anywhere near as well as the subsequent books (um, guilty, and not ashamed to admit it). Understandable conditions, right? Right.

Let’s be real, people. Writing, editing, formatting, printing, publishing – being an author is a human endeavor. Human errors will happen. We are becoming a reading culture because, with our digital immersion, we’re reading a lot more (screens, but still: reading words is reading words). Human errors will happen. If that is a deal-breaker for you, that is fine, but you may want to step back and evaluate what’s more important to you in picking up a new book. Some of my favorite books (self and trad alike) are not perfect, but the story is so good that I couldn’t care less about the editing/formatting job. Conversely, some books I had were edited and formatted to perfection, but I just couldn’t finish them worth a damn. While I will never deny that editing and formatting are crucial, none of us are so perfect ourselves to have imperfection be a deal-breaker.

The bottom line is this: a book is a book. How you prefer to read it is entirely up to you, but there is no contest with which one is more “real”. They both are. Whether you like it printed or downloaded, you’re still reading a book. That is what should be the first thing to note in the e-book versus hard-copy debate.

K.G., who has both paperbacks and a Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/author/katherinegilraine

You know, sometimes I love HuffPo. They take a topic and sometimes hit the nail on the head.

Like this one.

And you know what, it’s the fastest way to cheese a writer off. I heard most of them. And honestly, I’m surprised that we writers aren’t shooting back with comebacks! I mean, come on. We the creatives can get creative with them too, can we not?

(In case you haven’t guessed yet, this post is mostly fun/sarcasm. And yes, I use some of those comebacks, because people really don’t think before they ask a writer a question…)

Have you been published?

Well of course I have! Else would I offer you this thing called….a book?

What do you write? [pause for answer] Oh.

Well, what do you like? [pause for answer] Oh.

Do you have, like, a real job?

Writing. Why do you think it’s not real?

I don’t read much.

So going online doesn’t count? Because seriously, you do read what’s on the screen, you realize that, right?

Do you know Stephen King? What’s he like?

I’d love to find out!

You should write a book about my life, it’s a bestseller for sure.

Sigmund Freud would agree! You certainly have a healthy ego.

I’m gonna write someday, when I have free time.

Then you never will.

[No sarcasm here. It's the truth. You either make the time, or you never will]

My sister likes to read. Have you written anything she would know?

Well, she’ll know what I’ve written when she reads it. If, on the other hand, you’re asking me if I can give her something to read, sure!

You write novels? I only read stuff that’s real.

Are those things on my bookshelf zombies?

I read your book. It was… interesting.

It is indeed, the Amazon reviews are favorable.

My mother loves your books.

That’s fantastic! Now what about you?

I’ve got a great story for you!

I’m not a literary agent.

I thought books were dead.

Have you read any lately?

You should write a screenplay! That’s where all the money is.

How nice of you to worry! Now why aren’t you writing one?

–

Snappy comebacks aside, few things irritate me as much as the idea that 1. books are “dead” and 2. there’s such a thing as a “real book”. If books are dead, then why has that particular medium been alive for several centuries? Come the hell on. Books aren’t “dead”. After all, there’s new authors writing them on a fairly constant basis, and the Hollywood movie factory needs to get its ideas from somewhere.

Far as 2, I’ve written about it at length here. Long post short: there’s no such thing as a “real book”. All books are real by virtue of being written. If you like nonfiction, you say nonfiction. Don’t denigrate a piece of writing just because it’s not something you read. You wouldn’t like it very much if someone devalued something that you’ve poured a lot of effort into, so why do you suppose you can do that to an author? You just don’t do that.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – and again, until it sinks in – that writing is a job. It’s a very difficult, sometimes thankless, and rarely financially lucrative job. If you’re not writing, you’re thinking about what to write. If you’re writing, you’re always thinking about what to write next. If you’re done writing, you always think about marketing and pushing it out to potential readers. It is a nonstop job, it requires a ton of mental resources, and considering the current financial conditions of being an author, it’s not lucrative. We writers do it because it is our calling, but we aren’t so starry-eyed to believe that we’re going to instantly become the next best-seller. That takes a hell of a lot more work than people think. Just because you see the finished product doesn’t mean it doesn’t take years to create it.

K.G.

Over the weekend, the proof files got approved and I bumped up the release date a little.

In other words, please welcome my baby: the wrap-up of the first arc, and the fourth book in The Index Series: Revival.

Press Release

Hard Copy

Kindle

I released four books since 2009. And now that I’m back to the usual daily grind of promo, day job, studying, photo-retouching, and all those other things I do, I’m starting to slowly realize that I released four books, and I’m somewhere between surprised and having a conniption about what I’m going to do next.

This series, this story of non-human people in outer space dealing with very human problems on their scale and in their lives, has been something that I wanted to write since I was a kid. The fact that the story is written and published is more than a little surreal. In fact, I feel like I should pinch myself, just to make sure that it’s happening. Even though the hard copies of the books are all within my line of sight, it’s still difficult to believe that yes, I’ve actually stopped just dreaming and started doing all of this.

But there we go, and here we are. So now what do I do?

Well, first things first…PARTY! It’s the first complete arc. Instead of one volume, I have four to offer, and two more waiting in the wings to get released. This has been a labor of love, and a whole mess of work for more than just myself. My editor, Gayle F. Moffet, has labored over every installment since the second, and I have half a mind of having her overhaul the first, if only to have it up to par. This series, right now, is as much hers as it is my own, because if not for her eyes and red-pen feature on Acrobat, I shudder to think of what would’ve happened to my books otherwise.

And second things second, I have to think of the next arc. It will be three books; I have to start on rewriting the fifth one sooner rather than later (because holy plot holes, batman), and of course…artwork!

And speaking of the artwork…

You may have noticed that Jenna Bacci was billed as the original artist for the cover of Revival. That did not turn out to be the case, and instead, the back cover of Revival features the artwork of Tiffany Chaney, from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This is due to circumstances beyond my control; Jenna is getting ready for college, and working on all of that has been her priority. I’m cheering her on, whichever school she will attend. Tiffany Chaney has been hired to work on the character art for The Index Series, and she will work on the second arc as well. The front covers of Lineage and Revival have both been created by Marion Meadows (yes, the same Marion Meadows who’s on stage with the sax), and hopefully, he will stay aboard as the cover artist for the upcoming arc.

There’s a lot more research to be done for the second arc as well. I will not give away what I’ll be researching just yet, but let’s just say that if you think that this is the last you’ve seen of Morrhia, you’re wrong. And if you’re gleefully thinking that she’ll be back…well, I can’t really tell you what she’s up to, can I? :)

The most important retrospect, though, is how self-publishing has grown since 2009, when I released my first book. Think about it: 2009 wasn’t that long ago, only three years. And if only a year earlier I would’ve said that I’d be going self-pub, I would’ve heard, “That’s great if you want to have your books gathering dust in your closet.” Heck, I actually heard that from a published author as I was tossing the option around. But if I were to be a first-time self-pub right now, the amount of information about self-publishing is astounding. When the Kindle got cheap, it’s like someone poured Miracle-Gro on self-publishing, and suddenly, its view has shifted into a very viable, very lucrative, and very freeing way to get your stuff into print.

It’s been a hectic, madcap, exciting, and completely exhilarating three years in the publishing world, and know what I say? Full. Speed. Ahead.

K.G.

It will be Option 2: Release them simultaneously as soon as I know that the print version is up to par.

Which, actually, will be in a few hours. I’ve been approved for the proofing stage, and am looking over the digi-proof to make sure everything is up to par and as it should be.

In other words, I just might release it today.

That is, of course, barring any unexpected difficulties or last-second alterations. Cross your fingers, guys, here we go.

Also, in the meantime, now that I’m in a hotel room in CT and it’s just me and my Netbook, I’m thinking of putting this thing through a cycle of tech support. Sound off people: what do I have to do to Windows 7 to make it run faster than Usain Bolt at the Olympics?

K.G.