Guest Blogger: Rhonda Parrish

My daughter plays the guitar, so even without the aid of a calendar (or ya know, looking out the window) I can always tell what time of year it is. Right now, the house is filled with the sound of “Jingle Bells” as she prepares for her Christmas recital.

It’s getting better.

I mean her playing of “Jingle Bells”, not Christmas.

We celebrate a secular Christmas and every year buying gifts gets harder and harder. This year is no exception.

Happily, I think I’ve come across a great gift solution. E-books!

I always give away at least a handful of books for Christmas, but they are usually of the paperback variety because I really couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea of giving an e-book for a gift. I mean, it’s just not the same to open an email with a link in it as it is to open an actual wrapped gift, is it? I didn’t think so.

Then the obvious solution hit me.

CDs and USB drives.

Especially USB drives.

USB drives are all over the place and are far from expensive nowadays and depending on their size they could hold a whole library of books! What’s more, you could include notes about what you thought about each book you are giving away, music to listen to along with it (check the licensing before doing that), pictures and any number of other things.

How cool a gift is that?

It’s also a great, environmentally friendly way to support your favorite writers or publications.

If I may be self-serving for a moment I recommend picking up some copies of the .pdf versions of Niteblade Magazine (http://www.niteblade.com). At only $2 a piece for loads and loads of kick-ass stories and poems you can’t go wrong. Get one for everyone on your list!

If fantasy and horror aren’t your thing (or even if they are) you can also check out some e-book publishers. Publishers like Eternal Press (http://www.eternalpress.ca) where they have books that fall under every genre you can imagine; especially romance and erotica. Be careful about those last ones, you don’t want them to fall into the wrong hands J

I’ll definitely be giving my daughter some e-books on a thumb drive for Christmas along with some of the other things on her list. I’m hoping the books will make up for the fact I’m not getting her that trumpet she wants. A guitar is enough, thank you very much.

Happy holidays!

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Rhonda Parrish is the editor of Niteblade Magazine and has had her work accepted by several dozen publications including, most recently, Star*Line, Abominations and The Shine Journal. Her story, Sister Margaret, is scheduled to be released by Eternal Press as a Coffee Break Selection in 2009. You can learn more about her at her website http://www.rhondaparrish.com