Aaron Crocco » 2008

27th Mar2008

Thursday Thirteen #138

by Aaron

Welcome back to Thursday to everyone! I know it’s been a little quiet here, but that’s because I’m devouring Angels & Demons on my Kindle. I truly love it and figure it should be the central theme of this week’s Thursday Thirteen.

Do *you* have a Kindle from Amazon? What do you think of this device? Please let me know in the comments.

Thirteen things I love about my Amazon Kindle by Aaron Crocco

1. Its ultra-clear screen. E-ink & e-paper looks like those stickers on electronic products that go over the screen. It almost looks fake.

2. The built-in EVDO allows me to buy items right from the device from anywhere I get a cellular signal.

3. Page back & forward buttons are also on the left, which is great for leftys like me.

4. Once you get into the book, the device fades away and you almost forget you’re not reading a book.

5. It has a built-in SD card slot, allowing me to expand the memory by 2 gigabytes and beyond.

6. It is light but has some weight to it so it feels sturdy.

7. It comes with a protective case, which is a nice added bonus.

8. Compatibility with Os X!

9. Built-in dictionary, Wikipedia, web, and system-wide search allows me to look up anything in any item on the device and on the web. I can get a definition at any time, even with wireless turned off.

10. There’s no glare on the screen. I have not had any problems reading in any light.

11. It plays audio books!

12. All books for Kindle are discounted. New releases & NYT bestsellers are generally $9.99. Older stuff is cheaper.

13. It’s just plain old cool. I love it!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Category : Just me

Tags : Kindle, meme

3 Comm

26th Mar2008

The Next Idea

by Aaron

light bulb

I was reading CNN yesterday and found a really interesting story that peaked my interest. I read more today and found even more cool stuff. I then began thinking about this cool story and I think I have a book idea that is really exciting. I’m still formulating it, so we’ll see what happens.

The reason I’m being vague is because I don’t want to give away anything is so my ideas remain pure. I think this may preempt Mars. We’ll see how long the enthusiasm lasts. First though I need to do some research on the topic to get educated so I can write a good book.

We’ll see

Category : Ideas

Tags : excitement

0 Comm

23rd Mar2008

I’m still here

by Aaron

Just wanted to blog and let everyone know I’m still alive. My Kindle came on Thursday around 2:00 PM and I’ve been exploring and reading ever since. I must say first that the device is AWESOME. Anyone who discounts it without first trying it has no grounds for their opinions.

The Whispernet delivery service is amazing. I bought Angels and Demons by Dan Brown in the first five minutes of having it out of the box. The book was delivered in full within thirty seconds.

I want to give a full review a little later on, but I wanted to let everyone know the device is well worth the money if you can swing it and enjoy reading a lot. I think I’ll go through books a lot faster.

More to come.

Category : Just me

Tags : Kindle

1 Comm

19th Mar2008

I’m Ecstatic!

by Aaron

Kindle

Amazon Kindle Order Status:
“We are preparing these items for shipment and this portion of your order cannot be canceled or changed.

I waited exactly one month and one day for this update. Today is a great day!

Category : Just me

Tags : excitement, Kindle

2 Comm

18th Mar2008

A Pathetic Start

by Aaron

Writing

It’s been a little busy in my life the past few days, as you can see from the lack of entries. I wanted to get this post done, since I promised Auria Cortes I would post my current progress of Mars. On Friday, I tried jumping back into the creative mindset and resumed my work on Mars, my next book. I had written two teaser chapters and it’s only four pages, but then I stopped so I could focus on the Robert book and get it beta-ready.

Anyhow, Friday was a bust and I struggled for an hour to write. There were a bunch of starts and stops and I think the words I put down show a struggle. The words don’t flow. I have a scene in my head and I decided to lead into that with something else, and that held me up. The picture in my head that I can vividly see for days, still has not been put down to paper. That is something I *must* do. I’m hoping to get more of that done tonight, so we’ll see.

So with great displeasure I present my latest word-count:

Friday’s progress: 621 words, just over 1 page.

Category : Mars

Tags : progress, word count

1 Comm

13th Mar2008

Thursday Thirteen #136

by Aaron

A good Thursday to everyone! On this week’s Thursday Thirteen, I want to go back to inspiration. I’m trying to be a writer and I think many who read my posts here feel the same way. We’re all trying to get our ideas out there and to make something of our literary abilities. So for this week, I want to tell you why I write.

I’d love to know why *you* write! Please let me know in the comments.

Thirteen reasons I want to write by Aaron Crocco

1. I have so much that’s happened in my life already that needs to be told.

2. I’ve come across too many crappy movies, TV shows and books that I know I could do better than them.

3. I want to put my degree to use, instead of wasting it in the IT sector as I’m doing right now.

4. I’d love to have even a glimmer of a chance of possibly making a living out of writing and have it be my ‘day job’.

5. A well thought out movie makes me want to strive to be that good.

6. I’ve found that writers make a great community and it’s really inspiring to get real feedback on my work.

7. People believe I can do it. I don’t want to dissapoint.

8. It’s a great outlet for all the crap in my mind.

9. It explores all the oddities my mind comes up with.

10. It’s a great stress reliever.

11. It makes me want to read more and learn more styles and tricks.

12. It makes me a better writer for the next project.

13. It’s fun. It’s hard work and time consuming but believe me it’s fun to meet those goals and actually have a book in your hands that you can call your own.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

Category : Just me

Tags : meme

5 Comm

12th Mar2008

Shifting Gears

by Aaron

Shifter

So with my Robert book now in the hands of my four faithful beta readers, I have no more work to do for now on this story. I can go ahead and shift gears into resuming my work on Mars. I know this is going to be a very interesting endeavor.

For starters, I’ve never written a book before. With my Robert book finished I’m now moving further into uncharted territory with starting a second novel. I’ve never written two books! This should be exciting.

I think the hardest thing to start will be changing my mindset and focus from an editing standpoint to a creative stance while trying to imagine this new story that I’ve seeded. The book is very short, with only two chapters finished. Both of these are teasers and the whole thing is only about four pages.

As I resume my writing, I’ll post my word counts and let everyone know the progress of this story. I’m still not 100% sure where I want to focus it, but I have it narrowed down to two ideas. I’ll go wherever the book takes me. The other thing is I don’t have a goal for my words so I won’t be posting any progress meters showing how much I’ve completed. I believe a book is as long as it wants to be. I’ll be done writing it when it wants to be done.

I think this will be exciting.

Category : Mars

Tags : length, word count

0 Comm

10th Mar2008

Beta Time

by Aaron

100%

As of last night, I’ve finally completed the second round of editing of my Robert book. The story comes in at 130 pages (unformatted) and 56,000 actual words. I think this is a good length and I also think this book has potential to go somewhere. That, though is where my beta readers come in.

I have four beta readers ready to go. My wife being one of them, has started the book and has already made comments. I’m in progress of informing my other beta readers that it’s time to call in their generous offers to read my story. So this is where I now stop working on this book and try to focus on other projects. I haven’t touched Mars in a few months and I’ll probably end up picking that back up again to get the story working. I only have two chapters written.

I know my beta readers have all the time they need, but I’m guessing within a month, all four will have probably finished it and have a crap-load of comments and suggestions for me. I’ll take all that and go on another round of editing. Once that is done, I’ll be querying for agents to see where I can go. Hopefully things can happen.

For now, I just want to enjoy my accomplishment and revel in the fact that I’ve actually written a book. Not many people can actually say that. Now lets hope people think it’s good.