It’s only a few days before Christmas, meaning all you procrastinators out there still have 2 more days to buy all those presents. For the rest of us, we can relax. Thanks to the good people at Amazon, all of my shopping gets done in my bathrobe and slippers.

The end of December is also the birthday of Brad’s Reader. This year, I’m proud to say that I’ve been blogging for 4 years now. What started as a blog on Google’s Blogger platform to muse about literature, philosophy and writing, became the blog you know today. I never imagined that in 4 years my main focus would become ebooks and digital publishing.

That said, here are a few random notes worth your attention:

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Christmas came early. I’m now the proud owner of a shiny new 16GB, WiFi-only iPad, courtesy of my loving wife (she’s the best!). I’ve only had a few days to play around with it, but I’m already really impressed.

I’m not going to do a full-blown review because the iPad has been out long enough that reviews are a dime a dozen. Instead, I’ll give a few of my own impressions/opinions.

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30 years ago today the world lost John Lennon. He was an inspiration to countless people who penned such memorable songs as Imagine (my personal favorite Lennon song), Instant Karma, #9 Dream, and many more.

In celebration of John Lennon’s life and legacy, and to honor his memory, I’m re-posting an article I wrote almost 2 years ago about what John Lennon can teach us about creativity. I planned on writing another John Lennon-related post for today, but things got busy and I didn’t get around to it. Better late then never though.

RIP John Lennon, 1940 – 1980

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Google launched their much anticipated eBookstore. The new ebook retailer touts access to all your ebooks wirelessly in the “cloud.” This lets users sync their device with their ebook library.

One of the big advantages of the new Google eBstore is that it doesn’t tether you to any specific device. Ebooks are compatible with all Android devices, iPhone/iPad, Kindle and the B&N Nook.

Looking at Google’s eBookstore, the layout is very clean and uncluttered. They also have a huge selection of ebooks, including new releases. You can search for ebooks in each category or search their entire library. Also, it looks like you can read ebook samples.

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Wikileaks has been making major waves in several spheres of life: Online, world governments, law enforcement, activists and everyday citizens.

The controversy centers around the online whistleblower’s website that recently published thousands of diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world. Before that, Wikileaks published the Afghan War Diary and Iraq War Logs – each containing classified government and military documents.

I’m a staunch supporter of an open and free press that can operate without threats/retribution from any government. And with the internet, it is even more important for the press to be able to operate freely. Therefore, I support Wikileaks and their efforts.

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People are passionate about their political beliefs. Writers are no exception, and as artists, might be more passionate than others. So it’s a natural inclination for writers to want to inject some of their political leanings into their fiction.

But is it a good idea? In my own fiction, I try to leave politics out of the equation, meaning, I never intentionally try to make a political point in my fiction writing.

When doing research for this post, I came across an article from one of my blogs called Writing Fiction by Crawford Killian. He has years of experience in the world of fiction, writing and publishing, making him a great source for this topic.

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