Monday, July 20, 2009

My New Toy

What has this to do with writing a romance, you asked. Okay,
let me explain. I recently heard from several writing friends
that their latest purchase was a netbook. I never heard of a
netbook, so I looked into it. Low and behold, it's a little
computer. Not as capable as a laptop, nothing like a tower,
not a whole lot of memory, but for a writer of Historical
romance (thought I'd forgotten, hey!) this is perfect. I
can do e-mail, do some research on the web, and write.

I downloaded my word processor program, and my dictionary on the
little computer, and away I went. It doesn't have a full keyboard,
but what I needed most were the same keys I use on my big keyboard.
I don't need a lot of number, or most of the function keys, so
this is perfect.

I can download my WIP into a flash drive and copy to my big computer,
where I can print, edit, and all the other things you'd do on
a full-sized computer or laptop. Additionally, because it's wireless,
and light weight, it can go with me. I finished part of a chapter
at the doctor's office, as I waited my usual forty-five minutes.

I ended up in the hospital for several days and the netbook allowed
me to write another chapter between the blood pressure, medicine
and other endless procedures.

Because it's inexpensive, I didn't mind spending the money for
the little thing. If you often have to be away from your
computer, and don't want to lug a heavy laptop around, you
might want to consider a netbook. I'm certainly glad I have
one. I've almost completed my medieval sequel to "Heartsong"
because of my new little toy. Hooray!

As ever,

Allison
www.AllisonKnight.com
"Heartsong" named Best Novel of 2008
"A Treasure For Sara" available now!

2 comments:

Martha Eskuchen said...

I like the sound of your new toy! What company puts it out? Sounds good for travel instead of a full laptop!
Martha

Allison Knight said...

It's an HP netbook. My son presented me with a gift of an external disk drive that works with it very nicely.

There are several available but I have big hands and need the bigger keyboard which it has. It's terrific and weighs about as much as a hardback book of fiction. I have a cute bag for it and I measured it. The bag which contains the netbook, the mouse, the power cord and a mouse pad measures 8" by 11" and is two inches thick. As you can tellI love it.