Monday, April 25, 2011

Never Enough Books!

I’m in the midst of preparation for Malice Domestic and the Festival of Mystery right afterwards. Just before this, I was giving book talks and driving to signings, mailing bookplates and books readers had won in giveaways. I’m fried.

Then I updated my website with this picture:


I felt a bit silly when it was taken—it seemed so “posed.” But when I look at it, I realize that this encapsules the goal I started reaching for in 2005. I’m at a bookstore about to sign my books.

That’s what this is all about, really—books. I almost lost sight of it what with everything that needs doing. So I went upstairs and stared at my bookshelves. There are five of them, they’re all packed to bursting like this, and I’ve read every single book on every shelf; some more than once. Some several times.


Then I took off the shelves this selection of books:


Every one of them is written by a writer friend of mine. It makes me proud to bursting when I see them. We’ve all been on very long roads to achieve this. JD Salinger, in Seymour; An Introduction, put into words what my friends and I wanted to do: “Ask yourself, as a reader, what piece of writing in all the world [you] would most want to read…. [Then] sit down shamelessly and write it yourself.”
So we did. Because we love books.

Writers, please share if you would: What was your lightbulb moment? Was it a quote from a book? Was it staring at your own bookshelves? Something else?

Readers, please share if you would: What book do you most want to read? Do you already own it? Are you waiting for someone to write it? You never know—it might be the WIP on an Inker’s laptop.

9 comments:

Beth Groundwater said...

I have a whole bookshelf crammed with books signed by author friends, and I treasure every single one of them. And, I keep adding to the collection! In my heart, I'm a mystery reader first, and a writer second.

Darrell James said...

Alice- I don't think I had a lightbulb moment. It was more of a "simmering pot" idea. In 1995, I began thinking I might like to be the writer of fantastic stories and set out to become one. My first attempt was horrendous and ended halfway down the page that day. But, I stayed with it and here I am.

Lois Winston said...

I'm with Darrell on this one. I didn't have a lightbulb moment, either. What I did have was a recurring dream that wouldn't leave me alone until I set it down on paper. By the time I finished, I'd written a 50,000 word book which will stay firmly buried from view because it was so bad. It did make me realize that I wanted to write more, though.

Lisa Bork said...

Alice, I love your picture and congratulations on achieving your goals!!

I don't recall an exact lightbulb moment. It was more "what can I do to fill my hours between putting kids on the school bus and taking them off it?"

Shel said...

I love my ARC and autographed shelf. I've posted it on my facebook before. Anyway - at the moment the book I'm most looking forward to is Jim Butcher's Ghost Story - the latest in the Dresden Files series. He left us with a huge cliffhanger, that wasn't assuaged in the least by the short story in the Side Jobs collection. It was supposed to be released this month, but has been delayed until July. I'm not very patiently waiting...
Alice, that's a GREAT picture, by the way, and I want to let you know that Force of Habit is awaiting on my Sony Reader. And it will more than likely get read before Dresden is released (If you knew the size of my TBR pile, you'd take that as the compliment it as meant for, LOL).

Barb Goffman said...

Okay, I'll own up to a lightbulb moment. It was Christmas break 1998, and I was reading a novel by the late, great Barbara Parker, and suddenly I thought, "I could do this!" And a basic plot jumped into my head. I didn't start writing fiction for quite a while after that, and I never finished that book, but I did indeed have that epiphany.

Barb Goffman
www.barbgoffman.com

Alice Loweecey said...

Thanks, Shel, and thanks to everyone for sharing their inspiration. :) Lisa, when my kids were younger I got a ton of work accomplished in the "waiting time" while they played various sports and musical instruments.

Dru said...

I can't think of a book, but I treasure my autographed books and I smile when I see the titles because some of these authors have become my friend.

G.M. Malliet said...

I recently had to increase shelf space to accommodate all the friends who've had books published. Some of these writers have been with me from the very beginning and have helped me many times along the way. I love seeing us all in print.