Reader or book-lover?

Recently I finished reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which is a strange, fascinating book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

But there was something about this book, besides the story, that made me fall in love with it: the binding. The textured cover, the beautiful end paper, the solid feel of the book in my hands; all these combine to make a gorgeous book that I can't imagine ever parting with.

That's when it hit me. I don't just love reading; I love books. Real books with real covers and real pages that can sit in a real place of honor on my book shelf. Books that can be inscribed, shared, passed around, handed down, or purchased at a yard sale for 50 cents.

I know that there are lots of people out there that are just like me. That's why I don't believe all the doom and gloom talk about how the e-book will kill the traditional book. Yes, there are changes happening and people are buying e-books more and more every day. I've even read a couple myself. But e-books are for readers.

Me? I'm a book-lover.

When it's done marinating

I've had an idea that's been marinating for several weeks. This is often how stories begin for me; a hint of an idea tickles my brain and soaks there for a while before finally becoming something workable. It may be a concept, or a setting, or a character.

In this case it is a teenage girl named Tessa, and yesterday she decided that she had been marinating long enough. She barged into my thoughts and insisted that I begin writing.

So I did.

I ended up with two short poems that tell a little bit about where she came from and shed a bit of light on her problem.

It looks like I have a new novel on my hands. Here goes!

Much Overdue about Everything

ACK!

That's how I've felt for the last week or so. It's the last month of school, which means it's one of the busiest months of the year, which means I have barely had time to do anything for myself, which means a neglected blog (among other things).

So this is my make-up post covering all the things that I have wanted to blog about in the last week+, but for which I haven't had the time.

• I celebrated the close of April by reading and reciting poems with my ten-year-old son. I happily recited a few of my favorite Shel Silverstein poems as well as one of my own. But the highlight of that evening was when he responded by reciting a limerick he had written in school.

• I participated in career day last week at work. Because I am the only "author" that anyone at that school knows, and I guess I was such a big hit last year, they invited me to participate again. I came well prepared, with a PowerPoint presentation and a stack of magazines that have published my work. The kids all seemed very interested and asked a bunch of questions. It was fun! I'm still amazed at how at ease I feel when talking about my writing in front of a group of elementary kids.

• It is the season of music events. Two weekend music festivals, one piano recital, and four school concerts. I'm glad my kids are so talented, but I'll also be glad when all (or most) of this is over for the summer.

• I have had a little time for some fun. Last Sunday my family spent a rainy afternoon making a stop motion movie. You can see it here. We plan to do more in the future, starring the same little man. My kids are so much fun!

• The other day I was driving up a residential street when I saw a group of kids armed with water balloons. I thought at first that they were planning on throwing a balloon at my car, but what they were doing was lining them up across the street in hopes that a car would SPLAT them! So I played along and aimed for the balloons...but I missed! The kids' disappointed cries were almost enough to make me turn around and try again, but alas, I was running late. The group of kids was gone when I drove back through an hour later, but I hope they were more successful after my lame, failed attempted at helping them have fun.

What about you? Is your life a whirlwind right now, or is everything, as my kids would say, chill?