TWO DAYS ONLY — Jan 18-19 — FREE eBOOKS with direct downloads from WoMEN’s Literary Cafe – It’s a Free For All celebration – the first of many to come! 10 books Wednesday, 9 books Thursday. Load up your Kindle and tell all your friends! This will be a monthly event from now on, on the 15th of each month. Wed/Thu are bonus days this week! www.womenslitcafe.com ENJOY!  (Included in the January event is Raven c.s. McCracken’s bestselling sci fi/fantasy adventure MERLIN’S KNOT – get it directly from Amazon.com for FREE at http://t.co/YpTJAxet )

With all the great new technology out there and so much time spent away from home, downloadable eBooks are finally coming into their own as the new way to read. When you consider how much space a new bestseller hardcover takes — think Terry Goodkind’s newest book CONFESSOR: Chainfire Trilogy, Part 3 at 608 pgs and more than 2lbs — and eBook versions seem a LOT more convenient to carry around in your handheld or SmartPhone and read at your convenience!

I don’t know about you, but I go crazy if I don’t have something interesting to read when I’m stuck waiting for my car’s oil to be changed or sitting in a doctor’s waiting room, but my poor purse definitely would explode if I tried to carry around my favorite Sci Fi or Fantasy hard covers (or even some of the mega-paperbacks…) So while I collect hardcovers and paperbacks at home, for my commute and travels, eBooks make the most sense. (I don’t read while I drive, of course, but as waits at stop lights get longer and longer, I can practically sneak a whole chapter in each way.)

For rabid readers who don’t particularly want to actually collect the books (or who don’t have the space for them) eBooks are such a great way to satisfy your need to read and also save money and time in your book hunts. The downloads are available immediately and are usually 10-50% or more off the price of buying the hardcover book. (Then, if you really love the book, you could pick up the ‘real book’ (hard or paperback) later — if you didn’t like the book, ERASE it, eh, and make room for something better on your phone or computer.)

Besides being easy and fast, I really like eBooks because they are environmentally friendly. Think how many trees breathe easier each time an eBook is downloaded versus another Stephen King mega-tome being printed. (I swear each time he writes a new one, a whole forest shudders…)

Here’s a small sampling of what’s hot this week on eBook:

1ST TO DIE – James Patterson
SWORD OF SHANNARA TRILOGY – Terry Brooks
HOW TO BE A WRITER – Stewart Ferris
STAR WARS MEDSTAR 2: JEDI HEALER – Michael Reaves

(Try Out eBooks.com: Buy One, Get One Free on Selected Titles!)

It’s that time of year again when the search for creative Halloween costumes kicks into high gear with only a couple weeks to go before the big day. But who has time to run all over town to find just the perfect one, especially if you’re going to a period-themed party, the type that’s gaining popularity all the time? And the further back the decade for the theme, the harder it is I find to locate anything suitable off-the-rack or without spending a fortune. So if you want to go as a 1920′s Flapper, what are you to do?

Most books on period costume are expensive, give you hundreds of pages of complex patterns to use, ones that would take me weeks or months (or most likely never) to get the hang of, something my notoriously short attention span wouldn’t accommodate. And my sewing abilities are equally notorious for being almost non-existent. (You know you shouldn’t be allowed near a needle when you have to find a way to detach the jeans you were fixing from the couch cushion you just sewed them to…)

So I was very happy to find someone who has an eBook just my speed: The One Hour Dress

This book shows you how, in 1924, Mary Brooks Picken of the Woman’s Institute developed a plan by which an attractive dress could be made in one hour – a great, attractive, 1920′s Flapper style dress. In just a few steps, you can have a great period costume without taking a lot of time or money (both factors I love). In fact, as a demonstration, she was able to put one together in just 34 mins. (Of course, she had developed the technique and had had a bit of practice at that point so for you and me figure closer to the full hour, at least for the first one. LOL)

What I like about this eBook is that you can use it to create a variety of dresses based on the tips & tricks, varying them to suit your own tastes and style, adapting as you go along. If you’re a costume designer for plays or doing period re-enactments of any sort, this can give you a fast way to get the 1920′s women’s styles under your dress-making belt. And given how quickly these can be made, you could even offer to do them for friends and family, maybe making a bit of money while you do and having a fun Halloween party showing them all off…

Click Here for More Info on The One Hour Dress