Book v Kindle and Lewis

No one seems able to make up their minds about The Book v Kindle. First I read the book is declining, almost gone, and then I read Kindle book sales are dwindling fast and real book sales are rising.
This may be attributed to regional variation, or personal bias. (I always view statistics with caution after reading a little book called How to Lie with Statistics) But I wish we knew the true story. Perhaps it just means that if television is good that month then no one reads much - and vice versa!
There seems a lot that is good on  the box at the moment so no doubt sales of books will plummet whatever the format.

There's even a new series of Lewis to watch in these chilly autumn nights. Last night's first episode is safely recorded on video to watch later (I hope it recorded safely! Doc Martin didn't on Monday). I never quite empathised with Morse, found the series interesting in that Morse always went off after rabbits and hares while poor Lewis often had the right idea but got little credit. I find I don't want to watch Endeavour again though I enjoyed watching the episodes once. But the Lewis/Hathaway combo is brilliant and I do watch them again - for the combo development as much as anything. Plus the back chat with Laura, of course.

Strictly, Lewis, Downton and Createspace

Soon I should be free of the Createspace thing that has dominated my life for the past fortnight. I have just submitted the third, or it might be the fourth attempt at a clean ms. Fingers crossed - I think this is almost it!
It will be a relief to get back to more normal pursuits for a while. Once Amazon has it up for sale I'll have to start the dreaded Promo work, but until then I can relax for a bit and enjoy other things. Such as Strictly Come Dancing, which was on last night. I think it is week five and I'm finding it is not so interesting as it used to be. There may be several reasons for this - one might be that I've had too much of a good thing and am simply bored. It might be that I do not recognise many of the so-called celebrities - that so overworked word these days. I don't want to watch girls - it is usually girls - who look as if they've just stepped out of ballet class. (Pixie Lot, anyone? Who is she?) I want to watch people like Steve Backshall who has a lot to learn and may be good, may be terrific, or maybe will have a disastrous night. The constant clapping, booing and hissing is turning Strictly into a juvenile arena and Tess has to take a lot of the blame for this. She is far too partisan these days - she's on the side of the contestants and appears to dislike the judges and their comments. Craig is the only one who gives an honest assessment. Darcey wants to be fair and encouraging, Bruno is usually fair
unless there is a very pretty girl or a handsome young man who takes his fancy and then he scores them high. Len usually sticks with his trademark seven unless he is in a grumpy mood, which he often is these days.

Lewis seemed a bit odd on Friday, though dh assures me it was me and not the programme. Watch it again, he advises, and you'll catch on. I prefer it in its two hour slots when I could settle down and really concentrate. Having one hour episodes a week apart means I forget all the clues in the previous segment, and then can't join in the detection. Thank goodness there's Downton to watch tonight, and double thank goodness it has found it way again after the first two episodes were fairly lacklustre. I think there will be a glass or two of wine to be had in chez Black this evening. Cheers!

Pictures taken on a walk on Friday. Good weather actually, though I photographed the worrying moments when we thought we were going to have to run for it!

Attention spans

Like many authors I decry the rules that demand short, punchy stories without passive verbs, adverbs and adjectives. And yet, it is beginning to dawn on me that my tastes are changing in line with everyone else ~ at least as far as television is concerned. So many films I remember from years ago come up on screen and I sit down with happy expectation. Often within twenty minutes, I’m starting to twitch, and often by half an hour has gone by I’ve switched channels or got up to do something more interesting.
The stories seem slow, and the acting poor. Clint Eastwood still comes off well, but then his style was ever laconic. Is it that television stories today are so much more active and violent that the actor has more acting to do? Or has acting come of age? Possibly a bit of both.

Like many, I loved Life on Mars. But Ashes to Ashes is rapidly losing its charm, if indeed it ever had any beyond the wonderful character Gene Hunt. And the Quattro, of course. It could swashbuckler its way onto any screen. But I grow tired of gazing at Keeley Hawes’ flawless cheekbones, Shaz’s petulant lower lip and I’d love to put out a hand and stop Ray Carling chewing gum.

Tonight, Lewis returned. Scenery wonderful, acting good, storyline – complicated, and a tad confused. Dialogue hard to catch in important moments. I’m still not certain I know who did it. Or why Hathaway was having such a hard time. and while we're at it, I prefer his old haircut. The quiff changes his character, somehow. But I wasn’t bored. I sat through it, all of it, and it maintained my interest. My attention span is longer than I thought.