This and That

We have a problem at our house that has to do with the over-abundance of books in our possession. Let me re-phrase that. My husband should really get rid of some of his books. In an attempt to get a baby grip on this situation, I have been researching clever storage solutions. Observe. . .the ceiling shelf. It looks a little like a booby trap from Home Alone, if you ask me.

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Oz and Ends: Running the Numbers on a New Publishing Model. It's HarperCollins doing this. Man, I sincerely hope this is not the way of the future. It does not bode well for new writers.

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On a whimsical note, I will definitely be getting my hands on some of these. I always wondered how to get my own magical beanstalk!

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Over on Laurie Halse Anderson's blog she mentioned lately that majoring in Creative Writing is not necessarily the thing to do if you want to be a writer. I agree, it's more important to major in a subject that fascinates you (For me it was English Lit.) Learning how to write well is only important if you have something to write about, after all. Back when I wanted to be a journalist, someone advised me not to major in communications or journalism. "Major in Political Science or a topic that fascinates you. Learning how to communicate is not so hard as coming up with something to say." The longer I write, the truer this is.

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And finally, it seems I'm having trouble getting through any book lately. The last three I've tried to read (and good authors, too) have left me, well, bored. I have no idea why, and suspect it has a little to do with my current writing frenzy. I look down at the stack when I get into bed and say, "Hmm, too tired."

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This is not yet an emergent situation. We'll hope it passes before I become permanently illiterate. In the meantime I may resort to re-reading some old favorites. Or maybe some short and sweet haiku will resuscitate my reading muscle. Have you read anything great lately? Something that might, pray, lift me from my slump?