Confessions of the paperless writer

Writers and editors would often complain that they felt as if they were drowning in a sea of paper and an ocean of books. If you visit the office of an editor at a book publishers you'll see what I mean. Manuscripts form perilous looking towers, everywhere there are books; the desks are awash with sheets of paper, book covers, letters, faxed agents' reminders, royalty statements that will cause woe for the author, more manuscripts, and the editor with a desperate eye will indicate the hiker's rucksack they use as a briefcase which is weighed down with yet more manuscripts, and which is likely to cause them permanent spinal damage.

It seemed as if this is the way it would always be - paper by the pound - but more and more stories and articles exist only as electrons speeding along cables to computer screens.

So, at last, I've dipped my toe into the world of virtual print. Amazon Shorts have published my story THEY WILL NOT REST (it can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/They-Will-Not-Rest/dp/B000MR96S8/ref=pd_ts_b_15/104-9839473-0297534?ie=UTF8&s=books )
It doesn't exist on paper. It might never be enclosed by the covers of a book. Nevertheless it has been published (in the US only unfortunately). Is this the way to the future of writing and reading? Time will tell.

The story was inspired by a jet-lagged train journey back home. We'd taken a short break to New York and as I dozed on the train reality and dreams overlapped in a surreal way. At times I thought I was still back in the City Diner on Broadway ogling at my delicious cheesecake, at other times I looked at a house on a hillside as the train hummed by, then I'd fallen into a micro sleep again and dreamed the house had begun to glide across the landscape like ship. There's a short film I saw recently called Lovecraft's Pillow that hints that the master of cosmic horror drew his inspiration from dreams. Dreams are a great place to find story ideas. And if Jung is right we are all dreaming the same dreams, in a manner of speaking, the language and imagery might differ, but the story is universal to all humankind.

Until next time... when I should have news of a new venture in cyberspace...