|
Margaret Atwood had had enough of long journeys, late
nights, and writer's cramp. Tired of grueling book tours, the Booker Prize
winning Canadian author recently unveiled her new invention: a remote-controlled
pen that allows writers to sign books for fans from thousands of miles away.
“I think of this as a democratizing device,” said
Atwood.
Self proclaimed, 'technologically challenged' Margaret
(66) came up with the invention of the LongPen to help herself and other writers
like her. She told The Associated Press in an interview. “I thought my
signature was whizzing through the air and landing somewhere else, and I thought
as I was crawling through the night on another maniacal book tour, wouldn't it
be great if I could sign a book like that?” “It turns out they don't work
that way. But I asked some technically minded people if such a thing was
possible, and they said it was.” But the inventive spirit is not surprising
from an author whose interest in science and technology is visible in her novels
such as “The Handmaid's Tale” and “Oryx and Crake.”
Atwood's company plans to lease the gadget, rather than
sell it, renting it out to publishers for one-time signing events or tours.
Atwood's device underwent the most universal of
experiences on the day of its first-ever public demonstration, at the London
Book Fair: the last-minute technical hitch. Project director Matthew Gibson and
his crew engaged in some frantic tinkering.
After a few anxious minutes, Atwood picked up a pen to
autograph her new short story collection, “The Tent,” for Nigel Newton,
chief executive of her British publisher, Bloomsbury. She wrote the words on an
electronic pad, while chatting to Newton over a video linkup.
A few seconds later in another part of the exhibition
center, two spindly metal arms clutching a pen reproduced the words onto
Newton's book in Atwood's angular scrawl: “For Nigel, with best wishes,
Margaret Atwood.” Later, Atwood planned to give the device its trans-atlantic
“Marconi moment,” signing copies of “The Tent,” for readers in New York
and Guelph, Ontario.
Atwood said the gadget had applications-from education to
law-beyond the traditional book tour. It can already sign hockey sticks;
Gibson and his team are working on basketballs.
Source: Yahoo.com
Page(s) 1
| 
Print
Comment
Email
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Twitter
