Hello from Leslie - Moderator

[Leslie]

Hi I'm Leslie, one of the Moderators here!

I joined this forum last April while I was patiently waiting for my Kindle to arrive. At that time, the forum was pretty quiet since most people didn't own Kindles yet -- we were all living through the big backlog. When it did arrive, I was instantly hooked and set to the task of learning everything I could about my new device -- and sharing that knowledge with others.

I spent alot of time on the Amazon forum and while I enjoyed the community, I did find the forum structure -- or non-structure as it really is -- frustrating. I knew this forum would be a much better place to share ideas and conversation and when I casually began suggesting folks join this board, they did. I am thrilled we've got so many active, eager members who want to share their passion for all things Kindle!

I've been active in online communities for years and since July, 2006 I have been a moderator at a forum called Bettermost (www.bettermost.net/forum), which is a community of folks who share a love for the story and movie, Brokeback Mountain. (Yeah, I'm a Brokie. Any others here?). My philosophy of modding is to moderate with a "light touch"; that's what I do at Bettermost and what I plan to do here.

As for my personal life, I'm a nurse and own my own business, Maine Desk LLC, which provides editorial consultation to aspiring and experienced authors. It is also the editorial office for two professional nursing journals for which I am the Editor-in-Chief. In April I started a small publishing imprint, Bristlecone Pine Press, with a mission to bring print-only books to the ebook platform. I do a great deal of professional writing, the most recent being The Editor's Handbook, with my colleague Margaret Freda. It is due to be published this month by Lippincott. I've also written The Amazon Kindle FAQ which I am sure many here are familiar with!

I am happily married to Tony and have two children, Lance and Hannah. Lance is a junior in college and studying nursing (!) and Hannah is a junior in high school. She's the artist in the family. Tony owns a woodworking business that specializes in turned wood products and has some of the largest lathes in New England. We live in Westbrook, Maine, just outside of Portland welcome anyone who happens to be traveling through to drop by for a visit.

Best,

Leslie

[Kirstin]

hey!  we are neighbors - sorta.  I'm in NH!  <<waving toward Portland/Westbrook>>

[Leslie]

Hey, Kirstin, great! Teninx, another member here, is also from NH.

L

[Monica]

Ok I think I may be a closer neighbor.  I'm in Westbrook, Maine as well, born and raised!

[Leslie]

Ok I think I may be a closer neighbor.  I'm in Westbrook, Maine as well, born and raised!

You're here in Westbrook? With a Kindle? We need to meet and have breakfast at Guidi's!

L

[Monica]

Oh yes!  I haven't been to Guidi's in a while.  An old high school friend of mine use to work there for a long time.  I live right by the elementary and Jr high. I have 4 year old son and I always loved the area so when my grandmother put her house up for sale I scooped it right up! 

[Leslie]

Small world! So amazing...

L

[kindle mom]

hi leslie, i feel like i know you as i came over from the amazon boards..one of my first purchases was your FAQ book..awesome...i'm learning my way around these boards and everyone here seems so delightful. i have to say i am really enjoying myself and learning so much. as a not too computer savvy kindle owner, i have a request and i think you are the person for this. can we post a separate thread where we can go directly to see the latest "free book offerings from amazon" and the like? they seem to be posted in various places and i think it would be nice to have them in one location. i can't keep up on all the different threads!!!

i wish i was closer to NH so i could meet up with all of you. i'm a jersey girl and a mom of 8 little ones, so i'm always on the run so to speak. i take my kindle in the car all the time as i spend the majority of my day playing taxi!!! hope to get to know all of you...

[Leslie]

Hi Kindlemom,

Thanks for the hello and welcome! Glad to have you here! I am glad you found my book helpful. I certainly enjoyed putting it together.

Right now we have individual threads for the free books. I'll mention to Betsy (mod for that board) about the idea of grouping them all together.

Take care!

Leslie

[Shizu]

hi leslie, i feel like i know you as i came over from the amazon boards..one of my first purchases was your FAQ book..awesome...i'm learning my way around these boards and everyone here seems so delightful. i have to say i am really enjoying myself and learning so much. as a not too computer savvy kindle owner, i have a request and i think you are the person for this. can we post a separate thread where we can go directly to see the latest "free book offerings from amazon" and the like? they seem to be posted in various places and i think it would be nice to have them in one location. i can't keep up on all the different threads!!!

i wish i was closer to NH so i could meet up with all of you. i'm a jersey girl and a mom of 8 little ones, so i'm always on the run so to speak. i take my kindle in the car all the time as i spend the majority of my day playing taxi!!! hope to get to know all of you...

Hello Kindle Mom. I thought of the same thing. I can't keep up with threads. lol  They move so fast. It'll be nice to have only free books info somewhere easy to see. 

[chynared21]

i wish i was closer to NH so i could meet up with all of you. i'm a jersey girl and a mom of 8 little ones, so i'm always on the run so to speak. i take my kindle in the car all the time as i spend the majority of my day playing taxi!!! hope to get to know all of you...

Hiya Kindle mom....where in Jersey are you from? I'm from Staten Island. Welcome aboard :-))

[Bacardi Jim]

Hellsyes!  It's a face-off between:

The Jersey Devil                                              and                            Stephen King!
                 

[Marci]

Hi, Leslie -

New member here.  I've seen your posts on Amazon & here & I'm "amazed"  at the amount of time and energy you've put into answering peoples questions and encouraging all things Kindle.  I came to these boards due to your signature line, so I thank you for adding that!

I love the book "Brokeback Mountain".  Incredible impact for such a spare story.  Unbelievable.  I have seen the movie and own a DVD of it.

Appreciate your work

Marci

[Leslie]

Thank you Marci, and welcome! I am glad you found the link helpful and glad you made your way over here.

I am happy to talk about Brokeback to anyone, anytime. It is sort of always on my mind....

L

[Anju No. 469]

Leslie -



THANKS[/font]

I feel as if I know you from the Amazon board.  This is a much much better forum and I for one appreciate all your work and your patience.  I feel as if I know you having read you for so many months.  I love this board and feel quite welcome and you are a part of that.  I have never encountered a group of people so positive, friendly, caring and willing to share.  I truly believe you are a driving force in that by your example.

I hope you are dodging the horrible weather, I won't tell you how wonderful it is here in Mexico.  But it does make difficulties for Santa to use his sleigh.

[Anju No. 469]

Hey I just graduated from Dr. Seuss, wow!

[Betsy the Quilter]

Anju--

Congratulations on reaching 50 posts!  Woohoo!

Betsy

[Leslie]

Leslie -



THANKS[/font]

I feel as if I know you from the Amazon board.  This is a much much better forum and I for one appreciate all your work and your patience.  I feel as if I know you having read you for so many months.  I love this board and feel quite welcome and you are a part of that.  I have never encountered a group of people so positive, friendly, caring and willing to share.  I truly believe you are a driving force in that by your example.

I hope you are dodging the horrible weather, I won't tell you how wonderful it is here in Mexico.  But it does make difficulties for Santa to use his sleigh.

Thank you, Anju!

I did like the Amazon board but it was frustrating because we didn't have the tools for real community building (different threads, searching, moving, organizing, etc). It is really great here. I enjoy all the people and am having a really great time!

Thanks for your support,

Leslie

[Nytngale]

Hi Leslie,
Nice to meet another nurse with diverse interests. I was a bedside nurse in critical care first, now in administration and a tech junkie. Just came to this forum in the last couple of weeks from the Amazon Kindle discussions group. I love the format you all have developed here and the friendliness of the community. I have really enjoyed learning lots from all of the members and being with a large group of Kindle addicts. Thank you for all of the effort you have put into building Kindleboards into the fantastic place it is!

Sherri

[Leslie]

Welcome, Sherri, and thanks for the nice message. So glad to have you here...

L

PS, we have alot of nurses here! LOL

[Erich]

Hi Leslie.

I have to say I really like your introduction.  I know what you mean when you mentioned sitting in the dark not knowing much about the Kindle.  But, thanks to you and others on this forum, I learned a lot more and was (somewhat) prepared when I received my very own Kindle.  Thanks for everything you've done!

Erich

[Leslie]

Hi Leslie.

I have to say I really like your introduction.  I know what you mean when you mentioned sitting in the dark not knowing much about the Kindle.  But, thanks to you and others on this forum, I learned a lot more and was (somewhat) prepared when I received my very own Kindle.  Thanks for everything you've done!

Erich

Thank you for those nice comments, Erich! Welcome and so glad to have you here.

L

[Roos Mom]

Hello Leslie,
I am new to the board and have a question and don't know where to go to get an answer if there is one.  I figured i would start with you and maybe you could point me in the right direction. Now just for starters i am in the middle of no where and can't get my wispernet to work because i don't have service. I also don't have anything but dial up for my computer and I'm lucky to have that.   Now for the problem.  My husband downloaded an audio book and put it on my Kindle.  Works great but the book is in sections and the numbers are listed all over the place.  Each section is between four and seven minutes.  Is there anyway to get them to play one right after the other?  I have to go back to the menu button and back to home then find the next section and then back to the start button.  It is getting to be a pain so i keep putting it down.  This is the first audio book so i don't know if this is the way they work.  If so i will never do this again.  If you can't help me could you send me to someone who might be able to.  Thanks for the help.  Roos Mom

[ccs122300]

Leslie, I wanted to thank you for the guide on Amazon!  It's been a great help and I've gotten my mother and MIL to order it too!  It's easier than me constantly looking for answers to their questions!  I've also pointed them here for more info!

[Leslie]

Leslie, I wanted to thank you for the guide on Amazon!  It's been a great help and I've gotten my mother and MIL to order it too!  It's easier than me constantly looking for answers to their questions!  I've also pointed them here for more info!

Wonderful, CCS! So glad to hear the book's been helpful. Thanks for your support!

L