I'm pleased to report that the old-books shelf in my personal library is now double stacked.
My mom has autumn cleaning fever, so I've inherited more books! It's extra exciting, because these are old books. Rebecca belonged to my grandmother, and the other three were my great-grandfather's in Mexico.
I guess keeping a personal library has always been a byproduct of my obsession with books. Not to mention that my only motivation in interior decorating is finding more ways to store, display, and curl up with books.
Ok, maybe not the antlers. photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lovemaegan/5097009893/">...love Maegan</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>
But little did I think when I started collecting books that one day they might be a novelty. Before there were museums, people used to keep "curiosity cabinets" in their homes. I saw one in Prague, containing things like model ships, coats of chain mail, and petrified sharks.
Except that mine will be full of books.
This week I read a blog post (thanks for forwarding, Michael) by Seth Godin predicting 7 things that will be lost as our society transitions from paper to electronic books. Godin doesn't predict that paper books will disappear entirely, but that the infrastructure surrounding them will, including bookshelves, bookstores, and libraries.
Or at least, libraries as we know them. Have you heard about the nation's first "bookless library," set to open in San Antonio, TX, in the fall (thanks Hannah!)? No books. Just desktops, laptops, and e-readers for checkout, as well as remote-access materials.
Sad.
I mean, don't get me wrong. The really important things are that people keep reading, that one idea keeps leading to another, and that stories keep teaching us how to live. Those things can happen just as well on electronic devices as on paper. I have a Kindle, and I like that it allows me to keep one-glance track of all my highlights and notes and even share those with others on the Internet.
But...but...libraries.
To think that someday I might have to tell my kids a fictional story about a magical place where endless shelves of paper books sat waiting to be thumbed through, perused, checked out, brought home with you for a glorious three weeks. Not just to read. To admire, carry around, smell. They have histories. They start conversations. Sometimes they even start relationships. As you're putting one back, another catches your eye. And you realize you'll be spending the rest of your life reading. So many books, so little time.
Well, here's one library that's not going anywhere.
Someday, I can imagine giving tours of my curiosity cabinet like a museum docent. When bookshelves, bookstores, and libraries have gone out of fashion, I'll take down my old books and let people smell them, sneeze on the dust. This one was my great-grandfather's.
Yes, I am reading all of these books. At the same time. Count them. There are fifteen. One-five.
Nearly 16 months ago, I wrote this post, getting my knickers all in a twist over reading *gasp* seven books at a time! Today, my past self would be shocked and probably horrified. Fifteen is a lot of books.
It's also a lot of inches. Maybe I should start measuring my reading that way.
When I'm reading this many books at a time, my progress advances infinitesimally. Some of these titles have been on my bookshelf for a year.
Tsk, tsk. So read fewer books, you say.
But which ones to choose?
For spiritual growth, I've got Philip Yancey's Prayer and Disappointment with God, Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas, C.S. Lewis's The Problem of Pain, and Me Addiction by Rick Brown &c.
On the topic of relationships, there's His Needs, Her Needs by Willard F. Harley Jr., Sacred Search by Gary Thomas, and an old favorite: Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris.
Halfway there.
Now, for creative inspiration, we have Alan Jacobs's biography The Narnian, about C.S. Lewis. There's The Imagineering Way, by Disney's team of Imagineers. And a particularly fascinating one called Imagine by Jonah Lehrer, about the process of creativity (a great loan from my knit-designing friend Audry).
Some books for discussion with my tutoring students: The Library Card by Jerry Spinelli and Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards (yes, the actress of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music also wrote a children's book!).
And finally, some just for fun: Foundling by D.M. Cornish and "The Courtship of Miles Standish" in a beautiful 1893 edition of Longfellow's collected works (a find from my latest library sale).
Oho. But wait, there's more.
Now I can read even more books at a time. Being the die-hard fan of paper books that I am, I held out a long time on an e-reader, but finally caved when my family gave me a Kindle for Christmas. Now I realize that, while I may always be partial to the smell and feel of paper, I don't have to choose which method to love.
More methods of reading means more books :)
Kindle reading does come up smaller by the inches method, but I've already got more in-progress titles on here, including Dreamwalker and Mourning Cloak by writer friends Angela Wallace and Rabia Gale.
Ever wondered what a day in the life of a published author is like? Does the muse sing gracefully while fingers race on the keyboard to keep up? Or is it more like piles of coffee cups and shredded drafts? Do published authors have second jobs? What are their geeky secrets? And what do they think about e-books vs. paper?
Free image courtesy of stock.xchng and nkzs
Well, today we're lucky enough to find out, because I'm doing my first author interview on this blog! Local author (and my good friend) Angela Wallace has just self-published her 5th title, an urban fantasy called Earth Tones, which is the third in her Elemental Magic series. She is now sitting in my virtual living room, ready to reveal her secrets. Muahaha.
I mean, welcome, Angela.
1. Let's talk about book love (since that's obviously one of my favorite topics). How old were you when you fell in love
with reading? Can you remember what book/ books inspired you?
I fell in love with reading the moment I learned how. I’d
go to every Scholastic book fair and read enough books to get a prize every
time. Some of my favorite books were Tamora Pierce’s quartets Song of the
Lioness and The Immortals. They started with a young child with dreams or
special powers, and the books followed their growth into young adulthood. I
loved the journey. And the fantasy worlds. ;-)
2. What was the first story you ever finished about?
It was a YA sci-fi about a teenage rebel group in a post-apocalyptic United States. I guess the correct term would be dystopian, but it was heavy with space pods and ray guns. I wrote it when I was ten.
3. If you could have lunch with anyone,
living or dead, who would it be and why?
A. W.
Tozer. I love his book, The Pursuit of God, and I imagine it would be an
extraordinary conversation.
4. Juggling jobs is one of my biggest challenges. How does a published author support herself? Is writing your only job?
I’m also a sign language interpreter. I work at a couple
local colleges interpreting classroom lectures. It’s great because I get to
keep learning new subjects, but don’t have to work for a grade!
5. What is the geekiest thing about you? Because we have to know :)
I know how to write a form of Tolkien’s elvish runes. I
used to exchange letters with a friend in high school written in them. It also
makes a very handy code to keep passwords in.
6. What are some of the weirdest
ways you've gotten story ideas?
Dreams, for one. I’ve dreamed a few complete story plots from
beginning to end, though they don’t often get written down. If I could just
dream about the novels I’m actually working on, I could save time!
7. Now that you can look back on the completion of your latest book, Earth Tones, what was your favorite part of writing
this book?
Hm, I think it was getting to
know a new main character, plus getting to play with a new element. There was a
lot more opportunity for Nita to communicate with animals, and the earth
wielding in fight scenes was fun too.
Angela's latest book, Earth Tones, is the third in her Elemental Magic series.
8. You publish both paper books and e-books. As an avid reader yourself, which do you prefer, and why?
It depends. I do like paper books, seeing the cover on the front, seeing my progress as I turn the pages. But some of them are really fat and it hurts my wrist to hold them, lol. Then I like e-books better because it’s much lighter to carry around.
9. Online self-publishing gets a lot of media attention these days. So what do you like about self-publishing?
I like keeping control over my story. (Yes,
I’m a control freak.) I also like working at my own pace. I can be a drill
sergeant on myself, but am well aware that “life happens.” It’s easier to give
myself permission to be flexible than it is to ask for it from someone else.
10. Anything you don't like about it?
The marketing, lol. Though, traditionally published
authors have to do much the same. Putting together this blog tour was a big
step for me!
11. Are there
are any fun scenes in Earth Tones that didn’t end up in the final draft?
There was this cute scene I wanted to use, but it just
didn’t fit anywhere in the story. Nita and her boyfriend Keenan are leaving the
house when they find a moose on the porch. I learned that this is a very
dangerous situation and that people are actually trapped in their homes until
the moose decides to leave on its own. Now, Nita could just tell the moose to
get lost with her earth magic, but instead she says they’ll have to put their
plans on hold, and with a suggestive smile, hints that they can figure out
something else to fill their time with.
Thank you for your time and insights, Angela!
If Earth Tones captures your fancy, check it out on Amazon. And watch the book trailer on Youtube (trailers aren't just for movies anymore)! Authors nowadays--especially self-published--are Jacks and Jills of many trades, and Angela turned moviemaker to promote her new book. Check it out.
You can also read the book description:
Nita Young doesn’t know if she has a future with college sweetheart Keenan Donovan—two star-crossed lovers of opposing elements—but she invites him up to Alaska to see if Earth and Water can rekindle their old flame. When a series of wild animal attacks strike the inhabitants of Yakutat, Nita has to put her romantic plans on hold. Mangled bodies are turning up, and a mysterious black panther has been spotted in the woods. Fur, scales, and a venomous bite suggest the cat is supernatural in origin—and evidence indicates that someone not only summoned it, but is using it to target those Nita cares about. It’s the perfect murder weapon: no fingerprints, no evidence. And in a town this small, the killer is someone she knows. Nita’s strength will be put to the test as she faces losing her friends, her town, and the man she loves.
To connect with Angela: Angela Wallace loves gun-toting good boys and could have been a cop in another life except for the unfortunate condition of real blood making her queasy. Good thing writing gun and sword fights isn’t a problem. In her books you’ll find the power of love, magic, and redemption.
