Jennifer R. Hubbard's Blog, page 92
August 1, 2011
Revealing just enough
Beginning writers (and not-so-beginning writers, for that matter) are often inclined to tell all, to explain everything. For example: "The reader has to know that my main character lived in a yellow house with petunias in the yard until he was seven, and that he had a cat named Mortimer, and that he broke his arm in the sixth grade."
Well, maybe the reader needs to know all that, but probably not. Meeting a character is like meeting a new person in real life. We don't expect everyone we meet to sit down and recount his or her life story to date. If there's something really big in this person's past, especially something that relates to us, we need to know and we tend to find out fairly quickly. But mostly, we make up our minds about people by watching them in the present: observing what they do, how they treat us and others. We can get to know characters the same way. Bits of the past will come to light, especially if we get very close to a character, but they will arise naturally.
Readers also engage with a text more when they get to put some of the pieces together themselves. Part of the delight in reading is filling in the blanks, constructing an inner world. In fact, there is a whole group of readers whose enthusiasm leads them to continue filling in blanks on a much grander scale: writers of fanfiction.
Well, maybe the reader needs to know all that, but probably not. Meeting a character is like meeting a new person in real life. We don't expect everyone we meet to sit down and recount his or her life story to date. If there's something really big in this person's past, especially something that relates to us, we need to know and we tend to find out fairly quickly. But mostly, we make up our minds about people by watching them in the present: observing what they do, how they treat us and others. We can get to know characters the same way. Bits of the past will come to light, especially if we get very close to a character, but they will arise naturally.
Readers also engage with a text more when they get to put some of the pieces together themselves. Part of the delight in reading is filling in the blanks, constructing an inner world. In fact, there is a whole group of readers whose enthusiasm leads them to continue filling in blanks on a much grander scale: writers of fanfiction.
July 31, 2011
Inspiration
It's often said that a writer who sits around waiting for inspiration to alight on her shoulder like a luna moth will not end up writing very much. I know the point is to encourage us to seize raw material and shape it no matter how lumpy and imperfect it seems at first, to urge us not to be too precious about our writing. There's definitely something in that.
And yet, there are ideas that jump into the brain, seize it, shake it. There are stories that cannot be turned away anymore than they can be forced. There is such a thing as inspiration.
Perhaps it's just a case of keeping lines in the water until that fish bites. The magic idea that seems to come from nowhere has actually fed on months of patient work. It stays because at the moment it wings in, there is a writer waiting there to meet it. Maybe the aroma of good honest sweat is what draws the fairy godmother in.
When it happens, it can't always be explained, but it's one of the pleasures of writing.
And yet, there are ideas that jump into the brain, seize it, shake it. There are stories that cannot be turned away anymore than they can be forced. There is such a thing as inspiration.
Perhaps it's just a case of keeping lines in the water until that fish bites. The magic idea that seems to come from nowhere has actually fed on months of patient work. It stays because at the moment it wings in, there is a writer waiting there to meet it. Maybe the aroma of good honest sweat is what draws the fairy godmother in.
When it happens, it can't always be explained, but it's one of the pleasures of writing.
July 30, 2011
By candlelight
In the past couple of weeks, I've witnessed a bungled software upgrade that rendered email unusable for a day, a computer meltdown, and a denial-of-service attack that took out a social network for the better part of a week, in addition to the usual random errors, freezes, spam, phishing, and glitches that are a general part of digital life. This was topped off by a total power failure in my neighborhood last night.
I tweeted only a day or two ago--and this was before the power failure--that the current quality of our technology and our digital infrastructure makes me less than confident that we're ready to migrate our entire civilization to online platforms. 'Tis a fragile thing indeed, I reflected last night, while reading a print book by candlelight. (Yes, I was rockin' it like the nineteenth century!)
And let us not forget that
I tweeted only a day or two ago--and this was before the power failure--that the current quality of our technology and our digital infrastructure makes me less than confident that we're ready to migrate our entire civilization to online platforms. 'Tis a fragile thing indeed, I reflected last night, while reading a print book by candlelight. (Yes, I was rockin' it like the nineteenth century!)
And let us not forget that
July 29, 2011
Love need not be forbidden! (Ted Saves the World Blog Tour)
Note: My LiveJournal has been frozen for a few days by a denial-of-service attack on the site. You can read more about the strange international implications of that here. You may be interested to know that I mirror my blog on Blogger, in case of any future service interruptions, or if you prefer to follow me over there.
This guest post is from Bryan Cohen, blogging about why romance doesn't have to be forbidden. Also see the details about his new book, and his Amazon giftcard giveaway. I know that several of my readers will appreciate the references to Friday Night Lights!
It seems like every story about the paranormal or otherwise is spinning a yarn about forbidden love. From Romeo and Juliet to Twilight there are endless tales of two people dating that shouldn't be together because it seems like the whole world is against them. It's almost like these stories are telling us that the hardest part of a relationship is getting together, when it couldn't be further from the truth. In the television show "Friday Night Lights," the few who were fortunate enough to watch the five seasons of small-town Texas glory saw one of the most realistic relationships ever portrayed in fiction in the marriage of Coach Eric Taylor and Tami Taylor. While many who viewed commercials of the show thought it was "that football show," it was really the Eric & Tami Taylor show and it was absolutely brilliant. The members of a couple can fight and still love each other. They can compromise and they can raise a family through tough times and still survive. There was no need to throw in any wild affairs in the plot, because you never would have believed they'd cheat on each other regardless. The one time that a drunken co-worker kisses Tami, the two of them laugh the encounter off and turn it into a joke. This is truly a couple that is the opposite of forbidden love. I don't want to spoil too much about my book,
Ted Saves the World
, but I have also dispensed with the concept of forbidden love. The characters that have a thing for each other, don't really have anything standing in the way of their romance. As the series progresses, however, we don't have a forbidden love situation (since that's boring) but we have a moral conundrum: what if the girl you've always loved was taken over by an outside force? Would it be wrong to kiss her and be with her if she isn't the person you fell in love with? It's supernatural and philosophical, but it isn't forbidden. I'll leave that kind of love story for the other authors.--Giveaway:Bryan Cohen is giving away four $25 Amazon gift cards, one for each week of his month long blog tour. To enter, simply comment with your e-mail address (feel free to substitute @ with (at) or other tricks to stop spammers from getting it). Bryan will draw the four names at the end of the tour, picking one entrant at random from each week’s set of blog posts. Entries will be counted through Monday, August 15th, 2011. Enter on as many sites as you want, follow the tour at Build Creative Writing Ideas. If Ted reaches the Top 100 on Amazon at any point during the tour, a fifth $25 card will be added to the giveaway. Description of
Ted Saves the World
(Available for just $0.99): A possessed cheerleader. A cursed gang of criminals. Mysterious telekinetic powers. An angry ex-girlfriend in gym class? One second, sophomore in high school Ted endures his first breakup in his favorite place in town. The next, a mysterious blue light turns him into a worldwide superhero sensation for taking down a posse of grisly murderers. As his views on YouTube increase and his friend Dhiraj tries to capitalize on the marketing potential, his dangers increase as well when a presumed-dead cheerleader begins taking a personal interest. Can Ted survive his first week as a superhero in the public eye? This novella is the first taste in a series of full-length novels about the adventures of Ted Finley and Erica LaPlante. The book is also available on Barnes & Noble and Smashwords for $0.99. Bryan Cohen is a writer, actor and comedian from Dresher, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 with degrees in English and Dramatic Art and a minor in Creative Writing. He has written seven books including 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More. Contact Bryan through his Ted Saves the World blog, his Build Creative Writing Ideas site or Twitter.
This guest post is from Bryan Cohen, blogging about why romance doesn't have to be forbidden. Also see the details about his new book, and his Amazon giftcard giveaway. I know that several of my readers will appreciate the references to Friday Night Lights!
It seems like every story about the paranormal or otherwise is spinning a yarn about forbidden love. From Romeo and Juliet to Twilight there are endless tales of two people dating that shouldn't be together because it seems like the whole world is against them. It's almost like these stories are telling us that the hardest part of a relationship is getting together, when it couldn't be further from the truth. In the television show "Friday Night Lights," the few who were fortunate enough to watch the five seasons of small-town Texas glory saw one of the most realistic relationships ever portrayed in fiction in the marriage of Coach Eric Taylor and Tami Taylor. While many who viewed commercials of the show thought it was "that football show," it was really the Eric & Tami Taylor show and it was absolutely brilliant. The members of a couple can fight and still love each other. They can compromise and they can raise a family through tough times and still survive. There was no need to throw in any wild affairs in the plot, because you never would have believed they'd cheat on each other regardless. The one time that a drunken co-worker kisses Tami, the two of them laugh the encounter off and turn it into a joke. This is truly a couple that is the opposite of forbidden love. I don't want to spoil too much about my book,
Ted Saves the World
, but I have also dispensed with the concept of forbidden love. The characters that have a thing for each other, don't really have anything standing in the way of their romance. As the series progresses, however, we don't have a forbidden love situation (since that's boring) but we have a moral conundrum: what if the girl you've always loved was taken over by an outside force? Would it be wrong to kiss her and be with her if she isn't the person you fell in love with? It's supernatural and philosophical, but it isn't forbidden. I'll leave that kind of love story for the other authors.--Giveaway:Bryan Cohen is giving away four $25 Amazon gift cards, one for each week of his month long blog tour. To enter, simply comment with your e-mail address (feel free to substitute @ with (at) or other tricks to stop spammers from getting it). Bryan will draw the four names at the end of the tour, picking one entrant at random from each week’s set of blog posts. Entries will be counted through Monday, August 15th, 2011. Enter on as many sites as you want, follow the tour at Build Creative Writing Ideas. If Ted reaches the Top 100 on Amazon at any point during the tour, a fifth $25 card will be added to the giveaway. Description of
Ted Saves the World
(Available for just $0.99): A possessed cheerleader. A cursed gang of criminals. Mysterious telekinetic powers. An angry ex-girlfriend in gym class? One second, sophomore in high school Ted endures his first breakup in his favorite place in town. The next, a mysterious blue light turns him into a worldwide superhero sensation for taking down a posse of grisly murderers. As his views on YouTube increase and his friend Dhiraj tries to capitalize on the marketing potential, his dangers increase as well when a presumed-dead cheerleader begins taking a personal interest. Can Ted survive his first week as a superhero in the public eye? This novella is the first taste in a series of full-length novels about the adventures of Ted Finley and Erica LaPlante. The book is also available on Barnes & Noble and Smashwords for $0.99. Bryan Cohen is a writer, actor and comedian from Dresher, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 with degrees in English and Dramatic Art and a minor in Creative Writing. He has written seven books including 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More. Contact Bryan through his Ted Saves the World blog, his Build Creative Writing Ideas site or Twitter.
July 27, 2011
Love need not be forbidden! (Ted Saves the World Blog Tour)
Today's guest post is from Bryan Cohen, blogging about why romance doesn't have to be forbidden. Also see the details about his new book, and his Amazon giftcard giveaway. I know that several of my readers will appreciate the references to Friday Night Lights!
It seems like every story about the paranormal or otherwise is spinning a yarn about forbidden love. From Romeo and Juliet to Twilight there are endless tales of two people dating that shouldn't be together because it seems like the whole world is against them. It's almost like these stories are telling us that the hardest part of a relationship is getting together, when it couldn't be further from the truth.
In the television show "Friday Night Lights," the few who were fortunate enough to watch the five seasons of small-town Texas glory saw one of the most realistic relationships ever portrayed in fiction in the marriage of Coach Eric Taylor and Tami Taylor. While many who viewed commercials of the show thought it was "that football show," it was really the Eric & Tami Taylor show and it was absolutely brilliant. The members of a couple can fight and still love each other. They can compromise and they can raise a family through tough times and still survive.
There was no need to throw in any wild affairs in the plot, because you never would have believed they'd cheat on each other regardless. The one time that a drunken co-worker kisses Tami, the two of them laugh the encounter off and turn it into a joke. This is truly a couple that is the opposite of forbidden love.
I don't want to spoil too much about my book, Ted Saves the World , but I have also dispensed with the concept of forbidden love. The characters that have a thing for each other, don't really have anything standing in the way of their romance. As the series progresses, however, we don't have a forbidden love situation (since that's boring) but we have a moral conundrum: what if the girl you've always loved was taken over by an outside force? Would it be wrong to kiss her and be with her if she isn't the person you fell in love with?
It's supernatural and philosophical, but it isn't forbidden. I'll leave that kind of love story for the other authors.-- Giveaway:Bryan Cohen is giving away four $25 Amazon gift cards, one for each week of his month long blog tour. To enter, simply comment with your e-mail address (feel free to substitute @ with (at) or other tricks to stop spammers from getting it). Bryan will draw the four names at the end of the tour, picking one entrant at random from each week's set of blog posts. Entries will be counted through Monday, August 15th, 2011. Enter on as many sites as you want, follow the tour at Build Creative Writing Ideas. If Ted reaches the Top 100 on Amazon at any point during the tour, a fifth $25 card will be added to the giveaway.
Description of Ted Saves the World (Available for just $0.99):
A possessed cheerleader. A cursed gang of criminals. Mysterious telekinetic powers. An angry ex-girlfriend in gym class? One second, sophomore in high school Ted endures his first breakup in his favorite place in town. The next, a mysterious blue light turns him into a worldwide superhero sensation for taking down a posse of grisly murderers. As his views on YouTube increase and his friend Dhiraj tries to capitalize on the marketing potential, his dangers increase as well when a presumed-dead cheerleader begins taking a personal interest. Can Ted survive his first week as a superhero in the public eye? This novella is the first taste in a series of full-length novels about the adventures of Ted Finley and Erica LaPlante. The book is also available on Barnes & Noble and Smashwords for $0.99.
Bryan Cohen is a writer, actor and comedian from Dresher, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 with degrees in English and Dramatic Art and a minor in Creative Writing. He has written seven books including 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More. Contact Bryan through his Ted Saves the World blog, his Build Creative Writing Ideas site or Twitter.
It seems like every story about the paranormal or otherwise is spinning a yarn about forbidden love. From Romeo and Juliet to Twilight there are endless tales of two people dating that shouldn't be together because it seems like the whole world is against them. It's almost like these stories are telling us that the hardest part of a relationship is getting together, when it couldn't be further from the truth.
In the television show "Friday Night Lights," the few who were fortunate enough to watch the five seasons of small-town Texas glory saw one of the most realistic relationships ever portrayed in fiction in the marriage of Coach Eric Taylor and Tami Taylor. While many who viewed commercials of the show thought it was "that football show," it was really the Eric & Tami Taylor show and it was absolutely brilliant. The members of a couple can fight and still love each other. They can compromise and they can raise a family through tough times and still survive.
There was no need to throw in any wild affairs in the plot, because you never would have believed they'd cheat on each other regardless. The one time that a drunken co-worker kisses Tami, the two of them laugh the encounter off and turn it into a joke. This is truly a couple that is the opposite of forbidden love.
I don't want to spoil too much about my book, Ted Saves the World , but I have also dispensed with the concept of forbidden love. The characters that have a thing for each other, don't really have anything standing in the way of their romance. As the series progresses, however, we don't have a forbidden love situation (since that's boring) but we have a moral conundrum: what if the girl you've always loved was taken over by an outside force? Would it be wrong to kiss her and be with her if she isn't the person you fell in love with?
It's supernatural and philosophical, but it isn't forbidden. I'll leave that kind of love story for the other authors.-- Giveaway:Bryan Cohen is giving away four $25 Amazon gift cards, one for each week of his month long blog tour. To enter, simply comment with your e-mail address (feel free to substitute @ with (at) or other tricks to stop spammers from getting it). Bryan will draw the four names at the end of the tour, picking one entrant at random from each week's set of blog posts. Entries will be counted through Monday, August 15th, 2011. Enter on as many sites as you want, follow the tour at Build Creative Writing Ideas. If Ted reaches the Top 100 on Amazon at any point during the tour, a fifth $25 card will be added to the giveaway.
Description of Ted Saves the World (Available for just $0.99):
A possessed cheerleader. A cursed gang of criminals. Mysterious telekinetic powers. An angry ex-girlfriend in gym class? One second, sophomore in high school Ted endures his first breakup in his favorite place in town. The next, a mysterious blue light turns him into a worldwide superhero sensation for taking down a posse of grisly murderers. As his views on YouTube increase and his friend Dhiraj tries to capitalize on the marketing potential, his dangers increase as well when a presumed-dead cheerleader begins taking a personal interest. Can Ted survive his first week as a superhero in the public eye? This novella is the first taste in a series of full-length novels about the adventures of Ted Finley and Erica LaPlante. The book is also available on Barnes & Noble and Smashwords for $0.99.
Bryan Cohen is a writer, actor and comedian from Dresher, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 with degrees in English and Dramatic Art and a minor in Creative Writing. He has written seven books including 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More. Contact Bryan through his Ted Saves the World blog, his Build Creative Writing Ideas site or Twitter.
July 26, 2011
Approaching blog-tour hosts
Tomorrow, I'll be featuring a guest post as part of an author's blog tour. The way this author approached me made me decide to write about approaching potential hosts for blog-tour stops, because he did several things right. The following list reflects my preferences only, but I suspect many other bloggers may share at least some of these preferences.
If asking me to host a guest post:
1. Tell me who you are. This sounds simple, but I get a surprising amount of email from people who don't identify themselves. This is especially important if your email address does not include your full first and last name.
2. Tell me how you found my blog / why you're approaching me. This is especially important if we haven't connected before and you aren't a regular commenter on the blog.
3. Describe your request; also let me know your motivation for being a guest blogger. Maybe you just think it's fun to cross-post with others; I agree, and I've exchanged guest posts for no more complicated reason than that. But if you're trying to draw more readers to your blog, or if you're promoting something, most likely a book--that's fine; you don't have to hide it. It helps me understand where you're coming from, and I actually prefer when those goals are clear and up-front. I look for interesting content in a blog post, first and foremost, but I also expect to show your book cover or bio, or link to your site. If I can't tell what a person's motives are, I'm less inclined to accept a guest post.
4. Show me your material. If we have no prior connection (for example, if we haven't already been commenting on one another's blogs), I will look at your website and whatever samples of your writing I can find to figure out if you're a good fit for this blog. (For that reason, including a website link in your email is extremely helpful.) I blog about all kinds of books, with a bias toward YA. When it comes to writing advice, I prefer a laid-back, "maybe this will work for you" approach. Guest posts don't have to be cookie-cutter imitations of my own posts, but material that clashes with my philosophy or is too far outside my normal range of topics is probably not a good fit.
5. Send me what I need, on time. If I approach someone to be a guest, I'm prepared to do a little more digging and assembling of the materials I want to post (bio, book cover). But if a potential guest approaches me, I greatly appreciate it if that guest makes things easy for me by providing all the materials I ask for, in the format I ask for (e.g., jpeg of book cover, one-line bio).
In posting this, I'm not asking to become a big-time blog-tour stop. I might have to say no to a guest blogger (even one who follows all the above steps) just because I try to keep a certain balance in my content, and I don't always have the time, space, or energy to work out a guest post with someone. But the fact that my upcoming guest took the above approach led me to welcome him to the blog.
If asking me to host a guest post:
1. Tell me who you are. This sounds simple, but I get a surprising amount of email from people who don't identify themselves. This is especially important if your email address does not include your full first and last name.
2. Tell me how you found my blog / why you're approaching me. This is especially important if we haven't connected before and you aren't a regular commenter on the blog.
3. Describe your request; also let me know your motivation for being a guest blogger. Maybe you just think it's fun to cross-post with others; I agree, and I've exchanged guest posts for no more complicated reason than that. But if you're trying to draw more readers to your blog, or if you're promoting something, most likely a book--that's fine; you don't have to hide it. It helps me understand where you're coming from, and I actually prefer when those goals are clear and up-front. I look for interesting content in a blog post, first and foremost, but I also expect to show your book cover or bio, or link to your site. If I can't tell what a person's motives are, I'm less inclined to accept a guest post.
4. Show me your material. If we have no prior connection (for example, if we haven't already been commenting on one another's blogs), I will look at your website and whatever samples of your writing I can find to figure out if you're a good fit for this blog. (For that reason, including a website link in your email is extremely helpful.) I blog about all kinds of books, with a bias toward YA. When it comes to writing advice, I prefer a laid-back, "maybe this will work for you" approach. Guest posts don't have to be cookie-cutter imitations of my own posts, but material that clashes with my philosophy or is too far outside my normal range of topics is probably not a good fit.
5. Send me what I need, on time. If I approach someone to be a guest, I'm prepared to do a little more digging and assembling of the materials I want to post (bio, book cover). But if a potential guest approaches me, I greatly appreciate it if that guest makes things easy for me by providing all the materials I ask for, in the format I ask for (e.g., jpeg of book cover, one-line bio).
In posting this, I'm not asking to become a big-time blog-tour stop. I might have to say no to a guest blogger (even one who follows all the above steps) just because I try to keep a certain balance in my content, and I don't always have the time, space, or energy to work out a guest post with someone. But the fact that my upcoming guest took the above approach led me to welcome him to the blog.
July 25, 2011
The bookstore as destination
The biggest challenge to brick-and-mortar bookstores will be the convenience of e-books, and the ease of shopping from one's home while wearing pajamas. But there are businesses whose out-of-home counterparts have survived in spite of the fact that there are easier, in-home options.
The prime examples of that are movie theaters and restaurants. People still go out to these places for social reasons; they're suitable for dates and for get-togethers with family and friends. Sure, you can watch a movie at home, and you can order take-out food and never leave your house, and both of those things are easier, but we look forward to going out as an occasion.
I've always felt that bookstores have a bit of that going for them. Those of us who like bookstores don't just like the shiny covers and the sweet-smelling pages of a printed book. There's just something special about a bookstore as a place, especially if it's a store with comfy chairs.
I grew up shopping in mall bookstores--places like Paperback Booksmith, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton. When I moved to Philadelphia, I also shopped at Encore and Doubleday, and later Borders. I always loved book shopping, no matter who owned the store. But when I discovered the independent stores, especially the used bookstores like The Book Trader, I thought I'd discovered heaven. I went alone; I went with friends. One of my favorite kinds of dates was dinner on a summer evening, followed by a sunset stroll during which we'd stop in the bookstore to browse and compare reading tastes.
When I did an internship in Atlanta, I developed a regular Saturday ritual of taking the bus down to Oxford Books, a gigantic store that actually took up two buildings, if I remember correctly. I always came home with the Philadelphia Sunday paper (because I was hunting for a permanent job back in Philly, and in those days you used newspaper ads, and Oxford Books got the Sunday papers from all over the country) and a stack of used books. The bookstore trip was my reward after the week's work, and I think Oxford was the first store I'd ever seen that had couches. (I decided instantly that every bookstore needs a couch.)
A friend and I make regular trips to Children's Book World in Haverford, and it's a social occasion as much as a shopping trip: we have lunch and then hang out in the store, browsing the stacks and talking books with the staff (who read everything!). I've been to poetry readings and community events at the Big Blue Marble , an independent store with wooden floors, a cafe, and employees who make the store an experience, not just a place to buy books. I've had book-club meetings and discussed staff picks and shelf talkers at Borders stores; I've been to educator events at Barnes & Noble. I've eaten in bookstore cafes. I've been to readings by authors I know personally and authors I only know of through reading their books. I never worry about meeting someone who's running late if our meeting place is near a bookstore. "Don't worry; I can easily kill half an hour in the bookstore!" Everywhere I travel, I try to visit the local bookstore, and I have bookmarks from all over the country to prove it. Every time we're in Portland, Oregon, my husband insists on trying to visit Powell's if we have any free time while the store is still open.
To my mind, if bookstores survive the digital age, it will not be because they shift to selling something other than books. It will be because people find these social, interactive aspects valuable. It will be because going to the bookstore is a fun occasion like going to the movies or out to eat. I don't know if enough people out there share my affection for bookstores as destinations, but I guess we will find out.
I'll leave you with the opening of a short story ("What You've Always Wanted") I once had published in a magazine called Thema:
"Livingston's New and Used Books smelled of paper and dust, of old wood that had spent decades near salt water, of the chocolates that Colton kept near the cash register. Livingston's was the kind of store that should've had a cat. It needed a cat so obviously that patrons would creep down the aisles, searching the corners and the highest shelves, waiting for that bookstore mascot to leap down on silent paws. The store did have a copy of Venus de Milo in the corner, a plastic barracuda nailed to one wall, and a stuffed gorilla sitting in a chair by the door, but it was haunted by the cat it didn't have.
"You reached Livingston's by following the twisted, tortuous streets of Boston to a dead-end alley. More than one patron felt the thrill of secrecy, as if the shop was their own personal discovery, unknown to the rest of the world. ..."
"Livingston's" is fictional, but it's a composite of every bookstore I've ever known and loved. I suppose that story was, in part, my love letter to bookstores.
The prime examples of that are movie theaters and restaurants. People still go out to these places for social reasons; they're suitable for dates and for get-togethers with family and friends. Sure, you can watch a movie at home, and you can order take-out food and never leave your house, and both of those things are easier, but we look forward to going out as an occasion.
I've always felt that bookstores have a bit of that going for them. Those of us who like bookstores don't just like the shiny covers and the sweet-smelling pages of a printed book. There's just something special about a bookstore as a place, especially if it's a store with comfy chairs.
I grew up shopping in mall bookstores--places like Paperback Booksmith, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton. When I moved to Philadelphia, I also shopped at Encore and Doubleday, and later Borders. I always loved book shopping, no matter who owned the store. But when I discovered the independent stores, especially the used bookstores like The Book Trader, I thought I'd discovered heaven. I went alone; I went with friends. One of my favorite kinds of dates was dinner on a summer evening, followed by a sunset stroll during which we'd stop in the bookstore to browse and compare reading tastes.
When I did an internship in Atlanta, I developed a regular Saturday ritual of taking the bus down to Oxford Books, a gigantic store that actually took up two buildings, if I remember correctly. I always came home with the Philadelphia Sunday paper (because I was hunting for a permanent job back in Philly, and in those days you used newspaper ads, and Oxford Books got the Sunday papers from all over the country) and a stack of used books. The bookstore trip was my reward after the week's work, and I think Oxford was the first store I'd ever seen that had couches. (I decided instantly that every bookstore needs a couch.)
A friend and I make regular trips to Children's Book World in Haverford, and it's a social occasion as much as a shopping trip: we have lunch and then hang out in the store, browsing the stacks and talking books with the staff (who read everything!). I've been to poetry readings and community events at the Big Blue Marble , an independent store with wooden floors, a cafe, and employees who make the store an experience, not just a place to buy books. I've had book-club meetings and discussed staff picks and shelf talkers at Borders stores; I've been to educator events at Barnes & Noble. I've eaten in bookstore cafes. I've been to readings by authors I know personally and authors I only know of through reading their books. I never worry about meeting someone who's running late if our meeting place is near a bookstore. "Don't worry; I can easily kill half an hour in the bookstore!" Everywhere I travel, I try to visit the local bookstore, and I have bookmarks from all over the country to prove it. Every time we're in Portland, Oregon, my husband insists on trying to visit Powell's if we have any free time while the store is still open.
To my mind, if bookstores survive the digital age, it will not be because they shift to selling something other than books. It will be because people find these social, interactive aspects valuable. It will be because going to the bookstore is a fun occasion like going to the movies or out to eat. I don't know if enough people out there share my affection for bookstores as destinations, but I guess we will find out.
I'll leave you with the opening of a short story ("What You've Always Wanted") I once had published in a magazine called Thema:
"Livingston's New and Used Books smelled of paper and dust, of old wood that had spent decades near salt water, of the chocolates that Colton kept near the cash register. Livingston's was the kind of store that should've had a cat. It needed a cat so obviously that patrons would creep down the aisles, searching the corners and the highest shelves, waiting for that bookstore mascot to leap down on silent paws. The store did have a copy of Venus de Milo in the corner, a plastic barracuda nailed to one wall, and a stuffed gorilla sitting in a chair by the door, but it was haunted by the cat it didn't have.
"You reached Livingston's by following the twisted, tortuous streets of Boston to a dead-end alley. More than one patron felt the thrill of secrecy, as if the shop was their own personal discovery, unknown to the rest of the world. ..."
"Livingston's" is fictional, but it's a composite of every bookstore I've ever known and loved. I suppose that story was, in part, my love letter to bookstores.
July 24, 2011
The bookstore as destination
The biggest challenge to brick-and-mortar bookstores will be the convenience of e-books, and the ease of shopping from one's home while wearing pajamas. But there are businesses whose out-of-home counterparts have survived in spite of the fact that there are easier, in-home options.
The prime examples of that are movie theaters and restaurants. People still go out to these places for social reasons; they're suitable for dates and for get-togethers with family and friends. Sure, you can watch a movie at home, and you can order take-out food and never leave your house, and both of those things are easier, but we look forward to going out as an occasion.
I've always felt that bookstores have a bit of that going for them. Those of us who like bookstores don't just like the shiny covers and the sweet-smelling pages of a printed book. There's just something special about a bookstore as a place, especially if it's a store with comfy chairs.
I grew up shopping in mall bookstores--places like Paperback Booksmith, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton. When I moved to Philadelphia, I also shopped at Encore and Doubleday, and later Borders. I always loved book shopping, no matter who owned the store. But when I discovered the independent stores, especially the used bookstores like The Book Trader, I thought I'd discovered heaven. I went alone; I went with friends. One of my favorite kinds of dates was dinner on a summer evening, followed by a sunset stroll during which we'd stop in the bookstore to browse and compare reading tastes.
When I did an internship in Atlanta, I developed a regular Saturday ritual of taking the bus down to Oxford Books, a gigantic store that actually took up two buildings, if I remember correctly. I always came home with the Philadelphia Sunday paper (because I was hunting for a permanent job back in Philly, and in those days you used newspaper ads, and Oxford Books got the Sunday papers from all over the country) and a stack of used books. The bookstore trip was my reward after the week's work, and I think Oxford was the first store I'd ever seen that had couches. (I decided instantly that every bookstore needs a couch.)
A friend and I make regular trips to Children's Book World in Haverford, and it's a social occasion as much as a shopping trip: we have lunch and then hang out in the store, browsing the stacks and talking books with the staff (who read everything!). I've been to poetry readings and community events at the Big Blue Marble , an independent store with wooden floors, a cafe, and employees who make the store an experience, not just a place to buy books. I've had book-club meetings and discussed staff picks and shelf talkers at Borders stores; I've been to educator events at Barnes & Noble. I've eaten in bookstore cafes. I've been to readings by authors I know personally and authors I only know of through reading their books. I never worry about meeting someone who's running late if our meeting place is near a bookstore. "Don't worry; I can easily kill half an hour in the bookstore!" Everywhere I travel, I try to visit the local bookstore, and I have bookmarks from all over the country to prove it. Every time we're in Portland, Oregon, my husband insists on trying to visit Powell's if we have any free time while the store is still open.
To my mind, if bookstores survive the digital age, it will not be because they shift to selling something other than books. It will be because people find these social, interactive aspects valuable. It will be because going to the bookstore is a fun occasion like going to the movies or out to eat. I don't know if enough people out there share my affection for bookstores as destinations, but I guess we will find out.
I'll leave you with the opening of a short story ("What You've Always Wanted") I once had published in a magazine called Thema:
"Livingston's New and Used Books smelled of paper and dust, of old wood that had spent decades near salt water, of the chocolates that Colton kept near the cash register. Livingston's was the kind of store that should've had a cat. It needed a cat so obviously that patrons would creep down the aisles, searching the corners and the highest shelves, waiting for that bookstore mascot to leap down on silent paws. The store did have a copy of Venus de Milo in the corner, a plastic barracuda nailed to one wall, and a stuffed gorilla sitting in a chair by the door, but it was haunted by the cat it didn't have.
"You reached Livingston's by following the twisted, tortuous streets of Boston to a dead-end alley. More than one patron felt the thrill of secrecy, as if the shop was their own personal discovery, unknown to the rest of the world. ..."
"Livingston's" is fictional, but it's a composite of every bookstore I've ever known and loved. I suppose that story was, in part, my love letter to bookstores.
The prime examples of that are movie theaters and restaurants. People still go out to these places for social reasons; they're suitable for dates and for get-togethers with family and friends. Sure, you can watch a movie at home, and you can order take-out food and never leave your house, and both of those things are easier, but we look forward to going out as an occasion.
I've always felt that bookstores have a bit of that going for them. Those of us who like bookstores don't just like the shiny covers and the sweet-smelling pages of a printed book. There's just something special about a bookstore as a place, especially if it's a store with comfy chairs.
I grew up shopping in mall bookstores--places like Paperback Booksmith, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton. When I moved to Philadelphia, I also shopped at Encore and Doubleday, and later Borders. I always loved book shopping, no matter who owned the store. But when I discovered the independent stores, especially the used bookstores like The Book Trader, I thought I'd discovered heaven. I went alone; I went with friends. One of my favorite kinds of dates was dinner on a summer evening, followed by a sunset stroll during which we'd stop in the bookstore to browse and compare reading tastes.
When I did an internship in Atlanta, I developed a regular Saturday ritual of taking the bus down to Oxford Books, a gigantic store that actually took up two buildings, if I remember correctly. I always came home with the Philadelphia Sunday paper (because I was hunting for a permanent job back in Philly, and in those days you used newspaper ads, and Oxford Books got the Sunday papers from all over the country) and a stack of used books. The bookstore trip was my reward after the week's work, and I think Oxford was the first store I'd ever seen that had couches. (I decided instantly that every bookstore needs a couch.)
A friend and I make regular trips to Children's Book World in Haverford, and it's a social occasion as much as a shopping trip: we have lunch and then hang out in the store, browsing the stacks and talking books with the staff (who read everything!). I've been to poetry readings and community events at the Big Blue Marble , an independent store with wooden floors, a cafe, and employees who make the store an experience, not just a place to buy books. I've had book-club meetings and discussed staff picks and shelf talkers at Borders stores; I've been to educator events at Barnes & Noble. I've eaten in bookstore cafes. I've been to readings by authors I know personally and authors I only know of through reading their books. I never worry about meeting someone who's running late if our meeting place is near a bookstore. "Don't worry; I can easily kill half an hour in the bookstore!" Everywhere I travel, I try to visit the local bookstore, and I have bookmarks from all over the country to prove it. Every time we're in Portland, Oregon, my husband insists on trying to visit Powell's if we have any free time while the store is still open.
To my mind, if bookstores survive the digital age, it will not be because they shift to selling something other than books. It will be because people find these social, interactive aspects valuable. It will be because going to the bookstore is a fun occasion like going to the movies or out to eat. I don't know if enough people out there share my affection for bookstores as destinations, but I guess we will find out.
I'll leave you with the opening of a short story ("What You've Always Wanted") I once had published in a magazine called Thema:
"Livingston's New and Used Books smelled of paper and dust, of old wood that had spent decades near salt water, of the chocolates that Colton kept near the cash register. Livingston's was the kind of store that should've had a cat. It needed a cat so obviously that patrons would creep down the aisles, searching the corners and the highest shelves, waiting for that bookstore mascot to leap down on silent paws. The store did have a copy of Venus de Milo in the corner, a plastic barracuda nailed to one wall, and a stuffed gorilla sitting in a chair by the door, but it was haunted by the cat it didn't have.
"You reached Livingston's by following the twisted, tortuous streets of Boston to a dead-end alley. More than one patron felt the thrill of secrecy, as if the shop was their own personal discovery, unknown to the rest of the world. ..."
"Livingston's" is fictional, but it's a composite of every bookstore I've ever known and loved. I suppose that story was, in part, my love letter to bookstores.
A Heat Like an Affliction
"That morning and noon had been warm, though the stirrings of a feeble breeze made weather not flagrantly intemperate; but at about three o'clock in the afternoon there came out of the southwest a heat like an affliction sent upon an accursed people, and the air was soon dead of it."
--Booth Tarkington, Alice Adams
So how's the weather where you are? ;-)
July 23, 2011
A Heat Like an Affliction
"That morning and noon had been warm, though the stirrings of a feeble breeze made weather not flagrantly intemperate; but at about three o'clock in the afternoon there came out of the southwest a heat like an affliction sent upon an accursed people, and the air was soon dead of it."
--Booth Tarkington, Alice Adams
So how's the weather where you are? ;-)
--Booth Tarkington, Alice Adams
So how's the weather where you are? ;-)
