CW LaSart

I think that the scary things, the truly scary things in this world, are those that have the power to both terrify and tantalize us at the same time. That said, I want to discuss the one thing that petrifies me the most—E-Readers! As a true bibliophile,I love everything about books. The smell, the feel, the look of all those wonderful tomes on my shelf is enough to send me into a state of absolute bliss. The thought of a world without books terrifies me more than all of the vampires, werewolves and zombies (even those new ones, the quick bastards in Romero’s remakes) ever could! Imagine my immense horror at the realization that I kind of wanted an e-reader!How I despised myself! I spent many months in a state of agonizing conflict with myself, until this last Christmas, when my beloved  decided for me. I would have an e-reader, and he would buy it for me. Of course, I could never refuse such an expensive gift, not that half of me wanted to, but the other half was raving that I was destroying the publishing industry! I, myself, was the enemy. I actually cried when I saw it, so conflicted by my desire to protect my beloved books and my all out excitement to try out this new little gadget. I’ve owned my new Nook Color for a few months now, and I must say, I love it! The ability to download titles at will and the convenience of reading them immediately is quite satisfying. I refuse to read any of my favorite authors or series on the thing, I will go out and buy the actual books in those cases, but the e-format has allowed me a much broader selection than my local bookstore. In a very short time, I have discovered many new horror authors that I really like and I am able to download individual short stories as well, rather than fork out the money for a whole novel by some talentless hack! I have to say, that I begrudgingly admit the e-reader has the power to expand emerging author’s exposure, getting their name out to the public much more efficiently than the old print standby. Also, authors receive a larger percent of the profits from e-books than they do from print since there is no manufacturing cost and little overhead. I now live with a careful compromise in my reading habits-I still adore my books more than anything (with the exception of my children—most days!) but when trying a new author, or just bumming around for something to read, my Nook is fantastic! Change is scary. Maybe, just maybe, if we embrace all the things that scare us, they will lose their power to frighten. God I hope not!!!