Here’s a direct challenge to those who say, “I just can’t find the time to read fiction anymore.” If you can’t handle this once every few weeks, you’d better renegotiate grade school.

One Story, in the words of its publisher, Marybeth Batcha, is on a mission “to save the short story by publishing in a friendly format that allows readers to experience each story as a stand-alone work of art and a simple form of entertainment. One Story is designed to fit into your purse or pocket, and into your life.

One Story is designed to fit into your purse or pocket, and into your life.

Each issue is artfully designed, lightweight, “easy to carry, and ready to entertain on buses, in bed, in subways, in cars, in the park, in the bath, in the waiting rooms of doctors, on the couch in the afternoon or on line at the supermarket.”

And don’t look for the online version: One Story, slim as it is, is a real magazine, and available only by subscription.

So, okay, slackers, no more excuses. There is always time to read one story.

Interesting how quickly things change. On first look at the iPad I posted my opinion that it was not for serious fictionwriters. Why? Because, the the kind of pounding fictionwriters do, its virtual keyboard was not a serious contender for the toolbox. Well, that’s all over now. FADE OUT/FADE IN: Apple, about to unveil the iPad, is already offering a bluetooth keyboard that just might do close the discussion. Check it out.

If you’re writing your novel on a Mac wouldn’t you’d love to be able to slip off to some dark, quiet coffeehouse, plug some music into your ears ,and write like crazy in a place so anonymous it surrounds you with invisible support?

But who wants to lug even a Macbook around all the time. And so far, the iPhone offers no keyboard alternative. E-e-hh, so you stay home.

It’s true there’s a hole in the Apple repertoire where a netbook should be–-and the iPad doesn’t really fill it. But footloose authors rejoice! Restless minds have figured out ways of getting OS X (specifically Snow Leopard, maybe earlier, I don’t know) onto various Windows-native netbooks. The one it works best with seems to be the Dell Mini 10V (street price under $300), so without further ado, here are a couple of articles that’ll tell you what you need to know, step by step:: How to Hackintosh a Dell Mini 10V into the Ultimate Snow Leopard Netbook and Netbook Compatibility Chart (Just get a Dell Mini 10V

See you in the coffeehouse. (I’ll be the unapproachable guy behind the impenetrable shades.)