A Trip to the Library
I am now the proud possessor of a library card. OK, I know - I read like a maniac, I write, I do research, why haven't I had a library card before now? Well, I have and I haven't. Throughout my life I have had either library cards for my local libraries or was a student accessing the student libraries of the various colleges I attended. The Denver Public Library was my friend, especially when I was researching various presentations that I made on World War II. The librarians were great and the collection was deep, they also had a 2nd floor room with typewriters (yes, this was in the dark ages before computers) where I could put quarters into a timed meter and type up my notes. Much easier, and it meant I didn't need to check out a bunch of books, drive them 90 minutes north of the City to the town where I attended college, and then have to return them back to Denver before their due dates. A pain, so the typewriters were a god-send.
So on Sunday I determined that it was time to get a library card again. I had one when I first moved up here, but then we started buying a lot of used books, and I am someone who likes to read and re-read books multiple times, so owning books is really my preference. But there are some books that I'm interested in owning temporarily in e-book format, and I'm doing some research for an original novel idea that I have and am hoping that I can get some of those materials through the library. We have a really nice library nearby, newly remodeled and expanded. I am beginning to realize, however, that I am living in the wrong state to really get what I need for research stuff. I'll be talking with my friend Sharon who is closer to the source and is a librarian. How lucky can I get?
So, I'm researching, and I'm reading, and I'm thinking about an original novel for NaNoWriMo with one exception that keeps cropping its head into my vision. I want to write this book if I can figure out the proper hook for it, but I want to write it as a young adults book, not an adult novel, and that usually means a word count less than the 50,000 NaNoWriMo requires. So, it's a quandry. Do I write what I want beginning November 1? Or do I write something totally different that I can write as an adult novel and shelve the book I want to write until another time? In the meantime, I checked out three books - one children's book that I quickly read yesterday, noted what I liked and didn't like and will return later this week, and two books on drawing and illustrating techniques. If nothing else, I can always draw....
So on Sunday I determined that it was time to get a library card again. I had one when I first moved up here, but then we started buying a lot of used books, and I am someone who likes to read and re-read books multiple times, so owning books is really my preference. But there are some books that I'm interested in owning temporarily in e-book format, and I'm doing some research for an original novel idea that I have and am hoping that I can get some of those materials through the library. We have a really nice library nearby, newly remodeled and expanded. I am beginning to realize, however, that I am living in the wrong state to really get what I need for research stuff. I'll be talking with my friend Sharon who is closer to the source and is a librarian. How lucky can I get?
So, I'm researching, and I'm reading, and I'm thinking about an original novel for NaNoWriMo with one exception that keeps cropping its head into my vision. I want to write this book if I can figure out the proper hook for it, but I want to write it as a young adults book, not an adult novel, and that usually means a word count less than the 50,000 NaNoWriMo requires. So, it's a quandry. Do I write what I want beginning November 1? Or do I write something totally different that I can write as an adult novel and shelve the book I want to write until another time? In the meantime, I checked out three books - one children's book that I quickly read yesterday, noted what I liked and didn't like and will return later this week, and two books on drawing and illustrating techniques. If nothing else, I can always draw....