Hope everyone is having a great Cinco de Mayo, a holiday I associate with the excess of tequila and acting the fool. Because I have given up the demon tequila for the most part, I spent my day finishing a new story, a short four page piece titled "Here Comes The Sun." I'm going to let it sit for a bit before deciding what to do with it, but I'm glad to have done some fiction again given that I've spent the better part of the last two years on nonfiction. It's the first genre that I really stuck to despite having absolutely no talent for it. But I love reading short story collections and have a special fondness for the short story in general, despite the difficulty of selling them for anything resembling a decent amount of money.
Everyone has places they return to again and again, that give them hope and make them feel better about themselves. For me, it's the used bookstore, as much a sanctuary as anything in this world. All that effort contained in the walls! All those people sitting and wishing and hoping that their stories see the light of day. I read a book recently by a new mother that said that she realized how much time she'd wasted reading and watching other people's stories. I can't imagine feeling that way. I think of those writers alone in their rooms, feel a kinship with them, a way of being in the world.
Michelle's Spell of the Day
"Sometimes I get a little manic and you can't stop me. I'm all over the place. I have fun." Dom DeLuise
Cocktail Hour
Drinking dvd suggestion: The Reader (Warning -- you will see a lot of Kate Winslett in this movie which is great, but it is terribly sad so if you're feeling depressed, save it for a night on which you aren't depressed, but kind of want to be.)
Benedictions and Maledictions
Happy Tuesday!
9 comments:
What a beautiful photo.
I am renting The Wrestler tonight.
Hiya Sweets, I feel like a good used bookstore is absolutely embryonic. It's cozy, comfortable, soothing, quiet, and wise. I could spend hours absorbing the feeling. I saw "The Reader" and agree with your appraisal.
Hey Michelle,
Happy Cinco De Mayo/ Birthday/ Tuesday! I hope the party is still going on from your birthday, anyway. :)
We don't have a used book store nearby but every once in awhile I'll stop at the Goodwill store and look through their collection, which is widely varied and mostly unorganized but I always leave with a few books which catch my eye.
I'm back into the fiction as well, instead of the nonfic I've been doing so much of. Fiction is where the heart is.
My whole life is fictional in nature...
A NEW USED BOOKSTORE IS OPENING IN THE LITTLE SOUTHERN TOWN OF GRAHAM NOT TOO FAR FROM WHERE WE LIVE. BOOK AND BANTER SOUNDS LIKE A WELCOMING NAME FOR A STORE FILLED WITH ALL KINDS OF BOOKS AND CHAIRS TO SIT IN, CONVERSATION TO BE ENCOURAGED.
I live with a Mexican girl from Sonora and according to her Cinco e Mayo is not really a holiday many Mexicans celebrate. Anyway I saw your interview and was surprised you mentioned Cotton Mather. My name is Mather Schneider and I have found that there are two kinds of people in the world: people who relate my name to Jerry Mathers of Leave it to Beaver and people who relate it to Cotton Mather (and his brother Increase). My name is not connected to either.
And then you mentioned Jim Thompson, who I think is very good and devoured all his books in about six months several years ago.
I've seen you in Slipstream...just wanted to say hello.
Michelle,
I love used book stores. I've found many a great book at these places. There's one here that has a few cats that wander and nap around the store that I like.
Nice pic, by the way. :)
Thanks, but I had a real "Sucko De Tuesday".
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