Guest Post + Giveaway - Kate Austin on 'The Physical Book vs E Readers'

Please welcome Kate to Books for Company!

I want to thank Kate for such a great guest post, I couldn't agree with you more and I also worry about the same thing. Nothing can beat a physical book!

Seeing is Believing by Kate Austin

There's a magic in life—But Ria Sterling has yet to embrace it, because she considers her ability to predict death from merely touching a photograph a curse. She yearns to use her sight to save just one life. On the other hand, tough-talking detective Carrick Jones and his partner profess not to care about saving anyone. But they do need Ria's help in solving a case. Instead, she predicts that Carrick's partner will die. Soon. And when her vision proves true, Ria goes from psychic to prime suspect.—The one thing she can't predict is her instant attraction to Carrick, a man who doesn't believe in the paranormal—only what his five senses tell him. But when danger threatens, Ria finally sees how to use her gift in a unique way. And to show Carrick the inexplicable power of a love where seeing really is believing.

It’s been one of these weeks here in Vancouver. The weather’s been worse than miserable, even though it’s June, and I’ve been busy—both at my part-time job and at writing. And then there is Euro2012, to which I’m addicted, and the finals of French Open, to which I am also addicted thanks to Rafa Nadal.
You’d think that this would leave me little time to worry. And you’d be right. But I’ve discovered that I can cram a whole lot of worrying into a very short space of time, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing.
Like almost every writer in the world today (with a very few obvious exceptions—J.K. Rowling, Nora Roberts, Stephen King spring immediately to mind), I worry about the future. But I think I might be worrying about the future in a little different way than most writers, because what I am, first and foremost, is a reader.
Ever since I can remember, I was reading. I would wait until my little sister was asleep and I would creep out of bed and lie on the floor so I could read by the night light. It didn’t matter how cold the floor was, I was bound and determined to read. When I was a teenager, I fell in love, not with the handsome brother, but with the brother who read as much as I did. It didn’t matter that he had a bad leg and wasn’t nearly so handsome as his younger brother, he READ. And he lent me books. How could I not fall for him?
When I spent time at the home of either of my grandmothers, I read their books. In the home of my English grandmother, I read Mary Stewart and Kenneth Grahame and Enid Blyton—sometimes all in the same weekend. My other grandmother was from a small town in the prairies, and when I was in her home, I read Gene Stratton-Porter. And, perhaps not oddly at all, I still read all of those books.
I worry about readers. I truly do understand how convenient e-readers are and I did finally break down and buy one. But for me, the smell and the texture and the shape and size of a book cannot be replicated in an e-reader. One of the best books I’ve read this year—Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus—is a brilliant book, but without the beautiful cover, the exquisite design and illustrations, it won’t be the same exquisitely detailed experience.
I still have my original copy of The Wind in the Willows. Oh, it’s a little worse for wear, but it’s the book I read in my granny’s house as a child. It’s more than the story inside those pages, it’s my past. I have my grandmother’s copy of The Keeper of the Bees, the paper now yellow and faded, but she had that book as a young woman, and now it’s mine. I read it, careful not to tear the delicate pages, and I think of her.
That’s what I worry about—not the death of story, because we’ll always read; I think we’re hardwired for it. But the slow, sad death of the physical book that belonged to your grandmother, or your best friend, or that came into your hands when you most needed it after a bad break-up or a bout of illness. Because books are more than just story, they are a physical experience. 

Giveaway

So I’m going to give you your choice of a giveaway here. You can have a paperback copy of Seeing is Believing, a copy that’s been in my hands and that I’ve autographed to you, or you can have an e-book copy of the same book. Both of them will tell you the story of Ria and Carrick. So enjoy.

Please leave a comment below for Kate about your opinions and also your email address in case you are the lucky winner! Ends 8th July. 
PB Copy is just for US/CAN
E book INT

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