That’s just what people need, said a business-minded friend when she found out that I wrote short stories. But that’s great, she said. Really, I asked. Are you joking, she said. With how hectic life is these days, a neat book with bite size chunks for people to read on their way to work – excellent. She had a point. I remembered how happy I was to come across Nik Perring’s short story collection Not So Perfect. And how perfectly it fitted into my day. Fancy calling it ‘not so perfect’…

While I dreamt up a little booklet of my own, the horizons broadened… into ether. Ether Books. Byte size joined bite size. Would you read on your iPhone, another friend asked when we first talked about it. Not sure, I said. And guess what? The other day she emailed me saying, funny how sceptical we were. Call it evolution.

You might have read my interview with Sandra Jensen, a fellow Ether writer. In it, I refer to Ether stories I spontaneously decided to read on a sunny day when I sat out on a field with my dog. That’s where I check twitter and facebook too. That’s where I read others’ interesting blog posts and sometimes comment on them. Which, of course, is much easier now it’s warmer. Because my fingers no longer freeze to numbness. iPhone’s touch screen just doesn’t work with gloves.

My favourite number is seven. And Ether’s charms to me are:

Charm One: It’s uncomplicated. You want one story, you get one story. Truly byte size. A bit like iTunes, when you just want that one song.
Charm Two: It’s immediate. You want it now, you get it now. You just need to be well equipped… with an iPhone, iPod Touch or an iPad.
Charm Three: It’s likely to spread. Most likely to other smart phones and blackberries.
Charm Four: It’s compact. If you travel light you don’t need to carry an extra book with you. You and your iPhone are inseparable, no?
Charm Five: It’s discreet. They don’t have to know. You could be checking important work emails.
Charm Six: It’s international.Through iTunes and App Store, Ether has global distribution. You can live anywhere and still be charmed by Ether.
Charm Seven: It’s good stuff! Ether publish short fiction, articles, poetry and serials from both bestselling and emerging contemporary writers.

I’m thrilled to announce that Ether have just published my short stories Back Then, In Time, Make A Wish and Snails. One of them is a free download, to whet your appetite. The others for less than an iTunes track. Have a browse, read a blurb, have a download. Enjoy, and let me know what you think. It’s always great to hear from you.

Of course I’ll finish reading Bender’s Willful Creatures, as a paperback. And more. I love holding a ‘real’ book in my hands. Besides, I wouldn’t want to drop my iPhone in the bath water! I’ll also carry on listening to my audiobooks in the car.

I’ll still dream up my little booklet. There’s a time and a place for everything. And now, here, there’s a place, there’s space for Ether Books.

One more thing happened: I was interviewed by my fellow Ether writer, Sandra Jensen. She asked about how I started as writer, about being multi-lingual, about how my experiences of growing up in communist Romania have influenced my writing, about writing habits, and about studying Creative Writing with the Open University. Have a read. You’ll find the interview on both the Ether blog, as well as Sandra’s website.